Over 100 years of vitamin E: An overview from synthesis and formulation to application in animal nutrition.

The groundbreaking discovery of vitamin E by Evans and Bishop in 1922 was an important milestone in vitamin research, inspiring further investigation into its crucial role in both human and animal nutrition. Supplementing vitamin E has been proved to enhance multiple key physiological systems such as the reproductive, circulatory, nervous and muscular systems. As the main antioxidant in the blood and on a cellular level, vitamin E maintains the integrity of both cellular and vascular membranes and thus modulates the immune system. This overview showcases important and innovative routes for synthesizing vitamin E on a commercial scale, provides cutting-edge insights into formulation concepts for successful product form development and emphasizes the importance and future of vitamin E in healthy and sustainable animal nutrition.

From Sugar to Nutritional Products - Product Form Development.

The formulation of active ingredients into emulsion- and suspension-based delivery systems offers a wide range of opportunities to produce stable and highly bioavailable product forms for their later application in human and animal nutrition. Recent trends in product form development have focused on using renewable and naturally-derived raw materials to meet the increasing consumer demand on sustainable value chains and nutritional products with 'clean labelling'. Therefore, we reviewed chemical fundamentals and application examples of plant-derived protective hydrocolloids with highly potent emulsifying capacity, in particular, modified starches, pectin, and lignosulfonates, for the formulation of vitamins, carotenoids, and other active ingredients.

Fast and Sensitive LC-MS/MS Method for the Quantitation of Saponins in Various Sugar Beet Materials.

An LC-MS/MS method was developed for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of the following 11 triterpene saponins within different sugar beet materials and plant compartments: betavulgaroside I (1), betavulgaroside II (2), betavulgaroside III (3), betavulgaroside IV (4), betavulgaroside VIII (5), boussingoside A2 (6), 3-O-[ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-(ß-d-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 3))-ß-d-glucuronopyranosyl]-28-O-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-3ß-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid (7), betavulgaroside V (8), chikusetsusaponin IVa (9), calenduloside E (10), and ginsenoside R0 (11). Our results showed highly varying amounts of saponins within different varieties, roots, and leaves as well as different plant compartments. The amounts for sugar beet roots were in the range of 862 mg/kg to 2 452 mg/kg. They were mostly higher for leaves compared to roots of the same variety with amounts ranging from 907 mg/kg to 5 398 mg/kg. Furthermore, the occurrence of sugar beet saponins within different side streams was examined; in this context, sugar beet fiber contained the highest amounts of saponins for all investigated plant constituents and byproduct streams with a total amount of 12.7 g/kg. Finally, this is the first publication about the occurrence of individual saponins in sugar beets.

Molecularization of Foam-Active Saponins from Sugar Beet Side Streams (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris var. altissima).

This work focuses on the isolation and characterization of saponins with a very low bitter intensity originating from sustainable plant materials, in particular the sugar beet pulp by-product stream. Via a concise foam activity screening of saponin-containing materials, which gives indications for their emulsifying ability, sugar beet root extract was selected and examined for low bitter saponins by means of activity guided fractionation. Individual saponins were isolated from sugar beet pulp, which was identified as the most convenient sugar beet saponin source. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis and one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy led to the unequivocal identification of the major, slightly bitter tasting compounds as a series of eight saponins. The complete assignment of 1H and 13C NMR signals for several saponins was carried out for the first time. A small-scale foam activity assay was established and applied to a broad spectrum of the isolated and commercially available saponins. Additionally, orosensory recognition thresholds were determined. Not only high recognition thresholds were determined (thresholds >1000 µmol/L) but also fundamental information about the foaming behavior of mono- and bidesmosidic saponins was collected. The obtained results are relevant to the utilization of saponins from other plant materials or by-product streams and for the use of sugar beet saponins as food additives.

Sugar Beet Extract (Beta vulgaris L.) as a New Natural Emulsifier: Emulsion Formation.

The interfacial and emulsion-forming properties of sugar beet extract (Beta vulgaris L.) were examined and compared to a Quillaja extract that is widely used within the food industry. We investigated the influence of extract concentration on surface activity at oil-water and air-water interfaces and on the formation of oil-in-water emulsions (10% w/w, pH 7). Sugar beet extract reduced the interfacial tension up to 38% at the oil-water interface, and the surface tension up to 33% at the air-water surface. The generated emulsions were negatively charged (ζ ≈ -46 mV) and had the smallest particle sizes (d43) of ∼1.3 µm at a low emulsifier-to-oil ratio of 0.75:10. Applying lower or higher extract concentrations increased the mean particle sizes. The smallest emulsions were formed at an optimum homogenization pressure of 69 MPa. Higher homogenization pressures led to increased particle sizes. Overall, sugar beet extract showed high surface activity. Furthermore, the formation of small emulsion droplets was successful; however, the droplets were bigger compared to those from the Quillaja extract. These results indicate sugar beet as an effective natural emulsifier that may be utilized for a variety of food and beverage applications.