Kesan Hipokolesterolemik Buah-Buahan Tempatan Dalam Mengurangkan Risiko Penyakit Kardiovaskular

Pengambilan buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran lebih daripada lima hidangan sehari dicadangkan oleh American Heart Association berdasarkan kandungan mikronutrien, antioksidan, fitokimia dan fiber diet yang terdapat di dalamnya. Kajian-kajian lepas telah membuktikan pengambilan buah-buahan mempunyai perkaitan songsang dengan kejadian penyakit kronik terutarnanya penyakit kardiovaskular. Objektif utarna kajian ini adalah untuk menganalisis komposisi nutrien dan aktiviti antioksidan serta mengkaji potensi hipokolesterolemik buah-buahan tempatan iaitu jambu batu (Psidium guajava L.), betik (Carica papaya L.) dan nenas (Ananas comosus L.) dalam mengurangkan faktor risiko penyakit kardiovaskular secara in vivo dan klinikal. Sebanyak 81 ekor tikus Sprague Dawley jantan telah dibahagikan sarna banyak kepada sembilan kumpulan dalarn kajian in vivo. Pada minggu pertarna kajian lapan daripada sembilan kumpulan tersebut telah diaruh hiperkolesterolemia dengan menarnbah 1 % kolesterol dan 0. 1 % asid kolik dalam diet masing-masing. Kumpulan tikus yang tidak diaruh hiperkolesterolemia dijadikan sebagai kumpulan kawalan normal dan satu kumpulan tikus yang telah diaruh dijadikan sebagai kumpulan kawalan heperkolesterolemik

Bioaccessibility of apigenin from Mangifera indica (Water Lily var.) during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion

The bioaccessibility property of apigenin from Mangifera indica (Water Lily var.) was investigated using in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model. Two digestion stages were simulated namely the gastric and small intestinal digestion by using different enzymes and physiological conditions that mimicked the digestion process. Following digestion, the bioaccessible apigenin was analysed using HPLD-DAD-MS. Results showed that the apigenin fraction in intestinal phase was higher than in gastric phase with amounts 1.03 ± 0.35 mg/100 g DW and 0.50 ± 0.08 mg/100 g DW, respectively. After 1 h exposure to gastric juice, the bioaccessibility of apigenin was 20.26 ± 3.06% with 79.74 ± 3.06% losses during the digestion, whereas in intestinal phase, the percentage of bioaccessibility significantly increased to 41.53 ± 13.99% and 58.47 ± 13.99% losses after 2 h treatment with pancreatin. It was concluded that the apigenin in Water Lily mango became bioaccessible, suggesting the absorption possibility of the compound in the upper part of intestine, which can lead to the health-related outcomes

Reformulation of Le’Natura® Biscuit: Effects on Textural, Sensorial, Nutritional and Glycemic Index Values

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to reformulate Le’Natura® biscuit for textural, sensorial, nutritional and glycemic index properties improvement. The original biscuit had a brittle and coarse texture with a bitter after-taste. It also contained high carbohydrate which made the biscuit unsuitable for diabetic patients and less desirable to the health-conscious consumers. Methods and Results: Several ingredients from the original formulation were either eliminated, reduced or substituted in order to modify the texture and taste, to obtain a low glycemic index (GI) value and to increase acceptability. The ingredients involved in reformulation were wheat flour, milk powder, maltodextrin, atta flour, green bean flour, polydextrose, palm oil, and leavening agents. The final reformulated biscuit showed improvements in thickness, spread ratio, fracturability and firmness properties. The improved biscuit also scored higher acceptability for appearance, texture, sweetness, after-taste and overall acceptability attributes. The in vivo GI measured indicates that the improved biscuit was in the low GI range of 44.7±4.7 compared to the original biscuit (63.5±7.7, moderate GI). The nutrients composition of total energy, fat, protein, dietary fiber, iron, and calcium content were increased while total carbohydrate and sodium levels were decreased. Conclusions: With the improvements, Le’Natura® biscuit is expected to capture the functional food market segment more competitively. Keywords: functional food; biscuit; glycemic index; high fibe

Intestinal permeability and transport of apigenin across caco-2 cell monolayers

Investigation on bioavailability was carried out by determining the absorption and transport of bioaccessible apigenin from Mangifera indica (Water Lily var.) into Caco-2 human intestinal cell using a reliable and sensitive analytical method of LC-MS/MS. Results revealed that the concentration of glucuronidated apigenin lower than apigenin. The apigenin was metabolised inside the cells through glucuronidation process, and cross the monolayer to reach the basolateral sides or effluxed back to the apical side. The permeability coefficient of apigenin from apical to basolateral sides and basolateral to apical sides showed a medium permeability was less than 20 x10-6 cm.sec-1. Since the value of efflux ratio was 1.5, it suggested that the apigenin was absorbed and transported through a simple diffusion mechanism

Physicochemical properties, sensory evaluation and storage stability of vitamin E fortified pink guava juice / Aishah Bujang … [et al.]

Pink guavas (Psidium guajava L.) are tropical, climateric fruits that are commonly grown in Malaysia for juice and puree production. These fruit are highly aromatic and rich in potassium, vitamin A and C. It is well known that guava fruit contains significantly more vitamin C than most citruses. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Pink guavas also have a high level of lycopene, a carotenoid which is considered good for fighting free radicals. Currently, Sime Darby Golden Hope Foods and Beverages company is the single largest pink guava plantation in the world with over 500 hectares of the fruit grown in Sitiawan, Perak. It is the only pink guava plantation in Malaysia and the largest integrated facility in Asia. The fruit are hand-picked and processed into puree and hygienically packed into aseptic bags and sealed in steel drums for overseas export market or process into ready-to-drink juice in tetrapak packaging for local market. Normally, fruit juices are cloudy in appearance, have a lot of colloidal suspensions that are either preferred by some consumers or considered as unattractive to the others. The juice cloudiness is contributed by the presence of different components (cell wall fragments, cellular organelles, oil droplets, hesperidin crystals, pectin etc.) together with polydisperse distribution of particles sizes (Sentandrau et al., 2011). The colloidal particles in the juices also carry flavour substances and natural antioxidants such as carotenoids, lycopene etc. Sedimentation of juice due to the presence of pulp particles caused the separation problem in most fruit juices. Addition of stabilising agent and homogenisation process are conducted to reduce the particle size of the sediments hence preventing separation from occurring. The choice of stabilisers used is also important depending on the properties of the juices. Starch, pectin, arabic gum, carrageenan gum, guar gum and xanthan gum are commonly used as stabilising agents in beverages. Homogenisation technique using ultrasonic vibrations and high-pressure homogenisers are nowadays used to disintegrate large fat globules into a more stable, small and uniform fat globules size. Sonication process is more preferred in food industries because of reduced processing time, higher throughput and lower energy consumption (Cheng et al., 2007)