Intake and bioaccessibility of total polyphenols in a whole diet

The knowledge of dietary intake of polyphenols and their bioaccessibility in the human gut are key factors in assessing their significance in human health. The aim of this work was to estimate the amount of total polyphenols consumed in a whole diet (Spanish Mediterranean diet) and their intestinal bioaccessibility. Total polyphenols were determined, as the sum of the polyphenols present in methanol:acetone:water extracts (extractable polyphenols) of plant foods and condensed tannins and hydrolysable polyphenols (non-extractable polyphenols) in the corresponding residues. The polyphenols intestinal bioaccessibility was estimated by an in vitro gastrointestinal model where food polyphenols are released by enzyme digestion and colonic fermentation. The mean daily intake of polyphenols in the Spanish diet was estimated between 2590 and 3016 mg/person/day. The amount of non-extractable polyphenols was almost double that of extractable polyphenols. It was estimated that about 48% of dietary polyphenols are bioaccessible in the small intestine, while 42% become bioaccessible in the large intestine.     

Hydrophobic properties of cardboard coated with polylactic acid and ethylene scavengers

The corrugated cardboard used in food packaging readily absorbs moisture from the environment, especially when stored under high humidity conditions. In this research, the water barrier of cardboard was modified by changing the wettability of the cardboard surface, applying hydrophobic coatings of polylactic acid (PLA), alone or in combination with other substances that absorb gases (ethylene scavengers) such as clinoptilolite (C), sepiolite (S), and sepiolite permanganate (SP). The water barrier properties tested as water vapor permeability (WVP), water absorptiveness (WA), and water drop contact angle (CA) showed that the water resistance of the resulting cardboard was improved by the coating. The best results of these properties were obtained by using a coating of PLA 2% alone. In addition, PLA 2% with C 1.5% also showed good results, but the WA results were higher. The use of PLA coating produces a greater uniformity and smoothness of the coated cardboard surface due to the best filling of the pores or spaces between cellulose fibers. Our findings and the environmentally friendly nature of PLA strengthen the advantages of using these kinds of coatings on cardboard trays for the packaging, storage, and transport of foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables.     

Açaí (Euterpe oleraceae) ‘BRS Pará’: A tropical fruit source of antioxidant dietary fiber and high antioxidant capacity oil

This article reports a study of the concentrations of dietary fiber (DF) and antioxidant capacity in fruits (pulp and oil) of a new açaí (Euterpe oleraceae) cultivar—‘BRS-Pará’, with a view to determine the possibility of using it as a source of antioxidants in functional foods or dietary supplements. Results show that ‘BRS-Pará’ açaí fruits has a high content of DF (71% dry matter) and oil (20.82%) as well as a high antioxidant capacity in both defatted matter and oil. ‘BRS-Pará’ Açaí fruits can be considered as an excellent source of antioxidant dietary fiber. Antioxidant capacity of açaí ‘BRS-Pará’ oil by DPPH assay was higher (EC₅₀ = 646.3 g/g DPPH) than extra virgin olive oil (EC₅₀ = 2057.27 g/g DPPH). These features provide açaí ‘BRS-Pará’ fruits with considerable potential for nutritional and health applications.     

Aroma Recovery in Wine Dealcoholization by SCC Distillation

The aroma recovery in wine dealcoholization by spinning cone column (SCC) distillation technique has been studied, with the analysis of the influence of the process factors: raw wine flow rate and aromatic extraction percentage. This aroma recovery has been measured in terms of aromatic richness (number of peaks obtained in the chromatogram) and aromatic intensity (total peaks area of the chromatogram) using the parameters global aromatic intensity (I _ga) and aromatic concentration factor. The headspace solid-phase microextraction method and gas chromatography have been used for the determination of the aromatic compounds in raw wine and in the corresponding dealcoholized wine and the aromatic fraction separated during the SCC distillation. The optimal conditions for SCC distillation process were selected as the ones that separate the aromatic fraction with the highest I _ga and the highest aromatic richness (percentage of recovered peaks) as well as with the lowest ethanol content.     

Control of Native Spoilage Yeast on Dealcoholized Red Wine by Preservatives Alone and in Binary Mixtures

In order to preserve a commercial dealcoholized red wine (DRW), a study with 4 preservatives and binary mixtures of them were performed against 2 native spoilage yeasts: Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) for potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, sodium metabisulfite and dimethyl dicarbonate (DMDC) were evaluated in DRW stored at 25 °C. MICs of potassium sorbate and sodium metabisulfite were 250 and 60 mg/kg, respectively for both target strains. However for sodium benzoate, differences between yeasts were found; R. mucilaginosa was inhibited at 125 mg/kg, while S. cerevisiae at 250 mg/kg. Regarding MFC, differences between strains were only found for sodium metabisulfite obtaining a MFC of 500 mg/kg for R. mucilaginosa and a MFC of 250 mg/kg for S. cerevisiae. Potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate showed the MFC at 1000 mg/kg and DMDC at 200 mg/kg. Regarding the effect of binary mixtures the Fractional Fungicidal Concentration Index (FFC_i) methodology showed that binary mixtures of 100 mg/kg DMDC/200 mg/kg potassium sorbate (FFC_i = 0.7) and 50 mg/kg DMDC / 400 mg/kg sodium benzoate (FFC_i = 0.65) have both synergistic effect against the 2 target strains. These binary mixtures can control the growth of spoilage yeasts in DRW without metabisulfite addition. The results of this work may be important in preserving the health of DRW consumers by eliminating the use of metabisulfite and reducing the risk of growth of R. mucilagosa, recently recognized as an emerging pathogen.     

Comparison of methods for recovering Vibrio cholerae O1 from ice

Alkaline peptone water (1% peptone, 1% NaCl, pH 8.5) and Trypticase soy yeast extract broth (TSYB) supplemented with 2.5% NaCl (pH 8.5) or 1% NaCl (pH 7.5) were evaluated as enrichment broths for the isolation of Vibrio cholerae O1 from ice. Thirty samples of sterile and nonsterile mineral water were inoculated with cell suspensions of this bacterium, quickly frozen, and stored for 3 days at--18 degrees C. After thawing, samples were analyzed by a three-tube most-probable-number technique. Incubation in TSYB with 2.5% NaCl (pH 8.5) for 18 h at 37 degrees C yielded the highest recovery of V. cholerae O1 cells (P < 0.05), a result that might be attributable to the nutrients and to the NaCl concentration of the TSYB, both of which would promote V. cholerae O1 growth and prevent the growth of competitive microbiota.     

Dietary fibre and components of the nitrogen-free extract of almond kernels

Determinations of neutral and acid detergent fibre residues (NDF and ADF), hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin in almond nuts (Prunus amygdalus) were carried out. The NDF content was about 5% while the crude fibre content was only approximately 2%. The composition of several components of nitrogen-free extract (NFE) such as soluble sugars, starch, gums and mucilages and pectins were also determined, and the results are discussed.     

On the structure and surface properties of NiO/MgO–La2O3 catalyst: Influence of the support composition and preparation method

This work addresses the effect of catalyst preparation method and the carrier compositions (MgO–La₂O₃) over the NiO-support interaction, which affect the reducibility, textural properties and the different oxygen species chemisorbed at different temperatures over MgO–La₂O₃ supported NiO catalysts. The materials were prepared by wet sequential impregnation and wet co-impregnation with different Mg molar fractions [Mg/(La+Mg)]. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), changes of surface potential and BET surface area measurements. The total oxidation of methane was use as model reaction. It has been found that the catalyst formulations (i.e. NiO/MgO–La₂O₃) and the preparation methods not only affect the interaction among the catalyst components, but also the texture and material morphology as a result of different degrees of particle aggregation. The wet sequential impregnation-prepared catalysts showed a stronger MgO–La₂O₃ interaction than wet co-impregnation-prepared samples. A marked tendency of NiO to react with MgO rather than La₂O₃ following a mechanism of lattice substitution is observed. Mg-free catalyst showed LaNiO₃ and NiO as major crystalline Ni-containing phases. The ternary Ni–Mg–La–O system, on the other hand, facilitates the formation of poorly reducible Ni phase, whereas the La-free catalyst (i.e. NiO/MgO) displayed the lowest content of Ni-reducible phase, owing to the formation of Ni_1−xMg_xO solid solution. Measurements of surface potential changes together with catalytic studies suggest that La-containing catalysts present oxygen vacancies, which markedly affect the chemical nature of the surface oxygen species and hence their catalytic behaviour.     

Measurement of Health-Promoting Properties in Fruit Dietary Fibres: Antioxidant Capacity,Fermentability and Glucose Retardation Index

The aim of this work was to compare some in vitro health-promoting properties in fruit dietary fibre (antioxidant activity, fermentability and glucose retardation index), which could be useful to predict their physiological effects better than physico-chemical analyses. These properties were evaluated in mango and lemon peel fibre. Mango fibre was better than lemon fibre because of the highest values of antioxidant activity (67·6%) and glucose retardation index (21·5%). Antioxidant activity is proposed as a new health-promoting property associated to dietary fibre.     

Dietary fibre and physicochemical properties of edible Spanish seaweeds

 Total dietary fibre content of five edible marine Spanish seaweeds: Fucus vesiculosus, Laminaria digitata (Kombu), Undaria pinnatifida (Wakame), Chondrus crispus (Irish moss), and Porphyra tenera (Nori) ranged from 33.6 to 50% of which 19.6 to 64.9% was soluble. For brown algae, the soluble fibre obtained by the AOAC method followed by dialysis, contained uronic acids from alginates and neutral sugars from sulphated fucoidan and laminarin. For red seaweeds, the main neutral sugars corresponded to sulphated galactans: carrageenan (Chondrus) or agar (Nori), respectively. Insoluble fibres (12–40%) were essentially made of cellulose, plus residual fucose-containing polysaccharides, except for the red seaweed Nori, which contained an insoluble mannan and xylan. Protein content in powdered algae was higher in red (20.9–29.8%) than in brown seaweeds (6.9–16%), although protein digestibility was apparently low as inferred from preliminary in vitro results with Fucus and Laminaria. Ashes (21–39.8%) and sulphate content (2.8–10.5%) were high in all seaweeds. Minor components were lipids (0.2–2.5%) and extractable polyphenols (0.4%). Regarding the physicochemical properties, oil retention was low, while swelling, water retention, and cation exchange capacity were higher in brown algae, related to their higher uronic acid plus sulphate content. Received: 2 May 2000 / Revised version: 13 June 2000