Electric field effects on proteins Novel perspectives on food and potential health implications

Electric fields (EF) technologies have been establishing a solid position in emergent food processing and have seen as serious alternatives to traditional thermal processing. During the last decades, research has been devoted to elucidation of technological and safety issues but also fundamental aspects related with interaction of electric fields (EF) with important macromolecules, such as proteins. Proteins are building blocks for the development of functional networks that can encompass health benefits (i.e. nutritional and bioactive properties) but may be also linked with adverse effects such as neurodegenerative diseases (amyloid fibrils) and immunological responses. The biological function of a protein depends on its tridimensional structure/conformation, and latest research evidences that EF can promote disturbances on protein conformation, change their unfolding mechanisms, aggregation and interaction patterns. This review aims at bringing together these recent findings as well as providing novel perspectives about how EF can shape the behavior of proteins towards the development of innovative foods, aiming at consumers health and wellbeing.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/ BIO/04469/2019 and UIDB 50006/2020 with funding from FCT/ MCTES through national funds, BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. This work was also supported by the projects AlleRiskAssess – PTDC/BAA-AGR/31720/2017 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-031720. Zita Avelar acknowledge the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for its fellowship SFRH/BD/146347/2019info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Antioxidant supplementationis ineffective to reducethe frequency of pse-like zones in porkhams

International audienceThe frequency of pork hams with PSE-like zones is a major issue for the processed meat sector in France, despite recent improvements in the slaughter techniques and systematic sorting on the ultimate pH value of hams. Halothane genotype, still widespread in its heterozygous form, may play a significant role in this issue [1]. On the other hand, a recent work described at a molecular level a possible link between oxidative stress and the specific development of PSE-like zone [2]. From this hypothesis, an experimental design was carried out at the IFIP Experimental Station to evaluate the effect of antioxidant supplementation in pig diet on the appearance of PSE-like zone and more generally on the overall ham quality before and after cooking process