A Study of the Interactions of Heavy Metals in Dairy Matrices Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Chemometric, and In Silico Analysis.

Heavy metals are among the toxic substances longest recognized by man. Today, due to the myriad sources of exposure, such as contaminated water, food, or air, they have become a major public health problem. This work presents the effects manifested in the infrared spectrum behavior caused by the presence of Cd2+, Cr6+, and Pb2+ at different concentrations in three different matrices: water, casein, and milk; observing that the spectral modifications in the regions of different vibrational modes of nucleophilic groups such as -OH, COO- and NH2 depending on the nature of the metal and its concentration. These findings were correlated in-silico using optimized models in Gabedit software and structural optimization was performed with MOPAC 2016 showing stable structures between the metals and Gln, Hys, Glu, and Phe of casein. By applying chemometrics (Principal Component Analysis), it was possible to observe a good correlation between the experimental data and to discriminate between the type of metal, the matrix that contains it, and the concentration could be represented through linear models that showed adjustments with a value of r2 ≥ 0.95.

Functional properties of Ditaxis heterantha proteins.

Ditaxis heterantha is a plant of the Euphorbiaceae family that grows in semiarid regions of Mexico. It produces yellow pigmented seeds that are used for coloring of foods. The seeds contain about 20% of proteins. Proteins of D. heterantha were extracted and fractionated on the basis of solubility. Three main protein fractions were obtained: glutelins, 488 ± 0.5; albumins, 229 ± 2; and total globulins, 160 ± 1 g/kg. The amino acid profile was evaluated for each fraction and protein isolated, where the protein isolate contains essential amino acids such as Val, Phe, Tyr, and Leu. A calorimetric study showed that globulins and glutelins have a high denaturing temperature between 100 and 106°C, while albumins showed a denaturing temperature at 76°C. The protein isolate and its fractions exhibited functional properties: the isolated protein demonstrated good oil-holding capacity of 40.7 g/kg. Foam capacity (FC) and foam stability (FS) were observed principally in glutelins and globulins where FC maximum was 330% and the FS was 28 min. The emulsifying capacity was observed in the same fractions of glutelins and globulins, followed by albumins. However, the glutelin fraction in particular was the only fraction that exhibited emulsifying stability at pH 5, 6, and 7. Gelling capacity was observed in albumins and globulins. This study indicated that protein isolated from D. heterantha could be used in food formulations due to its essential amino acid profile. Glutelin could be used as an emulsifying additive. Additionally, glutelin and globulin were stable at temperatures above 100°C; this is an important factor in food industry, principally in heat processes.

The effect of cocoa, soy, oats and fish oil on metabolic syndrome in rats.

BACKGROUND: The effect of functional foods alone or in combination (cocoa + soy + oats + fish oil) on hepatic damage in rats affected with metabolic syndrome was investigated. RESULTS: Rats that were given cocoa showed a decrease in the levels of triglycerides (TGs) and glucose (63 and 32% respectively) as well as a decrease in blood pressure (15%). Animals fed with soy showed a reduction of 21% in total cholesterol, 15% in blood pressure and 44% in TGs, while feeding oats reduced the concentration of TGs by 53% (P < 0.5). Fish oil caused a reduction in TGs (56%) and glucose (26%). The effect on blood pressure was statistically significant for the groups supplemented with cocoa, soy, cocoa + oats and the total mix. The main finding was a reduction in liver steatosis in animals supplemented with cocoa + oats (from 30 to 4.7% steatosis). Cocoa or fish oil alone did not protect the liver from damage, while cocoa + fish oil did. CONCLUSION: The most relevant effects were that the cocoa + oats mix decreased steatosis by a very large percentage, as did the cocoa + fish oil mix and the mix of all four functional foods.

C-26 and C-30 apocarotenoids from seeds of Ditaxis heterantha with antioxidant activity and protection against DNA oxidative damage.

The hexane extracts of seeds of Ditaxis heterantha afforded two new apocarotenoids whose structures corresponded to methyl 3-oxo-12'-apo-epsilon-caroten-12'-oate (1) (heteranthin) and methyl 3beta,6beta-epoxy-5beta-hydroxy-4,5-dihydro-8'-apo-epsilon-caroten-8'-oate (2) (ditaxin). Both compounds were evaluated for antioxidant activity and protection against DNA oxidative damage by using DPPH* free radical scavenging and Comet assays, respectively.