Aloe vera jelly dessert supplemented with Lactobacillus curvatus encapsulated in Plantago major mucilage and sodium alginate: Characterization of physicochemical, sensory properties and survivability against low pH, salt, heat, and cold storage.

The goal of this research was to assess the free Lactobacillus curvatus (FLC) and microencapsulated L. curvatus (MLC) survivability using sodium alginate and Plantago major mucilage (PMM), as a second layer to produce probiotic aloe vera jelly dessert (AVJD). To determine bead characteristics, the aspect ratio of the bead, survival in 72°C, and cold storage were assessed as well as for AVJD, survivability of probiotics in simulated gastrointestinal condition (SGIC), and storage time. The results showed that all the beads are spherical (aspect ratio = 1.12), and under heat stress conditions, MLC showed a higher survival rate (50.15%) compared to FLC (not detected after 5 min). The number of survived probiotics in the MLC sample (8.65 log CFU/mL) was higher than FLC (7.52 log CFU/g) on the 28th day. In AVJD, the MLC survived at a minimum scientific adequate number of probiotics (6.88 log CFU/mL) on the 28th day. In SGIC, the final survival rates of FLC and MLC samples were 14.24% and 71.04%, respectively. These results suggest that using alginate and PMM is a promising method to protect L. curvatus (LC) from harsh environmental conditions and in AVJD.

Improving the storage stability of tomato paste by the addition of encapsulated olive leaf phenolics and experimental growth modeling of A. flavus.

It is necessary to apply some preservatives for tomato paste since in the harvest season, a high load of tomatoes need to be processed as they are among highly perishable products. Application of antimicrobial extracts or essential oils, as natural preservatives, in their raw forms might reduce their efficiency when they are exposed to environmental conditions. However, microencapsulation is a well-known method to solve this problem. Our main goal was to restrict fungal growth rate in stored tomato paste and increase its storage stability by incorporating encapsulated olive leaf phenolic-rich extract. Total Soluble Solids (TSS), consistency, pH, color indices and diametrical growth rate of Aspergillus flavus were measured for different samples. The treatments designed in terms of considering two levels of non-encapsulated olive phenolics extract with 500 and 1000 ppm (NE500 and NE1000), the same levels with encapsulated extract; i.e., 500 and 1000 ppm (ME500 and ME1000), and similar levels of the common preservative of sodium benzoate with 500 and 1000 ppm (B500 and B1000). Antifungal properties of NE samples were higher than ME ones during storage although ME samples could maintain diametrical growth rate of the fungus more stable than NE ones. NE samples justified lower maximum growth rate than ME samples while ME samples could extend lag phase of microbial growth compared with NE one and delay their internal deteriorative reactions. Among Baranyi, modified Baranyi, Modified Gompertz, and Logistic models, Modified Gompertz model represented the best model and could fit the growth factors of A. flavus on tomato paste with higher R2 index as well as lower RMSE and SSE indices. Based on the results obtained, it could be concluded that usage of encapsulated olive leaf extract in tomato paste is an effective, natural and sustainable approach to improve the shelf life of tomato paste since this natural compound could perform as favourable as preservatives; also it could maintain physicochemical as well as microbial properties of tomato paste for a long term. Thus, it is strongly recommended that application of encapsulated olive leaf extract to be considered seriously by the tomato paste industry as it can effectively reduce the mold and fungal contaminations which are very common and prevalent in the plants. The future work in this regard should focus on sensory evaluations when incorporating encapsulated olive leaf extract into tomato paste.

Arrhenius equation modeling for the shelf life prediction of tomato paste containing a natural preservative.

BACKGROUND: The shelf life of tomato paste with microencapsulated olive leaf extract was compared with that of samples containing a commercial preservative by accelerated shelf life testing. Based on previous studies showing that olive leaf extract as a rich source of phenolic compounds can have antimicrobial properties, application of its encapsulated form to improve the storage stability of tomato paste is proposed here. RESULTS: Regarding total soluble solids, the control and the sample containing 1000 µg g-1 sodium benzoate had the lowest (Q10 = 1.63) and highest (Q10 = 1.88) sensitivity to temperature changes respectively; also, the microencapsulated sample containing 1000 µg g-1 encapsulated olive leaf extract (Q10 = 1.83) followed the sample containing 1000 µg g-1 sodium benzoate in terms of the highest kinetic rates. In the case of consistency, the lowest and highest activation energies (Ea ) corresponded to samples containing 1000 µg g-1 non-encapsulated olive leaf extract and 1000 µg g-1 microencapsulated olive leaf extract respectively. CONCLUSION: Interestingly, samples containing microencapsulated olive leaf extract could maintain the original quality of the tomato paste very well, while those with non-encapsulated olive leaf extract rated the worst performance (among all specimens) in terms of maintaining their quality indices for a long time period. Overall, the shelf life equation was able to predict the consistency index of all tomato paste samples during long-time storage with high precision. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

HE4 combined with CA125: favorable screening tool for ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most prevalent malignancies in women. Screening of the disease is done using variety of biomarkers. Diagnostic performance of current biomarkers of the disease such as human epididymis protein (HE4) and CA125 shows contradiction in previous studies. The goal of this study was to evaluate serum levels of CA125 and HE4 in Iranian patients with ovarian cancer and compare specificity and sensitivity of HE4, CA125 and HE4 + CA125 in patients with different stages and diverse histology. To evaluate CA125 and HE4, 32 patients and 34 healthy women were selected. Origin of ovarian cancer was verified by expert gynecological oncologist. Significance and diagnostic performance were determined by ANOVA and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) and areas under the curve (AUC), respectively. Serum levels of CA125 and HE4 were significantly increased in patients in comparison with control group, especially for tumor cells originated from epithelium (p < 0.001). ROC-AUC for HE4, CA125 and HE4 + CA125 were 0.91, 0.86 and 0.91, respectively. Specificity of HE4 was more than CA125 (85 vs. 80 %). Conversely, sensitivity of CA125 was higher in comparison with HE4 (90 vs. 80 %). It is being noticed that cutoff point of HE4 and CA125 was 150 pmol/L and 38 U/mL, respectively. HE4 is slightly more specific for diagnosis of early stages of the disease, but the difference is not remarkable. CA125 and HE4 + CA125 have some diagnostic performance for prediction of advanced stages. Generally, the data of present study suggest that combining of HE4 and CA125 is a better screening tool for diagnosis of ovarian cancer.