Influence of high hydrostatic pressure on the reaction between glyoxal and lysine residues

AGEs in cooked meat: Production, detection, and mechanisms of its inhibition by plant extracts

With the growing demand for food safety and nutrition, the challenge of ensuring the quality of cooked meat products while reducing the accumulation of AGEs during processing needs urgent attention. In this study, the patterns of AGEs production, detection methods, quality contribution, and molecular mechanisms of its inhibition by natural plant-based extracts (NPBE) in cooked meat products were comprehensively reviewed. NPBE can effectively reduce the accumulation of AGEs in meat by binding to AGEs precursors and reducing glycosylation sites. It has also been shown to significantly remove off-flavour, and inhibit protein carbonylation. The potential for synergistic inhibition of AGE formation using NPBE and exogenous physical field treatments such as pulsed electric fields, microwave irradiation, thermal cycling of air, and ultrasound was emphasized, as well as the urgent need for the development of portable AGE detectors integrated with artificial intelligence and big data analytical models. This study indicates the future research direction for inhibiting the generation of AGEs in cooked meat products, which can promote and guide the practical application of NPBE in cooked meat products.

How processing affects marker peptide quantification - A comprehensive estimation on bovine material relevant for food and feed control

Processing food and feed challenges official control e.g. by modifying proteins, which leads to significant underestimation in targeted, MS-based protein quantification. Whereas numerous studies identified processing-induced changes on proteins in various combinations of matrices and processing conditions, studying their impact semi-quantitatively on specific protein sequences might unveil approaches to improve protein quantification accuracy. Thus, 335 post-translational modifications (e.g. oxidation, deamidation, carboxymethylation, Amadori, acrolein adduction) were identified by bottom-up proteomic analysis of 37 bovine materials relevant in food and feed (meat, bone, blood, milk) with varying processing degrees (raw, spray-dried, pressure-sterilized). To mimic protein recovery in a targeted analysis, peak areas of marker and reference peptides were compared to those of their modified versions, which revealed peptide-specific recoveries and variances across all samples. Detailed analysis suggests that incorporating two modified versions additionally to the unmodified marker may significantly improve quantification accuracy in targeted MS-based food and feed control in processed matrices.

Matrix effect on the Effectiveness of High Hydrostatic Pressure Treatment on Antibiotic Residues

The use of antibiotics in agriculture and livestock poses health risks to consumers. Treatments such as High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) have been shown to reduce antibiotic and pesticide residues in food. This study aims to investigate the matrix effect on the effectiveness of HHP on hydrochloride tetracycline (HTC) and sulfathiazole (STZ) residues in spiked food matrices. The effect of viscosity, as well as carbohydrate, protein, and fat content on the effectiveness of HHP on antibiotic residues, was investigated. The studied matrices were full-fat and fat-free bovine milk and model food systems consisting of aqueous solutions of sugars, aqueous solutions of proteins, and oil in water emulsions. Model food systems were also used to study the viscosity effect. These systems consisted of aqueous solutions of honey, aqueous solutions of apple puree, and aqueous solutions of glycerol. The HHP processing (580 MPa, 6 min, 25 °C) took place under industrial conditions. For both antibiotics, the concentration of sugars and proteins was found to affect the effectiveness of treatment. The concentration of oils affected treatment efficacy only for HTC. Reduction of antibiotics by HHP was also affected by the type of carbohydrate and the viscosity. In conclusion, the composition and the viscosity of the food matrix exert a variable effect on the studied antibiotic residues reduction by HHP indicating different underlying mechanisms of the interactions between food constituents and antibiotics under the same process conditions.

Formation of advanced glycation end products by novel food processing technologies: A review

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a diverse group of compounds formed endogenously and exogenously due to non-enzymatic glycation of proteins and lipids. Although the effects of heating on AGE concentrations in foods are known, few studies have been published addressing the effects of new processing technologies on AGE formation. This work focuses on the current scientific knowledge about the impacts of novel technologies on AGE formation in food products. Most studies do not measure AGE content directly, evaluating only products of the Maillard reaction. Moreover, these studies do not compare distinct operational conditions associated with novel technologies. This lack of information impacts negatively the establishment of process-composition relationships for foods with safe AGE dietary intakes. Overall, the outcomes of this review suggest that the use of novel technologies is a promising alternative to produce food products with a lower AGE content.

High Pressure Inside Nanometer-Sized Particles Influences the Rate and Products of Chemical Reactions

The composition of organic aerosol has a pivotal influence on aerosol properties such as toxicity and cloud droplet formation capability, which could affect both climate and air quality. However, a comprehensive and fundamental understanding of the chemical and physical processes that occur in nanometer-sized atmospheric particles remains a challenge that severely limits the quantification and predictive capabilities of aerosol formation pathways. Here, we investigated the effects of a fundamental and hitherto unconsidered physical property of nanoparticles-the Laplace pressure. By studying the reaction of glyoxal with ammonium sulfate, both ubiquitous and important atmospheric constituents, we show that high pressure can significantly affect the chemical processes that occur in atmospheric ultrafine particles (i.e., particles < 100 nm). Using high-resolution mass spectrometry and UV-vis spectroscopy, we demonstrated that the formation of reaction products is strongly (i.e., up to a factor of 2) slowed down under high pressures typical of atmospheric nanoparticles. A size-dependent relative rate constant is determined and numerical simulations illustrate the reduction in the production of the main glyoxal reaction products. These results established that the high pressure inside nanometer-sized aerosols must be considered as a key property that significantly impacts chemical processes that govern atmospheric aerosol growth and evolution.

Aspects of high hydrostatic pressure food processing: Perspectives on technology and food safety

The last two decades saw a steady increase of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) used for treatment of foods. Although the science of biomaterials exposed to high pressure started more than a century ago, there still seem to be a number of unanswered questions regarding safety of foods processed using HHP. This review gives an overview on historical development and fundamental aspects of HHP, as well as on potential risks associated with HHP food applications based on available literature. Beside the combination of pressure and temperature, as major factors impacting inactivation of vegetative bacterial cells, bacterial endospores, viruses, and parasites, factors, such as food matrix, water content, presence of dissolved substances, and pH value, also have significant influence on their inactivation by pressure. As a result, pressure treatment of foods should be considered for specific food groups and in accordance with their specific chemical and physical properties. The pressure necessary for inactivation of viruses is in many instances slightly lower than that for vegetative bacterial cells; however, data for food relevant human virus types are missing due to the lack of methods for determining their infectivity. Parasites can be inactivated by comparatively lower pressure than vegetative bacterial cells. The degrees to which chemical reactions progress under pressure treatments are different to those of conventional thermal processes, for example, HHP leads to lower amounts of acrylamide and furan. Additionally, the formation of new unknown or unexpected substances has not yet been observed. To date, no safety-relevant chemical changes have been described for foods treated by HHP. Based on existing sensitization to non-HHP-treated food, the allergenic potential of HHP-treated food is more likely to be equivalent to untreated food. Initial findings on changes in packaging materials under HHP have not yet been adequately supported by scientific data.