Crocin loaded nano-emulsions: Factors affecting emulsion properties in spontaneous emulsification

Spontaneous emulsification may be used for encapsulating bioactive compounds in food and pharmaceutical industry. It has several advantages over high energy and other low energy methods including, protecting sensitive compounds against severe conditions of high energy method and its ability to minimize surfactant, removal of cosurfactant and thermal stability compared with other low energy methods. In this study, we examined possibility of encapsulating highly soluble crocin in W/O micro-emulsions using spontaneous method which further could be used for making double emulsions. Nonionic surfactants of Span 80 and polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) were used for making micro-emulsions that showed the high potential of PGPR for spontaneous method. Surfactant to water ratio (SWR) was evaluated to find the highest amount of aqueous phase which can be dispersed in organic phase. Droplet size decreased by increasing SWR toward the SWR = 100 which had the smallest droplet size and then increased at higher levels of surfactant. By increasing SWR, shear viscosity increased which showed the high effect of PGPR on rheological properties. This study shows in addition to W/O micro-emulsions, spontaneous method could be used for preparing stable O/W micro-emulsions. © 2015 Elsevier B.V

Monitoring hydroperoxides formation as a measure of predicting walnut oxidative stability

It is believed that lipids are the most important factor affecting nuts shelf-life. In the present study, an accelerated shelf-life testing by means of elevated temperatures 62, 72, and 82 °C was conducted to predict the oxidation stability of walnuts over a long-term storage. Peroxide value (PV) was employed to monitor the lipid oxidation progression in the walnuts. A range of 74.01–79.57 kJ mol−1 K−1 energy was required for formation of primary oxidation products. The reaction changes followed an apparent first-order kinetic. Formation of hydroperoxides in walnut kernels was found to be a temperature-dependent reaction with Q10 of 2.1. Walnut kernels were also kept in normal condition (temp: 20–30 °C; relative humidity (RH): 35–45%) for 12 months to validate the shelf-life estimation approach. The results showed that PV could provide a proper estimation for oxidative stability of the walnuts stored in ordinary condition

Effects of different emulsifiers and refining time on rheological and textural characteristics of compound chocolate.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of producing reduced fat dark compound chocolate in the ball mill refiner and using some selected emulsifiers. The effects of selected emulsifiers including lecithin, Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) and citrem in two levels and two refining times on the characteristics such as moisture, particle size, hardness and rheological properties of the samples was examined. Data analysis revealed that the Casson model was appropriate to describe the rheological behavior of the samples containing lecithin and citrem; however, Power law model was appropriate for the samples containing PGPR. The results showed that citrem is the most effective emulsifier to reduce hardness and rheological parameters such as apparent viscosity; casson viscosity and casson yield value and using citrem as a part of formulation in the production of reduced fat dark compound chocolate can solve many technological problems

Optimization of folic acid nano-emulsification and encapsulation by maltodextrin-whey protein double emulsions

Due to susceptibility of folic acid like many other vitamins to environmental and processing conditions, it is necessary to protect it by highly efficient methods such as micro/nano-encapsulation. Our aim was to prepare and optimize real water in oil nano-emulsions containing folic acid by a low energy (spontaneous) emulsification technique so that the final product could be encapsulated within maltodextrin-whey protein double emulsions. A non ionic surfactant (Span 80) was used for making nano-emulsions at three dispersed phase/surfactant ratios of 0.2, 0.6, and 1.0. Folic acid content was 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 mg/mL of dispersed phase by a volume fraction of 5.0, 8.5, and 12. The final optimum nano-emulsion formulation with 12 dispersed phase, a water to surfactant ratio of 0.9 and folic acid content of 3 mg/mL in dispersed phase was encapsulated within maltodextrin-whey protein double emulsions. It was found that the emulsification time for preparing nano-emulsions was between 4 to 16 h based on formulation variables. Droplet size decreased at higher surfactant contents and final nano-emulsions had a droplet size. < 100 nm. Shear viscosity was higher for those formulations containing more surfactant. Our results revealed that spontaneous method could be used successfully for preparing stable W/O nano-emulsions containing folic acid. © 2016 Elsevier B.V

Rapid production of human liver scaffolds for functional tissue engineering by high shear stress oscillation-decellularization

The development of human liver scaffolds retaining their 3-dimensional structure and extra-cellular matrix (ECM) composition is essential for the advancement of liver tissue engineering. We report the design and validation of a new methodology for the rapid and accurate production of human acellular liver tissue cubes (ALTCs) using normal liver tissue unsuitable for transplantation. The application of high shear stress is a key methodological determinant accelerating the process of tissue decellularization while maintaining ECM protein composition, 3D-architecture and physico-chemical properties of the native tissue. ALTCs were engineered with human parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cell lines (HepG2 and LX2 cells, respectively), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), as well as primary human hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells. Both parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells grown in ALTCs exhibited markedly different gene expression when compared to standard 2D cell cultures. Remarkably, HUVEC cells naturally migrated in the ECM scaffold and spontaneously repopulated the lining of decellularized vessels. The metabolic function and protein synthesis of engineered liver scaffolds with human primary hepatocytes reseeded under dynamic conditions were maintained. These results provide a solid basis for the establishment of effective protocols aimed at recreating human liver tissue in vitro

Improving the qualitative indicators of apple juice by Chitosan

Today's consumers desire for tasty, nutritious, and safe food products, so researchers are looking for new ways in which little heat or no heat at all is used for processing. This study was to evaluate the effect of treatment using an ultrasonic bath (for 15, 30, and 60 min at 40 and 60°C) and ultrasonic probe (for 10, 15, and 20 min at 40 and 60°C), treatment with Chitosan, and combination of them on the quality of apple juice that includes physicochemical features (pH, acidity, total solid matter), total polyphenol, total antioxidant capacity, the cloud point, and color values of Hunter (L*, a*, b*) in the treated samples and comparing them with each other. The results showed that ultrasound has no effect on the pH and acidity, while the total solid of ultrasound treatment was higher than controls in combination with Chitosan (p &lt; 0.05). Total polyphenols of apple juice samples treated by ultrasonic probe are higher than an ultrasonic bath (p &lt; 0.05). The total antioxidant capacity has improved in treatments (p &lt; 0.05). According to the results there is a significant difference between the cloud point of control samples and Chitosan (p &lt; 0.05). The L* (brightness) increased in ultrasonic probe method and had a significant decline in Chitosantreatment (p &lt; 0.05). Findings from this study suggest that the use of ultrasound treatment in the production of apple juice can improve quality factors, and in this regard, ultrasonic probe is more effective

Effect of ultrasound waves pretreatment on quantity and antioxidant capacity of extracted beta-carotene from carrot residue

Nowadays, the tendency towards the extraction of phytochemicals by ultrasound method has been increased. In this research, the effect of ultrasound waves pretreatment on extraction of beta-carotene from carrot residue was studied. Carrot residues were treated with ultrasound waves with 205 W power, constant 35 KHz frequency during  six stages of 0 (without ultrasound), 16, 20, 30, 40 and 44 min and at temperatures of 66, 70, 80, 90 and 94 ºC and using ethyl acetate as solvents. Then, the extract from each sample was evaluated considering the amount of total phenolic components as well as beta-carotene and antioxidant capacity of beta-carotene. According to the results, it was observed that, there was a significant difference (

Application of peleg model to study effect of water temperature and storage time on rehydration kinetics of air dried potato cubes,”

Abstract−− Potato cubes (1×1×1 cm) were dried at 65ºC in hot air oven. Samples were rehydrated by immersion in water during different periods of time and temperatures (23±2ºC and 100±2ºC). Rehydration kinetic was monitored by measuring samples&apos; weights at regular intervals. All measurements were repeated after two months to study effect of shelf life on rehydration. Peleg&apos;s model was successfully applied to experimental data and the corresponding parameters were obtained and correlated with temperature. The parameters of the model were found to be greatly affected by the water temperature during rehydration. Rehydration of samples was also dependent to water temperature. In particular, temperature increase led to higher final moisture contents in the samples after two months storage. On the other hand, higher temperatures decreased the moisture content of the samples at the end of first month which could be related to the structural changes in potato due to higher temperatures

Physicochemical and morphological properties of resistant starch type 4 prepared under ultrasound and conventional conditions and their in-vitro and in-vivo digestibilities

In the present work, cross-linked resistant starch (RS4) was prepared under sonication and conventional conditions at various levels of pH (9�12) and cross-linker concentration (sodium trimetaphosphate/sodium tripolyphosphate 99:1, 5�15). It was found that phosphorous and resistant starch content was generally increased by increasing the cross-linker concentration, pH and application of sonication. The damage to the surface of sonicated granules was revealed by scanning electron micrographs. The presence of cross-linked phosphorous groups was demonstrated by FT-IR results through the appearance of a new peak at wave numbers of 1248�1252 cm�1 that was more conspicuous in sonicated cross-linked samples. Sonicated cross-linked starches showed higher gelatinization temperatures and lower degrees of crystallinity, while no changes was detected in terms of A-type crystalline pattern. The development of viscosity was diminished prominently by the extreme cross-linking reactions in both sonicated and conventional cross-linked starches. The least glycemic index value was obtained for sonicated cross-linked starches which was negatively correlated to their higher RS content measured in-vitro. These results provide novel information on the preparation of cross-linked resistant starch under sonication conditions. © 201