Strengthening the texture of dried guava slice by infiltration of phenolic compounds

Cooking Effect on the Bioactive Compounds, Texture, and Color Properties of Cold-Extruded Rice/Bean-Based Pasta Supplemented with Whole Carob Fruit

Pasta is considered as the ideal vehicle for fortification; thus, different formulations of gluten-free pasta have been developed (rice 0-100%, bean 0-100%, and carob fruit 0% or 10%). In this article, the content of individual inositol phosphates, soluble sugars and α-galactosides, protease inhibitors, lectin, phenolic composition, color, and texture were determined in uncooked and cooked pasta. The highest total inositol phosphates and protease inhibitors contents were found in the samples with a higher bean percentage. After cooking, the content of total inositol phosphates ranged from 2.12 to 7.97 mg/g (phytic acid or inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) was the major isoform found); the protease inhibitor activities showed values up to 12.12 trypsin inhibitor (TIU)/mg and 16.62 chymotrypsin inhibitor (CIU)/mg, whereas the competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed the elimination of lectins. Considering the different α-galactosides analyzed, their content was reduced up to 70% (p < 0.05) by the cooking process. The total phenols content was reduced around 17-48% after cooking. The cooked samples fortified with 10% carob fruit resulted in darker fettuccine with good firmness and hardness and higher antioxidant activity, sucrose, and total phenols content than the corresponding counterparts without this flour. All of the experimental fettuccine can be considered as functional and healthy pasta mainly due to their bioactive compound content, compared to the commercial rice pasta.

Complexation of hydroxytyrosol and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol with pectin and their potential use for colon targeting

Hydroxytyrosol (HT) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol (DHPG) are two phenolic antioxidants naturally found in olive fruit with anti-inflammatory properties. This study explored the interaction of pectin with HT and DHPG via their encapsulation into pectinate beads. Purification by size exclusion chromatography, changes in the fluorescence spectrum of the HT and pectin, and MALDI TOF-TOF analysis suggested the existence of the phenol-pectin complexes. The entrapment efficiency, swelling properties, and in vitro release of HT and DHPG of the beads were studied. The results show that the beads can entrap the water soluble compounds HT and DHPG in sufficient amounts to reach the colon. The beads consisted of an important amount of pectin-bound HT or DHPG after two hours at gastric pH. This study highlights the potential use of HT-and DHPG-loaded pectinate gel beads for the colon-targeted delivery of these bioactive compounds to help prevent or relieve chronic inflammatory bowel disease.