Search

This study aimed to explore the alliin, saccharides, antioxidant and some other physicochemical changes of black garlic during the thermal processing steps. The contents of alliin and polysaccharides decreased significantly after 10 days of heat treatment, whereas the content of reducing sugars increased correspondingly. The 57.14% of fructose, 6.78% of glucose and 7.62% of sucrose were mainly saccharides in black garlic to answer for its sweet taste. The color value of black garlic increased over time, whereas the pH decreased continually from 6.25 to 4.25 after heating at 70-80C for 10 days, which contributed a characteristic black appearance and a sour taste mouthfeel. The antioxidant activities, including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrilhydrazyl, hydroxyl radical scavenging and ferric reducing/antioxidant power activities, increased gradually during thermal processing. Practical Applications Black garlic has been used as foods and herbal remedies mainly in Japan, Korea and China, which has a wide range of health benefits, significantly antioxidant properties. Various physicochemical changes have been found to take place during thermal processing of garlic, including alliin, allicin, saccharides, pH, color and antioxidant activities. This is the first study to investigate the changes in the molecular weight distribution of polysaccharides and the monosaccharide composition of black garlic. These changes in saccharide contents and composition could be utilized as quality factors for the production of black garlic. Therefore, the results may have some useful practical implications at both the food technology and nutritional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate phenolics, flavonoids, total and cellular antioxidant activity (CAA), antioxidant capacity in ear sections of sweet corn. Corn cob and mature corn silk showed the highest contents of total phenolics and flavonoids (p < 0.05), respectively. Gallic acid and ferulic acid were the main free and bound phenolics in each ear part of corn, respectively (p < 0.05). Corn resident (CR) had a dominant role in total antioxidant activity and cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) (p < 0.05). Considering all the antioxidant properties, CR showed the best performance. The content of ferulic acid was correlated closely with CAA (R2 = 0.898, p < 0.05) and total antioxidant capacity (R2 = 0.971, p < 0.05), and total antioxidant capacity was also connected tightly with total phenolics (R2 = 0.886, p < 0.05). The results of this investigation were significant to enhance recognition and application of ear sections in food industry. Practical applications: Sweet corn is widely cultivated in Asia, America, and other regions for fresh or industrial food because of high sugar, dietary fiber, and vitamins. However, there is no systematic assay on ear sections of sweet corn concerning antioxidant evaluation. The study investigated phytochemical profiles and antioxidant capacity in ear sections of sweet corn systematically, and made a comprehensive comparison of them combined with correlation analysis. The results indicated that ear sections of sweet corn, not only kernels, demonstrated high antioxidant capacity. Ear sections show promising potential application in food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]