Fresh-Cut Eruca Sativa Treated with Plasma Activated Water (PAW): Evaluation of Antioxidant Capacity, Polyphenolic Profile and Redox Status in Caco2 Cells.

Plasma Activated Water (PAW) has recently emerged as a promising non-chemical and non-thermal technology for the microbial decontamination of food. However, its use as a replacement for conventional disinfection solutions needs further investigation, as the impact of reactive species generated by PAW on nutritional food quality, toxicology, and safety is still unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate how treatment with PAW affects the health-promoting properties of fresh-cut rocket salad (Eruca sativa). Therefore, the polyphenolic profile and antioxidant activity were evaluated by a combination of UHPLC-MS/MS and in vitro assays. Moreover, the effects of polyphenolic extracts on cell viability and oxidative status in Caco2 cells were assessed. PAW caused a slight reduction in the radical scavenging activity of the amphiphilic fraction over time but produced a positive effect on the total phenolic content, of about 70% in PAW-20, and an increase in the relative percentage (about 44-50%) of glucosinolate. Interestingly, the PAW polyphenol extract did not cause any cytotoxic effect and caused a lower imbalance in the redox status compared to an untreated sample. The obtained results support the use of PAW technology for fresh-cut vegetables to preserve their nutritional properties.

The Impact of Plasma Activated Water Treatment on the Phenolic Profile, Vitamins Content, Antioxidant and Enzymatic Activities of Rocket-Salad Leaves.

Plasma activated water (PAW) recently received much attention as an alternative food preservation method. However, its effects on food quality are still scarce. This study evaluates the effect of PAW processing time on bioactive compounds of rocket-salad leaves including: 18 phenolic compounds, vitamin C, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, and nicotinamide. Moreover, the impact of PAW on both antioxidant (DPPH) and peroxidase (POD) activities was also investigated. This was performed using HPLC-DAD, HPLC-MS/MS, and spectrophotometric analysis. All treatments induced non-significant increases in total phenolic contents. However, depending on processing time, significant increases or decreases of individual phenolic compounds were observed. PAW-10 and -20 increased the ascorbic acid content to 382.76 and 363.14 mg/100 g, respectively, compared to control (337.73 mg/100 g). Riboflavin and nicotinic acid contents were increased significantly in PAW-20 (0.53 and 1.26 mg/100), compared to control (0.32 and 0.61 mg/100 g, respectively). However, nicotinamide showed non-significant increase in all treatments. Antioxidant activity improved significantly only in PAW-20, while peroxidase activity was reduced up to 36% in the longest treatment. In conclusion, PAW treatment could be an effective technique for rocket decontamination since it positively influenced the quality of rocket, improving the retention of polyphenols and vitamins.

Innovative Non-Thermal Technologies for Recovery and Valorization of Value-Added Products from Crustacean Processing By-Products-An Opportunity for a Circular Economy Approach.

The crustacean processing industry has experienced significant growth over recent decades resulting in the production of a great number of by-products. Crustacean by-products contain several valuable components such as proteins, lipids, and carotenoids, especially astaxanthin and chitin. When isolated, these valuable compounds are characterized by bioactivities such as anti-microbial, antioxidant, and anti-cancer ones, and that could be used as nutraceutical ingredients or additives in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Different innovative non-thermal technologies have appeared as promising, safe, and efficient tools to recover these valuable compounds. This review aims at providing a summary of the main compounds that can be extracted from crustacean by-products, and of the results obtained by applying the main innovative non-thermal processes for recovering such high-value products. Moreover, from the perspective of the circular economy approach, specific case studies on some current applications of the recovered compounds in the seafood industry are presented. The extraction of valuable components from crustacean by-products, combined with the development of novel technological strategies aimed at their recovery and purification, will allow for important results related to the long-term sustainability of the seafood industry to be obtained. Furthermore, the reuse of extracted components in seafood products is an interesting strategy to increase the value of the seafood sector overall. However, to date, there are limited industrial applications for this promising approach.

Acrylamide formation and antioxidant activity in coffee during roasting - A systematic study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the coffee roasting process on both toxic and some beneficial antioxidant compounds, applying a systematic and broad approach. Arabica and Robusta green coffee beans were roasted in a lab-scale roaster for different times in order to achieve five roasting degrees (from light to dark) and to assess the evolution of acrylamide (AA), trigonelline, nicotinic acid and caffeoylquinic acids contents (determined by HPLC) as well as antioxidant activity (evaluated by Folin-Ciocalteu, FRAP, DPPH, ABTS assays). The results confirmed that the AA levels and antioxidant activity reached a maximum in the first coffee roasting degrees and then decreased prolonging the heating process, both in Arabica and Robusta samples. Nevertheless, the thermal reduction observed was greater for AA compared to antioxidant activity, which was only slightly reduced due to the balance between the degradation and the neoformation of antioxidant compounds.

Essential rosemary oil enrichment of minimally processed potatoes by vacuum-impregnation.

Vacuum impregnation (VI) has been recognized as a promising tool for the introduction of solutes into the internal structure of some porous food products. The enrichment of minimally processed potatoes with aromatic compounds could represent an interesting method for product innovation. This study was aimed at applying VI with rosemary essential oil on a minimally processed potato product in order to obtain an innovative fresh-cut potato product, and to evaluate its influence on the physico-chemical, sensorial and microbiological properties of potato sticks during refrigerated storage and after frying. A pressure of 60 mbar was applied for 30 min followed by a relaxation time at atmospheric pressure of 30 min to potato sticks immersed in rosemary oil solutions in concentration between 0 and 12%. Prepared samples were packed and stored at 4 °C for 14 days. Analytical determinations were carried out on the fresh and fried product. The weight gain of potatoes promoted by VI was in the range of 6-14%, depending on the concentration of rosemary essential oil. The rosemary essential oil concentration gradients of impregnated potato sticks were detected by GC analysis and sensorial test, evidencing their persistency during storage and after frying. The treatment seemed to improve microbiological stability, not affecting the texture, moisture, but slightly deteriorating the product color. Results obtained in the present study confirm the potentiality of VI for fresh products innovation.

Chemical and physical changes during storage of differently packed biscuits formulated with sunflower oil.

Various innovative materials are already present on the market, but there is scarce knowledge on their performances when used in real food system. In this study, two innovative packaging materials were investigated for the evaluation during storage of biscuits formulated with sunflower oil and compared to a traditional one. To this aim, three different flexible and composite film containing a metalized plastic layer and a paper layer were used. The control included orientated polypropylene (OPP), while the innovative materials contained poly-lactic acid or OPP with a pro-oxidant additive, ethylene vinyl acetate. The physical (moisture, water activity, hardness/crispness) and chemical (peroxide value, conjugated dienes and trienes, and hexanal and nonanal formation) changes of biscuits were monitored during accelerated storage (35 °C and 50% of relative humidity for 105 days). Packaging materials did not have significant impact on textural quality of biscuits. Instead remarkable differences were observed during storage in the evolution of different lipid oxidation compounds, moisture content and water activity among differently packed biscuits. A new ecofriendly packaging showed the best performances in terms of physico-chemical quality of biscuits. The obtained results provide useful information for industrial application.

The impact of gas mixtures of Argon and Nitrous oxide (N2O) on quality parameters of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) fillets during refrigerated storage.

The effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) with unconventional gas mixtures on the main qualitative parameters of sardine fillets during refrigerated storage was investigated. Four different atmospheres conditions were tested: air; 30% CO2 + 70% N2; 30% CO2 + 70% N2O and 30% CO2 + 70% Ar. All samples were packaged in polypropylene trays sealed with a high barrier film and stored at 2-4 °C for 12 days. The quality and the freshness of sardine fillets packed in MAP were evaluated by microbiological, physical and chemical analyses after 0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 12 days of the storage period. The 2-thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) values for MAP samples were lower compared to air samples, reaching a final value of 1.09 mg malonaldehyde (MA)/kg and 3.39 mg MA/kg, respectively. The samples packed in Ar reached the fixed threshold for total mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria after 12 days of storage, resulting the best MAP condition adopted, able to increase the sardine shelf-life of 3 days with respect to the other tested conditions. Air packed samples showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) Hx content (50 mg/kg) compared to the rest of the MAP samples (20 mg/kg). At the end of the storage period, the sample packed in Ar showed a significantly lower value (p < 0.05) (around 40 mg/kg), than the other MAP conditions.

Effect of Cold Plasma Treatment on the Functional Properties of Fresh-Cut Apples.

Atmospheric double-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma technology is a promising tool in the food industry as an alternative to traditional food preservation methods. However, the effect of the reactive species generated during the treatment on the content of bioactive compounds in food is still little studied, and there are no data concerning potential deleterious effects of DBD-treated foods on human cells. Some functional properties of DBD-treated minimally processed Pink Lady apples were evaluated in comparison with untreated samples through different in vitro and ex vivo tests. Plasma treatment caused only a slight reduction of antioxidant content and antioxidant capacity (up to 10%), mainly limited to the amphiphilic fraction. Noteworthy, treated apple polyphenol extracts did not reduce cell viability and did not suppress the beneficial physiological cell response to oxidative stress in terms of reactive oxygen species production and phase II enzyme activation in human cultured colonocytes.

Effect of different new packaging materials on biscuit quality during accelerated storage.

BACKGROUND: The effect of innovative multilayer packaging materials versus a standard one on biscuit quality was studied during accelerated storage at 25, 35, 45 °C and 50% relative humidity for 92 days. Three different packaging materials were used: metalized orientated polypropylene (OPP)/paper (control); metalized poly-lactic acid (PLA)/paper; metalized OPP with ethylene vinyl acetate pro-oxidant additive (EVA-POA)/paper. EVA-POA additive is used to make the plastic layer biodegradable. Various quality sample parameters (moisture, water activity (aw ), texture, peroxide value (PV), hexanal) were analysed during storage. Rate constants (k) and activation energies (Ea ) of hydration reactions and hexanal formation were calculated. RESULTS: No remarkable differences in the evolution of primary and secondary lipid oxidation were observed among differently packed biscuits during storage. All samples maintained PV levels between 4 and 14 meq O2 kg(-1) oil. The product in flexible packaging with PLA reached the highest moisture and aw levels, but they did not significantly and adversely affect the other quality characteristics. CONCLUSION: The obtained results demonstrate that the new tested packaging materials were suitable for commercial biscuit storage, having similar performance and preservation effects on the overall product quality to those of the standard one. Furthermore, these results could make a contribution to the food industry, encouraging the use of packaging materials with a negligible environmental impact as an alternative to petroleum-based ones.