High-Pressure Processing of Fruit Smoothies Enriched with Dietary Fiber from Carrot Discards: Effects on the Contents and Bioaccessibilities of Carotenoids and Vitamin E.

The effects of high-pressure processing (HPP) (450 MPa/600 MPa/3 min) on the carotenoid and vitamin E contents of smoothies made from strawberry, orange juice, banana and apple, and the same smoothies enriched with dietary fiber from discarded carrots were compared. The contents and bioaccessibilities of these compounds were also evaluated over the course of 28 days at 4 °C. The application of HPP in the formulations significantly increased the contents of ß-cryptoxanthin, α-carotene and ß-carotene and retained the contents of lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamin E compared to untreated samples. A decreasing trend in the content of each compound was observed with an increase in storage time. The application of HPP initially led to reductions in the bioaccessibility of individual compounds. However, overall, during storage, there was an increase in bioaccessibility. This suggests that HPP influences cell structure, favoring compound release and micelle formation. HPP is a sustainable method that preserves or enhances carotenoid extractability in ready-to-drink fruit beverages. Furthermore, the incorporation of dietary fiber from carrot processing discards supports circular economy practices and enhances the health potential of the product.

Intestinal and colonic bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds from fruit smoothies as affected by the thermal processing and the storage conditions.

The effects of the thermal treatment (70 °C for 2 min) and the refrigerated storage (5 °C for 28 d) of a fruit smoothie made of strawberries (40 %), orange juice (20 %), apple (10 %) and banana (10 %) on the microbiological quality, pH and soluble solid contents, color parameters, vitamin C, phenolic compound and antioxidant capacity contents, and on the total in vitro bioaccessibility (intestinal plus colonic) of phenolic compounds were studied. The thermal treatment and the refrigerated storage controlled the microbial load; and did not induce changes in the pH and soluble solid contents of the smoothies. Smoothies were slightly whiter after pasteurization and slightly darker, less red, and less yellow at the end of the refrigerated storage. Ascorbic acid was degraded by the thermal processing and during the storage by up to 50 % at 28 d, and its evolution was modeled by first-order kinetic. Thermal treatment did not produce degradation of the phenolic compounds, nor in the antioxidant capacity of smoothies, and neither elicited change in the intestinal and colonic bioaccessibility of the phenolic compounds. Anthocyanin's retentions declined after 15 days of storage, being around 40% for perlargonidin-3-O-glucoside and pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside, and non-detectable for cyanindin-3-O-glucoside at day 28. The rest of the phenolic compounds were maintained unchanged during storage. Despite of the degradation of the anthocyanins and other polyphenols over the storage time, their bioaccessibility was not affected during the storage, indicating a possible increase in the extractability and solubility of these compounds from the food matrix by the gastrointestinal system. Anthocyanins were the most abundant phenolic compounds in the smoothies but were those with the lowest total bioaccessibility (≈1.6%). Hence, this work remarks the importance of investigating not only the content and profile of the phenolic compounds as affected by thermal processing and through the storage but also the impact on their bioaccessibility.

Sous-Vide as a Technique for Preparing Healthy and High-Quality Vegetable and Seafood Products.

Sous-vide is a technique of cooking foods in vacuum bags under strictly controlled temperature, offering improved taste, texture and nutritional values along with extended shelf life as compared to the traditional cooking methods. In addition to other constituents, vegetables and seafood represent important sources of phytochemicals. Thus, by applying sous-vide technology, preservation of such foods can be prolonged with almost full retention of native quality. In this way, sous-vide processing meets customers' growing demand for the production of safer and healthier foods. Considering the industrial points of view, sous-vide technology has proven to be an adequate substitute for traditional cooking methods. Therefore, its application in various aspects of food production has been increasingly researched. Although sous-vide cooking of meats and vegetables is well explored, the challenges remain with seafoods due to the large differences in structure and quality of marine organisms. Cephalopods (e.g., squid, octopus, etc.) are of particular interest, as the changes of their muscular physical structure during processing have to be carefully considered. Based on all the above, this study summarizes the literature review on the recent sous-vide application on vegetable and seafood products in view of production of high-quality and safe foodstuffs.