Evaluation of the physical, antioxidant, and organoleptic properties of biscuits fortified with edible flower powders.

Foods enriched with plants have gradually become an area of increasing research interest because plant ingredients may offer several positive effects on human health and the body. The aim of our study was to develop biscuits fortified with three different types of edible flowers (marigold, lavender, and rose) and examine their physical and antioxidant characteristics, as well as consumer acceptability. The antioxidant properties and characterization of biscuits highlighted that edible flowers may cause increased total polyphenol and total flavonoid yields, as well as DPPH radical scavenging activities. Concerning biscuits fortified with rose petals, the total monomer anthocyanin content was also raised. In addition, the results showed that the antioxidant properties of biscuits increased with increasing concentration (from 2.5% to 5.0%) of edible flowers. Despite this, the consumer acceptability results clearly showed that the addition of marigold and lavender at a concentration of 5.0% caused significantly decreased overall acceptance. We found that the fortification step may increase the spread ratio, which is an important quality attribute of biscuits. We found slight variations in the diameter, thickness, and baking loss parameters of fortified biscuits compared to the control. All in all, the best results were obtained when the biscuits were fortified with rose petals at a concentration of 5%.

Wild Blackberry Fruit (Rubus fruticosus L.) as Potential Functional Ingredient in Food: Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Optimization, Ripening Period Evaluation, Application in Muffin, and Consumer Acceptance.

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the antioxidant properties of wild blackberry fruits as well as their possible use in powdered form as a functional ingredient. For this, ultrasound-assisted extraction optimization, ripening stage evaluation, and wild blackberry powder incorporation into a real food matrix were applied. The optimum conditions for extraction were as follows: 60% MeOH, 20 min of extraction time, acidification with 0.5% HCl, and a 1:40 g/mL solid-to-solvent ratio, which allowed the following yields: total polyphenol content (TPC): 53.8 mg GAE/g; total flavonoid content (TFC): 5.78 mg QE/g; total monomer anthocyanin content (TMA): 11.2 mg CGE/g; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (DPPH): 71.5 mg AAE/g; IC50: 52.3 µg/mL. The study also highlighted that, during the ripening process, the TPC (41.4%), TFC (17.0%), and DPPH levels (66.4%) of the fruits decreased while the TMA yield increased. The incorporation of blackberry powder at different levels (5-20%) increased the TPC, TFC, TMA, and antioxidant properties of muffins. Although the muffins enriched with 20% wild blackberry powder had the best chemical properties (TPC: 3.15 mg GAE/g; TFC: 0.52 mg QE/g; TMA: 0.23 mg CGE/g; DPPH: 1.70 mg AAE/g; IC50: 1.65 mg/mL), the sensory analysis showed that the addition of blackberry fruit at a concentration of 10% to the muffins resulted in the best consumer acceptability.

Increasing the functionality of sponge cakes by mint, and cocoa powder addition.

While sponge cake is one of the most well-liked cookies in the world, mint and cocoa have both been shown to be excellent sources of antioxidant compounds. Therefore, the aim of the study was to create functional sponge cakes with the addition of Dutch cocoa powder and different types of mint, with proven increased total antioxidant and polyphenol content. Additionally, made an effort to produce functional sponge cakes enhanced with cocoa powder and dried, ground mint leaves. To accomplish this, the cakes with cocoa addition were also added 1, 3, and 5% of the ground mint variety, and then the changes in their antioxidant and polyphenol content were assessed. To prove the functionality of cakes, total polyphenol content was detected by Folin-Ciocalteu, while all antioxidant content was measured by the FRAP method. The spectrophotometric analysis supported the functionality of sponge cakes and the baking losses of identified components. The total polyphenol content of baked goods ranged from 1.37 to 1.66 mg GAE/g for peppermint cakes, from 1.66 to 1.87 mg GAE/g for spearmint cakes, and from 1.20 to 1.68 mg GAE/g for strawberry mint sponge cakes. The total antioxidant content of the functional cakes changed between 1.84 and 2.82 mg AAE/g for peppermint cakes, from 1.84 to 4.00 mg AAE/g for spearmint cakes, and from 1.56 to 2.94 mg GAE/g for strawberry mint sponge cakes. The natural control samples, and control sponge cakes made without mint addition with only cocoa powder always had lower levels of polyphenols and antioxidants. All samples had baking loss (control samples had the highest in all cases), but strawberry mint samples had the least of it when it came to antioxidant content and spearmint samples had the least in the case of polyphenol content. Overall, mints and Dutch cocoa powder are appropriate for the production of functional bakery goods because they give the final product a tasty flavor and provide a significant amount of antioxidants and polyphenols despite baking.

The effects of extraction conditions on the antioxidant activities, total polyphenol and monomer anthocyanin contents of six edible fruits growing wild in Hungary.

Although wild fruits are significantly underutilized in most countries, they could be good sources of valuable bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties. Therefore the present study focused on the study of a conventional extraction technique (maceration with shaking; MACS) to extract natural antioxidants and anthocyanin colorants from six edible wild-growing fruits (European crab apple, bilberry, yellow-, red-, and purple-skinned greengage, and quince). One-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) methodology was chosen to investigate the influences of three different parameters (solvent type, extraction time and solvent acidity) on the total polyphenol contents (TPCs), total monomeric anthocyanin (TMA) contents, and antioxidant capacities, specifically ferric reducing power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging activity (DPPH). After optimization, the recorded TPCs and antioxidant activities proved to be significantly higher for all analyzed fruits when compared to differing extraction conditions. For European crab apple and purple-skinned greengage, the best extraction conditions were a ratio of 80:20 (v/v) EtOH-H2O, 1% (v/v) of HCOOH, and an extraction time of 90 min. In the case of red-skinned greengage, the extraction parameters were the same as the above except for the acid concentration (0.5%; v/v) used. For quince, the optimized conditions required a 50:50 (v/v) EtOH-H2O mixture, an extraction time of 90 min, and 0.5% (v/v) HCOOH concentration. The best conditions for the extraction of bilberry and yellow-skinned greengage were an EtOH-H2O combination of 50:50 (v/v), extraction time of 60 min, and HCOOH concentration of 0.5% (v/v). The highest TPC and antioxidant activity were observed in quince (281-510 mg GAE/100g and 109-395 mg AAE/100g) whereas the lowest were measured in European crab apple (55.9-70.0 mg GAE/100g and 20.1-43.2 mg AAE/100g). Bilberry exhibited the highest TMA content (346 mg CGE/100g). Overall, our results showed that these wild fruits could be a good source of natural antioxidants for the local residents.

Developed rapid and simple RP-HPLC method for simultaneous separation and quantification of bovine milk protein fractions and their genetic variants.

The aim was to develop a reliable rapid reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method to simultaneously determine the main bovine milk protein fractions, including their genetic variants. Compared to the previous studies, our method is able to separate the main protein fractions within 20 min of total run time. The method validation consisted of testing repeatability, reproducibility linearity, repeatability, and accuracy. The procedure was developed using raw individual, bulk, and commercially available heat-treated cow milk samples. The RSD of peak areas ranged from 1.43 to 3.16% within analytical day and from 3.29 to 6.70% across analytical days. The method can be applied to investigate both raw and heat-treated milk samples.

The beneficial effect of peppermint (Mentha X Piperita L.) and lemongrass (Melissa officinalis L.) dosage on total antioxidant and polyphenol content during alcoholic fermentation.

Our research aimed to create an herbal fermented alcoholic beverage with high antioxidant and polyphenol content. In this study, continuous sampling was performed throughout the fermentation period, and the changes in total antioxidant (TA) and total polyphenol (TP) contents were determined. After processing the raw material, the prepared herbs were added in 0.5 and 1.0 v/v% concentrations to the samples. The TP content of the control sample was between 1.17 and 1.57 mg/g, and the TA content was 2.12 and 2.54 mg/g during the fermentation process. The lemongrass dosage increased 77.86 % the antioxidant and 70.98 % the polyphenol content by the end of the fermentation process. In the best case, the peppermint dosage increased 72.80 % of the antioxidant content and 72.05 % of the polyphenol content. Overall, fermentation combined with herbs dosage could increase the bioavailability of products made from its polyphenol and antioxidant contents and can be used to develop novel functional foods.

Antioxidant and polyphenol content of different Vitis vinifera seed cultivars and two facilities of production of a functional bakery product.

This study aimed to examine the differences between the antioxidant capacity, and the total polyphenol content of the seed of eight different grape varieties. We also attempt to create a functional loaf enriched with grape seed meal. To achieve this goal, 3, 6, and 9% of the grape seed meal were added to the loaves made of bread flour and gluten-free flour mixture, and then the changes in their antioxidant and polyphenol content were examined. Based on the results, there were significant differences between the polyphenol and antioxidant content of grape seed varieties. The antioxidant content of the grape seeds varied between 228.50 mg AAE/g (94.80 mg TE/g) and 438.33 mg AAE/g (181.86 mg TE/g) in case of fatty samples, and between 176.29 mg AAE/g (41.24 mg TE/g) and 424.91 mg AAE/g (99.40 mg TE/g) in case of defatted samples. The total polyphenol content of the fatty samples changed between 91.16 and 221.81 mg GAE/g; in case of defatted samples, it ranged from 46.01 to 207.68 mg GAE/g. Rhine Riesling contained the greatest amount of these compounds. The functionality of loafs was confirmed by spectrophotometric analysis. Total polyphenol content ranged from 0.91 to 3.16 mg GAE/g in case of wheat loafs, and from 1.39 to 5.92 mg GAE/g in case of gluten-free loafs, while the total antioxidant content changed between 0.70 and 6.44 mg AAE/g in case of wheat loafs, and ranged from 2.55 to 9.75 in case of gluten-free loafs.

Review on the occurrence of the mcr-1 gene causing colistin resistance in cow's milk and dairy products.

Both livestock farmers and the clinic use significant amount of antibiotics worldwide, in many cases the same kind. Antibiotic resistance is not a new phenomenon, however, it is a matter of concern that resistance genes (mcr - Mobilized Colistin Resistance - genes) that render last-resort drugs (Colistin) ineffective, have already evolved. Nowadays, there is a significant consumption of milk and dairy products, which, if not treated properly, can contain bacteria (mainly Gram-negative bacteria). We collected articles and reviews in which Gram-negative bacteria carrying the mcr-1 gene have been detected in milk, dairy products, or cattle. Reports have shown that although the incidence is still low, unfortunately the gene has been detected in some dairy products on almost every continent. In the interest of our health, the use of colistin in livestock farming must be banned as soon as possible, and new treatments should be applied so that we can continue to have a chance in fighting multidrug-resistant bacteria in human medicine.