Comparisons of proximate compositions, fatty acids profile and micronutrients between fiber and oil flaxseeds (Linum usitatissimum L.)

Tracing the pathways and mechanisms involved in medicinal uses of flaxseed with computational methods and bioinformatics tools

Pharmacological drugs targeting specific pathways involved in various diseases have seen recent advancement with newer and more efficient emerging drug targets, but these drugs are limited in terms of their side effects and patient adherence. The potential of plant-based diets in the form of functional foods is increasingly being realized as an option to treat and/or prevent several diseases. In this work, we have selected flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum), also known as linseed, to study its pharmacological efficacy and proposed mechanisms of action for medicinal purposes. The target genes of linseed with Disease Specificity Index (DSI >0.6) are compared to the associated genes of diabetes mellitus, decrease in appetite, addictive behavior, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and the selected genes are further evaluated using in silico methods. The binding affinity of flaxseed to three common target proteins (CCDC28b, PDCD6IP, and USP34) is assessed by docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results show that linseed is safe to use for mutagenic toxicity and other cardiotoxicity measures, but linseed is unsafe for embryotoxicity, hERG toxicity, and cardiac failure. The analysis of the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways indicates that flaxseed can be used as a medicinal herb for treatment of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, IBDs, and PCOS.

Effects of Endogenous Anti-Oxidative Components from Different Vegetable Oils on Their Oxidative Stability

The effects of endogenous anti-oxidative components of ten common edible vegetable oils (palm olein, corn oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, perilla seed oil, high oleic sunflower oil, peanut oil, camellia oil, linseed oil, and sesame oil) on oxidation were explored in this research. The oxidation processes and patterns of the oils were investigated with the Schaal oven test using fatty acids and the oxidative stability index, acid value, peroxide value, p-anisidine value, total oxidation value, and content of major endogenous anti-oxidative components as indicators. The major endogenous anti-oxidative components in vegetable oils were tocopherols, sterols, polyphenols, and squalene, among which α-tocopherol, β-sitosterol, and polyphenols showed good anti-oxidative activity. However, squalene and polyphenols were relatively low and showed limited anti-oxidative effects. Moreover, the oxidative stability index of edible vegetable oils oxidized at high temperature (120 °C) was positively correlated with the content of saturated fatty acids (r = 0.659) and negatively correlated with the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (r = -0.634) and calculated oxidizability (r = -0.696). When oxidized at a low temperature (62 °C), oxidative stability was influenced by a combination of fatty acid composition as well as endogenous anti-oxidative components. An improved TOPSIS based on Mahalanobis distance was used to evaluate the oxidative stability of different types of vegetable oils. Moreover, the oxidative stability of corn oil was better than the other vegetable oils, while perilla seed oil was very weak.

Microencapsulation of Flaxseed Oil—State of Art

Microencapsulation is a well-known technology for the lipid delivery system. It prevents the oxidation of fatty acids and maintains the quality of lipid after extraction from oil seed and processing. In flaxseed oil, the amount of ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids are 39.90–60.42% and 12.25–17.44%, respectively. A comprehensive review article on the microencapsulation of flaxseed oil has not been published yet. Realizing the great advantages of flaxseed oil, information about different technologies related to the microencapsulation of flaxseed oil and their characteristics are discussed in a comprehensive way, in this review article. To prepare the microcapsule of flaxseed oil, an emulsion of oil-water is performed along with a wall material (matrix), followed by drying with a spray-dryer or freeze-dryer. Different matrices, such as plant and animal-based proteins, maltodextrin, gum Arabic, and modified starch are used for the encapsulation of flaxseed oil. In some cases, emulsifiers, such as Tween 80 and soya lecithin are used to prepare flaxseed oil microcapsules. Physico-chemical and bio-chemical characteristics of flaxseed oil microcapsules depend on process parameters, ratio of oil and matrix, and characteristics of the matrix. As an example, the size of the microcapsule, prepared with spray-drying and freeze-drying ranges between 10–400 and 20–5000 μm, respectively. It may be considered that the comprehensive information on the encapsulation of flaxseed oil will boost the development of functional foods and biopharmaceuticals.

Orbitides isolated from flaxseed induce apoptosis against SGC-7901 adenocarcinoma cells

Unique plant-derived cyclic peptides family exhibiting various key biological activities has great possibility for anticancer therapy. In this study, we investigated the effects of orbitides isolated from flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) on the growth of SGC-7901 cancer cells and the potential mechanism. Results showed that flaxseed orbitides killed off cancer cells by inducing apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, which was confirmed by the appearance of nuclear shrinkage and DNA fragmentation, and the inhibitory effect was stronger than that of pure orbitide [1-9-NαC]-linusorb B2 or [1-9-NαC]-linusorb B3. Besides, the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway-related protein cytochrome C (Cyt C) was released from mitochondria to cytosol, associated with the activation of caspases 9 and 3, and the cleavage of PARP. Taken together, these results indicated that flaxseed orbitides induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway, releasing Cyt C, increasing Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and elevating the expression of cleaved caspase 9 and 3 in SGC-7901 cells.

Preparation of high-quality concentrated fragrance flaxseed oil by steam explosion pretreatment technology

In this study, flaxseed was pretreated by steam explosion technology and subsequently pressed to prepare flaxseed oil. GC, UPLC, HPLC, and GC-MS techniques were used to analyze the quality characteristics of the prepared flaxseed oil. These included the food safety risk indices, micronutrient components, and oxidative stability. The effects of different steam explosion pressures on the quality characteristics and relative volatile components of flaxseed oil were also investigated. The results revealed that steam explosion pretreatment technology could significantly increase the oil yield, improve micronutrient content, and strengthen the oxidation stability of the product. Moreover, the food safety risk indices (e.g., benzopyrene) were controlled within a reasonable range, while the fatty acid content remained almost unchanged. Notably, the relative pyrazine content in the total volatile components of flaxseed oil was 68.25% when the steam explosion pressure reached 1.2 MPa. This was considered as the main factor that contributed to the unique concentrated fragrance of the produced flaxseed oil. To prove the superiority of the steam explosion pretreatment, we compared this technique with traditional high-temperature roasting and popular microwave pretreatment techniques. The results revealed that flaxseed oil prepared by steam explosion pretreatment displayed the best quality characteristics and most concentrated fragrance. Thus, steam explosion technology shows great potential for application to produce high-quality concentrated fragrance flaxseed oil. This study provides significant reference and guidance for the preparation process of flaxseed oil.

Structural Modifications of a Flaxseed Lignan in Pursuit of Higher Liposolubility: Evaluation of the Antioxidant and Permeability Properties of the Resulting Derivatives

While lignans and their biogenetic precursors can have various health benefits, the poor liposolubilities of such phenolic systems have restricted their application as antioxidants in the food industry. The research reported here was aimed at addressing these matters through derivatizing certain forms of such compounds and then assessing their properties as potential nutraceuticals. In particular, crude flaxseed lignan was purified to afford secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG, 1) that was then subjected to structural modification. By such means, the SDG long-chain fatty acid esters 4-9 and 11-13, the fully acetylated SDG 10, secoisolariciresinol (SECO, 2), and anhydrosecoisolariciresinol (ASECO, 14) were obtained. The antioxidant activities of these derivatives were determined while their permeability properties were evaluated. Such studies revealed that certain SDG derivatives possessing useful liposolubilities also retained their antioxidative properties, as well as being capable of permeating Caco-2 cell monolayers while being nontoxic to them. SDG fatty acid esters 4-9 and 11-13 could be developed into emulsifiers with enhanced health benefits, especially considering their improved antioxidative (ca. <11 000 μmol Trolox/g) and permeability properties. This study thus highlights strategies for the structural modification of SDG so as to generate derivatives with superior properties in terms of their utility in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Effect of natural antioxidants on lipid oxidation in mayonnaise compared with BHA, the industry standard

INTRODUCTION

Mayonnaise is an oil in water emulsion (O/W) consisting 70-80% oil. Lipid oxidation is a major cause of quality deterioration in mayonnaise. The effectiveness of antioxidants in a hetrophasic systems is highly dependent on their polarity and partitioning properties.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of a hydrophilic [green tea extract (GTE)] and a lipophilic [tocopherol mixture (TOC)] and BHA on lipid oxidation in mayonnaise during 60 days of storage at 38 °C and to examine the interactions between GTE and TOC, to determine possible synergistic or antagonistic effects in antioxidant activity.

METHODS

The oxidative stability was studied by measuring hydroperoxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and colour of mayonnaise during storage. Comprehensive analysis of VOCs was done by static headspace extraction and separation by two-dimensional gas chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry. Sensory analysis was also carried out to study the effect of storage time and antioxidant type on sensory properties of mayonnaise and to investigate the predictive ability of volatile compounds for sensory terms.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Addition of GTE (500 ppm) and TOC (500 ppm) increased the formation of hydroperoxides and certain VOCs. The combination of GTE with TOC improved the antioxidant efficacy compared to the individual extracts. However, sensory evaluation demonstrated that GTE promoted the development of unpleasant fishy and rancid aroma. The volatile compound methional, was significantly and positively correlated with fishy and rancid flavour. Regarding colour analysis, GTE showed the highest increase in darkening and browning during storage.