Effect of subcritical water flash release processing on buckwheat flour properties.

BACKGROUND: Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is rich in bioactive components. However, many of these components are trapped within cellular structures, making them inaccessible. Buckwheat flour was hydrothermally modified using subcritical water coupled with a flash pressure release (SCWF). The effects of the SCWF parameters (120, 140, and 160 °C and hold times of 0, 15, and 30 min) on the flour's structure, physicochemical, and functional properties were studied relative to the raw flour. RESULTS: Treatment deepened the flour color with increasing processing temperatures and hold times. Starch content remained unchanged though its granular structure was disrupted. SCWF treatments lowered total phenolic content compared with the raw flour, except for 160 °C-30 min, where total phenolic content increased by 12.7%. The corresponding antioxidant activities were found consistent with phenolic content. Soluble and insoluble dietary fiber amounts were not substantially influenced at 120 and 140 °C, whereas treatments at 160 °C (15 and 30 min hold) decreased soluble dietary fiber while increasing insoluble dietary fiber. Protein content increased 70-109% in some treatments, suggesting greater protein accessibility. Water-holding capacity significantly increased for flour treated at 120 °C, whereas only slight improvements occurred at 140 and 160 °C. CONCLUSIONS: Subcritical water flash processing can modify the compositional and functional properties of buckwheat flour depending on the choice of reaction conditions. Observed changes were consistent with alteration of the flour's cellular structure and allow some components to become more accessible. The resulting SCWF-modified buckwheat flours provide new food ingredients for potential use in ready-to-eat foods and spreads with improved health benefits. Published 2022. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Youthful and age-related matreotypes predict drugs promoting longevity.

The identification and validation of drugs that promote health during aging ("geroprotectors") are key to the retardation or prevention of chronic age-related diseases. Here, we found that most of the established pro-longevity compounds shown to extend lifespan in model organisms also alter extracellular matrix gene expression (i.e., matrisome) in human cell lines. To harness this observation, we used age-stratified human transcriptomes to define the age-related matreotype, which represents the matrisome gene expression pattern associated with age. Using a "youthful" matreotype, we screened in silico for geroprotective drug candidates. To validate drug candidates, we developed a novel tool using prolonged collagen expression as a non-invasive and in-vivo surrogate marker for Caenorhabditis elegans longevity. With this reporter, we were able to eliminate false-positive drug candidates and determine the appropriate dose for extending the lifespan of C. elegans. We improved drug uptake for one of our predicted compounds, genistein, and reconciled previous contradictory reports of its effects on longevity. We identified and validated new compounds, tretinoin, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid, for their ability to restore age-related decline of collagen homeostasis and increase lifespan. Thus, our innovative drug screening approach-employing extracellular matrix homeostasis-facilitates the discovery of pharmacological interventions promoting healthy aging.

Study on Antioxidant Activity of Amino Acids at Frying Temperatures and Their Interaction with Rosemary Extract, Green Tea Extract, and Ascorbic Acid.

Some amino acids have strong antioxidant activity in frying oil. This study aimed to obtain further information including antioxidant activity at different concentrations and interactions with rosemary extract, green tea extract, and ascorbic acid. Antioxidant activity of arginine, cysteine, lysine, methionine, and tryptophan was examined by increasing the concentration in soybean oil (SBO) at 180 °C within the concentration range of 0 to 15 mM. These amino acids showed increased activity with increasing concentration without showing prooxidant activity at the given concentration range. Addition of 15 mM methionine did not inhibit the prooxidant activity of α-tocopherol at high concentrations in SBO while it significantly increased the activity at each concentration of α-tocopherol. Methionine showed an additive effect with a commercial rosemary extract while lysine had an antagonistic interaction in SBO at the total concentration of 5.5 mM. Mixtures of green tea extract and methionine did not show better activity than methionine alone in SBO and stripped SBO. (-)-Epigallocatechin gallate, the major active component in green tea, showed a synergistic effect with methionine in stripped SBO but there was no significant interaction effect in SBO. Although ascorbic acid had a synergistic effect with methionine in stripped SBO, it showed a significant antagonistic effect in SBO. Methionine had strong antioxidant activity in six other vegetable oils showing a moderate correlation (R2 = 0.45 to 0.52) with the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids indicating the effectiveness may be related to the fatty acid composition of oil. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Some amino acid such as methionine and lysine showed stronger antioxidant activity than the leading commercial natural antioxidant, rosemary extract. These amino acids showed great potential as a natural antioxidant in frying. The price of food-grade L-methionine is generally lower than rosemary extract and green tea extract. This paper provides information on the concentration effect and interactions with currently used antioxidants such as tocopherols, rosemary extract, green tea extract, and ascorbic acid.

Enhancing antioxidant activity of sesamol at frying temperature by addition of additives through reducing volatility.

Additives were evaluated to investigate their effects on volatility of sesamol at frying temperature with the hypothesis that the interaction between an additive and sesamol would reduce sesamol volatility. Twenty-two additive : sesamol combinations were examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under nitrogen in neat form and in soybean oil. The results indicate that these additives could bind to or interact with sesamol and consequently reduced its volatility. (1) H NMR study provided evidence for hydrogen bonding between sesamol and a hydroxyl group, an amino group, and ether groups. Subsequent heating tests were conducted to investigate the effect of the reduced volatility of sesamol on antioxidant activity in soybean oil at 180 °C. Oxidation of soybean oil was monitored with gel permeation chromatography for formation of polymerized triacylglycerols and with (1) H NMR for loss of olefinic and bisallylic protons. Sesamol retained in soybean oil during the heating process was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. A strong correlation between the retained sesamol and the antioxidant activity was observed. The mixture of 830 ppm sesamol and mono-/diglycerides, polysorbate 20 or l-carnosine showed much improved antioxidant activity compared to sesamol itself and slightly better antioxidant activity than 200 ppm tert-butylhydroquinone. It is believed that this method can also be used for many other antioxidants for which volatility is a problem.

Preparation of margarines from organogels of sunflower wax and vegetable oils.

UNLABELLED: It was previously reported that sunflower wax (SW) had high potential as an organogelator for soybean oil-based margarine and spread products. In this study, 12 other vegetable oils were evaluated in a margarine formulation to test feasibility of utilization of SW as an alternative to solid fats in margarine and spread products containing these oils. The minimum quantity of SW required to form a gel with these oils ranged from 0.3% to 1.0% (wt.). Organogels were prepared from the vegetable oils with 3%, 5% and 7% SW and were tested for firmness as well as melting behaviors using differential scanning calorimetry. These organogels were also incorporated into a margarine formulation. All of the vegetable oil organogels produced relatively firm margarines. The margarines prepared from organogels containing 3% (wt.) SW had greater firmness than commercial spreads, whereas margarines made from 7% SW were softer than commercial stick margarines. However, dropping points of the margarine samples were higher than those of commercial spread and margarine products. Margarine firmness was modestly inversely correlated with the amount of polar compounds in the oils and did not correlate with fatty acid compositions. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a number of healthy vegetable oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids to make healthy margarine and spread products by utilizing SW as an organogelator. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study showed that sunflower wax could be used as an alternative to traditional solid fats for the development of new margarine and spread products from a variety of healthy vegetable oils.

Viscoelastic properties of oat ß-glucan-rich aqueous dispersions.

C-trim is a healthy food product containing soluble dietary fibre ß-glucan. The dispersion of C-trim in water is a hydrocolloid biopolymer. The linear and non-linear rheological properties of dispersions of C-trim biopolymers were investigated. The linear viscoelastic behaviours for C-trim dispersions were dependent on the ß-glucan that C-trim contained. The C-trim20 and C-trim30, which have about 20% and 30% ß-glucan, respectively, exhibited more fluid-like behaviours. The C-trim50 and C-trim95, which contain about 50% and 95% ß-glucan, respectively, showed solid viscoelastic properties. The power law model fitting, as well as spectra, for the linear dynamic frequency sweep and stress relaxation of C-trim dispersions, suggested that the C-trim dispersions were composed of physical entanglement networks instead of chemical cross ones. The non-linear steady shearing studies for C-trim dispersions indicated that all four of the C-trim dispersions exhibited shear-thinning behaviours, which could be best described by the power law model.

Utilisation of corn (Zea mays) bran and corn fiber in the production of food components.

The milling of corn for the production of food constituents results in a number of low-value co-products. Two of the major co-products produced by this operation are corn bran and corn fiber, which currently have low commercial value. This review focuses on current and prospective research surrounding the utilization of corn fiber and corn bran in the production of potentially higher-value food components. Corn bran and corn fiber contain potentially useful components that may be harvested through physical, chemical or enzymatic means for the production of food ingredients or additives, including corn fiber oil, corn fiber gum, cellulosic fiber gels, xylo-oligosaccharides and ferulic acid. Components of corn bran and corn fiber may also be converted to food chemicals such as vanillin and xylitol. Commercialization of processes for the isolation or production of food products from corn bran or corn fiber has been met with numerous technical challenges, therefore further research that improves the production of these components from corn bran or corn fiber is needed.