Mahesha M. Poojary

Innovative Alternative Technologies to Extract Carotenoids from Microalgae and Seaweeds

Marine microalgae and seaweeds (microalgae) represent a sustainable source of various bioactive natural carotenoids, including β-carotene, lutein, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin and fucoxanthin. Recently, the large-scale production of carotenoids from algal sources has gained significant interest with respect to commercial and industrial applications for health, nutrition, and cosmetic applications. Although conventional processing technologies, based on solvent extraction, offer a simple approach to isolating carotenoids, they suffer several, inherent limitations, including low efficiency (extraction yield), selectivity (purity), high solvent consumption, and long treatment times, which have led to advancements in the search for innovative extraction technologies. This comprehensive review summarizes the recent trends in the extraction of carotenoids from microalgae and seaweeds through the assistance of different innovative techniques, such as pulsed electric fields, liquid pressurization, supercritical fluids, subcritical fluids, microwaves, ultrasounds, and high-pressure homogenization. In particular, the review critically analyzes technologies, characteristics, advantages, and shortcomings of the different innovative processes, highlighting the differences in terms of yield, selectivity, and economic and environmental sustainability.

Extraction of lycopene from tomato processing waste: kinetics and modelling.

Lycopene, a nutraceutical compound, was extracted from tomato processing waste, an abundantly available food industry by-product in Italy. The extraction kinetics was mathematically described using the first order kinetic model, the mass transfer model and Pelegs model to understand the physicochemical behaviour of the extraction. Samples were extracted using acetone/n-hexane mixtures at different ratios (1:3, 2:2 and 3:1, v/v) and at different temperatures (30, 40 and 50 °C) and simultaneously analysed using UV-VIS spectrophotometry. The lycopene yield was in the range 3.47-4.03 mg/100g, which corresponds to a percentage recovery of 65.22-75.75. All kinetic models gave a good fit to the experimental data, but the best one was Pelegs model, having the highest RAdj(2) and the lowest RMSE, MBE and χ(2) values. All the models confirmed that a temperature of 30 °C and solvent mixture of acetone/n-hexane 1:3 (v/v) provided optimal conditions for extraction of lycopene.

Optimization of extraction of high purity all-trans-lycopene from tomato pulp waste

The aim of this work was to optimize the extraction of pure all-trans-lycopene from the pulp fractions of tomato processing waste. A full factorial design (FFD) consisting of four independent variables including extraction temperature (30-50 °C), time (1-60 min), percentage of acetone in n-hexane (25-75%, v/v) and solvent volume (10-30 ml) was used to investigate the effects of process variables on the extraction. The absolute amount of lycopene present in the pulp waste was found to be 0.038 mg/g. The optimal conditions for extraction were as follows: extraction temperature 20 °C, time 40 min, a solvent composition of 25% acetone in n-hexane (v/v) and solvent volume 40 ml. Under these conditions, the maximal recovery of lycopene was 94.7%. The HPLC-DAD analysis demonstrated that, lycopene was obtained in the all-trans-configuration at a very high purity grade of 98.3% while the amount of cis-isomers and other carotenoids were limited.

Influence of Innovative Processing on γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Contents in Plant Food Materials

Over the last several decades, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has attracted much attention due to its diverse physiological implications in plants, animals, and microorganisms. GABA naturally occurs in plant materials and its concentrations may vary considerably, from traces up to μmol/g (dry basis) depending on plant matrix, germination stage, and processing conditions, among other factors. However, due to its important biological activities, considerable interest has been shown by both food and pharmaceutical industries to improve its concentration in plants. Natural and conventional treatments such as mechanical and cold stimulation, anoxia, germination, enzyme treatment, adding exogenous glutamic acid (Glu) or gibberellins, and bacterial fermentation have been shown effective to increase the GABA concentration in several plant materials. However, some of these treatments can modify the nutritional, organoleptic, and/or functional properties of plants. Recent consumer demand for food products which are healthy, safe and, having added benefits (nutraceuticals/functional components) has led to explore new ways to improve the content of bioactive compounds while maintaining desirable organoleptic and physicochemical properties. Along this line, nonthermal processing technologies (such as high-pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, and ultrasound, among others) have been shown as means to induce the biosynthesis and accumulation of GABA in plant foods; and the main findings so far reported are presented in this review. Moreover, the most novel tools for the identification of metabolic response in plant materials based on GABA analysis will be also described.

Thermal and non-thermal preservation techniques of tiger nuts' beverage “horchata de chufa”. Implications for food safety, nutritional and quality properties

Horchata de chufa is a traditional Spanish beverage produced from tiger nuts (Cyperus esculentus L.). Due to its richness in nutritional compounds, it is highly perishable and its conservation by pasteurization and/or adding preservatives is required. Although efficient, conventional thermal treatment for pasteurization induces changes in the nutritional and sensory properties. Replacing conventional pasteurization by non-thermal technologies such as pulsed electric fields, ultraviolet, and high pressure, combined with moderate temperatures (<40°C) allows a reduction of energy consumption, along with the preservation of the most thermo-sensitive molecules. Accordingly, this review deals with the description of the most relevant non-thermal technologies applied to preserve horchata beverage in order to extend the shelf life and inactivate pathogenic microorganisms as well as to preserve the nutritional and quality properties of this food beverage.

Application of Pulsed Electric Field Treatment for Food Waste Recovery Operations

Food industry is generating annually huge quantities of by-products and waste, which are generally considered as problem, as their disposal is associated with environmental and health related issues. During the last decade, numerous research groups and industries have been interested in valorizing these by-products by extracting valuable compounds and incorporating them generally in food and/or cosmetic products, which enhances the profitability of the process. Conventional extraction methods (i.e., maceration, thermal extraction) are exten- sively used for such purposes and showed high yields in many cases. However, the need to replace toxic organic solvents, shortening the extraction time, and reducing the energy consumption has incited the researchers to develop and evaluate alternative methods (i.e., electrotechnologies, high pressure processing, ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extractions), which are more environmental friendly and cost effective. Among electrotechnologies, pulsed electric fields (PEF) technology has been widely evaluated for the extraction of high-added value compounds from waste and by-products, showing promising results, com- pared to conventional methods. This chapter describes the features of PEF as well as its use as sustainable and green recovery technology of valuable compounds from food by-products.

Enzyme-assisted extraction enhancing the umami taste amino acids recovery from several cultivated mushrooms

In this study, enzyme-assisted extraction was performed to extract umami taste and total free amino acids (FAAs) from the six different mushrooms including shiitake (Lentinus edodes), oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus), tea tree (Agrocybe aegerita) and, white, brown and portobello champignons (Agaricus bisporus). β-Glucanase and Flavourzyme® were used as the enzymes for cell wall and proteins hydrolysis, respectively. It was found that β-glucanase treatment alone did not enhance the extraction efficiency, however in combination, β-glucanase and Flavourzyme® enhanced the extraction efficiency significantly up to 20-fold compared to conventional HCl mediated extraction, depending on the mushroom species. The optimal conditions for the enzyme treatment were: water as extraction solvent (initial pHxa0=xa07), enzyme concentration of 5% v/w each of β-glucanase and Flavourzyme®, temperature 50°C and an incubation time of 1h. White and brown champignons were found to be the richest source of umami taste FAAs (26.75±1.07 and 25.6±0.9mg/g DM, respectively).

Improved conventional and microwave-assisted silylation protocols for simultaneous gas chromatographic determination of tocopherols and sterols: Method development and multi-response optimization

This paper reports on improved conventional thermal silylation (CTS) and microwave-assisted silylation (MAS) methods for simultaneous determination of tocopherols and sterols by gas chromatography. Reaction parameters in each of the methods developed were systematically optimized using a full factorial design followed by a central composite design. Initially, experimental conditions for CTS were optimized using a block heater. Further, a rapid MAS was developed and optimized. To understand microwave heating mechanisms, MAS was optimized by two distinct modes of microwave heating: temperature-controlled MAS and power-controlled MAS, using dedicated instruments where reaction temperature and microwave power level were controlled and monitored online. Developed methods: were compared with routine overnight derivatization. On a comprehensive level, while both CTS and MAS were found to be efficient derivatization techniques, MAS significantly reduced the reaction time. The optimal derivatization temperature and time for CTS found to be 55°C and 54min, while it was 87°C and 1.2min for temperature-controlled MAS. Further, a microwave power of 300W and a derivatization time 0.5min found to be optimal for power-controlled MAS. The use of an appropriate derivatization solvent, such as pyridine, was found to be critical for the successful determination. Catalysts, like potassium acetate and 4-dimethylaminopyridine, enhanced the efficiency slightly. The developed methods showed excellent analytical performance in terms of linearity, accuracy and precision.

Fruit and Vegetable Derived Waste as a Sustainable Alternative Source of Nutraceutical Compounds

Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirax90 28, 90123 Palermo, Italy Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 26, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark Nutrition and Food Science Area, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitat de València, Avda. Vicent Andrés Estellés, s/n, Burjassot, 46100 València, Spain

Comparison of selected clean and green extraction technologies for biomolecules from apple pomace

Apple pomace has been considered as a sustainable source for antioxidant phenolic compounds. Previous reports show extraction of total phenolic contents (TPCs) by following various conventional and nonconventional techniques; however, a comparative study has not been reported. In the present work, conventional extraction was compared with several nonconventional extraction methods including ultrasound‐assisted extraction, microwave‐assisted extraction, high‐speed homogenization. Moreover, efficacy of combined treatments, including high‐speed homogenization coupled with microwave‐assisted extraction and ultrasound‐assisted enzymatic extraction, was evaluated for the recovery of TPC. The results revealed that ultrasound‐assisted enzymatic extraction results in the highest TPC (4.62 mg GAE/g); moreover, it simultaneously enabled the recovery of low methoxy pectins with the degree of methylation ranging from 14.03 to 28.85%. The LC‐Q‐TOF analysis revealed the presence of various phenolic acids and flavonoids. The 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay showed that the phenolic‐rich extracts had IC50 values ranging from 27.1 to 54.6 mg trolox/L depending on the extraction parameters.