Mario Moscosa-Santillán

Spray-drying of passion fruit juice using lactose-maltodextrin blends as the support material

O objectivo deste estudo foi a avaliacao da efectividade das misturas en diferentes niveis de lactose-maltodextrina (8:5, 10:5, 12:5 % w/v) durante a pulverizacao do sumo de maracuja. A secagem foi feita em um atomizador de laboratorio de pulverizacao (modelo Pulvis GB 22) com 2 entradas de temperatura de ar (180 e 190 oC), e 2 compressores de pressao de ar (0.10 e 0.20 MPa). O indice da mistura, higroscopicidade e retencao de vitamina C foram avaliados no po obtido. As curvas de superficie de resposta (p<0.05) mostram que os valores mais baixos do indice da mistura e higroscopicidade foram alcancados no intervalo de temperatura de 188-190 oC e com uma concentracao de 12:5 % w/v de lactosemaltodextrina; o melhor nivel de retencao de vitamina C ocorreu a 180 oC e 0.2 MPa.

Study of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Fructans from Agave salmiana Characterization and Kinetic Assessment

Fructans were extracted from Agave salmiana juice, characterized and subjected to hydrolysis process using a commercial inulinase preparation acting freely. To compare the performance of the enzymatic preparation, a batch of experiments were also conducted with chicory inulin (reference). Hydrolysis was performed for 6 h at two temperatures (50, 60°C) and two substrate concentrations (40, 60 mg/ml). Hydrolysis process was monitored by measuring the sugars released and residual substrate by HPLC. A mathematical model which describes the kinetics of substrate degradation as well as fructose production was proposed to analyze the hydrolysis assessment. It was found that kinetics were significantly influenced by temperature, substrate concentration, and type of substrate (P < 0.01). The extent of substrate hydrolysis varied from 82 to 99%. Hydrolysis product was mainly constituted of fructose, obtaining from 77 to 96.4% of total reducing sugars.

ULTRASONIC ASSISTED PRE-TREATMENT METHOD FOR ENHANCING MASS TRANSFER DURING THE AIR-DRYING OF HABANERO CHILI PEPPER (CAPSICUM CHINENSE)

The ultrasonic pre-treatment method was used for the purpose of reducing the time employed in air-drying of habanero chili pepper. The pre-treatment was performed by immersing the sample in distilled water and applying ultrasonic signals during 30 and 60 min with a 750-Watt ultrasonic processor (20 kHz) operated at different percentages of amplitude (A) ranging between 20 and 100%. The samples immediately underwent air-drying at 60°C in a convection oven with an air velocity of 2 ± 0.2 m/s. A mathematical model that takes into account the influence of the internal resistances to mass transport by diffusion ( ) as well as the resistance of the membrane barrier ( ) promoted by the wax layer of the habanero pepper was proposed to analyze the drying kinetics. The drying time following the ultrasound treatment was reduced from a 25 to a 50% compared to the results obtained in untreated samples. It was found that and were significantly influenced by the ultrasonic pre-treatment (p < 0.05). The highest drying rate was achieved in the amplitude percentage of 80 and 100% with a sonication time of 60 min.

Water Diffusivity and Quality Attributes of Fresh and Partially Osmodehydrated Cactus Pear (Opuntia Ficus Indica) Subjected to Air-Dehydration

Water diffusivity, vitamin C degradation, and color change were assessed in two batches of cactus pear that were dried; one by regular air-drying; and the other one by applying partial osmodehydration followed by air-drying. The drying was done with a convection oven at 40, 50, 60, and 70°C. The pretreatment was performed by immersing the samples for 3 hours in a 40°Brix sucrose solution at 40°C. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a confidence level of 95% (p < 0.05) revealed that water diffusivity was mainly affected by the temperature and the pretreatment. Both the vitamin C loss and the color change behaved as a first-order reaction; the set temperature used was found to be the most important factor in the process.

Effect of prebiotics of Agave salmiana fed to healthy Wistar rats

BACKGROUND Inulin and other fructans are synthesized and stored in mezcal agave (Agave salmiana). Fructans provide several health benefits and have excellent technological properties, but only few data report their physiological effect when added in the diet. RESULTS Here, we studied the physiological effects of fructans obtained from A. salmiana when added in the diet of Wistar rats. Results showed favorable changes on Wistar rats when the fructans was added to their diet, including the decrease of the pH in the feces and the increase of the number of lactic acid bacteria (CFU g-1 ) (Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp.), even these changes were enhanced with the synbiotic diet (fructans plus B. animalis subsp. lactis). Synbiotic diet, developed changes in the reduction of cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations in serum, with statistical differences (P < 0.05). Histological analysis of colon sections showed that synbiotic diet promoted colon cells growth suggesting that fructans from A. salmiana confer beneficial health effects through gut microbiota modulation. CONCLUSION Our data underline the advantage of targeting the gut microbiota by colonic nutrients like specific structure of fructans from A. salmiana, with their beneficial effects. More studies are necessary to define the role of fructans to develop more solid therapeutic solutions in humans.

Sugars and Fructans Separation by Nanofiltration from Model Sugar Solution and Comparative Study with Natural Agave Juice

The fructan separation from a model sugar solution and natural agave juice was studied using a stirred-cell nanofiltration unit operated in concentration mode. Hydrophilic cellulose membrane with MWCO of 1000 Da was used. The experimental conditions were varied to predict the influence of pressure (0.14–0.350 MPa) and feed concentration (0.15–0.25 g/mL) on the initial permeate flux and solute retained fraction (SRF) values of the process. Response surface plots (p < 0.05) showed that the permeate flux and SRF increased significantly with the pressure and decreased with feed concentration. The permeate flux varied from 0.5 to 4.1 L · h−1 · m−2. The fructan retained fraction in model sugar solution varied from 0.85 to 0.97 whereas fructose, glucose and sucrose presented similar SRF values ranging from 0.38 to 0.65. Promising results were obtained when natural agave juice was used.

Experimental and CFD Modeling Study of Inulin-Type Fructan Purification from a Model Solution by Diafiltration on a Pilot-Scale Unit

Nanofiltration of a model inulin-sucrose solution has been studied using a pilot cross-flow unit. The aim of this work was to evaluate two operation modes: total recycle nanofiltration and diafiltration. Experiments were performed at transmembrane pressures from 0.4 to 1.45 MPa and two inlet flow rates. It was found that inulin purification is feasible within the range of the process conditions set. Furthermore, the sucrose retention coefficient is highly affected by the transmembrane pressure but the inlet flow rate does not affect this parameter significantly. Experimental results were simulated by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and a good agreement was observed between the predicted and the experimental values.