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Plant-derived antioxidants (PD-AOs) are important for food preservation, as well as for human health and nutrition. However, the poor chemical stability and water solubility of many PD-AOs currently limit their application as functional ingredients in foods and pharmaceuticals. Moreover, it is often difficult to isolate and detect specific antioxidants in multi-component systems, which again limits their potential in the food and medical industries. In this review, we highlight recent advances in the use of cyclodextrins (CDs) to overcome these limitations by forming simple, modified and competitive host–guest interactions with PD-AO. The host–guest properties of CDs can be used to enhance the separation efficiency of PD-AOs, as well as to improve their dispersion and stability in food systems. Moreover, the competitive complexation properties of CDs with target molecules can be used to selectively isolate PD-AOs from multi-component systems and develop detection technologies for PD-AOs. Overall, CD-antioxidant interactions have great potential for addressing isolation, detection, and food quality issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovalbumin (OVA) is the most abundant protein in egg white, with excellent functional properties (e.g., gelling, foaming, emulsifying properties). Nevertheless, OVA has strong allergenicity, which is usually mediated by specific IgE thus results in gut microbiota dysbiosis and causes atopic dermatitis, asthma, and other inflammation actions. Processing technologies and the interactions with other active ingredients can influence the functional properties and allergic epitopes of OVA. This review focuses on the non-thermal processing technologies effects on the functional properties and allergenicity of OVA. Moreover, the research advance about immunomodulatory mechanisms of OVA-mediated food allergy and the role of gut microbiota in OVA allergy was summarized. Finally, the interactions between OVA and active ingredients (such as polyphenols and polysaccharides) and OVA-based delivery systems construction are summarized. Compared with traditional thermal processing technologies, novel non-thermal processing techniques have less damage to OVA nutritional value, which also improve OVA properties. OVA can interact with various active ingredients by covalent and non-covalent interactions during processing, which can alter the structure or allergic epitopes to affect OVA/active components properties. The interactions can promote OVA-based delivery systems construction, such as emulsions, hydrogels, microencapsulation, nanoparticles to encapsulate bioactive components and monitor freshness for improving foods quality and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starch-lipid complexes were prepared from high amylose starch (HAS) with stearic acid (SA) or potassium stearate (PS) at different molar concentrations. The complexes (HAS-PS) formed between HAS and PS showed polyelectrolyte characteristics with ζ-potential ranging from −22.2 to −32.8 mV, and the electrostatic repulsion between anionic charges restricted the starch chain reassociation and facilitated the formation of V-type crystalline structures upon cooling. The hydrophobic effects enabled recrystallization of the SA, and the HAS-SA complexes exhibited weaker V-type crystalline structures than the HAS-PS complexes; both HAS-SA/PS complexes were of a similar "mass fractal" type, with a dimension varied from 2.15 to 2.96. The HAS-SA complexes had a considerable content of resistant starch (RS, 16.1~29.2%), whereas negligible RS was found in the HAS-PS complexes. The findings from the present study imply that the molecular order of starch chains and the macro-structures of starch particles are more important to regulate the digestibility of starch-lipid complexes than the crystalline structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polysaccharides are natural polymers isolated from plants, microorganisms, algae, and some animals they are composed of aldoses or ketoses linked by glycosidic bonds. Due to the affordability, abundance, safety, and functionality, polysaccharides are widely used in the foods and medicines to construct oral delivery systems for sensitive bioactive ingredients. In this article, the characteristics and applications of nanoscale polysaccharide-based delivery carriers are reviewed, including their ability to encapsulate, protect, and deliver bioactive ingredients. This review discusses the sources, characteristics, and functional properties of common food polysaccharides, including starch, pectin, chitosan, xanthan gum, and alginate. It also highlights the potential advantages of using polysaccharides for the construction of nano-delivery systems, such as nanoparticles, nanogels, nanoemulsions, nanocapsules, and nanofibers. Moreover, the application of delivery systems assembled from polysaccharides is summarized, with a focus on pH-responsive delivery of bioactives. There are some key findings and conclusions: Nanoscale polysaccharide delivery systems provide several advantages, including improved water-dispersibility, flavor masking, stability enhancement, reduced volatility, and controlled release; Polysaccharide nanocarriers can be used to construct pH-responsive delivery vehicles to achieve intestinal-targeted delivery and controlled release of bioactive ingredients; Polysaccharides can be used in combination with other biopolymers to form composite delivery systems with enhanced functional attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 diabetes is caused by persistently high blood sugar levels, which leads to metabolic dysregulation and an increase in the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. High levels of rapidly digestible starches within foods may contribute to high blood sugar levels. Amylase inhibitors can reduce amylase activity, thereby inhibiting starch hydrolysis, and reducing blood sugar levels. Currently, amylase inhibitors are usually chemically synthesized substances, which can have undesirable side effects on the human body. The development of amylase inhibitors from food-grade ingredients that can be incorporated into the human diet is therefore of great interest. Several classes of phytochemicals, including polyphenols and flavonoids, have been shown to inhibit amylase, including certain types of food-grade nanoparticles. In this review, we summarize the main functions and characteristics of amylases within the human body, as well as their interactions with amylase inhibitors. A strong focus is given to the utilization of nanoparticles as amylase inhibitors. The information covered in this article may be useful for the design of functional foods that can better control blood glucose levels, which may help reduce the risk of diabetes and other diet-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the blending of hydrocolloids and natural starch to improve the properties of natural starch has become a research hotspot. In this study, the effects of pectin (PEC) on the retrogradation properties and in vitro digestibility of waxy rice starch (WRS) were investigated. The results showed that PEC could significantly (p < 0.05) reduce the retrogradation enthalpy and reduce the hardness of WRS gel. X-ray diffraction results indicated that PEC could reduce the relative crystallinity of the composite system, and the higher the PEC content, the lower the relative crystallinity. When the PEC content was 10%, the relative crystallinity of the composite system was only 10.6% after 21 d of cold storage. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results proved that the interaction between PEC and WRS was mainly a hydrogen bond interaction. Furthermore, after 21 d of cold storage, the T23 free water signal appeared in the natural WRS paste, while only a small free water signal appeared in the compound system with 2% PEC addition. Moreover, addition of PEC could reduce the starch digestion rate and digestibility. When the content of PEC increased from 0% to 10%, the digestibility decreased from 82.31% to 71.84%. This study provides a theoretical basis for the further application of hydrocolloids in starch-based foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starch‐based materials have viscoelasticity, viscous film‐forming, dough pseudoplasticity, and rheological properties, which possess the structural characteristics (crystal structure, double helix structure, and layered structure) suitable for three‐dimensional (3D) food printing inks. 3D food printing technology has significant advantages in customizing personalized and precise nutrition, expanding the range of ingredients, designing unique food appearances, and simplifying the food supply chain. Precision nutrition aims to consider individual nutritional needs and individual differences, which include special food product design and personalized precise nutrition, thus expanding future food resources, then simplifying the food supply chain, and attracting extensive attention in food industry. Different types of starch‐based materials with different structures and rheological properties meet different 3D food printing technology requirements. Starch‐based materials suitable for 3D food printing technology can accurately deliver and release active substances or drugs. These active substances or drugs have certain regulatory effects on the gut microbiome and diabetes, so as to maintain personalized and accurate nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, composite nanoparticles consisting of zein and hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin were prepared using a combined antisolvent co-precipitation/electrostatic interaction method. The effects of calcium ion concentration on the stability of the composite nanoparticles containing both curcumin and quercetin were investigated. Moreover, the stability and bioactivity of the quercetin and curcumin were characterized before and after encapsulation. Fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analyses indicated that electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions were the main driving forces for the formation of the composite nanoparticles. The addition of calcium ions promoted crosslinking of the proteins and affected the stability of the protein–cyclodextrin composite particles through electrostatic screening and binding effects. The addition of calcium ions to the composite particles improved the encapsulation efficiency, antioxidant activity, and stability of the curcumin and quercetin. However, there was an optimum calcium ion concentration (2.0 mM) that provided the best encapsulation and protective effects on the nutraceuticals. The calcium crosslinked composite particles were shown to maintain good stability under different pH and simulated gastrointestinal digestion conditions. These results suggest that zein–cyclodextrin composite nanoparticles may be useful plant-based colloidal delivery systems for hydrophobic bio-active agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Divalent calcium ions (Ca2+) are often used in surimi gels to improve their physicochemical characteristics. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of calcium lactate on the physicochemical properties, state distribution of water, and protein structure changes of surimi gels made from large yellow croaker. The results showed that the addition of calcium lactate (0%, 0.5%, 1.5%, 2.5%, 3.5%, and 4.5% on wet surimi) significantly (p < 0.05) increased gel strength and whiteness, while cooking loss decreased. The water-holding capacity increased first and then decreased. When calcium lactate was added to 1.5%, the water-holding capacity reached the best value. Using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance to study the distribution of water state, the bound water content first increased and then decreased with the addition of calcium lactate, reaching the highest at 1.5%. In addition, the relaxation time of immobilized water was shortest at the addition of 1.5% calcium lactate. Analyzing the protein structural changes by Raman spectroscopy showed that there was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the α-helix accompanied by an increase in β-sheets, turns, and random coils after the addition of calcium lactate. The above changes were due to the Ca2+ that was bound to the negatively charged myofibrils to form a protein-Ca2+-protein cross-linking. Therefore, the addition of calcium lactate had a significant positive effect on the gelling ability of surimi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of oat bran on bread quality and the mechanism of reducing the glycemic index (GI) of bread, wheat bran (10%, w/w, flour basis), oat bran (10%), and β-glucan (0.858%) were individually added to determine the expansion of dough, the specific volume, texture, color, GI, starch digestion characteristics, and α-amylase inhibition rate of bread. The results showed that the incorporation of wheat bran and oat bran both reduced the final expanded volume of the dough, decreased the specific volume of the bread, and increased the bread hardness and crumb redness and greenness values as compared to the control wheat group. The above physical properties of bran-containing bread obviously deteriorated while the bread with β-glucan did not change significantly (p < 0.05). The GI in vitro of bread was in the following order: control (94.40) > wheat bran (69.24) > β-glucan (65.76) > oat bran (64.93). Correspondingly, the oat bran group had the highest content of slowly digestible starch (SDS), the β-glucan group had the highest content of resistant starch (RS), and the control group had the highest content of rapidly digestible starch (RDS). For the wheat bran, oat bran, and β-glucan group, their inhibition rates of α-amylase were 9.25%, 28.93%, and 23.7%, respectively. The β-glucan reduced the bread GI and α-amylase activity by intertwining with starch to form a more stable gel network structure, which reduced the contact area between amylase and starch. Therefore, β-glucan in oat bran might be a key component for reducing the GI of whole oat bread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant polyphenols have attracted considerable attention because of their key roles in preventing many diseases, including high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and cancer. A variety of functional foods have been designed and developed with plant polyphenols as the main active ingredients. Polyphenols mainly come from vegetables and fruits and can generally be divided according to their structure into flavonoids, astragalus, phenolic acids, and lignans. Polyphenols are a group of plant-derived functional food ingredients with different molecular structures and various biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. However, many polyphenolic compounds have low oral bioavailability, which limits the application of polyphenols in nutraceuticals. Fortunately, green bio-based nanocarriers are well suited for encapsulating, protecting, and delivering polyphenols, thereby improving their bioavailability. In this paper, the health benefits of plant polyphenols in the prevention of various diseases are summarized, with a review of the research progress into bio-based nanocarriers for the improvement of the oral bioavailability of polyphenols. Polyphenols have great potential for application as key formulations in health and nutrition products. In the future, the development of food-grade delivery carriers for the encapsulation and delivery of polyphenolic compounds could well solve the limitations of poor water solubility and low bioavailability of polyphenols for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affected by micro-organisms and endogenous enzymes, fish are highly perishable during storage, processing and transportation. Efficient evaluation of fish freshness to ensure consumer safety and reduce raw material losses has received an increasing amount of attention. Several of the conventional freshness assessment techniques have plenty of shortcomings, such as being destructive, time-consuming and laborious. Recently, various sensors and spectroscopic techniques have shown great potential due to rapid analysis, low sample preparation and cost-effectiveness, and some methods are especially non-destructive and suitable for online or large-scale operations. Non-destructive techniques typically respond to characteristic substances produced by fish during spoilage without destroying the sample. In this review, we summarize, in detail, the principles and applications of emerging approaches for assessing fish freshness including visual indicators derived from intelligent packaging, active sensors, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and optical spectroscopic techniques. Recent developments in emerging technologies have demonstrated their advantages in detecting fish freshness, but some challenges remain in popularization, optimizing sensor selectivity and sensitivity, and the development of algorithms and chemometrics in spectroscopic techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]