This study investigated the potential of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) derived from mung bean protein isolate (MBPI) and peach gum (PG) conjugates as wall materials for microencapsulating chia seed oil (CSO). Four formulations (MMRP1%-4%) were prepared using spray-drying and compared to a commercial sample (CMMRP). The MMRP4% formulation exhibited the highest encapsulation yield (91 %) and encapsulation efficiency (96 %), along with favorable physical properties, including a spherical shape and smooth surface. All formulation showed significantly greater stability during storage at 4 °C compared to 25 °C. After 30 days of storage, the MMRP4% formulation exhibited significantly higher oxidative stability, as evidenced by lowest peroxide values (0.3 and 0.24 mEq O2/kg CSO at 4 °C and 25 °C, respectively). Furthermore, the MMRP4% formulation displayed the slowest decrease in DPPH radical scavenging activity, reaching 6.6 % at 4 °C and 10.4 % at 25 °C after 30 days, compared to 14.2 % and 20.9 % for CMMRP samples, correspondingly. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the effectiveness of MRPs as encapsulants for CSO. Overall, the results suggest that CSO microencapsulated with MRPs of MBPI-PG can be a valuable addition to various food products for long-term storage.
The bioactive compounds and "in vitro" antioxidant activity measured by three antioxidant assays of some traditional and non-traditional cold-pressed edible oils from Macedonia were object of this study. The fatty acid composition showed dominance of monounsaturated oleic acid in "sweet" and "bitter" apricot kernel oils with percentages of 66.7 ± 0.5 and 57.8 ± 0.3%, respectively. The most dominant fatty acid in paprika seed oil was polyunsaturated linoleic acid with abundance of 69.6 ± 2.3%. The most abundant tocopherol was γ-tocopherol with the highest quantity in sesame seed oil (57.6 ± 0.1 mg/100 g oil). Paprika seed oil, sesame seed oil and sweet apricot oil were the richest source of phytosterols. DPPH assay was the most appropriate for the determination of the antioxidant activity of cold-pressed sunflower oil due to high abundance of α-tocopherol with a level of 22.8 ± 1.1 mg/100 g of oil. TEAC assay is the best for the determination of the antioxidant activity of sesame seed oil and paprika seed oils as the richest sources of phenolic compounds. β-carotene assay was the most suitable assay for oils obtained from high pigmented plant material. Triacylglycerols and phytosterol profiles can be used as useful markers for the origin, variety and purity of the oils.
A novel microextraction method based on vortex- and CO2 -assisted liquid-liquid microextraction with salt addition for the isolation of furanic compounds (5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde, 5-methyl-2-furaldehyde, 2-furaldehyde, 3-furaldehyde, 2-furoic and 3-furoic acids) was developed. Purging the sample with CO2 was applied after vortexing to enhance the phase separation and mass transfer of the analytes. The optimum extraction conditions were: extraction solvent (volume), propyl acetate (125 μL); sample pH, 2.4; vortexing time, 45 s; salt concentration, 25% w/v and purging time, 5 min. The analytes were separated using an ODS Hypersil C18 column (250×4.6 mm i.d, 5 μm) under gradient flow. The proposed method showed good linearities (r(2) >0.999), low detection limits (0.08-1.9 μg/L) and good recoveries (80.7-122%). The validated method was successfully applied for the determination of the furanic compounds in concentrated juice (mango, date, orange, pomegranate, roselle, mangosteen and soursop) and dried fruit (prune, date and apricot paste) samples.