Comparative drying of cornelian cherries: Kinetics modeling and physico-chemical properties

Effects of Cornus mas L. on anthropometric and biochemical parameters among metabolic associated fatty liver disease patients: Randomized clinical trial

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Cornus mas L. (Cornelian cherry, CM) fruits have been utilized for decades in numerous European and Asian countries as traditional cuisine and folk medicine. CM has antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and hypolipidemic activities due to its rich bioactive compounds, and CM fruits and other parts have been used for the prevention and treatment of a diverse variety of diseases in folk medicine. Obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation are strongly associated with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), therefore, CM may be hope for MAFLD patients.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of lyophilized CM fruit powder with/without diet therapy on biochemical parameters and anthropometric measurements in patients with MAFLD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 87 patients with MAFLD and 21 healthy individuals. Patients were randomly assigned into 4 groups: group-1 receiving 30 g/d lyophilized CM fruit powder plus diet therapy, group-2 receiving only diet therapy, group-3 receiving only 30 g/d lyophilized CM fruit powder, and group-4 had not undertaken any pharmacological treatment and diet therapy or lyophilized CM fruit powder for 8 weeks. Biochemical parameters, and anthropometric measurements at baseline and after the intervention were taken.

RESULTS

After 8 weeks of intervention, a significant decrease in body weight, body mass index, body fat mass, waist and hip circumferences, fasting blood glucose, insulin, hbA1c, liver enzymes, total triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol were found in group-1, 2 and 3.

CONCLUSION

Lyophilized CM fruit powder in addition to diet therapy and only diet therapy had a positive and similar effect on anthropometric measurements and biochemical parameters in MAFLD patients. Furthermore, only lyophilized CM fruit powder improved glycemic parameters. Therefore, lyophilized CM fruit powder may be beneficial for adult patients with MAFLD.

Iridoid- and flavonoid-enriched fractions of Cornus sanguinea and Cornus mas exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and inhibit key enzymes in the treatment of metabolic disorders

Background: Berry fruits are recognized as a "superfood" due to their high content of bioactive compounds and health benefits. Scope and approach: Herein, extracts of Cornus sanguinea and Cornus mas fresh and dried fruits obtained by different extraction procedures (ethanolic and hydroalcoholic maceration, ultrasound-assisted extraction, and Soxhlet apparatus) were analysed using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QTOF-MS) and compared to identify the main healthy compounds and their impact on the inhibition of key enzymes (pancreatic lipase, α-glucosidase, and α-amylase) associated with metabolic disorders. The antioxidant activity and inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) and NF-κB pathway were also investigated. Key findings and conclusions: Flavonoids, iridoids, and phenolic acids were the main classes of identified compounds. Herein, kaempferol 3-O-galactoside, kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, quercetin, quercetin 3-O-xyloside, and myricetin 3-O-galactoside were detected for the first time in C. sanguinea. Remarkable antioxidant effects and promising α-glucosidase and lipase inhibitory activity were observed with extracts obtained by hydroalcoholic maceration of both Cornus dried fruits. Consequently, these extracts were subjected to fractionation using Amberlite XAD-16 resin. The most promising biological activities, which are attributed to the presence of some flavonoids and iridoids, were detected with the C. sanguinea fractions, in particular SD2(II). The results of this study offer new insights into the potential development of functional foods, nutraceuticals, and food supplements using the Cornus species.

Prototype of an Innovative Vacuum Dryer with an Ejector System: Comparative Drying Analysis with a Vacuum Dryer with a Vacuum Pump on Selected Fruits

The following article describes new research about the design, construction and installation of the new prototype of a vacuum dryer with an ejector system. Moreover, the testing of this new prototype involved comparing the qualities of fruit dried in a vacuum drier with an ejector system to fruit dried in a convectional vacuum drier. The data obtained were then analyzed and presented. Due to their economic relevance and highly valuable nutritional value and sensory properties, sour cherries and apricots have been chosen to be the subjects for the testing. The most appropriate quality indicators for analyzing were moisture content, aw value, share and penetration force, total phenol, flavonoid and anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity (FRAP, DPPH and ABTS test). The main results of this study were achieved by designing, constructing, installing and testing the usage of the innovative prototype of a vacuum dryer with an ejector system in the laboratory of the Technology of fruit and vegetable products of the Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad. Based on our analyses of the obtained data, it was concluded that vacuum dryer with an ejector system are similar to vacuum dryer with a vacuum pump in terms of all tested physical, chemical and biological properties of dried samples. We observed similarities in some of the most important parameters, including product safety and quality, such as the aw value and the total phenol content, respectively. For example, in dried sour cherry, the aw values ranged from 0.250 to 0.521 with the vacuum pump and from 0.232 to 0.417 with the ejector system; the total phenol content ranged from 2322 to 2765 mg GAE/100 g DW with the vacuum pump and from 2327 to 2617 mg GAE/100 g DW with the ejector system. In dried apricot, the aw ranged from 0.176 to 0.405 with the vacuum pump and from 0.166 to 0.313 with the ejector system; total phenol content ranged from 392 to 439 mg GAE/100 g DW with the vacuum pump and from 378 to 428 mg GAE/100 g DW with the ejector system.

Maximizing Contents of Phytochemicals Obtained from Dried Sour Cherries by Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction

Sour cherries were first dried by vacuum drying and then used as material for obtaining extracts rich in bioactive compounds by ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). The first step was to apply a factorial design for the preliminary experiments to determine the most influential UAE factors, and thus the three studied parameters were chosen as the most suitable for the design of the main experiment (temperature, liquid–solid ratio and ethanol concentration). In this part, the contents of total phenols and the total content of monomeric anthocyanins were taken for responses. For the further optimization of UAE, experimental design (face-centered) was applied, and the yield, total phenolics, flavonoid content and content of monomeric anthocyanins and antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays) were analyzed. Temperature (40–80 °C), ethanol concentration (40–80%, w/w) and liquid–solid ratio (10–30 mL/g) were investigated as independent variables. The obtained experimental results were fitted to a second-order polynomial model and analysis of variance was used to determine the fit of the model and the optimal conditions for investigated responses. High quality extracts with high concentrations of polyphenols and anthocyanins were also obtained, which could be used as food additives.