Effect of Dietary Fibre Fractions on <i>In Vitro</i> Digestibility of Rapeseed Napin Proteins

Protein digestibility may be influenced by the presence of dietary fibre affecting the nutritional quality of a feed or food product. This study investigated the interplay between rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) protein and fibre constituents separated by industrially scalable pilot plant processing and recombined in mixed samples. Total dietary fibre (TDF) fractions were isolated from rapeseed hulls (TDF-RH) and purified rapeseed embryo fibres (TDF-RE). The effect of TDF sources on in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) of a rapeseed protein concentrate rich in napin proteins (RP2) was assessed at three inclusion levels (200, 333, and 500 mg/g DM) using a sequential transient proteolysis by pepsin (1 h) and pancreatin (1 h). The IVPD of RP2 was dose-dependently decreased upon addition of hull fibres at all inclusion levels (8.9-26.6%; P<0.05), whereas the effect of embryo fibres was of a markedly lower magnitude and only significant at the medium to high levels (7.3-8.9%; P<0.05). These results demonstrated that TDF fractions obtained from rapeseed differentially affect the protein digestibility of rapeseed napin proteins depending on the fibre source and inclusion level

Effects of novel processing techniques on glucosinolates and membrane associated myrosinases in broccoli

High pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) and pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment of food are among the novel processing techniques considered as alternatives to conventional thermal food processing. Introduction of new processing techniques with fast and gentle processing steps may reveal new possibilities for preservation of healthy bioactive compounds in processed food. However, effects on various food components due to autolysis and fast reactions prior to the applied HP/HT or PEF need to be considered as the total contribution of processing steps affects the obtained food quality. The present experiments were performed on broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italica) florets, puree and juice. Specific focus was given to effects of HP/HT and PEF processing on the content of glucosinolates and activities of myrosinase isoenzymes (EC.3.2.1.147) in the broccoli preparations. Certain conditions applied in HP/HT processing of broccoli florets were able to maintain a high level of intact glucosinolates. Treatment at 700 MPa and 20 degrees C for 10 min was found to inactivate myrosinase activity, but also pressure treatments at 300 MPa and 20 degrees C were able to maintain a high level of intact glucosinolates present in the untreated broccoli florets. PEF processing of broccoli puree and juice showed that the myrosinase activities resulted in nearly total glucosinolate transformations as result of autolysis during pureeing and juice making prior to the PEF processing. These data demonstrated that insight into potential effects on myrosinase activities from application of PEF processing implies specific focus on the sample steps preceding the PEF processin