Nutritional, antioxidant, and antimicrobial assessment of carrot powder and its application as a functional ingredient in probiotic soft cheese.

Carrots (the main source of carotenoids) have multiple nutritional and health benefits. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the compositional, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of carrot powder and to examine its effect on the sensory characteristics, chemical properties, and microbial viability of probiotic soft cheese at a rate of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6%. The carrot was turned into powder before being analyzed and incorporated as an ingredient in making probiotic soft cheese. Probiotic soft cheese was made from buffalo milk. The buffalo milk (∼6.9% fat, 4.4% protein, 9.2% milk solids not fat, and 0.7% ash) was pasteurized at 75 ± 1°C for 5 min and cooled to 40-42°C. The milk was then divided into 4 aliquots. Sodium chloride (local market, Assiut, Egypt) was added at a ratio of 5% followed by starter cultures. The carrot powder (4.5% moisture, 4.8% ash, 2.7% fat, 8.2% protein, 11.9% fibers, and 72.3% carbohydrate) was added at a rate of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6%, followed by addition of 0.02 g/kg rennet. The cheese was cut again into cubes, pickled in jars filled with whey, and stored for 28 d at 6 ± 1°C. The results of this study illustrated the nutritional and antioxidant properties of carrot powder. Incorporation of carrot powder in probiotic soft cheese affected the moisture and salt content at 0 d. The total bacteria count decreased from 7.5 to 7.3 log cfu/g in the cheese when carrot powder was used at a rate of 0.6%. The reduction of total bacteria count was noticed during the 28 d of storage by adding carrot powder. Furthermore, lactic acid bacteria and Bifidobacterium longum counts elevated with adding carrot powder during the 28 d of storage.

Using Rosemary Essential Oil as a Potential Natural Preservative during Stirred-like Yogurt Making.

The popularity of rosemary has grown as a natural alternative over the synthetic supplements due to its potential health benefits. The rosemary plant has been utilized to preserve food due to its ability to prevent oxidation and microbial contamination. The reason for this study was to determine the phytochemical components and antimicrobial activity of rosemary essential oil (REO) and the effect of REO addition (0.5 and 0.7%) on the chemical, microbiological, and sensory properties of stirred-like yogurt (SLY) during 16 days of storage at 4 °C. The obtained data observed that REO exhibited antimicrobial action against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella marcescens, as well as fungi (Aspergillus flavus) and yeasts (Candida albicans). Increased REO to 0.7% accelerated (p < 0.05) the development of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in SLY (8.3 log cfu/g) and delayed yeast growth up to 12 days. Molds and coliforms were also not found in the SLY samples with REO. In comparison to control samples, sensory results showed that the addition of REO improves the overall acceptance of SLY (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the current study found that REO could be used as a natural preservative during the production of SLY to extend shelf-life and promote LAB development.

Nutraceutical potential of mushroom bioactive metabolites and their food functionality.

Numerous mushroom bioactive metabolites, including polysaccharides, eritadenine, lignin, chitosan, mevinolin, and astrakurkurone have been studied in life-threatening conditions and diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular, hypertension, cancer, DNA damage, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity attempting to identify natural therapies. These bioactive metabolites have shown potential as antiviral and immune system strengthener natural agents through diverse cellular and physiological pathways modulation with no toxicity evidence, widely available, and inexpensive. In light of the emerging literature, this paper compiles the most recent information describing the molecular mechanisms that underlie the nutraceutical potentials of these mushroom metabolites suggesting their effectiveness if combined with existing drug therapies while discussing the food functionality of mushrooms. The findings raise hope that these mushroom bioactive metabolites may be utilized as natural therapies considering their therapeutic potential while anticipating further research designing clinical trials and developing new drug therapies while encouraging their consumption as a natural adjuvant in preventing and controlling life-threatening conditions and diseases. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Diabetes, cardiovascular, hypertension, cancer, DNA damage, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity are among the world's largest life-threatening conditions and diseases. Several mushroom bioactive compounds, including polysaccharides, eritadenine, lignin, chitosan, mevinolin, and astrakurkurone have been found potential in tackling these diseases through diverse cellular and physiological pathways modulation with no toxicity evidence, suggesting their use as nutraceutical foods in preventing and controlling these life-threatening conditions and diseases.

Effect of fat extraction methods on the fatty acids composition of bovine milk using gas chromatography.

Milk fat is a complex natural fat and contains around 400 fatty acids. The objectives of this study were to extract fat from bovine milk using two different methods, including Bligh and Dyer and Mojonnier, and to determine the fatty acid content in the extracted fats using gas chromatography (GC). No differences (p > .05) were detected in the fat content and fatty acids content as a percentage of total fat (FA%TF) extracted using both methods. No differences (p > .05) were detected in some saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and unsaturated fatty acids (USFAs) extracted from both methods, such as C11:0 (undecylic acid), C16:0 (palmitic acid), C18:0 (stearic acid), C14:1 (myristoleic acid), and C16:1 (palmitoleic acid). However, the majority of SFAs were different (p < .05) in Mojonnier method as compared to Bligh and Dyer method and vice versa for USFAs. The short (6.54% vs. 5.95%) and medium (21.86% vs. 20.73%) chains FAs determined by GC were high in Mojonnier fat as compared to Bligh and Dyer fat, while the long-chain FAs were higher in the last (66.61%) relative to Mojonnier fat (65.51%). This study found that Mojonneir method has resulted in fewer errors. In contrast, the Bligh and Dyer extraction method has more experimental error, which led to decreasing the total fat, as well as was not able to detect C9:0.