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The probiotics are extremely sensitive to various environmental factors, which imposes limitation on their health and functional effectiveness. Thus, development of delivery system for protection of viable cells while passing through different stages of the human digestion system is key factor in application of probiotic products. In our study, the effects of several polysaccharides such as alginate, κ-carrageenan, locust bean gum, gellan gum, xanthan gum and their combination with various prebiotic components (resistant starch, lactulose, lactosucrose) on encapsulation of probiotic Lactobacillus casei 01 strain were studied. Both regular and unregular beads with size distributions from 2 mm up to 5 mm were obtained. The encapsulation efficiencies varied from 64.4% up to 79%. Based on the texture's profiles, the capsules can be grouped into 5 clusters with squared Euclidean distance 3.5. Meanwhile, the starch-alginate and the lactosucrose LS55L - alginate beads were found to be the most stable and to have massive textural properties, whereas the gellan gum - xanthan gum and the chitosan coated alginate beads emerged as the softest. Encapsulation significantly improved the degree of gastric tolerance of probiotic cells even in the presence of pepsin. The INFOGEST in vitro digestion protocol was adapted to investigate the protection effects of different capsules. The highest survival (with loss rate of lower than 1 log CFU/g) was observed in the case of the cells encapsulated in starch-alginate beads. Moreover, the alginate microcapsules combined with lactosucrose LS55L also provided very promising shield for probiotics from the low pH of gastric conditions. Our findings suggest that incorporation of prebiotics into alginate-base encapsulation would be good idea in development of micro delivery systems that helps the survival of probiotics and their delivery to the target sites of action in human body.

Introduction Immunosuppressive therapy used after organ transplantation represents a considerable oncological risk. Abdominal ultrasound examinations play an essential role in the oncological screening of organ transplant patients. Our aim was to study the effectiveness of the ultrasound screening protocol currently used in our clinic. Methods Reports of screening abdominal ultrasound examinations of kidney transplant recipients were processed at the Department of Transplantation and Surgery of Semmelweis University from January 2012 to December 2015. Results In 1478 studies, 14 patients were diagnosed with a malignant tumor, 11 of which were formed in the native shrunken kidney. The mean age for tumor diagnosis was 55.6 ± 12.6 years, and 80% of the patients diagnosed with tumor were male. On average, 7.5 ± 4.6 years passed between the transplantation and recognition of the tumor. All of the kidney tumors were diagnosed at an early stage: histologic examination of removed kidneys showed 73% pT1a- and 17% pT1b-stage tumors. Conclusion In our study, early stage shrunken kidney cancers were outstandingly the most common post-transplant malignancies found by ultrasound screening. Annual ultrasound examinations as part of our current screening protocol allowed the detection of tumors at an early stage in kidney transplant recipients.

Present study introduces the previously not‐described rheological properties of a nondigestible oligosaccharide: xylo‐oligosaccharide which is a novel food ingredient in Europe. Significant differences were observed among viscosity of solutions of different formulas (liquid or powder) of XOS. Thickening potential of XOS in aqueous media compared to that of sucrose (Suc) or fructo‐oligosaccharides strongly depends on utilization level: At low concentration, XOS proved to be weaker while at high concentration to be stronger than fructo‐oligosaccharides. Differences in viscosity of XOS, FOS, and sucrose were much higher at below 60°C than at higher temperatures. Storage and loss modulii of xanthan gum gels were not influenced while those of locust bean gum were affected negatively by XOS addition. Addition of XOS at low concentrations did not decrease gelatin gel strength but increased gelatin gel stability against mechanical stress. XOS proved to have different rheological behavior from previously used oligosaccharides., Present study introduces the previously not‐described rheological properties of a nondigestible oligosaccharide: xylo‐oligosaccharide. We investigated the thickening potential of XOS in aqueous media compared to that of sucrose and fructo‐oligosaccharides. Results indicated that texture‐modifying potential of XOS is different from previously used oligosaccharides, and therefore, it should be taken into account during food product development.

In our tests, we artificially infected liquid whole egg samples with Salmonella enteritidis, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, and then treated the samples in “Food Lab900” high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) instrument for 3–17 min at 200–400 MPa. Subsequently, the change of the viable cell count of the specific bacteria has been tested. In addition to the samples infected with various bacteria, non-infected samples were also treated in each test and the change in viable cell count, colour and viscosity of the samples upon the effect of the treatment. In summary, it can be concluded that in each test of our investigations, the viable cell count of S. enteritidis critical for egg products is reduced significantly, while the reduction of the total viable cell count was around two magnitudes. Additionally, based on our results, microbial destruction, reduction of enthalpy (denaturation of egg white) caused by the treatment at HPP, and colour change are primarily affected by the pressur...

The process of germination in six different wheat cultivars was monitored using NIR spectroscopy and the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) method. Near-infrared spectra provided insight into both chemical and physical changes that occur in the seed, in particular mobilization processes involving carbohydrates. RVA curves also contain physical and chemical information and can be interpreted as physicochemical spectra. The process of germination was followed sensitively through the RVA curves and some rheological parameters (peak viscosity, trough, breakdown, final viscosity, and setback) were highly correlated (R = 0.95–0.98) with predicted values calculated from NIR spectra. Viscosity data calculated from RVA curves collected at 200–480 sec showed the most characteristic changes during the early heat treatment stage of the pasting procedure. Strong intercorrelations were found between viscosity data and NIR spectra from the beginning of the swelling and gelatinization processes in germinating seed. The ...

Seed development (maturation) and seed germination (mobilization) are characteristic phases of the life cycle of plant materials. During these complex metabolic, enzymatic, morphological and structural processes different anabolic and catabolic reactions take place in the seed in highly hydrated conditions. The maturation process can be characterized by the fast formation/decline of monosaccharides and amino acids in the early phase of seed development. In the second phase of maturation the synthesis and polymerisation of reserve carbohydrates and proteins are characteristic. During germination processes modifications in grain include the activation of preformed hydrolytic enzymes, biosynthesis of de novo synthesised enzymes and degradation of the storage compounds in the endosperm. The starch and reserve protein mobilization is accelerated during the first three days of germination and the amount of liberated soluble proteins, free amino nitrogen and sucrose content increase dramatically. Both maturation and germination processes need high moisture content, however, the migration of water is hindered by membranes and by interactions with different solutes and macromolecules. The status and changes of water and other main constituents were measured by near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. This method allows insight into the hydration and dehydration process of physiological events in intact seed samples and also measures the changes of chemical constituents like protein, total nitrogen and polysaccharides. Results confirmed that the combination and overtone bands of water were sensitive indicators of changes in water and they can be used as parameters for detecting the status and changes of water clusters during hydration/dehydration processes in maturing and germinating seed. The changes of carbohydrates and proteins can also be unscrambled from reflectance spectra. NIR spectroscopy can, therefore, be used as a sensitive tool to optimise detection of the stage of growth during maturation and also to evaluate the biochemical and structural processes taking place in germinating seed.