Phenolic profiling reveals the metabolite basis of flesh colour and fresh-cut browning in apple fruit

Flesh colour, which is affected by cultivars and browning, can largely impact consumer acceptance in fresh-cut apples. The study profiled phenolic metabolites from apple flesh of twenty-three cultivars by widely targeted metabolomics. Comparison among white- and yellow-fleshed cultivars showed fifteen phenolics, mainly quercetin 3-O-glucoside, hyperoside, hesperetin 5-O-glucoside and cymaroside, in white-fleshed apples were significantly higher than those in yellow-fleshed apples. It may indicate a metabolite basis of yellow and white flesh colour, and better potential nutrition in white-fleshed apples. In addition, ten phenolic metabolites including five cyanidin glycosides showed significant differences between the highest and the lowest browning groups, indicating them may be crucial in browning of fresh-cut apple. This work elucidates the differences of phenolic profiles among apple cultivars with different flesh colour and provides useful data to evaluate the suitability of apple for fresh-cut processing.     

Anthocyanin-fortified konjac glucomannan/sodium alginate composite edible boba: characteristics of texture,microstructure, in vitro release behaviour and antioxidant capacity

Konjac glucomannan/sodium alginate composite edible boba (KGM/SA-boba) with good taste is very popular in China, and it is an outstanding carrier for health potential ingredients. In this work, KGM/SA-boba were fortified with 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00% purple sweet potato anthocyanin (PSPA), then characterised by the water distribution, texture, microstructure, in vitro release property of PSPA and antioxidant capacity. LF-NMR analysis demonstrated that the free water of KGM/SA-boba could transfer to tightly bound water with the addition of PSPA that made it with better water-binding ability, higher springiness and lower hardness. And the results of SEM and rheology showed that PSPA could stabilise the microstructure of KGM/SA-boba by forming more amorphous regions and hydrogen bonds proved by the results of DSC and FT-IR. Furthermore, 50% of PSPA in PSPA-fortified KGM/SA-boba can be released at the first hour in a simulated gastrointestinal environment. And the scavenging capacity of DPPH and ABTS of the PSPA-fortified KGM/SA-boba after digestion was higher than that of PSPA alone. Generally, PSPA could improve the texture while KGM/SA-boba in turn would make PSPA more stable in the gastrointestinal digestive system.     

Improvement of thermal,microwave and ultrasonication pretreatment on the production of antioxidant peptides from sweet potato protein via in vitro gastrointestinal digestion

Effects of thermal (boiling, steaming and autoclaving), microwave and ultrasonication pretreatments on the production of sweet potato protein hydrolysates (SPPH) through in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (GID) were investigated. All pretreatments significantly increased the degree of hydrolysis (DH), antioxidant activities and molecular weight (MW) <3 kDa peptide fractions contents of SPPH in the order of autoclaving > microwave, steaming > boiling > ultrasonication (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis between peptides content and antioxidant activity suggested that antioxidant activity of SPPH mainly attributed to MW <3 kDa peptides. Diverse peptides ranged from 487.24 to 1477.74 Da with 7–13 amino acids were identified in the MW <3 kDa peptides fraction with autoclaving pretreatment and matched sporamins A, A precursor and B sequences from LC–QTOF–MS/MS analysis. Conformational structures of nine peptides were predicted with well-known antioxidant amino acids. There is a high potential for SPPH used as a functional supplement in food system.     

1-甲基环丙烯结合不同保鲜袋对叶用甘薯茎尖冷藏保鲜效果的影响

目的探究1-甲基环丙烯(1-methylcyclopropylene,1-MCP)结合不同保鲜袋对叶用甘薯茎尖贮藏品质的影响,筛选最适的保鲜方式。方法以叶用甘薯茎尖为材料,经0.91μL/L1-MCP处理24h后结合聚乙烯(PE)或微孔膜(WK)保鲜袋包装,在5℃下进行贮藏,分别于0、3、6、9、12 d时对其失重率、色差、黄化率、呼吸强度、乙烯释放量、多酚氧化酶活性等指标进行测定。结果贮藏12 d后, 1-MCP+PE, 1-MCP+WK处理组的失重率分别为3.43%,2.72%,显著低于未经1-MCP处理组(P0.05),说明1-MCP处理能够有效抑制叶用甘薯茎尖失水; 1-MCP+WK处理下的L值为33.9,高于其余3种处理,表明该处理能够更好的保持叶用甘薯茎尖的亮度和新鲜感。此外,1-MCP结合保鲜袋处理能够减弱呼吸作用,降低乙烯释放量及多酚氧化酶活性。结论1-MCP处理并结合PE膜或者微孔膜包装对叶用甘薯茎尖具有良好的保鲜效果,可以有效延长其贮藏期。     

Physicochemical characteristics,antioxidant capacity and thermodynamic properties of purple-fleshed potatos dried by radio frequency energy

Abstract

The impacts of using radio frequency (RF) energy to dry purple-fleshed potatoes were investigated and compared to infrared radiation (IR) and microwave (MW) drying techniques. The gelatinization rate, color, flavor, morphological, and structural characteristics, thermodynamic properties, as well as antioxidant capacity were examined. The results indicated that the drying time of RF (70?min) and MW (21?min) were shorter than IR (105?min). The gelatinization ratio of MW, RF, and IR were 94.4?±?2.0, 88.3?±?1.4, and 64.5?±?1.1%, respectively. The degree of crystallization of purple-fleshed potato powder decreased with all three drying methods. RF-dried potatoes were able to retain higher polyphenols (loss rate: 4.3%), total anthocyanin (3.7%), and total flavonoid content (35.1%), whereas IR showed the lowest retention. The content of polyphenols also decreased significantly. Furthermore, after RF heating, the scavenging of free radicals was higher compared to MW and IR.     

Zein-based anti-browning cling wraps for fresh-cut apple slices

The usage of cling wraps is emerging as an easy and cost-effective approach to protect fresh-cut fruits and vegetables from dust, whilst improving visual appeal on retail counters. This study focused on developing an alternate, protein-based packaging material as a food grade cling wrap for food packaging applications. Zein-based cling wraps were produced, and their physical and mechanical characteristics were evaluated and compared with conventionally used chitosan biopolymer films and commercial synthetic polymer films. Antioxidant potential of the prepared films was studied, and the effectiveness of the developed films as anti-browning cling wraps was evaluated using studies conducted on fresh-cut apple slices at ambient conditions. Anti-browning effects were in par with polymeric counterparts; however, zein cling wraps could better prevent weight loss in apple slices. Zein-based films can be adopted as biodegradable food grade cling wraps as an alternative to chitosan and synthetic polymeric materials.     

Potato Glycoalkaloids: occurrence,biological activities and extraction for biovalorisation – a review

Potato tuber (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth most important agricultural product after wheat, rice and maize. With a total production of 388 million in 2017, c.a. 70% of this total production is processed in developed countries, producing a large amount of potato peel waste (PPW) as by-product. Although PPW is considered as a zero-value by-product by the feed industry because it is too fibrous, for other recycling industries it is an inexpensive by-product due to its significant contents of some interesting nutrients particularly polyphenols and glycoalkaloids. In potato, and Solanum species in general, many glycoalkaloids, predominantly α-chaconine and α-solanine, have been chemically and structurally identified. However, further research is needed to expand the knowledge of the biological values of potato glycoalkaloids in order to develop a recycling process to extract these technologically and nutritionally interesting bioactive ingredients for different sectors, in particular, the agricultural, food and pharmaceutical ones, which are demanding natural, safe and eco-friendly ingredients.     

Isolation and identification of two major acylated anthocyanins from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. cultivar Eshu No. 8) by UPLC‐QTOF‐MS/MS and NMR

In recent years, researches on the isolation and preparation of monomeric anthocyanins have intensified because of the requirements of quantitative and structure–bioactivity relationship analyses. However, simple and effective methods about the scale of monomeric anthocyanins from the natural purple sweet potato powder are rarely reported. In this study, high molecular weight acylated monomeric anthocyanins were isolated from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. cultivar Eshu No. 8) via the combination of column chromatography and semi‐preparative HPLC technology and identified mainly by ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (UPLC‐QTOF‐MS/MS) and ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Two major acylated anthocyanins were unambiguously determined as peonidin 3‐O‐(6‐O‐(E)‐caffeoyl‐(2‐O‐(6‐O‐p‐hydroxybenzoyl)‐β‐D‐glucopyranosyl)‐β‐D‐glucopyranoside)‐5‐O‐(β‐D‐glucopyranoside) and peonidin 3‐O‐(6‐O‐(E)‐caffeoyl‐(2‐O‐(6‐O‐(E)‐feruloyl)‐β‐D‐ glucopyranosyl)‐β‐D‐glucopyranoside)‐5‐O‐(β‐D‐glucopyranoside). The results of this study may help promote the purification of high molecular weight acylated anthocyanins from purple sweet potato as well as from other plant materials in nature.