Comparative study of sugar extraction procedures for HPLC analysis and proposal of an ethanolic extraction method for plant-based high-protein ingredients

Optimization of Carob Products Preparation for Targeted LC-MS/MS Metabolomics Analysis

Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) is an exceptional source of significant bioactive compounds with great economic importance in the Mediterranean region, where it is widely cultivated. Carob fruit is used for the production of a variety of products and commodities such as powder, syrup, coffee, flour, cakes, and beverages. There is growing evidence of the beneficial effects of carob and the products made from it on a range of health problems. Therefore, metabolomics could be used to explore the nutrient-rich compounds of carob. Sample preparation is a crucial step in metabolomics-based analysis and has a great impact on the quality of the data obtained. Herein, sample preparation of carob syrup and powder was optimized, to enable highly efficient metabolomics-based HILIC-MS/MS analysis. Pooled powder and syrup samples were extracted under different conditions by adjusting pH, solvent type, and sample weight to solvent volume ratio (Wc/Vs). The metabolomics profiles obtained were evaluated using the established criteria of total area and number of maxima. It was observed that the Wc/Vs ratio of 1:2 resulted in the highest number of metabolites, regardless of solvent type or pH. Aqueous acetonitrile with a Wc/Vs ratio of 1:2 satisfied all established criteria for both carob syrup and powder samples. However, when the pH was adjusted, basic aqueous propanol 1:2 Wc/Vs and acidic aqueous acetonitrile 1:2 Wc/Vs provided the best results for syrup and powder, respectively. We strongly believe that the current study could support the standardization of the metabolomics sample preparation process to enable more efficient LC-MS/MS carob analysis.

Associating Compositional, Nutritional and Techno-Functional Characteristics of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) Protein Isolates and Their Production Side-Streams with Potential Food Applications

Faba beans (Vicia faba L.) show exciting prospects as a sustainable source of protein and fibre, with the potential to transition to a more sustainable food production. This study reveals the compositional, nutritional and techno-functional characteristics of two protein isolates from faba beans (Vicia faba L.), a high-starch fraction and a high-fibre side-stream. During the analysis of those four ingredients, particular attention was paid to the isolates' protein profile and the side-streams' carbohydrate composition. The isoelectric precipitated protein isolate 1 showed a protein content of 72.64 ± 0.31% DM. It exhibited low solubility but superior digestibility and high foam stability. High foaming capacity and low protein digestibility were observed for protein isolate 2, with a protein content of 71.37 ± 0.93% DM. This fraction was highly soluble and consisted primarily of low molecular weight proteins. The high-starch fraction contained 83.87 ± 3.07% DM starch, of which about 66% was resistant starch. Over 65% of the high-fibre fraction was insoluble dietary fibre. The findings of this study provide a detailed understanding of different production fractions of faba beans, which is of great value for future product development.

Determination of Nutritional and Biochemical Composition of Selected Pleurotus spps

The global demand for good quality food is going to be increased gradually. Mushrooms are broadly used as healthy nutritious meals. The nutritional values of extracts from four distinct Pleurotus species-Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus sajor-caju, Pleurotus sapidus, and Pleurotus columbinus-were determined in the current study. Firstly, proximate analysis of selected Pleurotus species was performed followed by the Bradford assay to analyze the protein spectrophotometrically; high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed for sugar determination while GC-MS was done to determine fatty acids on organic extracts of selected mushrooms. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the percentages while significance was determined by SPSS statistics. The results depicted that fat, protein, ash, fiber, energy contents, and total carbohydrate were in the range of 0.64-2.02%, 16.07-25.15%, 2.1-9.14%, 6.21-54.12%, 342.20-394.30 kcal/100 g, and 65.66-82.47%, respectively. The protein's maximum concentration was observed in P. ostreatus followed by P. columbinus>P. sajor-caju>P. sapidus, sequentially. Various sugars may or may not be present in selected Pleurotus spps. Among the fatty acids, the prevalence of UFA was more than that of saturated fatty acids among all selected mushrooms. From this study, it is concluded that all four Pleurotus spps. have excellent nutritional composition and can be used as valuable food and a great source of biochemical compounds.

An overview of nutritional profiling in foods: Bioanalytical techniques and useful protocols

Maintaining a nutritious diet is essential for humans if they want to live a healthier life. Several food businesses and food safety organizations play a significant role and offer useful ways for improving nutritional quality that assists consumers in making informed selections. Making poor food choices and consuming unhealthy meals are the main causes of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Nutritional profiling (NP) models are developed to evaluate the nutritional value, calorie content, and the amount of micronutrients and macronutrients contained in a given food accompanied by additional details on the nutritional anomaly provided by published standard nutrients and nutritional databases. To construct an ideal nutritional model that can facilitate food consumption, bioanalytical methods such as chromatography, microscopic techniques, molecular assays, and metabolomics can be applied. With the use of these technologies, one can learn more about the health advantages of nutrition and how to prevent disease. A wider element of NP is also provided by the developing technologies in the area of nutrition research, such as nanotechnology, proteomics, and microarray technology. In this review, we are focusing on the different bioanalytical techniques and the various protocols of NP and their application and refinement of the models. We have evaluated various NP techniques currently used in the food industry for the detection of different components present in food items.