Sunisa Siripongvutikorn

The antioxidant and anti-cadmium toxicity properties of garlic extracts

Cadmium (Cd) contamination is a highly dangerous international problem because it can transfer into the food chain and become bioaccumulated, endangering human health. Cd detoxication is very interesting particularly the method providing no undesirable side effects. Cd also causes lipid oxidation that leads to undesired food quality. Garlic (Allium sativum L.) has been used as conventional food and in herbal therapy and folklore medicine as an antibacterial, antitumorogenic, and antioxidant agent for over 5000 years. In the present work, fresh garlic and pickled garlic extracted with distilled water was brought to determine antioxidant activities in terms of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging assay, ferric reducing ability power (FRAP) assay, chelating activities, superoxide, and hydroxyl scavenging assay. The data showed that pickled garlic extracts significantly possessed more DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, superoxide, and hydroxyl scavenging assays as 11.86, 13.74, 4.9, 46.67, and 15.33 g trolox equivalent/g sample, respectively, compared with fresh one as 7.44, 7.62, 0.01, 4.07, and 8.09 g trolox equivalent/g sample, respectively. However, iron chelating activity of fresh garlic extract was higher than that of pickled garlic while there was no significant difference in the copper chelating activity of both extracts. For anti-Cd properties, pickled garlic was more effective than fresh garlic and contained less toxicity than standard diallyl disulfide (DADS). Therefore, therapeutic properties of pickled garlic favored its consumption compared with fresh and standard DADS for its antioxidant and anti-Cd properties.

Selenium-Rich Ricegrass Juice Improves Antioxidant Properties and Nitric Oxide Inhibition in Macrophage Cells

Ricegrass juice (Oryza sativa L.) was introduced as a functional food as the consumption of sprouts or seedlings has been claimed to provide high nutritive value. Selenium (Se) is a trace mineral that plays a key role in the human antioxidation scheme. Supplementation of Se into plants is one strategy to enhance plant bioactivities, and the consumption of Se plant foods may confer superior health benefits. In this study, ricegrass juice extract was analyzed for its major phenolic components. The effect of ricegrass juice extracts bio-fortified with 0, 10 and 40 mg Se/L named as RG0, RG10, and RG40, respectively, were investigated for a percentage of cell viability, changes of endogenous antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation, and nitric oxide inhibition in RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Flavone glycosides, namely chrysoeriol arabinosyl arabinoside derivatives, were found to be the foremost bioactive components in ricegrass juice extract indicated by UHPLC-MS. The results of cell culture assessment revealed that RG40 showed an ability to promote macrophage cell proliferation at low concentration. Ricegrass juice extract in all treatments possessed the ability to reduce malondialdehyde content, which may be regarded as the bioactivity of phenolic compounds. Moreover, Se also played a role in this effect since RG40 showed the greatest ability via increasing the level of GPx enzyme. It was also discovered that phenolic compounds in the extracts played a role in inhibiting nitric oxide in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, RG40 expressed significantly higher NO inhibition properties at IC50 118.76 µg/mL compared to RG0 and RG10, at 147.02 and 147.73 µg/mL, respectively. Se bio-fortified ricegrass juice could be considered as a new potent functional food that can lower the risk of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation diseases.

Southeast Asian diets and health promotion.

Southeast Asia, the food bowl of Asia, covers 11 countries (i.e. Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). Their diet consists principally of rice or noodles as the staple food, fish as the main source of protein, fruits and vegetables, and herbs and spices. Their cooking style is strongly influenced by the Chinese, Indian, and Malay culinary traditions. Their food ranges from the rich and spicy dishes of the Muslims and the Indians in Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore—the milder and less spicy local cuisines of the rest of the countries— to the relatively plain Chinese dishes among the Chinese communities in most cities. Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristics of Southeast Asian diet are the abundance of seafood and fruits and vegetables, and the liberal use of herbs and spices. Fish is considered the healthiest source of protein, made even more nutritious when it contains ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids. Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and the nutritionally extremely important phytochemicals. Spices enhance the flavor and taste of the food, but also add nutritional and medicinal value to the dishes because of their biologically active phytochemicals. Generally, food of Southeast Asia is considered healthy as evidenced largely by the much lower incidence of acute obesity and cardiovascular disease as compared with the West. Unfortunately, with the rapid development and industrialization in these countries, the food trend is moving away from the traditional rice and food with lots of fruits and vegetables to the Western-style fast food and protein-rich diets, with extremely damaging consequence, especially in big cities.

Effect of phosphate treatments on microbiological, physicochemical changes of spent hen muscle marinated with Tom Yum paste during chilled storage

BACKGROUND This research aimed to study the effect of phosphate on quality of ready-to-cook spent hen muscle marinated with Tom Yum paste, a famous Thai food made from chilli, lime leaves and garcinia (pH 2.5-2.9). The effects of phosphate treatments (phosphate types, soaking time, and phosphate concentration) on physical characteristics of spent hen muscle in high acid condition were investigated. Quality changes of muscles pretreated with or without phosphate and marinated with Tom Yum paste were determined during storage at 4 degrees C for 30 days. RESULTS The acidified muscle pretreated with 40 g L(-1) sodium tripolyphosphate for 10 h had the highest marinade absorption, and the lowest cooking loss and shear force among all treatment samples. Microstructures of acidified muscle pretreated with and without sodium tripolyphosphate showed significant swelling with larger fibre diameter. Phosphate pretreatment had no influence on cooking loss, shear force and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance values of Tom Yum marinated muscle during storage. Tom Yum marination with phosphate pretreatment caused a higher increase in psychrophilic bacteria compared to that of marinating without phosphate. CONCLUSION Phosphate pretreatment could not improve the physical quality of Tom-Yum marinated spent hen muscle and affected the antimicrobial property of Tom-Yum marinade, resulting in a reduction of shelf-life of the marinated muscle from 30 days to 20 days.

Protective Effect of Selenium-Enriched Ricegrass Juice against Cadmium-Induced Toxicity and DNA Damage in HEK293 Kidney Cells

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in food is a problem endangering human health. Cd detoxication is an interesting topic particularly using food which provides no side effects. Ricegrass juice is a squeezed juice from young rice leaves which is introduced as a functional drink rich in polyphenol components. Se-enrichment into ricegrass is initiated to provide extra advantages of their functional properties. The protective role of ricegrass juice (RG) and Se-enriched ricegrass juice (Se-RG) against Cd toxicity during pre-, co- and post-treatment on HEK293 kidney cells were investigated. Results confirmed that RG and Se-RG had very low toxicity for kidney cells. Both extracts showed a protective role during pre-treatment and co-treatment against Cd toxicity by exerting a reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA) content and the percentage of DNA damage in tail and tail length of the comets over the Cd-treated cells. However, the Se-RG indicated additional benefits in all properties over RG. High Se content in Se-RG resulted in more protective effects of the regular ricegrass juice. In summary, this study provides clear evidence that Se-enriched ricegrass juice has potential to be developed as a functional food to protect the human body from Cd contamination via the reduction of oxidative stress and DNA damage.

Thermal Inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes in Whole Oysters (Crassostrea belcheri) and Pasteurization Effects on Meat Quality

ABSTRACT This study assesses the practical thermal inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes in whole oysters (Crassostrea belcheri) and the quality changes in meat caused by pasteurization (57.5–70.0°C). The D-value decreased from approximately 4 minutes to half a minute when the temperature was increased from 57.5 to 70.0°C. The z-value of L. monocytogenes was approximately 12.6°C. In the study of physical, chemical, microbiological, and sensory quality effects on pasteurized oyster meat, the 6D conditions for L. monocytogenes were used in processing at 57.5–70.0°C temperatures. It was found that the cooking loss and the b* color coordinate of oyster meat increased, whereas cutting strength, L*, a*, and moisture content decreased (P < 0.05) with treatment temperature. The pH of oyster meat was not significantly affected by the choice of treatment, and no total viable count (TVC) was found in any sample. In the sensory evaluation, odor, texture, and overall acceptability were not significantly affected by the treatment temperature. Only some specific descriptors related to oyster appearance and taste had significant differences between treatments in the sensory evaluation scores. Results from this study are useful for timing the thermal treatment of vacuum-packed whole oysters to inactivate L. monocytogenes.

Functional properties of curry paste in relation to digestibility and fermentation by gut microbiota

ABSTRACT The prebiotic properties of sour curry paste in the upper gut and the gut microbiota were investigated in vivo during digestion. The effect of the addition of garcinia as souring agent in curry paste was studied. Curry paste without garcinia (P1) and curry paste with garcinia (P2) increased the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiota, especially bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, and significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the number of harmful bacteria (Clostridia). Fecal fermentation with P1 resulted in a prebiotic index (PI) of 1.19, whereas fermentation with P2 resulted in a PI of 2.75. The fermented metabolites produced were lactic acid; vitamins; and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. P1 produced metabolites including lactic acid, SCFAs, and B vitamins in higher amounts than P2. After a 24 h fermentation period with colonic microbiota, P1 produced vitamins B1 (18.38 ± 0.10 µg/ml) and B2 (45.28 ± 2.02 µg/ml) but not folic acid, whereas P2 produced only vitamin B1 (5.99 ± 0.48 µg/ml).