Arabinoxilanos y su importancia en la salud

The arabinoxylans (AX) are the main non cellulosic polysaccharides in cereals being part of the soluble fraction of the dietary fiber. These compounds have important and numerous health benefits. One of the most noteworthy health benefits is their prebiotic effect jointly with their proven antioxidant ability makes these compounds prevention agents of colon cancer diseases. At the metabolic level the AX control glycemic and cholesterol levels being also immunoregulator agents. During the later years the research and interest of the AX has gather considerable attention since they have been related to important functions such as functional, physiological as well as technological.Los arabinoxilanos (AX) son los principales polisacáridos no celulósicos en los cereales y forman parte de la fracción soluble de la fibra dietética. Estos compuestos ejercen efectos importantes sobre la salud, siendo el efecto prebiótico uno de los más destacados, el cual, junto con la capacidad antioxidante que han demostrado, convierten a estassustancias en agentes de prevención frente al cáncer de colon.A nivel metabólico los AX actúan como reguladores de la glucemia y del colesterol plasmático, siendo, además, agentes inmunomoduladores. En los últimos años el estudio de los AX ha despertado gran interés puesto que han demostrado tener importantes funciones a nivel fisiológico, funcional y tecnológico

Flours as source of bioactive compunds : tradition and innovation

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Farmacia, Departamento de Nutrición y Ciencia de los Alimentos, leída el 18-11-2020Tanto los cereales como las legumbres son alimentos básicos en el patrón de la dieta mediterránea que se caracterizan por presentar interesantes cantidades de compuestos bioactivos. Estos alimentos han sido ampliamente utilizados desde la antigüedad y forman parte de numerosas elaboraciones culinarias tradicionales. Sin embargo, en la actualidad, la industria alimentaria está haciendo un gran esfuerzo por desarrollar productos alimenticios novedosos, muchos de los cuales están elaborados a base de harinas de cereales y legumbres. El trabajo realizado en esta Tesis Doctoral se centra en la caracterización y evaluación del perfil de compuestos bioactivos, así como en el estudio de la actividad biológica en términos de actividad antioxidante en diferentes harinas (de trigo y de lenteja) que podrían utilizarse como ingredientes para la elaboración de productos alimenticios con propiedades funcionales añadidas. Además, se evaluaron aspectos de la calidad nutricional y sensorial de distintos alimentos elaborados a base de harinas de cereales (panes) y de legumbres (snacks)...Cereals and pulses are staple foods in the Mediterranean dietary pattern and contain interesting amounts of bioactive compounds. These foods has been widely used since ancient times and they are part of numerous traditional recipes. However, nowadays the food industry is making a great effort to develop novel food products, many of which are based on cereals and pulses flours.This Doctoral Thesis is focused on the characterization and evaluation of the profile of bioactive compounds as well as on the study of the biological activity in terms of antioxidant activity of different flours (wheat flours and lentil flours), which could be used as ingredients to develop food products with added functional properties. Moreover, different aspects related to the nutritional quality and sensory quality of some food products made from cereal flours (breads) and pulses flours (snacks) have been evaluated...Fac. de FarmaciaTRUEunpu

Are enterprises from lagging regions digitally connected?

This paper focuses on how enterprises located on lagging regions are using online resources and how can they enhance their usage. Most companies have transitioned to the “online world”, however, in rural and more deprived regions, we see that companies still have difficulties accessing some online resources or accessing qualified workers in ICT areas. As such, this paper focus on 29 enterprises from the northeast of Portugal, a recognized lagging region. In the context of an international project, CRECEER - creation of business cooperation networks in rural cross-border regions between companies in the gourmet agri-food and tourism sectors, we analysed the use of ICT, what online tools were used and what could be done to improve their ICT use in their business. As a result, we found that the majority of the companies only had a minimal investment in business online tools, they ar not aware of the majority of cloud computing software, and they do not use it in their business. Even though the studied companies were willing to evolve digitally, they recognized the severe restrictions they had, namely the requirement of specific currently unavailable knowledge, the necessity of qualified workers that they couldn’t afford, and even the hardware necessity they couldn’t supress. It is clear that for these companies had it not been the CRECEER project, even the smallest changes and improvements, would not be achieved in a short period. It is rather crucial to have European funds dedicated to enhance the ICT competencies of these businesses.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Durum and Bread Wheat Flours. Preliminary Mineral Characterization and Its Potential Health Claims

Wheat is one of the most important cereals in terms of its role in the human diet. The distribution of the nutrients in wheat grains depends largely on their morphology, the bran fraction being the richest in minerals, thus developing important functions related to human health. The main purpose of this study was to point out the potential nutritional and health claims related to the mineral composition based on the current European legislation in order to valorize the interesting wheat varieties traditionally consumed in Spain. The mineral composition (microelements: Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn; and macrolements: Ca, Mg, Na, and K) were evaluated in different milling fractions (white flour, whole grain flour, and bran fraction) of 4 wheat varieties of durum (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum Linnaeus) and bread (Triticum aestivum Linnaeus) wheat. As expected, the mineral concentration was higher in the case of bran and whole grain flour, K and Mg being the principal minerals found. A difference between wheat genotype and harvesting year have been found. Moreover, regarding these preliminary results, some samples analysed in the present study met the conditions of use of different approved health claims that could support the possibility to consider wheat flours, especially whole grain flour and bran fraction as functional foods, but some did not.Depto. de Nutrición y Ciencia de los AlimentosFac. de FarmaciaTRUESpanish Ministry of Science and Technology (project reference AGL2012-38345)ALIMNOVA research group (UCM 252/2017)pu

Acceptance of New Formulations of Extruded Gluten Free Snacks Based on Pulse Flours by Spanish Millennial Consumers

Nowadays, the food industry has developed novel gluten free extruded snack type products made from pulses, which could be good candidates to promote pulse consumption as a sustainable food product, while also satisfying the consumer’s demand. Snack type products are a large part of the young people’s diets and impact health outcomes, so it is essential to offer them snacks with a better nutritional profile. In this study, 81 Spanish millennial consumers tasted “in situ” six different gluten free snacks based on pulse flour (lentil and chickpea) marketed in Spain. The aim of the present study was: (a) to evaluate the Spanish millennial consumers’ acceptance level of new pulse snack type products; (b) to evaluate the segmentation of the millennial consumers and understand the difference between the segments; (c) to evaluate the potential relationship between their nutrition food labelling and consumers’ acceptance. In general, the lentil formulations (with more protein, more fat and less fiber) obtained higher scores than those of the chickpea. In addition, a multidimensional statistical analysis, preference mapping, and a statistical analysis of agglomerative hierarchical clustering were performed. Consumers were grouped into three clusters based on their preferences, allowing a detailed study of consumer acceptance of the selected snacks. Cluster 1 like less the samples with less salt, and, on the contrary, these samples were preferred by Cluster 3. Cluster 2 is a group who like lentil snacks, regardless of their flavoring. It was observed that the consumer segments differ at least in their preference for saltiness. The findings of this study also showed that the nutritional composition of the analyzed snacks (as appears in nutrition labelling) was associated with Spanish millennial consumers’ acceptance and could provide valuable information to develop new snacks targeted at specific market niches, such as millennials. These data provide valuable insights when trying to anticipate Spanish millennial consumer acceptance of new gluten free pulse snacks

Revalorization of Tunisian wild Amaranthaceae halophytes: Nutritional composition variation at two different phenotypes stages

Wild halophytes are traditionally consumed in Tunisia as gourmet vegetables due to their salty taste and organoleptic proprieties. However, their nutritional composition is not deeply studied. The aim of this study was to characterize three Tunisian wild halophytic species (Arthrocnemum indicum (Willd.) Moq, Halocnemum strobilaceum (Pall.) M. Bieb., and Suaeda fruticosa Forssk) at two different phenotypic stages according to the seasonal variation. Amaranthaceae, is one of the well spread halophytes family shrubs in the world, mainly in Mediterranean countries. The studied wild halophytes are an interesting source of nutrients and could be considered as healthy foods with high levels of dietary fibers (7.63–10.14 g/100 g fw), protein (2.45–4.14 g/100 g fw), n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in green phenotypic stage (29.87 %–40.5 %) and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in red-violet phenotypic stage (25.4 %–75.26 %), with particular relevance to linolenic acid content (20.7 %–75.22 %). These halophytes are also a good source of minerals, particularly sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium, as well as vitamins C and E, with a major abundance of α-tocopherol.The authors are grateful to the ALIMNOVA Research group (UCM GR105/18) for financial support, as well as to Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programmer PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019). C. Pereira contract through the celebration of program-contract foreseen in No. 4, 5 and 6 of article 23º of Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of 29th August, amended by Law No. 57/2017, of 19th July.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bioaccessibility of macrominerals and trace elements from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) farmers’ varieties

Traditional farmers’ varieties of tomato grown under extensive farming techniques are considered delicious and healthy foods and are preferred by local consumers. Tomatoes are an important component of a healthy diet, as they provide essential micronutrients, including minerals, which are vital to healthy development, disease prevention, and wellbeing. Given the considerable dietary intake of tomatoes and the scarcity of information about the bioaccessibility of inorganic constituents in this fruit, this study was carried out to evaluate the content and bioaccessibility of minerals (macro- and microelements) in tomato farmers’ varieties widely cultivated in northeastern Portugal homegardens. Among the macroelements, K stood out as the most abundant mineral in the studied varieties, followed by Mg, Ca, and Na. Regarding the microelements, while the yellow tomato had higher concentrations of Fe and Cu, the round tomato had more Zn and Mn. The in vitro bioaccessibility assessment showed that, among the macroelements, Mg was more bioaccessible than Ca and K when all the tomato varieties were considered together. Among the microelements, Cu seemed to be the most bioaccessible. Although the contribution of a 100 g serving of the studied tomato farmers’ varieties to the dietary reference intakes (DRIs) of minerals is relatively low, this food could contribute to reaching these mineral requirements, as it is included in the diet of most of the population, especially in Mediterranean regions.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for the financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES granted to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020), the ALIMNOVA Research Group (ref: 951505), and FEI21/34 (UCM). The FCT funded the contracts of J. Pinela (CEECIND/01011/2018) and L. Barros (institutional scientific employment program contract).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity of extruded snack-type products developed from novel formulations of lentil and nutritional yeast flours

Pulses are well known to be gluten-free functional foods that provide a rich source of nutritional and healthy compounds with antioxidant-promoting activity. In the present study, the bioactive compounds, dietary fibre, arabinoxylans, individual phenolic compounds and tocopherols, were evaluated in different lentil flours (raw and extruded at 140 and 160 °C) formulated with nutritional yeasts, along with the changes induced by the extrusion process. The total dietary fibre and arabinoxylan content significantly (p < 0.05) increased after the extrusion process while a significant decrease of all tocopherol isoforms was also observed. Catechin, caffeic, kaempferol and quercetin derivatives were identified in the raw and extruded lentil flours. The decreases of total phenolic and individual phenolic compounds were directly related to the extrusion temperature; total phenolics and catechin hexoside exhibited a larger decrease in the lentil flours formulated with higher content of nutritional yeast (12 and 16%). The antioxidant activity results, determined using different assays, reflected the important effect of extrusion processing and food ingredients.The authors are grateful to the ALIMNOVA research group (UCM-951505/2012) and to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Program PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013) and L. Barros (SFRH/BPD/107855/2015) and for the grant POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-006984 (LA LSRE-LCM), funded by FEDER, through POCI-COMPETE2020 and FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparison of different bread types: chemical and physical parameters

In this work, the chemical and physical profile of 5 different bread types (Multicereal bread, Bavaria wheat bread, Wholemeal bread, Rye and Oat bread) were analysed in depth, namely the nutritional profile, individual fatty acids and soluble sugars through GC-FID and HPLC-RI, respectively, as well as the mineral profile, including micro and macroelements. Furthermore, a texture profile analysis was carried out in addition to the measurement of the crust colour. Each bread type showed a distinct profile, with Wholemeal and Bavaria having the lowest calories, and Oat the highest. Multicereal showed the highest amount of unsaturated fatty acids, while Wholemeal and Rye scored the least sodium amounts. The hardest bread was Rye and the easiest to chew were Oat and Bavaria breads. The latter was also the one with the darkest crumb of all the analysed breads. This work shows that bread can be baked to meet the needs and particularities of various kinds of diets.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER, under Program PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019). This work was funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds (FEEI) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project Mobilizador ValorNatural®, and funded by ALIMNOVA research group (UCM 252/2017). The authors are also grateful to FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through the project TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_P. L. Barros and S. Heleno thank the National funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment and individual program-contract, respectively. M. Carocho thanks ValorNatural® project for his contract. The authors also thank M. Ferreira & Filhas (Pão de Gimonde) for providing the bread samples used in this work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Potential health claims of durum and bread wheat flours as functional ingredients

Wheat is an important cereal with a key role in human nutrition. In this study, dietary fiber (DF) and arabinoxylans of di erent durum (Triticum turgidum ssp. Durum L.) and bread (Triticum aestivum L.) wheat flours were analyzed in order to point out their potential nutritional and health claims allege according to the current European regulation (Regulation (EU) No 432/2012). Moreover, other bioactive compounds (phenolics and tocopherols) were quantified as a first approach to their phytochemical composition in the analyzed wheat varieties. DF was analyzed following AOAC enzymatic-gravimetric methods; arabinoxylans and total phenols were quantified by colorimetric methods; tocopherols were determined by HPLC; antioxidant activity was evaluated using three di erent in vitro assays. Insoluble DF was the prevailing fraction in all analyzed samples. Water extractable arabinoxylans were higher in durum wheat flours. Whole flours contained higher total phenolics compounds. Alpha-tocopherol was the major isoform. Whole flours showed higher antioxidant properties. According to the obtained results, it is possible to allege all approved health claims referred to wheat, since all analyzed samples, especially whole flour and bran fraction, showed potential health benefits, as functional ingredients or functional foods, related with their phytochemical composition.This research was funded by Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (project reference AGL2012-38345), the, ALIMNOVA research group (UCM 252/2017); the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Program PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013), A. Fernandes grant (SFRH/BPD/114753/2016), and L. Barros contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio