New plant-based fermented beverage made of baru nut enriched with probiotics and green banana: composition, physicochemical and sensory properties.

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of potential functional ingredients-green banana starch, green banana pulp flour or whole green banana flour-on the composition, physicochemical and sensory properties of plant-based fermented beverages made of baru nuts. The incorporation of green banana-derived ingredients, especially the whole flour, increased protein (2.44-2.81 g/100 g), fibre (1.53-2.32 g/100 g), resistant starch (0.15-0.33 g/100 g) and ash (0.36-0.61 g/100 g) content in fermented beverages. The total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity were higher in beverages added with pulp or whole flour. The main polyphenols identified were catechin (0.75-4.97 mg/100 g), gallic acid (0.29-0.52 mg/100 g) and ferulic acid (0.17-0.64 mg/100 g). All beverages showed to be rich in unsaturated fatty acids (68%) as omega-3, omega-6, and conjugated linoleic acid. The incorporation of green banana in beverages enhanced the probiotic bacteria growth indicating the potential prebiotic effect of the unripe fruit. The sensory acceptance of fermented beverages was also improved after adding green banana. Overall, whole green banana flour stood out as the main factor that increased the nutritional value of baru nut fermented beverage. Green banana was used for the first time as a potential prebiotic ingredient in a plant-based beverage. This novel product represents a potential symbiotic non-dairy alternative that could offer health benefits to consumers. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-023-05781-5.

Advances in Growth Factor Delivery for Bone Tissue Engineering.

Shortcomings related to the treatment of bone diseases and consequent tissue regeneration such as transplants have been addressed to some extent by tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Tissue engineering has promoted structures that can simulate the extracellular matrix and are capable of guiding natural bone repair using signaling molecules to promote osteoinduction and angiogenesis essential in the formation of new bone tissues. Although recent studies on developing novel growth factor delivery systems for bone repair have attracted great attention, taking into account the complexity of the extracellular matrix, scaffolding and growth factors should not be explored independently. Consequently, systems that combine both concepts have great potential to promote the effectiveness of bone regeneration methods. In this review, recent developments in bone regeneration that simultaneously consider scaffolding and growth factors are covered in detail. The main emphasis in this overview is on delivery strategies that employ polymer-based scaffolds for spatiotemporal-controlled delivery of both single and multiple growth factors in bone-regeneration approaches. From clinical applications to creating alternative structural materials, bone tissue engineering has been advancing constantly, and it is relevant to regularly update related topics.

Gee-logit model corrected biplots with harvest effects on coffee beans grading

In a granulometric analysis of coffee beans with different categories of defects, the data can be organized in contingency tables, and when considering the discrimination by harvest, they may have a structure that suggest a more complex model, by means of the counting of defective coffee beans compared to different crops interacting with the classification of defects and percentages of sieve grains, which characterizes a block design with multivariate responses. However, due to the techniques based on the analysis of variance, considering the uniform correlation structure for all plots, it becomes feasible to propose a model that allows contemplating different structures between the plots, associating the effects of the crops to the defects in the granulometric procedure applied to the coffee beans. Thus, the hypothesis of incorporating the effects of crops associated with defects arises using the biplot multivariate technique. This work aims to propose the use of corrected biplots by predictions obtained trhough the fit to the Generalized Linear Model in the coffee grain size classification, broken down by components of the effect of the harvests. In conclusion, the use of GEE models with the corrected biplot technique by the predictions is feasible for application to be applied to the granulometric analysis of defective coffee beans, presenting discrimination regarding the effects of harvests.

Stability of spray-dried beetroot extract using oligosaccharides and whey proteins.

The properties and stability of spray-dried beetroot extract using maltodextrin (MD), inulin (IN), and whey protein isolate (WPI) as carrier agents were evaluated. The values of moisture, betalains content, and retention were 3.33-4.24%, 348.79-385.47 mg/100 g (dry-basis), and 88.45-95.69%, respectively. Higher values of antioxidant activity were observed for the treatments using WPI. The treatment with inulin alone presented higher hygroscopicity in the moisture adsorption isotherms at 25 °C and lower thermal stability when evaluating the thermogravimetric curves. When stored at 60 °C, the use of WPI alone conferred lower stability to the beetroot extract powder. In general, the simultaneous use of IN and WPI as carrier agents resulted in good stability of the beetroot extract powder, representing an opportunity for innovation in food products.