Reducing the glycemic index of short dough biscuits by using apple pomace as a functional ingredient

The present research aimed at enriching short dough biscuits with apple pomace to reduce their glycemic index. Apple pomace produced on a laboratory scale was dehydrated and milled to a powder, which was characterized for soluble and insoluble dietary fiber, and for phenolic content. Apple pomace was used to partially replace wheat flour (10 and 20% w/w) in biscuits, which were characterized for their sensory properties and submitted to in vitro digestion to predict the glycemic index. Results indicated that apple pomace contained impressive amounts of dietary fiber (nearly 40%), mainly represented by insoluble fiber (more than 25%). Apple pomace led to a significant reduction in the expected glycemic index of reformulated biscuits. The conventional biscuit presented a glycemic index of 70 and was thus classified as high glycemic index food. Substituting wheat flour by 10 and 20% with apple pomace reduced biscuit glycemic index to 65 and 60 respectively, thus ranking the product within the intermediate glycemic index foods. Using industrial apple pomace led to analogous results, demonstrating that this by-product could be exploited to reduce the glycemic index of bakery foods, thus concomitantly satisfying the need for strategies to manage type 2 diabetes and to valorize food by-products

Fat concentration and high-pressure homogenization affect chlorogenic acid bioaccessibility and \u3b1-glucosidase inhibitory capacity of milk-based coffee beverages

This study aimed at investigating the effect of coffee formulation and high-pressure homogenization (HPH) on chlorogenic acid bioaccessibility and alpha-glucosidase inhibition. Coffee was added with milk (1:1) containing 0.1, 3.6 or 7.1% fat, homogenized at increasing pressure (0-150 MPa) and in vitro digested. Using milk with the highest fat concentration (7.1%) promoted the formation of smaller particles after HPH treatment, as well as upon digestion. Digested samples with the highest fat content also presented lower zeta-potential, suggesting higher stability. Chlorogenic acids (CGAs) bioaccessibility and alpha-glucosidase inhibition were evaluated upon in vitro digestion. CGAs bioaccessibility increased from nearly 25% to > 50% by adding milk and using HPH. These could promote CGAs micellarization, reducing their susceptibility to degradation during digestion. Properly combined milk and HPH also improved alpha-glucosidase inhibitory effect. No correlation was found between CGAs bioaccessibility and alpha-glucosidase inhibition, suggesting that other components may govern antidiabetic properties of coffee

Effect of pasteurization on in vitro \u3b1-glucosidase inhibitory activity of apple juice

The in vitro alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity of raw, mildly (F-71.7(5) = 0.4 min, 5 Log reductions of Cryptosporidium parvum) and intensively (F-90(12) = 14.8 min, 2 Log reductions of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris) pasteurized apple juice was studied. Raw apple juice (23 mg(dw)/mL) caused 90% alpha-glucosidase inhibition. Analogous results were obtained for the mildly treated sample. The most intense treatment reduced by 35% the alpha-glucosidase inhibition. However, such a decrease was associated with an increase in the phenolic content, suggesting that alpha-glucosidase inhibition might not rely on these compounds, but depend on more complex mechanisms. Apple juice was combined with acarbose to investigate their interaction towards alpha-glucosidase inhibition. A synergistic behavior was observed for concentrations < 2 mg/mL. Increasing the concentration of the combined system (up to 9 mg/mL) produced an antagonistic effect, while a further increase (< 9 mg/mL) allowed approaching an addictive behavior

Effect of expiry date communication on acceptability and waste of fresh-cut lettuce during storage at different temperatures

The effect of expiry date communication on acceptability and wasting risk of fresh-cut lettuce was investigated. Fresh-cut lettuce was packed in plastic pouches reporting or not the expiry date on the label and stored at recommended (8 \ub0C) or abuse temperature (12 \ub0C) for increasing time up to 21 days. Lettuce was assessed during storage for colour, total viable count, consumer rejection and wasting risk. Independently on storage temperature, the presence of the expiry date caused an increase of wasting risk. When lettuce was stored at 8 \ub0C, about 4% packages were estimated to be wasted within the expiry date (7 days). Even a lower amount of waste was estimated when expiry date was not reported. Within 7 days of storage at 12 \ub0C, 12% of the packages without expiry date was estimated to be wasted. This percentage increased to 27% when the expiry date was printed on the lettuce label. Results emphasise the dramatic effect of the presence of the expiry date on the consumer decision to waste food

Technological and consumer strategies to tackle food wasting

Around one-third of the globally produced food is annually discarded worldwide. This amount would be able to satisfy ten times the need of undernourished people. If nothing is done, the mass of discarded food could further rise, compromising the right to food of future generations. Almost all food discards are nowadays disposed of or used for energy recovery. Strategies for recovery of value-added compounds have also been proposed. However, more sustainable options are available. In this context, food science skills are required to develop novel approaches that could allow both reducing disposal of discards and preventing their generation. Effective technological strategies are expected to directly reduce food loss within the production chain but also to drive consumer towards more sustainable choices and behaviours. This review paper summarizes recent developments in possible technological and consumer strategies to tackle food wasting. To this aim, after defining, classifying and quantifying food discards, reasons and responsibilities of discard generation are analysed in the light of the current regulatory efforts. Based on this survey, an overview of possible interventions is provided, underlying their synergistic effects on waste reduction/prevention at industrial and domestic levels

Food and food bioactive fighting chronic inflammation

The aim of this project is to evaluate the influence of bioactive compounds contained in raw and processed plant-based foods, and their industrial processing by-products on the immune landscape and homeostasis of the gut affected by chronic inflammation

Effect of temperature in domestic refrigerators on fresh-cut Iceberg salad quality and waste

The evolution of different quality parameters (firmness, weight loss, colour changes, microbial counts, consumer rejection) of packed fresh-cut Iceberg salad was assessed at 4, 8 and 12 \ub0C to simulate domestic refrigerators running at different conditions. The increase in storage temperature did not affect salad firmness and weight loss but increased colour changes, microbial growth and consumer rejection. A survey among Italian consumers was also carried out and demonstrated that fresh-cut salad was mainly consumed within the first 5 days after purchasing. Consumer rejection data were combined with data relevant to the distribution of salad consumption over the days following product purchase, to estimate salad wasting risk. When salad was stored at 4 and 8 \ub0C, estimated wasted packages within the expiration date (7 days) were < 1%. By contrast, 13% of the packages was estimated to be wasted within 7 days of storage at 12 \ub0C. Quantification of wasting risk is a necessary information to identify efficient and sustainable interventions to tackle food waste. \ua9 2017 Elsevier Lt

Health-promoting properties of food bioactives: the case study of quercetin. Preliminary results.

The results here described are part of a wider experimental plan aimed at studying the fate of quercetin contained in model systems simulating apple or its derivatives during the gastrointestinal process. To this purpose, the effect of in-vitro digestion on quercetin antioxidant activity was assessed. Quercetin’s effect on the inhibition of intestinal α-glucosidase in a colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2 was also investigate

Reformulation and food combination as strategies to modulate glycaemia: the case of apple pomace containing biscuits administered with apple juice to healthy rats

Conventional (CB) and apple-pomace-reformulated (RB) biscuits were administered to healthy rats. Although the areas under curve (AUC) of glucose concentration were comparable between samples, differences in the glycaemic profile of CB and RB were observed. RB caused an initial steeper increase in glycaemia but a shift in the glycaemic peak from 45 to 60 min, as compared to CB. When CB or RB was ingested with apple juice (AJ) no differences were observed as compared to their ingestion with a soft drink (SD) simulating AJ sugar content, indicating that reformulation, more than the presence of AJ, was crucial in affecting the glycaemic response. Consumer acceptability towards reformulation was assessed through conjoint analysis, by simulating labels reporting information on reformulation. Consumers preferred information generally referring to the health-promoting effect (i.e. \u201clow sugar\u201d and "high fibre\u201d contents), despite directly relating to a specific disease (i.e. \u201csuitable for diabetics\u201d and \u201clow glycaemic index\u201d)

Phenolic content and potential bioactivity of apple juice as affected by thermal and ultrasound pasteurization

Thermal (T) and ultrasound (US) pasteurization processes were applied to apple juice and the phenolic compounds (TPC) were quantified before and after in vitro digestion by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn, with their bioaccessibility ascertained. Digested samples were analysed for their inhibitory capacity against α-glucosidase. Since some of the compounds exhibit fluorescence, both steady state and time-resolved fluorescence methods were used to investigate the binding to a blood transport protein, human serum albumin (HSA). It was found that processing induced an increase in the TPC content, which was more pronounced when US was applied. In contrast, digestion reduced the TPC content, evening out the overall effect. Still T and US pasteurized juices exhibited a higher quantity of TPC upon digestion as compared to the raw sample. No correlation was found between the TPC content and α-glucosidase inhibition, as the T and US pasteurized juices showed the highest and lowest inhibitory capacities against the enzyme, respectively. This is indicative that other compounds, such as those formed upon thermal treatment, may be involved in the antidiabetic effect of apple juice. The fluorescence study showed that binding occurred to HSA, at slightly different rates for different species present in the US treated extract. Considering energy consumption, US pasteurization is the most power consuming treatment despite its shorter duration. Overall, no univocal indication on the best pasteurization process can be gathered. Thus, it is necessary to define the desired target in order to drive technological interventions by a customized approach.</p