Evaluation of antimicrobial effectiveness of pimaricin-loaded thermosensitive nanohydrogels in grape juice

Pimaricin-loaded poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanohydrogels with and without acrylic acid, were evaluated as food-spoilage inhibitors in a model system and a real food product: grape juice. Pimaricin was proposed as a non-allergenic alternative to sulphites for protecting juices against recontamination. However, pimaricin may degrade under conditions and treatments (heating, acidification, lighting) commonly applied in producing fresh juices. Nanohydrogel encapsulation may be a feasible procedure to avoid pimaricin degradation, improving its antimicrobial activity. Pimaricin-free nanohydrogels did not affect the growth of the indicator yeast either in the food model system or in grape juice. Conversely, pimaricin-loaded nanohydrogels effectively inhibited the growth of the indicator yeast. In some cases, the inhibition was extended even further than using free pimaricin. For instance, in the food model system, pimaricin-loaded nanohydrogels with acrylic acid (NPPNIPA-20AA(5)) prevented the yeast growth for more than 81 h while free pimaricin was only effective for 12 h. Despite pimaricin-loaded nanohydrogels without acrylic acid (NPPNIPA(5)) were able to reduce maximum yeast growth, as in all treatments with pimaricin, the extent of the inhibitory effect was not significantly (p>0.05) different to that achieved with free pimaricin. In grape juice, both free pimaricin and NPPNIPA-20AA(5) treatment completely inhibited the growth of the indicator yeast until the end of the bioassay. However, the latter provided similar inhibition levels using a smaller amount of pimaricin due to PNIPA-20AA(5) protection and its controlled release from the nanohydrogel. Therefore, nanohydrogel encapsulation may help to optimise antifungal treatments and decrease the incidence of food allergies.Funded by grant (MAT 2006-11662-CO3-CO2-C01/MAT 2010-21509-C03-01/EUI 2008-00115) from the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia” (Spain). Grant (SFRH/BPD/87910/2012) from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal). Marie Curie COFUND Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Effects of Feeding of Two Potentially Probiotic Preparations from Lactic Acid Bacteria on the Performance and Faecal Microflora of Broiler Chickens

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of two probiotic preparations, containing live lactic acid bacteria (Lactococcus lactis CECT 539 and Lactobacillus casei CECT 4043) and their products of fermentation (organic acids and bacteriocins), as a replacement for antibiotics in stimulating health and growth of broiler chickens. The effects of the supplementation of both preparations (with proven probiotic effect in weaned piglets) and an antibiotic (avilamycin) on body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed consumption efficiency (FCE), relative intestinal weight, and intestinal microbiota counts were studied in 1-day posthatch chickens. The experiments were conducted with medium-growth Sasso X44 chickens housed in cages and with nutritional stressed Ross 308 broiler distributed in pens. Consumption of the different diets did not affect significantly the final coliform counts in Sasso X44 chickens. However, counts of lactic acid bacteria and mesophilic microorganisms were higher in the animals receiving the two probiotic preparations (P < 0.05). In the second experiment, although no differences in BWG were observed between treatments, Ross 308 broilers receiving the probiotic Lactobacillus preparation exhibited the lowest FCE values and were considered the most efficient at converting feed into live weight

Development of electrospun active films of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) by the incorporation of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes containing oregano essential oil

[EN] This paper reports the development of biodegradable active packaging films of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) by the incorporation of alpha- and gamma-cyclodextrins (alpha-CD and gamma-CDs) containing oregano essential oil (OEO). Herein, both the kneading method (KM) and freeze-drying method (FDM) were first explored for the preparation of alpha-CD:OEO and gamma-CD:OEO inclusion complexes at host:guest ratios of 80:20 wt/wt and 85:15 wt/wt, respectively. The results showed that KM was the most efficient method for the encapsulation of OEO in the CDs cavity in terms of simplicity and rapidity, while it was also yielded the inclusion complexes with the highest antimicrobial and antioxidant performance. The alpha-CD:OEO and gamma-CD:OEO inclusion complexes obtained by KM were thereafter incorporated at 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 wt% into PHBV fibres by electrospinning and annealed at 160 degrees C to produce contact transparent films. It was observed that the optimal concentration of alpha-CD:OEO and gamma-CD:OEO inclusion complexes for homogeneous and continuous film formation was attained at contents of 15 and 25 wt%, respectively. Higher antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were obtained for the gamma-CD:OEO inclusion complexes due to the greater encapsulation efficiency of OEO in gamma-CD, resulting in PHBV films with good performance for up to 15 days. This aspect, together with their improved thermal stability and mechanical strength, give interesting applications to these biopolymer films in the design of active-releasing packaging materials to maintain the physical, chemical, and microbiological characteristics of food products.The authors would like to thank the Unidad Asociada IATA-UJI "Plastics Technology" and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICI) project RTI 2018-097249-B-C21 and the H2020 EU project YPACK (reference number 773872) for funding. Kelly J. Figueroa-Lopez and S. Torres-Giner are recipients of a Grisolia scholarship (Ref. 0001426013N810001A201) of the Valencian Government (GVA) and a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporaci.on contract (IJCI-2016-29675) from MICI, respectively.Figueroa-Lopez, K.; Enescu, D.; Torres-Giner, S.; Cabedo, L.; Cerqueira, M.; Pastrana, L.; Fuciños, P.... (2020). Development of electrospun active films of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) by the incorporation of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes containing oregano essential oil. Food Hydrocolloids. 108:1-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2020.106013S118108Ashori, A., Jonoobi, M., Ayrilmis, N., Shahreki, A., & Fashapoyeh, M. A. (2019). Preparation and characterization of polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate (PHBV) as green composites using nano reinforcements. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 136, 1119-1124. doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.06.181Aytac, Z., Ipek, S., Durgun, E., Tekinay, T., & Uyar, T. (2017). 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Functional characterisation and antimicrobial efficiency assessment of smart nanohydrogels containing natamycin incorporated into polysaccharide-based films

The potential application of polysaccharide-based films containing smart nanohydrogels for the controlled release of food preservatives is demonstrated here. Smart active packaging is the most promising alternative to traditional packaging as it provides a controlled antimicrobial effect, which allows reducing the amount of preservatives in the food bulk, releasing them only on demand. This work evaluates the usefulness of smart thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) nanohydrogels with or without acrylic acid (AA) incorporated into polysaccharide-based films (GA) to transport natamycin and release it as a response to environmental triggers. Release kinetics in liquid medium from GA films containing PNIPA/AA nanohydrogels (GA-PNIPA(5) and GA-PNIPA-20AA(5)) presented a characteristic feature regarding the films without nanohydrogels that was the appearance of a lag time in natamycin release, able to reach values of around 35 h. Another important feature of natamycin release kinetics was the fact that the release from GA-PNIPA/AA films only occurred when temperature was increased, so that the natamycin release was restricted to when there is a risk of growth of microorganisms that cause food spoilage or the development of pathogenic microorganisms. Additionally, it could be observed that the relative fraction of natamycin released from GA-PNIPA/AA films was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that released from GA films loaded with the same amount of free natamycin. It can be hypothesised that the encapsulation of natamycin into nanohydrogels helped it to be released from GA films, creating reservoirs of natamycin into the films and, therefore, facilitating its diffusion through the film matrix when the nanohydrogel collapses. In a solid medium, the low water availability limited natamycin release from GA-PNIPA/AA films restricting the on/off release mechanism of PNIPA/AA nanohydrogels and favouring the hydrophobic interactions between natamycin and polymer chains at high temperatures. Despite the low natamycin release in solid media, antimicrobial efficiency of GA-PNIPA(5) films containing natamycin in acidified agar plates was higher than that obtained with GA films without natamycin and GA films with free natamycin, probably due to the protecting effect against degradation when natamycin was included in the nanohydrogels, allowing its release only when the temperature increased.Clara Fucinos and Miguel A. Cerqueira are recipients of a fellowship (SFRH/BPD/87910/2012 and SFRH/BPD/72753/2010, respectively) from the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT, POPH-QREN, and FSE Portugal). The authors thank the FCT Strategic Project PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013 and the project "BioInd - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes", Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028 co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 - O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER and the project from the "Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia" (Spain) "Nanohidrogeles inteligentes sensibles a cambios de pH y Temperatura: Diseno, sintesis y aplicacion en terapia del cancer y el envasado activo de alimentos", Ref. MAT2010-21509-C03-01

Design of whey protein nanostructures for incorporation and release of nutraceutical compounds in food

Whey proteins are widely used as nutritional and functional ingredients in formulated foods because they are relative inexpensive, generally recognized as safe (GRAS) ingredient and possess important biological, physical and chemical functionalities. Denaturation and aggregation behavior of these proteins is of particular relevance toward manufacture of novel nanostructures with a number of potential uses. When these processes are properly engineered and controlled, whey proteins may be formed into nanohydrogels, nanofibrils or nanotubes and be used as carrier of bioactive compounds. This review intends to discuss the latest understandings of nanoscale phenomena of whey protein denaturation and aggregation that may contribute for the design of protein nanostructures. Whey protein aggregation and gelation pathways under different processing and environmental conditions such as microwave heating, high voltage and moderate electrical fields, high pressure, temperature, pH and ionic strength were critically assessed. Moreover, several potential applications of nanohydrogels, nanofibrils and nanotubes for controlled release of nutraceutical compounds (e.g. probiotics, vitamins, antioxidants and peptides) were also included. Controlling the size of protein networks at nanoscale through application of different processing and environmental conditions can open perspectives for development of nanostructures with new or improved functionalities for incorporation and release of nutraceuticals in food matrices.Oscar L. Ramos, Ricardo N. Pereira and Clara Fuci~nos gratefully acknowledge their Post-Doctoral grants (SFRH/BPD/80766/2011, SFRH/BPD/ 81887/2011, and SFRH/BPD/87910/2012, respectively) to the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal). All authors thank the FCT Strategic Project PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013 and the Project “BioEnv— Biotechnology and Bioengineering for a sustainable world”, REF. NORTE07-0124-FEDER-000048, co-funded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2–O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER

Temperature- and pH-sensitive nanohydrogels of Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) for food packaging applications: modelling the swelling-collapse behaviour

15 páginas, 5 tablas, 8 figuras.-- This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Temperature-sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) nanohydrogels were synthesized by nanoemulsion polymerization in water-in-oil systems. Several cross-linking degrees and the incorporation of acrylic acid as comonomer at different concentrations were tested to produce nanohydrogels with a wide range of properties. The physicochemical properties of PNIPA nanohydrogels, and their relationship with the swelling-collapse behaviour, were studied to evaluate the suitability of PNIPA nanoparticles as smart delivery systems (for active packaging). The swelling-collapse transition was analyzed by the change in the optical properties of PNIPA nanohydrogels using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The thermodynamic parameters associated with the nanohydrogels collapse were calculated using a mathematical approach based on the van't Hoff analysis, assuming a two-state equilibrium (swollen to collapsed). A mathematical model is proposed to predict both the thermally induced collapse, and the collapse induced by the simultaneous action of two factors (temperature and pH, or temperature and organic solvent concentration). Finally, van't Hoff analysis was compared with differential scanning calorimetry. The results obtained allow us to solve the problem of determining the molecular weight of the structural repeating unit in cross-linked NIPA polymers, which, as we show, can be estimated from the ratio of the molar heat capacity (obtained from the van't Hoff analysis) to the specific heat capacity (obtained from calorimetric measurements).This work was funded by grant (MAT 2006-11662-CO3-CO2-C01/MAT 2010-21509-C03-01/EUI 2008-00115) from the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia” (Spain). Clara Fuciños was funded by a predoctoral scholarship from University of Vigo (Spain)Peer reviewe

Evaluation of non-linear equations to model different animal growths with mono and bisigmoid profiles

11 páginas, 1 apéndice, 8 tablas, 4 figurasExperimental data of different animals (e.g. cocks, pigs, cats, dogs, cattles, etc.) from recent bibliography were selected to evaluate the capability of five classical sigmoidal equations (i.e. Bertalanffy, Weibull, logistic, Gompertz, and modified Hill) to model growth. These functions were used in different reparameterized forms in order to define all growth phases and to characterize significant kinetic parameters. The results indicated that logistic and Weibull equations were the best options to simulate the data with mono-sigmoid profiles. A subsequent formulation of logistic and Gompertz equations was constructed to describe accurately the biphasic trends for cock and foal growthsPeer reviewe

Optimization of antimicrobial combined effect of organic acids and temperature on foodborne salmonella and escherichia coli in cattle feed by response surface methodology

7 páginas, 2 figuras, 4 tablasDespite the importance of feedstuffs and feed ingredients in the food chain, few studies have analyzed the effectiveness of usual methods for the microbial decontamination of feeds. This work aimed to study the combined effect of temperature and organic acids (formic or lactic) on the inactivation of 10 isolates of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli obtained from vegetable feed ingredients, including cereals and other processed materials, in cattle feed. A central composite design was used with acid concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.2% (vol/wt) and temperatures from 50°C to 70°C. Second-order models were obtained to predict the survival inhibitions. The results reported in the present study indicate that temperature affects the survivability more significantly than acid concentration, whose effect was isolate dependent. However, after 2 min of treatment, optimal microbial inhibitions were generally achieved at temperatures above 65°C, using 0.1% formic acid or 0.2% lactic acid for Salmonella isolates and around 0.1% lactic acid or 0.2% formic acid for E. coli isolates, respectively. This work provides a set of guidelines helpful to reduce microbial contamination of feeds and highlights the importance of feed-ingredient monitoring to reduce pathogen contamination risk during feed processingXunta de Galicia, Spain (project PGIDIT03TAL07E)Plan Galego de Investigación, Desenvolvemento e Innovación Tecnolóxica-Incite (2006–2010) (Xunta de Galicia), PhD fellowship.Peer reviewe

Bio-silage of mussel work-processing wastes by lactobacilli on semi-solid culture

3 figurasThe aim of this work was to evaluate the fermentability of musselwork-processingwastes by lactic acid bacteria in order to remove and to upgrade a material that generate important focuses of pollution in coastal areas. With this perspective, three lactobacilli (Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus buchneri) were employed, and the production of metabolites, as well as the nutrient uptake, was evaluated. The effects of inoculum concentration and previous sterilization process were also studied. The kinetic tests were performed in semi-solid cultures and the results indicated the high feasibility of these materials as substrate for bio-silage production. Cultivations of 24 h led to productions of more than 90 g L−1 of lactic acid and 9 g L−1 of final protein. All the fermentation assays were stable for various days without contaminations by other bacteriaWe wish to thank the Xunta de Galicia for financial support. Dr. J.A. Vázquez had a postdoctoral contract (Programa Isabel Barreto, financed by the Xunta de Galicia).Peer reviewe

Producción de cultivos potencialmente probióticos a partir de lactosuero

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