The nutrient content of two folia morphotypes of Centella asiatica (L) grown in Madagascar

Centella asiaticais aherbal plant generally used for its curative properties. Two foliar morphotypes were recently identified in Madagascar: a reniform tetraploid (2n = 4x = 36) in the Center and the East of the island and a round diploid (2n = 2x = 18) in the West. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional properties of these two morphotypes and to compare them with other green leafy vegetables. Reniform leaves were collected in Antananarivo and Moramanga and round leaves were collected in Tsiroanomandidy and Analavory. Macronutrient content wasdetermined by standard methods, mineral contents were analysed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emissionspectroscopy. Ascorbic acid and carotenoids were quantified byHPLC.Food composition showed significant differences between the morphotypes. Reniform leaves have higher protein content (19–22 % dry weight (DW)) than round leaves (17–21 % DW). Lipid content are from 2.5 to 6.0 % DW. Reniform leaves have higher iron content than round leaves. Iron content of C. asiatica's leaves range from 3.8 to 12.5 mg/100 g fresh weight (FW). Reniform leaves from Moramanga have the highest protein, lipid and iron content.Round leaves from Analavory have the highest calcium and magnesium content, which can cover 41 % and 17 % of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), respectively. Leaves of C. asiaticahave low vitamin C content (1.3 to 7.7 mg/100 g FW). Consumption of 100 g of C. asiaticaleaves could cover 10 to 21 % of vitamin A daily requirements of women for reniform leaves and 21 to 37 % of vitamin A requirement of women for round leaves. Round leaves from Analavory have the highest β-carotene content. It is hoped that from these findings, the people of Madagascar will be encouraged to include C. asiaticain their diets for its nutritional benefits

Bioaccessibility of Biofortified Sweet Potato Carotenoids in Baby Food: Impact of Manufacturing Process

Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP), a biofortified crop rich in β-carotene, can be used as a component of baby food recipes in order to tackle vitamin A deficiency in children <6 years old. In this work, the impact of formulation (addition of pumpkin, oil, and egg yolk) and industrial heat processing (pasteurization, sterilization) on carotenoid content and bioaccessibility was evaluated in an OFSP-based baby puree. A commercial OFSP baby food product from Brazil and a homemade OFSP puree were used as references. The losses of all-trans-β-carotene ranged from 16 to 21% (pasteurization, homemade) to 32% (sterilization). Because of higher particle sizes and despite a higher content in carotenoids, the homemade puree had a lower bioaccessibility (i.e., micellar transfer using in vitro digestion: 0.50%) compared with the sterilized and commercial purees (5.3–6.2%). Taking into account bioaccessibility and applying a 50% conversion to retinol, a 115 g baby portion of the sterilized OFSP-puree formulated with 2% oil provided 31.4% of the daily vitamin A requirement (RDA) for children under 6 years. In comparison, 115 g of homemade OFSP-puree provided only 3.5% of the RDA. Addition of pumpkin to OFSP did not improve the percentage of RDA. Interestingly, the incorporation of an emulsifier (egg yolk powder) before cooking could improve the percentage of provision by a factor of 2.7. These results showed that reaching a balance between formulation and processing is determinant to maximize carotenoid bioaccessibility of carotenoids from OFSP-based baby food

Lipid profile and antioxidant activity of macadamia nuts (Macadamia integrifolia) cultivated in Venezuela

Macadamia nuts (Macadamia integrifolia) grown in Venezuela have showed an average total fat content of 70%. Oleic acid (18:1) was the main monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) (51.3%), followed by palmitoleic acid (16:1, 22.6%). The content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), C18:2 and C18:3 represented 5.4%. Thus, MUFAs and PUFAs together constituted more than 80% of the total fatty acids present. Trans-vaccenic acid was also present (3%). As regards to other phytochemical compounds, tocopherols and tocotrienols were not found in the sample, but the presence of squalene was detected. The antioxidant activity (44.2%) of the extract was produced by the phytochemicals present. (Résumé d'auteur

Heat inactivation of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase as a function of water activity : a case study of mango drying

An innovative method was developed to study the specific uncoupled effect of temperature and water activity (Aw) during mango drying. Thermal treatment of reconstituted lyophilized mango powder at targeted Aw enabled evaluation of the inactivation of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase activity in a range 0.98-0.6 Aw and a time-temperature range of 1-4h and 50-60 degrees C. We established that thermal treatment of the enzymatic extract was not the same as the inactivation phenomena that occurred in the mango matrix, mainly due to differences in the pH of the buffer extract (6.4) and reconstituted food matrix (3.8). Even if the inactivation of these two enzymes was directly correlated with the temperature of the treatment, this behavior was also strongly linked to the Aw. A two-step change in the fruit was observed at high Aw (i.e., at 0.98 in fresh fruit), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was shown to be more thermostable than peroxidase (POD), whereas when evaporation reduced the Aw to around 0.6, the opposite behavior was observed. As a consequence, enzymatic inactivation during drying should be considered as the result of the coupled effects of time-temperature and water activity