Nano and Technological Frontiers as a Sustainable Platform for Postharvest Preservation of Berry Fruits.

Berries are highly perishable and susceptible to spoilage, resulting in significant food and economic losses. The use of chemicals in traditional postharvest protection techniques can harm both human health and the environment. Consequently, there is an increasing interest in creating environmentally friendly solutions for postharvest protection. This article discusses various approaches, including the use of "green" chemical compounds such as ozone and peracetic acid, biocontrol agents, physical treatments, and modern technologies such as the use of nanostructures and molecular tools. The potential of these alternatives is evaluated in terms of their effect on microbial growth, nutritional value, and physicochemical and sensorial properties of the berries. Moreover, the development of nanotechnology, molecular biology, and artificial intelligence offers a wide range of opportunities to develop formulations using nanostructures, improving the functionality of the coatings by enhancing their physicochemical and antimicrobial properties and providing protection to bioactive compounds. Some challenges remain for their implementation into the food industry such as scale-up and regulatory policies. However, the use of sustainable postharvest protection methods can help to reduce the negative impacts of chemical treatments and improve the availability of safe and quality berries.

Variations of nonvolatile taste components of mushrooms with different operating conditions and parameters from farm to fork.

Mushroom is a sustainable food option and a meat substitute which yet needs some strategies to enhance sensory attributes. Especially, their taste characteristics (nonvolatile taste components: soluble sugars, organic acids, free amino acids, and 5'-nucleotides) can vary significantly due to operating conditions and parameters during different stages from farm to fork. This review is aimed to provide an overall view of the determined effects of operating conditions and parameters for mushroom taste attributes, suggestions for future research from lacking variables, and some recommendations for improving the taste perception of mushrooms. Taste compounds of mushrooms alter differently based on cultivation (species, cultivation or maturity stage, substrate composition, part, grade, mycelium strain), cooking (cooking method, time, temperature), preservation, and post-harvest storage conditions (drying parameters, pretreatment, preservation method, gamma irradiation, packaging, storage time and temperature). The dominant tastes of mushrooms given by sweet and umami taste active substances can be enhanced significantly with proper control of parameters during cultivation, cooking, drying, or post-harvest storage. The parameters and variations organized in this review can be used to develop a mathematical model for obtaining optimum taste attributes of mushrooms and mushroom-based meat alternatives and to discover the variables of mushroom species not studied yet.

Combined Pulsed Electric Field and Microwave-Assisted Extraction as a Green Method for the Recovery of Antioxidant Compounds with Electroactive Potential from Coffee Agro-Waste.

Coffee agro-waste is a potential source of polyphenols with antioxidant activity and application in the food and cosmetic trades. The usage of these byproducts persists as a challenge in the industrial landscape due to their high content of purported toxic substances hindering management. This study presents a green extractive process using pulsed electric field (PEF) and microwave assisted extraction (MAE) to recover polyphenols from coffee parchment and two varieties of pulp, posing quick processing times and the use of water as the only solvent. The performance of this process with regard to the bioactivity was assessed through the Folin-Ciocalteu assay, total flavonoid content, DPPH, ABTS and FRAP antioxidant tests. The phenolic composition of the extracts was also determined through HPLC-MS and quantified through HPLC-DAD. When compared to treatment controls, PEF + MAE treated samples presented enhanced yields of total phenolic content and radical scavenging activity in all analyzed residues (Tukey test significance: 95%). The chromatographic studies reveal the presence of caffeic acid on the three analyzed by-products. The HPLC-DAD caffeic acid quantification validated that a combination of MAE + PEF treatment in yellow coffee pulp had the highest caffeic acid concentration of all studied extraction methods.

Recent Advances in Prodigiosin as a Bioactive Compound in Nanocomposite Applications.

Bionanocomposites based on natural bioactive entities have gained importance due to their abundance; renewable and environmentally benign nature; and outstanding properties with applied perspective. Additionally, their formulation with biological molecules with antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities has been produced nowadays. The present review details the state of the art and the importance of this pyrrolic compound produced by microorganisms, with interest towards Serratia marcescens, including production strategies at a laboratory level and scale-up to bioreactors. Promising results of its biological activity have been reported to date, and the advances and applications in bionanocomposites are the most recent strategy to potentiate and to obtain new carriers for the transport and controlled release of prodigiosin. Prodigiosin, a bioactive secondary metabolite, produced by Serratia marcescens, is an effective proapoptotic agent against bacterial and fungal strains as well as cancer cell lines. Furthermore, this molecule presents antioxidant activity, which makes it ideal for treating wounds and promoting the general improvement of the immune system. Likewise, some of the characteristics of prodigiosin, such as hydrophobicity, limit its use for medical and biotechnological applications; however, this can be overcome by using it as a component of a bionanocomposite. This review focuses on the chemistry and the structure of the bionanocomposites currently developed using biorenewable resources. Moreover, the work illuminates recent developments in pyrrole-based bionanocomposites, with special insight to its application in the medical area.

Clinically relevant materials & applications inspired by food technologies.

Food science and technology have a fundamental and considerable overlap with medicine, and many clinically important applications were borne out of translational food science research. Globally, the food industry - through various food processing technologies - generates huge quantities of agro-waste and food processing byproducts that retain a significant biochemical potential for upcycling into important medical applications. This review explores some distinct clinical applications that are fabricable from food-based biopolymers and substances, often originating from food manufacturing side streams. These include antibacterial wound dressings and tissue scaffolding from the biopolymers cellulose and chitosan and antimicrobial food phytochemicals for combating antibiotic-resistant nosocomial infections. Furthermore, fermentation is discussed as the epitome of a translational food technology that unlocks further therapeutic value from recalcitrant food-based substrates and enables sustainable large-scale production of high-value pharmaceuticals, including novel fermented food-derived bioactive peptides (BPs).

Upcycling of brewers' spent grains via solid-state fermentation for the production of protein hydrolysates with antioxidant and techno-functional properties.

Brewers' spent grains (BSG) were fermented with Rhizopus oligosporus and up to 15% of original protein was hydrolysed. Fermented BSG was then subjected to an ethanolic-alkali extraction and isolated fractions contained 61-66% protein. An evaluation of functional properties suggested that fermented extracts presented superior emulsifying abilities (15-34 m2/g of activity and 16-42 min of stability), foaming properties (16-30% capacity and 7-14% stability), and water/oil binding capacities (0.41 g/g and 0.24 g/g, respectively). They also showed significantly higher ABTS inhibition and stronger reducing power than unfermented ones, indicating that fermented BSG protein extract had greater antioxidant activities. No cytotoxic effect was detected in the range of 2-10 mg/mL. When applied in a mayonnaise formulation, fermented hydrolysates demonstrated better emulsion stability in terms of creaming, microstructure and viscosity. Thus, fermented BSG protein is a potential plant-based emulsifier for food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications.

Fermentation for future food systems: Precision fermentation can complement the scope and applications of traditional fermentation.

Modern biotechnology holds great potential for expanding the scope of fermentation to create novel foods and improve the sustainability of food production.

A metabolomics approach to evaluate post-fermentation enhancement of daidzein and genistein in a green okara extract.

BACKGROUND: Okara is a major agri-industrial by-product of the tofu and soymilk industries. Employing food-wastes as substrates for the green production of natural functional compounds is a recent trend that addresses the dual concepts of sustainable production and a zero-waste ecosystem. RESULTS: Extracts of unfermented okara and okara fermented with Rhizopus oligosporus were obtained using ethanol as extraction solvent, coupled with ultrasound sonication for enhanced extraction. Fermented extracts yielded significantly better results for total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) than unfermented extracts. A qualitative liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) analysis revealed a shift from glucoside forms to respective aglycone forms of the detected isoflavones, post-fermentation. Since the aglycone forms have been associated with numerous health benefits, a quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was performed. Fermented okara extracts had daidzein and genistein concentrations of 11.782 ± 0.325 µg mL-1 and 10.125 ± 1.028 µg mL-1 , as opposed to that of 6.7 ± 2.42 µg mL-1 and 4.55 ± 0.316 µg mL-1 in raw okara extracts, respectively. Lastly, the detected isoflavones were mapped to their metabolic pathways, to understand the biochemical reactions triggered during the fermentation process. CONCLUSION: Fermented okara may be implemented as a sustainable solution for production of natural bioactive isoflavonoids genistein and daidzein. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

In Vitro Evaluation of Enriched Brewers' Spent Grains Using Bacillus subtilis WX-17 as Potential Functional Food Ingredients.

Brewers' spent grains (BSGs) are nutritious food processing by-products generated in the brewing industry. In this study, in vitro digestion-fermentation was employed to examine fermented BSG using Bacillus subtilis WX-17 as functional food ingredients. Insoluble fibers in BSG were converted into soluble fibers after fermentation, giving an increase from 6.13 ± 0.42 to 9.37 ± 0.53 mg/100 g BSG. After in vitro digestion of unfermented and fermented BSG, various nutritional components were found to be higher in fermented BSG. Components such as amino acids and fatty acids gave a concentration of 1.635 ± 0.236 mg/mL and 6.35 ± 0.65 mg/mL, respectively. Additionally, vitamin K2 MK7 was detected in fermented BSG with a concentration of 0.00012 ± 0.000005 mg/mL. Probiotics Bacillus subtilis WX-17 was observed to withstand the in vitro digestion. After in vitro fermentation, various short-chain fatty acids namely acetic acid, propanoic acid, and butyric acid were produced at higher amounts for fermented BSG. The concentrations obtained were 124.11 ± 18.72 mM, 13.18 ± 1.38 mM, and 46.25 ± 7.57 mM respectively. As for gut microbiota profile, differential genera such as Bacteroides and Ruminococcus were detected, showing different effects on the intestinal microbiota. This study demonstrates the potential of using microbial fermentation of underutilized BSG to serve as potential functional food ingredients.

Bioactive peptides from food fermentation: A comprehensive review of their sources, bioactivities, applications, and future development.

Bioactive peptides (BPs) are specific protein fragments that exert various beneficial effects on human bodies and ultimately influence health, depending on their structural properties and amino acid composition and sequences. By offering promising solutions to solve diverse health issues, the production, characterization, and applications of food-derived BPs have drawn great interest in the current literature and are of particular interest to the food and pharmaceutical industries. The microbial fermentation of protein from various sources is indubitably a novel way to produce BPs with numerous beneficial health effects. Apart from its lower cost as compared to enzymes, the BPs produced from microbial fermentation can be purified without further hydrolysis. Despite these features, current literature shows dearth of information on the BPs produced from food via microbial fermentation. Hence, there is a strong necessity to explore the BPs obtained from food fermentation for the development of commercial nutraceuticals and functional foods. As such, this review focuses on the production of BPs from different food sources, including the extensively studied milk and milk products, with emphasis on microbial fermentation. The structure-activity (antihypertensive, antioxidant, antimicrobial, opiate-like, anti-inflammatory, anticancer/antiproliferative, antithrombotic, hypolipidemic, hypocholesterolemic, and mineral binding) relationship, potential applications, future development, and challenges of BPs obtained from food fermentation are also discussed.

Functional Attributes and Anticancer Potentialities of Chico (Pachycereus Weberi) and Jiotilla (Escontria Chiotilla) Fruits Extract.

Mexico has a great diversity of cacti, however, many of their fruits have not been studied in greater depth. Several bioactive compounds available in cacti juices extract have demonstrated nutraceutical properties. Two cactus species are interesting for their biologically active pigments, which are chico (Pachycereus weberi (J. M. Coult.) Backeb)) and jiotilla (Escontria chiotilla (Weber) Rose)). Hence, the goal of this work was to evaluate the bioactive compounds, i.e., betalains, total phenolic, vitamin C, antioxidant, and mineral content in the extract of the above-mentioned P. weberi and E. chiotilla. Then, clarified extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity (cancer cell lines) potentialities. Based on the obtained results, Chico fruit extract was found to be a good source of vitamin C (27.19 ± 1.95 mg L-Ascorbic acid/100 g fresh sample). Moreover, chico extract resulted in a high concentration of micronutrients, i.e., potassium (517.75 ± 16.78 mg/100 g) and zinc (2.46 ± 0.65 mg/100 g). On the other hand, Jiotilla has a high content of biologically active pigment, i.e., betaxanthins (4.17 ± 0.35 mg/g dry sample). The antioxidant activities of clarified extracts of chico and jiotilla were 80.01 ± 5.10 and 280.88 ± 7.62 mg/100 g fresh sample (DPPH method), respectively. From the cytotoxicity perspective against cancer cell lines, i.e., CaCo-2, MCF-7, HepG2, and PC-3, the clarified extracts of chico showed cytotoxicity (%cell viability) in CaCo-2 (49.7 ± 0.01%) and MCF-7 (45.56 ± 0.05%). A normal fibroblast cell line (NIH/3T3) was used, as a control, for comparison purposes. While jiotilla extract had cytotoxicity against HepG2 (47.31 ± 0.03%) and PC-3 (53.65 ± 0.04%). These results demonstrated that Chico and jiotilla are excellent resources of biologically active constituents with nutraceuticals potentialities.

Technology innovations for food security in Singapore: A case study of future food systems for an increasingly natural resource-scarce world.

BACKGROUND: Food security is becoming an increasingly important global issue. Anthropogenic factors such as rapid urbanization and industrialization have strained finite resources like land and water. Therefore, against the impending threat of food security, the world can no longer rely on traditional methods to meet its needs. Instead, more creative and technologically advanced methods must be adopted to maximise diminishing natural resources. Singapore is a good case study of a small city-state that is trying to increase its own self-production of food using technology. SCOPE AND APPROACH: This review highlights the technologies that Singapore have adopted in enhancing food security given its limitation in natural resources. These methodologies serve as a case study that can be used as a reference point in light of the increasingly finite natural resources. The review also presents the advantages of these techniques as well as challenges that need to be overcome for them to be more widely adopted. KEY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION: To increase self-production of food and enhance its food security, Singapore has employed the use of technologies such as vertical farming and aquaponics in urban farming, nutrient recovery from food waste, biodegradable food packaging from durian rinds, natural preservatives, insect farming, microalgae and cultivated meat as alternative protein sources. These technologies workaround Singapore's land and natural resource constraints, which many countries around the world can adapt. However, many of them are still relatively nascent with numerous challenges, which have to be addressed before they can be widely accepted and implemented.

Effects of submerged liquid fermentation of Bacillus subtilis WX-17 using okara as sole nutrient source on the composition of a potential probiotic beverage.

This work aims to produce a functional probiotic beverage using okara as the sole nutrient source. Hence, okara was fermented with Bacillus subtilis WX-17 in submerged liquid fermentation and the supernatant was tested. Metabolomic analysis showed that the nutritional profile of the beverage was enhanced after fermentation. Essential amino acids as well as short-chain fatty acids were significantly (p < .05) upregulated. Total phenolic content and antioxidant content (in terms of DPPH radical scavenging activity) increased by 6.32 and 1.55 times, respectively. After 6 weeks, probiotic viability remains unchanged when stored at 4°C and the cell count is above the minimum dosage to confer health benefits. Antimicrobial activity was also detected against gram-positive bacteria. The findings of this work showed the potential of submerged liquid fermentation of Bacillus subtilis WX-17 using okara as sole substrate to produce a functional and low-cost probiotic beverage.

Potential novel nutritional beverage using submerged fermentation with Bacillus subtilis WX-17 on brewers' spent grains.

Food processing generates side streams that are not fully utilized and typically treated as waste materials. One of such food by-product, brewers' spent grains (BSG) are disposed in huge quantities from the beer industry annually. Submerged fermentation of BSG using Bacillus subtilis WX-17, without supplementary components, is herein employed. The fermentation products were extracted in the liquid phase, resulting in a potential novel nutritional beverage containing Bacillus subtilis WX-17. Bacillus subtilis WX-17, was still viable after a period of 6 weeks with a final cell count of 9.86 log CFU/mL. Gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) was employed for identification of the metabolites produced from the growth of Bacillus subtilis WX-17. Seven essential amino acids and citric acid cycle (TCA) intermediates were found to have increased significantly (p < 0.05) whereas all carbohydrates decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the beverage after submerged fermentation. Additionally, antioxidant activity quantified using DPPH radical scavenging activity, increased by 2.08-fold while total phenolic content increased from 125.7 ± 0.74 µg/mL to 446.74 ± 1.26 µg/mL. The results proved the potential of employing submerged fermentation of BSG using Bacillus subtilis WX-17 to produce a novel and highly nutritious beverage.

Overall survival prediction of non-small cell lung cancer by integrating microarray and clinical data with deep learning.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common lung cancers worldwide. Accurate prognostic stratification of NSCLC can become an important clinical reference when designing therapeutic strategies for cancer patients. With this clinical application in mind, we developed a deep neural network (DNN) combining heterogeneous data sources of gene expression and clinical data to accurately predict the overall survival of NSCLC patients. Based on microarray data from a cohort set (614 patients), seven well-known NSCLC biomarkers were used to group patients into biomarker- and biomarker+ subgroups. Then, by using a systems biology approach, prognosis relevance values (PRV) were then calculated to select eight additional novel prognostic gene biomarkers. Finally, the combined 15 biomarkers along with clinical data were then used to develop an integrative DNN via bimodal learning to predict the 5-year survival status of NSCLC patients with tremendously high accuracy (AUC: 0.8163, accuracy: 75.44%). Using the capability of deep learning, we believe that our prediction can be a promising index that helps oncologists and physicians develop personalized therapy and build the foundation of precision medicine in the future.

Microbial extraction of chitin from seafood waste using sugars derived from fruit waste-stream.

Chitin and chitosan are natural amino polysaccharides that have exceptional biocompatibility in a wide range of applications such as drug delivery carriers, antibacterial agents and food stabilizers. However, conventional chemical extraction methods of chitin from marine waste are costly and hazardous to the environment. Here we report a study where shrimp waste was co-fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum ATCC 14917 and Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis ATCC 6051 and chitin was successfully extracted after deproteinization and demineralization of the prawn shells. The glucose supplementation for fermentation was replaced by waste substrates to reduce cost and maximize waste utilization. A total of 10 carbon sources were explored, namely sugarcane molasses, light corn syrup, red grape pomace, white grape pomace, apple peel, pineapple peel and core, potato peel, mango peel, banana peel and sweet potato peel. The extracted chitin was chemically characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to measure the degree of acetylation, elemental analysis (EA) to measure the carbon/nitrogen ratio and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to measure the degree of crystallinity. A comparison of the quality of the crude extracted chitin was made between the different waste substrates used for fermentation and the experimental results showed that the waste substrates generally make a suitable replacement for glucose in the fermentation process. Red grape pomace resulted in recovery of chitin with a degree of deacetylation of 72.90%, a carbon/nitrogen ratio of 6.85 and a degree of crystallinity of 95.54%. These achieved values were found to be comparable with and even surpassed commercial chitin.

A preparation of ß-glucans and anthocyanins (LoGiCarb™) lowers the in vitro digestibility and in vivo glycemic index of white rice.

The effect of a proprietary blend of ß-glucan, anthocyanins and resistant dextrin (LoGICarb™) on the (1) in vitro digestibility and (2) in vivo glycemic response of humans to white rice, were carried out. The amounts of glucose released, rapidly digestible starch, and predicted glycemic index of white rice were significantly reduced, with addition of LoGICarb™. The mean glycemic index (GI) value of white rice, were also reduced from 72 to 55.0 ± 4.52, in 14 test subjects. These effects were due to the combination of anthocyanins and ß-glucans in one sachet of LoGICarb™. The anthocyanins could bind α-amylase, reducing the amount of available enzymes for starch digestion, thus slowing down starch digestion in white rice. In addition, ß-glucans helped increase the viscosity of meal bolus. This is the first study that demonstrated addition of plant-based extracts could significantly decrease the digestibility and GI value of cooked white rice.

In vitro anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin on mast cell-mediated allergic responses via inhibiting FcεRI protein expression and protein kinase C delta translocation.

Allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction when exposed to certain environmental substances. It shows high relation between immunoglobulin E (IgE) binding to a specific receptor (FcεRI), pro-inflammatory cytokines, and mediators with allergic inflammation responses. Curcumin is a yellow pigment isolated from the turmeric. Curcumin possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well as exhibits significant chemopreventive activity. This study was aimed to investigate the in vitro assessment of the regulation of curcumin on allergic inflammatory responses on rat basophil leukemia (RBL)-2H3 and human pre-basophils (KU812) cell lines. Curcumin showed the activity against histamine and ß-hexosaminidase releases from both IgE-mediated and A23187-induced cells degranulation. The morphological observation also confirmed that curcumin inhibits cells degranulation. IgE-mediated allergic responses and significantly induced mast cells intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Curcumin reduced ROS production from IgE-mediated or A23187-induced cells degranulation. Curcumin also successfully reduced FcεRI expressions and some pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13. Furthermore, curcumin inhibited protein kinase C (PKC)-δ translocation from cytosolic to particulate. These results suggested that curcumin can alleviate both the IgE-mediated and calcium ionosphere A23187-stimulated allergic responses through reducing the release of the allergic mediators.

Eco-friendly and biodegradable cellulose hydrogels produced from low cost okara: towards non-toxic flexible electronics.

With increasing resource shortage and environmental pollution, it is preferable to utilize materials which are sustainable and biodegradable. Side-streams products generated from the food processing industry is one potential avenue that can be used in a wide range of applications. In this study, the food by-product okara was effectively reused for the extraction of cellulose. Then, the okara cellulose was further employed to fabricate cellulose hydrogels with favorable mechanical properties, biodegrablability, and non-cytotoxicity. The results showed that it could be biodegraded in soil within 28 days, and showed no cytotoxicity on NIH3T3 cells. As a proof of concept, a demostration of wearable and biocompatible strain sensor was achieved, which allowed a good and stable detection of human body movement behaviors. The okara-based hydrogels could provide an alternative platform for further physical and/or chemical modification towards tissue engineering, medical supplies, or smart biomimetic soft materials.

Gene Source Screening as a Tool for Naringenin Production in Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Flavonoids are plant secondary metabolites with great potential in the food industry. Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a sustainable production technique. However, the current naringenin production yield is low because of inefficient enzymatic activity. Hence, this study uses gene source screening as a tool to identify the best gene source for enzymes such as 4-coumarate: coenzyme ligase (4CL) and chalcone synthase (CHS). For the first time, the 4CL gene from Medicago truncatula and the CHS gene from Vitis vinifera were expressed in S. cerevisiae, and this combination provided the highest yield of naringenin, which was 28-fold higher as compared to the reference strain. The combinations obtained similar performance in the Y-28 strains, where the highest production was 28.68 mg/L. Our results demonstrated that the selection and combination of enzymes from the correct gene source could greatly improve naringenin production. For the future, this could help commercialize flavonoid production, which would result in natural food preservatives and additives.