Effect of microwave exposure to flaxseed on the composition, structure and techno-functionality of gum polysaccharides

Comparison of four rheological models for estimating viscosity and rheological parameters of microwave treated Basil seed gum

Dispersion of Basil seed gum has high viscosity and exhibits shear-thinning behavior. This study aimed to analyze the influence of microwave treatment (MT) at various time intervals (0, 1, 2, and 3 min) on the viscosity and rheological behavior of Basil seed gum dispersion (0.5%, w/v). The finding of this study revealed that the apparent viscosity of Basil seed gum dispersion (non-treated dispersion) reduced from 0.330 Pa.s to 0.068 Pa.s as the shear rate (SR) increased from 12.2 s-1 to 171.2 s-1. Additionally, the apparent viscosity of the Basil seed gum dispersion reduced from 0.173 Pa.s to 0.100 Pa.s as the MT time increased from 0 to 3 min (SR = 61 s-1). The rheological properties of gum dispersion were successfully modeled using Power law (PL), Bingham, Herschel-Bulkley (HB), and Casson models, and the PL model was the best one for describing the behavior of Basil seed gum dispersion. The PL model showed an excellent performance with the maximum r-value (mean r-value = 0.942) and the minimum sum of squared error (SSE) values (mean SSE value = 5.265) and root mean square error (RMSE) values (mean RMSE value = 0.624) for all gum dispersion. MT had a considerable effect on the changes in the consistency coefficient (k-value) and flow behavior index (n-value) of Basil seed gum dispersion (p < 0.05). The k-value of Basil seed gum dispersion decreased significantly from 3.149 Pa.sn to 1.153 Pa.sn (p < 0.05) with increasing MT time from 0 to 3 min. The n-value of Basil seed gum dispersion increased significantly from 0.25 to 0.42 (p < 0.05) as the MT time increased. The Bingham plastic viscosity of Basil seed gum dispersion increased significantly from 0.029 Pa.s to 0.039 Pa.s (p < 0.05) while the duration of MT increased. The Casson yield stress of Basil seed gum dispersion notably reduced from 5.010 Pa to 2.165 Pa (p < 0.05) with increasing MT time from 0 to 3 min.

Recent advances in modifications of exudate gums: Functional properties and applications

Gums are high-molecular-weight compounds with hydrophobic or hydrophilic characteristics, which are mainly comprised of complex carbohydrates called polysaccharides, often associated with proteins and minerals. Various innovative modification techniques are utilized, including ultrasound-assisted and microwave-assisted techniques, enzymatic alterations, electrospinning, irradiation, and amalgamation process. These methods advance the process, reducing processing times and energy consumption while maintaining the quality of the modified gums. Enzymes like xanthan lyases, xanthanase, and cellulase can selectively modify exudate gums, altering their structure to enhance their properties. This precise enzymatic approach allows for the use of exudate gums for specific applications. Exudate gums have been employed in nanotechnology applications through techniques like electrospinning. This enables the production of nanoparticles and nanofibers with improved properties, making them suitable for the drug delivery system, tissue engineering, active and intelligient food packaging. The resulting modified exudate gums exhibit improved rheological, emulsifying, gelling, and other functional properties, which expand their potential applications. This paper discusses novel applications of these modified gums in the pharmaceutical, food, and industrial sectors. The ever-evolving field presents diverse opportunities for sustainable innovation across these sectors.

Unveiling the potential of linseed mucilage, its health benefits, and applications in food packaging

Industrial waste products derived from the oil industry often contain valuable substances and elements with great potential. These by-products can be used for various purposes, including as nutrients, bioactive compounds, fuels, and polymers. Linseed mucilage (LM) is one such example of a beneficial by-product obtained from linseed. It possesses favorable chemical and functional properties, depending on its method of extraction. Different pretreatments, such as enzymatic extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, pulse electric field, and ultrasound-assisted extraction, have been explored by various researchers to enhance both the yield and quality of mucilage. Furthermore, LM has exhibited therapeutic effects in the treatment of obesity, diabetes, constipation, hyperlipidemia, cancer, and other lifestyle diseases. Additionally, it demonstrates favorable functional characteristics that make it suitable to be used in bioplastic production. These properties preserve food quality, prolong shelf life, and confer antimicrobial activity. It also has the potential to be used as a packaging material, especially considering the increasing demand for sustainable and biodegradable alternatives to plastics because of their detrimental impact on environmental health. This review primarily focuses on different extraction techniques used for linseed mucilage, its mechanism of action in terms of health benefits, and potential applications in food packaging.

Size-controllable food-grade nanoparticles based on sea cucumber polypeptide with good anti-oxidative capacity to prolong lifespan in tumor-bearing mice

Liver cancer, a malignancy with a rising global incidence, poses a significant challenge in achieving effective treatment outcomes. As food-derived nutrient, sea cucumber peptide (SCP) has shown promising anticancer effects. Therefore, we explored the nanodelivery systems to encapsulate SCP to enhance its stability in the gastrointestinal tract and improve absorption within the tumor microenvironment. This study aimed to develop size-controllable multifunctional nanoparticles using SCP, procyanidins (PCs), and vanillin through molecular assembly via a one-pot Mannich condensation approach. These food-grade nanoparticles demonstrated water solubility and exhibited a spherical structure with sizes ranging from 441 to 1360 nm, depending on the concentration of the reactants. In vitro cell experiments demonstrated that SCP nanoparticles modified with PCs effectively reduced the generation of reactive oxygen species from H2O2 and acrylamide while maintaining normal levels of mitochondrial membrane potential. Furthermore, in vivo nutrition intervention studies conducted on tumor-bearing mice revealed that mice treated with SCP nanoparticles exhibited a survival rate of 40 %, which was significantly higher than the 0 % and 20 % survival rates observed in the control and SCP-treated groups, respectively. These findings suggest that SCP nanoparticles, possessing antioxidative properties and controllable sizes, hold potential for precision nutrition in the field of cancer treatment.

Protective Effect of Orbitides from Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) against Ultraviolet B-induced Photoaging in Zebrafish

Excessive ultraviolet (UV) exposure is the primary environmental factor that contributes to skin aging. Orbitides have been considered as important functional components in linseed, and they are complex and multiple. In this study, linseed orbitides (LOs) were divided into oxidized linseed orbitides (OLOs) and reduced linseed orbitides (RLOs) and used to investigate protection against ultraviolet B-induced photoaging in zebrafish. First, the results of the zebrafish embryo acute toxicity test showed that the OLOs had obvious embryo toxicity compared with RLOs. And RLOs had better effect in ultraviolet B-treated zebrafish, which may significantly reduce the reactive oxygen species levels and inhibit the degradation of collagen. Besides, we also found that RLOs could effectively inhibit the oxidation of proteins and lipids and regulate the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Furthermore, neutrophil recruitment to the dorsal and caudal fin regions was observed in UVB-treated zebrafish, and RLOs effectively alleviated this migration. In conclusion, RLOs have strong photoprotective effects and potential to be used as antiphotoaging ingredients.

Dynamics of composition, structure, and metabolism of three energy substances in flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) during germination

The composition and structure changes of three energy substances (protein, lipid, and sugar) and minerals during flaxseed germination were investigated. Na, Ca, Fe, and total free amino acids fluctuating increased and peaked at 7 d. Oil and ɑ-linolenic acid contents increased initially and reached the maximal increment by 14.8 % and 1.4 % (p < 0.05) at 2 d, after which it declined. Soluble sugar mainly consisted of sucrose (50.47 %-72.77 %), glucose, and fructose during germination. Semi-cylindrical depression was enhanced on flaxseed granule surface, and oil bodies distribution from relatively uniform toward cell wall during 0-2 d. Protein order and stability were varied firstly, then grew steadily at 4-7 d and peaked at 7 d. Metabolic sequence (sugar, protein, and lipid) and related tricarboxylic acid pathway were proposed. Conclusively, germinated flaxseed at 2 and 4 d had higher physicochemical and structural properties, which could serve as high-quality resources for lipid and protein processing respectively.

The physicochemical stability and in vivo gastrointestinal digestion of flaxseed milk: Implication of microwave on flaxseed

The current study was to investigate how microwave on flaxseed affected the physicochemical stability and gastrointestinal digestion of oil bodies (OBs) in flaxseed milk. Flaxseed was subjected to moisture adjustment (30-35 wt%, 24 h), and microwave exposure (0-5 min, 700  W). Microwave treatment slightly weakened the physical stability of flaxseed milk indicated by Turbiscan Stability Index, but there were no visual phase separation during 21 days of storage at 4 °C. Upon microwave treatment, OBs experienced the layer-by-layer encapsulation into loose interface embedding by storage protein-gum polysaccharide complex from bulk phase, resulting in lower viscoelasticity of flaxseed milk. The OBs underwent earlier interface collapse and lipolysis during gastrointestinal digestion, followed by synergistic micellar absorption, faster chylomicrons transport within enterocytes of rats fed flaxseed milk. The accumulation of α-linolenic acid and synergistic conversion into docosapentaenoic and docosahexanoic acids in jejunum tissue were achieved accompanied by the interface remodeling of OBs in flaxseed milk.

Co-Extraction of Flaxseed Protein and Polysaccharide with a High Emulsifying and Foaming Property: Enrichment through the Sequence Extraction Approach

A new focus with respect to the extraction of plant protein is that ingredient enrichment should target functionality instead of pursuing purity. Herein, the sequence aqueous extraction method was used to co-enrich five protein-polysaccharide natural fractions from flaxseed meal, and their composition, structure, and functional properties were investigated. The total recovery rate of flaxseed protein obtained by the sequence extraction approach was more than 80%, which was far higher than the existing reports. The defatted flaxseed meal was soaked by deionized water to obtain fraction 1 (supernatant), and the residue was further treated to get fraction 2 (supernatant) and 3 (precipitate) through weak alkali solubilization. Part of the fraction 2 was taken out, followed by adjusting its pH to 4.2. After centrifuging, the albumin-rich supernatant and precipitate with protein content of 73.05% were gained and labeled as fraction 4 and fraction 5. The solubility of fraction 2 and 4 exceeded 90%, and the foaming ability and stability of fraction 5 were 12.76 times and 9.89 times higher than commercial flaxseed protein, respectively. The emulsifying properties of fractions 1, 2, and 5 were all greater than that of commercial sodium caseinate, implying that these fractions could be utilized as high-efficiency emulsifiers. Cryo-SEM results showed that polysaccharides in fractions were beneficial to the formation of network structure and induced the formation of tighter and smoother interfacial layers, which could prevent emulsion flocculation, disproportionation, and coalescence. This study provides a reference to promote the high-value utilization of flaxseed meals.

Structural Characterization and Functional Properties of Flaxseed Hydrocolloids and Their Application

Flaxseed is an excellent source of valuable nutrients and is also considered a functional food. There are two types of hydrocolloids in flaxseed: flaxseed gum and proteins. Flaxseed gum exhibits emulsifying and foaming activities or can be used as a thickening and gelling agent. Due to its form of soluble fiber, flaxseed gum is related to many health benefits. Flaxseed proteins have various functional properties based on their physicochemical properties. While albumins possess the emulsion-forming ability, globulins better serve as foaming agents. Flaxseed proteins may also serve as a source of functional peptides with interesting biological and health-related activities. Functional properties and health-related benefits predetermine the application of these hydrocolloids, mainly in the food industry or medicine. Although these properties of flaxseed hydrocolloids have been recently and extensively studied, they are still not widely used on the industrial scale compared to other popular plant gums and proteins. The aim of this review was to present, discuss and highlight the recent discoveries in the structural characteristics and functional and biological properties of these versatile hydrocolloids with respect to factors affecting their characteristics and offer new insights into their potential applications as comparable alternatives to the other natural hydrocolloids or as the sources of novel functional products.

Ultrasound-assisted pH-shifting remodels egg-yolk low-density lipoprotein to enable construction of a stable aqueous solution of vitamin D3

Egg-yolk low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has a natural liposome structure. Using ultrasound-assisted pH-shifting (pH 12), a naturally safe and stable aqueous solution of vitamin D₃ (VD₃) was constructed employing LDL as the carrier. Images from electron microscopy showed that pH-shifting remodeled LDL molecules, resulting in a dramatic reduction in particle size (∼50%) and an increase in specific surface area, which reduced the turbidity (27.7%) and provided new interfaces for VD₃ loading. Fluorescence analyses showed that the binding of VD₃ to LDL under pH-shifting was strong, involved quenching, and the binding constant was 6.19 × 10⁴ M⁻¹. Thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy showed that pH-shifting hydrolyzed the esters in LDL to fatty acid salts, and the maximum weight loss of LDL occurred from 381.9 °C to 457.0 °C. Ultrasonic treatment enhanced the binding of LDL and VD₃ (binding constant increased to 2.56 × 10⁷ M⁻¹), reduced the particle size, and increased the ζ-potential of the complex between LDL and VD₃, thereby resulting in the improvement of solution stability and storage stability of VD₃. Ultrasound-assisted pH-shifting could remodel LDL to construct a stable aqueous solution of VD₃, which showed the potential of LDL as a carrier for lipid-soluble components.

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pH-shifting remodels LDL and results in a reduction in particle size.

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Under pH-shifting, VD₃ was bound stably to LDL with strong affinity.

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pH-shifting remodeled LDL can be used to encapsulate active ingredients.

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The binding of VD₃ to LDL was enhanced by ultrasonic treatment.