Influence of time-temperature in the antioxidant activity, anthocyanin and polyphenols profile, and color of Ardisia compressa K. extracts, with the addition of sucrose or citric acid.

The objective of this study was to analyze and optimize the influence of heating time and citric acid (CA) or sucrose addition of Ardisia compressa K. extracts on phenolic compounds (TPC), monomeric anthocyanins (MAA), antioxidant activity (TAC), color density (CD), and hue tint (HT), using a full factorial design. Extractions were performed: temperature (25, 50, or 70 °C), time (15, 30, 60, or 90 min), CA (0.0 or 0.02 g), and sucrose (0.0 or 5.0 g). HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS was conducted in extracts without additives and with the addition of CA (0.02 g) or sucrose (5.0 g), at 25, 50, or 70 °C for 15 min. CA-added extracts showed maximum TPC, MAA, TAC (DDPH and ABTS assays), and CD values, with the lowest HT values. Malvidin 3-O-galactoside and myricetin-O-hexoside were the predominant anthocyanin and non-anthocyanin polyphenols. Time, temperature, and solute influenced the optimized extraction of TPC, MAA, anthocyanins, TAC, CD, and HT.

Chemistry, Occurrence, Properties, Applications, and Encapsulation of Carotenoids-A Review.

Carotenoids are natural lipophilic pigments and antioxidants that are present in many fruits and vegetables. The consumption of carotenoids is correlated with positive health effects and a decreased risk of several chronic diseases. Provitamin A carotenoids (ß-carotene, α-carotene, γ-carotene, and ß-cryptoxanthin) are essential for the development and maintenance of sight. ß-carotene, α-carotene, zeaxanthin, ß-cryptoxanthin, lutein, and lycopene have high antioxidant activity and promote free radical scavenging, which helps protect against chronic diseases. However, carotenoids are chemically unstable and prone to oxidation in the presence of light, heat, oxygen, acids, and metal ions. The use of carotenoids in the food industry is limited due to their poor solubility in water, bioavailability and quick release. Encapsulation techniques, such as microencapsulation, nanoencapsulation and supercritical encapsulation, are used to overcome these problems. The objective of this paper is to describe the characteristics and potential health benefits of carotenoids and advances in encapsulation techniques for protecting and enhancing their solubility or bioavailability.

Grape Pulp Fiber as Possible Fining Agents for Red Wine.

One of the biggest problems with the use of traditional fining agents is that some of them present allergenic characteristics or are not suitable for vegan consumers due to their animal origin. An alternative to these traditional proteinaceous agents could be cell walls from grape pulp. This material could be used to modify the final phenolic concentration of a wine due to its affinity for phenolic compounds. In this study, the ability of freeze-dried grape pulp fiber, rich in pulp cell walls, to act as a fining agent was analyzed in wines from three different varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Monastrell. After the use of this material, the wine chromatic characteristics and total tannin concentration were analyzed by spectrophotometric and chromatographic techniques. In addition, the wines were contaminated with ochratoxin A and histamine to check whether this material could also be a tool for removing these wine contaminants. The pulp fiber presented a high capacity to retain phenolic compounds, especially tannins; however, there were differences depending on the studied wine. The largest reduction in tannin concentration after fining was observed when this material was used in Cabernet Sauvignon wines (23%), whereas for Monastrell wines the reduction was lower (18.3%) and even lower for Syrah wines (14.3%). This fining agent also reduced the anthocyanin concentration of the three red wines, although to a lesser extent than the reduction observed for tannins. A really interesting result was that the addition of this fining agent reduced the concentration of ochratoxin A by 50% in all the studied wines.

Carotenoids from mamey (Pouteria sapota) and carrot (Daucus carota) increase the oxidative stress resistance of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Carotenoids are natural pigments and antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables such as carrot, tomato, orange, mango, yellow corn, pumpkin, and mamey. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant potential of mamey (Pouteria sapota) carotenoids and compared them to carrot (Daucus carota) carotenoids. The carotenoids were extracted from mamey and carrot, and their antioxidant capacity were determined via in vitro (ABTS method) and in vivo assays (resistance against oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans). The carotenoid contents in mamey and carrot were 4.42 ± 0.12 and 5.47 ± 0.04 mg ß-carotene/100 g, respectively. Despite the differences between the carotenoid contents in both products (p < 0.05), the in vitro antioxidant capacity results showed no significant differences between the extracts (p > 0.05). The mamey and carrot carotenoid extracts decreased the oxidative damage in C. elegans by 20-30% and 30-40%, respectively. Both extracts increased the resistance and enhanced the survival of the nematodes, and showed better effects than pure ß-carotene, probably owing to the complex mixture in the carotenoid extracts. These results suggest that mamey is a good alternative source of carotenoids and that it protects against oxidative stress in C. elegans. The protective effect of mamey carotenoids was similar to the effect of carrot carotenoids.

The Elapsed Time between Dinner and the Midpoint of Sleep is Associated with Adiposity in Young Women.

Meal timing relative to sleep/wake schedules is relevant in the search for obesity risk factors. However, clock time does not accurately characterize the timing of food intake in the context of internal circadian timing. Therefore, we studied elapsed between dinner and the midpoint of sleep (TDM) as a practical approach to evaluate meal timing relative to internal timing, and its implications on obesity. To do so, adiposity, sleep, diet, physical activity, and TDM were measured in 133 women. The participants were grouped into four categories according to their sleep timing behavior (early-bed/early-rise; early-bed/late-rise; late-bed/early-rise; late-bed/late-rise). Differences among the categories were tested using ANOVA, while restricted cubic splines were calculated to study the association between TDM and adiposity. Our results show that, although participants had dinner at about the same time, those that had the shortest TDM (early-bed/early-rise group) were found to have significantly higher BMI and waist circumference values (2.3 kg/m2 and 5.2 cm) than the other groups. In addition, a TDM of 6 h was associated with the lowest values of adiposity. The TDM could be a practical approach to personalizing meal timing based on individual sleep/wake schedules. Thus, according to our findings, dining 6 h before the midpoint of sleep is an important finding and could be vital for future nutritional recommendations and for obesity prevention and treatment.