Spent coffee (Coffea arabica L.) grounds promote satiety and attenuate energy intake: A pilot study

Lyophilized Avocado Paste Improves Corn Chips' Nutritional Properties and Sensory Acceptability

Avocado paste (AP) is an industrial byproduct and a potential source of bioactive compounds, so there is great interest in its valorization. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of adding AP to corn chips regarding their nutritional profile and sensory acceptability. Three AP-supplemented corn chip samples were prepared (C-2%, C-6%, and C-10%), along with a control chip (C), whose total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, proximate composition, minerals, fatty acids, and sensory acceptability were evaluated. Regarding the content of phenolic compounds and flavonoids, significant increases were found between all samples (p < 0.05), particularly between C and C-10% (from 0.93 to 3.56 mg GAE/g dw and 1.17 to 6.61 mg QE/g dw, respectively). Their antioxidant capacity also increased significantly (p < 0.05) with all methods used (FRAP, DPPH, ORAC, and TEAC). Regarding the sensory analysis, no significant differences were found (p > 0.05) between C and C-2% in the parameters of smell, color, flavor, and overall acceptability; however, the texture of C-2% was better evaluated. The C-2% sample also had the highest acceptability; 82% of the participants mentioned that they would buy the C-2%, higher than the rest of the samples. These results suggest the feasibility of adding 2% AP as a strategy to improve the nutritional properties of corn chips without compromising their sensory acceptability; therefore, AP may be used as a food ingredient.

Spent coffee grounds and its antioxidant dietary fiber promote different colonic microbiome signatures: Benefits for subjects with chronodisruption

Chronodisruption, commonly displayed by people living with obesity (PLO), is linked to colonic microbiota dysbiosis, and may increase the risk of many chronic non-communicable diseases, whereas dietary interventions-called chrononutrition may mitigate it. We evaluated the in vitro effects of spent coffee grounds (SCG), and their antioxidant dietary fiber (SCG-DF) on the colonic microbiota of an obese donor displaying dysbiosis and chronodisruption. Basal microbiota pattern was associated with an increased risk of non-communicable chronic diseases. Both samples decrease species richness and increase microbiota diversity (p < 0.05; Chao and Shannon index, respectively), positively enhancing Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes index (SCG, p < 0.04; SCG-DF, p < 0.02). SCG and SCG-DF modulated the microbiota, but SCG-DF induced greater changes, significantly increasing. p_Actonobacterias (SCG p < 0.04; SCG-DF, p < 0.02), and reducing g_Alistipes; s_putredinis, g_Prevotella;s_copri. The highest increase was displayed by p_Proteobacteria (f_Desulfovibrionaceae and f_Alcanigenaceae, p < 0.05), while g_Haemophilus; s_parainfluenzae decreased (p < 0.05). However, neither SCG nor SCG-DF modulated g_Alistipes (evening-type colonic microbial marker) beneficially. SCG and SCG-DF reduced (p < 0.05) g_Lachnospira, a microbial evening-type marker, among other microbial populations, of an obese donor displaying chronodisruption and dysbiosis. SCG and SCG-DF displayed a prebiotic effect with the potential to mitigate diseases linked to chronodisruption.

Interest of Coffee Melanoidins as Sustainable Healthier Food Ingredients

Coffee melanoidins are generated by the Maillard reaction during the thermal processes occurring in the journey of coffee from the plant to the cup (during drying and roasting). Melanoidins, the brown pigments formed as the end products of this reaction, have been reported in cascara, silverskin, spent coffee grounds, and coffee brew. The latter is one of the main natural sources of melanoidins of the daily diet worldwide. However, their presence in coffee by-products has been recently described. These complex macromolecules possess multiple health-promoting properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, dietary fiber effect, and prebiotic capacity, which make them very interesting from a nutritional point of view. In addition, they have a great impact on the sensory profile of foods and their acceptance by the consumers. The present study is a descriptive, narrative, mini-review about the nature, structure, digestibility, properties (sensory, nutritional, and health-promoting), safety and regulatory status of melanoidins from the coffee brew and its by-products with a special emphasis on the latter.

Sub-chronic consumption of a phenolic-rich avocado paste extract induces GLP-1-, leptin-, and adiponectin-mediated satiety in Wistar rats

Avocado paste (AP) is a phenolic-rich byproduct of avocado oil extraction. The effects of sub-chronic consumption of diets supplemented with an AP phenolic extract (PE) were analyzed. A standard diet (SD), high-fat diet (HFD), and these supplemented with PE (SD + PE and HFD + PE) were used. Significantly increased satiety was observed in PE-supplemented groups, according to less food consumption (-15% in SD + PE vs. SD, and -11% in HFD + PE vs. HFD), without changes in weight gain or percentage of adipose tissue. PE-supplemented groups had an increased plasma concentration ( + 16% in SD + PE vs. SD, and +26% in HFD + PE vs. HFD) and relative mRNA expression (+74% in SD + PE vs. SD, and +46% in HFD + PE vs. HFD) of GLP-1; an increase in plasma leptin and adiponectin was independent of their mRNA expression. Our results suggest that AP-derived PE exerts a satiety effect in vivo, possibly mediated by GLP-1, leptin, and adiponectin. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Minimizing food waste is a top priority in most of the world, thus, researchers seek methods to reintroduce industrial fruit and vegetable byproducts into the food processing chain. The present work highlights the potential of avocado byproducts as sources of bioactive phenolic compounds, whose sub-chronic consumption (8 weeks) exerts a satiety action in vivo. Avocado farming is resource-intensive, making it of relevance to producers and processing industries to avoid discarding its byproducts as much as possible.

Tropical foods as functional foods for metabolic syndrome

Tropical foods are an integral part of the traditional diet and form part of traditional medicine in many countries. This review examines the potential of tropical foods to treat signs of metabolic syndrome, defined as a chronic low-grade inflammation leading to obesity, hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and fatty liver. It is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic disease as well as osteoarthritis and some cancers. Tropical foods such as seaweeds and tropical fruits including indigenous fruits such as Davidson's plums are effective in reducing these signs of metabolic syndrome in rats, as well as reducing degeneration of bone cartilage and altering gut microbiome. Further, waste products from tropical fruits including mangosteen rind, coffee pulp and spent coffee grounds provide further options to reduce metabolic syndrome. Production of local tropical foods and local recovery of food waste from these foods could allow the development of commercial, sustainable and cost-effective functional foods in tropical countries. The aim is to develop these functional foods to reduce the incidence of metabolic syndrome and decrease the risk of costly chronic cardiovascular and metabolic disorders locally and globally.

Effects of Coffee and Its Components on the Gastrointestinal Tract and the Brain-Gut Axis

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide. Roasted coffee is a complex mixture of thousands of bioactive compounds, and some of them have numerous potential health-promoting properties that have been extensively studied in the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, with relatively much less attention given to other body systems, such as the gastrointestinal tract and its particular connection with the brain, known as the brain–gut axis. This narrative review provides an overview of the effect of coffee brew; its by-products; and its components on the gastrointestinal mucosa (mainly involved in permeability, secretion, and proliferation), the neural and non-neural components of the gut wall responsible for its motor function, and the brain–gut axis. Despite in vitro, in vivo, and epidemiological studies having shown that coffee may exert multiple effects on the digestive tract, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative effects on the mucosa, and pro-motility effects on the external muscle layers, much is still surprisingly unknown. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms of action of certain health-promoting properties of coffee on the gastrointestinal tract and to transfer this knowledge to the industry to develop functional foods to improve the gastrointestinal and brain–gut axis health.