Kati Katina

Rye bran as fermentation matrix boosts in situ dextran production by Weissella confusa compared to wheat bran.

The consumption of fiber-rich foods such as cereal bran is highly recommended due to its beneficial health effects. Pre-fermentation of bran with lactic acid bacteria can be used to improve the otherwise impaired flavor and textural qualities of bran-rich products. These positive effects are attributed to enzymatic modification of bran components and the production of functional metabolites like organic acids and exopolysaccharides such as dextrans. The aim of this study was to investigate dextran production in wheat and rye bran by fermentation with two Weissella confusa strains. Bran raw materials were analyzed for their chemical compositions and mineral content. Microbial growth and acidification kinetics were determined from the fermentations. Both strains produced more dextran in rye bran in which the fermentation-induced acidification was slower and the acidification lag phase longer than in wheat bran. Higher dextran production in rye bran is expected to be due to the longer period of optimal pHxa0for dextran synthesis during fermentation. The starch content of wheat bran was higher, which may promote isomaltooligosaccharide formation at the expense of dextran production. W. confusa Cab3 produced slightly higher amounts of dextran than W. confusa VTT E-90392 in all raw materials. Fermentation with W. confusa Cab3 also resulted in lower residual fructose content which has technological relevance. The results indicate that wheat and particularly rye bran are promising matrices for producing technologically significant amounts of dextran, which facilitates the use of nutritionally valuable raw bran in food applications.

Cloning and Characterization of a Weissella confusa Dextransucrase and Its Application in High Fibre Baking

Wheat bran offers health benefits as a baking ingredient, but is detrimental to bread textural quality. Dextran production by microbial fermentation improves sourdough bread volume and freshness, but extensive acid production during fermentation may negate this effect. Enzymatic production of dextran in wheat bran was tested to determine if dextran-containing bran could be used in baking without disrupting bread texture. The Weissella confusa VTT E-90392 dextransucrase gene was sequenced and His-tagged dextransucrase Wc392-rDSR was produced in Lactococcus lactis. Purified enzyme was characterized using 14C-sucrose radioisotope and reducing value-based assays, the former yielding K m and V max values of 14.7 mM and 8.2 μmol/(mg∙min), respectively, at the pH optimum of 5.4. The structure and size of in vitro dextran product was similar to dextran produced in vivo. Dextran (8.1% dry weight) was produced in wheat bran in 6 h using Wc392-rDSR. Bran with and without dextran was used in wheat baking at 20% supplementation level. Dextran presence improved bread softness and neutralized bran-induced volume loss, clearly demonstrating the potential of using dextransucrases in bran bioprocessing for use in baking.

Comparison of postprandial phenolic acid excretions and glucose responses after ingestion of breads with bioprocessed or native rye bran

Rye bran contains a high amount of phenolic acids with potential health promoting effects. However, due to binding to dietary fibre, the phenolic acids are poorly absorbed in human body. We used bioprocessing with enzymes and yeast to release phenolic acids from the fibre complex and studied the effect of bioprocessing on absorption of phenolic acids in healthy humans. White wheat breads fortified with bioprocessed or native rye bran, and wholegrain rye bread and white wheat bread as controls were served to 15 subjects in a randomized order in the cross-over design. Urine was collected at the basal state and over 24 hours in four-, eight-, and twelve-hour periods and analyzed for phenolic acids and their metabolites with gas chromatography. A total of six blood samples were taken over four hours to study the effect of the bread ingestion on postprandial glucose and insulin responses. Bioprocessing of rye bran increased the proportion of free ferulic acid (FA) and soluble arabinoxylan in the bread. Ingestion of the white wheat bread fortified with bioprocessed rye bran increased (p < 0.001) urinary excretion of FA particularly during the first four hours, indicating increased absorption of FA from the small intestine. The postprandial glucose and insulin responses were similar between these breads. Bioprocessing of rye bran did not affect excretion of benzoic, phenylpropionic, and phenylacetic acid metabolites. As a conclusion, bioprocessed rye bran as compared with native rye bran increased absorption of FA from the small intestine, but did not improve postprandial glucose and insulin responses.

Exopolysaccharides Production during the Fermentation of Soybean and Fava Bean Flours by Leuconostoc mesenteroides DSM 20343

Consumption of legumes is highly recommended due to their beneficial properties. Thus, there is a great interest in developing new legume-based products with good texture. In situ produced microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS) are regarded as efficient texture modifiers in the food industry. In this study, soybean and fava bean flours with different levels of added sucrose were fermented by Leuconostoc mesenteroides DSM 20343. After fermentation, a significant increase in viscosity was observed. Sugars, glucans, fructans, mannitol, lactic acid, and acetic acid were quantified to follow the EPS and metabolite production. By treating the fermented doughs selectively with dextranase or levanase, the major role of glucans in viscosity improvement was confirmed. The roles of microbial fructansucrase and endogenous α-galactosidase in degradation of raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFO) were also investigated. This study shows the potential of Ln. mesenteroides DSM 20343 in tailoring viscosity and RFO profiles in soybean and fava bean flours.

Improvement of the protein quality of wheat bread through faba bean sourdough addition

The effects of the substitution of wheat flour with faba bean flour and faba bean sourdough on the properties of composite bread were investigated. Bread was prepared by replacing wheat flour with 30% of faba bean flour, native or after sourdough fermentation. The addition of faba bean flour influenced the structure of the breads, causing a slight decrease of volume and higher hardness compared to wheat bread. However, when fermented faba bean flour was added, the crumb porosity of the bread was not affected. The addition of 30% of faba bean flour increased wheat bread protein content from 11.6 up to 16.5% of dry matter. The addition of native faba bean flour did not affect the in vitro protein digestibility, resulting similar to wheat bread (64%). On the contrary, faba bean sourdough bread showed higher protein digestibility (73%). Generally, the addition of native faba bean flour caused an improvement of the nutritional indexes of the composite bread, further enhanced when fermentation was carried out. The free amino acid profile, protein chemical score, and biological value index were the highest in faba bean sourdough bread. In addition, the predicted glycemic index was the lowest in faba bean sourdough bread.

Functional food applications of dextran from Weissella cibaria RBA12 from pummelo (Citrus maxima)

Weissella cibaria RBA12 isolated from pummelo from Northeast India produces a dextran composed of 97% α-(1→6) linkages in the main chain and 3% α-(1→3) branched linkages. The in vitro prebiotic activity of dextran-RBA12 was explored. Dextran-RBA12 displayed enhanced growth of probiotic Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus spp., and controlled growth of non-probiotic enteric bacteria. Dextran-RBA12 showed superior resistance to physiological barriers with a maximum hydrolysis of 0.51%, 0.31% and 0.24% by artificial gastric juice, α-amylase and intestinal fluid, respectively, whereas compared to maximum hydrolysis of 25.23%, 19.13% and 6%, respectively after 5h of incubation shown by commercial prebiotic inulin. The production of dextran from Weissella cibaria RBA12 in sourdough prepared from whole wheat flour, wheat bran and rye bran showed the highest dextran of 3.26±0.12% d.w. in rye bran. The overall study summarized that dextran-RBA12 can be used as a prebiotic and also can be easily produced in sourdough.

Sourdough-type propagation of faba bean flour: Dynamics of microbial consortia and biochemical implications

The microbial ecology of faba bean sourdoughs obtained from an Italian (Ita) and a Finnish (Fi) cultivar, belonging respectively to Vicia faba major and V. faba minor groups, was described by 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing and culture-dependent analysis. The sourdoughs were propagated with traditional backslopping procedure throughout 14days. Higher microbial diversity was found in the sourdough deriving from V. faba minor (Fi), still containing residual hulls after the milling procedure. After 2days of propagation, the microbial profile of Ita sourdough was characterized by the dominance of the genera Pediococcus, Leuconostoc and Weissella, while the genera Lactococcus, Lactobacillus and Escherichia, as well as Enterobacteriaceae were present in Fi sourdoughs. Yeasts were in very low cell density until the second backslopping and were not anymore found after this time by plate count or pyrosequencing analysis. Among the lactic acid bacteria isolates, Pediococcus pentosaceus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Weissella koreensis had the highest frequency of occurrence in both the sourdoughs. Lactobacillus sakei was the only lactobacillus isolated from the first to the last propagation day in Fi sourdough. According to microbiological and acidification properties, the maturity of the sourdoughs was reached after 5days. The presence of hulls and the different microbial composition reflected on biochemical characteristics of Fi sourdoughs, including acidification and phenolic compounds. Moreover, proteolysis in Fi sourdough was more intense compared to Ita. The microbial dynamic of the faba bean sourdoughs showed some differences with the most studied cereal sourdoughs.

Degradation of vicine, convicine and their aglycones during fermentation of faba bean flour

In spite of its positive repercussions on nutrition and environment, faba bean still remains an underutilized crop due to the presence of some undesired compounds. The pyrimidine glycosides vicine and convicine are precursors of the aglycones divicine and isouramil, the main factors of favism, a genetic condition which may lead to severe hemolysis after faba bean ingestion. The reduction of vicine and convicine has been targeted in several studies but little is known about their degradation. In this study, the hydrolysis kinetics of vicine and convicine and their derivatives during fermentation with L. plantarum DPPMAB24W was investigated. In particular, a specific HPLC method coupled to ESI-MS and MS/MS analysis, including the evaluation procedure of the results, was set up as the analytical approach to monitor the compounds. The degradation of the pyrimidine glycosides in the fermented flour was complete after 48u2009h of incubation and the aglycone derivatives could not be detected in any of the samples. The toxicity of the fermented faba bean was established through ex-vivo assays on human blood, confirming the experimental findings. Results indicate that mild and cost effective bioprocessing techniques can be applied to detoxify faba bean also for industrial applications.

Glycosylated Benzoxazinoids Are Degraded during Fermentation of Wheat Bran

Benzoxazinoids are plant secondary metabolites found in whole grain cereal foods including bread. They are bioavailable and metabolized in humans, and therefore their potential bioactivity is of interest. However, effects of food processing on their content and structure are not yet studied. This study reports effects of bioprocessing on wheat bran benzoxazinoid content. Benzoxazinoid glycosides were completely degraded during fermentation, whereas metabolites of benzoxazinoid aglycones were formed. Fermentation conditions did not affect the conversion process, as both yeast and yeast/lactic acid bacteria mediated fermentations had generally similar impacts. Likewise, enzymatic treatment of the bioprocess samples did not affect the conversion, suggesting that these compounds most likely are freely bioavailable from the grain matrix and not linked to the cell wall polymers. Additionally, the results show that benzoxazinoids undergo structural conversion during the fermentation process, resulting in several unknown compounds that contribute to the phytochemical intake and necessitate further analysis.

Postprandial glucose metabolism and SCFA after consuming wholegrain rye bread and wheat bread enriched with bioprocessed rye bran in individuals with mild gastrointestinal symptoms

BackgroundRye bread benefits glucose metabolism. It is unknown whether the same effect is achieved by rye bran-enriched wheat bread. We tested whether white wheat bread enriched with bioprocessed rye bran (BRBu2009+u2009WW) and sourdough wholegrain rye bread (WGR) have similar effects on glucose metabolism and plasma level of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs).MethodsTwenty-one (12 women) of 23 recruited subjects completed an intervention with a four-week run-in and two four-week test periods in cross-over design. White wheat bread (WW; 3% fibre) was consumed during the run-in, and WGR and BRBu2009+u2009WW (10% fibre) during the test periods. A meal test providing 51/33/11 E % from carbohydrates/fat/protein was conducted at the end of each period. Fasting and postprandial plasma samples were analysed for glucose, insulin, and SCFA.ResultsGlucose and insulin responses and plasma concentrations of SCFAs to the meal test were similar between the WGR and BRBu2009+u2009WW periods. When compared to the WW period, postprandial insulin concentration at 120 min was lower (pu2009=u20090.023) and the first-phase insulin secretion improved (pu2009=u20090.033) only after the WGR period, whereas postprandial concentrations of butyrate (pu2009<u20090.05) and propionate (pu2009=u20090.009) at 30 min increased during both rye bread periods.ConclusionsBeneficial effects of WGR over white wheat bread on glucose and SCFA production were confirmed. The enrichment of the white wheat bread with bioprocessed rye bran (BRBu2009+u2009WW) yielded similar but not as pronounced effects than WGR when compared to WW alone. Postprandially measured glucose metabolism and concentrations of SCFAs provided additional information along with fasting measurements.