Characterization of the proteins fractions extracted from leaves of Amaranthus dubius (Amaranthus spp.)

Amaranth is an ancient plant belonging to the Amaranthaceae family, which is believed to have originated in Central and South America. The high nutritional quality of the amaranth seed protein is one of the main factors that has attracted the attention of the researchers. However, till date, the protein profile of the leaves of the most researched varieties has not been well studied. Moreover, the nutritional profile of Amaranthus dubius remains unknown. Therefore, it would be interesting to study it. Protein from A. dubius leaves has a high nutritional value due to its balanced amino acid composition. The concentrations of albumins, globulins, prolamins and glutelins are 73.42, 6.60, 6.47 and 6.11%, respectively. It was found that the best agent for extraction of globulins was Na2HPO4 and for glutelins, it was NaOH. The highest amino acid content was found in the albumins fraction and the lowest one in the glutelins fraction. The chemical score of the essential amino acids from proteins of the leaves of A. dubius flour was 92.83%; the flour has only one limiting essential amino acid: Leucine (Leu). The leaves of A. dubius can be used as complement dietary for rice, wheat and corn proteins

Determination of potentially toxic compounds from Maillard reaction in baby cereal based foods

Technological processes applied to food can give rise to modifications in their composition. One of the most important modifications induced in food by heating is the Maillard reaction, which involves amino acids and reducing carbohydrates, and can also produce loss of nutritive value. Moreover, acrylamide and furanic compounds are formed in a variety of heat-treated commercial foods. They are known to be toxic and, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, \u201cpossibly carcinogenic to humans\u201d. The aim of this research is to evaluate the loss nutritive value and the formation of acrylamide and furanic compounds in different baby cereal based foods. These products need to be processed to improve sensory qualities and starch digestibility. Because of that, all the samples were produced in industrial plant in the same technological conditions. The furosine values (indirect measure of lysine losses) ranged from 521 to 966 mg/100 g of protein; the sample produced with unconventional cereals (different from wheat) reported the higher furosine values. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was also determined and used, together with furfural and glucosylisomaltol (GIM) levels, as markers of thermal damage. HMF values were in the range 0.5-143 \u3bcg/100 g, furfural values ranged from not detected to 3 \u3bcg/100 g and GIM was in the range 3-42 \u3bcg/100 g. In this study the furan content in the cereal infant food products was conducted using headspace sampling in combination with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HSGC/ MS). The furan content was relatively low, with average concentrations below 20 \u3bcg/kg. Finally, acrylamide content in the baby food products was analyzed by LC\u2013ESI-QQQ-MS methods. The mean content of acrylamide in the baby foods ranged from 68 to 107 \u3bcg/kg depending on the food product, only the sample with rice flour showed an acrylamide content lower than LOQ. The findings of our analytical studies confirm that the same product category includes products with high and low content of potentially toxic compounds. For, while if it is true that furan content is relatively low, mitigative measures to avoid acrylamide in commercially baby foods should be a high priority for risk management

Effect of technological processes on Maillard reaction and acrylamide formation in cocoa

In recent years increased attention has been paid to those foods potentially exerting antioxidant capacity. In heat-treated foods, such as cocoa and related products, this property is generally the result of the contribution of both natural and heat-induced antioxidants. The Maillard reaction in food produces, among others, a diversity of antioxidant compounds. However, several researches reported the findings of elevated levels of potentially toxic compounds from Maillard reaction in heat-treated foods. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of different technological processes in the formation of no-healthy Maillard reaction compounds in cocoa. Cocoa was produced and processed in Chuao (Venezuela). Briefly, fermented cocoa beans were toasted with and without husk, or alkalized. As expected, toasted products showed the lowest content of furosine due to its degradation during the toasting process, whereas values of fermented and alkalized beans reported a furosine content between 172 and 209 mg/100 g of protein. Contrary, toasted samples showed the highest quantities of HMF and methyl-furfural. The same trend was showed for furan content. Effectively, toasted samples reported a furan content of 50 and 23 \u3bcg/kg, the fermented and alkalized samples contained 7.6 and 5.8 \u3bcg/kg, respectively. Acrylamide levels of no-toasted products were below the LOQ; contrary higher quantities were detected in the toasted samples. As reported for HMF, methyl-furfural and furan, also acrylamide level was higher in the sample toasted with husk compared to de-husked sample. This study confirms that toasted food contained higher quantities of potentially toxic compounds compared to no toasted sample; the alkali treatment prevent the formation of these compounds and may be take into account as alternative process in cocoa production. However other factors, such as sensorial characteristics and content of antioxidant compounds, should be considerate