Lupin as a Source of Bioactive Antioxidant Compounds for Food Products.

Four species of lupin (white lupin, yellow lupin, blue lupin and Andean lupin) are widely cropped thanks to the excellent nutritional composition of their seeds: high protein content (28-48 g/100 g); good lipid content (4.6-13.5 g/100 g, but up to 20.0 g/100 g in Andean lupin), especially unsaturated triacylglycerols; and richness in antioxidant compounds like carotenoids, tocols and phenolics. Particularly relevant is the amount of free phenolics, highly bioaccessible in the small intestine. However, the typical bitter and toxic alkaloids must be eliminated before lupin consumption, hindering its diffusion and affecting its nutritional value. This review summarises the results of recent research in lupin composition for the above-mentioned three classes of antioxidant compounds, both in non-debittered and debittered seeds. Additionally, the influence of technological processes to further increase their nutritional value as well as the effects of food manufacturing on antioxidant content were scrutinised. Lupin has been demonstrated to be an outstanding raw material source, superior to most crops and suitable for manufacturing foods with good antioxidant and nutritional properties. The bioaccessibility of lupin antioxidants after digestion of ready-to-eat products still emerges as a dearth in current research.

Antioxidant Properties of Gluten-Free Pasta Enriched with Vegetable By-Products.

The only therapy for coeliac disease patients is to completely avoid foods containing gluten, a protein complex common in several small-grain cereals. However, many alternative gluten-free foods available on the market present nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, the aim of this research was to evaluate the composition and the antioxidant properties of gluten-free pasta enriched with 10% or 15% of tomato waste or linseed meal, two food industry by-products. The traits analysed were protein, lipid, ash and fibre content, heat damage, tocols, carotenoids and phenolics composition (by HPLC), antioxidant capacity, and pasta fracturability. The enriched pastas contained more fibre and lipids than the control, while the protein and ash values were similar. The addition of tomato and linseed waste improved tocols concentration but had no effect on carotenoids content. The free soluble polyphenols increase was similar for both by-products and proportional to the enrichment percentage, while the bound insoluble polyphenols were higher in linseed-enriched pastas. The samples with linseed meal showed the greatest antioxidant capacity and, at 10% addition, the highest fracturability value. In conclusion, the addition of tomato and linseed by-products significantly increases the presence of bioactive compounds (particularly polyphenols), improving the nutritional value of gluten-free pasta.

Modification of the Nutritional Quality and Oxidative Stability of Lupin (Lupinus mutabilis Sweet) and Sacha Inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) Oil Blends.

Andean lupin (Lupinus mutabilis) oil is rich in monounsaturated (54.2%) and polyunsaturated (28.5%) fatty acids but has a ω-3:ω-6 ratio (1:9.2) above the recommended values for human health. Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) oil presents a high polyunsaturated fatty acid content (linolenic 47.2% and linoleic 34.7%), along a ω-3:ω-6 ratio (1:0.74) good for human consumption. The objective of this research was to study the physico-chemical properties and oxidative stability of tarwi and sacha inchi oil blends (1:4, 1:3, 1:1, 3:1 and 4:1 w:w) with suitable ω-3:ω-6 ratios. All blends showed ω-3:ω-6 ratios between 1:0.8 and 1:1.9, acceptable from a nutritional point of view, and high total tocopherols' content (1834-688 mg/kg), thanks to sacha inchi. The oxidative stability index (OSI) of the mixtures by the Rancimat method at 120 °C ranged from 0.46 to 8.80 h. The shelf-life of 1:1 tarwi/sacha inchi oil blend was 1.26 years; its entropy (-17.43 J/mol), enthalpy (107.04 kJ/mol), activation energy (110.24 kJ/mol) and Gibbs energy (113.76 kJ/mol) suggest low oxidation reaction rates and good stability. Hence, balanced blends of tarwi/sacha inchi oils can achieve optimal nutritional properties and enhanced shelf-life.

Antioxidants of Amaranth, Quinoa and Buckwheat Wholemeals and Heat-Damage Development in Pseudocereal-Enriched Einkorn Water Biscuits.

A viable approach to improve the nutritional quality of cereal-based foods is their enrichment with pseudocereals. The aim of this research was to evaluate the antioxidant properties of amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat, and the heat damage of water biscuits (WB) produced from either wholemeal or refined flour of einkorn and enriched with 50% buckwheat, amaranth or quinoa wholemeal. Buckwheat had the highest tocols content (86.2 mg/kg), and einkorn the most carotenoids (5.6 mg/kg). Conjugated phenolics concentration was highest in buckwheat (230.2 mg/kg) and quinoa (218.6 mg/kg), while bound phenolics content was greatest in einkorn (712.5 mg/kg) and bread wheat (675.7 mg/kg). The all-wholemeal WB had greater heat damage than those containing refined flour (furosine: 251.5 vs. 235.8 mg/100 g protein; glucosylisomaltol: 1.0 vs. 0.6 mg/kg DM; hydroxymethylfurfural: 4.3 vs. 2.8 mg/kg DM; furfural: 8.6 vs. 4.8 mg/kg DM). The 100% bread wheat and einkorn wholemeal WB showed greater heat damage than the WB with pseudocereals (furfural, 9.2 vs. 5.1 mg/kg; glucosylisomaltol 1.1 vs. 0.7 mg/kg). Despite a superior lysine loss, the amino-acid profile of the pseudocereals-enriched WB remained more balanced compared to that of the wheats WB.

Changes in stability, tocopherols, fatty acids and antioxidant capacity of sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) oil during French fries deep-frying.

Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) oil (SI) is appreciated for its nutritional and sensorial characteristics. The aim of this study was to evaluate SI changes during French fries deep-frying at 170 °C or 180 °C up to 119 and 50 min, respectively; commercial soybean oil (SO) was tested as control. SI had high α-linolenic acid (53.8%), linoleic acid (33.4%) and total tocopherols (2540.1 mg/kg). During frying tocopherol content, oil stability and antioxidant capacity (ABTS, DPPH) decreased following zero-order kinetics; γ-tocopherol showed the strongest decrease. Notwithstanding the high SI unsaturation and the commercial antioxidant (TBHQ) in SO, SI showed slightly higher or similar hydrolysis (free fatty acids and diacylglycerols), similar primary (K232, oxidized-triacylglycerols) and lower secondary (K268, triacylglycerol oligopolymers) oxidation. Because of the high tocopherol content, SI showed lower degradation than SO. Thus, SI is suitable for short-term deep-frying; additionally, it may enhance the nutritional value and the flavour of fried foods.

Influence of apple peel powder addition on the physico-chemical characteristics and nutritional quality of bread wheat cookies.

Apple peel, a food industry by-product, is rich in fibre, polyphenols and minerals, and is a potentially attractive ingredient for bakery products. To evaluate the effect of wheat cookies enrichment with apple peel powder six types of cookies with increasing apple peel powder percentage (0%, 4%, 8%, 16%, 24% and 32%) were produced. The traits analysed were: pasting parameters; chemical properties (moisture, ash, lipid, protein, fibre and total polyphenols content); antioxidant capacity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and ferric reducing antioxidant power methods); physical attributes (width, thickness, volume and CIE lab colour); and sensory characteristics (external appearance, internal structure, texture, odour, taste and aroma). Statistical analysis included analysis of variance followed by Fisher's least significant difference test (p < 0.05). The apple peel powder-enriched cookies had significantly higher moisture, ash, lipid, fibre, total polyphenols and antioxidant capacity than the control bread wheat cookies. The addition of apple peel powder did not modify the physical characteristics and improved the sensorial quality of the products. The addition of 24% apple peel powder gave the cookies with the best overall quality.

Microencapsulates and extracts from red beetroot pomace modify antioxidant capacity, heat damage and colour of pseudocereals-enriched einkorn water biscuits.

Cereals supply humankind with carbohydrates, proteins and several health-enhancing compounds, including antioxidants. Pomace, a by-product of beetroot juice preparation, is rich in antioxidants (phenolic compounds and betalains). The aim of this work was to study the effect of pomace extract addition, either pure or microencapsulated, on antioxidant properties, heat damage and colour of einkorn water biscuits enriched with pseudocereals. Pomace extract addition had different effects on total polyphenol contents and antioxidant capacity (FRAP and ABTS) in diverse blends. In bread, wheat and einkorn matrices, a significant increase was observed, while in pseudocereals-enriched blends, richer in antioxidants, only microencapsulation improved their content. Pomace extract addition led to furosine reduction and hydroxymethylfurfural increase. Microencapsulate-enriched WB were richest in betanin, isobetanin, total phenolics and antioxidant capacity. In conclusion, pomace extracts, by-products of juice manufacturing, significantly improve some nutritional characteristics of baked products, especially when conveyed as microencapsulates.

Bioactive compounds and antioxidant properties of pseudocereals-enriched water biscuits and their in vitro digestates.

Carotenoids, tocols, phenolic acids and antioxidant capacity were studied during in vitro digestion of water biscuits (WB) from bread wheat, einkorn and einkorn-pseudocereals. Antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of digestates were also measured using a 70% Caco2/30% HT-29 human intestinal co-culture layer. Antioxidant profiles differed among WB formulations. Only hydrophilic molecules were solubilised by gastric digestion. After intestinal digestion, 77% carotenoids and 67% tocols were released. Soluble-conjugated phenolic acids increased (30%) and insoluble-bound forms decreased (17%), suggesting partial conversion from bound to conjugated form. After intestinal digestion, antioxidant capacity increased regardless of type and amount of antioxidants in undigested or digested WB. All WB, especially those with quinoa flour, reduced the AAPH pro-oxidant capacity in co-culture cells. These results highlight the potential health benefits of underutilized crops and the need for in vitro or in vivo models to better address potential bioactivity at intestinal and target organs level.

Influence of water biscuit processing and kernel puffing on the phenolic acid content and the antioxidant activity of einkorn and bread wheat.

The whole meal flour of wheat is rich in phenolic acids, which provide a relevant antioxidant activity to food products. Aim of this research was to assess the influence of processing on phenolic acid content and antioxidant activity of whole meal flour water biscuits and puffed kernels of einkorn and bread wheat. To this end, the evolution of syringaldehyde, ferulic, vanillic, syringic, p-coumaric, p-hydroxybenzoic, and caffeic acids was studied during manufacturing. Overall, from flour to water biscuit, the total soluble conjugated phenolic acids increased slightly in einkorn, while the insoluble bound phenolic acids decreased in all the accessions as a consequence of losses during the mixing step. In the puffed kernels, instead, the total soluble conjugated phenolic acids increased markedly, while the bound phenolics did not show any clear change, evidencing their high thermal stability. The antioxidant activity, measured by FRAP and ABTS, increased during processing and was highest under the most drastic puffing conditions.

Nutritional properties of einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.).

The hulled wheat einkorn (Triticum monococcum L. ssp. monococcum), a staple food of early farmers for many thousand years, today is cropped only in small areas of the Mediterranean region and continental Europe. Increasing attention to the nutritional quality of foods has fostered renewed interest in this low-impact crop. The reappraisal of einkorn quality evidenced that this ancient wheat has some dietary advantages over polyploid wheats. Einkorn wholemeal is poor in dietary fibre but rich in proteins, lipids (mostly unsaturated fatty acids), fructans and trace elements (including zinc and iron). The good concentration of several antioxidant compounds (carotenoids, tocols, conjugated polyphenols, alkylresorcinols and phytosterols) and low ß-amylase and lipoxygenase activities (which limit antioxidant degradation during food processing) contribute to the excellent nutritional properties of its flour, superior to those of other wheats. Conversely, einkorn has relatively low bound polyphenol content and high polyphenol oxidase activity. In spite of eliciting weaker toxic reactions than other Triticum species, einkorn is not suitable for coeliacs. Current trends towards the consumption of functional foods suggest that this cereal may still play a significant role in human consumption, especially in the development of new or special foods with superior nutritional quality.

A catalogue of Triticum monococcum genes encoding toxic and immunogenic peptides for celiac disease patients.

The celiac disease (CD) is an inflammatory condition characterized by injury to the lining of the small-intestine on exposure to the gluten of wheat, barley and rye. The involvement of gluten in the CD syndrome has been studied in detail in bread wheat, where a set of "toxic" and "immunogenic" peptides has been defined. For wheat diploid species, information on CD epitopes is poor. In the present paper, we have adopted a genomic approach in order to understand the potential CD danger represented by storage proteins in diploid wheat and sequenced a sufficiently large number of cDNA clones related to storage protein genes of Triticum monococcum. Four bona fide toxic peptides and 13 immunogenic peptides were found. All the classes of storage proteins were shown to contain harmful sequences. The major conclusion is that einkorn has the full potential to induce the CD syndrome, as already evident for polyploid wheats. In addition, a complete overview of the storage protein gene arsenal in T. monococcum is provided, including a full-length HMW x-type sequence and two partial HMW y-type sequences.

Genetics and geography of wild cereal domestication in the near east.

About 12,000 years ago, humans began the transition from hunter-gathering to a sedentary, agriculture-based society. From its origins in the Near East, farming expanded throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, together with various domesticated plants and animals. Where, how and why agriculture originated is still debated. But newer findings, on the basis of genome-wide measures of genetic similarity, have traced the origins of some domesticated cereals to wild populations of naturally occurring grasses that persist in the Near East. A better understanding of the genetic differences between wild grasses and domesticated crops adds important facets to the continuing debate on the origin of Western agriculture and the societies to which it gave rise.