Characterization of pigmented cereal grains and production of functional food: anthocyanins-enriched pasta

This study was aimed at characterizing the anthocyanin profile in different varieties of pigmented corn and wheat and in some of their milling fractions, at assessing the anthocyanins and polyphenol profiles, and at investigating the anti-inflammatory and enzyme-inhibiting activities of these materials. Acid/ethanol extracts were used to assess total anthocyanins, overall antioxidant activity, the overall polyphenol profile, and for evaluating the inhibition of pancreatic a-amylase and of intestinal alpha-glucosidase. Dose-dependent inhibition of both enzymes was evident in all extracts within the same range of bioactives concentration, although with a different efficiency of individual extracts towards each enzyme. Anti-inflammatory response was evaluated by using acid-free extracts and a cellular model based on Caco-2 cells transiently transfected with a luciferase reporter gene responding to cytokine stimulation. The response of interleukin-stimulated cells decreased significantly in a dose-responsive manner in the presence of 20-50 micromol/liter anthocyanins from all grains extracts, again with a different efficiency. By comparing the different inhibitory ability of extracts from the various sources, it appears that the observed effects are in most cases higher than what observed in similar extracts from other sources, and that the activity in each extract may be related to specific synergies between anthocyanins and polyphenols. Therefore, we attempted to incorporate these materials into staple food. Purple pasta was prepared by introducing anthocyanin-rich fractions from purple wheat (PWF1 & PWF2), into soft wheat flour and durum wheat semolina. Bioactive levels were assessed in the different types of pasta after production and after cooking. Acid/ethanol extracts from cooked pasta retained high levels of TAC and TPC, as well as significant anti-oxidant activity, anti-inflammatory properties on cell models, and enzyme inhibitory activities. Thus, in conclusion, it can be stated that foods incorporating a naturally rich source of bioactive compounds. retain beneficial properties for the organism also after cooking

Tomato waste as feedstock to extract phenolic compounds with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory bioactivity

Introduction: Tomato industry is one of the most developed at world level and produces a lot of by-products. Recently tomato peels and seeds (TP) consider as feedstock to extract bioactive fractions like phenolic compounds. In this work two different TP from Italian plant were selected to profile the flavonoids contents and their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Material & Methods: Tomato peel+seed fraction from conventional (TP-CONV) and biological (TP-BIO) cultivation systems were sampled and dried, and were characterized. Polyphenols were profiled by HPLC, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was evaluated by TEAC and FRAP methods. Immunomodulating effects were evaluated by using Caco-2 cells transfected with a pNiFty2-Luc vector. Enzyme inhibitory activity was assessed against intestinal \u3b1-glucosidase and pancreatic \u3b1-amylase. Results: Total polyphenol content were the same in both TP-BIO and TP-CONV however identified phenolic compounds showed distinctive distribution. Both sample extracts expressed antioxidant , anti-inflammatory and enzyme inhibitory activities. Conclusion: This study highlights the promising TP extracts antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory, and inhibition on the activity of enzymes related to release/uptake of glucose. These waste products can be recovered and be regarded as potential nutraceutical sources as low-cost but nutritional supplements either in food production as functional ingredients and nutraceuticals or in cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries

Recovery of phenolic compounds from agro-industrial by-products: Evaluating antiradical activities and immunomodulatory properties

Grape pomace (GP), spent coffee grounds (SCG), tomato pomace (TP) and red corn cobs (RCC) were collected and polyphenols were extracted by optimizing ethanol solvent extractions. Subsequently, extracted phenolic acids, flavonoids and anthocyanins were completely characterized by HPLC, HPLC-DAD and LC-ES-MS. Antiradical activity (DPPH) and anti-inflammatory assays (IL-8 cytokine gene expression in the Caco-2 cell line) were then investigated. Results indicated a total polyphenol content for the by-products in the range: 4.64 ± 0.31–22.77 ± 0.65 mg gallic acid equivalent g−1 dry weight, and an antiradical activity in the range: 21.47 ± 0.09–89.76 ± 0.24 μM Trolox equivalent g−1 dry weight. The best anti-inflammatory performances were reported for SCG and GP and they were due to the high flavonoid contents, playing phenolic compounds a minor role. Taking into consideration the results above reported and the information related to the by-products studied, i.e. geographical provenience, daily availability and biomass potential preservation, the agro-industrial wastes were ranked for their suitability to be potentially upgraded to industrial level in the following order: spent coffee grounds ≫ grape pomace > red corn cobs ≫ tomato pomace

The recovery from agro-industrial wastes provides different profiles of anti-inflammatory polyphenols for tailored applications

Food and agro-industrial processing produce a great amount of side-stream and waste materials that are excellent sources of functional bioactive molecules such as phenolic compounds that recover them can be beneficial not only for food sustainability but also to human for many industrial applications such as flavor compounds and therapeutic applications such as antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. The treatments and extraction techniques have major effects on the recovery of bioactive compounds. Along with the conventional extraction methods, numerous innovative techniques have been evolved and have been optimized to facilitate bioactive extraction more efficiently and sustainably. In this work, we have summarized the state-of-the-art technological approaches concerning novel extraction methods applied for five most produced crops in Italy; Grape Pomace (GP), Tomato Pomace (TP), Olive Pomace (OP), Citrus Pomace (CP), and Spent Coffee Grounds (SCG), presenting the extraction yield and the main class of phenolic classes, with the focus on their biological activity as an anti-inflammatory in vitro and in vivo studies via describing their molecular mechanism of action

Valorization of the tomato pomace to obtain lycopene, carbohydrates-rich fraction and oil by applying a hydrolytic enzyme-based approach

Tomato pomace (TP) was of interest as feedstock to extract the lycopene (lyc). This work aimed to design a process based on the use of enzymes to increase lyc extraction and at the same time to obtain additional products following a cascade approach. The pre-treatment with a mix of pectinase and cellulase doubled the lyc extraction recovery concerning the standard extraction. After the separation from the peel, the oil extract from the seeds was similar to edible oils but richer in bioactives. Indeed, the water solution (WP) in which the enzymes hydrolyzed the cell wall of the peel was significantly enriched on mono/oligosaccharides of industrial interest. The proposed approach gave more high value-added products and potential economic revenue from TP of the full scale tomato cannery industry of North Italy with respect to the current destination of the anaerobic digestion sector

Polyphenol bioactivity evolution during the spontaneous fermentation of vegetal by-products

Food industry by-products such as grape pomace (GP), tomato pomace (TP), and spent coffee grounds (SCG) are rich in polyphenols (PP) but are easily biodegradable. The aim of this study is to test Spontaneous Fermentation (SF) as treatment to modify PP profile and bioactivity. The results highlighted that the by-products’ organic matter and the microbial populations drove the SF evolution; heterolactic, alcoholic, and their mixtures were the predominant metabolisms of TP, GP, and SCG + GP co-fermentation. Increases in the extractable amounts and antiradical activity occurred for all the biomasses. Regarding the aglycate-PPs (APP), i.e. the most bioreactive PPs, significant changes occurred for TP and GP but did not influence the anti-inflammatory bioactivity. The co-fermentation increased significantly chlorogenic acid and consumed most of the APPs, acting as a purification system to obtain a highly concentrated APP fraction, so that the extract might be employed for a specific purpose

Characterization of Whole Grain Pasta: Integrating Physical, Chemical, Molecular, and Instrumental Sensory Approaches

The consumption of whole-grain foodincluding pastahas been increasing steadily. In the case of whole-grain pasta, given the many different producers, it seems important to have some objective parameters to define its overall quality. In this study, commercial whole-grain pasta samples representative of the Italian market have been characterized from both molecular and electronic-senses (electronic nose and electronic tongue) standpoint in order to provide a survey of the properties of different commercial samples. Only 1 pasta product showed very low levels of heat damage markers (furosine and pyrraline), suggesting that this sample underwent to low temperature dry treatment. In all samples, the furosine content was directly correlated to protein structural indices, since protein structure compactness increased with increasing levels of heat damage markers. Electronic senses were able to discriminate among pasta samples according to the intensity of heat treatment during the drying step. Pasta sample with low furosine content was discriminated by umami taste and by sensors responding to aliphatic and inorganic compounds. Data obtained with this multidisciplinary approach are meant to provide hints for identifying useful indices for pasta quality. Practical ApplicationAs observed for semolina pasta, objective parameters based on heat-damage were best suited to define the overall quality of wholegrain pasta, almost independently of compositional differences among commercial samples. Drying treatments of different intensity also had an impact on instrumental sensory traits that may provide a reliable alternative to analytical determination of chemical markers of heat damage in all cases where there is a need for avoiding time-consuming procedures

Development of a cascade production system finalized to the extraction of all-tomatine-rich fraction using the tomato cannery waste as feedstock

Tomato plants produce, among other defensive molecules, glycoalkaloides (i.e. all-tomatine). All-tomatine, found in highest concentrations in green fruits, leaves and stems, has demonstrated a wide variety of biological activities useful in fields such as agronomy and biopesticides. Despite the interest in its potential use, extraction methods for all-tomatine are few and mostly developed with an analytical scope. In analogy with other active principles (pyrethroids, nicotinoids), the all-tomatine can represent an alternative to the use of synthetic pesticides currently discouraged for their environmental persistence and progressive reduction of efficacy against target organisms. The aim of this work was to attempt the development of a process to extract all-tomatine based on the re-use of tomato waste industry residues as feedstock and to apply a cascade production approach. To do so, the lab-scale methods to extract all-tomatine were employed as a starting point and different tomato portions (green fruits, leaves, and stems) as feedstock. The best process in terms of feasibility and recovery was identified by mixing the extraction (acetic acid 5% v/v) and purification (ammonia 25% v/v precipitation) steps of different methods. The process was successively tested using the residues of the full-scale tomato cannery plant waste composed by stems + leaves (SL), and green fruits (GT) currently not valorized. The best recovery was obtained by the SL (yield of the extract: 10.8 mg g−1 dry matter (DM) of the starting biomass; all-tomatine pureness: 864 mg g−1 DM extract). The use of the acetic acid as extraction agent gave a solvent-free by-product (68% DM starting biomass), reusable as cultivation substrate. At the purification phase, the dialysis-treatment of the wastewater, recovered a solution rich in sugars and organic acid to get a full starting biomass recovery of 85.6% DM starting biomass

The Effects of Body Acupuncture on Obesity: Anthropometric Parameters, Lipid Profile, and Inflammatory and Immunologic Markers

A randomized controlled clinical trial in 196 obese subjects was performed to examine the effectiveness of body acupuncture on body weight loss, lipid profile and immunogenic and inflammatory markers. Subjects received authentic (cases) or sham (controls) acupuncture for 6 weeks in combination with a low-calorie diet. In the following 6 weeks, they received the low-calorie diet alone. Subjects were assessed at the beginning, 6 and 12 weeks later. Heat shock protein (Hsps)-27, 60, 65, 70 antibody titers and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were also assessed. A significant reduction in measures of adiposity and improvement in lipid profile were observed in both groups, but the levels of anti-Hsp-antibodies decreased in cases only. A reduction in anthropometric and lipid profile in cases were sustained in the second period, however, only changes in lipid profile were observed in the control group. Anti-Hsp-antibodies and hs-CRP levels continued to be reduced in cases but in controls only the reduction in hs-CRP remained. Changes in anthropometric parameters, lipid profile, and anti-Hsp-antibodies were more evident in cases. Body acupuncture in combination with diet restriction was effective in enhancing weight loss and improving dyslipidemia