Role of Water Soluble Vitamins in the Reduction Diet of an Amateur Sportsman

Microencapsulation of vitamins: A review and meta-analysis of coating materials, release and food fortification

Vitamins are responsible for providing biological properties to the human body; however, their instability under certain environmental conditions limits their utilization in the food industry. The objective was to conduct a systematic review on the use of biopolymers and lipid bases in microencapsulation processes, assessing their impact on the stability, controlled release, and viability of fortified foods with microencapsulated vitamins. The literature search was conducted between the years 2013-2023, gathering information from databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science and publishers including Taylor & Francis, Elsevier, Springer and MDPI; a total of 49 articles were compiled The results were classified according to the microencapsulation method, considering the following information: core, coating material, solvent, formulation, process conditions, particle size, efficiency, yield, bioavailability, bioaccessibility, in vitro release, correlation coefficient and references. It has been evidenced that gums are the most frequently employed coatings in the protection of vitamins (14.04%), followed by alginate (10.53%), modified chitosan (9.65%), whey protein (8.77%), lipid bases (8.77%), chitosan (7.89%), modified starch (7.89%), starch (7.02%), gelatin (6.14%), maltodextrin (5.26%), zein (3.51%), pectin (2.63%) and other materials (7.89%). The factors influencing the release of vitamins include pH, modification of the coating material and crosslinking agents; additionally, it was determined that the most fitting mathematical model for release values is Weibull, followed by Zero Order, Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas; finally, foods commonly fortified with microencapsulated vitamins were described, with yogurt, bakery products and gummy candies being notable examples.

Food and Food Waste Antioxidants: Could They Be a Potent Defence against Parkinson's Disease?

Oxidative stress, an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and endogenous antioxidants, plays an important role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's. The human brain is vulnerable to oxidative stress because of the high rate of oxygen that it needs and the high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are substrates of lipid peroxidation. Natural antioxidants inhibit oxidation and reduce oxidative stress, preventing cancer, inflammation, and neurodegenerative disorders. Furthermore, in the literature, it is reported that antioxidants, due to their possible neuroprotective activity, may offer an interesting option for better symptom management, even Parkinson's disease (PD). Natural antioxidants are usually found in several foods, such as fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, and oil, and in food wastes, such as seeds, peels, leaves, and skin. They can help the system of endogenous antioxidants, protect or repair cellular components from oxidative stress, and even halt lipid, protein, and DNA damage to neurons. This review will examine the extent of knowledge from the last ten years, about the neuroprotective potential effect of natural antioxidants present in food and food by-products, in in vivo and in vitro PD models. Additionally, this study will demonstrate that the pool of dietary antioxidants may be an important tool in the prevention of PD and an opportunity for cost savings in the public health area.

Forecasting the Degradation of Vitamin C Concentration in Commonly Consumed Vegetable Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) dipped in Different Pre-treatment Solutions

Vitamin C is considered an essential vitamin that is commonly found in most fruits and vegetables. It is susceptible to easy degradation, especially during pre-treatment and storage. This study aimed at forecasting the degradation of vitamin C in commonly consumed vegetable (cabbage) dipped in different pre-treatment solutions at different time intervals. The samples after dipping at different time intervals were prepared for analysis. Evaluation of the ascorbic acid content of the vegetable was determined using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). This consists of an isocratic elution procedure with ultraviolet-visible detection at 245 nm. The half-lives and rate constants were calculated using the integrated law method. Forecasts were determined using time series analysis. Degradation of vitamin C in this study followed a first-order kinetic model, and the average coefficient of determination (R2-value) was greater than 0.9413. The rate constants of vitamin C degradation for the vegetable dipped in different pretreatment solutions (sodium chloride, sodium benzoate, sodium metabisulfite and vinegar) at different time intervals were 0.0804, 0.1049, 0.0706 and 0.0553 minutes-1; half-lives were 8.2322, 7.3896, 10.9675, and 12.1086 minutes, respectively. The vegetable dipped in different pretreatments for 90 minutes exhibited ln(C) forecast of -2.2057, -4.6307, -1.1746, and 0.0789, respectively. The coefficient of correlation for sodium chloride, sodium benzoate, sodium metabisulfite, and vinegar are 0.084, 0.093, 0.063 and 0.059 respectively. The kinetic models were formulated using predicted initial contents, processing time, and measured contents. The vegetable dipped in vinegar pretreatment solution using ln(C) =ln(C0) - 0.0553t gave the best model. From the results, the most appropriate pretreatment solution for enhancing the shelf life of cabbage is synthetic vinegar (prepared from acetic acid) because it has a lower rate constant, lower coefficient of correlation, and the longest half-life.

Riboflavin - properties, occurrence and its use in medicine

Riboflavin is built on an isoalloxazin ring, which contains three sixcarbon rings: benzoic, pyrazine and pyrimidine. Riboflavin is synthesized by some bacteria, but among humans and animals, the only source of flavin coenzymes (FAD, FMN) is exogenous riboflavin. Riboflavin transport in enterocytes takes place via three translocators encoded by the SLC52 gene. Deficiency of dietary riboflavin has wide ranging implications for the efficacy of other vitamins, the mechanism of cellular respiration, lactic acid metabolism, hemoglobin, nucleotides and amino acid synthesis. In studies it was found that, pharmacologic daily doses (100 mg) have the potential to react with light, which can have adverse cellular effects. Extrene caution should be exercised when using riboflavin as phototherapy in premature newborns. At the cellular level, riboflavin deficiency leads to increased oxidative stress and causes disorders in the glutathione recycling process. Risk factors for developing riboflavin deficinecy include pregnancy, malnutrition (including anorexia and other eating disorders, vegitarianism, veganism and alcoholism. Furthermore, elderly people and atheletes are also at risk of developing this deficiency. Widespread use of riboflavin in medicine, cancer therapy, treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, corneal ectasia and viral infections has resulted in the recent increased interest in this flavina.