Peptides as antioxidants and carbonyl quenchers in biological model systems.

Subjecting selected peptides to in vitro analyses covering their ability to interfere with the lipid oxidation chain reaction as well as to protect proteins from direct and indirect oxidation has provided the basis for a more detailed understanding of peptide-mediated protection in biological systems. The efficiency of peptides as radical scavengers and chain-breaking antioxidants in oxidizing lipid membranes was found to be low. Previous studies on antioxidative activity of peptides tend not to include comparisons with efficiencies of more well-documented antioxidants and/or use irrelevantly high dosages of peptides. The present study demonstrates that the effect of the investigated peptides towards oxidation in biological membrane systems is mainly a protection of vital proteins from being oxidatively modified. This protection is obtained through a prevention of lipid oxidation derived carbonylation (indirect protein oxidation) and through interference with aqueous radical species (direct protein oxidation), and it is only achieved if the peptides are present in high concentrations as sacrificial antioxidants.

Browning of freeze-dried probiotic bacteria cultures in relation to loss of viability during storage.

Freeze-dried cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus (La-5) showed visible brown discoloration even after a short storage at relatively mild conditions (a(w) = 0.22 and 30 degrees C), and the browning processes were found to coincide with bacteria inactivation. It was demonstrated, by using high-pressure treatment for obtaining bacteria samples with different ratios of live/dead bacteria, that death of bacteria is not a prerequisite for the browning processes. Furthermore, it was shown that hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) (or condensation products of HMF) introduces accelerated viability loss when HMF is added to the freeze-drying medium. Discoloration of bacteria cultures containing only sucrose/maltodextrin or lactose/maltodextrin in the freeze-drying matrices is suggested to be related to various types of nonenzymatic browning reactions, including carbonyl-protein (or carbonyl-DNA) interactions and carbohydrate condensation/polymerization (without involvement of proteins), the latter proceeding at low a(w) following hydrolysis of the peptidoglycan layer in the bacteria cell wall. More than one single type of browning reaction is accordingly concluded to be related to bacteria death, and the loss of viability in freeze-dried bacteria seems to be influenced by oxidation reactions, browning reactions, and the physical instability of the bacteria membrane/cell wall.

Investigation of oxidation in freeze-dried membranes using the fluorescent probe C11-BODIPY(581/591).

Incorporation of the fluorescent probe C11-BODIPY(581/591) in two dried membrane systems, soy bean phosphatidylcholine liposomes freeze-dried in a carbohydrate/protein matrix and Lactobacillus acidophilus (La-5) freeze-dried in a carbohydrate matrix, was successful and could be visualised by Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM). The C11-BODIPY(581/591) probe is a lipid oxidation reporter molecule, which is known to associate with the lipids of biological membranes and exhibit a fluorescence shift from the red range to the green range of the visible spectrum when it is oxidised together with the lipids. The present study is the first to demonstrate that the C11-BODIPY(581/591) probe can be used in dried membrane systems, and that a detection of oxidation is possible by CLSM analysis directly on the dried samples.

Water activity-temperature state diagrams of freeze-dried Lactobacillus acidophilus (La-5): influence of physical state on bacterial survival during storage.

Water activity-temperature state diagrams for Lactobacillus acidophilus freeze-dried in a sucrose or a lactose matrix were established based on determination of stabilized glass transition temperatures by differential scanning calorimetry during equilibration with respect to water activity at fixed temperatures. The bacteria in the lactose matrix had higher stabilized glass transition temperatures for all a(w) investigated. The survival of Lactobacillus acidophilus determined as colony forming units for up to 10 weeks of storage at 20 degrees C for (i) a(w) = 0.11 with both freeze-dried matrices in the glassy state, (ii) a(w) = 0.23 with the bacteria in the lactose matrix in a glassy state but with the bacteria in sucrose matrix in the nonglassy state, and (iii) a(w) = 0.43 with both freeze-dried matrices in a nonglassy state showed that the nature of the sugar was more important for storage stability than the physical state of the matrix with the nonreducing sucrose providing better stability than the reducing lactose.

Storage stability of freeze-dried Lactobacillus acidophilus (La-5) in relation to water activity and presence of oxygen and ascorbate.

Storage stability of freeze-dried Lactobacillus acidophilus was found to depend on water activity (0.11-0.43), oxygen level (atmospheric oxygen level and <4% oxygen compared) and presence of sodium ascorbate (0% and 10% (w/w)). Increasing water activities decreased bacterial survival, and a reduced oxygen level (<4% oxygen) improved the storage stability, which strongly indicates a connection between oxidative reactions and bacterial instability. The detrimental effect of atmospheric oxygen was reduced by including ascorbate in the freeze drying medium. However, when ascorbate was present a pink/red colour was observed on the surface of the dried samples increasing with the water activity and oxygen level. Increased water activity lead to increased browning also for samples without ascorbate. Free radicals were detected in the dried bacteria by ESR spectroscopy (broad single-peak ESR spectra), where the shape and the g-value was found to depend on the presence of ascorbate and the extent of browning. For increasing water activities the content of radicals increased to a certain level, after which it levelled off and/or decreased. The highest concentrations of radicals were detected in the dried bacteria with highest survival for a given water activity, i.e. low oxygen level and presence of ascorbate, pointing towards a role of semi-stable ascorbyl radicals as a "dead end" for otherwise detrimental free radical reactions.

Impact of water activity, temperature, and physical state on the storage stability of Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei freeze-dried in a lactose matrix.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the combined effect of water activity and temperature on inactivation rates of freeze-dried microorganisms in a lactose matrix could be explained in terms of the glass transition theory. The stabilized glass transition temperature, Tg, of the freeze-dried products was determined by differential scanning calorimetry at two different temperatures, T (20 and 37 degrees C), and different water activities (0.07-0.48). This information served as a basis for defining conditions of T and water activity, which led to storage of the bacteria in the glassy (T < Tg) and nonglassy (T > Tg) states. The rates of inactivation of the dry microorganisms subjected to different storage conditions were determined by plate counts and could be described by first-order kinetics. Rates were analyzed as a function of water activity, storage temperature, and the difference between Tg and T. Inactivation below Tg was low; however, Tg could not be regarded as an absolute threshold of bacteria stability during storage. When the cells were stored in the nonglassy state (T > Tg), inactivation proceeded faster, however, not as rapid as suggested by the temperature dependence of the viscosity above the glass transition temperature. Furthermore, the first-order rate constant, k, was dependent on the storage temperature per se rather than on the temperature difference between the glass transition temperature and the storage temperature (T - Tg).

Myoglobin species with enhanced prooxidative activity is formed during mild proteolysis by pepsin.

Pepsin proteolysis at pH approximately 4 resulted in a lowering of the (pseudo)peroxidase activity of metmyoglobin both at physiological pH and at meat pH, as measured by a peroxidase assay with H(2)O(2) and ABTS as substrates. In contrast, the mildly proteolyzed myoglobin had a strongly enhanced prooxidative effect on lipid oxidation in an oil in water methyl linoleate emulsion compared to native metmyoglobin, as evidenced by rates of oxygen depletion. More severe proteolysis of metmyoglobin at lower pH values near the optimum for pepsin did not result in a similar enhancement of prooxidative activity. The mildly proteolyzed metmyoglobin had spectral characteristics in agreement with a relative stabilization of the iron(II) state. On the basis of the observed effects of metal chelators, of lipophilic and hydrophilic peroxides and of radical scavengers on oxygen depletion rates, it is suggested that the increased prooxidative effect is due to radicals formed by cleavage of lipid peroxides by iron(II)/iron(III) cycling of a heme pigment with affinity for the lipid/water interface.

Pseudoperoxidase activity of myoglobin: kinetics and mechanism of the peroxidase cycle of myoglobin with H2O2 and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonate) as substrates.

Using 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) as substrate, it has been shown that the increased peroxidase activity for decreasing pH of myoglobin activated by hydrogen peroxide is due to a protonization of ferrylmyoglobin, MbFe(IV)=O, facilitating electron transfer from the substrate and corresponding to pK(a) approximately 5.2 at 25.0 degrees C and ionic strength 0.16, rather than due to specific acid catalysis. On the basis of stopped flow absorption spectroscopy with detection of the radical cation ABTS(.+), the second-order rate constant and activation parameters for the reaction between MbFe(IV)=O and ABTS were found to have the values k = 698 +/- 32 M(-1) s(-1), DeltaH# = 66 +/- 4 kJ mol(-1), and DeltaS# = 30 +/- 15 J mol(-1) K(-1) at 25.0 degrees C and physiological pH (7.4) and ionic strength (= 0.16 M NaCl). At a lower pH (5.8) corresponding to the conditions in meat, values were found as follows: k = 3.5 +/- 0.3 x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1), DeltaH# = 31 +/- 6 kJ mol(-1), and DeltaS# = -53 +/- 19 J mol(-1) K(-1), indicative of a shift from outersphere electron transfer to an innersphere mechanism. For steady state assay conditions, this shift is paralleled by a shift from saturation kinetics at pH 7.4 to first-order kinetics for H2O2 as substrate at pH 5.8. In contrast, the activation reaction between myoglobin and hydrogen peroxide was found at 25.0 degrees C to be slow and independent of pH with values of 171 +/- 7 and 196 +/- 19 M(-1) s(-1) found at physiological and meat pH, respectively, as determined by sequential stopped flow spectroscopy, from which a lower limit of k = 6 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) for the reaction between perferrylmyoglobin, .MbFe(IV)=O, and ABTS could be estimated. As compared to the traditional peroxidase assay, a better characterization of pseudoperoxidase activity of heme pigments and their denatured or proteolyzed forms is thus becoming possible, and specific kinetic effects on activation, substrate oxidation, or shift in rate determining steps may be detected.

Antioxidant properties of carnosine re-evaluated in a ferrylmyoglobin model system and in cooked pork patties.

The antioxidative effect of purified carnosine (i.e., separated from the common contaminant hydrazine) has been evaluated in two systems: (i) Carnosine was found to possess poor reducing properties toward the prooxidant ferrylmyoglobin; at pH approximately 5 the presence of carnosine did not increase the rate of reduction of MbFe(IV)=O compared to autoreduction, whereas at pH 7.4 the rate constant for reduction by carnosine was 0.010 +/- 0.002 M(-1).s(-1) (I = 0.16; 25.0 degrees C). (ii) In cooked pork patties prepared from meat (longissimus dorsi and masseter) with purified or nonpurified carnosine added, the effect of purified carnosine was insignificant when compared to control patties, whereas patties with carnosine contaminated with hydrazine had a lower oxidation level than patties with purified carnosine. Carnosine is concluded not to deactivate the prooxidant ferrylmyoglobin and not to have any antioxidative effect in cooked pork.