Physicochemical, textural, and sensory characteristics of ice cream incorporated with Nigella sativa seed oil microcapsules

Physicochemical, Antioxidant Characteristics and Sensory Evaluation of Functional Pro-Biogenic Ice Cream

Pro-biogenic is a recent terminology widely used for products that combine biogenic materials and probiotics which has made progressive improvement in a new era of research on functional foods. This study aimed to develop functional ice cream with Bacillus coagulans and propolis extract (PE) as a biogenic part to develop ice cream's physiochemical and antioxidant characteristics. Five probiotic ice cream samples were prepared using different levels of PE powder (0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, and 0.8% w/w), and the physicochemical, total phenol content (TPC), antioxidant and sensory properties, and probiotic survival of the samples were examined. The study found that PE levels did not significantly impact fat, protein, carbohydrate, and ash content, overrun, melting rate, and adhesiveness of probiotic ice cream, but increased dry matter, apparent viscosity, and hardness. Adding PE to freeze-storage samples significantly (p < 0.05) reduced pH and improved TPC and antioxidant activity. The prepared ice cream containing probiotic bacteria and PE extracts, despite their darker and yellower color, were acceptable based on sensory evaluation. Furthermore, the survival of probiotic bacteria in the ice cream, with different levels of PE appeared to be in acceptable limits (107 CFU/g). The findings of the research indicated that the pro-biogenic ice cream has good functionality and incorporating a PE aside probiotic could improve physiochemical and antioxidant characteristics which can be used as a value-added ingredient in the formulation of functional pro-biogenic ice creams.

Improving the thermal stability of natural bioactive ingredients via encapsulation technology

Bioactive compounds (bioactives) such as phenolic acids, coumarins, flavonoids, lignans and carotenoids have a marked improvement effect on human health by acting on body tissues or cells. Nowadays, with increasing levels of knowledge, consumers prefer foods that can provide bioactives beside the necessary nutrients (e.g., vitamins, essential fatty acids and minerals). However, an important barrier for incorporating bioactives into foods is their low thermal stability. Nevertheless, thermal processing is widely used by the food industries to achieve food safety and desired texture. The aim of this work is to give an overview of encapsulation technology to improve thermal stability of bioactives incorporated into different food products. Almost all thermal analysis and non-thermal methods in the literature suggest that incorporation of bioactives into different walls can effectively improve the thermal stability of bioactives. The level of such thermal enhancement depends on the strength of the bioactive interaction and wall molecules. Furthermore, contradictory results have been reported in relation to the effect of encapsulation technique using the same wall on thermal stability of bioactives. To date, the potential to increase the thermal resistance of various bioactives by gums, carbohydrates, and proteins have been extensively studied. However, further studies on the comparison of walls and encapsulation methods to form thermally stable carriers seem to be needed. In this regard, the same nature of bioactives and the specific protocol in the report of study results should be considered to compare the data and select the optimum conditions of encapsulation to achieve maximum thermal stability.

A Narrative Review on Various Oil Extraction Methods, Encapsulation Processes, Fatty Acid Profiles, Oxidative Stability, and Medicinal Properties of Black Seed (Nigella sativa)

The current review investigates the effects of black seed (Nigella sativa) on human health, which is also used to encapsulate and oxidative stable in different food products. In recent decades, many extraction methods, such as cold pressing, supercritical fluid extraction, Soxhlet extraction, hydro distillation (HD) method, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), ultrasound-assisted extraction, steam distillation, and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) have been used to extract the oils from black seeds under optimal conditions. Black seed oil contains essential fatty acids, in which the major fatty acids are linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acids. The oxidative stability of black seed oil is very low, due to various environmental conditions or factors (temperature and light) affecting the stability. The oxidative stability of black seed oil has been increased by using encapsulation methods, including nanoprecipitation, ultra-sonication, spray-drying, nanoprecipitation, electrohydrodynamic, atomization, freeze-drying, a electrospray technique, and coaxial electrospraying. Black seed, oil, microcapsules, and their components have been used in various food processing, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmetics industries as functional ingredients for multiple purposes. Black seed and oil contain thymoquinone as a major component, which has anti-oxidant, -diabetic, -inflammatory, -cancer, -viral, and -microbial properties, due to its phenolic compounds. Many clinical and experimental studies have indicated that the black seed and their by-products can be used to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, chronic cancer, diabetes, oxidative stress, polycystic ovary syndrome, metabolic disorders, hypertension, asthma, and skin disorders. In this review, we are focusing on black seed oil composition and increasing the stability using different encapsulation methods. It is used in various food products to increase the human nutrition and health properties.