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This study investigated the effects of controlled pepsin hydrolysis on antioxidant potential and fractional changes of chickpea protein extracts (CPE). The enzyme hydrolysis increased soluble protein content (1.2 to 2-fold) and free radical scavenging activity (1.9 to 3-fold) of hydrolyzed chickpea protein extract (HCPE), but almost unaffected its antioxidant potential in oil-in-water emulsion system and reduced its iron chelating capacity (1.3-fold) and functional properties. The chromatographic fractions of CPE are mainly acidic, while those of HCPE are mainly basic and neutral. The majority of chickpea proteins had pI between 4.5 and 5.5, and molecular weight (MW) between 15 and 40 kDa, while MW of their pepsin hydrolysis products ranged between 6.5 and 14.2 kDa. The main antioxidant proteins in CPE and HCPE fractionated by ultrafiltration had MW greater than 30 kDa and between 2 and 10 kDa, respectively. The chickpea proteins and hydrolysates showed different potentials as functional food ingredients. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Izmir Institute of Technology (Project # 2004 IYTE 05)

Total antioxidant activities based on ABTS free radical scavenging activity and phenolic content of fresh or dry hazelnuts, walnuts and pistachios assayed with their seed coats changed between 3063 and 11,076 μmol trolox equivalents/100 g d.w. and 256 and 755 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g d.w., respectively. The walnuts used in this study showed the highest antioxidant activity, followed by pistachios and hazelnuts. The removal of seed coat reduced the total antioxidant activity of hazelnuts, walnuts and pistachios almost 36, 90 and 55%, respectively. The total antioxidant activities of investigated fresh and dry nuts are not considerably different. However, phenolic content and antioxidant activity in hydrophilic and ethanolic fractions obtained by successive extraction of nuts showed some variation. The antioxidant activity in 1-serving portion of fresh or dry walnuts is equivalent to that in almost 2-serving portions of black tea, and 1.2–1.7-serving portions of green and Earl Grey tea. One-serving portions of dry hazelnuts and fresh or dry pistachios contained antioxidant activity equivalent to that in 0.7–1-serving portions of black tea. The antioxidant activity measurements correlated with phenolic content ( r 2 = 0.70). This study showed the potential of using fresh or dry nuts to develop functional foods with high antioxidant activity.

In this study, antioxidant activities of water-soluble protein extracts from chickpeas and white beans were investigated. The area under the curve (AUC) values of lyophilized crude protein extracts (dialyzed or undialyzed) from thermally processed (121 °C for 20 min) or heat-treated (90 °C for 20 min) chickpeas (73-91 μmol trolox/g) and white beans (39-67 μmol trolox/g) indicated a higher free radical-scavenging capacity and thermostability for chickpea proteins than for white bean proteins. The thermal processing also increased the Fe+2-chelating capacity of lyophilized chickpea crude protein extracts 1.8-fold whereas it caused a 2.3-fold reduction in the Fe+2-chelating capacity of lyophilized white bean crude protein extracts. Dialysis increased the protein content of lyophilized chickpea extracts 1.5-2-fold but it did not affect the protein content of lyophilized white bean extracts significantly. Ammonium sulfate precipitation was not effective for selective precipitation of antioxidant proteins. However, it improved the free radical-scavenging capacity of lyophilized protein extracts from thermally processed chickpeas and white beans by almost 25% and 100%, respectively. DEAE-cellulose chromatography, indicated the presence of five (A1-A5) and three (B1-B3) antioxidant protein fractions in heat-treated and thermally processed chickpea protein extracts, respectively, and can be used for the partial purification of antioxidant proteins. The results of this study showed the good potential of chickpea proteins as thermostable natural food antioxidants., İzmir Institute of Technology (Project #2004 İYTE 05) and TÜBİTAK (MİSAG # 221)

Pectin methylesterase (PME) causes considerable softening in intermediate-moisture (IM) figs rehydrated at 30 °C and cold stored at 28% to 29% moisture content Rehydration of figs at 80 °C for 16 min inactivated PME partially (25-30%), but this did not prevent the softening over 3 mo of cold storage. Also, heating did not reduce the microbial load of figs significantly and increased their browning. In contrast, rehydration of figs 1st in 2.5% H 2 O 2 at 80 °C for 8 min and then in water at 80 °C for 8 min reduced the microbial load of IM figs significantly, turned their brown color to yellow-light brown, and maintained their desired textural properties. The residual H 2 O 2 in IM figs decomposed in 3 or 1.5 wk by the in situ catalase or by application of the iron (II) sulfate-ascorbic acid residue elimination method, respectively. Hot rehydration did not affect the antioxidant activity of IM figs, but treatment of figs with H 2 O 2 increased their antioxidant activity slightly. These results indicate that the hot rehydration of figs in the presence of H 2 O 2 and cold storage may be applied to obtain safe and SO 2 -free light-colored IM fig products.