Impact of particle size fractions on composition, antioxidant activities, and functional properties of soybean hulls

Impact of particle size on the functionality of corn-derived dietary fiber-phenolic acid complexes

Milling and sieving were applied to modify corn-derived cell wall dietary fiber-phenolic acid complexes (CWDFPC) to enhance their functionality and gut fermentability. The physicochemical properties of three modified CWDFPCs (CWDFPC-M1, CWDFPC-M2, and CWDFPC-M3) were characterized, showing changes in particle size (430-73.55 μm) and bulk density (0.29-0.57 g/mL). Sieving altered the composition, with CWDFPC-M1 and CWDFPC-M3 exhibiting higher bound phenolic contents than CWDFPC-M2. Increased water holding capacity indicated improved functionalities. Modified CWDFPCs exhibited a 4-fold increase in glucose adsorption capacity, higher phenolic acid release during gastrointestinal digestion in vitro, and a greater proportion of short-chain fatty acids in fecal fermentation in vitro. Hemicellulose from CWDFPC-M3 was primarily composed of →4)-β-Xylp-(1→ and →3)-β-Xylp-(1→, and →3,4)-β-Xylp-(1→, with branches possibly including →5)-α-Araf-(1→ and →3)-α-Araf-(1→ units. These modifications highlight the potential of milling and sieving to convert CWDFPCs into valuable functional food ingredients.

Effects of soyhulls with different particle size on the growth performance, blood indices and gut microbiota of yellow feather broilers

1. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soyhulls with different particle sizes on the growth performance, blood indices and gut microbiota of yellow feather broilers.2. Total of 240 healthy, one-day-old, yellow feather broilers were randomly divided into four groups, with six pen replicates within each group and ten birds per pen. The control group birds were fed the basal diet (Control). For the treatment groups, 5% soyhulls with different particle sizes were included in the basal diet. The particle size geometric mean diameters (dgw) of the soyhulls in the three treatment groups were 299.69 μm (LowPS), 489.85 μm (MediumPS) and 734.83 μm (HighPS) with geometric standard deviation (Sgw) 1.75 μm, 1.62 μm and 1.67 μm, respectively.3. Results showed that the growth performance variables and organ indices were not different among the four groups. The MediumPS group had increased TG, T-CHO, ALT, HDL-C, and GSH-PX levels and decreased T-AOC levels, whereas LowPS and HighPS groups had increased HDL-C and GSH-PX levels (p < 0.05). Microbial diversity analysis showed that the intestinal microbiota of yellow feather broilers mainly included Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Inclusion of 5% soyhulls with different particle size had no effect on alpha diversity indices of caecal microbiota. The HighPS group had significantly higher relative abundance of Firmicutes spp. and lower Bacteroidetes spp. compared with the LowPS and MediumPS group but this was not different from the Control group. The relative abundance of Cyanobacteria spp. was significantly higher in the HighPS group than the other three groups. LEfSe analysis showed that there were more enriched biomarker taxa in the groups with soyhulls than the control group.4. Overall, the inclusion of soyhulls with different particle sizes had limited effects on growth performance, blood indices and caecal microbiota composition of yellow feather broilers.

Effects of particle size on quality characteristics of stone-milled whole wheat flour

BACKGROUND

Whole wheat flour (WWF) prepared by the direct crushing method preserves all the components of the whole wheat grain. WWF with different particle sizes (180, 150, 125, 106, and 96 μm) was obtained by combining stone milling and particle size sieving technology. The effects of particle size on the proximate composition, farinograph, pasting, thermal, and functional properties, starch microstructure, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy of stone-milled WWF were investigated.

RESULTS

The smaller the particle size of WWF, the higher the damaged starch content. The water absorption, degree of softening, pasting temperature, solubility, and syneresis of WWF increased steadily as the particle size decreased, whereas the peak viscosity, final viscosity, swelling power, water holding capacity, and enthalpy of gelatinization decreased. The scanning electron microscope micrographs revealed that the larger the particle size of WWF, the denser the distribution of starch granules. The β-sheet and β-turn contents of WWF with particle size 180 μm were the highest, reaching up to 33.85% and 39.79%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The particle size exerted influence on the quality characteristics of stone-milled WWF, and the overall properties of WWF were better at medium particle size. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Current Techniques of Water Solubility Improvement for Antioxidant Compounds and Their Correlation with Its Activity: Molecular Pharmaceutics

The aqueous solubility of a drug is important in the oral formulation because the drug can be absorbed from intestinal sites after being dissolved in the gastrointestinal fluid, leading to its bioavailability. Almost 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients are poorly water-soluble, including antioxidant compounds. This makes antioxidant activity inefficient in preventing disease, particularly for orally administered formulations. Although several investigations have been carried out to improve the solubility of antioxidant compounds, there is still limited research fully discussing the subject. Therefore, this study aimed to provide an overview and discussion of the issues related to the methods that have been used to improve the solubility and activity of antioxidant compounds. Articles were found using the keywords "antioxidant" and "water solubility improvement" in the Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases. The selected articles were published within the last five years to ensure all information was up-to-date with the same objectives. The most popular methods of the strategies employed were solid dispersion, co-amorphous, and nanoparticle drug delivery systems, which were used to enhance the solubility of antioxidant compounds. These investigations produced impressive results, with a detailed discussion of the mechanism of improvement in the solubility and antioxidant activity of the compounds developed. This review shows that the strategies used to increase the solubility of antioxidant compounds successfully improved their antioxidant activity with enhanced free radical scavenging abilities.