Retention of vitamin A after goat milk processing into cheese: a nutritional strategy.

The deficiency in micronutrients is a public health problem, principally in lower-middle-income countries. Vitamin A (VA) is considered a micronutrient fundamental to the maintenance and development of different tissues in the organism. Therefore, it is an essential micronutrient in the human diet. In these terms, goat milk is the leading food consumed to provide nutritional support in innumerous lower-middle-income countries. Here our work aimed to produce goat cheese studying strategies to promote the retention of VA. Our experiment design also explores the use of the salting process to evaluate the levels of VA retention. The level of VA in goat cheese was determined using LC-MS/MS analysis. Additionally, the redox status of the goat cheese in terms of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation was determined. The texture analysis was also evaluated to verify if the redox status and salting process influence the texture profile. The results showed that the salting process during goat cheese production improves the retention of VA in goat cheese. Moreover, the salting process also is related to alterations in the status redox of the goat cheese and texture parameters. Therefore, our results show that goat cheese production can be an alternative to produced dairy derivates with recognized concentrations of VA for human nutrition.

New Functional Foods with Cactus Components: Sustainable Perspectives and Future Trends.

The growing interest in a healthy lifestyle has contributed to disseminating perspectives on more sustainable natural resource management. This review describes promising aspects of using cacti in the food industry, addressing sustainable, nutritional, and functional aspects of the plant's production. Our study provides an overview of the potential of cacti for the food industry to encourage the sustainable cultivation of underutilized cactus species and their commercial exploitation. The commercial production of cacti has advantages over other agricultural practices by mitigating damage to ecosystems and encouraging migration to sustainable agriculture. The application of cactus ingredients in food development has been broad, whether in producing breads, jellies, gums, dyes, probiotics, and postbiotic and paraprobiotic foods. However, in the field of probiotic foods, future research should focus on technologies applied in processing and researching interactions between probiotics and raw materials to determine the functionality and bioactivity of products.

Microencapsulation of Cymbopogon citratus D.C. Stapf Essential Oil with Spray Drying: Development, Characterization, and Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities.

This study aimed to microencapsulate Cymbopogon citratus essential oil (CCEO) with spray drying using maltodextrin and gelatin. The effects of the operational conditions (inlet temperature (130-160 °C), CCEO concentration (5-15%), maltodextrin concentration (10-20%)) on the physicochemical stability and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the CCEO microcapsules were determined. The CCEO microencapsulation process had yield and encapsulation efficiency values varying from 31.02 to 77.53% and 15.86-61.95%, respectively. CCEO microcapsules had antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli with minimum inhibitory concentration varying from 10 to 20%, and total phenolic contents and antioxidant activities varying from 1632 to 4171.08 µg TE/g and 28.55-45.12 µg/g, respectively. CCEO microcapsules had average diameters varying from 5.10 to 10.11 µm, with spherical external structures without cracks and apparent pores. The best desirable process conditions for CCEO microencapsulation were process inlet temperature of 148 °C, maltodextrin concentration of 15%, and CCEO concentration of 10%. The results showed that CCEO microcapsules with increased stability and low degradation of active components can be prepared by spray drying using maltodextrin and gelatin with the production of microcapsules, which could be exploited as potential food preservatives.

Injectable bone substitute based on chitosan with polyethylene glycol polymeric solution and biphasic calcium phosphate microspheres.

We described a method to produce an injectable bone substitute consisting of a solid and liquid phase, this solid was formed using the coacervation method consisting of a mixture of Hydroxyapatite (HAp) and beta-Tricalcium Phosphate (ß-TCP) which the sodium alginate - precursor - was removed during sinterization. The biphasic calcium phosphate microspheres had varying size distributions depending on the flow rate and these microspheres were mixed with a polymeric solution, chitosan and polyethylene glycol, and depending on the ratio of these phases, the injectability results varied. Nonetheless, the force required for complete removal will not disrupt the accuracy of injection into the bone defect while the biomaterial exhibited no cytotoxicity with promising results from in vivo using tibia bone defect in rabbits at 30 and 60 days whereas bone repair was more intense and accentuated with the usage of the biomaterial, and was gradually absorbed during the evaluated periods.

Anti-inflammatory and antixidant properties of blend formulated with compounds of Malpighia emarginata D.C (acerola) and Camellia sinensis L. (green tea) in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages.

The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Malpighia emarginata D.C (acerola) and Camellia sinensis L. (green tea) have been studied, particularly as an alternative in medicinal approach for different physio pathological conditions. Here we develop an powder blend formulated with both Malpighia emarginata D.C and Camellia sinensis L. which have in the composition higher content of ascorbic acid and epigallatocathechin-3-gallate respectively. Using different conditions for microencapsulation of biocompounds, we performed the powder production through spray-drying process. After, we evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of blends formulated with Malpighia emarginata D.C and Camellia sinensis L. in an in vitro model of inflammation, using LPS-stimulated RAW-264.7 macrophage cell line. We observed that co-treatment with blends was able to modulate the redox parameters in cells during the in vitro inflammatory response. Moreover, the co-treatment with blends were able to modulate inflammatory response by altering the secretion of cytokines IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α. Taken together, our results demonstrate for the first time the synergistic effects antioxidant and anti-inflammatory of Malpighia emarginata D.C and Camellia sinensis L. These results warrant further use of the blend powder for use in the products to heath beneficial, principally in terms of prevention of chronic diseases.

Influence of enzymatic hydrolysis on the properties of red rice starch.

Starch is a technologically challenging polysaccharide that arouses the global interest in its modification to increase its applicability. Thus, the objective of the present work was to study the influence of enzymatic modification on the properties of red rice starch. The enzymatic modification was performed sequentially through the actions of α-amylase enzymes and amyloglucosidase using a design of experiments where several process conditions were used at sub-gelatinization temperatures. Then the native and modified starches were characterized for its physicochemical, physical, centesimal, phytochemical, morphological, and thermal properties. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the starch granules with α-amylase resulted in 4.46% hydrolysis and more 8.63% after the action amyloglucosidase. Results revealed that surface adsorption is more limiting than diffusion. The enzymatic hydrolysis process resulted in a reduction of the amylase and amylopectin content, as well as on all phytochemicals. After hydrolysis, granules starches presented surface alterations and tendency to become spherical. Small differences on crystallinity revealed that the enzymes had more influence on the amorphous fractions of the starch granules.