Maternal Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Supplementation Improves Offspring Liver Bioactive Lipid Profiles throughout the Lifespan and Protects against the Development of Adult NAFLD

Maternal obesity and consumption of a high-fat diet significantly elevate risk for pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), affecting 10% of children in the US. Almost half of these children are diagnosed with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a leading etiology for liver transplant. Animal models show that signs of liver injury and perturbed lipid metabolism associated with NAFLD begin in utero; however, safe dietary therapeutics to blunt developmental programming of NAFLD are unavailable. Using a mouse model of maternal Western-style diet (WD), we previously showed that pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), a potent dietary antioxidant, protected offspring of WD-fed dams from development of NAFLD and NASH. Here, we used untargeted mass spectrometry-based lipidomics to delineate lipotoxic effects of WD on offspring liver and identify lipid targets of PQQ. PQQ exposure during pregnancy altered hepatic lipid profiles of WD-exposed offspring, upregulating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α signaling and mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation to markedly attenuate triglyceride accumulation beginning in utero. Surprisingly, the abundance of very long-chain ceramides, important in promoting gut barrier and hepatic function, was significantly elevated in PQQ-treated offspring. PQQ exposure reduced the hepatic phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine (PC/PE) ratio in WD-fed offspring and improved glucose tolerance. Notably, levels of protective n − 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were elevated in offspring exposed to PQQ, beginning in utero, and the increase in n − 3 PUFAs persisted into adulthood. Our findings suggest that PQQ supplementation during gestation and lactation augments pathways involved in the biosynthesis of long-chain fatty acids and plays a unique role in modifying specific bioactive lipid species critical for protection against NAFLD risk in later life.     

Effect of different iron compounds on wheat and gluten‐free breads

BACKGROUND: Iron fortification of bread often results in sub‐optimal quality of the final product due to undesirable changes in the physical characteristics and sensory properties of the bread. In this study both the form of iron (soluble, insoluble or encapsulated) and the type of bread (wheat or gluten‐free) were varied in order to investigate the effect of iron and gluten on the product characteristics. RESULTS: The effect of iron on the quality characteristics of the breads investigated depended on iron type, but not on iron solubility. Colour, crust firmness, specific volume, cell number and uniformity as well as aroma were the attributes that were mainly affected in iron‐enriched wheat bread. In some cases, specific volume was 30% lower than that of the control sample, while cell uniformity was significantly lower, as low as 50% of the control sample in some fortified samples. In gluten‐free breads, differences between unfortified and fortified samples included colour, crust firmness, cell number, ‘moisture’ odour, metallic taste and stickiness. In some cases, the sensory scores were better for fortified samples. CONCLUSIONS: Differences due to iron fortification were less pronounced in gluten‐free compared to wheat breads. The choice of the appropriate iron compound which will not cause adverse quality changes is still a challenge. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Development of gluten free bread containing carob flour and resistant starch

Gluten free bread from rice flour substituted with carob flour and resistant starch (RS) was investigated. RS and protein amount added were optimized in model gluten free breads (MGFB's) containing rice flour using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). RS addition did not influence MGFB's crumb firmness, but it acted as an elastifying agent. A MGFB with soft and elastic crumb was produced with 10 g protein/100 g flour and 15 g RS/100 g flour. MGFB recipe was further improved by adding carob flour. Its addition raises the water content needed for the breadmaking procedure, but did not significantly affect any of the textural and structural parameters measured. Water amount increase diminished crumb firmness and contributed to the development of an open crumb cell structure. The design allowed the determination of the optimum formulation for obtaining gluten-free bread with low crumb firmness and improved porosity values by combining 15 g carob flour/100 g flour, 15 g RS/ 100 g flour, 10 g protein/ 100 g flour and 140 g water/ 100 g flour. The use of carob flour and RS constitutes a promising approach in producing fibre-rich formulations of high quality characteristics in order to fulfil population deficiency of dietary fibre intake.     

Physical properties of breads containing hydrocolloids stored at low temperature. I. Effect of chilling

Different bread types, some of them containing also hydrocolloid stabilizers, were cold stored for evaluating the final quality of breads after storage. Dough (DB), semi-baked products (SB) and full-baked (FB) breads were used. After storage their physical characteristics were measured, data grouping was performed using PCA analysis and correlations among the properties measured were found. Fresh samples presented some similarities to DB or SB breads, but FB breads had a completely different behaviour. Crust characteristics were found to be important for the quality characterization of breads, as crust textural characteristics; its colour and moisture content were correlated to other properties. Furthermore, crust viscoelastic characteristics gave an indication of bread staling. Porosity was the only physical property not correlated to other bread characteristics. Differences were noticed according to the bread type before storage and the hydrocolloid used, but the main differences were determined by the baking stage before storage. Furthermore, hydrocolloids addition could result in different final bread properties according to the baking stage before storage. The crumb of FB breads was relatively viscous despite of hydrocolloid addition. Hydrocolloids seem to be more effective as stabilizers in DB and SB breads.     

Effect of inulin on texture and clarity of gellan gels

The effect of inulin on the gelation of 0.5 wt% low acyl gellan in the presence of increasing concentrations of potassium chloride was investigated by large deformation compression experiments and visible light absorbance. The sugar and salt concentrations varied from 0 to 15 wt% and 40-100 mM, respectively. Stress and strain at failure along with Young’s modulus were calculated from each compression curve. Samples prior to compression were refrigerated at 5 °C for 24 h. Reduced gel strength and firmness were observed for all inulin and salt concentrations. Increasing amounts of inulin resulted in an increase in gel strength which was greater for higher potassium concentrations. Elasticity values did not exhibit great diversion. Inulin at concentrations of 5 and 10 wt% led to less turbid gels than those with only gellan. Samples containing 15 wt% inulin gave absorbance readings greater than 1.     

Effect of Carob Flour Addition on the Rheological Properties of Gluten-Free Breads

In this study, the rheological properties of gluten-free doughs from rice flour containing different amounts of carob flour were investigated. Water added changed in response to the carob amount. Dynamic oscillatory and creep tests were performed in order to gain knowledge on the rheological behaviour of doughs, which is essential for the control of the bread-making procedure and the production of high-quality bread. Simple power law mathematical models were developed in order to evaluate the effect of carob and water added in dough rheological behaviour. Creep data evaluation demonstrates that an increase in water content decreased the resistance of dough to deformation and, therefore, dough strength, whereas carob flour increased the elastic character and structure strength of the dough. This was also found in dynamic oscillatory tests. Increased amounts of carob flour led to an increase in bread dough elastic character since fibre addition elastifies and strengthens the dough structure. Moreover, doughs exhibited a solid-like viscoelastic character, with the storage modulus (G′) predominant over the loss modulus (G″). Dough rheological properties have an important effect on baking characteristics. Rheological experiments and applied mathematical models can provide us with good knowledge of rheological behaviour and dough viscoelasticity prediction. Therefore, dough samples containing carob-to-water ratios of 10:110 and 15:130 can be considered to possess a balance between the viscous and elastic properties compared to the other samples.     

Bacterial Cellulose Production from Industrial Waste and by-Product Streams

The utilization of fermentation media derived from waste and by-product streams from biodiesel and confectionery industries could lead to highly efficient production of bacterial cellulose. Batch fermentations with the bacterial strain Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans DSM (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen) 15973 were initially carried out in synthetic media using commercial sugars and crude glycerol. The highest bacterial cellulose concentration was achieved when crude glycerol (3.2 g/L) and commercial sucrose (4.9 g/L) were used. The combination of crude glycerol and sunflower meal hydrolysates as the sole fermentation media resulted in bacterial cellulose production of 13.3 g/L. Similar results (13 g/L) were obtained when flour-rich hydrolysates produced from confectionery industry waste streams were used. The properties of bacterial celluloses developed when different fermentation media were used showed water holding capacities of 102–138 g·water/g·dry bacterial cellulose, viscosities of 4.7–9.3 dL/g, degree of polymerization of 1889.1–2672.8, stress at break of 72.3–139.5 MPa and Young’s modulus of 0.97–1.64 GPa. This study demonstrated that by-product streams from the biodiesel industry and waste streams from confectionery industries could be used as the sole sources of nutrients for the production of bacterial cellulose with similar properties as those produced with commercial sources of nutrients.     

INFLUENCE OF SOLUTE TEMPERATURE AND CONCENTRATION ON THE COMBINED OSMOTIC AND AIR DRYING

ABSTRACT

The effect of solute concentration (15–45 % sugars) and temperature (10–40 °C) on the osmotic dehydration of apple was investigated. Cylindrical samples of apple were immersed in glucose or sucrose solutions and the water loss, the volume of solids and the porosity were measured as a function of time. Water loss was proportional to the square root of time, while the volume of solids decreased and the porosity increased with time. Sugar gain and water loss decreased the compression stress of the apple samples. Osmotic pre-treatment reduced the shrinkage and the porosity of apple solids during air-drying, compared to the no-treated samples. The results of this investigation are useful in the design of efficient osmotic dehydration processes, and in the evaluation of texture of dehydration of products.     

Influence of Ultrasonication Parameters on Physical Characteristics of Olive Oil Model Emulsions Containing Xanthan

Ultrasonic emulsification of 20-wt.% o/w emulsions (pH 3.8) containing a food-grade emulsifier (whey protein isolate, WPI, 2.7 wt.%) and xanthan gum (XG, 0.25 wt.%) was performed. Time and amplitude of ultrasonic treatment changed in order to evaluate their influence on emulsion droplet size, viscosity, and stability (by multiple light scattering (MLS) profiles) during cold storage (10 days at 5 °C). Ultrasonic treatment duration changed from 1 to 4 min at constant amplitude of 70 %. Considering the amplitude, intervals of 40, 60, 80, and 100 % were chosen, for a constant time of 1 min. Similarly, time and amplitude conditions were used to treat solutions of XG of 1 wt.% and evaluate their influence on viscosity and how that was related to the stability of the emulsion. Increase in sonication time from 1 to 4 min led to a significant oil droplet size decrease from 1.14 to 0.89 μm (median droplet diameter). The viscosity of emulsions and XG solutions was highly influenced and considerably decreased with sonication time applied. At those conditions, an increase of backscattering was observed from 58.9 to 72.7 % after 10 days of storage, meaning that more stable emulsions, thinner and of smaller oil droplet size were produced. A similar trend was observed when the amplitude was increased, but droplet size and creaming were always greater than those noticed by changing the sonication time. However, the rate of viscosity, droplet size, and stability change was greater by increasing the amplitude rather than by changing the sonication time.     

The influence of different stabilizers and salt addition on the stability of model emulsions containing olive or sesame oil

Stabilizers are widely used in low-fat emulsion production. However, food industry pays attention to ingredients, such as resistant starch (RS) that also present substantial benefits to human health. Low-fat model emulsions of either olive or sesame oil that also contained xanthan gum (XG), whey protein concentrate (WPC), and undigested (resistant) starch (RS) were produced and stored at 5 °C. Salt was added in selected samples. A multiple light scattering technique was applied for investigating destabilization phenomena. Microscopic observations and droplet size measurements took place. Rheological properties performing a heating–cooling cycle experiment (5–25–5 °C) were measured. Olive oil emulsions presented the greatest stability and the lowest droplet size. RS plays the role of solid particle stabilizer, mainly entrapped in the matrix of the continuous phase. By salt addition stability was significantly improved, whereas droplet size was decreased. Those samples had a more pronounced elastic character and significantly greater viscosity values than their counterparts without salt.