Blackberries and raspberries are highly perishable and fragile products, which limits their shelf life. The effect of biodegradable active packaging of blackberries and raspberries containing 2.5% ...and 5.0% weight (wt%) of thymol or carvacrol complexed in β-cyclodextrins (β-CDs), successively added to poly(lactic acid) (PLA), and melt-processed by injection molding was evaluated under stored conditions at 4 °C for 21 days, using as reference commercial clamshell and PLA package control samples. Thus, physicochemical, headspace, microbiological, and sensory quality studies were carried out in order to compare the efficacy of the different packages. Concerning weight loss, color, and total phenolic and soluble solids content, significant differences were detected when compared with commercial clamshell packaging. The results show that the PLA packages containing thymol and carvacrol complexes maintained the color, weight, and phenolic content of berries until day 21, with a score up to 45% better compared to commercial clamshell. The headspace analysis detected 101 mg L
(ppm) of thymol and 35 ppm of carvacrol on the first day of refrigeration; these concentrations decreased with time. This release mechanism of carvacrol and thymol into the PLA package modified the initial atmosphere composition. After 21 days of storage, the berries had 4.25 degrees of acceptance, without adverse perception of aroma or flavor for both carvacrol and thymol compounds. A general microbial inhibition was observed for yeast and molds, which increased with the concentration of monoterpene in PLA packages, and showed an inhibition of 3.5 log units for PLA packages containing thymol, and of 3 log units for those containing carvacrol. Overall results show that PLA/β-CD-thymol 5.0% packages prolonged raspberries' and blackberries' shelf life by one more week at 4 °C, compared with commercial clamshell packaging.
To take advantage of the residues generated in the production of products from green coffee and due to the special interest in the compounds contained in the bean, a by-product obtained after the ...extraction of the oil was studied. The physical characterization of the green-coffee-bean by-product was carried out. Subsequently, the extraction of compound 5-CQA was carried out via leaching using central composition design 24 and evaluating factors such as temperature, time, solid/solvent ratio, and ethanol percentage, and its yield was quantified using HPLC. In addition, the response-surface methodology was used to maximize the efficiency of 5-CQA extraction and to perform the kinetic study. Yields of 59 ± 2 mg of 5-CQA/g from the by-product were obtained, and by selecting the best leaching conditions, the kinetic study was performed at 45, 60, and 75 °C, increasing the yield to a total of 61.8 ± 3 mg of 5-CQA/g. By applying the kinetic model of mass transfer, a fit of R2 > 0.97 was obtained, with KLa values between 0.266 and 0.320 min−1. This study showed an approach to optimize the 5-CQA extraction conditions, resulting in a simple, fast, reproducible, accurate, and low-cost method.
The citrus industry is one of the most important economic areas within the global agricultural sector. Persian lime is commonly used to produce lime juice and essential oil, which are usually ...obtained by batch distillation. The aim of this work was to validate a patented continuous steam distillation process and to both physically and chemically characterize the volatile fractions of essential Persian lime oil. Prior to distillation, lime juice was obtained by pressing the lime fruit. Afterwards, the juice was subjected to a continuous steam distillation process by varying the ratio of distillate flow to feed flow (0.2, 0.4, and 0.6). The distillate oil fractions were characterized by measuring their density, optical rotation, and refractive index. Gas chromatography GC-FID was used to analyze the chemical compositions of the oil fractions. The process of continuous steam distillation presented high oil recovery efficiencies (up to 90%) and lower steam consumption compared to traditional batch process distillation since steam consumption ranged from 32 to 60% for different steam levels. Moreover, a reduction in process time was observed (from 8 to 4 h). The oil fractions obtained via continuous steam distillation differed significantly in their composition from the parent compounds and the fractions.
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Naringin is one of the main flavonoids in citrus fruits and byproducts. This flavanone has been shown to be a good antioxidant nutraceutical component, and it also has potential as a ...gut microbiome modulator, although its applications in final formulations represent a challenge due to its low solubility, both in water and in organic solvents. This work addresses this problem by functionalizing naringin through enzymatic acylation.
The enzymatic acylation catalyzed by the lipase Novozym® 435 and using acyl donors of different chain lengths, acetate (C2), propionate (C3), and laurate (C12), yielded in conversions of 95% at 24 h and 100% at 48 h, generating a monoacylated product. Both the aqueous and solvent solubility of acylated naringin products were improved while maintaining or even increasing their antioxidant activity.
This acylation process significantly enhanced both the water and solvent solubility of the acylated naringin products while preserving or even enhancing their antioxidant activity. In addition to the gut-modulating properties of flavonoids, acylating them with short- and medium-chain fatty acids could enhance their potential applications in the emerging field of research dedicated to understanding and modulating gut health.
How to cite: Gutiérrez-Navarro E, Padilla-de la Rosa JD, Macías A, et al. Enzymatically acylated naringin with gut modulation potential. Electron J Biotechnol 2024; 68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejbt.2023.12.003.
Phycocyanin is a blue natural food colorant with multiple health benefits. Here we propose an efficient phycocyanin extraction method from
Arthrospira platensis
from Mexico. Three extraction methods ...were applied to optimize the extraction process, using water and buffer as solvents, with three pH values at two agitation times. The highest phycocyanin, 54.65 mg/g, was extracted from dry biomass with water as a solvent using an ultrasonication bar. The optimum condition of extraction was determined to be 1:50 biomass/solvent ratio for dry biomass, with the freeze/thaw method for 20 min repeated twice, and then agitated at 120 rpm for 24 h. The phycocyanin content was 48.88 mg/g biomass, with a purity of 0.47. For scalable phycocyanin productivity, the sonication method is recommended as there is no statistical difference. The phycocyanin stability was best at − 20 °C storage temperature at pH 7 for 35 days. Partial purification with ammonium sulfate was found to be suitable as a fractional precipitation method, first at 0–20% and then 20–65%, to get purity nearly 1. Total protein was found to be 55.52%, and total amino acids after phycocyanin extraction was 33%. The maximum phycocyanin yield using water as a solvent was the most interesting result regardless of the method used for extraction.
Probiotic bacteria are widely used to prepare pharmaceutical products and functional foods because they promote and sustain health. Nonetheless, probiotic viability is prone to decrease under ...gastrointestinal conditions. In this investigation, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum spp. CM-CNRG TB98 was entrapped in a gelatin−poly (vinyl alcohol) (Gel−PVA) hydrogel which was prepared by a “green” route using microbial transglutaminase (mTGase), which acts as a crosslinking agent. The hydrogel was fully characterized and its ability to entrap and protect L. plantarum from the lyophilization process and under simulated gastric and intestine conditions was explored. The Gel−PVA hydrogel showed a high probiotic loading efficiency (>90%) and survivability from the lyophilization process (91%) of the total bacteria entrapped. Under gastric conditions, no disintegration of the hydrogel was observed, keeping L. plantarum protected with a survival rate of >94%. While in the intestinal fluid the hydrogel is completely dissolved, helping to release probiotics. A Gel−PVA hydrogel is suitable for a probiotic oral administration system due to its physicochemical properties, lack of cytotoxicity, and the protection it offers L. plantarum under gastric conditions.
In this study, a new process of continuous horizontal distillation at a pilot level is presented. It was applied for the first time to the rectification of an ordinario fraction obtained ...industrially. Continuous horizontal distillation is a new process whose design combines the benefits of both distillation columns, in terms of productivity and energy savings (50%), and distillation stills in batch, in terms of the aromatic complexity of the distillate obtained. The horizontal process of continuous distillation was carried out at the pilot level in a manual mode, obtaining five accumulated fractions of distillate that were characterized by gas chromatography (GC-FID). The tequila obtained from the rectification process in this new continuous horizontal distillation process complies with the content of methanol and higher alcohols regulated by the Official Mexican Standard (NOM-006-SCFI-2012). Continuous horizontal distillation of tequila has potential energy savings of 50% compared to the traditional process, besides allowing products with major volatile profiles within the maximum limits established by the regulation for this beverage to be obtained.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, after lung cancer. However, early detection of breast cancer can help to reduce death rates in breast cancer patients and also prevent ...cancer from spreading to other parts of the body. This work proposes a new method to design a bio-marker integrating Bayesian predictive models, pyRadiomics System and genetic algorithms to classify the benign and malignant lesions. The method allows one to evaluate two types of images: The radiologist-segmented lesion, and a novel automated breast cancer detection by the analysis of the whole breast. The results demonstrate only a difference of 12% of effectiveness for the cases of calcification between the radiologist generated segmentation and the automatic whole breast analysis, and a 25% of difference between the lesion and the breast for the cases of masses. In addition, our approach was compared against other proposed methods in the literature, providing an AUC = 0.86 for the analysis of images with lesions in breast calcification, and AUC = 0.96 for masses.
Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens HBK) constitutes a spice of great commercial value mainly due to the presence of thymol and carvacrol, volatile fat-soluble compounds contained in its essential ...oil. However, little use has been made of its high content of water-soluble phenolic compounds, with proven antioxidant capacities. Among them, it stands out its high content of pinocembrin, flavanone with properties of great nutritional importance and for health due to its protective activity against cerebral ischemia. Mexico ranks second as a world producer of Mexican oregano. During the extractive process of the essential oil derived from its leaf, a large amount of solid waste rich in flavonoids is generated, which is minimally used and even becomes a source of contamination due to its poor disposal as waste. In order to value this agro-industrial waste, it was characterized by determining the content of total phenols, antioxidant activity (DHHP) and content of pinocembrin, observing a higher content of pinocembrin in the extract of oregano without essential oil (0.766 mg / ml) with respect to that corresponding to oregano without treatment (0.659 mg / ml). The results suggest that the residual bagasse from the extraction of the essential oil can be used with great potential due to its high content of polyphenols, antioxidant capacity and pinocembrin (27.93 mg / g BS). To achieve the concentration of pinocembrin, two separation methods were evaluated: chromatographic column with silica gel (hydrophilic) and separation with automated extraction in hydrophobic solid phase (Ultra C18) with pinocembrin recovery efficiencies of 56.6 and 90.1 %, respectively, being able to generate products enriched in pinocembrin with a 74.8 % purity. This work contributes to the potential development of new products and waste recovery processes in the growing natural essential oil extraction industry.