Ultrasound-Assisted Alcoholic Extraction of Lesser Mealworm Larvae Oil: Process Optimization, Physicochemical Characteristics, and Energy Consumption.

The ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of oil from lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus L.) larvae powders (LMLPs) using ethanol/isopropanol as the superior solvent was optimized. The evaluation of time (9.89−35.11 min), solvent-to-LMLPs (2.39−27.61 v/w), and temperature (16.36−83.64 °C) showed that the highest extraction efficiency (EE, 88.08%) and in vitro antioxidant activity (IVAA) of reducing power (0.651), and DPPH free-radical scavenging capacity (70.79%) were achieved at 22.5 v/w solvent-to-LMLPs and 70 °C for 22.64 min. Optimal ultrasound conditions significantly improved the EE than n-hexane extraction (60.09%) by reducing the electric energy consumption by ~18.5 times from 0.637 to 0.035 kWh/g. The oil diffusivity in ethanol-isopropanol during the UAE (0.97 × 10−9 m2/s) was much better than that of n-hexane (5.07 × 10−11 m2/s). The microstructural images confirmed the high efficiency of ethanol-isopropanol in the presence of ultrasounds to remove oil flakes from the internal and external surfaces of LMLPs. The improved IVAA was significantly associated with the total phenolic (4.306 mg GAE/g, r = 0.991) and carotenoid (0.778 mg/g, r = 0.937) contents (p < 0.01). Although there was no significant difference in the fatty acid profile between the two extracted oils, ethanol-isopropanol under sonication acceptably improved oxidative stability with lower peroxides, conjugated dienes and trienes, and free fatty acids.

Transglutaminase-Induced Free-Fat Yogurt Gels Supplemented with Tarragon Essential Oil-Loaded Nanoemulsions: Development, Optimization, Characterization, Bioactivity, and Storability.

There is a high demand for designing healthy-functional dairy gels with a newly structured protein network in the food industry. Non-fat yogurt gels enriched with stable tarragon essential oil-nanoemulsions (TEO-NEs) using crosslinking of microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) were developed. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis showed that methyl chavicol (85.66%) was the major component in TEO extracted by the hydrodistillation process. The storage-dependent droplet size and physicochemical stability data of samples at room temperature for 30 days revealed that the TEO-NE containing 0.5% tween-80 and 1:2 TEO/sunflower oil had the lowest peroxide value and droplet growth ratio. The response surface methodology-based formulation optimization of free-fat yogurt gels using MTGase (0.15-0.85 U/g) and the best TEO-NE (0.5-3.02%) using the fitted second-order polynomial models proved that the combination of 0.87% TEO-NE and 0.70 U/g MTGase led to the desired pH (4.569) and acidity (88.3% lactic acid), minimum syneresis (27.03 mL/100 g), and maximum viscosity (6.93 Pa s) and firmness (0.207 N) responses. Scanning electron microscopy images visualized that the MTGase-induced crosslinks improved the gel structure to increase the firmness and viscosity with a reduction in the syneresis rate. The optimal yogurt gel as a nutritious diet not only provided the highest organoleptic scores but also maintained its storage-related quality with the lowest mold/yeast growth and free-radical oxidation changes.

Electronic Sensor Technologies in Monitoring Quality of Tea: A Review.

Tea, after water, is the most frequently consumed beverage in the world. The fermentation of tea leaves has a pivotal role in its quality and is usually monitored using the laboratory analytical instruments and olfactory perception of tea tasters. Developing electronic sensing platforms (ESPs), in terms of an electronic nose (e-nose), electronic tongue (e-tongue), and electronic eye (e-eye) equipped with progressive data processing algorithms, not only can accurately accelerate the consumer-based sensory quality assessment of tea, but also can define new standards for this bioactive product, to meet worldwide market demand. Using the complex data sets from electronic signals integrated with multivariate statistics can, thus, contribute to quality prediction and discrimination. The latest achievements and available solutions, to solve future problems and for easy and accurate real-time analysis of the sensory-chemical properties of tea and its products, are reviewed using bio-mimicking ESPs. These advanced sensing technologies, which measure the aroma, taste, and color profiles and input the data into mathematical classification algorithms, can discriminate different teas based on their price, geographical origins, harvest, fermentation, storage times, quality grades, and adulteration ratio. Although voltammetric and fluorescent sensor arrays are emerging for designing e-tongue systems, potentiometric electrodes are more often employed to monitor the taste profiles of tea. The use of a feature-level fusion strategy can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of prediction models, accompanied by the pattern recognition associations between the sensory properties and biochemical profiles of tea.

Current emerging trends in antitumor activities of polysaccharides extracted by microwave- and ultrasound-assisted methods.

This overview highlighted the in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects of polysaccharides extracted by ultrasound- and microwave-assisted solvent extraction methods. The polysaccharide fragments with stronger antiproliferation, antitumoral, and anticarcinoma effects can be identified through purification, fractionation, and bio-analytical assessments. Most of the extracted glucan-based polysaccharides in a dose-dependent manner inhibited the growth of human cancer cell types with cell death-associated morphological changes. Glucans, glucogalactans, and pectins without any cytotoxicity on normal cells showed the antitumor potential by the apoptosis induction and the inhibition of their tumorigenesis, metastasis, and transformation. There is a significantly high association among antiproliferative activities, structural features (e.g., molecular weight, monosaccharide compositions, and contents of sulfate, selenium, and uronic acid), and other bio-functionalities (e.g., antiradical and antioxidant) of isolated polysaccharides. The evaluation of structure-activity relationships of antitumor polysaccharides is an intriguing step forward to develop highly potent anticancer pharmaceuticals and foods without any side effects.

Garlic (Allium sativum L.): a potential unique therapeutic food rich in organosulfur and flavonoid compounds to fight with COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the current major health crisis in the world. A successful strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is the improvement of nutritional pattern. Garlic is one of the most efficient natural antibiotics against the wide spectrum of viruses and bacteria. Organosulfur (e.g., allicin and alliin) and flavonoid (e.g., quercetin) compounds are responsible for immunomodulatory effects of this healthy spice. The viral replication process is accelerated with the main structural protease of SARS-CoV-2. The formation of hydrogen bonds between this serine-type protease and garlic bioactives in the active site regions inhibits the COVID-19 outbreak. The daily dietary intake of garlic and its derived-products as an adjuvant therapy may improve side effects and toxicity of the main therapeutic drugs with reducing the used dose.

Microwave-assisted extraction of polysaccharides from the marshmallow roots: Optimization, purification, structure, and bioactivity.

The process optimization and biological characterization of marshmallow root polysaccharides (MRPs) obtained from the microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) were studied. The highest MAE-yield (14.47%) was optimized at 457.32 W and 75 °C for 26 min. The extracted crude polysaccharides were purified using ion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatographies and eluted a single symmetrical narrow peak, showing a homogenous fraction (MRP-P1) with a molecular weight of 4.87 × 104 Da. The surface morphology of polysaccharides and functional groups of MRP-P1 were determined by employing scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The major monosaccharide composition of MRPs were the three monomers of rhamnose, galactose, and glucose. The antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antitumor activities were increased in a concentration-dependent manner (1.0-10.0 mg/mL). MRP-P1 exhibited a strong in vitro antiproliferative activity against lung (A549), liver (HepG2), and breast (MCF-7) cancer cells. The anticancer activity of polysaccharides extracted under optimal MAE conditions was highly associated with their antioxidant and antibacterial functions.

Ultrasound-microwave assisted extraction of pectin from fig (Ficus carica L.) skin: Optimization, characterization and bioactivity.

Four operating parameters in ultrasound-microwave assisted extraction (UMAE) process including sonication time (ST, 10-30 min), microwave power (MP, 300-600 W), irradiation time (IT, 5-15 min), and the liquid to solid ratio (LSR, 10-30 mL/g) on the extraction yield of pectin from fig skin were optimized. The yield (13.97%) of pectin with an average molecular mass of 6.89 × 103 kDa was maximized at 21.35 min ST, 580.9 W MP, 11.67 min IT, and 24.66 mL/g LSR based on a second-order polynomial model (R2 = 0.986) with a high level of significance (p < 0.0001). Field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) imaging and Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectra of the pectin extracted under optimal conditions exhibited a disintegrated network in structural morphology and the main functional groups, respectively. The extracted low-methoxyl pectin (DE = 33.65%) with high lightness contained considerable amounts of uronic acids and neutral monosaccharides (glucose, fucose, arabinose, galactose, rhamnose, and mannose). A strong dose-depended behavior for antioxidant functions and cytotoxic inhibitory activities of pectin against HepG2 and A549 cells was found.

Cellulase-assisted extraction of polysaccharides from Malva sylvestris: Process optimization and potential functionalities.

Enzyme-assisted extraction process of the water-soluble Malva sylvestris polysaccharides (MSPs) was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The highest yield (10.40%) of MSPs was achieved at 5.64% cellulase, 55.65°C temperature, 3.4h time, and 5.22 pH. Three homogeneous polysaccharide fractions (MSP-1, MSP-2, MSP-3) were purified by DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G-100 chromatography, which were composed of galactose, glucuronic acid, arabinose, rhamnose and mannose in different molar ratios with molecular weight range of 2.6×105-8.8×105Da. The fractions could significantly increase antioxidant, antitumor and antimicrobial activities in a dose-dependent pattern. MSP-2 revealed stronger antioxidant activities than MSP-1 and MSP-3, including reducing power and scavenging activity of DPPH and OH radicals. The antiproliferative activity of MSP-2 (1.0mg/mL) on the growth of A549 and HepG2 cells was 45.1% and 53.2%, respectively. The Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus PTCC 1015 and Staphylococcus aureus PTCC 1112) compared with Gram-negative ones (Escherichia coli PTCC 1763 and Salmonella typhimurium PTCC 1709) showed less sensitivity against the various MSPs (3-15mg/mL).

Effect of novel bioactive edible coatings based on jujube gum and nettle oil-loaded nanoemulsions on the shelf-life of Beluga sturgeon fillets.

Effect of jujube gum (JG; 4, 8 and 12% wt)-based nanoemulsions (NEs) containing nettle essential oil (NEO; 2, 3.5 and 5% wt) as new edible coatings was investigated to preserve Beluga sturgeon fillets (BSFs) during 15 day-refrigerated storage at 4°C. Physical (weight loss, cooking loss, color and texture), chemical (pH, FFA, PV, TBARS and TVB-N), microbiological (total and psychrotrophic bacterial counts), and sensorial characteristics of BSFs were kinetically analyzed. Preliminary studies showed that the NEs formulated with NEO lower than 5% at all JG concentrations were able to form stable coating solutions owing to the highest short-term stability (>90%) and entrapment efficiency (94.4-98.3%). Edible NE coating formulated with 12% JG and 3.5% NEO as a novel antimicrobial and antioxidant biomaterial exhibited the lowest weight and cooking losses, pH changes, textural and color deterioration, lipid oxidation and microbial growth in BSFs refrigerated over a period of 15days (P<0.05).

Canthaxanthin biosynthesis by Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1: effects of inoculation and aeration rate

The interest in production of natural colorants by microbial fermentation has been currently increased. The effects of D-glucose concentration (3.18-36.82 g/L), inoculum size (12.5 x 10(9)-49.5 x 10(9) cfu cells/mL) and air-flow rate (1.95-12.05 L/L min) on the biomass, total carotenoid and canthaxanthin (CTX) accumulation of Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1 in a batch bioreactor was scrutinized using a response surface methodology-central composite rotatable design (RSM-CCRD). Second-order polynomial models with high R² values ranging from 0.978 to 0.990 were developed for the studied responses using multiple linear regression analysis. The models showed the maximum cumulative amounts of biomass (7.85 g/L), total carotenoid (5.48 mg/L) and CTX (4.99 mg/L) could be achieved at 23.38 g/L of D-glucose, 31.2 x 10(9) cfu cells/mL of inoculation intensity and air-flow rate of 7.85 L/L min. The predicted values for optimum conditions were in good agreement with experimental data.

Determination and characterization of kernel biochemical composition and functional compounds of Persian walnut oil.

Kernel chemical composition and fatty acids profile of three walnut cultivars (Toyserkan, Chaboksar and Karaj) was analyzed. Some physicochemical properties, total phenolics content (TPC), ortho-diphenols content (ODC) and total tocopherol concentration (TTC) of extracted oils from the walnuts were also determined. The antioxidant activity of oil was measured by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity and ß-carotene bleaching assays. The analysis of chemical composition revealed that protein and dietary fiber was highest in Toyserkan cultivar. Phosphorus was the most abundant element in the walnut kernels, followed by potassium, magnesium and calcium. The linoleic acid and linolenic contents ranged from 50.15% to 51.36% and 10.48% to 12.04%, respectively. Also, the results demonstrated that acid value, saponification value and viscosity of extracted oil had significantly varied between all cultivars. The extracted oil from Chaboksar cultivar illustrated more hydro peroxides and secondary products than those obtained from other cultivars. A positive correlation was found between Rancimat values and oleic acid content (r = 0.60), but considerably negative correlation with TTC (r = -0.81) and TPC (r = -0.92). The relationship between percentage of remaining DPPH radical and ß-carotene of walnut oils showed high correlation among three selected cultivars (r = -0.94 to -0.97).