Effects of ultra-high pressure, thermal pasteurization, and ultra-high temperature sterilization on color and nutritional components of freshly-squeezed lettuce juice

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ultra-high pressure (UHP, 600 MPa/2 min), thermal pasteurization (TP, 95 °C/1 min) and ultra-high temperature (UHT, 115 °C/5 s) sterilization on the color, sensory evaluation, microorganisms, physicochemical characteristics and nutritional components of freshly-squeezed lettuce juice (FLJ). Results showed that three sterilization methods demonstrated desirable inactivation effects on total aerobic bacteria, yeast and mold, and there were no significant changes in the main nutritional components, including ash, protein, carbohydrate and total dietary fiber. However, UHT and TP significantly affected the color of FLJ from bright green to light brown and made chlorophyll, β-carotene and vitamins (VE, VC, VK1, VB6, VB12, and folic acid) contents markedly decreased. By contrast, UHP maintained the original color, fresh-like sensory qualities, vitamins, and carotene of FLJ to the greatest extent. Our results provide a promising application of UHP in the large-scale processing of FLJ.

Influence of cold atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of Spirulina platensis slurry over biomass characteristics

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) technique is an innovative non-thermal approach for food preservation and decontamination. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of CAPP power density on microorganism inactivation and quality of Spirulina platensis (S. platensis) slurry. 91.31 ± 1.61% of microorganism were inactivated within 2.02 ± 0.11 min by 26.67 W/g CAPP treatment under 50 ℃. Total phenolic, Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), and carotenoids contents were increased by 20.51%, 63.55%, and 70.04% after 20.00 W/g CAPP treatment. Phycobiliproteins (PBPs), protein, intracellular polysaccharide, and moisture content of S. platensis was decreased, while vividness, lightness, color of yellow and green, antioxidant activity, Essential Amino Acid Index were enhanced after CAPP treatment. The nutrient release and filaments breakage of CAPP-treated S. platensis improved its bio-accessibility. The findings provided a deep understanding and insight into the influence of CAPP treatment on S. platensis, which were meaningful for optimizing its sterilization and drying processing condition.

Alternanthera sessilis: Uncovering the nutritional and medicinal values of an edible weed

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Weeds are often considered undesirable as they interfere with the habitat of native plants, and therefore they are underestimated and underutilised. In fact, some edible weeds have beneficial nutritional and medicinal values. Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R. Br. ex DC., an edible medicinal weed is a species of the Amaranthaceae family that consists of two cultivars: green and red. Local communities in different regions have traditionally consumed the plants as food and medicine, with the green cultivar being applied to relieve pain, treat wound healing, dysentery, asthma and hypertension, while the red cultivar is applied to prevent cardiovascular and liver diseases in general.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The present review intends to provide an in-depth discussion and scientific basis of A. sessilis green and red's health-promoting properties in relation to their ethnobotanical use, nutritional components and bioactive compounds.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The literature search was conducted using relevant keywords on scientific search engines such as the Web of Science, Google Scholar, Medline and Scopus.

RESULTS

A. sessilis shows potent antioxidant activity as a result of its diverse phytochemical constituents, such as polyphenols, terpenes, alkaloid and carotenoids in addition to its nutritional components: vitamin C, E and unsaturated fatty acids, which contribute to its various bioactive properties: anti-microbial and anthelmintic, anti-diabetic, lipid lowering, anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities, anti-cancer and other biological activities. Toxicity evaluation revealed the absence of adverse effect of A. sesslis extracts.

CONCLUSION

A. sessilis has a great potential to be used as complementary medicine and ingredients for pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and functional foods, instead of being regarded as a pest. Prospects for enhancing the development and commercialisation of this edible medicinal weed as a high value health-promoting product are suggested.

Exposure of cherry radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. Radculus Pers) to iron-based nanoparticles enhances its nutritional quality by trigging the essential elements

Iron (Fe) deficiency is a pervasive nutritional disorder, and producing vegetables enriched with Fe as a dietary source is imperative. Herein, Fe₃O₄, FeO(OH), α-Fe₂O₃, β-Fe₂O₃, γ-Fe₃O₄, and nZVI nanoparticles (NPs) were applied in soil as fertilizer to enhance the Fe nutrition in cherry radish. The highest enhancement of Fe content (58%) was observed in Fe₃O₄ treatment at 100 mg kg^-1, followed by FeO(OH) (49%), α-Fe₂O₃ (24%), nZVI (14%), β-Fe₂O₃ (13%) and γ-Fe₃O₄ (4%). The daily intake of Fe was 97-104% and 77-91% with Fe₃O₄ and FeO(OH) at 100-200 mg kg^-1, respectively. Moreover, the zinc, vitamin C and crude protein contents were also increased by 37, 48 and 67% under Fe₃O₄ treatment as compared to control. Fe₃O₄ at 100 mg kg^-1 also increased the essential amino acids (phenylalanine, leucine and isoleucine) contents by 11-14%. These data suggest that Fe₃O₄ and FeO(OH) NPs could be effective nanofertilizers to enhance Fe nutrition in plants.

Nutritional components characterization of Goji berries from different regions in China

Goji berries are used as functional food for hundreds of years in Asia, Europe, North America and Austria, and are popular for nutritive properties in global. Commercial Goji berries are mainly produced in Ningxia, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia of China. However, the Goji berries produced in these regions exhibited different appearance and taste. Thus, characterization of the nutritional components in Goji berries produced in these regions could provide the guidance for application of them. In this study, 94 samples were collected, and a total of 20 amino acids, 17 nucleosides and nucleobases, 4 sugars and protein were determined by UHPLC-MS/MS, HPLC-ELSD or UV, and the variation was illustrated through heatmap clustering analysis, PCA and PLS-DA. The results showed that Goji berries from Xinjiang were rich in protein than the samples from other regions; those from Gansu and Ningxia were rich in amino acids, nucleosides and nucleobases; and those from Jiuquan of Gansu and Qinghai were rich in sugars. Heatmap clustering and PCA analysis results showed that all the samples exhibited a significant spatial aggregation, and the producing regions located along the Yellow River (belonging to the Hetao plain) produced Goji berries with the similar chemical profile. Additionally, PLS-DA analysis results showed that fructose and glucose were the predominant markers to distinguish Goji berries from different producing regions.

Screening of the dominant Chlorella pyrenoidosa for biofilm attached culture and feed production while treating swine wastewater

This research 12 microalgal species were screened for biofilm attached culture in the treatment of anaerobically digested swine wastewater (ADSW). The influence of ADSW on biomass productivity and removal efficiencies were evaluated using biofilm attached culture with the selected Chlorella pyrenoidosa. The variation of nutritional components from algal cells were further analysed to evaluate the potential applications of C. pyrenoidosa. The results showed that C. pyrenoidosa had the highest tolerance to ADSW, and the highest removal efficiencies for wastewater pollutants were reached when cultured in 5 times diluted ADSW. These test conditions resulted in an algal cell biomass composed of 57.30% proteins, 14.87% extracellular polysaccharide, 3.08% crude fibre, 5.57% crude ash, 2.85% moisture. Amino acids in proteins contained 21.73% essential amino acids and the EAA/NEAA value was 0.64. The essential amino acid score indicates that the selected C. pyrenoidosa could be a good protein source for feed addition.

Assessment of nutritional and quality traits in biofortified bread wheat genotypes

Cereal crops are the rich source of nutritional components that play an important role in micronutrient malnutrition. Biofortification is one of the most successful approaches to enhance the level of micronutrients, mainly targeted in bread wheat. Bread wheat is one of main sources of calories and proteins in the developing countries. In the present study, 50 bread wheat genotypes characterized for the zinc and iron content, the most important micronutrients. On the basis of the results, the nineteen genotypes were selected and evaluated for biochemical as well as quality parameters. The protein content, gluten quantity and quality found to be reduced in high zinc containing genotypes, whereas the total soluble sugars, total carotenoids, proline and grain hardness found to be in positive relation with high micronutrient content. These results could be useful to generate bread wheat varieties rich in micronutrients as well as better nutritional and quality traits.

Changes in nutritional and bio-functional compounds and antioxidant capacity during black garlic processing

This study aimed to explore ideal processing condition for black garlic based on the change of nutritional and active components and antioxidant capacity. Fresh garlic was processed under the condition of constant temperature (65, 75 and 85 °C) and relative humidity (70, 75, 80 and 85%) for 16 days. The sensory scores, contents of nutritional and active components, and antioxidant capacity were monitored. The sensory scores reached the maximum on the 8th day at 85% humidity and 75 °C. The contents of nutritional components were significantly affected by humidity and temperature, and 85% humidity and 75 °C were appropriate. The polyphenol content increased with increase in temperature and decrease in humidity. The reducing sugars and total sugars, total acids and 5-HMF were higher at 75 °C than at 65 and 85 °C. Reducing sugar and protein contents and sensory scores decreased on the 8th day. Maintaining the temperature of 75 °C and relative humidity of 85% for 8 days were ideal for black garlic to retain antioxidant capacity and abundant nutrients.

Potential use of peanut by-products in food processing: a review

Peanut is one of the most important oil and protein producing crops in the world. Yet the amounts of peanut processing by-products containing proteins, fiber and polyphenolics are staggering. With the environmental awareness and scarcity of space for landfilling, wastes/by-product utilization has become an attractive alternative to disposal. Several peanut by-products are produced from crush peanut processes and harvested peanut, including peanut meal, peanut skin, peanut hull and peanut vine. Some of peanut by-products/waste materials could possibility be used in food processing industry, The by-products of peanut contain many functional compounds, such as protein, fiber and polyphenolics, which can be incorporated into processed foods to serve as functional ingredients. This paper briefly describes various peanut by-products produced, as well as current best recovering and recycling use options for these peanut byproducts. Materials, productions, properties, potential applications in food manufacture of emerging materials, as well as environmental impact are also briefly discussed.