Improving the Rheological Properties of Dough Obtained by Partial Substitution of Wheat Flour with Freeze-Dried Olive Pomace.

Mediterranean countries are known for their high-quality olives and the production and consumption of olive oil. Olive pomace (OP), the major by-product of olive oil extraction, is receiving attention for its potential as a functional compound in food products, reflecting its physiology- and health-promoting attributes. This study assessed the physico-chemical characteristics of OP obtained from two Sardinian olive cultivars, Bosana and Semidana, and the effect of OP incorporation on the baking performance of wheat dough. We assessed the rheological parameters, pasting profile, and fermentation of doughs obtained through the partial substitution of wheat flour with OP at 0 (control), 1, 2, 3, and 5%. OP inclusion resulted in significant differences in the studied parameters compared with control samples. Positive effects included a decrease in development time, improved dough stability and storage, and superior loss modulus and gas retention capacity. Negative effects comprised an increase in dough resistance and a decrease in dough development height, gas production, gas retention, pasting profile, stickiness, and elasticity. These differences in the OP dough were due to the interactions between polyphenols and fibre with water and the starch-gluten matrix. This study found improvements in dough characteristics following the substitution of wheat flour with low percentages of OP, especially Semidana at 1%. Although higher percentages of OP would be associated with greater nutritional and health benefits, they resulted in a degradation of the dough's attributes, producing a gluten-free-like matrix in the final product.

Transfer of antibiotics from goat's milk to rennet curd and whey fractions during cheese-making.

The transfer of 35 antibiotics from milk to curd and whey was evaluated. Cheeses were produced at laboratory scale, from antibiotic-free goat's milk spiked with different antibiotic concentrations between 0.25 and 4 times the Maximum Residue Limits established in milk. Drug concentrations in milk, curd and whey were analysed by UHPLC-HRMS. Results indicated that most antibiotics were mainly transferred from milk to whey (up to 85.9%), with retention percentages in the curd lower than 50%, except for ceftiofur (59.7%) and dicloxacillin (52.8%). In most cases, drug distribution was unaffected by the antibiotic concentration in milk and correlated significantly to the drug lipophilicity (Log P) for ß-lactams (R2 = 0.54) and sulfonamides (R2 = 0.62). When drug ionization was considered (Log D), improved correlation coefficients were obtained for macrolides (R2 = 0.98). However, other factors besides the drug solubility should be considered to explain and predict the partitioning of antibiotics during cheese-making.

Exploring the DPP-IV Inhibitory, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Potential of Ovine "Scotta" Hydrolysates.

The aim of this work was to valorize the by-product derived from the ricotta cheese process (scotta). In this study, ovine scotta was concentrated by ultrafiltration and then subjected to enzymatic hydrolyses using proteases of both vegetable (4% E:S, 4 h, 50 °C) and animal origin (4% E:S, 4 h, 40 °C). The DPP-IV inhibitory, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities of hydrolysates from bromelain (BSPH) and pancreatin (PSPH) were measured in vitro. Both the obtained hydrolysates showed a significantly higher DPP-IV inhibitory activity compared to the control. In particular, BSPH proved to be more effective than PSPH (IC50 8.5 ± 0.2 vs. 13 ± 1 mg mL-1). Moreover, BSPH showed the best antioxidant power, while PSPH was more able to produce low-MW peptides. BSPH and PSPH hydrolysates showed a variable but slightly inhibitory effect depending on the species or strain of bacteria tested. BSPH and PSPH samples were separated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). LC-MS/MS analysis of selected GPC fractions allowed identification of differential peptides. Among the peptides 388 were more abundant in BSPH than in the CTRL groups, 667 were more abundant in the PSPH group compared to CTRL, and 97 and 75 of them contained sequences with a reported biological activity, respectively.

Graphene as cancer theranostic tool: progress and future challenges.

Nowadays cancer remains one of the main causes of death in the world. Current diagnostic techniques need to be improved to provide earlier diagnosis and treatment. Traditional therapy approaches to cancer are limited by lack of specificity and systemic toxicity. In this scenario nanomaterials could be good allies to give more specific cancer treatment effectively reducing undesired side effects and giving at the same time accurate diagnosis and successful therapy. In this context, thanks to its unique physical and chemical properties, graphene, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene (rGO) have recently attracted tremendous interest in biomedicine including cancer therapy. Herein we analyzed all studies presented in literature related to cancer fight using graphene and graphene-based conjugates. In this context, we aimed at the full picture of the state of the art providing new inputs for future strategies in the cancer theranostic by using of graphene. We found an impressive increasing interest in the material for cancer therapy and/or diagnosis. The majority of the works (73%) have been carried out on drug and gene delivery applications, following by photothermal therapy (32%), imaging (31%) and photodynamic therapy (10%). A 27% of the studies focused on theranostic applications. Part of the works here discussed contribute to the growth of the theranostic field covering the use of imaging (i.e. ultrasonography, positron electron tomography, and fluorescent imaging) combined to one or more therapeutic modalities. We found that the use of graphene in cancer theranostics is still in an early but rapidly growing stage of investigation. Any technology based on nanomaterials can significantly enhance their possibility to became the real revolution in medicine if combines diagnosis and therapy at the same time. We performed a comprehensive summary of the latest progress of graphene cancer fight and highlighted the future challenges and the innovative possible theranostic applications.