Effect of enzymatic treatment of citrus by-products on bacterial growth, adhesion and cytokine production by Caco-2 cells.

Citrus by-products are inexpensive sources of polyphenols, important bioactive compounds with wide pharmaceutical and food applications. This study aimed to investigate the effect of enzymatic treatment of citrus by-products on the polyphenolic profile of extracts and assess the influence of extracts on the growth and adhesion of probiotics and foodborne pathogenic bacteria and on the inflammatory response of epithelial cells. Enzyme-assisted extraction altered the polyphenolic profile (as assessed by HPLC-DAD), increasing the content of aglycone flavanones (naringenin and hesperetin). Enzymatic extracts and aglycone flavanones exhibited higher antibacterial and prebiotic activities than non-enzymatic extracts and glycoside flavanones. However, a higher content of aglycones was not associated with higher anti-adhesion activity. Citrus extracts significantly (P ≤ 0.05) decreased the inflammatory response of Caco-2 cells to Salmonella Typhimurium adhesion. These results support the sustainable reuse of citrus agroindustrial wastes and indicate the potential of citrus extracts in preventing infection by foodborne pathogenic bacteria and inducing proliferation of probiotics in foods and the gut environment.

Antioxidant Potential and Modulatory Effects of Restructured Lipids from the Amazonian Palms on Liver Cells.

Enzymatic interesterification is used to manipulate oil and fat in order to obtain improved restructured lipids with desired technological properties. However, with raw materials containing significant amounts of bioactive compounds, the influence of this enzymatic process on the bioactivity of the final product is still not clear. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the antioxidant potential and modulatory effects of two raw materials from the Amazonian area, buriti oil and murumuru fat, before and after lipase interesterification, on human hepatoma cells (HepG2). The results indicate that minor bioactive compounds naturally found in the raw materials and their antioxidant capacity are preserved after enzymatic interesterification, and that the restructured lipids modulate HepG2 endogenous antioxidant enzyme.

Improvement of Phytase Activity by a New Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strain Using Statistical Optimization.

Using statistical optimization, we enhanced the activity of phytase by a new Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain cultured in mineral medium. Concentrations of carbon source and inducer of phytase production were optimized using a 2(2) full factorial CCD and response surface methodology (RSM). Urea was fixed as nitrogen source in culture medium (0.15%, w/v). The culture medium consisting of 2.5% sucrose and 0.5% sodium phytate optimally supported the maximum phytase activity. In addition, we found that culture of the yeast at 35°C with shaking at 150 rpm supports maximum phytase production. The validity of this model was verified by culturing the organisms in flasks on a shaker. Using the optimized media and growth conditions, we obtained a 10-fold improvement in the production of phytase by S. cerevisiae.