Effects of High-Pressure, Hydrothermal, and Enzyme-Assisted Treatment on the Taste and Flavor Profile of Water-Soluble Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Extract

Conversion of gingerols to shogaols in ginger (Zingiber officinale roscoe) by puffing

Effect of puffing on conversion of gingerols to shogaols, physicochemical properties as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of puffed ginger was investigated. Puffing significantly increased extraction yield and the highest value was 12.52% at 980 kPa. The significant decrease in gingerols and increase in shogaols were occurred after puffing, respectively. Especially, 6-shogaol was dramatically increased from 4.84 to 99.10 mg/g dried ginger. Puffed ginger exhibited the higher antioxidant activities (analyzed by DPPH, ABTS, TPC, and TFC) than those of control, and they were significantly increased with increasing puffing pressure. In case of anti-inflammatory activity, puffed ginger did not inhibit NO production, but significantly inhibited TNF-α and IL-6 productions. Among gingerols and shogaols, 6-shogaol showed significantly strong correlations with both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Consequently, puffed ginger can be applied to functional food industry, which dramatically increased the contents of 6, 8, 10-shogaols, the main bioactive compounds in ginger.

Health Benefits of Antioxidant Bioactive Compounds in Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Leaves by Network Pharmacology Analysis Combined with Experimental Validation

Network pharmacology is an ideal tool to explore the effects of therapeutic components derived from plants on human metabolic diseases that are linked to inflammation. This study investigated the antioxidant effects of ginger leaves (GLs) and predicted targets for antioxidant activity. Quantitative and free radical scavenging analyses were performed to detect the main bioactive compounds of GLs and evaluate their antioxidant activities. Chemical diversity and network pharmacology approaches were used to predict key antioxidant components of GLs and their molecular targets. Nine major bioactive compounds of GLs were quantified using an internal standard method, and the antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging methods. We first built the compound-gene-pathways and protein-protein interaction networks of GLs-related antioxidant targets and then conducted gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. Molecular docking results show that astragalin, a compound isolated from GLs, had the highest level of connectivity in the compound-target network and was involved in inflammation-related biosynthesis by directly impacting cytokine gene expression and PTGS2 inhibition markers. These findings not only suggest that the compounds isolated from GLs can be developed as potential antioxidants, but also demonstrate the applicability of network pharmacology to assess the potential of foods for disease treatment.

Comprehensive quality evaluation of fermented-steaming Fructus Aurantii based on chemical composition, flavor characteristics, and intestinal microbial community

Fructus Aurantii (FA) is an edible and medicinal functional food used worldwide that enhances digestion. Since raw FA (RFA) possesses certain side effects for some patients, processed FA (PFA) is commonly used in clinical practice. This study aimed to establish an objective and comprehensive quality evaluation of the PFA that employed the technique of steaming and fermentation. Combined with the volatile and non-volatile components, as well as the regulation of gut microbiota, the differentiation between RFA and PFA was analyzed. The results showed that the PFA considerably reduced the contents of flavonoid glycosides while increasing hesperidin-7-O-glucoside and flavonoid aglycones. The electronic nose and GC-MS (Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) effectively detected the variation in flavor between RFA and PFA. Correlation analysis revealed that eight volatile components (relative odor activity value [ROAV] ≥ 0.1) played a key role in inducing odor modifications. The original floral and woody notes were subdued due to decreased levels of linalool, sabinene, α-terpineol, and terpinen-4-ol. After processing, more delightful flavors such as lemon and fruity aromas were acquired. Furthermore, gut microbiota analysis indicated a significant increase in beneficial microbial taxa. Particularly, Lactobacillus, Akkermansia, and Blautia exhibited higher abundance following PFA treatment. Conversely, a lower presence of pathogenic bacteria, including Proteobacteria, Flexispira, and Clostridium. This strategy contributes to a comprehensive analysis technique for the quality assessment of FA, providing scientific justifications for processing FA into high-value products with enhanced health benefits. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study provided an efficient approach to Fructus Aurantii quality evaluation. The methods of fermentation and steaming showed improved quality and safety.

Chemometrics and antioxidant activity assisted nontargeted metabolomics for the identification of ginger species

An ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry method was developed for the separation and identification of phenols, organic acids, flavonoids and curcumin in different species of ginger. The parameters affecting the separation and response of liquid chromatography, including the stationary phase and mobile phase, were systematically investigated and optimized. To further identify the differential metabolites in the six types of samples, a chemometric approach was introduced. Principal component analysis, cluster analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis were used to identify the major components in the samples and to compare the compositional differences between the various samples. In addition, antioxidant experiments were designed to investigate the differences in antioxidant activity among the six ginger samples. The method showed good linearity (R2 ≥0.9903), satisfactory precision (RSD% ≤ 4.59 %), low LOD (0.35-25.86 ng/mL) and acceptable recovery (78-109 %) and reproducibility (RSD% ≤ 4.20 %). Therefore, the method has great potential for application in the compositional analysis and quality control of ginger.

Antibacterial Activity and Biocompatibility with the Concentration of Ginger Fraction in Biodegradable Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMA) Hydrogel Coating for Medical Implants

The gingerols and shogaols derived from ginger have excellent antibacterial properties against oral bacteria. However, some researchers have noted their dose-dependent potential toxicity. The aim of this study was to enhance the biofunctionality and biocompatibility of the application of ginger to dental titanium screws. To increase the amount of coating of the n-hexane-fractionated ginger on the titanium surface and to control its release, ginger was loaded in different concentrations in a photo-crosslinkable GelMA hydrogel. To improve coating stability of the ginger hydrogel (GH), the wettability of the surface was modified by pre-calcification (TNC), then GH was applied on the surface. As a result, the ginger fraction, with a high content of phenolic compounds, was effective in the inhibition of the growth of S. mutans and P. gingivalis. The GH slowly released the main compounds of ginger and showed excellent antibacterial effects with the concentration. Although bone regeneration was slightly reduced with the ginger-loading concentration due to the increased contents of polyphenolic compounds, it was strongly supplemented through the promotion of osteosis formation by the hydrogel and TNC coating. Finally, we proved the biosafety and superior biofunctionalities the GH-TNC coating on a Ti implant. However, it is recommended to use an appropriate concentration, because an excessive concentration of ginger may affect the improved biocompatibility in clinical applications.

Sensory and metabolite migration from tilapia skin to soup during the boiling process: fast and then slow

This study mainly studied sensory and metabolite migration from the skin to the soup in the boiling process of tilapia skin using content analysis, electronic nose technique, electronic tongue technique, and metabolomics technique based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry. The content changes, flavor changes, taste changes, metabolite numbers and differential metabolite numbers for both tilapia skin and soup mainly occurred in the initial 30 min. Moreover, the initial 10 min was the key period for the metabolite changes in the boiling process. Further, the differential metabolites in these three periods (0–10, 10–30, and 30–60 min) were identified to show the metabolites migration process. Six (adenine, gingerol, terephthalic acid, vanillin, pentanenitrile, and 2-pyrrolidinonede) and seven (butyramide, lysope(0:0/20:4(5z,8z,11z,14z)), lysope(22:6(4z,7z,10z,13z,16z,19z)/0:0), linoleic acid, N-acetylneuraminic acid, L-threose, and benzoin) chemicals were screened out in the differential metabolites of tilapia skin and soup, respectively, with Variable Importance in the Projection of >1 and p value of <0.05. This work would be beneficial to understand the sensory and metabolite migration in the preparation process of fish soup and provided a metabolomic analysis route to analyze metabolites migration in food.

Comparison of Different Drying Methods on the Volatile Components of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) by HS-GC-MS Coupled with Fast GC E-Nose

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is one of the most popular spices in the world, with its unique odor. Due to its health benefits, ginger is also widely used as a dietary supplement and herbal medicine. In this study, the main flavor components of gingers processed by different drying methods including hot air drying, vacuum drying, sun-drying, and vacuum-freeze drying, were identified on the basis of headspace-gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) and fast gas chromatography electronic-nose (fast GC e-nose) techniques. The results showed that the ginger dried by hot air drying exhibited high contents of volatile compounds and retained the richest odor in comparison with those dried by other methods, which indicated that hot air drying is more suitable for the production of dried ginger. Sensory description by fast GC e-nose exhibited that ginger flavor was mainly concentrated in the spicy, sweet, minty, fruity, and herbaceous odor. The relative content of the zingiberene was significantly higher in the hot air drying sample than those by other methods, suggesting that dried ginger by hot air drying can retain more unique spicy and pungent odorants. Furthermore, the results of chemometrics analyses showed that the main variance components among the samples by different drying methods were α-naginatene, (+)-cyclosativene, and sulcatone in HS-GC-MS analysis, and α-terpinen-7-al, dimethyl sulfide, and citronellal in fast GC e-nose analysis. For comparison of fresh and dried gingers, terpinolene, terpinen-4-ol, 2,4-decadienal, (E, Z)-, and linalool were considered the main variance components. This study generated a better understanding of the flavor characteristics of gingers by different drying methods and could provide a guide for drying and processing of ginger.