Chemical Constituents and Post-Harvest Prospects ofPandanus amaryllifoliusLeaves: A Review

Quality-Driven Design of Pandan-Flavored Sponge Cake: Unraveling the Role of Thermal Processing on Typical Pandan Aroma

Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb.) has been used in the production of bakery goods either as a functional ingredient or a natural flavoring that, when roasted, exerts a fragrant rice-like aroma and an attractive green color. This study elucidated the typical aroma compounds from pandan leaves and explored the influence of thermal treatments on their aroma profiles using GC-O-MS, E-nose, and GC-IMS analyses. The effects of formulation and baking conditions on the qualities of pandan-flavored sponge cake were comprehensively evaluated through a holistic approach covering several aspects including cake batter gravity, color, texture, and sensory characteristics. The baking treatment introduced more types of pleasant aromas (9 aromas vs. 17 aromas) and increased the odor intensities of the original volatile compounds, especially for the roasted and steamed rice-like odors. The increased amount of pandan flavoring reshaped the color of the cake crumb (especially for the L* and a* spaces) and significantly decreased the hardness (3.87 N to 1.01 N), gumminess (3.81 N to 0.67 N), and chewiness (13.22 mJ to 4.56 mJ) of the sponge cake. The perceived intensities of bitterness and sweetness can be adjusted by modulating the levels of 2-phenylethanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, hexyl alcohol, and decanal, along with the total alcohols and aldehydes, due to their significant correlations revealed by correlation heatmap analyses.

Botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and applications of Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb.: A review

Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb.), a member of the Pandanaceae family, has been consumed as food and medicine since ancient times. The current paper provides an overview of the botanical profile, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and applications of P. amaryllifolius. Information regarding P. amaryllifolius was collected from online sources (using PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Web of Science, ACS, and CNKI) as well as traditional textbooks. Over 100 compounds have been identified, including its characteristic components 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline and Pandanus alkaloids. Several therapeutic uses of P. amaryllifolius, such as antioxidant, hypoglycemic, antimicrobial, and antitumor activities, have been demonstrated in modern pharmacological studies. Additionally, it could be applied in various fields, including food, energy, material, and the environment. Continued research on P. amaryllifolius can contribute to the development of new drugs and therapies for various diseases. And further studies are needed to improve its utilization.

Effects of Hevea brasiliensis Intercropping on the Volatiles of Pandanus amaryllifolius Leaves

Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. is a special tropical spice crop resource with broad development prospects. It is widely cultivated under a Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A. Juss.) Muell. Arg. canopy to improve the comprehensive benefits to Hevea brasiliensis plantations in Hainan Provence, China. However, the effects of intercropping with Hevea brasiliensis on the component number and relative contents of volatile substances in different categories in the Pandanus amaryllifolius leaves are still unknown. Therefore, a Hevea brasiliensis and Pandanus amaryllifolius intercropping experiment was set up to clarify the differences between several cultivated patterns on volatile substances in the Pandanus amaryllifolius leaves, and the key regulatory factors of volatile substances. The results showed that the soil pH was significantly decreased, while soil bulk density, alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen and available phosphorus contents were significantly increased under the intercropping pattern. The component numbers of esters in volatile substances were increased by 6.20%, while the component numbers of ketones were decreased by 4.26% under the intercropping pattern. Compared with the Pandanus amaryllifolius monoculture, the relative contents of pyrroles, esters and furanones were significantly increased by 8.83%, 2.30% and 8.27%, respectively, while the relative contents of ketones, furans and hydrocarbons were decreased by 1.01%, 10.55% and 9.16% under the intercropping pattern, respectively. The relative contents of pyrroles, esters, furanones, ketones, furans and hydrocarbons were associated with changes in soil pH, soil available phosphorus content and air temperature. The results indicated that the reduction in soil pH and enhancement in soil-available phosphorus may be the main reasons for promoting the relative content of pyrroles and reducing the relative content of hydrocarbons under an intercropping pattern. Overall, Hevea brasiliensis intercropping with Pandanus amaryllifolius could not only improve soil properties, but also significantly increase the relative contents of the main volatile substances in Pandanus amaryllifolius leaves, which could provide a theoretical basis for the application and promotion of high-quality production patterns of Pandanus amaryllifolius.

Pandanus amaryllifolius Exhibits In Vitro Anti-Amyloidogenic Activity and Promotes Neuroprotective Effects in Amyloid-β-Induced SH-SY5Y Cells

Accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques leading to oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, and cell death is one of the most accepted pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Pandanus amaryllifolius, commonly recognized as fragrant screw pine due to its characteristic smell, is widely distributed in Southeast Asia and is consumed as a food flavor. In search for potential anti-AD agents from terrestrial sources, P. amaryllifolius was explored for its in vitro anti-amyloidogenic and neuroprotective effects. Thioflavin T (ThT) assay and the high-throughput screening multimer detection system (MDS-HTS) assay were used to evaluate the extracts’ potential to inhibit Aβ aggregations and oligomerizations, respectively. The crude alcoholic extract (CAE, 50 μg/mL) and crude base extract (CBE, 50 μg/mL) obstructed the Aβ aggregation. Interestingly, results revealed that only CBE inhibited the Aβ nucleation at 100 μg/mL. Both CAE and CBE also restored the cell viability, reduced the level of reactive oxygen species, and reversed the mitochondrial dysfunctions at 10 and 20 μg/mL extract concentrations in Aβ-insulted SY-SY5Y cells. In addition, the unprecedented isolation of nicotinamide from P. amaryllifolius CBE is a remarkable discovery as one of its potential bioactive constituents against AD. Hence, our results provided new insights into the promising potential of P. amaryllifolius extracts against AD and further exploration of other prospective bioactive constituents.

Ultrasound-assisted encapsulation of Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) extract

Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) is commonly used as a food ingredient in Southeast Asia due to its delicious flavor, appetizing aroma and bright green colour. Pandan plant is uniquely found only in certain parts of the world. Despite its increasing popularity worldwide, its export market is limited by practical issues. One of the main problems for exporting Pandan to global market is its stability during transport. Due to the volatility of its active constituent, the functional properties of Pandan are lost during storage and shipment. In this study, we explored the ability of ultrasound processing technology to encapsulate the aromatic Pandan extract using lysozyme or chitosan as a shell material. 20 kHz ultrasonicator was used to encapsulate the pandan extract at 150 W of applied power. Two parameters, the ultrasonic probe tip and the core-to-shell ratio were varied to control the properties of the encapsulates. The diameters of the probe tip used were 0.3 and 1.0 cm. The core-to-shell volume ratios used were 1:160 and 1:40. The size distribution and the stability of the synthesized microspheres were characterized to understand and explore the possible parameters variation impact. Both size and size distribution of the microspheres were found to be influenced by the parameters varied to certain extent. The results showed that the mean size of the microspheres was generally smallest when using 1 cm probe tip with lower core-to-shell volume ratio but largest when using the 3 mm tip with higher core-to-shell volume ratio. This indicates that the sonication parameters could be fine-tuned to achieve the encapsulation of Pandan extract for storage and export. The pandan-encapsulated microspheres were also found to be stable during storage at least for one month.

Stability of Chlorophyll as Natural Colorant: A Review for Suji (Dracaena angustifolia (Medik.) Roxb.) Leaves’ Case

Suji (Dracaena angustifolia (Medik.) Roxb.) leaves are famous chlorophyll source used as food colorant in Indonesia and other south-east Asian countries. Its chlorophyll has unique characteristics which can degrade through enzymatic and non-enzymatic reactions. This article summarizes traditional application of Suji leaves, the characteristics of Suji leaf chlorophyll, postharvest stability, and several ways to retain its green color. Potential development of Suji leaf extract as food colorant or food ingredients are also discussed.

Beneficial Effects of Spices in Food Preservation and Safety

Spices have been used since ancient times. Although they have been employed mainly as flavoring and coloring agents, their role in food safety and preservation have also been studied in vitro and in vivo. Spices have exhibited numerous health benefits in preventing and treating a wide variety of diseases such as cancer, aging, metabolic, neurological, cardiovascular, and inflammatory diseases. The present review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the most relevant and recent findings on spices and their active compounds in terms of targets and mode of action; in particular, their potential use in food preservation and enhancement of shelf life as a natural bioingredient.

Other herbs and spices: mango ginger to wasabi

In this second part of the chapter on underutilized spices, nine spices are discussed briefly. They are mango ginger, fragrant pandan, pink pepper, rue, sumac, savory and wasabi. Morphology, chemical composition, medicinal and culinary uses are given briefly in each of these spices. In addition short notes on 12 lesser known spices are provided; these are blue fenugreek, boldo leaves, chameleon plant, cicely, cresses, epazote, finger root, gale, lemon myrtle, Mexican pepper leaf, Tasmanian pepper and water pepper.