Bioactive Potential of Carrot-Based Products Enriched with Lactobacillus plantarum.

The primary goal of this study was to generate different kinds of functional products based on carrots that were supplemented with lactic acid bacteria. The fact that carrots (Daucus carota sp.) rank among the most popular vegetables in our country led to the convergence of the research aim. Their abundance of bioactive compounds, primarily polyphenols, flavonoids, and carotenoids, offers numerous health benefits. Among the obtained products, the freeze-dried carrot powder (FDCP) variation presented the highest concentrations of total carotenoids (TCs) and ß-carotene (BC) of 26.977 ± 0.13 mg/g DW and 22.075 ± 0.14 mg/g DW, respectively. The amount of total carotenoids and ß-carotene significantly increased with the addition of the selected lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for most of the samples. In addition, a slight increase in the antioxidant activity compared with the control sample for the FDCP variant, with the highest value of 91.74%, was observed in these functional food products. The content of polyphenolic compounds varied from 0.044 to 0.091 mg/g DW, while the content of total flavonoids varied from 0.03 to 0.66 mg/g DW. The processing method had an impact on the population of L. plantarum that survived, as indicated by the viability of bacterial cells in all the analyzed products. The chromatographic analysis through UHPLC-MS/MS further confirmed the abundance of the bioactive compounds and their corresponding derivatives by revealing 19 different compounds. The digestibility study indicated that carotenoid compounds from carrots followed a rather controlled release. The carrot-based products enriched with Lactobacillus plantarum can be considered newly functional developed products based on their high content of biologically active compounds with beneficial effects upon the human body. Furthermore, these types of products could represent innovative products for every related industry such as the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical industries, thus converging a new strategy to improve the health of consumers or patients.

Novel Insights for Metabiotics Production by Using Artisanal Probiotic Cultures.

Wild probiotic consortia of microorganisms (bacteria and yeasts) associated in the artisanal cultures' microbiota (milk kefir grains, water kefir grains and kombucha) are considered valuable promoters for metabiotics (prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics and paraprobiotics) production. The beneficial effects of the fermented products obtained with the artisanal cultures on human well-being are described by centuries and the interest for them is continuously increasing. The wild origin and microbial diversity of these above-mentioned consortia give them extraordinary protection capacity against microbiological contaminants in unusual physico-chemical conditions and unique fermentative behaviour. This review summarizes the state of the art for the wild artisanal cultures (milk and water kefir grains, respectively, kombucha-SCOBY), their symbiotic functionality, and the ability to ferment unconventional substrates in order to obtain valuable bioactive compounds with in vitro and in vivo beneficial functional properties. Due to the necessity of the bioactives production and their use as metabiotics in the modern consumer's life, artisanal cultures are the perfect sources able to biosynthesize complex functional metabolites (bioactive peptides, antimicrobials, polysaccharides, enzymes, vitamins, cell wall components). Depending on the purposes of the biotechnological fermentation processes, artisanal cultures can be used as starters on different substrates. Current studies show that the microbial synergy between bacteria-yeast and/or bacteria-offers new perspectives to develop functional products (food, feeds, and ingredients) with a great impact on life quality.

Transglutaminase mediated microencapsulation of sea buckthorn supercritical CO2 extract in whey protein isolate and valorization in highly value added food products.

Sea buckthorn carotenoids extracted using CO2 supercritical fluids method were encapsulated within whey proteins isolate by transglutaminase (TG) mediated crosslinking reaction, coacervation and freeze drying. The encapsulation efficiency was 36.23 ±â€¯1.58%, with ß-carotene the major carotenoid present in the powder. The confocal analysis revealed that TG-ase mediated cross-linking reaction enhanced the complexes stability to such a manner that a double microencapsulation was performed. The powder showed an antioxidant activity of 2.16 ±â€¯0.14 mMol Trolox/g DW and an antifungal activity against Penicillium expansum MIUG M11. Four variants of domestic ice creams were obtained, with a total carotenoids content variation of 1.63 ±â€¯0.03 mg/g D.W. in sample with 2% powder and 6.38 ±â€¯0.04 mg/g D.W. in samples with 4% extract, having satisfactory antioxidant activity. The storage stability test showed a decrease in both total carotenoids content and antioxidant activity in all samples during 21 days at -18 °C. A protective effect of microencapsulation was evidenced.

Psychrotrophic Streptomyces spp. cells immobilisation in alginate microspheres produced by emulsification-internal gelation.

The objective of the investigations was the optimisation of the parameters for cold-adapted Streptomyces MIUG 4 Alga strain cells immobilisation using emulsification-internal gelation technique in calcium alginate microspheres and testing their ability to produce cold-active ß-amylase. By Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology, the effects of independent variables were established, which included sodium alginate concentration (A), sodium alginate:living cell ratio (B) and the Span 80 concentration (C) upon microspheres formation and their functionality. Mean diameter of formed microspheres with immobilised biomass and cold-active ß-amylase production were chosen as dependent variables in order to increase the yield of starch hydrolysis. Diameters of microspheres <25.5 µm provided large yield of cold-active ß-amylase comparing with microspheres with bigger diameter. A 1.5-fold increase in the substrate hydrolysis yield was achieved using the immobilised biocatalyst compared with the crude enzyme extract, after 96 h of substrate bioconversion.

Partial characterization of cold active amylases and proteases of Streptomyces sp. from Antarctica.

The aim of this study was to isolate novel enzyme-producing bacteria from vegetation samples from East Antarctica and also to characterize them genetically and biochemically in order to establish their phylogeny. The ability to grow at low temperature and to produce amylases and proteases cold-active was also tested. The results of the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the 4 Alga rRNA was 100% identical to the sequences of Streptomyces sp. rRNA from Norway and from the Solomon Islands. The Streptomyces grew well in submerged system at 20°C, cells multiplication up to stationary phase being drastically increased after 120 h of submerged cultivation. The beta-amylase production reached a maximum peak after seven days, while alpha-amylase and proteases were performing biosynthesis after nine days of submerged cultivation at 20°C. Newly Streptomyces were able to produce amylase and proteases in a cold environment. The ability to adapt to low temperature of these enzymes could make them valuable ingredients for detergents, the food industry and bioremediation processes which require low temperatures.

[Home control of high blood pressure]. / Controlul terapeutic al hipertensiunii arteriale la domiciliu.

UNLABELLED: Control of blood pressure is far from satisfactory, reaching approximately 13% in Romania according the SEPHAR study. AIM: Assessment of blood pressure control in elderly by blood pressure monitoring at home. MATERIAL AND METHOD: 64 hypertensive patients (36 women and 28 men) with mean age of 76.3 years which blood pressure has been normalized by admitting in hospital were followed for a period of three months, by self-measuring blood pressure at home (twice a week). RESULTS: In the first week after hospital discharge the mean systolic pressure was 158 +/- 17.06 and after adjustment of treatment was 136.76 +/- 11.36 mmHg. To the end of the study blood pressure was controlled at a rate of 81.25%. CONCLUSIONS: To increase the percentage of therapeutic control of blood pressure at home, small changes in drug dosage are needed.