Gastrodin elata blume (Tianma in Chinese, Chunma in Korean) is a perennial parasitic herbaceous plant native to Korea, Japan and China (Chae et al., 2008). The plant has recently received very good attention, especially in Korea, due to its excellent health-promoting properties. This plant is reported to have excellent antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. This paper briefly reviews some characteristics and functional properties of Chunma.
Gelatin is one of the most widely used food ingredients, with wide applications in the food
industry. It was reported that 41% of the gelatin produced in the world is sourced from pig
skin, 28.5% from bovine hides and 29.5% from bovine bones. However, factors such as the
outbreak of BSE (a.k.a. mad cow disease) and increasing demand for non-mammalian gelatin
for halal and kosher food markets have revived interest in gelatin replacers from plant sources.
In this study, we have successfully extracted valuable pectin—as gelatin replacer--from various
types of plant wastes. Pectin is a high value functional food ingredient widely used as a gelling
agent and stabilizer. It is also an abundant, ubiquitous and multifunctional component of the
cell walls of all land plants. Mango peel was screened as the ideal source for high-yield (36.6%)
pectin of satisfactory quality. The results indicate that citric acid was the best solution for
recovery of pectin from mango peels. An extraction temperature of 90°C and pH 2 provided
the optimum conditions for maximum yield of pectin. The resulting crude mango peel pectin
(CMPP) was analyzed for physicochemical parameters. The results indicated values for ash
content (0.0412%), moisture content (0.303%), viscosity (45.18%), galacturonic acid content
(36.8-37.2-40%) and degree of esterification (38.3-41%). Following analysis of its gelling
properties and sensory evaluation, CMPP has good potential to be applied in the food industry
as a low-methoxyl pectin and a cheap source of gelatin replacer for jam preparations.
Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction of fucoxanthin is more advantageous over conventional solvent extraction as it is less toxic, less hazardous to the environment and preserves the bioactivity of fucoxanthin. A face-centered central composite design (FCCCD) based on response surface methodology (RSM) was employed for SC-CO2 extraction of oils and fucoxanthin from the brown seaweed Sargassum binderi, with ethanol as a co- solvent. Three independent parameters namely, extraction temperature (A: 40, 50, 60oC), pressure (B: 2900, 3625, 4350 psig and particle size (C: 90, 500 and 1000 µm) were investigated to optimize extraction oil yields (EOY) and fucoxanthin yields (FY). A regression model was developed, tested for quality of fit (R2) and expressed in the form of 3D response surface curve and 2D contour. The optimum extraction conditions were obtained at extraction temperature (A) 50oC, pressure (B) 3625 psig and particle size (C) 500 µm. Under these conditions, optimal EOY and FY were 10.04 mg/g and 3188.99 µg/g, respectively. The difference between the lowest and the highest response in EOY and FY were 5.44 – 10.04 mg/g and 2109.10 - 3188.90 µg/g, respectively. The lowest yields were identified at 60oC, 2900 psig and 1000 µm. The regression models generated showing interactions between the variables and EOY and FY response were significant as tested by ANOVA (p < 0.0005 and p < 0.0007, respectively) with high R2 values (0.9848 and 0.9829, respectively). Interactions between the parameters had a strong synergistic effect on EOY and FY values, as indicated by the 3D response surface curve and 2D contour. The experimental results matched the predicted results closely. This indicated the suitability of the models developed and the success of FCCCD under RSM in optimizing the S. binderi extraction conditions.
Microencapsulation is a promising approach in drug delivery to protect the drug from degradation and allow controlled release of the drug in the body. Fucoxanthin-loaded microsphere (F-LM) was fabricated by two step w/o/w double emulsion solvent evaporation method with poly (L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) as carrier. The effect of four types of surfactants (PVA, Tween-20, Span-20 and SDS), homogenization speed, and concentration of PLGA polymer and surfactant (PVA), respectively, on particle size and morphology of F-LM were investigated. Among the surfactants tested, PVA showed the best results with smallest particle size (9.18 µm) and a smooth spherical surface. Increasing the homogenization speed resulted in a smaller mean F-LM particle size [d(0.50)] from 17.12 to 9.18 µm. Best particle size results and good morphology were attained at homogenization speed of 20 500 rpm. Meanwhile, increased PLGA concentration from 1.5 to 11.0 (% w/v) resulted in increased F-LM particle size. The mean particle size [d(0.5)] of F-LM increased from 3.93 to 11.88 µm. At 6.0 (% w/v) PLGA, F-LM showed the best structure and external morphology. Finally, increasing PVA concentration from 0.5 to 3.5 (% w/v) resulted in decreased particle size from 9.18 to 4.86 µm. Fucoxanthin characterization before and after microencapsulation was carried out to assess the success of the microencapsulation procedure. Thermo gravimetry analysis (TGA), glass transition (Tg) temperature of F-LM and fucoxanthin measured using DSC, ATR-FTIR and XRD indicated that fucoxanthin was successfully encapsulated into the PLGA matrix, while maintaining the structural and chemical integrity of fucoxanthin.