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.

Effects of Growth Conditions and Cultivar on the Content and Physiochemical Properties of Arabinoxylan in Barley.

The present study aims to evaluate the effect of the growth conditions and the cultivar on the total and water-extractable (W-E) arabinoxylan (AX) in barley. For this purpose, nine barley varieties from two different years were analyzed. The total AX content ranged from 5.97 to 8.98 wt % d.m., while the W-E AX ranged from 0.06 to 0.35 wt % d.m. The W-E AX molecular properties were characterized by high-pressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC)-triple detector array (TDA). The molecular weight was between 2.3 × 105 and 12.6 × 105 Da, the polydispersity was between moderate and broad (1.1 < Mw/Mn < 4.3), and the conformation was a stiff semiflexible coil (0.5 < α < 1.3). The results indicate that the year influences the content of total AX and W-E AX and some molecular characteristics of W-E AX, such as its polydispersity and its conformation. Finally, the results demonstrated that the W-E AX can be used as an index of the malting attitude of barley because it positively correlates with germinative energy and kernel dimension.

Effect of heat- and freeze-drying treatments on phytochemical content and fatty acid profile of alfalfa and flax sprouts.

BACKGROUND: Fresh sprouts are healthy foods, low in fats and high in phytochemicals, but have a short shelf-life, hence the need for processing methods that preserve their nutritional value. This work was aimed at evaluating the effect of heat-drying (HD) and freeze-drying (FD) on the phytochemical and fatty acid profiles of alfalfa and flax sprouts, as compared to fresh material. RESULTS: Both FD and HD reduced the phytochemical contents compared to fresh sprouts. FD better preserved phytoestrogens, phytosterols and total tocols compared to HD. However, phytoestrogen and tocol content remained quite high also in HD. The fatty acid profile was affected only by sprouts species, with higher amounts of α-linolenic acid in flax and linoleic acid in alfalfa sprouts. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates that drying does not severely compromise the nutritional value of sprouts and provides a valid support for the choice of the drying method depending on the compound to be preserved, and taking into consideration the different cost of the methods. In addition, sprout powder is easy to handle and, due to its low volume, does not imply a decrease of feed consumption and energy intake, which is relevant in its use as a supplement in human and animal feeding. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Mrakia gelida in brewing process: An innovative production of low alcohol beer using a psychrophilic yeast strain.

Due to the increasing consumer demand, the production of low alcoholic and non alcoholic beer is the new goal of the present brewing producers. Although the beer with reduced alcohol content is currently obtained by physical methods, the use of non-Saccharomyces yeast, with low fermentations capacities, may represent an interesting biological approach. In this study the ethanol content and the volatile profile of a beer obtained using the basidiomycetous psychrophilic yeast strain Mrakia gelida DBVPG 5952 was compared with that produced by a commercial starter for low alcohol beers, Saccharomycodes ludwigii WSL17. The two beers were characterized by a low alcohol content (1.40% and 1.32% v/v) and by a low diacetyl production (5.04 and 5.20 µg/L). However, the organoleptic characteristics of the beer obtained using M. gelida are more appreciated by the panelists, in comparison to the analogous produced with the commercial strain of S. ludwigii.

Gluten-Free Sources of Fermentable Extract: Effect of Temperature and Germination Time on Quality Attributes of Teff [Eragrostis tef (zucc.) Trotter] Malt and Wort.

This study was conducted to evaluate the behavior of a white teff variety called Witkop during malting by using different parameters (germination temperature and duration) and to identify the best malting program. Samples were evaluated for standard quality malt and wort attributes, pasting characteristics, ß-glucan and arabinoxylan content, and sugar profile. It was concluded that malting teff at 24 °C for 6 days produced acceptable malt in terms of quality attributes and sugar profile for brewing. The main attributes were 80.4% extract, 80.9% fermentability, 1.53 mPa s viscosity, 7.4 EBC-U color, 129 mg/L FAN, and 72.1 g/L of total fermentable sugars. Statistical analysis showed that pasting characteristics of teff malt were negatively correlated with some malt quality attributes, such as extract and fermentability. Witkop teff appeared to be a promising raw material for malting and brewing. However, the small grain size may lead to difficulties in handling malting process, and a bespoke brewhouse plant should be developed for the production at industrial scale.