Production of natural nano-gel from pineapple polysaccharides complexes for controlled release of bioactive compounds

São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences on Reverse Engineering of Processed Foods[Excerpt] Pineapple (Ananas cosmosus) is the third most important tropical fruit in world production, seventy percent of the pineapple produced in the world is consumed as fresh fruit. In the agro-food sector, several materials are eliminated as waste throughout production and processing chain. These residues (skins, seed and pulp remnants) contain high content of bioactive compounds, but in generally not directly available, and for that reason is necessary to extract and characterize the feasible bioactive compounds (do Espírito Santo et al., 2012). Therefore, the study of the wastes and by-products generated during pineapple production and post-harvest processing is relevant and interesting to valorise them and reduce their environmental impact. The development of vehicles using these residues that deliveries the compounds as well promotes the maintenance of bioactivity, has been widely study, but lacks the search of new structures that could be easily used in food industry. Therefore, the focus of this research work was to developed nanocarriers using pineapple residues to extract pineapple polysaccharides for delivery of bioactive compounds. Frozen pineapple wastes were submitted to a milling and pressing processes, creating a pineapple juice and a solid semi-dried extract. Characterization was made for both parts comprised proteins, sugars, fibers, lipids and polyphenol contents. The soluble fraction was fractionated by centrifuge filter tubes with cut-off of 50 kDa and after by cut-off of 3 kDa, and three fractions were obtained: above 50 kDa, between 50 and 3 kDa and below 3 kDa. The insoluble part was submitted to hot aqueous extraction. The supernatant and the pellet of this extraction were separated and studied separately. Pineapple polysaccharides were identified and quantified by HPLC method and phenol-sulphuric method, respectively. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessment of potential prebiotic activity of pineapple by-products (peels and stems) extracts and maintenance of bioavailability through in vitro gastrointestinal tract system

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Biological extraction of bromelain from pineapple byproducts

[Excerpt] Isolation and purification of valuable compounds are very important processes to valorize agro-food byproducts. Currently, protein extraction and development of environmentally friendly technologies are industrially relevant topics [1]. Among the extracted proteins from byproducts proteases are a relevant group for industrial applications. These enzymes are a class of hydrolytic enzymes capable of cleaving the peptide bonds of proteins chains and are essential in physiological processes [2]. (...

Natamycin-loaded poly(n-isopropylacrylamide) nanohydrogels for smart edible packaging : development and characterization

The development of new formulations for antimicrobial agents release has attracted great attention due to the possibility of using such formulations in several applications (e.g. food packaging and surface treatments in biomedical devices). Smart packaging appears in the last years as one of the most promissory application to food packaging in order to enhance the capacity to maintain food quality and safety. Moreover, edible packaging, using edible and biodegradable biopolymers, has been stated as one of the promises in packaging science (e.g. fresh-cut products, cheese, fruits, fish). Based on this and in the fact that no work has been reported with the incorporation of smart nanohydrogels in edible packaging, a smart delivery device consisting in poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanohydrogels and polysaccharide- based films was developed. Polysaccharide-based films with and without the incorporation of natamycin-loaded poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanohydrogels were charactherized in terms of: transport (water vapour, oxygen and carbon dioxide permeabilities) and mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation-at-break), opacity, water sensitivity (moisture content and contact angle) and thermal properties (differential scanning calorimetry - DSC and thermogravimetric analyses - TGA). Chemical interactions were studied by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy was used to verify the presence of nanohydrogel in the film matrix. [...

Bacteriophages for chronic wound treatment: from traditional to novel delivery systems

The treatment and management of chronic wounds presents a massive financial burden for global health care systems, with significant and disturbing consequences for the patients affected. These wounds remain challenging to treat, reduce the patients’ life quality, and are responsible for a high percentage of limb amputations and many premature deaths. The presence of bacterial biofilms hampers chronic wound therapy due to the high tolerance of biofilm cells to many first- and second-line antibiotics. Due to the appearance of antibiotic-resistant and multidrug-resistant pathogens in these types of wounds, the research for alternative and complementary therapeutic approaches has increased. Bacteriophage (phage) therapy, discovered in the early 1900s, has been revived in the last few decades due to its antibacterial efficacy against antibiotic-resistant clinical isolates. Its use in the treatment of non-healing wounds has shown promising outcomes. In this review, we focus on the societal problems of chronic wounds, describe both the history and ongoing clinical trials of chronic wound-related treatments, and also outline experiments carried out for efficacy evaluation with different phage-host systems using in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo animal models. We also describe the modern and most recent delivery systems developed for the incorporation of phages for species-targeted antibacterial control while protecting them upon exposure to harsh conditions, increasing the shelf life and facilitating storage of phage-based products. In this review, we also highlight the advances in phage therapy regulation.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 713640. A.M.P. acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the grant SFRH/BD/138138/2018. The authors also thank NORTE 2020 (2014–2020 North Portugal Regional Operational Programme) and the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) under the Grant NORTE‐45‐2015‐02. M.B.L also thanks FCT for the grant PT‐DZ/0004/2015, as well as the 2014– 2020 INTERREG Cooperation Programme Spain–Portugal (POCTEP) through the project 0624_2IQBIONEURO_6_E.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Creating functional nanostructures: Encapsulation of caffeine into α-lactalbumin nanotubes

This work evaluated the stability and functionality of nanotubes obtained from α-lactalbumin (α-LA). α-LA nanotubes' structure was highly stable during a freeze-drying process but not after grinding. The ability of α-LA nanotubes to encapsulate caffeine, used as a model molecule, was evaluated. α-La nanotubes were highly effective for this purpose as encapsulation efficiency (%EE) was near 100% and loading capacity (%LC) near 10% at 1.5/20 and 2/20 ratios (caffeine/α-LA, w/w). α-LA nanotubes' structure was not affected by the presence of caffeine. Also, in general, refrigeration temperatures and neutral or alkaline conditions, under which the adverse effect of chelating agents was prevented, helped to stabilise α-LA nanotubes' structure and maintain caffeine encapsulated. At 8 °C and pH 7.5, in the presence of 75 μg mL− 1 of EDTA, > 50% of the caffeine remained encapsulated into α-LA nanotubes.Clara Fuciños gratefully acknowledge her Post-Doctoral grant (I2C 2014) from Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria (Xunta de Galicia, Spain). Pablo Fuciños gratefully acknowledges his Marie Curie COFUND Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (Project No: 600375. NanoTRAINforGrowth - INL Fellowship programme in nanotechnologies for biomedical, environment and food applications). This study was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684), and the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462)

Carboxymethyl cellulose-based films: Effect of organosolv lignin incorporation on physicochemical and antioxidant properties

Organosolv lignin was incorporated in carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-based films as a reinforcing and bioactive agent. Films were produced by the casting method using compatible and environmentally friendly solvents. The incorporation of lignin in CMC-based films was evaluated in term of morphology, physicochemical, barrier, mechanical and antioxidant properties. Solubility tests showed that lignin improved the water resistance of the films for approx. 60%. This behavior was also observed for the water vapor permeability, achieving a 20% reduction. Morphological characteristics suggested low compatibility between organosolv lignin and CMC matrix, revealed by the small aggregates homogeneously distributed in the film, through scanning electron microscopy, related to the self-assembly behavior of lignin. CMC/lignin-based films also presented higher thermal stability. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that incorporation of lignin led to small changes in the film's structure. Finally, organosolv lignin proved to be a promising material for the development of active CMC-based films due to its demonstrated antioxidant activity that can be useful to pack food products that suffer from undesirable oxidation reactions.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In-vitro bioaccessibility of beta-carotene in lipidic systems

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Nanospraydryer for the production of sub-micro particles based on bovine lactoferrin

This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Arlete M. Marques (SFRH/BD/132911/2017) is the recipient of a fellowship from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio