Application of a salt substitute in bitter taste suppression and toward better acceptance of cruciferous vegetables in diet

The addition of table salt has been reported to enable better acceptance when consuming the least preferred vegetables belonging to the Cruciferae family. Considering the adverse effect of excessive table salt intake on incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, it is essential to explore an alternative healthier option for better acceptance and to encourage consumption of these vegetables. In this study, 261 adult participants were evaluated for their preferences toward basic tastes and food as well as sensory evaluation of a meal prepared from cruciferous vegetables with the addition of two different salts, sodium chloride and salt substitute containing a blend of potassium and sodium salts. A general questionnaire was used to assess taste and food preferences, while the Cruciferous Vegetable Food Frequency Questionnaire (CVFFQ) was used for vegetable intake assessment. The Labeled Magnitude Scale (LMS), Just About Right (JAR) scale, and several hedonic scales were used to determine taster status and sensory evaluation. The results show that a low concentration of the salt substitute did not impact bitterness suppression but did result in higher preference of the cruciferous vegetable meal. Although, subjects self-reported to have salty taste preferences were more sensitive to bitter taste, they did not perceive samples as less salty and less acceptable than subjects with lower sensitivity. The results show the necessity for further examination of the effectiveness of different concentrations of the assessed salt substitute in suppressing perceived bitterness of cruciferous vegetables and regarding their overall acceptance for inclusion in diets.

Simultaneous Determination of Acrylamide and Hydroxymethylfurfural in Extruded Products by LC-MS/MS Method

The aim of this study was to develop a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of acrylamide and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in corn snack products enriched with food industry by-products: brewer's spent grain (BSG), sugar beet pulp (SBP) and apple pomace (AP). Development of the method included the study of different sources for ionization, different mobile phases, different extraction conditions as well as different methods of sample preparation. Finally, the single LC-MS/MS method was developed for the analysis of both analytes in one step with a duration of 20 min using a simple single-step extraction. The method with apparent recoveries of 91.4 and 90.4 for acrylamide and HMF, respectively, was applied for the analysis of non-extruded and extruded samples. The obtained results shown that the acrylamide content was Collapse

Key Words

• LC-MS/MS method
• acrylamide
• extruded snack products
• hydroxymethylfurfural

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MESH Headings

• Acrylamide/analysis
• Beta vulgaris/chemistry
• Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
• Food Contamination/analysis
• Food Industry
• Furaldehyde/analogs & derivatives
• Furaldehyde/analysis
• Malus/chemistry
• Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods
• Zea mays/chemistry

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Grants

• 1321 Hrvatska Zaklada za Znanost

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Affiliation(s)

Antun Jozinović Faculty of Food Technology Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Franje Kuhača 20, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
Bojan Šarkanj Department of Food Technology, University Centre Koprivnica, University North, Trg dr. Žarka Dolinara 1, 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia.
Đurđica Ačkar Faculty of Food Technology Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Franje Kuhača 20, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
Jelena Panak Balentić Faculty of Food Technology Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Franje Kuhača 20, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
Domagoj Šubarić Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Tanja Cvetković Research and Development, Podravka d.d., Ante Starčevića 32, 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia.
Jasmina Ranilović Research and Development, Podravka d.d., Ante Starčevića 32, 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia.
Sunčica Guberac Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, Osijek 31000, Croatia.
Jurislav Babić Faculty of Food Technology Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Franje Kuhača 20, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.

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Influence of Dehydrated Wheat/Rice Cereal Matrices on Probiotic Activity of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12®§

Three novel dehydrated wheat/rice cereal functional products with an addition of well documented probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12® (BB-12®) were developed in Podravka factory for the infants older than 4 months: instant rice cereal, instant rice cereal with fruits and instant wheat cereal with vanilla. Notably, the number of viable BB-12® cells in each of the novel products was higher than the required minimal number of probiotic cells per gram of product (10⁶ CFU/g) during the storage period of 106 weeks. Therefore, BB-12® strain recovery and genome stability were evaluated by strain-specific polimerase chain reaction and amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting analysis. Further aim was to evaluate the influence of these three different cereal food matrices on specific probiotic properties of BB-12® strain in vitro. Applied food matrices positively influenced the survival in the simulated conditions of the gastrointestinal tract and antagonistic activity against undesirable microorganisms, while no influence on auto- and coaggregation ability of B. animalis ssp. lactis BB-12® was observed. Adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins and intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells together with antibacterial activity emphasized competitive pathogen exclusion from Caco-2 cells by probiotic strain BB-12®.

Potassium Chloride-Based Salt Substitutes: A Critical Review with a Focus on the Patent Literature

High dietary sodium intake (DSI) represents a major health-related public issue in most countries all over the world. Such a diet can lead to increased risk of hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases. This situation has resulted in important public policies for various salt reduction strategies. One of these is based on the use of salt substitutes or salts with reduced sodium content. Among several options, potassium chloride (KCl) has proved to be a key nutritional ingredient for this purpose. It provides similar properties like common salt (NaCl), but with several unwanted side effects, of which the most important have relatively offensive side tastes: bitter, acrid, and metallic. To successfully formulate KCl-based salt substitutes, numerous taste-improving agents and formulation concepts have been used. The field of salt substitutes is mainly described in the patent literature. Since patents are both scientific and legal documents, careful and critical consideration is required when using them as a source of scientific information. This review brings a deep insight into the area of KCl-based salt substitutes with a focus on the patent literature through the eyes of food science and technology. The most important classes of taste-improving agents that have been employed in numerous formulation concepts of KCl-based salt substitutes are nutritionally acceptable mineral salts; food acids, amino acids, and their nutritionally acceptable salts; simple carbohydrates and sugar substitutes; food polymers; umami ingredients; spices, vegetables, and flavors; miscellaneous taste improvers; as well as a plethora of their specific combinations. A critical review of the respective patent literature is given.

Homocysteine Levels Show Significant Differences among Mediterranean Dietary Quality Index Variables Compared to Folate and Vitamin B(12) Status in Women

Results of epidemiologic studies and clinical trials have shown that subjects following the Mediterranean diet had lower inflammatory markers such as homocysteine (Hcy). Therefore, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess female diet quality with the Mediterranean diet quality index (MDQI) and to determine the correlation between MDQI, homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 levels in the blood. The study participants were 237 apparently healthy women (96 of reproductive age and 141 postmenopausal) between 25 and 93 years. For each participant, 24-hour dietary recalls for 3 days were collected, MDQI was calculated, and plasma Hcy, serum and erythrocyte folate and vitamin B12 levels were analysed. Total MDQI ranged from 8 to 10 points, which represented a medium-poor diet for the subjects. The strength of correlation using biomarkers, regardless of group type, age, gender and other measured parameters, was ranked from best (0.11) to worst (0.52) for olive oil, fish, fruits and vegetables, grains, and meat, in this order. Hcy levels showed the best response among all markers across all groups and food types. Our study shows significant differences between variables of the MDQI and Hcy levels compared to levels of folate and vitamin B12 in participants with medium-poor diet quality, as evaluated according to MDQI scores.