The Effects of Non-Thermal Technologies on Phytochemicals

Phytochemicals are biologically active compounds present in plants used for food and medicine. A great deal of interest has been generated recently in the isolation, characterization and biological activity of these phytochemicals. This book is in response to the need for more current and global scope of phytochemicals. It contains chapters written by internationally recognized authors. The topics covered in the book range from their occurrence, chemical and physical characteristics, analytical procedures, biological activity, safety and industrial applications. The book has been planned to meet the needs of the researchers, health professionals, government regulatory agencies and industries. This book will serve as a standard reference book in this important and fast growing area of phytochemicals, human nutrition and health

Improving the in vitro bioaccessibility of β-carotene using pectin added nanoemulsions

The intestinal absorption of lipophilic compounds such as β-carotene has been reported to increase when they are incorporated in emulsion-based delivery systems. Moreover, the reduction of emulsions particle size and the addition of biopolymers in the systems seems to play an important role in the emulsion properties but also in their behavior under gastrointestinal conditions and the absorption of the encapsulated compound in the intestine. Hence, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of pectin addition (0%, 1%, and 2%) on the physicochemical stability of oil-in-water nanoemulsions containing β-carotene during 35 days at 4 °C, the oil digestibility and the compound bioaccessibility. The results showed that nanoemulsions presented greater stability and lower β-carotene degradation over time in comparison with coarse emulsion, which was further reduced with the addition of pectin. Moreover, nanoemulsions presented a faster digestibility irrespective of the pectin concentration used and a higher β-carotene bioaccessibility as the pectin concentration increased, being the maximum of ≈36% in nanoemulsion with 2% of pectin. These results highlight the potential of adding pectin to β-carotene nanoemulsions to enhance their functionality by efficiently preventing the compound degradation and increasing the in vitro bioaccessibility.This work was funded by the project AGL2015-65975-R (FEDER, MINECO, UE) and project RTI2018-094268-B-C21 (MCIU, AEI; FEDER, UE)

Physicochemical properties and bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds of dietary fibre concentrates from vegetable by-products

The agro-food industry generates a large volume of by-products, whose revaluation is essential for the circular economy. From these by-products, dietary fibre concentrates (DFCs) can be obtained. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterise (a) the proximal composition by analysing soluble, insoluble and total Dietary Fibre (DF), (b) the physicochemical properties, and (c) the phenolic profile of artichoke, red pepper, carrot, and cucumber DFCs. In addition, the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds was also evaluated after in vitro gastrointestinal and colonic digestions. The results showed that the DFCs had more than 30 g/100 g dw. The water holding and retention capacity of the DFCs ranges from 9.4 to 18.7 g of water/g. Artichoke DFC presented high concentration of phenolic compounds (8340.7 mg/kg) compared to the red pepper (304.4 mg/kg), carrot (217.4 mg/kg) and cucumber DFCs (195.7 mg/kg). During in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, soluble phenolic compounds were released from the food matrix, chlorogenic acid, the principal compound in artichoke and carrot DFCs, and hesperetin-7-rutinoside in red pepper cucumber DFCs. Total phenolic content decreased after in vitro colonic digestion hence the chemical transformation of the phenolic compounds by gut microbiota. Based on the results, DFCs could be good functional ingredients to develop DF-enriched food, reducing food waste.This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Gobierno de Espana: AGLRTI-2018-094268-B-C21