Structured soft particulate matters for delivery of bioactive compounds in foods and functioning in the colon.

The present review discusses challenges, perspectives, and current needs of delivering bioactive compounds (BCs) using soft particulate matters (SPMs) for gut health. SPMs can entrap BCs for incorporation in foods, preserve their bioactivities during processing, storage, and gastrointestinal digestion, and deliver BCs to functioning sites in the colon. To enable these functions, physical, chemical, and biological properties of BCs are integrated in designing various types of SPMs to overcome environmental factors reducing the bioavailability and bioactivity of BCs. The design principles are applied using food grade molecules with the desired properties to produce SPMs by additionally considering the cost, sustainability, and scalability of manufacturing processes. Lastly, to make delivery systems practical, impacts of SPMs on food quality are to be evaluated case by case, and health benefits of functional foods incorporated with delivery systems are to be confirmed and must outweigh the cost of preparing SPMs.

Association between nutrient intake from vegetables and BMI category of in-school adolescents in urban and rural areas in Davao City, Philippines.

Consumption of vegetables may contribute to alleviating the double burden of malnutrition, which is widespread among adolescents. However, the link between specific nutrient intakes from vegetables and the body mass index (BMI) of in-school adolescents is not widely studied. This study determined the association between the nutrient intakes from the vegetables consumed and the BMI category of in-school adolescents in urban and rural areas in Davao City, Philippines. Self-reported vegetable consumption was collected from the respondents, and the corresponding nutrient intakes were calculated using the USDA food composition tables. The BMI of the participating adolescents was also measured. The results show that being underweight or overweight is generally associated with lower macronutrient and micronutrient intakes from the vegetables consumed, namely, bell pepper, bitter gourd, cabbage, carrot, chayote, Chinese cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, Malabar spinach, moringa, mung bean, okra, potato, sponge gourd, squash, string beans, sweet potato, sweet potato tops, taro, tomato, water spinach (P < 0.05). The nutrient intakes from vegetables consumed by adolescents from urban households were generally higher. The findings highlight the contribution of vegetables to the nutrient intakes in the adolescent population. This study reinforces the need for targeted dietary guidelines and further promotion of vegetables, especially indigenous ones, to improve the nutritional status of adolescents in the Philippines.

Valorization of pomelo (Citrus grandis Osbeck) peel: A review of current utilization, phytochemistry, bioactivities, and mechanisms of action.

Citrus grandis Osbeck, commonly known as "pomelo" or "shaddock," is the largest citrus fruit, the peel of which is a well-known agricultural residual waste. Pomelo peel offers a wide range of components such as essential oils, polysaccharides, and phytochemicals with potential food applications. Utilization of pomelo peel to recover these components is an important step toward agricultural sustainability. This review covers pomelo peel utilization opportunities beyond conventional composting and animal feed production, and critically examines value-added uses via the recovery of potentially bioactive components. The peel of pomelo accounts for approximately 30% of the total fruit weight and contains phytochemicals, including aroma-active volatiles, pectin, flavonoids, phenolic acids, carotenoids, coumarins, and polysaccharides. Recovery of these phytochemicals offers an opportunity for value-added utilization such as the development of enriched or functional foods and nutraceuticals. The health-promoting and therapeutic potential of pomelo peel extracts and isolated pure compounds have been evaluated through numerous in vitro and in vivo studies that revealed a wide range of bioactivities, including hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. Preclinical evidence highlights multifaceted molecular and signaling events that possibly underlie the said bioactive potential. Overall, the pomelo processing industry offers a great opportunity to recover or produce valuable products from the large amounts of residual wastes it generates. It is envisaged that a thorough understanding of the bioactive components of pomelo peel, their functional and nutraceutical applications, and mode of actions will benefit the food industry.

A pectin-gelatin gel containing oral rehydration solution and the release of sodium chloride under simulated gastric conditions.

Both gelatin and pectin have the ability to trap salt and facilitate its release under simulated gastric conditions. The objective of this study was to develop a pectin-gelatin gel fortified with oral rehydration solution/s (ORS) that can maintain a more rigid structure to limit salt mobility (potentially less salty taste), yet allow rapid release in simulated gastric conditions. Two gels containing both pectin and gelatin were developed: (1) low salt (LS) containing 2.6 g/L salt and 13.5 g/L sugar and (2) high salt (HS) containing 5.2 g/L salt and 27.0 g/L sugar. The ORS-fortified gels were compared with commercially available gelatin gels and a control pectin-gelatin gel without added salt or sugar. A stronger gel network (higher G') and higher viscosity was noted for HS compared to other samples. HS had slower salt release (80.70 ±â€¯1.92%) than LS (95.95 ±â€¯3.82%) at 1 min in simulated gastric conditions. After 120 min, HS showed up to 99.38 ±â€¯1.08% release of salt, while LS had 95.95 ±â€¯3.82% release. HS had a favorable textural profile, having values more similar to the ready-to-eat commercial cup gel than did the LS formulation. The HS formulation resulted in a stable structure for ORS delivery and beneficial release properties.