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Applied Sciences
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Biotransformation and Analysis of Functional Foods and Ingredients
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Biotransformation and Analysis of Functional Foods and Ingredients

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 April 2023) | Viewed by 7061

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Claudio Medana

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 5, 10125 Torino, Italy
Interests: mass spectrometry; chromatography; food chemistry; metabolomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Functional foods such as food supplements, nutraceuticals, and their ingredients are currently becoming a core business for both small companies and huge pharma industries. Although their growth in the future market is assured, they sometimes lack quality and characterization, and questions have been raised regarding their efficacy, which is often attributed to their traditional uses. A number of those products (i.e., fermented products, nutraceuticals standardized for the concentration of phytocompounds and prebiotics) may undergo a series of natural biotransformations that are responsible for the production of a specific molecule of interest (biomarker of quality). In this case, to better understand and optimize the natural production of a specific compound, its monitoring by analytical chemistry during biotransformation is the best strategy to obtain the best final product.

This Special Issue is focused both on the technical analyses performed on an ingredient, a functional food or a food supplement (i.e., a nutraceutical product) prior to its market launch and on the analytical chemistry approaches that can be used to monitor, quantitate and improve the extraction yield of a desired compound.

Chemical and biological characterization of those products as well as the discovery of new formulation techniques, chemical food control protocols and bioactivity investigations are, indeed, the focal points of this Special Issue. Both experimental studies, comprehensive reviews, and survey papers are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Claudio Medana
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • functional foods
  • biotransformation
  • biomarkers of quality
  • analytical characterization

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 922 KiB  
Article
Physical and Functional Characteristics of Extrudates Prepared from Quinoa Enriched with Goji Berry
by Mariya Dushkova, Apostol Simitchiev, Todorka Petrova, Nikolay Menkov, Ivelina Desseva and Dasha Mihaylova
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3503; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063503 - 09 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1116
Abstract
In this research, the possibilities of applying the extrusion process to produce functional food from quinoa enriched with goji berries were studied. The physical (expansion ratio, bulk density, hardness, and specific mechanical energy) and functional (water solubility index, water absorption index) characteristics were [...] Read more.
In this research, the possibilities of applying the extrusion process to produce functional food from quinoa enriched with goji berries were studied. The physical (expansion ratio, bulk density, hardness, and specific mechanical energy) and functional (water solubility index, water absorption index) characteristics were determined and optimized by the response surface methodology. Extrudates were produced using a laboratory single-screw extruder. The full factorial experimental design was used (N = 22) with three complementary center points to show the interactions of the amount of goji berry (1, 3, and 5%) and the feed moisture content (13, 16, and 19%) of the mixture on the physical and functional characteristics. Increasing moisture content from 13 to 19% resulted in extrudates with a lower expansion ratio, water absorption index, water solubility index, specific mechanical energy, and higher density and hardness. Increasing the amount of goji berries from 1 to 5% led to a decrease in expansion ratio, water absorption index, and hardness, and an increase in density, water solubility index, and specific mechanical energy. Optimal extrusion conditions for production of extrudates from quinoa enriched with goji berry were 16.3% feed moisture content and 1.32% goji berry’s amount. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotransformation and Analysis of Functional Foods and Ingredients)
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14 pages, 1179 KiB  
Article
Development, Validation, and Application of a Simple and Rugged HPLC Method for Boswellic Acids for a Comparative Study of Their Abundance in Different Species of Boswellia Gum Resins
by Alberto Asteggiano, Loris Curatolo, Valentina Schiavo, Andrea Occhipinti and Claudio Medana
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 1254; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13031254 - 17 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1477
Abstract
The resin of Boswellia plant species has been used since ancient times for its several bio-active curative effects. In modern times, extracts of this resin are still widely commercialized on the food supplements and nutraceuticals market. Nowadays the legislation on botanical extracts and [...] Read more.
The resin of Boswellia plant species has been used since ancient times for its several bio-active curative effects. In modern times, extracts of this resin are still widely commercialized on the food supplements and nutraceuticals market. Nowadays the legislation on botanical extracts and the increasing demand for their safety and traceability are setting new standards for their chemical characterization. In this work we present an easy, feasible and rugged HPLC-UV-based approach for the quantitation of boswellic acids in food-supplement-grade resin extracts of Boswellia plant species. This method can be used for quality control purposes as well as for studying their differences in regional origin, years of harvesting and species-related differences. The method employs a C18 (3 × 150 mm, 3 µm) analytical HPLC column, and the separation is carried out through a gradient of acetonitrile/water with 0.1% formic acid. The method was validated following the ICH guidelines and used to quantitate different samples of commercial resin of Boswellia carteri and serrata together with other samples from unknown species. The six known boswellic acids were identified and quantified in all the analyzed samples. The results were used to build a multivariate model to graphically appreciate their difference through their clustering. The model was then augmented by adding further quantitation data for boswellic acids belonging to different species of Boswellia obtained by another scientific publications to increase the number of studied samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotransformation and Analysis of Functional Foods and Ingredients)
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11 pages, 2000 KiB  
Article
Characterization of l-Arabinose Isomerase from Klebsiella pneumoniae and Its Application in the Production of d-Tagatose from d-Galactose
by Kyung-Chul Shin, Min-Ju Seo, Sang Jin Kim, Yeong-Su Kim and Chang-Su Park
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 4696; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12094696 - 07 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1718
Abstract
d-Tagatose, a functional sweetener, is converted from d-galactose by l-arabinose isomerase, which catalyzes the conversion of l-arabinose to l-ribulose. In this study, the araA gene encoding l-arabinose isomerase from Klebsiella pneumoniae was cloned and expressed in Escherichia [...] Read more.
d-Tagatose, a functional sweetener, is converted from d-galactose by l-arabinose isomerase, which catalyzes the conversion of l-arabinose to l-ribulose. In this study, the araA gene encoding l-arabinose isomerase from Klebsiella pneumoniae was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the expressed enzyme was purified and characterized. The purified l-arabinose isomerase, a soluble protein with 11.6-fold purification and a 22% final yield, displayed a specific activity of 1.8 U/mg for d-galactose and existed as a homohexamer of 336 kDa. The enzyme exhibited maximum activity at pH 8.0 and 40 °C in the presence of Mn2+ and relative activity for pentoses and hexoses in the order l-arabinose > d-galactose > l-ribulose > d-xylulose > d-xylose > d-tagatose > d-glucose. The thermal stability of recombinant E. coli cells expressing l-arabinose isomerase from K. pneumoniae was higher than that of the enzyme. Thus, the reaction conditions of the recombinant cells were optimized to pH 8.0, 50 °C, and 4 g/L cell concentration using 100 g/L d-galactose with 1 mM Mn2+. Under these conditions, 33.5 g/L d-tagatose was produced from d-galactose with 33.5% molar yield and 67 g/L/h productivity. Our findings will help produce d-tagatose using whole-cell reactions, extending its industrial application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotransformation and Analysis of Functional Foods and Ingredients)
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15 pages, 2953 KiB  
Article
Production of Daidzein and Genistein from Seed and Root Extracts of Korean Wild Soybean (Glycine soja) by Thermostable β-Galactosidase from Thermoproteus uzoniensis
by Kyung-Chul Shin, Su-Hwan Kang, Deok-Kun Oh, Dae Wook Kim, Sae Hyun Kim, Chae Sun Na and Yeong-Su Kim
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(7), 3481; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12073481 - 29 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1810
Abstract
Isoflavone glycosides are commonly biotransformed into isoflavone aglycones due to the superior biological activities of the latter. Wild soybeans contain a higher isoflavone content than domesticated soybeans due to their high level of genetic diversity. In this study, we cloned and characterized a [...] Read more.
Isoflavone glycosides are commonly biotransformed into isoflavone aglycones due to the superior biological activities of the latter. Wild soybeans contain a higher isoflavone content than domesticated soybeans due to their high level of genetic diversity. In this study, we cloned and characterized a thermostable β-galactosidase from the extreme thermophile Thermoproteus uzoniensis for potential application in isoflavone conversion in Korean wild soybeans. The purified recombinant enzyme exhibited a maximum specific activity of 1103 μmol/min/mg at pH 5.0 and 90 °C with a half-life of 46 h and exists as a homodimer of 113 kDa. The enzyme exhibited the highest activity for p-nitrophenyl (pNP)-β-D-galactopyranoside among aryl glycosides and it hydrolyzed isoflavone glycosides in the order genistin > daidzin > ononin > glycitin. The enzyme completely hydrolyzed 2.77 mM daidzin and 3.85 mM genistin in the seed extract of wild soybean after 80 and 70 min with productivities of 1.86 and 3.30 mM/h, respectively, and 9.89 mM daidzin and 1.67 mM genistin in the root extract after 180 and 30 min, with the highest productivities of 3.30 and 3.36 mM/h, respectively, compared to other glycosidases. Our results will contribute to the industrial production of isoflavone aglycone using wild soybean and this is the first report on the enzymatic production of isoflavone aglycones from isoflavone glycosides in wild soybeans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotransformation and Analysis of Functional Foods and Ingredients)
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