Quality of High-protein Diet Bar Plus Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) Grain Evaluated Sensorially by Untrained Tasters

The objective of this study was to develop, analyze composition and evaluate the microbiological and sensory characteristics of high-protein diet bars (PB) with the addition of chia grain (Salvia hispanica L.), partially replacing isolated soy protein and concentrated whey protein, in proportions of 0, 10, 15 and 20%. The proximate composition was analyzed of PB, for microbiological quality of Bacillus cereus, Filamentous fungi and yeast count, total fecal coliforms, and Salmonella ssp. search. Sensory analysis was performed utilizing acceptance testing of characteristics on a nine-point hedonic scale for various attributes, including purchasing intention of the tested PB. Bars showed 20% moisture, 2.3% ash, 20-23% protein and 19% lipids. The effect of increasing of chia was to increase crude fiber content and decrease total carbohydrate and total energy value. All samples were within the microbiological food standards established by current legislation. All PB formulations obtained a good overall impression index and all characteristics were above mean grades, with the exception of taste (63%) in the PB containing 0% chia. Chia grain has a positive influence on sensory aspects and appears to be an alternative way to increase the nutritional quality of high-protein diet bars

High-Protein bar Supplemented with Chia Seed Improves Lipidemic Parameters in Wistar Rats

Chia (Salvia hispanical.) seeds are known to have high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and fiber. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a High-Protein Bar (PB) supplemented with chia seed added to the feed on the organs, tissues, and biochemical parameters of male Wistar adult rats (n=32) divided into four groups (n=8), namely group I (ration + 20% chia seeds); group II (ration + PB without chia seeds); group III (ration + 20% PB containing 15% chia seed); group IV (ration + 20% PB containing 20% chia seeds). The shelf-life of PBs was assessed during 45 days in terms of texture, color, and antioxidant activity using the \u3b2-carotene/linoleic acid assay. The centesimal composition of the formulations showed a significantly higher value of fiber offered to group I. Animals of groups III and IV showed a lower consumption of the ration (p<0.05), while those of group I lower weight of the heart as well as of retroperitoneal, epididymal and perirenal tissues (p<0.05). The biochemical parameters showed a significant improvement (p<0.05) in testosterone levels in groups that received the rations partially replaced by chia seed-containing PB. In addition, group II, which received the ration enriched with PB without chia seed, showed the highest serum triacylglycerol value, highlighting the important role of chia seeds on lipidemic parameters. It is worth mentioning that more in-depth studies must be carried out to validate the results obtained in the current study

Antioxidant efficacy and in silico toxicity prediction of free and spray-dried extracts of green Arabica and Robusta coffee fruits and their application in edible oil

Extracts of green coffee fruits (GCFEs), either of the Arabica or Robusta variety, obtained by percolation with a 68% (w/w) aqueous ethanol solution using a 0.9:10 (w/w) solid-to-solvent ratio, were tested in this study as antioxidant additives to delay sunflower oil oxidation. In addition, safety of the major secondary metabolites of the extracts was investigated by in silico modeling. For this purpose, GCFEs were spray dried either as such or microencapsulated with a 1:1 (w/w) maltodextrin and gum Arabic mixture as wall material. The encapsulation efficiencies of Arabica and Robusta GCFEs were as high as 96.9 +/- 0.04 and 97.36 +/- 0.03% and the chlorogenic acid retentions 59.61 +/- 1.3 and 73.72 +/- 2.49%, respectively. The HPLC-DAD analysis revealed higher contents of total chlorogenic acids and caffeine but a lower content of trigonelline in the Robusta GCFE compared with the Arabica one. The ACD/I-Lab, AdmetSAR, and pKCSM computational tools allowed excluding, for GCFEs major compounds, any toxicological potential in terms of Ames toxicity, carcinogenicity, hERG inhibition, hepatotoxicity, reproductive toxicity and skin sensitization. Foodstuff application of GCFE powders demonstrated that microencapsulated GCFEs were more effective in delaying sunflower oil oxidation than free GCFEs and butylated hydroxytoluene as a synthetic antioxidant. These results suggest the use of microencapsulated GCFE as a source of natural antioxidants to stabilize food products, especially unsaturated vegetable oil

Acute and subacute oral toxicity assessment of dry encapsulated and non-encapsulated green coffee fruit extracts

The coffee fruit is a high source of bioactive compounds such as phenolic acids and methylxanthines, comprising chlorogenic acids and caffeine, respectively. Extract from this matrix may be used as supplement or active ingredient of functional foods, energy drinks, cosmetics or drugs. Safety of caffeine- and chlorogenic acid-rich encapsulated and nonencapsulated hydroethanolic extracts from green coffee fruit (GCFE) was assessed by acute and subacute toxicity tests. In the acute test, oral single dosage until 1000 mg/kg per body weight (bw) did not show any adverse effect on both female and male mice according to the Hippocratic screening and clinical parameters for a period of 14 days. While the oral median lethal dose of non-encapsulated GCFE was 5000 mg/kg bw/day, that of encapsulated GCFE was not detectable likely due to the delayed release of caffeine and other compounds from GCFE. Non-encapsulated GCFE displayed a stimulating effect at a dose of 1000 mg/kg bw/day after 30 min of oral administration, but not after 60 min. Daily consumption of encapsulated GCFE for 30 days showed no adverse effect in male rats even at the highest dose. Extrapolating this value of no-observed-adverse-effect level (1000 mg/kg bw/day) to human consumption, a human equivalent dose of 189 mg/kg bw/day or 11.34 g/day could be estimated for encapsulated GCFE considering a 60 kg adult body weight