Lifestyle Changes among Mexican People during the COVID-19 Lockdown in 2020: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic generated a new challenge of our time with different scenarios. For this reason, this work aimed to identify changes in the diet and lifestyle of Mexicans during the COVID-19 lockdown. This study was based on a Google online survey, which contained questions about eating habits, physical activity, and sleep behavior before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was conducted from 2 June to 4 July 2020 and included 1004 participants (698 women and 306 men 18 years old and above). The subjects reported the increased frequency of consumption of meat, vegetables, fruits, eggs, legumes, fast food, and alcoholic drinks during the lockdown. Furthermore, subjects reported sleeping more hours than usual and negative changes in sleep quality (insomnia, nightmares, and leg pain or cramps). There was a reduction in practicing 30 min of intense physical activity during the week. On the other hand, there was an increase in the number of hours spent in front of the screen. Participants over 36 years of age performed less physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown. These results indicated that it is vital to develop national strategies to promote healthy lifestyle habits in the population during pandemic lockdown measures.

Effect of Mixed Particulate Emulsifiers on Spray-Dried Avocado Oil-in-Water Pickering Emulsions.

Avocado oil is a very valuable agro-industrial product which can be perishable in a short time if it is not stored in the right conditions. The encapsulation of the oils through the spray drying technique protects them from oxidation and facilitates their incorporation into different pharmaceutical products and food matrices; however, the selection of environmentally friendly emulsifiers is a great challenge. Four formulations of the following solid particles: Gum Arabic, HI-CAP®100 starch, and phosphorylated waxy maize starch, were selected to prepare avocado oil Pickering emulsions. Two of the formulations have the same composition, but one of them was emulsified by rotor-stator homogenization. The rest of the emulsions were emulsified by combining rotor-stator plus ultrasound methods. The protective effect of mixed particle emulsifiers in avocado oil encapsulated by spray drying was based on the efficiency of encapsulation. The best results were achieved when avocado oil was emulsified with a mixture of phosphorylated starch/HI-CAP®100, where it presented the highest encapsulation efficiency.

Blends of Carbohydrate Polymers for the Co-Microencapsulation of Bacillus clausii and Quercetin as Active Ingredients of a Functional Food.

A functional food based on blends of carbohydrate polymers and active ingredients was prepared by spray drying. Inulin (IN) and maltodextrin (MX) were used as carrying agents to co-microencapsulate quercetin as an antioxidant and Bacillus clausii (Bc) as a probiotic. Through a reduced design of experiments, eleven runs were conducted and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC). The physical characterizations showed fine and non-aggregated powders, composed of pseudo-spherical particles with micrometric sizes. The observation of rod-like particles suggested that microorganisms were microencapsulated in these particles. The microstructure of the powders was amorphous, observing diffraction peaks attributed to the crystallization of the antioxidant. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the blends was above the room temperature, which may promote a higher stability during storage. The antioxidant activity (AA) values increased for the IN-MX blends, while the viability of the microorganisms increased with the addition of MX. By a surface response plot (SRP) the yield showed a major dependency with the drying temperature and then with the concentration of IN. The work contributes to the use of carbohydrate polymers blends, and to the co-microencapsulation of active ingredients.

Strawberry Juice Powders: Effect of Spray-Drying Conditions on the Microencapsulation of Bioactive Components and Physicochemical Properties.

The drying of fruit juices has advantages such as easy handling of powders, reduction in volume, and preservation of the characteristics of the fruit. Thus, in this work, the effect of the spray drying conditions of strawberry juice (SJ) with maltodextrin (MX) as a carrying agent on the microencapsulation of bioactive compounds and physicochemical properties was studied. The content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity showed higher values at low concentrations of MX, while the effect of drying temperature was negligible. The thermal characterization showed that the low molecular weight sugars in the juice decreased the glass transition temperature (Tg). The morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that at low concentrations of MX, the particles agglomerated, while at intermediate and high concentrations, the particles were observed as well separated. Through microstructural analysis by X-ray diffraction (XRD), the presence of amorphous state was confirmed in all the samples, which is beneficial for preventing chemical and biochemical reactions, and promoting the conservation of the microencapsulated bioactive compounds.

Physicochemical Characterization of Resistant Starch Type-III (RS3) Obtained by Autoclaving Malanga (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) Flour and Corn Starch.

The feasibility of obtaining resistant starch type III (RS3) from malanga flour (Xanthosoma sagittifolium), as an unconventional source of starch, was evaluated using the hydrothermal treatment of autoclaving. The physicochemical characterization of RS3 made from malanga flour was carried out through the evaluation of the chemical composition, color attributes, and thermal properties. In addition, the contents of the total starch, available starch, resistant starch, and retrograded resistant starch were determined by in vitro enzymatic tests. A commercial corn starch sample was used to produce RS3 and utilized to compare all of the analyses. The results showed that native malanga flour behaved differently in most of the evaluations performed, compared to the commercial corn starch. These results could be explained by the presence of minor components that could interfere with the physicochemical and functional properties of the flour; however, the RS3 samples obtained from malanga flour and corn starch were similar in their thermal and morphological features, which may be related to their similarities in the content and molecular weight of amylose, in both of the samples. Furthermore, the yields for obtaining the autoclaved powders from corn starch and malanga flour were similar (≈89%), which showed that the malanga flour is an attractive raw material for obtaining RS3 with adequate yields, to be considered in the subsequent research.

Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidant Activity of Spray-Dry Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var Italica) Stalk and Floret Juice Powders.

This research presents the microencapsulation and conservation of antioxidants of broccoli juice processed by spray drying, and proposes the use of a by-product as a technological application. Broccoli juice (BJ) extracted from two sources, stalks and florets, was spray-dried employing maltodextrin (MX) as a carrier agent at concentrations of 5, 7.5, and 10%, and inlet temperatures of 150 and 220 °C. The total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity (AA) of the BJ-MX powders were determined together with the physicochemical characteristics, including particle morphology, microstructure, and thermal properties. Based on the TPC and AA, the optimal processing conditions found were 5% of MX and a drying temperature of 220 °C. However, the florets showed higher TPC, while stalks presented higher AA under those processing conditions. The particles exhibited micrometric sizes and a mixture of spherical-shape particles and pseudo-spherical particles. The diffractograms indicated an amorphous microstructure in all samples. The glass transition temperature (Tg) was determined in the range of 50 °C for the samples dried at 150 °C and 55 °C for those dried at 220 °C. This suggested that powders might be stored at temperatures below the Tg without presenting any loss of antioxidants.

Phenomenological study of the synthesis of pure anhydrous ß-lactose in alcoholic solution.

Lactose is an important additive because of its food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications. Among lactose polymorphs, anhydrous ß-lactose stands out due to its thermodynamic stability. Thus, a simple method to produce the inter-conversion from monohydrate α-lactose to anhydrous ß-lactose was investigated employing a methanolic solution and different reaction variables (catalyst type, temperature, and stirring). Pure ß-lactose powders were synthesized in short reaction time (2-16 h), with a moderate temperature (reflux: 65 °C), and low concentration (0.014 M) of catalysts (NaOH and KOH). The SEM analysis revealed a change in the morphology from fine needles to tomahawk shape, which is dependent on the content of ß-lactose. The products were appropriately characterized using common analytic procedures (XRD, FTIR, and MDSC). In addition, an exhaustive discussion of the obtained results is provided. Finally, it seems to be the first work, where the inter-conversion to pure ß-lactose is reported successfully.

Effect of the Degree of Substitution on the Hydrophobicity, Crystallinity, and Thermal Properties of Lauroylated Amaranth Starch.

In this paper, we consider amaranth starch extracted from the seeds of Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. An amphiphilic character is conferred to the starch by a chemical modification, which involves an esterification by lauroyl chloride at three modification levels. The degree of substitution (DS) after the modification ranged from 0.06 to 1.16. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis confirmed the presence of fatty acyl chains on the surface of the esterified starches. The hydrophobicity of starches was confirmed by their adsorption isotherms, which showed a decrease in the moisture adsorption of lauroylated as DS increased. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed a higher crystallinity, which was observed in the two samples subjected to the highest levels of modification. A higher crystallinity is related to a higher gelatinization enthalpy. These results are in agreement with the thermal characterization obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). An inhibition of the retrogradation properties of lauroylated amaranth starches was also observed.

Application of Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry (MDSC) in Food and Drug Industries.

Phase transition issues in the field of foods and drugs have significantly influenced these industries and consequently attracted the attention of scientists and engineers. The study of thermodynamic parameters such as the glass transition temperature (Tg), melting temperature (Tm), crystallization temperature (Tc), enthalpy (H), and heat capacity (Cp) may provide important information that can be used in the development of new products and improvement of those already in the market. The techniques most commonly employed for characterizing phase transitions are thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermomechanical analysis (TMA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Among these techniques, DSC is preferred because it allows the detection of transitions in a wide range of temperatures (-90 to 550 °C) and ease in the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the transitions. However, the standard DSC still presents some limitations that may reduce the accuracy and precision of measurements. The modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) has overcome some of these issues by employing sinusoidally modulated heating rates, which are used to determine the heat capacity. Another variant of the MDSC is the supercooling MDSC (SMDSC). SMDSC allows the detection of more complex thermal events such as solid-solid (Ts-s) transitions, liquid-liquid (Tl-l) transitions, and vitrification and devitrification temperatures (Tv and Tdv, respectively), which are typically found at the supercooling temperatures (Tco). The main advantage of MDSC relies on the accurate detection of complex transitions and the possibility of distinguishing reversible events (dependent on the heat capacity) from non-reversible events (dependent on kinetics).

Evaluation of Cooking Quality, Nutritional and Texture Characteristics of Pasta Added with Oat Bran and Apple Flour.

This study reports the effect of the addition of oat bran and apple flour on the cooking quality, digestibility, antioxidant, nutritional and texture characteristics of a spaghetti-type pasta. Pasta samples were prepared by substituting 50% of durum wheat semolina with oat bran (OBP) or apple flour (AFP). AFP presented higher cooking loss and water absorption index than the control pasta prepared with 100% durum wheat semolina (WSP). The supplementation of pasta with oat bran increased the total dietary fiber content (16.43% w/w, dw), while apple flour decreased the protein content (11.16% w/w, dw). There was no significant difference in the resistant starch content among all pasta samples. The pasta samples made with 50/50 durum wheat semolina/oat bran and 50/50 durum wheat semolina/apple flour increased the antioxidant activity by ≈46% and ≈97%, respectively. The OBP and AFP samples had a similar texture to the control pasta. A 50% replacement of durum wheat semolina with oat bran in a pasta formulation decreased the caloric content and digestibility of its starch components. These attributes found in the oat bran pasta and apple flour pasta make them a healthy choice for the diet of people with specific nutritional needs.