Compositional profiling and bioefficacy studies of pulses-supplemented isocaloric designer biscuits for recently diagnosed diabetic individuals.

This study addresses global concerns about diabetes mellitus by exploring a novel approach to manage hyperglycemia through pulses-supplemented designer biscuits. Control and designer biscuits were prepared with varying proportions of wheat flour and pulses (chickpea, mungbean). The pulses-supplemented biscuits exhibited increased protein content and reduced readily available carbohydrates. Selected designer biscuits, with 12.5 % incorporation of chickpea and mungbean pulse flour, demonstrated significantly lower glycemic index (69.17 ± 5.01) and higher satiety index (122.19 ± 8.85) compared to control biscuits. These showed 13 % less glycemic index and 9 % higher satiety index as compared to control biscuits. A four-week bio-efficacy trial involving diabetic subjects consuming these biscuits as a routine snack resulted in an 11.45 % decrease in fasting blood glucose and a 19.15 % reduction in random blood glucose levels. Insulin and HDL levels also significantly improved. The study concludes that these designer biscuits possess a hypoglycemic effect, offering a potential dietary intervention for managing diabetes.

Impact of vitamin D on maternal and fetal health: A review.

The role of vitamin D in improving maternal health and reducing the risk of developmental disorders in fetus has been an important domain of research since the past few years. Vitamin D, owing to its immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, developmental roles, and regulating calcium homeostasis, is predicted to have a significant influence on maternal and fetal health status. Several observational studies and clinical trials, determining the impact of vitamin D on gestational diabetes, C-section, postpartum depression, pre-eclampsia, miscarriages, and preterm delivery, have been elaborated in this review. In addition, fetal birth defects including neurological development, reduced birth weight, respiratory infections, bone development, and altered anthropometrics have also been summarized with available evidences. Other important mechanisms related to the roles of vitamin D in the body are also explained. Furthermore, recent studies determining the effect of vitamin D at genetic level will also help in understanding and future design of research in the area of maternal and fetal health.

Physicochemical Characteristics of Mixed Surfactant-Stabilized l-Ascorbic Acid Nanoemulsions during Storage.

The incorporation of l-ascorbic acid into food products is challenging for food industries due to its chemical instability. This study was conducted to develop a nanoemulsion-based effective colloidal system for the incorporation of l-ascorbic acid (LAA) in functional food products. l-ascorbic acid was encapsulated in nanoemulsions prepared through high-pressure homogenization. The physicochemical characteristics of mixed-surfactant-based LAA nanoemulsions were investigated during storage at different temperatures. The droplet size of LAA nanoemulsions after one month of storage varied in the range of 121.36-150.15 and 121.36-138.25 nm at 25 and 4 °C, respectively. These nanoemulsions remained stable against processing conditions such as heat treatments (10-70 °C), different salt concentrations (40-320 mM), change in pH (3-9), and four freeze-thaw cycles. The temperature and storage intervals have a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the retention of LAA in nanoemulsion-based delivery systems. The findings of this research work have important implications in the designing and preparation of an effective encapsulation system for the inclusion of l-ascorbic acid into functional food products.

Influence of diverse natural biopolymers on the physicochemical characteristics of borage seed oil-peppermint oil loaded W/O/W nanoemulsions entrapped with lycopene.

Borage seed oil (BSO), peppermint oil (PO) and lycopene (LC) have accomplished a lot of interest due to their therapeutic benefits in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. However, their employment in functional food products and dietary supplements is still precluded by their high susceptibility to oxidation. Thus, the encapsulation can be applied as a promising strategy to overcome these limits. In the present study, doubly layered water/oil/water (W/O/W) nanoemulsions were equipped using purity gum ultra (PGU), soy protein isolate (SPI), pectin (PC), whey protein isolate (WPI) and WPI-PC and SPI-PC complexes, and their physico-chemical properties were investigated. Our aim was to investigate the influence of natural biopolymers as stabilizers on the physicochemical properties of nanoemulsified BSO, PO and lycopene thru W/O/W emulsions. The droplet size of the fabricated emulsions coated with PGU, WPI, SPI, PC, WPI-PC, and SPI-PC was 156.2, 265.9, 254.7, 168.5, 559.5 and 656.1 nm, correspondingly. The encapsulation efficiency of the entrapped bioactives for powders embedded by PGU, WPI, SPI, PC, WPI-PC, and SPI-PC was 95.21%, 94.67%, 97.24%, 92.19%, 90.07% and 92.34%, respectively. In addition, peroxide and p-anisidine values were used to measure the antioxidant potential of the entrapped bioactive compounds during storage, which was compared to synthetic antioxidant and bare natural antioxidant. The collected findings revealed that oxidation occurred in oils encompassing entrapped bioactive compounds, but at a lower extent than for non-encapsulated bioactives. In summary, the findings obtained from current research prove that the nanoencapsulation of BSO surrounded by innermost aqueous stage of W/O/W improved its stability as well as allowed a controlled release of the entrapped bioactives. Thus, the obtained BSO-PO-based systems could be successfully used for further fortification of food-stuffs.

Formulation, characterization and antimicrobial properties of black cumin essential oil nanoemulsions stabilized by OSA starch.

Preparation of oil-in-water nanoemulsions has emerged as a subject of interest for the encapsulation of lipophilic functional ingredients to increase their stability and activity. In this study, black cumin essential oil nanoemulsions (BCO-NE) using different ratios of essential oil with canola and flax seed oils (ripening inhibitors) were formulated and stabilized with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) modified waxy maize starch. The nanoemulsions exhibited monomodal size distributions with mean droplet diameter below 200 nm and zeta potential above -30, indicating a strong electrostatic repulsion between the dispersed oil droplets. Further, during storage (4 weeks at 25 °C ± 2) emulsions showed shear thinning phenomena and stability towards coalescence. Antimicrobial properties of nanoemulsions were determined by minimum inhibitory concentration and time-kill method against two Gram-positive bacterial (GPB) strains (Bacillus cereus and Listeria monocytogenes). Negatively charged BCO-NE showed prolonged bactericidal activities as compared to pure BCO due to better stability, controlled release and self-assembly with GPB cell membrane followed by destruction of cellular constituents. Our results suggest the application of BCO-NE may be exploited in aqueous food systems for extending the shelf life and other functional properties.

Functionality and nutritional aspects of microcrystalline cellulose in food.

Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is among the most commonly used cellulose derivatives in the food industry. In order assess the recent advances of MCC in food product development and its associated nutraceutical implications, google scholar and database of journals subscribed by Jiangnan university, China were used to source literature. Recently published research articles that reported physicochemical properties of MCC for food application or potential application in food and nutraceutical functions were reviewed and major findings outlined. The selected literature reviewed demonstrated that the material has been extensively explored as a functional ingredient in food including meat products, emulsions, beverages, dairy products, bakery, confectionary and filling. The carbohydrate polymer also has many promising applications in functional and nutraceutical food industries. Though widely used as control for many dietary fiber investigations, MCC has been shown to provide positive effects on gastrointestinal physiology, and hypolipidemic effects, influencing the expression of enzymes involved in lipid metabolism. These techno-functional and nutraceutical properties of MCC are influenced by the physicochemical of the material, which are defined by the raw material source and processing conditions. Apart from these functional properties, this review also highlighted limitations and gaps regarding the application of material in food and nutritional realms. Functional, Nutritional and health claims of MCC.

Growth kinetics, fatty acid composition and metabolic activity changes of Crypthecodinium cohnii under different nitrogen source and concentration.

The effect of varying concentrations of the nitrogen source on the growth kinetics, lipid accumulation, lipid and DHA productivity, and fatty acid composition of C. cohnii was elucidated. Growth of C. cohnii was in three distinct growth stages: cell growth, lipid accumulation and a final lipid turnover stage. Most of lipids were accumulated in lipid accumulation stage (48-120 h) though, slow growth rate was observed during this stage. NaNO3 supported significantly higher lipid content (26.9% of DCW), DHA content (0.99 g/L) and DHA yield (44.2 mg/g glucose) which were 2.5 to 3.3-folds higher than other N-sources. The maximum level of C16-C18 content (% TFA) was calculated as 43, 54 and 43% in lipid accumulation stage under low nitrogen (LN, 0.2 g/L), medium nitrogen (MN, 0.8 g/L) and high nitrogen (HN, 1.6 g/L) treatments, respectively. Cultures with LN, by down-regulating cell metabolism, trigger onset of lipogenic enzymes. Conversely, NAD+/NADP+-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD+/NADP+-ICDH) were less active in LN than HN treatments which resulted in retardation of Kreb's Cycle and thereby divert citrate into cytoplasm as substrate for ATP-citrate lyase (ACL). Thereby, ACL and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were most active in lipid accumulation stage at LN treatments. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) was more active than malic enzyme (ME) in lipid accumulation stage and showed higher activities in NaNO3 than other N-sources. This represents that G6PDH contributes more NADPH than ME in C. cohnii. However, G6PDH and ME together seems to play a dual role in offering NADPH for lipid biosynthesis. This concept of ME together with G6PD in offering NADPH for lipogenesis might be novel in this alga and needed to be explored.

Effects of twenty standard amino acids on biochemical constituents, docosahexaenoic acid production and metabolic activity changes of Crypthecodinium cohnii.

The influence of 20 standard amino acids was investigated on growth, lipid accumulation, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) production and cell biochemical composition of Crypthecodinium cohnii. C. cohnii efficiently utilize organic nitrogen (predominantly threonine and to a lesser extent tyrosine and serine) as compared to inorganic nitrogen (NH4)2SO4. However, No significant effect was observed on major biochemical composition of C. cohnii (lipids, carbohydrates and proteins) under N limitation or supplementation with different N-sources. Key lipogenic enzymes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, ATP-citrate lyase, fatty acid synthase, malic enzyme, citrate synthase (CS), NAD+ and NADP+ dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase were shown to be vital in lipogenesis of C. cohnii. Our results indicated that the process of lipid accumulation in C. cohnii is growth-associated and does not depend upon the trigger of nitrogen depletion. This unusual behavior would suggest that the metabolism of the cells may not be entirely the same as in other lipid-accumulating microorganisms.

Inulin: Properties, health benefits and food applications.

Inulin is a water soluble storage polysaccharide and belongs to a group of non-digestible carbohydrates called fructans. Inulin has attained the GRAS status in USA and is extensively available in about 36,000 species of plants, amongst, chicory roots are considered as the richest source of inulin. Commonly, inulin is used as a prebiotic, fat replacer, sugar replacer, texture modifier and for the development of functional foods in order to improve health due to its beneficial role in gastric health. This review provides a deep insight about its production, physicochemical properties, role in combating various kinds of metabolic and diet related diseases and utilization as a functional ingredient in novel product development.

Bactericidal action mechanism of negatively charged food grade clove oil nanoemulsions.

Clove oil (CO) anionic nanoemulsions were prepared with varying ratios of CO to canola oil (CA), emulsified and stabilized with purity gum ultra (PGU), a newly developed succinylated waxy maize starch. Interfacial tension measurements showed that CO acted as a co-surfactant and there was a gradual decrease in interfacial tension which favored the formation of small droplet sizes on homogenization until a critical limit (5:5% v/v CO:CA) was reached. Antimicrobial activity of the negatively charged CO nanoemulsion was determined against Gram positive GPB (Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram negative GNB (Escherichia coli) bacterial strains using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and a time kill dynamic method. Negatively charged PGU emulsified CO nanoemulsion showed prolonged antibacterial activities against Gram positive bacterial strains. We concluded that negatively charged CO nanoemulsion droplets self-assemble with GPB cell membrane, and facilitated interaction with cellular components of bacteria. Moreover, no electrostatic interaction existed between negatively charged droplets and the GPB membrane.

Fabrication of polymeric nanocapsules from curcumin-loaded nanoemulsion templates by self-assembly.

In this study, biodegradable polymeric nanocapsules were prepared by sequential deposition of food-grade polyelectrolytes through the self-assembling process onto the oil (medium chain triglycerides) droplets enriched with curcumin (lipophilic bioactive compound). Optimum conditions were used to prepare ultrasound-assisted nanoemulsions stabilized by octenyl-succinic-anhydride (OSA)-modified starch. Negatively charged droplets (-39.4 ± 1.84 mV) of these nanoemulsions, having a diameter of 142.7 ± 0.85 nm were used as templates for the fabrication of nanocapsules. Concentrations of layer-forming cationic (chitosan) and anionic (carboxymethylcellulose) biopolymers were optimized based on the mean droplet/particle diameter (MDD/MPD), polydispersity index (PDI) and net charge on the droplets/capsules. Prepared core-shell structures or nanocapsules, having MPD of 159.85 ± 0.92 nm, were characterized by laser diffraction (DLS), ζ-potential (ZP), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Furthermore, physical stability of curcumin-loaded nanocapsules in suspension was determined and compared at different storage temperatures. This study may provide information regarding the formation of ultrasound-assisted polymeric nanocapsules from the nanoemulsion templates which could be helpful in the development of delivery systems for lipophilic food bioactives.