Food bioactive compounds: Quality control and functional properties

Characterization of C-phycocyanin antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour, and anti-HCoV-229E activities and encapsulation for implementation in an innovative functional yogurt

Functional bioactive ingredients isolated from microalgae as sustainable sources have become a new subject of pharmacology and functional foods. Thus, the work aims to produce crude phycocyanin (C-PC), define it, and investigate its pharmacological effects before warping it in a nanophytosome. Subsequently, the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles were evaluated. Both free and nanophytosomes of C-PC were incorporated into cow milk fermented with the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus KU985435 to make functional yoghurt and the stability of C-PC of both phytosomes was assessed. The amino acid content of C-PC revealed the presence of eight of nine essential amino acids and eight of eleven non-essential amino acids. C-PC has a medium molecular weight (82.992 kDa). Some pharmacological effects like reducing inflammation (98.76 % ± 0.065), fighting free radicals (99.12 % ± 0.027), and being able to inhibit the human coronavirus 229 E with a selective index of 27.9 were observed. The maximum viral inhibitory activity was detected during the adsorption stage. Anti-human liver and colon carcinomas that exceeded Doxorubicin with very low cytotoxicity against normal cell lines were detected. C-PC is an unstable protein that could be degraded in the yoghurt during storage. Therefore, phytosome encapsulation can effectively stabilize C-PC (particle size 44.50 ± 12 nm and zeta-potential -32.4 ± 5 mV) and protect it from the acidic environment of the yoghurt. The produced yoghurt showed the desired physicochemical and functional properties and overall acceptance. The results prove that C-PC from spirulina algae is a renewable source of dyes. The encapsulation process using phytosomes gave it high stability against environmental influences, and therefore, it can be applied in the food and pharmaceutical industries in the future.

Cagaita fruit (Eugenia dysenterica DC.) and obesity: Role of polyphenols on already established obesity

Polyphenol-rich cagaita (Eugenia dysenterica DC.) extracts (PCE) have previously shown to prevent body weight and adiposity induced by high-fat/high-sucrose (HFS) diet. Whether PCE also exerts protective effects in already developed obesity is unknown. In order to test this hypothesis, male C57BL/6J obese mice (previously feed with a HFS diet for six weeks) were treated with PCE at two doses, 7mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/kg body weight (PCE I group), and 14mg GAE/kg body weight (PCE II group) or water (HFS and Chow groups) by oral gavage for eight weeks. PCE did not affect body weight and adiposity of obese mice. However, PCE did protect against dyslipidemia, fasting hyperglycemia, and glucose intolerance, and attenuated both hepatic gluconeogenesis and inflammation as observed by the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α and transcriptional factor NF-κB. These results indicate that PCE improves glucose homeostasis of obese mice by attenuating hepatic gluconeogenesis and inflammation.