Marcela L. Martínez

Walnut (Juglans regia L.): genetic resources, chemistry, by‐products

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is the most widespread tree nut in the world. There is a great diversity of genotypes differing in forestry, productivity, physical and chemical nut traits. Some of them have been evaluated as promising and may serve as germplasm sources for breeding. The nutritional importance of the nut is related to the seed (kernel). It is a nutrient-dense food mainly owing to its oil content (up to 740 g kg(-1) in some commercial varieties), which can be extracted easily by screw pressing and consumed without refining. Walnut oil composition is dominated largely by unsaturated fatty acids (mainly linoleic together with lesser amounts of oleic and linolenic acids). Minor components of walnut oil include tocopherols, phospholipids, sphingolipids, sterols, hydrocarbons and volatile compounds. Phenolic compounds, present at high levels in the seed coat but poorly extracted with the oil, have been extensively characterised and found to possess strong antioxidant properties. The oil extraction residue is rich in proteins (unusually high in arginine, glutamic and aspartic acids) and has been employed in the formulation of various functional food products. This review describes current scientific knowledge concerning walnut genetic resources and composition as well as by-product obtainment and characteristics.

Ferrochelatase is present in Brucella abortus and is critical for its intracellular survival and virulence.

ABSTRACT Brucella spp. are pathogenic bacteria that cause brucellosis, an animal disease which can also affect humans. Although understanding the pathogenesis is important for the health of animals and humans, little is known about virulence factors associated with it. In order for chronic disease to be established, Brucellaspp. have developed the ability to survive inside phagocytes by evading cell defenses. It hides inside vacuoles, where it then replicates, indicating that it has an active metabolism. The purpose of this work was to obtain better insight into the intracellular metabolism ofBrucellaabortus. During aB. abortus genomic sequencing project, a clone coding a putative gene homologous to hemH was identified and sequenced. The amino acid sequence revealed high homology to members of the ferrochelatase family. A knockout mutant displayed auxotrophy for hemin, defective intracellular survival inside J774 and HeLa cells, and lack of virulence in BALB/c mice. This phenotype was overcome by complementing the mutant strain with a plasmid harboring wild-type hemH. These data demonstrate that B. abortus synthesizes its own heme and also has the ability to use an external source of heme; however, inside cells, there is not enough available heme to support its intracellular metabolism. It is concluded that ferrochelatase is essential for the multiplication and intracellular survival ofB. abortus and thus for the establishment of chronic disease as well.

Optimization of soybean heat-treating using a fluidized bed dryer

This study was designed to optimize drying and inactivation of heat-labile inhibitors conditions of soybean by using a fluidized bed dryer, in order to shorten treatment time and to reduce losses in end-product quality such as soy flour color and soy protein solubility. The independent variables were initial moisture of soybeans, heating time and temperature of air entering the fluidization chamber. The response variables studied were final moisture of soybeans, inactivation of urease, soy flour color and soy protein solubility. Response surface methodology was able to model the response of the different studied variables. For each response group, relevant terms were included into an equation; the behavior of response was predicted within the experimental area and was presented as a response surface. The results suggested that a combination of soybean initial moisture of 0.14xa0g/g (wb), treatment time of 3.4xa0min and hot-air temperature of 136.5xa0°C could be a good processing combination of parameters for heating soybean using hot-air in order to reduce treatment time and quality losses in soybean flour. Thus, fluidized bed drying technology may be used as an alternative industrial method to eliminate the antinutritional factors.

Argentinian pistachio oil and flour: a potential novel approach of pistachio nut utilization

In order to searching a potential novel approach to pistachio utilization, the chemical and nutritional quality of oil and flour from natural, roasted, and salted roasted pistachios from Argentinian cultivars were evaluated. The pistachio oil has high contents of oleic and linoleic acid (53.5–55.3, 29–31.4 relative abundance, respectively), tocopherols (896–916xa0μg/g oil), carotenoids (48–56xa0μg/g oil) and chlorophylls (41–70xa0μg/g oil), being a good source for commercial edible oil production. The processing conditions did not affect significantly the fatty acid distribution and minor components of pistachio oil samples. The roasting process not diminish total phenolic (TP) and flavonoids (FL) content significantly compared to natural pistachio flour (NPF), even so reduced the DPPH antioxidant capacity (approximately 20xa0%) in the roasted pistachio flour (RPF). Furthermore, salted roasted pistachio flour (SRPF) showed a slight and significant decrease on TP and FL content in relation to the others samples. The phenolic profile of pistachio flours were evaluated by LC-ESI-QTOF-MS. The major compounds were (+)-catechin (38–65.6xa0μg/g PF d.w.), gallic acid (23–36xa0μg/g PF d.w.) and cyanidin-3-O-galactoside (21–23xa0μg/g PF d.w.). The treatments have different effects on the phenolics constituents of pistachio flour. Roasting caused a significant reduction of some phenolics, gallic acid and (+)-catechin, and increased others, naringenin and luteolin. Otherwise, salting and roasting of pistachio increased levels of gallic acid and naringenin. These results suggest that Argentinian pistachio oil and flour could be considered as ingredients into applications that enhance human health.AbstractIn order to searching a potential novel approach to pistachio utilization, the chemical and nutritional quality of oil and flour from natural, roasted, and salted roasted pistachios from Argentinian cultivars were evaluated. The pistachio oil has high contents of oleic and linoleic acid (53.5 - 55.3, 29 - 31.4 relative abundance, respectively), tocopherols (896 - 916 μg/g oil), carotenoids (48 - 56 μg/g oil) and chlorophylls (41 - 70 μg/g oil), being a good source for commercial edible oil production. The processing conditions did not affect significantly the fatty acid and minor composition of pistachio oil samples. The content of total phenolic (TP) and flavonoids (FL) was not significantly modified by the roasting process, whereas free radical scavenging (DPPH radical) and antioxidant power decreased in a 20% approximately. Furthermore, salted roasted pistachio flour (SRPF) showed a significant decrease in TP and FL content in comparison to others samples. The phenolic profile of pistachio flours evaluated by LC-ESI-QTOF-MS. The major compounds identified were (+)-catechin (38 - 65.6 μg/g PF d.w.), gallic acid (23 - 36 μg/g PF d.w.) and cyanidin-3-O-galactoside (21 - 23 μg/g PF d.w.). The treatments effects on the phenolics constituents of pistachio flour. Roasting caused a significant reduction of some phenolics, gallic acid and (+)- catechin, and increased others, naringenin and luteolin. Salting and roasting of pistachio increased garlic acid and naringenin content.

Wheat germ stabilization by infrared radiation

Wheat germ has an important enzymatic activity, being lipases the enzymes which cause the highest impact in the reduction of shelf life. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of infrared radiation on wheat germ stabilization in an attempt to extend the shelf life. The effects of treatment time, gap (sample distance to IR emitters) and infrared radiation intensity on wheat germ were analyzed through response surface methodology. Final moisture content, final temperature, color of germ and germ oil quality parameters: free fatty acid content changes and total tocopherol content were the responses evaluated using a Box-Behnken design. A combination of an infrared radiation intensity of 4800xa0W/m2, a 3xa0min treatment and 0.2xa0m emitter-sample distance were the best processing condition to stabilize the wheat germ without significantly reduction of the tocopherol content. A confirmatory experiment was conducted with these optimal conditions, and the heat-treated and raw germ samples were stored for 90xa0days at room temperature in three layer packages to protect them against light and oxygen. The oil quality parameters indicated that the raw germ had a shelf-life of about 15xa0days, with the heat-treated wheat germ maintaining its quality for at least 90xa0days under these stored conditions.

Effect of defatted almond flour on cooking, chemical and sensorial properties of gluten-free fresh pasta

Summary nThe aim of this work was to analyse the influence of defatted almond flour on soya bean-based gluten-free pasta. Optimal cooking time of pasta varied between 2.0 and 3.5xa0min, while cooking loss ranged 6.1% and 19.7%. The total protein content of samples varied from 30.4% to 41.0% (dry basis, db) in cooked pasta. The total phenols content of cooked samples varied between 1.66 and 2.99xa0mg ellagic acid equivalent/g, while the antioxidant activity (DPPH•) ranged between 19.1% and 41.9%. The sensory test showed no significant differences between the formulated pasta samples among brightness (3.20–3.27), surface appearance (1.14–1.20), hardness (2.14–2.36) and elasticity (1.56–1.71). Pasta developed is an innovative product that improves nutritional and functional properties of gluten-free pasta compared to gluten-free and traditional wheat flour pasta available on market.