Spicy and Aromatic Plants.

The purpose of this Special Issue entitled "Spicy and Aromatic Plants" is to expand our knowledge about edible plants, which have been used for thousands of years, by all the peoples of the world, in every household [...].

Evaluation of Structural Behavior in the Process Dynamics of Oleogel-Based Tender Dough Products.

The current trend is represented by replacing solid fats with structured liquid oil while maintaining the plastic properties of food products. In this study, the behavior of refined sunflower oil structured with various agents (carnauba wax-CRW, ß-sitosterol:beeswax-BS:BW, ß-sitosterol:lecithin-BS:LEC, and glycerol monostearate-GM) was evaluated in the process dynamics of oleogel-based tender dough products. The oleogel with the mixture of ß-sitosterol:beeswax (OG_BS:BW) displayed the highest capacity to retain oil inside the matrix with a percentage of oil loss as low as 0.05% and also had a significantly higher hardness (6.37 N) than the reference, a commercial margarine (MR-3.58 N). During cooling from 90 to 4 °C, the increase in oleogel' viscosity results from oleogelator's liquid-solid phase transition. As demonstrated by the frequency sweeps performed, storage modulus G' was higher than loss modulus G″, no cross-over points were observed, and the strongest gel network was for the oleogel with glycerol monostearate (OG_GM). Regarding the dough, the sample prepared using the oleogel with carnauba wax (D_CRW) showed the strongest hardness (92.49 N) compared to the reference (D_MR-21.80 N). All the oleogel-containing doughs had elastic solid-like behavior. The samples with margarine (D_MR) and the mixture of ß-sitosterol:lecithin (D_BS:LEC) presented the lowest value of both moduli of G' and G" during the frequency sweep. The biscuits formulated with commercial margarine (B_MR) registered a hardness of 28.74 N. Samples with oleogels showed a specific tenderness for tender dough products, thus being suitable for this type of product (11.22-20.97 N).

Cytotoxicity Evaluation and Antioxidant Activity of a Novel Drink Based on Roasted Avocado Seed Powder.

The avocado seed is an underused waste resulting from the processing of pulp. Polyphenols, fibers, and carotenoids are present in the seed, which also exhibits prophylactic, fungicidal, and larvicidal effects. Developing food products with avocado seed as an ingredient or spice is highly desired for nutritional, environmental, and economic reasons. The present study proposed its valorization in a hot drink, similar to already existing coffee alternatives, obtained by infusing the roasted and grinded avocado seed. The proximate composition of the raw or conditioned avocado seed and that of the novel drink were determined. The total phenolic content was assessed using the Folin-Ciocâlteu method. The total carotenoids were extracted and assessed spectrophotometrically. Starch determination was performed by the Ewers Polarimetric method. The highest content of polyphenols, 772.90 mg GAE/100 g, was determined in the crude seed, while in the drink was as low as 17.55 mg GAE/100 g. However, the proposed drink demonstrated high antioxidant capacity, evaluated through the DPPH method. This might be due to the high content of the total carotenoid compounds determined in the roasted seed (6534.48 µg/100 g). The proposed drink demonstrated high antiproliferative activity on Hs27 and DLD-1 cell lines.