Natural occurrence of zearalenone in Tunisian wheat grains

Fusarium mycotoxins are worldwide occurring in cereals and they are frequently reported in fresh or stored grains. Cereals represent a staple food for the Tunisian population; it therefore has a high social, economic and nutritional relevance. Zearalenone (ZEN) is a non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxin produced by a variety of Fusarium fungi in temperate and warm countries. Fungi-producing ZEN contaminates corn, barley, wheat, sorghum and rice. A total of 205 samples of wheat were collected during the harvest year of 2010 from the major cropping areas in Tunisia and they were analyzed for zearalenone contamination. The aim of this study was to investigate for the first time the presence of ZEN in widely-consumed cereals in Tunisia, especially durum and tender wheat, to compare the levels of contamination by ZEN with the European norms and to suggest some factors that can promote the production of ZEN in Tunisia. To perform this study, we developed and validated in our laboratory conditions an HPLC method for quantitative analysis of ZEN in solid cereal samples. Our results showed that the incidence of ZEN contamination was 75%. The levels of contamination determined in the positive samples ranged between 3 and 560 μg/kg with a mean value of 60 μg/kg. These important amounts of ZEN in wheat can be attributed to the Tunisian climate, warm temperature and prolonged wetness witch are favor to Fusarium growth and mycotoxin production during the cultivation and the final ripening period of wheat grains.     

Potential of fluorescence spectroscopy in detection of low-levels of gluten in flour: A preliminary study

Celiac disease is caused due to the ingestion of gluten containing food products. Eating gluten free diet is only way to avoid its occurrence. Gluten free products may get contaminated during the handling and processing operation which leads to the adverse impact on the gluten intolerant patients. Three different gluten free mixes were adulterated with two different types of wheat flours to get the gluten concentration in the range of 0–5 % by making 94 sample combinations. The obtained fluorescence spectra from these samples were transformed using multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) pre-processing to develop partial least square regression (PLSR) model for the prediction of low-levels of gluten. The obtained results showed a high value of 0.90 correlation coefficient (R²) with 0.46 % root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV). The calibration and prediction models also showed the same R² with root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and prediction (RMSEP) of 0.41 % and 0.46 % respectively. Hence fluorescence spectroscopy can be used to estimate the level of adulteration which is helpful for developing a sensor for determination of low-levels of gluten as a rapid and non-invasive method in food applications.     

Structural characterisation and determination of prebiotic activity of purified xylo-oligosaccharides obtained from Bengal gram husk (Cicer arietinum L.) and wheat bran (Triticum aestivum)

Water extractable polysaccharides (WEPs) were isolated from Bengal gram husk and wheat bran. These WEP were subjected to driselase enzyme hydrolysis to obtain oligosaccharide mixtures, which were purified successively on Biogel P-2 and high performance liquid chromatographies. The molecular weight and structural features of the purified oligosaccharides were deduced using ESI-MS and ¹H NMR, respectively. The prebiotic properties of these purified oligosaccharides were studied by using Bifidobacterium adolescentis NDRI 236. Increase in dry cell mass (0.7–0.9 mg/ml) and decrease in pH (<5.8) due to production of short chain fatty acid (SCFA) indicated oligosaccharide fermentation. Acetate was the chief SCFA produced and its amount varied from 97.2% to 100%. The activities of xylanase (257–470 mU/ml), xylopyranosidase (53–60 mU/ml) and arabinofuranosidase (60–70 mU/ml) in the culture broth indicated the breakdown of xylo-oligosaccharides and their subsequent utilisation by the bacterium for its growth.     

Influence of phosphorylated rice flour on the quality of gluten‐free bread

The chemical modification of rice flour by phosphorylation is an alternative to improve the technological quality of bakery products. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of phosphorylation process of rice flour on technological properties (specific volume, crumb and crust colour) of gluten‐free breads and the hardening of these breads during two storage temperatures (21 °C and ?24 °C). Breads were made with native rice flour, with phosphorylated rice flour and with wheat flour, used as control. The phosphorylation causes significant reduction in the synaeresis of pastes and in retrogradation tendency of rice flours, varying from 258.7 cP (native rice flour) to 122 cP (phosphorylated rice flour). The breads prepared with phosphorylated rice flour showed reduction in the hardness in both storage temperatures studied and effect on rice bread volume, crumb appearance and colour, demonstrating the possibility of use of the phosphorylated rice flour in gluten‐free breads.     

Effects of cellulosic fibre on physical and rheological properties of starch,gluten and wheat flour

In this study, we report on the effects of cellulose fibres of different particle size on changes to dough water absorption and rheology; and on effects of fibre on starch and gluten, separately, at different levels of fibre incorporation (0.1–10%). Water absorption and dough‐mixing properties were affected with fibre incorporation, with 40‐μm fibre incorporation resulting in greater absorption values. Dough stickiness and extensibility were affected by cellulose fibre particle size, and decreased with increasing fibre addition. Flour or starch and fibre mixtures were evaluated using a Micro ViscoAmlyoGraph (MVAG), and the resulting gel firmness was measured using a texture analyzer. MVAG peak and final viscosities of flour samples decreased with increasing fibre content. Starch–fibre interactions followed a similar trend as flour–fibre treatments. Gluten–fibre interactions were also measured using a Gluten Peak Tester on flour–fibre and gluten–fibre mixtures. Cellulose fibre enhanced the kinetics of gluten aggregation.     

Pressurised solvent extraction of policosanol from wheat straw,germ and bran

Policosanols (PCs) are a group of long chain aliphatic alcohols that have been reported to have low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol-lowering properties. Wheat is a good source of these compounds. This study examined the effect of solvent type and temperature on extract yields and PC content and composition in the extracts. Wheat germ, straw and bran samples were extracted with petroleum ether, chloroform, n-hexane and ethanol at various temperatures ranging from 80 to 125 °C.     

Immunological determination of gliadin 33‐mer equivalent peptides in beers as a specific and practical analytical method to assess safety for celiac patients

BACKGROUND: Cereals used for beer manufacturing contain gluten, which is immunotoxic for celiac patients. The gluten remaining after processes of malting and brewing is mostly hydrolyzed, which makes practical evaluation of the immunotoxicity of the gluten pools challenging. RESULTS: We analyzed the presence of gluten peptides equivalent to the major immunotoxic protease‐resistant gliadin 33‐mer in 100 Belgium beers, using monoclonal antibodies (G12/A1). Immunochromatographic strips and enzyme‐linked immonosorbent assay G12/A1 methods estimated at least 20 ppm gluten equivalents in 90 beers and gluten‐free in 10 beers. The G12/A1 reactivity of beer high‐performance liquid chromatographic fractions correlated to the presence of T‐cell‐reactive epitopes identified by peptide sequencing. CONCLUSION: The determination of equivalent gliadin 33‐mer epitopes in beers has been shown to be practical, specific, and sensitive for the measurement of potential immunotoxicity for celiac patients. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Study to analyze the influence of sprouting of the wheat grain on the grinding process

Several studies have been carried out on the grinding characteristic of three species of common wheat (Triticum aestivum, ssp. vulgare). The three-day germinated kernels were pulverized in a micro hammer mill equipped with a changeable screen. The moisture of samples was 12% (w.b.). The results showed that the sprouting of wheat had a significant influence on the grinding process. The average particle size of the pulverized material obtained from the sprouted kernels was almost always significantly lower than those from the sound kernels. The highest changes were observed in the increase of the fraction of particles below a size of 200 μm, caused by sprouting. The sprouting caused a decrease in the value of specific grinding energy in all cultivars. Based on the parameters of screen openings and cultivar, the values of specific grinding energy ranged from 35.5 to 141.6 kJ kg⁻¹ and from 41.4 to 164.3 kJ kg⁻¹ for the sprouted and sound kernels, respectively. In addition, the other values of grinding energy indices confirmed that sprouting significantly reduced the grinding energy requirements. The average value of the grinding ability index was 3.9 and 4.8 kJ m⁻² for the sprouted and sound wheat, respectively. Whereas, sprouting caused a decrease in the average value of the grinding index from 71.2 to 58.0 kJ kg⁻¹ mm^0.5.