As a nutrient rich emulsion extracted from plant materials, plant-based milk (PBM) has been the latest trend and hot topic in the food industry due to the growing awareness of consumers toward plant-based products in managing the environmental (carbon footprint and land utility), ethical (animal well-fare) and societal (health-conscious) issues. There have been extensive studies and reviews done to discuss the distinct perspective of PBM including its production, health effects and market acceptance. However, not much has been emphasized on the valuable antioxidants present in PBM which is one of the attributes making them stand apart from dairy milk. The amounts of antioxidants in PBM are important. They offered tremendous health benefits in maintaining optimum health and reducing the risk of various health disorders. Therefore, enhancing the extraction of antioxidants and preserving their activity during production and storage is important. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive review of how these antioxidants changes in response to different processing steps involved in PBM production. Presumably, antioxidants in PBM could be potentially lost due to thermal degradation, oxidation or leaching into processing water. Hence, this paper aims to fill the gaps by addressing an extensive review of how different production steps (germination, roasting, soaking, blanching, grinding and filtration, and microbial inactivation) affect the antioxidant content in PBM. In addition, the effect of different microbial inactivation treatments (thermal or non-thermal processing) on the alteration of antioxidant in PBM was also highlighted. This paper can provide useful insight for the industry that aims in selecting suitable processing steps to produce PBM products that carry with them a health declaration.
The growing concerns over product quality have increased demand for high quality dried food products and encouraged researchers to explore and producers of such products to implement novel microwave (MW)-assisted drying methods. This paper presents a critical review of the key principles and drawbacks of MW-assisted drying as well as needs for future research. In this article, recent research into application of microwaves as an alternative heat source, applications and progress in hybrid MW-assisted drying that rely on various drying media and combined two or three stages of MW-assisted drying for the preservation of food products is reviewed critically. The effect of different MW-assisted drying methods, conditions and initial pretreatments on the thermophysical properties, color, nutritional value and rehydration potential of dried food products is discussed in detail along with the discussion on how the material properties evolve and change in structure, color, and composition during MW-assisted drying and recent attempts at mathematical modeling of these changes made for different fruits and vegetables. It should be noted that most of the published results were obtained in laboratory-scale dryers. Pilot-scale testing is needed to bridge the gap between laboratory research and industrial applications to fulfill the potential for novel hybrid and combined MW-assisted drying methods and to expand their role in food processing.
The last decide has witnessed a growing research interest in the role of dietary phytochemicals in influencing the gut microbiota. On the other hand, recent evidence reveals that dietary phytochemicals exhibit properties of preventing and tackling symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, which is a neurodegenerative disease that has also been linked with the status of the gut microbiota over the last decade. Till now, little serious discussions, however, have been made to link recent understanding of Alzheimer's disease, dietary phytochemicals and the gut microbiota together and to review the roles played by phytochemicals in gut dysbiosis induced pathologies of Alzheimer's disease. Deciphering these connections can provide insights into the development and future use of dietary phytochemicals as anti-Alzheimer drug candidates. This review aims at presenting latest evidence in the modulating role of phytochemicals in the gut microbiota and its relevance to Alzheimer's disease and summarizing the mechanisms behind the modulative activities. Limitations of current research in this field and potential directions will also be discussed for future research on dietary phytochemicals as anti-Alzheimer agents.
Diacylglycerol (DAG) is a world leading anti-obesity functional cooking oil synthesized via structural modification of conventional fats and oils. DAG exits in three stereoisomers namely sn-1,2-DAG, sn-1,3-DAG, and sn-2,3-DAG. DAG particularly sn-1,3-DAG demonstrated to have the potential in suppressing body fat accumulation and lowering postprandial serum triacylglycerol, cholesterol and glucose level. DAG also showed to improve bone health. This is attributed to DAG structure itself that caused it to absorb and digest via different metabolic pathway than conventional fats and oils. With its purported health benefits, many studies attempt to enzymatically or chemically synthesis DAG through various routes. DAG has also received wide attention as low calorie fat substitute and has been incorporated into various food matrixes. Despite being claimed as healthy cooking oil the safety of DAG still remained uncertain. DAG was banned from sale as it was found to contain probable carcinogen glycidol fatty acid esters. The article aims to provide a comprehensive and latest review of DAG emphasizing on its structure and properties, safety and regulation, process developments, metabolism and beneficial health attributes as well as its applications in the food industry.
3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters (3-MCPDE) and glycidyl esters (GE) are processed-developed contaminants presence in vegetable oils after undergo refining process under excessive heat. Refined oils are extensively used in various frying applications, nevertheless, the reservation against their quality and safety aspects are of major concern to consumers and food industry. Realizing the importance to address these issues, this article deliberates an overview of published studies on the manifestation of 3-MCPDE and GE when vegetable oils undergo for frying process. With the modest number of published frying research associated to 3-MCPDE and GE, we confined our review from the perspectives of frying conditions, product properties, antioxidants and additives, pre-frying treatments and frying oil management. Simplicity of the frying process is often denied by the complexity of reactions occurred between oil and food which led to the development of unwanted contaminants. The behavior of 3-MCPDE and GE is closely related to physico-chemical characteristics of oils during frying. As such, relationships between 3-MCPDE and/or GE with frying quality indices - i.e. acidity in term of free fatty acid or acid value); secondary oxidation in term of p-anisidine value, total polar compounds and its fractions, and refractive index - were also discussed when oils were subjected under intermittent and continuous frying conditions.
The excellent health benefits of oil extracted from seeds have increased its application in foods, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. This trend leads to a growing research area on their by-products, oilseed meals, to minimize environmental and economic issues. Examples of these by-products are soybean, peanut, kenaf seed, hemp, sesame, and chia seed meals. It is well known that soybean meals have wide applications in food and non-food industries, while other seed meals are not well established. Most oilseed meals are rich in health beneficial compounds and are potential sources of plant protein, dietary fiber, and antioxidants. Many studies have reported on the valorization of these by-products into value-added food products such as bakery and meat products to increase their nutritional and functional properties. These efforts contribute to the sustainability, development of novel functional food and support the zero-waste concept for the environment. This review aims to provide information on the composition of selected oilseed meals from soybean, peanut, hemp, kenaf, sesame and chia seeds, their potential applications in the bakery, meat, beverage, pasta, and other food products, and to highlight the issues and challenges associated with the utilization of oilseed meals into various food products.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio vulnificus are the most significant aquatic pathogens of the genera Vibrio, account for most Vibrio-associated outbreaks worldwide. Rapid identification of these pathogens is of great importance for disease surveillance, outbreak investigations and food safety maintenance. Traditional culture dependent methods are time-consuming and labor-intensive whereas culture-independent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assays are reliable, consistent, rapid and reproducible. This review covers the recent development and applications of PCR based techniques, which have accelerated advances in the analysis of nucleic acids to identify three major pathogenic vibrios. Emphasis has been given to analytical approaches as well as advantages and limits of the available methods. Overall, this review article possesses the substantial merit to be used as a reference guide for the researchers to develop improved PCR based techniques for the differential detection and quantification of Vibrio species.
Umami, the fifth basic taste, is the inimitable taste of Asian foods. Several traditional and locally prepared foods and condiments of Asia are rich in umami. In this part of world, umami is found in fermented animal-based products such as fermented and dried seafood, and plant-based products from beans and grains, dry and fresh mushrooms, and tea. In Southeast Asia, the most preferred seasonings containing umami are fish and seafood sauces, and also soybean sauces. In the East Asian region, soybean sauces are the main source of umami substance in the routine cooking. In Japan, the material used to obtain umami in dashi, the stock added to almost every Japanese soups and boiled dishes, is konbu or dried bonito. This review introduces foods and seasonings containing naturally high amount of umami substances of both animal and plant sources from different countries in Asia.
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a mixture of isomers of linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6), which is mostly found in the ruminant meat and dairy products. The CLA is known to have many potential health benefits, and considered a potent powerful fatty acid, which is linked to animal and human health. The present work aims to discuss the source and production, mechanism of action, and effects of CLA on humans, poultry, and ruminants by reviewing the recent studies carried out on CLA. Despite most of the recent studies indicating beneficial effects of CLA on improving body weight control parameters, its effects on reducing risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), inflammation, blood glucose, and insulin are still controversial, and need to be further studied in different hosts.
New food packaging materials provide an attractive option for the advancement of nanomaterials. The poor thermal, mechanical, chemical, and physical properties of biopolymers and their inherent permeability to gases and vapor have increased this interest. Polymeric materials (matrix) in modern technologies require a filler, which can react/interact with the available matrix to provide a new formulation with improved packaging properties including oxygen permeability, moisture permeability, crystalline structure, barrier properties, morphology, thermal stability, optical properties, anti-microbial characteristics, and mechanical properties. The performance of nanocomposite films and packaging is dependent on the size of the nanofillers used and the uniformity of the nanoparticles (NPs) distribution and dispersion in the matrix. Advancement in nanocomposite technologies is expected to grow with the advent of sustainable, low price, environmentally friendly materials with an enhanced performance. The current review addresses advances in the biopolymeric nanocomposites as alternatives to petroleum plastics in the food packaging industry. It also provides a brief description of biopolymer nanocomposite films and gives general information about different metal NPs with an emphasis on their influence on the emerging characteristics of biodegradable films. The results of recent reports provide a better understanding of the influence of metal NPs in food packaging.
Chitosan is mainly derived from seafood by-products and the thereof chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) are known as nontoxic, biocompatible, biodegradable and functionalized nanostructures. CNPs, as green fillers, showed an appropriate potential in reinforcement of various biodegradable composites for food packaging and biomedical applications. After evaluation of different fabrication approaches and characterization techniques of CNPs, the changes in physical, mechanical, thermal, structural, morphological, and antimicrobial attributes of nanobiocomposites as a result of CNPs addition are discussed. The influence of bioactive loaded-CNPs and hybrid CNPs with metal nanoparticles, graphene, and montmorillonite in nanocomposites is also presented. Finally, the safety aspects of CNPs-loaded structures are highlighted to evaluate their implementation in food packaging and biomedical systems. It can be concluded that regardless of a few drawbacks, CNPs are promising nanomaterials to improve various operational, structural and antimicrobial properties of biocomposites for various applications in food packaging, delivery systems and biomedical uses.
Inflammatory cascades of the dysregulated inflammatory pathways in COVID-19 can cause excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines leading to cytokine storm syndrome (CSS). The molecular cascades involved in the pathways may be targeted for discovery of new anti-inflammatory agents. Many plant extracts have been used clinically in the management of COVID-19, however, their immunosuppressive activities were mainly investigated based on in silico activity. Dietary flavonoids of the extracts such as quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, naringenin, isorhamnetin, baicalein, wogonin, and rutin were commonly identified as responsible for their inhibitory effects. The present review critically analyzes the anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of phytochemicals, including dietary compounds against cytokine storm (CS) and hyperinflammation via inhibition of the altered inflammatory pathways triggered by SARS-CoV-2, published since the emergence of COVID-19 in December 2019. Only a few phytochemicals, mainly dietary compounds such as nanocurcumin, melatonin, quercetin, 6-shagoal, kaempferol, resveratrol, andrographolide, and colchicine have been investigated either in in silico or preliminary clinical studies to evaluate their anti-inflammatory effects against COVID-19. Sufficient pre-clinical studies on safety and efficacy of anti-inflammatory effects of the phytochemicals must be performed prior to proper clinical studies to develop them into therapeutic adjuvants in the prevention and treatmemt of COVID-19 symptoms.
Bacteriocin is a proteinaceous biomolecule produced by bacteria (both Gram-positive and Gram-negative) that exhibits antimicrobial activity against closely related species, and food-borne pathogens. It has recently gained importance and attracted the attention of several researchers looking to produce it from various substrates and bacterial strains. This ushers in a new era of food preservation where the use of bacteriocin in food products will be an alternative to chemical preservatives, and heat treatment which are understood to cause unwanted side effects, and reduce sensory and nutritional quality. However, this new market depends on the success of novel downstream separation schemes from various types of crude feedstocks which are both effective and economic. This review focuses on the downstream separation of bacteriocin from various sources using both conventional and novel techniques. Finally, recommendations for future interesting areas of research that need to be pursued are highlighted.
Respiratory diseases, both acute and chronic, are reported to be the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, affecting millions of people globally, leading to high socio-economic burden for the society in the recent decades. Chronic inflammation and decline in lung function are the common symptoms of respiratory diseases. The current treatment strategies revolve around using appropriate anti-inflammatory agents and bronchodilators. A range of anti-inflammatory agents and bronchodilators are currently available in the market; however, the usage of such medications is limited due to the potential for various adverse effects. To cope with this issue, researchers have been exploring various novel, alternative therapeutic strategies that are safe and effective to treat respiratory diseases. Several studies have been reported on the possible links between food and food-derived products in combating various chronic inflammatory diseases. Nutraceuticals are examples of such food-derived products which are gaining much interest in terms of its usage for the well-being and better human health. As a consequence, intensive research is currently aimed at identifying novel nutraceuticals, and there is an emerging notion that nutraceuticals can have a positive impact in various respiratory diseases. In this review, we discuss the efficacy of nutraceuticals in altering the various cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in mitigating the symptoms of respiratory diseases.
Persistent respiratory tract inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of various chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary fibrosis. These inflammatory respiratory diseases have been a major public health concern as they are the leading causes of worldwide mortality and morbidity, resulting in heavy burden on socioeconomic growth throughout these years. Although various therapeutic agents are currently available, the clinical applications of these agents are found to be futile due to their adverse effects, and most patients remained poorly controlled with a low quality of life. These drawbacks have necessitated the development of novel, alternative therapeutic agents that can effectively improve therapeutic outcomes. Recently, nutraceuticals such as probiotics, vitamins, and phytochemicals have gained increasing attention due to their nutritional properties and therapeutic potential in modulating the pathological mechanisms underlying inflammatory respiratory diseases, which could ultimately result in improved disease control and overall health outcomes. As such, nutraceuticals have been held in high regard as the possible alternatives to address the limitations of conventional therapeutics, where intensive research are being performed to identify novel nutraceuticals that can positively impact various inflammatory respiratory diseases. This review provides an insight into the utilization of nutraceuticals with respect to their molecular mechanisms targeting multiple signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory respiratory diseases.
The food and health applications of bioactive peptides have grown remarkably in the past few decades. Current elucidations have shown that bioactive peptides have unique structural arrangement of amino acids, conferring distinct functionalities, and molecular affinity characteristics. However, whereas interest in the biological potency of bioactive peptides has grown, cost-effective techniques for monitoring the structural changes in these peptides and how these changes affect the biological properties have not grown at the same rate. Due to the high binding affinity of aptamers for other biomolecules, they have a huge potential for use in tracking the structural, conformational, and compositional changes in bioactive peptides. This review provides an overview of bioactive peptides and their essential structure-activity relationship. The review further highlights on the types and methods of synthesis of aptamers before the discussion of the prospects, merits, and challenges in the use of aptamers for bioaffinity interactions with bioactive peptides.
Recent rapid growth of the world's population has increased food demands. This phenomenon poses a great challenge for food manufacturers in maximizing the existing food or plant resources. Nowadays, the recovery of health benefit bioactive compounds from fruit wastes is a research trend not only to help minimize the waste burden, but also to meet the intensive demand from the public for phenolic compounds which are believed to have protective effects against chronic diseases. This review is focused on polyphenolic compounds recovery from tropical fruit wastes and its current trend of utilization. The tropical fruit wastes include in discussion are durian (Durio zibethinus), mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.), rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), mango (Mangifera indica L.), jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), papaya (Carica papaya), passion fruit (Passiflora edulis), dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp), and pineapple (Ananas comosus). Highlights of bioactive compounds in different parts of a tropical fruit are targeted primarily for food industries as pragmatic references to create novel innovative health enhancement food products. This information is intended to inspire further research ideas in areas that are still under-explored and for food processing manufacturers who would like to minimize wastes as the norm of present day industry (design) objective.
Milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) is a complex trilayer structure present in mammalian milk and is mainly composed of phospholipids and proteins (>90%). Many studies revealed MFGM has positive effects on the immune system, brain development, and cognitive function of infants. Probiotics are live microorganisms that have been found to improve mental health and insulin sensitivity, regulate immunity, and prevent allergies. Probiotics are unstable and prone to degradation by environmental, processing, and storage conditions. In this review, the processes used for encapsulation of probiotics particularly the potential of MFGM and its constituents as encapsulating materials for probiotics are described. This study analyzes the importance of MFGM in encapsulating bioactive substances and emphasizes the interaction with probiotics and the gut as well as its resistance to adverse environmental factors in the digestive system when used as a probiotic embedding material. MFGM can enhance the gastric acid resistance and bile resistance of probiotics, mainly manifested in the survival rate of probiotics. Due to the role of digestion, MFGM-coated probiotics can be released in the intestine, and due to the biocompatibility of the membrane, it can promote the binding of probiotics to intestinal epithelial cells, and promote the colonization of some probiotics in the intestine.
Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA) have many health benefits to human. Increasing evidence have shown that climate change reduces the availability of plankton n-3 LC-PUFA to primary consumers which potentially reduces the availability of n-3 LC-PUFA to human. Since marine bivalves are an important source of n-3 LC-PUFA for human beings, and bivalve aquaculture completely depends on phytoplankton in ambient water as food, it is important to understand the impact of climate change on the lipid nutritional quality of bivalves. In this study, fatty acid profile of different bivalves (mussels, oysters, clams, scallops and cockles) from different regions (tropical, subtropical and temperate) and time (before 1990, 1991-1995, 1996-2000, 2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015, 2016-2020) were extracted from published literature to calculate various lipid nutritional quality indicators. The results of this study revealed that the effects of global warming and declines in aragonite saturation state on the lipid content and lipid indices of bivalves are highly dependent on the geographical region and bivalves. In general, global warming has the largest negative impact on the lipid content and indices of temperate bivalves, including decreasing the PUFA/SFA, EPA + DHA and n-3/n-6. However, global warming has a much smaller negative impact on lipid content and lipid indices in other regions. The declines of aragonite saturation state in seawater promotes the accumulation of lipid content in tropical and subtropical bivalves, but it compromised the PUFA/SFA, EPA + DHA and n-3/n-6 of bivalves in all regions. The findings of this study not only fill the knowledge gap of the impact of climate change on the lipid nutritional quality of bivalves, but also provide guidance for the establishment of bivalve aquaculture and fisheries management plans to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Seed mucilages are potential sources of natural polysaccharides. They are biodegradable, biocompatible, sustainable, renewable, and safe for human consumption. Due to the desirable physicochemical and functional properties (e.g. gelling, thickening, stabilizing, and emulsifying), seed mucilages have attracted extensive attention from researchers for utilization as a promising material for the development of advanced carrier systems. Seed mucilages have been utilized as natural polymers to improve the properties of various carrier systems (e.g. complex coacervates, beads, nanofibers, and gels) and for the delivery of diverse hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds (e.g. vitamins, essential oils, antioxidants, probiotics, and antimicrobial agents) to achieve enhanced stability, bioavailability, bioactivity of the encapsulated molecules, and improved quality attributes of food products. This review highlights the recent progress in seed mucilage-based carrier systems for food and nutraceutical applications. The main contents include (1) sources, extraction methods, and physicochemical and functional characteristics of seed mucilages, (2) application of seed mucilages for the development of advanced carrier systems, (3) major issues associated with carrier fabrication, and (4) mechanisms of carrier development, latest improvements in carrier formulation, carrier efficiency in the delivery of bioactive agents, and application in food and nutraceuticals. Furthermore, major challenges and future perspectives of seed mucilage-based carriers for a commercial application are discussed.