Jose De J. Berrios

Physico-chemical characterization of stored black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Abstract Selected physical and chemical characteristics were studied on black beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) after 2 years of storage under refrigerated hypobaric conditions (RHC) and ambient conditions (AC). Black beans stored under RHC of 4.5°C, 50–60% relative humidity and atmospheric pressure of 125 mm Hg exhibited quality factors characteristic of fresh beans, such as shorter cooking time, smaller quantities of solids loss, electrolytes leached, and percentage of hardshell than beans stored at AC of 23–25°C and 30–50% relative humidity. Additionally, beans stored under RHC demonstrated greater germination rate (93%) than beans stored at AC (72%). Beans stored at AC exhibited quality factors characteristic of hard-to-cook (HTC) beans. Percentage water absorption indicated a faster initial hydration rate in beans stored under RHC compared to beans stored at AC until after 12 h of soaking, when both reached a similar hydration rate. Moisture content of beans stored under RHC was similar to that of beans prior to storage, while the moisture content of beans stored at AC was significantly lower. Crude protein, crude fat, and ash concentration of beans prior to storage and beans stored for 2 years under RHC or AC were not significantly different. The electrophoretic profile of the main protein of beans, globulin G1, was not altered by the storage conditions. The combined effect of refrigeration and hypobaric storage conditions demonstrated potential for maintaining the fresh quality of beans in storage for up to 2 years.

Thermal degradation of anthocyanins from purple potato (cv. Purple Majesty) and impact on antioxidant capacity.

Degradation parameters of purified anthocyanins from purple-fleshed potato (cv. Purple Majesty) heated at high temperatures (100-150 °C) were determined. Purified anthocyanins, prepared by removing salts, sugars, and colorless nonanthocyanin phenolics from the crude extract, were monitored and quantified using HPLC and spectrophotometry for heat-induced degradation products. Separation of colorless phenolics from the anthocyanins was confirmed using HPLC at two wavelengths, 280 and 520 nm. The degradation kinetics of purified anthocyanins followed a first-order reaction with reaction rate constants (k values) of 0.0262-0.2855 min(-1), an activation energy of 72.89 kJ/mol, thermal death times (D values) of 8.06-8789 min, and a z value of 47.84 °C over the temperature range of 100-150 °C. The enthalpy and entropy of activation were 59.97 kJ/mol and -116.46 J/mol·K, respectively. The antioxidant capacity in the purified anthocyanins, measured by DPPH and ABTS assays, was increased after the thermal treatment, indicating antioxidant activities of degradation products in the samples.

Effect of Extrusion on the Antioxidant Capacity and Color Attributes of Expanded Extrudates Prepared from Purple Potato and Yellow Pea Flour Mixes

Foods with antioxidant capacity provide protection against cardio-vascular, certain forms of cancers, and Alzheimers diseases caused by oxidative damages and contribute health benefits. The effect of extrusion cooking on the antioxidant capacity and color attributes of extruded products prepared from 3 selected formulations of purple potato and yellow pea flours using a co-rotating twin screw extruder were studied. Expansion ratios of the extruded products varied from 3.93 to 4.75. The total antioxidant capacities (TAC) of the extruded products, using DPPH assay, were 3769 to 4116 μg trolox equivalent/g dry weight sample and not significantly different (P > 0.05) from their respective raw formulations. The total phenolic contents (TP) of the extruded products varied from 2088 to 3766 μg of gallic acid equivalent/g dry weight sample and retained 73% to 83% of the TP from the raw formulations after extrusion. The total anthocyanins contents (TA) in the extrudates were 0.116 to 0.228 mg of malvidin-3-glucosides/g dry weight sample. Compared with their raw formulations, significant losses (60% to 70%) of the TA in the extruded products occurred due to extrusion cooking. Browning indices and color attributes such as brightness, chroma, and hue angle agreed with degradation of anthocyanins in the extruded products. However, extrusion cooking retained antioxidant capacities of the raw formulations in the extruded products either in their natural forms or degraded products with radical scavenging activity. This study demonstrated the potential for the production of puffed extruded food products with the improved antioxidant content from colored potatoes and pulse formulations.

Bioactivity of Antioxidants in Extruded Products Prepared from Purple Potato and Dry Pea Flours

Measuring antioxidant activity using a biologically relevant assay adds important evidence to aid in understanding the role of phytochemicals based on data from in vivo and chemical assays of extrusion processed purple potato and pea flours. A cellular antioxidant activity assay could provide biologically relevant information on bioactive compounds in raw as well as processed food products. The objective of this study was to investigate the complete phytochemical profiles, antioxidant activity, cellular antioxidant activity, and their contribution to bioactivity in purple potato flour, dry pea flour, raw formulations, and extrusion cooked products prepared with the above ingredients. The free fraction of extracts contributed 68, 64, and 88% to total phenolics, total antioxidant activity (ORAC value), and total flavonoids, respectively, in purple potato flour (PPF). Similarly, extracts in the free fraction contributed 87, 86, and 64% to total phenolics, total antioxidant activity (ORAC value), and total flavonoids, respectively, in dry pea flour (DPF). The amount of total phenolics and total flavonoids in purple potato flour and the antioxidant activity of PPF and DPF were comparable to published data. However, a higher amount in the total flavonoids and lower in the total phenolics of DPF were observed. Caffeic, p-coumaric, and ferulic acids were mostly observed in the bound extracts of raw formulations as in the extrudates, whereas chlorogenic acid was predominant in the free extracts. The extruded products had significantly higher (p < 0.05) content of total phenolics, ORAC antioxidant activity, and flavonoids, compared to the raw formulations. Extrusion processing increased the cellular antioxidant activity of the extrudates prepared from 35:65 and 50:50 PPF/DPF (w/w) of ingredients compared with control raw formulations in a dose-dependent manner. Increase of PPF significantly increased (p < 0.05) the cellular antioxidant activity of 35-50% PPF formulations.

Polishing and parboiling effect on the nutritional and technological properties of pigmented rice

This study aims to evaluate the effects of polishing and parboiling on proximate composition, structure, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, cooking time and hardness of IAC-600 black rice cultivar and MPB-10 red rice lineage. Proximate analysis and light micrographs revealed higher migration of red rice proteins than black rice proteins to the endosperm as a result of parboiling. Parboiling reduced the ash content of red rice while no difference was determined in black rice. Gelatinized starch granules from both genotypes showed similar appearance. There was a decrease in relative crystallinity on both black and red rice subjected to parboiling, which was an indicative of crystallites disruption. Polishing removed more than 90% of free phenolics for both genotypes, while parboiling allowed the partial preservation of free phenolics content in polished rice. Parboiling induced an increase in the cooking time of red rice, but a decrease in the cooking time of black rice.

Optimization of Antimicrobial and Physical Properties of Alginate Coatings Containing Carvacrol and Methyl Cinnamate for Strawberry Application

Increasing strawberry consumption has led to a growing safety concern because they are not washed after harvest. An antimicrobial edible coating could be an effective postharvest technique to ensure microbial safety and, at the same time, retain overall quality of the fruits. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Botrytis cinerea and several physical properties (turbidity, viscosity, and whitish index) of an alginate coating. A full factorial design was used to select the concentrations of carvacrol and methyl cinnamate on the basis of their effect against E. coli and B. cinerea. A central composite design was then performed to evaluate the effects/interactions of the two antimicrobials on the coating characteristics. The results from analysis of variance showed the significant fitting of all responses to the quadratic model. To attain the desirable responses, the optimal concentrations were 0.98% (w/w) carvacrol and 1.45% (w/w) methyl cinnamate.

Non-fermented and fermented jabuticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora Mart.) pomaces as valuable sources of functional ingredients

Jabuticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora. Mart) is a highly perishable fruit native to Brazil, which is consumed both fresh and industrially processed in the form of juices, jams, wines and distilled liqueurs. This processing generates a large amount of waste by-products, which represent approximately 50% of the fruit weight. The by-products are of interest for obtaining valuable bioactive compounds that could be used as nutraceuticals or functional ingredients. In this study, fermented and non-fermented jabuticaba pomaces were studied regarding their hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds, as well as their antioxidant properties, including: soluble sugars, organic acids and tocopherols (using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to refraction index, diode array and fluorescence detector, respectively); phenolics and anthocyanins, (using liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection, and mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization); and fatty acids (using gas-liquid chromatography with flame ionization detection). The analytical data demonstrated that jabuticaba pomaces are a rich source of bioactive compounds such as tocopherols, polyunsaturated fatty acids and phenolic compounds (namely hydrolyzable tannins and anthocyanins) with antioxidant potential. Therefore, jabuticaba pomace may have good potential as a functional ingredient in the fabrication of human foods and animal feed.

Gluten-free spaghetti with unripe plantain, chickpea and maize: physicochemical, texture and sensory properties

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the physicochemical, textural and sensorial characteristics of gluten-free spaghetti elaborated with unripe plantain, chickpea and maize flours. Luminosity (L*) of the uncooked gluten-free spaghetti was not significantly different from control sample, but in cooked spaghetti, L* value was different. The diameters of raw spaghetti (gluten-free and control) were similar, but lower diameters were determined in cooked gluten-free spaghetti; however, some composites had similar water absorption values. Gluten-free spaghetti had higher hardness, cohesiveness and chewiness than the control but had lower elasticity. The maximum peak viscosity was lower in the gluten-free spaghetti than in the control, and no breakdown viscosity was observed, although high setback viscosity was found. The overall sensorial acceptability was similar in the gluten-free spaghetti among the different formulations, but it was significantly lower than the control. It is possible to prepare gluten-free pasta with textural and overall acceptability.

Physical Characteristics of Food Extrudates - A Review

Extrusion is a high temperature short time cooking technique used to produce variety of products from different food ingredients. Food extruders are generally available with segmented screws and barrel section, which facilitates total control over the configuration of the machine to get a combination of various process parameters. These make possible many functional changes and inactivation of undesirable factors present in the food. Optimization of protein denaturation/texturization, starch gelatinization and fat globules modification, etc., could be achieved by selective processing treatments to proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Extrusion cooking is a high-pressure operation that provides sudden expansion of the processed products. The physical characteristics of the extrudate reflect the effectiveness of the process and suitability of ingredients. Though, food extrusion research is being conducted over 50 years, one finds lot of variation in the methods of evaluation of the properties as well as variation in sample size for determining them. Since methods of characterizing raw materials and evaluating extrudates are not standardized, the research results are not interpreted uniformly as well as repeatability of the results for scaling up becomes difficult. In this paper measurement techniques for the raw materials and extrudate properties have been critically reviewed. The feed and/or extrudate properties considered were: Particle Size Distribution, Moisture Content , Water Activity Densities, Pore Size, Expansion Indices, Water Absorption Index, Water Solubility Index, Oil Absorption Capacity, Textural properties, Microstructure, Color, Specific Mechanical Energy , Shear Rate, Foam Capacity, and Residence Time Distribution. Standardization of some of these methods through ASAE is proposed.

Effect of the storage conditions on mechanical properties and microstructure of biodegradable baked starch foams

ABSTRACT Starch-based foams (SBFs) were prepared with corn, potato, tapioca, and chayotextle starches. A compression baking process was used to develop the SBFs. Biodegradation studies showed that different sources of starch have a particular behavior. The starches showed values of degradation of ~85%, while the degradation of SBFs was ~70%. The SBFs were conditioned at relative humidities (RHs) of 0 and 75% and temperatures of 4 and 65°C. The starch source used to prepare the SBFs did not have an effect on the mechanical properties, but the storage conditions showed a significant effect on those properties; an increase of RH causes an increase in the mechanical properties. A similar behavior was observed in the conditioned SBFs at different temperatures. The increase of the storage temperature showed a slight reduction in the values of elongation at break. Microscopy revealed that the conditions of RH and storage temperature affect the internal structure of the SBFs.