Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.)最新文献

Oleogels can be formed using different types of oleogelator, which lead to different end properties. In this study, four kinds of oleogelators, rice bran wax (RBW), monoglyceride stearate (MG), beeswax (BW), and a mixture of β-sitosterol and γ-oryzanol (SO) were used to prepare astaxanthin-loaded macadamia oil-based oleogels. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, polarized light microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic shear rheometry were then used to evaluate the effects of the different oleogelators and astaxanthin on the physicochemical properties of the oleogels. The results showed that van der Waals forces played a key role in the formation of all the oleogels, while hydrogen bonding was also important for the SO- and MG-based oleogels. Moreover, astaxanthin addition did not change the crystal morphology and intramolecular interaction forces of the oleogels, but it did increase their oxidative stability and decrease their thermal stability, hardness, and oil-binding properties. In addition, the digestive behavior of the oleogels was evaluated using a three-stage in vitro gastrointestinal model. All the oleogelators significantly affected the lipolysis of the macadamia oil and the bioaccessibility of the astaxanthin, with the degree of lipolysis being positively correlated to the bioaccessibility. MG-based oleogels were the most effective at increasing the bioaccessibility of the astaxanthin.

Pressure-assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) utilizes flexible packaging with low oxygen and water vapor transmission rates (OTRs, WVTRs). In this study, pouches made from metal oxide (MO)-coated (A-D) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH)-containing (E, F) multilayer films were filled with water and mashed potatoes (MP), preheated at 98 ± 0.5 °C for 10 min, and processed using a pilot-scale high-pressure processing machine (HPP) at 600 ± 5 MPa for 300 s. The initial vessel temperature and the fluid medium were 90 °C, and during processing, the temperature of the fluid medium increased to approximately 120 °C. After processing, the water-filled pouches were emptied, refilled with a novel oxygen indicator, and stored at 40 ± 0.2 °C for 80 days. The MP-filled pouches were stored at 49 ± 1 °C for 60 days. MO-coated film D contained fewer defects, had ultra-low OTRs and WVTRs, showed insignificant (p > 0.05) moisture absorption and changes in crystallinity after PATS processing, and exhibited minimal color change in both the oxygen indicator and the packaged MP during the 60 days of storage. The ultra-high barrier of film D could be attributed to the presence of multiple AlO_x-coated PET layers that successfully prevented oxygen ingress, even after exposure to high temperature and pressure conditions during PATS processing. Among the EVOH-based structures, the Film F showed a 22.3 % lower OTR than Film E (p < 0.05), due to a 16.7 % greater EVOH-layer thickness, despite having a lower overall thickness than Film E. Overall, this study can assist packaging manufacturers in designing and developing high-barrier flexible packaging suitable for in-package, shelf-stable food products.

V-amylose is a modified helical structure capable of interacting with butyric acid (BA), which typically shows limited affinity for native amylose. The encapsulation of BA within V-amylose enhances its enzymatic resistance while facilitating the delivery of BA to the gut, where it can exert beneficial health effects. Consequently, enhancing the incorporation of BA into starch-based food is a crucial strategy for achieving these objectives. The concentration of guest BA plays a critical role in the hydrophobic interaction-induced complexation with V-amylose, and understanding the structural changes involved in this process is essential for the design of optimal products. In this study, V-amylose derived from high-amylose lotus starch was utilized to form complexes with BA. The structure and in vitro digestibility of the complexes formed at varying BA concentrations were investigated. The results demonstrate that higher BA concentrations weakened the hydrophobic interactions in the V-amylose system. Nevertheless, the highest complex index (i.e., 11.7 g/100 g) of V-amylose was attained at a 50 % BA concentration, indicating a balance between BA-regulated hydrophobic aggregation and the density of BA during complexation. These V-amylose complexes produced with elevated BA content exhibited high crystallinity and molecular order, along with enhanced thermal stability and resistance to enzymolysis. These findings support the feasibility of loading BA into V-amylose and provide valuable insights into the hydrophobic complexation regulated by BA concentration.

The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of starch granule-associated lipids (SGALs) on retrogradation properties of buckwheat and wheat starches. According to the results, the removal of SGALs led to remarkable increase in the retrogradation enthalpy change of all starches and the strength of starch gels, as well as the density and short-range ordered structure of starch aggregates. The strength of starch gel experienced a rise from 3139.39 g to 3718.18 g in Tartary buckwheat, 2924.12 g to 3551.13 g in common buckwheat, and 1887.55 g to 2555.24 g in wheat, respectively. The removal of SGALs contributed to a decrease in the thermal stability of starches and an augmentation of amylose leaching during gelatinization process, which would strengthen the hydrogen bond interaction between starch molecules during cooling process, and promoting the rearrangement of the order structure of starch molecules. In general, these results indicated that the retention of SGALs could limit amylose leaching, then inhibited rearrangement and recrystallization of dissolved starch molecules, and ultimately delayed the short-term and long-term retrogradation process. This work further supplemented theoretical knowledge about SGALs in buckwheat and wheat starches, also provided a new perspective for regulating the physicochemical properties of starches.

Fresh and minimally processed foods are recognized as important natural sources of phenolic compounds, while industrial processing tends to reduce their concentrations. This in silico study investigated the effect of food processing on the presence of phenolic compounds in Brazilian menus, using linear regression models. The research examined menus from 319 schools in 75 counties in the state of Sergipe, Brazil, analyzing the caloric content, nutrients and polyphenols. These variables were grouped based on similarity and subjected to cluster analysis using Euclidean distance and Ward's method. The foods were classified by the degree of processing, based on NOVA classification, with modifications. The polyphenol content in menus was estimated using the Phenol Explorer database. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct groupings and the results indicated that cluster 2 offered the highest macro and micronutrient values. Linear regression highlighted that the presence of regional foods and culinary ingredients significantly influenced the concentration of flavonoids and phenolic acid in the school menus analyzed. Fresh and minimally processed foods were positively associated with flavonoids without hydrolysis and phenolic acid with hydrolysis. Ultra-processed foods, on the other hand, showed negative associations with flavonoids with hydrolysis. These results provide important insights into the formulation of school menus, with implications for nutrition and public health.

Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is abundant in various plants and notably in coffee beans. This study investigated the bactericidal activity of CGA combined with ultraviolet-A light (UVA, 365 nm) (CGA + UVA) against Escherichia coli DH5α, with the aim of developing novel strategies for food preservation and healthcare. CGA + UVA treatment was superiorin reducing bacterial survival than either treatment alone. At 20 J/cm² and pH 7, CGA (0.3%) + UVA treatment resulted in only about a 3-log reduction in bacterial survival, whereas at 15 J/cm² and pH 3, no surviving bacteria could be detected, demostrating that the treatment was more effective at acidic pH. CGA + UVA treatment was also bactericidal in green plum juice, confirming that its low pH-dependent property could be effective in acidic food products. To elucidate the bactericidal mechanism of CGA + UVA treatment, its effects on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, membrane integrity, and enzyme activity were measured. ROS generated via the type-1 reaction, such as hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and hydroxyl radicals (·OH), were mainly detected. CGA + UVA disrupted the bacterial cell membrane, causing the leakage of cellular components, particularly proteins. CGA + UVA treatment also led to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) degradation and reduced succinate-coenzyme Q reductase activity by approximately 72 %. Furthermore, CGA + UVA treatment decreased β-lactamase activity and plasmid transforming efficacy with maximal reductions of 68 % and 98 %, respectively, highlighting its potential for increasing antibiotic susceptibility and preventing the spread of antimicrobial resistance. The results demonstrate that CGA + UVA treatment could be used to effectively combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria and prevent the spoilage of preserved foods or food poisoning.

This study explores the effect of different theaflavins (TFs) concentrations (0, 100, 300, 600 and 900 mg/L) on the structure, aggregation behavior and gelation properties of pork myofibrillar protein (MP). The protein structure and aggregation behavior were characterized by free sulfhydryl groups, surface hydrophobicity, fluorescence emission spectra, particle size and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The gel properties of samples were characterized by gel strength, cooking loss, microstructure and gel supernatant SDS-PAGE. The results showed a significant decrease in free thiol content with increasing TFs concentration, suggesting thiol-quinone covalent interaction between TFs and thiol group of MP. Intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy confirmed a static quenching between TFs and MP. And TFs reduced the particle size of MP suspension and caused no protein aggregation bond in SDS-PAGE. For gel properties, TFs caused a decrease of gel strength from 96.77 g to 21.91 g and an increase in cooking loss from 40.34 % to 71.15 %. The bond of protein aggregates in gel supernatants SDS-PAGE revealed that some protein aggregates formed by disulfide bonding were not involve in gel formation with TFs addition. In conclusion, TFs cause thiol loss of MP and impaired MP gelling ability by interfering with disulfide bond formation during gelation.

Some native Chilean berries, including murtilla, have gained attention for their high phenolic content which renders them attractive for the beverage industry. However, phenolic-rich by-products are generated during the production of murtilla juice (murtilla pomace), and there has been no scientific consideration of this by-product as a source of different forms of phenolic compounds. The aim of this study was thus to obtain phenolic extracts from the soluble fraction (free, esterified, and etherified) of murtilla pomace as well from the counterpart that contains insoluble-bound compounds, and evaluate their antioxidant properties. The fraction obtained from the insoluble-bound form (insoluble-bound phenolic hydrolysates) showed the highest total phenolic content, reducing power and antioxidant capacity, as evaluated by the FRAP and ORAC assay, respectively. The results revealed the presence of different compounds in each fraction, highlighting important levels of phenolic acids (e.g., gallic acid) and flavonoids (e.g., quercetin and its derivatives) as evaluated by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. The most prominent fraction (released from the insoluble-bound form) exhibited antioxidant activity (in concentrations as low as 0.0025 μM of total phenolic acids and 0.0002 μM of total flavonoids) in Caco-2 cells. The necessary concentration of quercetin to protect Caco-2 cells against the hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress was twenty times lower than the concentration needed for gallic acid to exert the same level of antioxidant protection. We can therefore suggest that the quercetin concentration would be a better-quality control indicator for functional ingredients, food supplements, and/or nutraceutical products generated from the insoluble-bound phenolic fraction of murtilla pomace.

Wild edible boletes mushrooms are regarded as a delicacy in many countries and regions due to their rich nutritional contents and strong aromatic compounds. This study aimed to identify 445 samples of 11 boletes species collected from Yunnan and Sichuan provinces through molecular analysis. Using simultaneous distillation-extraction (SDE) combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 97 volatile compounds were identified. Chemometric methods were then applied to analyze the heterogeneity of these volatile compounds among the different species. The results showed that, 22 and 21 volatile compounds were selected using variable importance in projection (VIP > 1) and relative odor activity values (ROAV > 0.1), respectively. Partial least squares discrimnatint analysis (PLS-DA) was then employed to develop pattern recognition models for 11 species, which demonstrated strong identification performance. Furthermore, correlation heat maps, volcano plots, and Fisher linear discriminant analysis identified five volatile organic compounds, including methyl (9E)-9-octadecenoate, 2, 6-dimethylpyrazine, 1-decen-3-one, furfural, and methional as markers for distinguishing 11 boletes species. Ultimately, the rapid content prediction models of partial least squares regression (PLSR) were established by combining Fourier Transform Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-NIR) with the concentrations of these five marker compounds. These findings provide a methodological strategy for the effective species identification of wild edible mushrooms and the rapid prediction of their characteristic aroma compounds.

The main objective of the present work was to assess the phenolic profile of bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella) bee pollen, and its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities after gastrointestinal digestion in vitro and epithelial transport in a Caco-2 cell monolayer model. The botanical origin of bee pollen was confirmed by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. As major results, 34 phenolic compounds (13 phenylamides, 14 flavonols, and 7 flavanones) were tentatively identified in the extract of bracatinga bee pollen by HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS. The aglycone forms of quercetin and p-coumaric acid were identified only after digestion, indicating the breakage of flavonols and phenylamides, respectively. These compounds may have contributed to the decrease in NF-κΒ activation up to 54% and in the release of TNF-α and CXCL2/MIP-2 by 26% and 21%, respectively, in raw 264.7 murine macrophages activated with microbial lipopolysaccharide and treated with the digested fraction. Among all tentatively identified phenolic compounds, five of them were found in the basolateral fraction. These compounds, represented by four aglycone flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol, naringenin, and herbacetin methyl ether) and a phenolic acid (p-coumaric acid) may be responsible for its outstanding antioxidant activity in Caco-2 cells, as well as for its remaining capacity in mitigating CXCL2/MIP-2 release after transport through the Caco-2 cell monolayer, as an intestinal barrier model. Therefore, our work sheds light on the phenolic profile and bioactivities of an interesting functional food produced by bees throughout a simulated gastrointestinal system.