Non-thermal carrier-assisted powdering may alter the subsequent thermal response of sugar-rich food matrices. This study evaluated an experimental honey–microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) powder formulation containing 71.43
Hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the development of metabolic disorders and intestinal dysfunction. The present study investigated the protective effects of a white wine pomace product (wWPP) following in vitro gastrointestinal digestion against hyperglycemia-induced oxidative damage in Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells. Specifically, transepithelial transport of phenolic compounds was first assessed, followed by the evaluation of their effects on oxidative stress biomarkers, redox-sensitive signaling pathways (Nrf2 and NF-κB), and cell-cell junctions’ integrity in Caco-2 cells exposed to hyperglycemic conditions. Results demonstrated that simple phenolic acids, including gentisic, vanillic, caffeic, and ferulic acids, were able to cross the intestinal epithelial barrier. Hyperglycemia markedly reduced cell viability and induced oxidative stress, as evidenced by disruption of the glutathione redox balance (GSH/GSSG ratio), increased lipid and protein oxidation, and decreased nitric oxide levels. Treatment with in vitro-digested wWPP (WPGI) significantly reversed these alterations, restoring redox homeostasis and attenuating oxidative damage. Furthermore, WPGI downregulated GLUT-2, RAGE, and NF-κB gene expression, and enhanced the expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, occludin, claudin) as well as the adherens junction protein E-cadherin, thereby improving intestinal barrier integrity. These findings suggest that WPGI exerts antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, potentially mitigating hyperglycemia-associated intestinal damage and preserve junctional protein expression.
Brewers spent grain (BSG) is an underutilized agro-industrial byproduct of the brewery that can be used as a renewable source for arabinoxylan extraction, thereby contributing to a circular economy. In this study, water and alkali extractable arabinoxylan fractions (WEAX and AEAX) were sequentially extracted from the brewers’ spent grains. Their physicochemical, structural, micrometric, thermal, and functional characteristics were investigated. The obtained WEAX and AEAX were found to be highly substituted structures with arabinose to xylose ratios of 0.83 and 0.65, respectively, exhibiting characteristic FTIR bands for hemicellulosic arabinoxylans. The analysis using FESEM, XRD, and powder flow characteristics revealed the associated amorphous structures, thereby providing complementary insights into observed properties of the AX extracts. Notably, WEAX exhibited higher solubility (80.58
Plant proteins are promising candidates for the green transition in foods, yet their limited functionality remains a major challenge. Partial hydrolysis is gaining interest as an approach to modifying the functionality of plant proteins. The degree of hydrolysis (DH) is routinely employed to characterize partial hydrolysis and relate it to functional properties. In this work, pea protein isolate (PPI) was hydrolyzed using three different proteases, namely Novozym, Alcalase, and Neutrase, across a range of enzyme concentrations, and the resulting hydrolysates were characterized for DH and multiple food-relevant functionalities, including fermentation-induced gelation. The results indicate that the DH was insufficient to correlate with functional properties. For example, although viscosity increased in all hydrolyzed systems, the magnitude of this increase did not align with DH and depended strongly on the protease used. At low DH (≈ 0.5–1
Given the growing consumption of fish and the “clean label” trend in food production, there is an urgent need to develop effective/alternative methods for extending shelf life and ensuring seafood safety. This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of tarragon essential oil (EO) against foodborne Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus strains. The examined oil at a selected concentration (100 nL mL− 1) did not reduce MTT-based metabolic activity in human normal intestinal CCD 841 CoN cells. The exposure of E. coli to the tested oil increased the abundance of selected unsaturated fatty acids, including C18:1, trans 9 and C18:1, cis 9 in comparison to those in the control E. coli culture. S. aureus responded to the toxic stress of exposure to tarragon EO, as it mostly overproduced C14:0 and decreased the abundance of iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0, C16:0, C18:0 and C15:0 in the cell membrane. In this study, tarragon EO inhibited the expression of type II fatty acid synthase system-related genes in the E. coli and S. aureus strains; however, the greatest inhibition was observed for the fabA and fabD genes of E. coli (0.35 and 0.47, respectively) and for the fabG gene of S. aureus (0.35). In situ experiments confirmed the oil’s antimicrobial/biopreservative effects against E. coli and S. aureus strains inoculated into salmon. Sensory evaluations showed that the shelf life of the salmon-based product can be up to 5 days.
