Techno-functional properties of dry-fractionated plant-based proteins and application in food product development: a review

Dry-fractionated protein concentrates are gaining attention because they are produced using a versatile and sustainable technology, which can be applied to a wide range of plant material. To facilitate their utilization in new product development, it is crucial to obtain a comprehensive overview of their techno-functional properties. The present review aims to examine the techno-functional properties of dry-fractionated protein concentrates and describe their primary applications in food products, considering the published works in the last decade. The techno-functional properties of proteins, including water absorption capacity, emulsifying and foaming properties, gelling ability or protein solubility, are relevant factors to consider during food formulation. However, these properties are significantly influenced by the extraction technology, the type of protein and its characteristics. Overall, dry-fractionated proteins are characterized by high protein solubility, high foaming ability and foam stability, and high gelling ability. Such properties have been exploited in the development of food, such as bakery products and pasta, with the aim of increasing the protein content and enhancing the nutritional value. Additionally, innovative foods with distinctive textural and nutritional characteristics, such as meat and dairy analogues, have been developed by using dry-fractionated proteins. The results indicate that the study of these ingredients still needs to be improved, including their application with a broader range of plant materials. Nevertheless, this review could represent an initial step to obtaining an overview of the techno-functional properties of dry-fractionated proteins, facilitating their use in foods. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

Exploitation of Polyphenolic Extracts from Grape Marc as Natural Antioxidants by Encapsulation in Lipid-Based Nanodelivery Systems

Phenolic compounds were extracted from grape marc by means of high pressure and temperature extraction. In order to increase their dispersability in the aqueous phase, the polyphenolic extracts were encapsulated at a final concentration of 0.1 % (w/w) in nanoemulsion-based delivery systems, which were formulated with natural ingredients, using either a liquid (sunflower oil) or a solid (palm oil) lipid phase, as well as the combination of a hydrophilic and hydrophobic emulsifier, and were produced by high-pressure homogenization. The delivery systems were characterized in terms of physicochemical stability under accelerated ageing (storage at 4 °C, 30 °C, and 55 °C for 14 days), by recording the evolution of the mean droplet size, the creaming index as well as the UV–vis absorption spectra of the encapsulated polyphenols. The antioxidant activity of the encapsulated extracts was measured with two different chemical assays (FRAP and ORAC) and a cellular antioxidant assay. Sunflower oil-based nanoemulsions resulted to be the most physically and chemically stable, with no significant variation of the mean droplet size and no degradation of the encapsulated compounds under the different conditions tested. The FRAP and ORAC assays showed that the antioxidant compounds, when encapsulated, are as available as unencapsulated polyphenols in scavenging the peroxyl radicals (ORAC), but are less available in reducing the ferric tripyridyltriazine complexes (FRAP). Remarkably, the cellular antioxidant activity was significantly higher for the encapsulated grape marc polyphenols than for the unencapsulated ones, suggesting the fundamental role of the nanoemulsions in favoring the delivery through the biological membranes.     

Maternal dietary habits and mycotoxin occurrence in human mature milk

During 2006, 82 samples of human mature milk were collected at Italian hospitals and checked for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) and ochratoxin A (OTA) by immunoaffinity column extraction and HPLC. AFM1 was detected in four (5%) of milk samples (ranging from < 7 ng/L to 140 ng/L; mean level: 55.35 ng/L); OTA was detected in 61 (74%) of milk samples (ranging from < 5 ng/L to 405 ng/L; mean level: 30.43 ng/L. OTA levels were significantly higher (p less, not double equals 0.05) in milk of habitual consumers of bread, bakery products and cured pork meat. No other statistically significant differences were observed although habitual consumers of pasta (p = 0.059), cookies (p = 0.061) and juices (p = 0.063) had mean contamination values of OTA higher than the moderate consumer. The very few AFB1 positive samples did not allow statistical comparisons. The present study confirms that the occurrence of OTA in human milk is related to maternal dietary habits. The findings support the possibility of dietary recommendations to woman, during pregnancy and lactation, aimed to tentatively reduce the OTA contamination of human milk.     

LC with Evaporative Light-Scattering Detection for Quantitative Analysis of Organic Acids in Juices

In this work, a performing LC method with evaporative light-scattering detector was described for the analysis of tartaric, malic, ascorbic, citric and succinic acids in fruit juices. The method was optimized and validated in comparison with LC-UV, in terms of accuracy, LODs, LOQs and precision. The successive application to ACE, orange, pear, peach, mulberry and apple juices allowed separation and quantitative determination of organic acids in about 20 min just diluting and filtering the sample before LC determination. In the analysed juices, citric, malic and ascorbic acids were always present, and in all the samples, citric acid was the prevailing acid followed by malic acid except for peach and apple juices where an opposite trend was found. Tartaric and succinic acids were detected at lower concentrations and more rarely, except for peach juices, all containing tartaric acid, and ACE and orange juices, all containing succinic acid.     

Determination of pyrethroids in chicken egg samples: development and validation of a confirmatory analytical method by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an efficient analytical method based on gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) for detection and quantification of six pyrethroids residues (Phenothrin, Permethrin, Cyfluthrin, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin and Fenvalerate) in chicken eggs. The method was based on a preliminary liquid–liquid extraction of albumen‐free yolk samples, followed by a clean‐up by solid‐phase extraction. GC/MS/MS analyses were carried out in the selected reaction monitoring mode. Validation parameters such as specificity, detection capability, decision limit, precision, recovery, stability and ruggedness were determined, resulting in compliance with Decision 2002/657/EC. No complicated apparatus are required; moreover, low volumes of organic solvents and a nonintensive manual labour are required. These low costs and simple procedure, based on rapid and safe operations, may represent a useful tool in the routine analysis of pyrethroids pesticides, in the place of the currently used conventional techniques.     

Chemical composition,sensory and cooking quality evaluation of durum wheat spaghetti enriched with pea flour

The goal of the study was to obtain spaghetti enriched with pea flour with sensory properties close to conventional pasta. To this aim, the study has been organised in two subsequent trials. In the first, the pea flour amount added to the spaghetti was continuously increased until the overall sensory quality reached its threshold value (pea flour concentration = 15%). In fact, the spaghetti samples supplemented with 15% pea flour (15%S‐P) showed less elasticity, unpleasant colour and higher firmness compared to the control sample (CTRL). The second step was aimed to improve the overall sensory quality of the 15%S‐P spaghetti by means of guar gum (GUAR). The sample with GUAR (15%S‐P/GUAR) showed a pleasant colour, odour and taste. Furthermore, the 15%S‐P/GUAR sample recorded a low starch digestibility value (i.e. 54) and a higher soluble fibre content with respect to the 15%S‐P sample.