The influence of different types of preparation (espresso and brew) on coffee aroma and main bioactive constituents

Coffee is one of the most popular hot drinks in the world; it may be prepared by several methods, but the most common forms are boiled (brew) and pressurized (espresso). Analytical studies on the substances responsible for the pleasant aroma of roasted coffee have been carried out for more than 100 years. Brew coffee and espresso coffee (EC) have a different and peculiar aroma profile, demonstrating the importance of the brewing process on the final product sensorial quality. Concerning bioactive compounds, the extraction mechanism plays a crucial role. The differences in the composition of coffee brew in chlorogenic acids and caffeine content is the result of the different procedures of coffee preparation. The aim of the present review is to detail how the brewing process affects coffee aroma and composition

Cibo e Nutraceutici: direzione salute

Atti congressuali del Convegno “Cibo e nutraceutici: direzione salute”, organizzato a Camerino il 10-07-2018, a cura della Piattaforme Tematiche di Ateneo su “Alimenti e Nutrizione” e “Salute Umana e Animale”

Anchovies: a healthy food and a good source of vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin).

Vitamins are crucial for maintaining good health in humans; lack of a sufficient amount of them can cause serious disease [1]. Essential for the calculation of dietary intake of nutrients from food is the use of reliable, accurate and precise analytical methods for nutrients in the foods. The water-soluble vitamins act mainly as coenzymes, while the fat-soluble ones act in different and more complex ways [2]. In foodstuffs, the vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin) may be present in free (riboflavin, nicotinamide and nicotinic acid) and binding forms (essentially riboflavin-5’-phosphate (FMN), riboflavin- 5’-adenosyldiphosphate (FAD), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP)). Furthermore, they may be bound tightly but non-covalently to proteins and polysaccharides [3]. Anchovies are a good source of those two vitamins, based on the various nutrition tables available. Thus, the aim of this paper was to evaluate the content of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin, i.e. nicotinic acid plus nicotinamide) in anchovies samples provided by “Dimar Sapore di Mare” and to evaluate the possibility to use the health claims related to the above vitamins reported in EU Regulation 432/2012. In order to use the claim, the levels of these two vitamins must be at least 15% of the recommended dose given in the Annex Regulation 2008/100/ EC, that is 1.4 mg/100 g for riboflavin and 16 mg/100 g for niacin. In the current study, we tested different extraction procedures such as acidic hydrolysis, acidic hydrolysis plus protein precipitation, acidic plus enzymatic hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis and we choose the best one for the extraction of riboflavin and niacin from anchovies. Additionally, a new analytical method to simultaneously determine these three compounds in anchovies by using HPLC-MS/MS triple quadrupole, has been developed. The analytical procedure is fast (2.5 minutes of chromatography run time), the method is sensitive (LOQ for all compounds is in the range 1-5 µg kg-1), accurate and robust as it is possible to apply the method to both normal and under-oil/canned anchovies. After method validation, the best method was then applied to the analysis of 23 anchovies samples, in order to understand the dietary intake of vitamins

Food Protein Sterylation: Chemical Reactions between Reactive Amino Acids and Sterol Oxidation Products under Food Processing Conditions

Sterols, especially cholesterol and phytosterols, are important components of food lipids. During food processing, such as heating, sterols, like unsaturated fatty acids, can be oxidized. Protein modification by secondary products of lipid peroxidation has recently been demonstrated in food through a process called lipation. Similarly, this study was performed to assess, for the first time, the possibility of reactions between food proteins and sterol oxidation products in conditions relevant for food processing. Therefore, reaction models consisting of oxysterol (cholesterol 5,6-epoxide) and reactive amino acids (arginine, lysine, and methionine) were incubated in various conditions of concentration (0–8 mM), time (0–120 min), and temperature (30–180 C). The identification of lysine adducts through thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a diode array detector (DAD), and electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) evidenced a reaction with lysine. Moreover, the HPLC-ESI with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analyses allowed observation of the compound, whose mass to charge ratio m/z 710.5 and fragmentation patterns correspondedto the reactionproduct [M+H]+ between cholesterol-5,6-epoxide andthe "-amino-group of N-benzoylglycyl-l-lysine. Moreover, kinetic studies between N-benzoylglycyl-l-lysine as a model for protein-bound lysine and cholesterol 5,6-epoxide were performed, showing that the formation of lysine adducts strongly increases with time, temperature, and oxysterol level. This preliminary study suggests that in conditions commonly reached during food processing, sterol oxidation products could react covalently with protein-bound lysine, causing protein modifications

Coffee Silverskin and Spent Coffee Suitable as Neuroprotectors against Cell Death by Beauvericin and α-Zearalenol: Evaluating Strategies of Treatment

Coffee silverskin and spent coffee have been evaluated in a neuroblastoma cell line (SHSY5Y cells) against beauvericin (BEA) and α-zearalenol (α-ZEL)-induced cytotoxicity with different strategies of treatment. First, the direct treatment of mycotoxins and coffee by-products extracts in SH-SY5Y cells was assayed. IC50 values for α-ZEL were 20.8 and 14.0 μM for 48 h and 72 h, respectively and, for BEA only at 72 h, it was 2.5 μM. Afterwards, the pre-treatment with spent coffee obtained by boiling water increased cell viability for α-ZEL at 24 h and 48 h from 10% to 16% and from 25% to 30%, respectively; while with silverskin coffee, a decrease was observed. Opposite effects were observed for BEA where an increase for silverskin coffee was observed at 24 h and 48 h, from 14% to 23% and from 25% to 44%, respectively; however, a decrease below 50% was observed for spent coffee. Finally, the simultaneous treatment strategy for the highest concentration assayed in SH-SY5Y cells provided higher cytoprotection for α-ZEL (from 44% to 56% for 24 h and 48 h, respectively) than BEA (30% for 24 h and 48 h). Considering the high viability of coffee silverskin extracts for SH-SY5Y cells, there is a forthcoming promising use of these unexploited residues in the near future against mycotoxins effects

Comparative Analysis of the Volatile Profile of 20 Commercial Samples of Truffles, Truffle Sauces, and Truffle-Flavored Oils by Using HS-SPME-GC-MS

The aroma profile of raw truffles, of truffle sauces, and of natural and artificial truffle flavored oils made from or made to imitate Tuber magnatum, Tuber melanosporum, and Tuber aestivum was characterized by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS). Both naturally and artificiallymade oils were not only mainly dominated by bis(methylthio)methane (BMTM), a marker compound typical of white truffle, but also found in most of the oil samples flavored with black truffle. BMTM was not detected or detected in low amounts in black truffles but was very high in sauces (59.74–77.691%); instead, 1-octen-3-ol was high in truffles (35.227–75.208%) but low in sauces. Along the same lines, terpenoid compounds such as α-cubebene, copaene, caryophyllene, α-caryophyllene, and α- farnesene were not detected at all in T. aestivum raw truffle but were present in most truffle sauces. Thus, it was found that neither the natural nor the artificial truffle oil samples adequately replicated the aromas of the species of truffle examined, and this was confirmed by principal component analysis (PCA

Simultaneous Determination of 18 Bioactive Compounds in Italian Bitter Liqueurs by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Diode Array Detection

A simple, fast and accurate method has been developed to simultaneously determine 18 bioactive compounds in Italian bitter liqueurs containing gentian, cinchona, cinnamon, rhubarb, clove, star anise or orange, by reversed-phase highperformance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) coupled with diode array detection (DAD). HPLC analysis was performed with a C18 column using methanol and aqueous phosphoric acid (pH 2.5) as mobile phase. Selected wavelengths, i.e. 210, 232, 275, 285, 291, 310 and 368 nm, were used for quantification of compounds. The column temperature was controlled at 30 °C. The correlation coefficients (R2) of the calibration curves of the analysed compounds were ≥0.9999 in a relatively wide concentration range (0.5–50 μg/ml). The proposed method proved successful in simultaneously analysing 18 bitter liqueurs produced in Italy. The concentration of the most important bitter principles, gentiopicroside, amarogentin, quinine and naringin, ranged as follows: 1.17–299.20, 0.25–32.24, 1.44–6.93 and 0.28–39.99 μg/ml, respectively