Dietary Freeze-Dried Flaxseed and Alfalfa Sprouts as Additional Ingredients to Improve the Bioactive Compounds and Reduce the Cholesterol Content of Hen Eggs.

Eggs are a complete food with high-quality proteins; a 2:1 ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acid (SFA); and a good amount of minerals, as well as vitamins or antioxidant compounds. Seeds or mature plants were usually added to the feed to improve egg quality. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of alfalfa and flax freeze-dried sprouts supplementation in diets of laying hens on egg oxidative status and key bioactive compounds. Thirty Sassò hens were fed with three different diets: standard, standard + 3% freeze-dried alfalfa sprouts, or flaxseed sprouts. Ten pools of 10 egg yolks per group were collected at 0, 4, and 8 weeks and analyzed. Supplementation with sprouts enriched the phytosterols, phytoestrogens, tocols, carotenes, vitamin D, and n-3 fatty acid contents in the eggs. Cholesterol content was lower in both sprout-supplemented groups, and a decrease in its oxidative products was also observed. It was found that a 3% freeze-dried sprouts supplementation of approximately 56 days improves the egg quality. Further studies are necessary to verify higher supplementing doses and the applicability of this strategy in the commercial egg production chain.

Accelerated shelf-life model of gluten-free rusks by using oxidation indices.

The demand for gluten-free products has been growing over the last few years as is the need to improve their quality. The objective of this research was to develop a shelf life prediction model of gluten-free rusks. To this aim, a kinetic study of the primary and secondary oxidative process was run and the kinetic parameters (rate constant, activation energy, and temperature quotient) were calculated. The protective effect of the antioxidant included in the recipe was also evaluated, and the prediction model was applied to predict the shelf life of an experimental batch of gluten-free rusks with a lower content of antioxidant. The results highlighted (i) the reliability of the prediction model and (ii) the effectiveness of the antioxidant in reducing the rate of primary oxidation. Moreover, (iii) a possible hexanal threshold (lower than 121 µg/kg), correlated with rancid perception in gluten-free rusks, was also speculated.

Selenium Biofortification in Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) Sprouting: Effects on Se Yield and Nutritional Traits with Focus on Phenolic Acid Profile.

The contents of total Se and of inorganic and organic Se species, as well as the contents of proteins, chlorophylls, carotenoids, and phenolic acids, were measured in 10-day old sprouts of rice ( Oryza sativa L.) obtained with increasing levels (15, 45, 135, and 405 mg Se L-1) of sodium selenite and sodium selenate and with distilled water as control. Increasing Se levels increased organic and inorganic Se contents of sprouts, as well as the content of phenolic acids, especially in their soluble conjugated forms. Moderate levels of sodium selenite (i.e., not higher that 45 mg L-1) appeared the best compromise to obtain high Se and phenolic acid yields together with high proportion of organic Se while limiting residual Se in the germination substrate waste. Se biofortification of rice sprouts appears a feasible and efficient way to promote Se and phenolic acid intake in human diet, with well-known health benefits.

Antioxidant effects of supercritical fluid garlic extracts in sunflower oil.

BACKGROUND: Lipid oxidation causes changes in quality attributes of vegetable oils. Synthetic antioxidants have been used to preserve oils; however, there is interest in replacing them with natural ones. Garlic and its thiosulfinate compound allicin are known for their antioxidant activities. This study assesses a novel formulation, the supercritical fluid extract of garlic, on sunflower oil oxidation during an accelerated shelf-life test. RESULTS: Three quality parameters (free acidity, peroxide values, and p-anisidine values) were evaluated in each of the six oil samples. The samples included sunflower oil alone, sunflower oil supplemented with BHT, the undiluted supercritical fluid extract of garlic, and sunflower oils supplemented with three levels of garlic extract. The oils were also investigated for their antioxidant properties using the DPPH and the FRAP assays. The results were compared with the effect of the synthetic BHT. Our results underlined that the highest level of garlic extract may be superior, or at least comparable, with BHT in preserving sunflower oil. CONCLUSION: The oxidative degradation of oily samples can be limited by using supercritical fluid extract of garlic as it is a safe and an effective natural antioxidant formulation. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Fatty acids by high-performance liquid chromatography and evaporative light-scattering detector.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation method with an evaporative light-scattering detector (ELSD) has been developed for the separation and quantitative analysis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) in three different oils. Reverse-phased C18 HPLC separation of 13 FAME is achieved using a methanol/water eluent mixture. The retention times (RT) reflect the elution behavior of these compounds on C18 reversed-phase HPLC. The proposed method is tested on: soybean oil (Glycine max L.) as reference sample, rice bran oil (Oryza sativa L.), pumpkin seed oil (Cucurbita pepo L.) and algal oil (Arthrospira platensis Nordst.).