Skimmed Goat's Milk Powder Enriched with Grape Pomace Seed Extract: Phenolics and Protein Characterization and Antioxidant Properties

Subcritical Water Extraction to Valorize Grape Biomass-A Step Closer to Circular Economy

With the increase in the world population, the overexploitation of the planet's natural resources is becoming a worldwide concern. Changes in the way humankind thinks about production and consumption must be undertaken to protect our planet and our way of living. For this change to occur, sustainable development together with a circular economic approach and responsible consumption are key points. Agriculture activities are responsible for more than 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions; moreover, by 2050, it is expected that food production will increase by 60%. The valorization of food waste is therefore of high importance to decrease the environmental footprint of agricultural activities. Fruits and vegetables are wildly consumed worldwide, and grapes are one of the main producers of greenhouse gases. Grape biomass is rich in bioactive compounds that can be used for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, and their extraction from this food residue has been the target of several studies. Among the extraction techniques used for the recovery of bioactive compounds from food waste, subcritical water extraction (SWE) has been the least explored. SWE has several advantages over other extraction techniques such as microwave and ultrasound extraction, allowing high yields with the use of only water as the solvent. Therefore, it can be considered a green extraction method following two of the principles of green chemistry: the use of less hazardous synthesis (principle number 3) and the use of safer solvents and auxiliaries (principle number 5). In addition, two of the green extraction principles for natural products are also followed: the use of alternative solvents or water (principle number 2) and the use of a reduced, robust, controlled and safe unit operation (principle number 5). This review is an overview of the extraction process using the SWE of grape biomass in a perspective of the circular economy through valorization of the bioactive compounds extracted. Future perspectives applied to the SWE are also discussed, as well as its ability to be a green extraction technique.

Valorization of Sour Buttermilk (A Potential Waste Stream): Conversion to Powder Employing Reverse Osmosis and Spray Drying

Reverse osmosis (RO) is known for the economic dewatering of dairy streams without any change in phase. At the household level, surplus milk is fermented and churned to obtain butter, which is subsequently heated to obtain clarified milk fat (ghee). The production of 1 kg ghee generates 15-20 kg sour buttermilk (SBM) as a by-product that is mostly drained. This causes a loss of milk solids and environmental pollution. The processing, preservation and valorization of SBM are quite challenging because of its low total solids (TS) and pH, poor heat stability and limited shelf life. This investigation aimed to transform SBM into a novel dried dairy ingredient. SBM was thermized, filtered, defatted and concentrated at 35 ± 1 °C, employing RO up to 3.62× (12.86%). The RO concentrate was subsequently converted into sour buttermilk powder (SBMP) by employing spray drying. SBMP was further characterized for its physicochemical, reconstitution and functional properties; rheological and morphological characteristics; and amino acid and fatty acid profiling, along with FTIR and XRD spectra. SBMP was "instant soluble-3 s" and exhibited excellent emulsion stability (80.70%), water binding capacity (4.34 g/g of protein), flowability (28.36°) and antioxidant properties. In nutshell, a process was developed for the valorization of sour buttermilk to a novel dairy ingredient by employing reverse osmosis and a spray-drying process.

Bioaccessibility of Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Properties of Goat-Milk Powder Fortified with Grape-Pomace-Seed Extract after In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion

This study deals with the evaluation of the bioaccessibility and antioxidant properties of phenolic compounds from heat-treated skim goat-milk powder fortified with grape-pomace-seed extract, after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection and mass spectrometry (UHPLC-DAD MS/MS) analysis confirmed the abundant presence of phenolic acids and flavan-3-ols in the grape-pomace-seed extract (SE) and heat-treated skim goat-milk/seed-extract powder (TME). After in vitro digestion of TME powder and recovery of total quantified phenolics, flavan-3-ols and phenolic acids were 18.11%, 24.54%, and 1.17%, respectively. Low recovery of grape-pomace-seed phenolics indicated strong milk protein-phenolic interactions. Electrophoretic analysis of a soluble fraction of digested heat-treated skim goat milk (TM) and TME samples showed the absence of bands originating from milk proteins, indicating their hydrolysis during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. The digested TME sample had better antioxidant properties in comparison to the digested TM sample (except for the ferrous ion-chelating capacity, FCC), due to the presence of bioaccessible phenolics. Taking into account the contribution of the digestive cocktail, digested TME sample had lower values of total phenolic content (TPC), in vitro phosphomolybdenum reducing capacity (TAC) and ferric reducing power (FRP), compared to the undigested TME sample. These results could be attributed to low recovery of phenolic compounds. TME powder could be a good carrier of phenolics to the colon; thus, TME powder could be a promising ingredient in the formulation of functional food.

A Potential Valorization Strategy of Wine Industry by-Products and Their Application in Cosmetics-Case Study: Grape Pomace and Grapeseed

Grape pomace and grapeseed are agro-industrial by-products, whose inadequate treatment generates socioeconomic and environmental concerns. Nevertheless, it is possible to valorize them by extracting their bioactive compounds, such as antioxidants (phenolic compounds), vitamin E and fatty acids. The bioactive compounds were extracted using solid-liquid extraction. The yields for phenolic compounds were 18.4 ± 0.4% for grape pomace, and 17.4 ± 0.4%, for grapeseed. For the oil, the yields were 13.3 ± 0.2% and 14.5 ± 0.3% for grape pomace and grapeseed. Antioxidant capacity was assessed by the assay with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and showed that phenolic extract has higher antioxidant capacity than the oils. Grape pomace and grapeseed extracts exhibit, correspondingly, values of 90.8 ± 0.8 and 87.5 ± 0.5 of DPPH inhibition and IC₅₀ of 48.9 ± 0.5 and 55.9 ± 0.7 μg_extract·mL_DPPH⁻¹. The antimicrobial capacity was assessed by the disk diffusion test, and revealed that, phenolic extracts inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The obtained extracts were incorporated in 10 face cream formulations, with slight modifications in quantities of formulation stabilizers. Their stability was studied for 35 days, and this revealed the possibility of incorporating extracts and oils obtained from by-products as antioxidants in cosmetics, and replacing synthetic ones. As a future recommendation, microencapsulation of the extracts should be performed, in order to increase their stability.

Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Natural Extracts with Proven Antioxidant Activity

Natural extracts are a rich source of biomolecules that are useful not only as antioxidant drugs or diet supplements but also as complex reagents for the biogenic synthesis of metallic nanoparticles. The natural product components can act as strong reducing and capping substrates guaranteeing the stability of formed NPs. The current work demonstrates the suitability of extracts of Camellia sinensis, Ilex paraguariensis, Salvia officinalis, Tilia cordata, Levisticum officinale, Aegopodium podagraria, Urtica dioica, Capsicum baccatum, Viscum album, and marine algae Porphyra Yezoensis for green synthesis of AgNPs. The antioxidant power of methanolic extracts was estimated at the beginning according to their free radical scavenging activity by the DPPH method and reducing power activity by CUPRAC and SNPAC (silver nanoparticle antioxidant capacity) assays. The results obtained by the CUPRAC and SNAPC methods exhibited excellent agreement (R²~0.9). The synthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), dynamic light scattering (DLS) particle size, and zeta potential. The UV-vis absorption spectra showed a peak at 423 nm confirming the presence of AgNPs. The shapes of extract-mediated AgNPs were mainly spherical, spheroid, rod-shaped, agglomerated crystalline structures. The NPs exhibited a high negative zeta potential value in the range from -49.8 mV to -56.1 mV, proving the existence of electrostatic stabilization. FTIR measurements indicated peaks corresponding to different functional groups such as carboxylic acids, alcohol, phenol, esters, ethers, aldehydes, alkanes, and proteins, which were involved in the synthesis and stabilization of AgNPs. Among the examined extracts, green tea showed the highest activity in all antioxidant tests and enabled the synthesis of the smallest nanoparticles, namely 62.51, 61.19, and 53.55 nm, depending on storage times of 30 min, 24 h, and 72 h, respectively. In turn, the Capsicum baccatum extract was distinguished by the lowest zeta potential, decreasing with storage time from -66.0 up to -88.6 mM.