ABSTRACT
Valorisation of food by-products, like spent brewer's yeast and fruit pomaces, represents an important strategy for contributing to sustainable food production. The aims of this study were to obtain Maillard conjugates based on spent yeast protein hydrolysate (SYH) with dextran (D) or maltodextrin (MD) by means of ultrasound treatment and to use them for developing encapsulation systems for the anthocyanins from aronia pomace. The ultrasound-assisted Maillard conjugation promoted the increase of antioxidant activity by about 50% compared to conventional heating and SYH, and was not dependent on the polysaccharide type. The ability of the conjugates to act as wall material for encapsulating various biologically active compounds was tested via a freeze-drying method. The retention efficiency ranged between 58.25 ± 0.38%-65.25 ± 2.21%, while encapsulation efficiency varied from 67.09 ± 2.26% to 88.72 ± 0.33%, indicating the strong effect of the carrier material used for encapsulation. The addition of the hydrolysed yeast cell wall played a positive effect on the encapsulation efficiency of anthocyanins when used in combination with the SYH:MD conjugates. On the other hand, the stability of anthocyanins during storage, as well as their bioavailability during gastrointestinal digestion, were higher when using the SYH:D conjugate. The study showed that hydrolysis combined with the ultrasound-assisted Maillard reaction has a great potential for the valorisation of spent brewer's yeast as delivery material for the encapsulation of bioactive compounds.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Common reed (Phragmites australis L.) is a highly productive wetland plant and a possible valuable resource of renewable biomass worldwide. For a sustainable management the exploitation of reed is beneficial because the increasing demand for sustainable biomass which presents reed bed areas and wetlands. Knowing the properties of plant biomass obtained from reeds is essential both for the effect on combustion equipment and for the impact on the environment. Brates Lake, situated in Galati, Romania is a natural watershed with reed plantations. RESULTS: We used the convolutional neural network method combined with the cropped image techniques represent a powerful tool for high-precision image-based biomass detection in lake areas. The study aimed to investigate the morphological and chemical parameters through SEM-EDX analysis and pH, conductivity, nitrate anion, nitrite anion, total nitrogen, sulphate anion, sulphide anion, phosphate anion concentrations were determined from reed extract. The samples have a moderately acidic reaction pH 4.91-4.98. The number of soluble salts in the reed extract is in the range of 3.24-4.70 g/L, the values are within normal limits, providing the plant with the necessary nutrients. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first time that neural networks are used for the detection and prediction of areas at risk for biodiversity (reduction of water gloss until it disappears, imbalances caused by keeping reeds dry in water) caused by the aggressive and uncontrolled growth of reeds.
