A Role of Multi-Omics Technologies in Sheep and Goat Meats: Progress and Way Ahead.

Sheep and goat meats are increasingly popular worldwide due to their superior nutritional properties and distinctive flavor profiles. In recent decades, substantial progress in meat science has facilitated in-depth examinations of ovine and caprine muscle development during the antemortem phase, as well as post-mortem changes influencing meat attributes. To elucidate the intrinsic molecular mechanisms and identify potential biomarkers associated with meat quality, the methodologies employed have evolved from traditional physicochemical parameters (such as color, tenderness, water holding capacity, flavor, and pH) to some cutting-edge omics technologies, including transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics approaches. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of multi-omics techniques and their applications in unraveling sheep and goat meat quality attributes. In addition, the challenges and future perspectives associated with implementing multi-omics technologies in this area of study are discussed. Multi-omics tools can contribute to deciphering the molecular mechanism responsible for the altered the meat quality of sheep and goats across transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic dimensions. The application of multi-omics technologies holds great potential in exploring and identifying biomarkers for meat quality and quality control, thereby promoting the optimization of production processes in the sheep and goat meat industry.

Sweet Taste Receptors and Associated Sweet Peptides: Insights into Structure and Function.

Long-term consumption of a high-sugar diet may contribute to the pathogenesis of several chronic diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Sweet peptides derived from a wide range of food sources can enhance sweet taste without compromising the sensory properties. Therefore, the research and application of sweet peptides are promising strategies for reducing sugar consumption. This work first outlined the necessity for global sugar reduction, followed by the introduction of sweet taste receptors and their associated transduction mechanisms. Subsequently, recent research progress in sweet peptides from different protein sources was summarized. Furthermore, the main methods for the preparation and evaluation of sweet peptides were presented. In addition, the current challenges and potential applications are also discussed. Sweet peptides can stimulate sweetness perception by binding sweet taste receptors T1R2 and T1R3 in taste buds, which is an effective strategy for reducing sugar consumption. At present, sweet peptides are mainly prepared artificially by synthesis, hydrolysis, microbial fermentation, and bioengineering strategies. Furthermore, sensory evaluation, electronic tongues, and cell models have been used to assess the sweet taste intensity. The present review can provide a theoretical reference for reducing sugar consumption with the aid of sweet peptides in the food industry.

Toward the high-efficient utilization of poultry blood: Insights into functionality, bioactivity and functional components.

A large amount of poultry blood is annually generated, and currently underutilized or largely disposed of as waste, resulting in environmental pollution and waste of protein resources. As one of the main by-products during the poultry slaughter process, the produced poultry blood can serve as a promising food ingredient due to its excellent functional properties and abundant source of essential amino acids, bioactive peptides and functional components. This work provides a comprehensive summary of recent research progress in the composition, functional and bioactive properties, as well as the functional components of poultry blood. Furthermore, the main preparation methods of poultry blood-derived peptides and their bioactivities were reviewed. In addition, their potential applications in the food industry were discussed. Overall, poultry blood is characterized by excellent functionalities, including solubility, gelation, foaming, and emulsifying properties. The major preparation methods for poultry blood-derived peptides include enzymatic hydrolysis, ultrasound-assisted enzymatic methods, macroporous adsorbent resins, and subcritical water hydrolysis. Poultry blood-derived peptides exhibit diverse bioactivities. Their metallic off-flavors and bitterness can be improved by exopeptidase treatment, Maillard reaction, and plastein reaction. In addition, poultry blood is also abundant in functional components such as hemoglobin, superoxide dismutase, immunoglobulin, and thrombin.

The potential meat flavoring generated from Maillard reaction products of wheat gluten protein hydrolysates-xylose: Impacts of different thermal treatment temperatures on flavor.

Wheat gluten protein hydrolysates were prepared by Flavourzyme, followed by xylose-induced Maillard reaction at different temperatures (80 °C, 100 °C and 120 °C). The MRPs were subjected to analysis of physicochemical characteristics, taste profile and volatile compounds. The results demonstrated that UV absorption and fluorescence intensity of MRPs significantly increased at 120 °C, suggesting formation of a large amount of Maillard reaction intermediates. Thermal degradation and cross-linking simultaneously occurred during Maillard reaction, while thermal degradation of MRPs played a more predominant role at 120 °C. MRPs exhibited high umami and low bitter taste at 120 °C, accompanied by the high content of umami amino acids and low content of bitter amino acids. Furans and furanthiols with pronounced meaty flavor served as the main volatile compounds in MRPs at 120 °C. Overall, high temperature-induced Maillard reaction of wheat gluten protein hydrolysates and xylose is a promising strategy for the generation of potential plant-based meat flavoring.

How does a celiac iceberg really float? The relationship between celiac disease and gluten.

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune intestinal disease caused by intolerance of genetically susceptible individuals after intake of gluten-containing grains (including wheat, barley, etc.) and their products. Currently, CD, with "iceberg" characteristics, affects a large population and is distributed over a wide range of individuals. This present review summarizes the latest research progress on the relationship between CD and gluten. Furthermore, the structure and function of gluten peptides related to CD, gluten detection methods, the effects of processing on gluten and gluten-free diets are emphatically reviewed. In addition, the current limitations in CD research are also discussed. The present work facilitates a comprehensive understanding of CD as well as gluten, which can provide a theoretical reference for future research.

Deep eutectic solvents as new media for green extraction of food proteins: Opportunity and challenges.

The constantly improved quality of life leads to increasing demand for high-quality food proteins. Thus, the high-efficiency extraction methods of food proteins are highly needed. However, the traditional alkali-solution and acid-isolation method employs a large amount of corrosive acid/alkaline solution, which not only pollutes the environment, but also causes denaturation of proteins. Therefore, developing a novel green extraction method is of great significance. Deep eutectic solvents (DES), characterized by good biodegradability, sustainability and low toxicity, have become a green solvent in the past years. Extraction of food proteins by DES can overcome the shortcomings of corrosive solvents (e.g. NaOH, HCl and H2SO4) used in traditional methods, making it a promising novel green extraction method. In this work, the information on DES was firstly recapped. Furthermore, the latest research progress on the extraction of food proteins by DES was emphatically reviewed. In addition, the challenges and future perspectives for DES-assisted extraction were discussed. Overall, the DES-based methods exhibit high extraction efficiency in extracting animal and plant proteins, amino acids, and enzymes, while the extracted proteins were non-denatured. However, DES-based protein extraction method still faces some challenges, such as high viscosity, poor extraction selectivity and inefficient back-extraction method. The present work can provide a theoretical reference for applying DES in the green extraction of food proteins.

Maillard reaction of food-derived peptides as a potential route to generate meat flavor compounds: A review.

Plant-based meat analogues (PBMA) are promising foods to address the global imbalance between the supply and demand for meat products caused by the increasing environmental pressures and growing human population. Given that the flavor of PBMA plays a crucial role in consumer acceptance, imparting meat-like flavor is of great significance. As a natural approach to generate meat-like flavor, the Maillard reaction involving food-derived peptides could contribute to the required flavor compounds, which has promising applications in PBMA formulations. In this review, the precursors of meat-like flavor are summarized followed by a discussion of the reactions and mechanisms responsible for generation of the flavor compounds. The preparation and analysis techniques for food-derived Maillard reacted peptides (MRPs) as well as their taste and aroma properties are discussed. In addition, the MRPs as meat flavor precursors and their potential application in the formulation of PBMA are also discussed. The present review provides a fundamental scientific information useful for the production and application of MRPs as meat flavor precursors in PBMA.

Maillard-reacted peptides from glucosamine-induced glycation exhibit a pronounced salt taste-enhancing effect.

Reducing salt intake, as one of the most cost-effective approaches, is congruent with improved population health. Grass carp skin collagen was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis and ultrafiltration, followed by glucosamine-induced Maillard reaction to prepare Maillard-reacted peptides. Their color, free amino acid and peptide size distribution were analyzed, while UV and fluorescence spectroscopy were utilized to characterize the progress of Maillard reaction. The salt taste-enhancing effect of Maillard-reacted peptides was investigated via sensory analysis and electronic tongue. LC-MS/MS was employed to analyze the glycation sites of Maillard-reacted peptides. The results indicated that the degree of Maillard reaction was relatively low, and thermal degradation and crosslinking simultaneously occurred. Maillard-reacted peptides exhibited a significant salt taste-enhancing effect, which may be attributed to the glucosamine-induced glycation confirmed by LC-MS/MS analysis. The current study provides a theoretical basis for preparation of salt taste-enhancing peptides and their future application to reduce salt content of formulated foods.

Functionality and consumer acceptability of low-fat breakfast sausages processed with non-meat ingredients of pulse derivatives.

BACKGROUND: Owing to recent changes in consumer eating behaviours as well as potential cost savings for processors, pulse ingredients are finding more application in the meat processing industry. In this study, pea ingredients (pea fibre, FB; pea starch, ST; pea flour, PF) and chickpea flour (CF) were used, at 4% addition level, as fat replacers in low-fat breakfast sausages. The impact of these substitutions on processing and sensory characteristics of breakfast sausage was evaluated. RESULTS: While reduction in fat content in breakfast sausage resulted in some detrimental changes in cooking as well as textural characteristics of the product, addition of binders significantly improved these attributes in low-fat breakfast sausages. Overall, treatment formulation did not significantly affect the pH and the instrumental colour attributes of cooked breakfast sausage. Addition of all binders resulted in reduced cooking loss and increased moisture retention in low-fat breakfast sausage (P < 0.05), whereas, FB and ST were significantly more effective in improving water holding capacity of low-fat breakfast sausage. Furthermore, while both FB and ST increased the hardness, cohesiveness and chewiness parameters of low-fat breakfast sausage (P < 0.05), PF and CF had no impact. Generally, the consumer overall liking and flavour acceptability of FB and ST in low-fat breakfast sausage were significantly higher than those of PF and CF. CONCLUSION: The use of ST or FB as a fat replacer in breakfast sausages offers processors improved cook yield without negatively impacting the important sensory attributes of breakfast sausages. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Red Beetroot Betalains: Perspectives on Extraction, Processing, and Potential Health Benefits.

In recent years, red beetroot has received a growing interest due to its abundant source of bioactive compounds, particularly betalains. Red beetroot betalains have great potential as a functional food ingredient employed in the food and medical industry due to their diverse health-promoting effects. Betalains from red beetroot are natural pigments, which mainly include either yellow-orange betaxanthins or red-violet betacyanins. However, betalains are quite sensitive toward heat, pH, light, and oxygen, which leads to the poor stability during processing and storage. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehend the impacts of the processing approaches on betalains. In this review, the effective extraction and processing methods of betalains from red beetroot were emphatically reviewed. Furthermore, a variety of recently reported bioactivities of beetroot betalains were also summarized. The present work can provide a comprehensive review on both conventional and innovative extraction techniques, processing methods, and the stability of betalains.

Maillard reaction products derived from food protein-derived peptides: insights into flavor and bioactivity.

Food protein-derived peptides serve as food ingredients that can influence flavor and bioactivity of foods. The Maillard reaction plays a crucial role in food processing and storage, and generates a wide range of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) that contribute to flavor and bioactivity of foods. Even though the reactions between proteins and carbohydrates have been extensively investigated, the modifications of food protein-derived peptides and the subsequent impacts on flavor and bioactivity of foods have not been fully elucidated. In this review, the flavor and bioactive properties of food-derived peptides are reviewed. The formation mechanisms with respect to MRPs generated from food protein-derived peptides have been discussed. The state-of-the-art studies on impacts of the Maillard reaction on flavor and bioactivity of food protein-derived peptides are also discussed. In addition, some potential negative effects of MRPs are described.

Health Risks of Food Oxidation.

The impact of dietary habits on our health is indisputable. Consumer's concern on aging and age-related diseases challenges scientists to underline the potential role of food on the extension and guarantee of lifespan and healthspan. While some dietary components and habits are generally regarded as beneficial for our health, some others are being found to exert potential toxic effects and hence, contribute to the onset of particular health disorders. Among the latter, lipid and protein oxidation products formed during food production, storage, processing, and culinary preparation have been recently identified as potentially harmful to humans. Upon intake, food components are further degraded and oxidized during the subsequent digestion phases and the pool of compounds formed in the lumen is in close contact with the lamina propria of the intestines. Some of these oxidation products have been found to promote inflammatory conditions in the gut (i.e., bowel diseases) and are also reasonably linked to the onset of carcinogenic processes. Upon intestinal uptake, some species are distributed by the bloodstream causing an increase in oxidative stress markers and impairment of certain physiological processes through alteration of specific gene expression pathways. This chapter summarizes the most recent discoveries on this topic with particular stress on challenges that we face in the near future: understanding the molecular basis of disease, the suitability of using living animals vs in vitro model systems and the necessity of using massive genomic techniques and versatile mass spectrometric technology.