Wood hemicelluloses as effective wall materials for spray-dried microcapsulation of polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich oils.

The most commonly-used and effective wall materials (WMs) for spray-dried microencapsulation of bioactive compounds are either costly, or derived from unsustainable sources, which lead to an increasing demand for alternatives derived from sustainable and natural sources, with low calories and low cost. Wood hemicelluloses obtained from by-products of forest industries appear to be attractive alternatives as they have been reported to have good emulsifying properties, low viscosity at high concentrations, high heat stability and low heat transfer. Here, we investigated the applicability of spruce galactoglucomannans (GGM) and birch glucuronoxylans (GX), to encapsulate flaxseed oil (FO, polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich plant based oil) by spray drying; and the results were compared to those of the highly effective WM, gum Arabic (GA). It was found that depending on solid ratios of WM:FO (1:1, 3:1 and 5:1), encapsulation efficiency of GGM was 88-96%, and GX was 63-98%. At the same encapsulation ratio, both GGM and GX had higher encapsulation efficiency than GA (49-92%) due to their ability to produce feed emulsions with a smaller oil droplet size and higher physical stability. In addition, the presence of phenolic residues in GGM and GX powders enabled them to have a greater ability to protect oil from oxidation during spray drying than GA. Physiochemical properties of encapsulated powders including thermal properties, morphology, molecular structure, particle size and water adsorption intake are also investigated. The study has explored a new value-added proposition for wood hemicelluloses which can be used as effective WMs in the production of microcapsules of polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich oils for healthy and functional products in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Polysaccharides as wall materials in spray-dried microencapsulation of bioactive compounds: Physicochemical properties and characterization.

Natural bioactive compounds (BCs) are types of chemicals found in plants and certain foods that promote good health, however they are sensitive to processing and environmental conditions. Microencapsulation by spray drying is a widely used and cost-effective approach to create a coating layer to surround and protect BCs and control their release, enabling the production of high functional products/ingredients with extended shelf life. In this process, wall materials determine protection efficiency, and physical properties, bioavailability, and storage stability of microencapsulated products. Therefore, an understanding of physicochemical properties of wall materials is essential for the successful and effective spray-dried microencapsulation process. Typically, polysaccharide-based wall materials are generated from more sustainable sources and have a wider range of physicochemical properties and applications compared to their protein-based counterparts. In this review, we highlight the essential physicochemical properties of polysaccharide-based wall materials for spray-dried microencapsulation of BCs including solubility, thermal stability, and emulsifying properties, rheological and film forming properties. We provide further insight into possibilities for the chemical structure modification of native wall materials and their controlled release behaviors. Finally, we summarize the most recent studies involving polysaccharide biopolymers as wall materials and/or emulsifiers in spray-dried microencapsulation of BCs.

Intestinal Microbiome in Preterm Infants Influenced by Enteral Iron Dosing.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to compare the intestinal microbiome in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants who received different enteral iron supplementation (EIS) doses. STUDY DESIGN: Longitudinal stool collection in 80 VLBW infants were conducted up to 2 months postnatally in a prospective study. The 16S rRNA regions V4 was used to calculate microbiome compositions and the Piphillin software was used for bacterial functional prediction. Linear mixed effect models and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were performed to examine the relationships between initial EIS dosage and stool microbiome and bacterial functional potential. RESULTS: There were 105 samples collected before and 237 collected after EIS started from infants with birth gestational age and weight of 28.1 ±â€Š2.4 weeks and 1103 ±â€Š210 g, respectively. The average postnatal age at start of EIS was 17.9 ±â€Š6.9 days and the average initial EIS dose was 4.8 ±â€Š1.1 mg ·â€Škg-1 ·â€Šday-1. Infants who were started on ≥6 mg ·â€Škg-1 ·â€Šday-1 had higher abundances of Proteus and Bifidobacterium and a lower alpha diversity than those started on lower doses (P < 0.05). Infants given higher EIS doses had higher bacterial predicted functional potentials for ferroptosis and epithelial invasion after 2 weeks post EIS. CONCLUSIONS: Higher EIS dosage is linked to higher abundances of Proteus and Bifidobacterium, and a less diverse microbiome and higher predicted potential of bacterial epithelial invasion. These observational findings should be further studied in a randomized study to elucidate the optimal dosage of EIS in VLBW infants.

Predicted Metabolic Pathway Distributions in Stool Bacteria in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants: Potential Relationships with NICU Faltered Growth.

Many very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants experience growth faltering in early life despite adequate nutrition. Early growth patterns can affect later neurodevelopmental and anthropometric potentials. The role of the dysbiotic gut microbiome in VLBW infant growth is unknown. Eighty-four VLBW infants were followed for six weeks after birth with weekly stool collection. DNA was extracted from samples and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced with Illumina MiSeq. A similar microbiota database from full-term infants was used for comparing gut microbiome and predicted metabolic pathways. The class Gammaproteobacteria increased or remained consistent over time in VLBW infants. Out of 228 metabolic pathways that were significantly different between term and VLBW infants, 133 pathways were significantly lower in VLBW infants. Major metabolic differences in their gut microbiome included pathways involved in decreased glycan biosynthesis and metabolism, reduced biosynthetic capacity, interrupted amino acid metabolism, changes that could result in increased infection susceptibility, and many other system deficiencies. Our study reveals poor postnatal growth in a VLBW cohort who had dysbiotic gut microbiota and differences in predicted metabolic pathways compared to term infants. The gut microbiota in VLBW infants likely plays an important role in postnatal growth.

Encapsulation of tea tree oil by amorphous beta-cyclodextrin powder.

An innovative method to encapsulate tea tree oil (TTO) by direct complexation with solid amorphous beta-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) was investigated. A ß-CD to TTO ratio of 90.5:9.5 (104.9mg TTO/g ß-CD) was used in all complexation methods. The encapsulation was performed by direct mixing, and direct mixing was followed by the addition of water (13-17% moisture content, MC) or absolute ethanol (1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4 TTO:ethanol). The direct mixing method complexed the lowest amount of TTO (60.77mg TTO/g ß-CD). Powder recrystallized using 17% MC included 99.63mg of TTO/g ß-CD. The addition of ethanol at 1:2 and 1:3 TTO:ethanol ratios resulted in the inclusion of 94.3 and 98.45mg of TTO/g ß-CD respectively, which was similar to that of TTO encapsulated in the conventional paste method (95.56mg TTO/g ß-CD), suggesting an effective solid encapsulation method. The XRD and DSC results indicated that the amorphous TTO-ß-CD complex was crystallized by the addition of water and ethanol.

A design-of-experiments approach for the optimization and understanding of the cross-metathesis reaction of methyl ricinoleate with methyl acrylate.

A design-of-experiments approach for the investigation of the cross-metathesis of methyl ricinoleate with methyl acrylate is described. Two second-generation metathesis initiators were studied using different reaction conditions, revealing optimal reaction conditions for each catalyst. Interestingly, the two catalysts showed completely different temperature response profiles. As a result of these investigations, suitable reaction conditions for the sustainable production of two value-added chemical intermediates were derived. Moreover, the design-of-experiments approach provided valuable information for a thorough understanding of catalytic reactions that would be more difficult to obtain by classic approaches.