Rice consumed as white cooked polished grain has been considered a high glycemic index (GI) food, particularly compared with other starchy foods. However, the levels of rice GI based food can vary among different rice types and food processing technologies. Rice GI variation can be affected by several factors such as rice variety, the genetic background of rice as well as due to crop edaphoclimatic conditions. The main difference in rice starch composition that influence GI is the amylose content. Besides chemical composition of rice, the gelatinization characteristics and food processing can also contribute to starch retrogradation, thus increasing the level of resistant starch with a great influence on GI.

To understand the glycemic response of rice types differing in amylose and viscosity profiles, a group of four rice samples were analysed and compared with standard and resistant HI-MAIZE corn starches. An in vitro enzymatic starch hydrolysis procedure was applied to estimate GI.

The results indicate substantial differences in the starch hydrolysis of the two corn starches. Starch hydrolysis tended to be more rapid and efficient for ‘Waxy’ and ‘Ceres’ (intermediate-amylose rice) rice types than for ‘Maçarico’ (high-amylose rice). In addition, the data show that Maçarico variety has the lowest estimated GI and the highest retrogradation rate compared with ‘Waxy’, ‘Ceres’ and ‘Basmati’ type.

Genus of the Zygophyllaceae family includes evergreen shrub species. Background highlights the antioxidant and anti-tumor activity of Larrea divaricata and nordhydroguayaretic acid (NDGA) due to their potential as a dietary supplement and food preservative, but little is known about Larrea cuneifolia. The aim of this work was to determine the antioxidant activity of extracts of L. cuneifolia and to identify its main phenolic compounds. Extracts were prepared with 50% ethanol from leaves collected in the Central Valley of Catamarca (Argentina). Total polyphenols content (TP) was determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and the phenolic identification and HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS. In vitro antioxidant capacity was measured using the FRAP and DPPH chemical assays and on HepG2 and Caco2a cell lines to which oxidative stress was induced. ROS formation was determined through the dichlorofluresce in probe (DCFH) and cell viability was corroborated by Trypan Blue Test. The phenolic compounds identified were mainly derivatives of NDGA and glycosylated as well as methylated flavanols of quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, and gossipetin. TP content and antioxidant activity exceeded the values ​​reported for L. divaricata. In HepG2, a ROS reduction was observed when the extract concentration increased without affecting cell viability. In Caco2, the effect on stress was less marked and viability increased at higher concentration. L. cuneifolia is a species rich in phenolic compounds, with antioxidant properties and is a potential source of bioactive compounds for the production of functional foods.

Seaweeds have been consumed since ancient times in different cultures, especially in Asian regions [1]. Currently, several scientific studies have highlighted the nutritional value of algae as well as their biological properties [2]. The present work was directed towards the determination of the nutritional composition (ash, protein, fat, carbohydrate content and energy value), the organic acids content and also, the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of three typical red algae from Galicia: Chondrus crispus, Mastocarpus stellatus and Gigartina pistillata. The nutritional profile was by the methods described by AOAC, while organic acids were determined by UPFLC-PDA. The antioxidant activity was assessed using two in vitro assays: TBARS and OxHLIA. At last, antimicrobial activity was tested against two Gram (-), three Gram (+) and three fungus species. The results showed a similar nutritional composition among the three algae, with a low-fat content and a high content of proteins, carbohydrates and energy. Finally, in vitro assays showed significant antioxidant capacity of the three algae and antimicrobial potential against all the tested microorganisms. Thus, the study shows the potential of red algae to be part of the human diet, due to their interesting nutritional content and bioactive properties, acting as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents.

Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019); national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for L. Barros and C. Pereira’s contract though the celebration of program-contract foreseen in No. 4, 5 and 6 of article 23º of Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of 29^th August, amended by Law No. 57/2017, of 19th July; research contract of C. Caleja (Project AllNatt, POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-030463); and to FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through the project TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_P. The research leading to these results was funded by FEDER under the program Interreg V Spain-Portugal by POPTEC, IBERPHENOL Project (ref. 0377-Iberphenol-6-E) and by NANOEATERS Project (ref. 0181-NANOEATERS-01-E), by MICINN supporting the Ramón&Cajal grant for M.A. Prieto (RYC-2017-22891); by Xunta de Galicia and University of Vigo supporting the pre-doctoral grant of P. García-Oliveira (ED481A-2019/295); by EcoChestnut Project (Erasmus+ KA202) supporting the work of M. Carpena; by Ibero-American Program on Science and Technology (CYTED - AQUA-CIBUS, P317RT0003); by UP4HEALTH Project (H2020-BBI-JTI-2019); by Axudas Conecta Peme (Xunta de Galicia) supporting the IN852A 2018/58 NeuroFood Project and by AlgaMar (www.algamar.com).

References

1. Gómez-Ordóñez, E.; Jiménez-Escrig, A.; Rupérez, P. Effect of the red seaweed Mastocarpus stellatus intake on lipid metabolism and antioxidant status in healthy Wistar rats. Food Chem. 2012, 135, 806–811, doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.04.138.
2. Gurpilhares, D. de B.; Cinelli, L.P.; Simas, N.K.; Pessoa, A.; Sette, L.D. Marine prebiotics: Polysaccharides and oligosaccharides obtained by using microbial enzymes. Food Chem. 2019, 280, 175–186, doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.12.023.

Currently, agricultural production generates large amounts of organic waste, both from the maintenance of farms and crops, and from the industrialization of the product. Generally, these wastes are accumulated in landfills or burned, sometimes causing environmental problems. However, many scientific studies suggest that these residues are rich in bioactive compounds, so these matrices could be revalued for their use in food, cosmetic or pharmaceutical industries. In this way, the circular and sustainable economy is favored, while obtaining products with high added value. In this case, this approach is applied to the residues generated from kiwi production, since numerous studies have shown the high content of kiwi in bioactive compounds of interest, such as phenolic compounds, vitamins and carotenoids. These compounds have been reported for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities, among other beneficial properties for health such as its use as prebiotic. Therefore, this article reviews the potential of residues derived from industrial processing and agricultural maintenance of kiwi as promising matrices for the development of new nutraceutical, cosmetic or pharmacological products, obtaining at the same time economic returns and a reduction of the environmental impact of this industry, attaching it to the perspective of the circular economy.

The consumption of macroalgae has increased in occidental countries, favoured by the excellent nutritional properties of their food products and the bioactive properties attributed to them. The present work aims to analyse the nutritional values, the composition in fatty acids, organic acids and carotenoids of several macroalgae species: Codium tomentosum; Himanthalia elongata; Laminaria ochroleuca.; Saccharina latissima; Undaria pinnatifida; Porphyra sp. and Palmaria palmata. Furthermore, the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties were assessed. Regarding the composition of the macroalgae, the levels of proteins (which ranged between 6 and 30 g/100 g of dry weight (dw) for S. latissima and Porphyra sp., respectively) and the low levels of lipids (below 1 g/100 g dw for all the species) stand out. In the case of carotenoids, lycopene and Chlorophyll a were detected in all samples, with the highest values observed in C. tomentosum (11.2 and 56.3 mg/100g dw, respectively), while P. palmata showed the lowest content (0.32 mg and 1.5 mg/100g dw, respectively). Regarding antioxidant activity, OxHLIA assay was employed. EC50 values varied between 1.7 and 650 μg/mL for L. ochroleuca and P. palmata. H. elongata presented the greatest antibacterial potential (minimal bactericidal concentrations between 0.5-2 mg/mL) while L. ochroleuca showed the best antifungal effects (2 – 4 mg/mL). These species have good nutritional values and present interesting bioactivities. Thus, the incorporation of this macroalgae into the daily diet could provide nutritional and health benefits to the consumers. In addition, they could be used as a source of compounds for the nutraceutical, cosmetic of pharmaceutical industries.

Contamination, cross-contamination or recontamination of pig carcasses by pathogenic microorganisms often occur during the slaughter process.

This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of two organic acids as decontaminants in pig carcasses. For this, a mix of Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC and Salmonella Derby bacterial suspensions were inoculated in samples of rind about 25 cm² at two concentrations, with 1.42 × 10⁵ CFU / cm² (Suspension A) and 4.92 × 10⁶ CFU / cm² (Suspension B) of Salmonella mix. After, samples were decontaminated by spraying with organic acids at two concentrations: 2 and 5% of lactic acid or 2 and 5% of citric acid. Five different times were analyzed, 30 minutes, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours, totaling 120 samples. Controls were carried out for detection of Salmonella spp.

In control samples, for suspension A, an increase of 1.36 log CFU / cm² was observed and for suspension B, an increase of 1.43 log/cm² was obtained over the 48 h. With the application of lactic acid (2 and 5%) and citric acid (2 and 5%), lower counts were obtained over time compared to control samples. For lactic acid 2 and 5% there were only observed increases of 0.65 log CFU / cm² and 0.51 log CFU / cm², respectively. For suspension B, in the control samples there was an increase of 1.43 log UFC / cm². With the addition of 5% lactic acid and 5% citric acid, it was possible to observe an increase of 0.23 log CFU / cm² and 0.46 log CFU / cm² counts respectively, over 48 hours of storage, also showing a bacteriostatic effect. over time.

In short, the studied acids had a bacteriostatic effect on Salmonella spp. Of the tested acids, 5% lactic acid was the one that presented better results according to the obtained counts.

The incorrect balanced diet is an etiological factor of metabolic disorders and largely contributes to the development of diseases called the common term of chronic non-communicable diseases, colloquially known in the past as "civilization diseases". Among them, there are: diabetes, atherosclerosis, obesity and cancer. In order to prevent these diseases, various types of pro-health products are promoted on the market. The grain and milling industry is also expanding the range of its preserves by introducing products enriched with the products of various non-bread crops, including legume seed products. Chickpea seed flour is one of the possible raw materials used in supplementing wheat bread. It is characterized by a high content of: proteins, which in its composition contain almost all the necessary amino acids, macro- and microelements (phosphorus, potassium, iron, magnesium) and fiber, as well as B vitamins. In addition, the seeds show healing properties. Hence, it seems justified to use this flour as a raw material in baking white bread in order to enrich it with nutrients. The aim of the work was to evaluate the quality, i.e. to determine the volume, calculate the total baking loss and yield, and also organoleptic evaluation of wheat bread with chickpea flour. Moreover, the purpose of the work was also evaluation of the stolling process of bread, determination of the content of chemical components, including protein and fat, ash and fiber, determination of the content of micro and macro elements and determination of the glycemic index in vitro. The research material was wheat bread and wheat bread baked with various share: 10%, 15% and 30% of chickpea flour. On the basis of the conducted research, it was found that the addition of chickpea flour significantly influenced all quality characteristics, for example by reducing the volume of the loaves. In organoleptic evaluation the bread obtained quality class 1, with the exception of bread with 30% chickpea flour. Chickpea-wheat breads in a day of baking characterized by lower moisture than wheat bread, and this trend continued throughout the storage period . In case of nutrients and micro and macroelements the more share of chickpea flour, their content was bigger. Value of glycemic index was similar and for wheat bread it was the biggest. Based on the survey it can be stated that bread with 10% and 15% share of chickpea flour had similar quality of wheat bread, that’s why chickpea flour can be recommended as an addition in order to enrich wheat bread.

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) is a spice largely consumed worldwide. In spite of its high popularity, there is still restricted information about its fingerprint. This work aims to investigate the mineral composition as a possible marker for the classification of cinnamon samples. A set of 56 ground cinnamon samples were bought in different markets and regions of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Mineral composition (P, S, Mg, Ca, K, Cu, Zn, B, Fe, Al, Mn, and Si contents) was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP OES) after cryogenic grinding) and microwave-assisted acid digestion (6.0 mL of 2.0 mol L^-1 HNO₃ + 2.0 mL of 30% v/v H₂O₂). The principal component analysis was exploited for sample classification, and the content of microelements presented the best correlation: PC1, PC2, and PC3 explained 93% of the observed variance at 95% confidence level. Si, Al, Fe, and Cu presented the most significant contribution to cluster samples, while B presented the lowest one. Samples were classified into 6 groups, in which those presenting C. zeylanicum were well clustered. Two samples, whose labeled information include traces of celery, mustard, and other spices were identified as outliers. Samples acquired in bulk as well as those whose labels declared traces of grains and/or spices presented the highest variability. Thus, it was pioneering to indicate the possibility to identify C. zeylanicum in commercial cinnamon powders, using microelements as authenticity markers.

Phenolic compounds derive from the secondary metabolism of plants and present several biological functions as well as antioxidant activity. Among the spectrophotometric methods, the reaction involving reduction of the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent by phenolates is the most used for the analytical determination. Conventional methods are time-consuming and require high amounts of reagents and sample, thus generating large waste amounts. These hindrances are particularly critical due to the high demand for this analytical task. The aim of this work was to develop an analytical alternative to determine phenolic compounds from acerola cherry (Malpighia emarginata) exploiting a greener microwave-assisted extraction and photometric detection using a smartphone camera as detector. Microwave-assisted extractions were optimized by Doehlert design, in which temperature (from 30 to 60 °C), solvent composition (from 0 to 99% v/v ethanol), and extraction time (from 10 to 50 min) were evaluated. Total phenolic content was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method performed on Eppendorf^® tubes and taking the intensity of reflected radiation as analytical signal. The response at R channel was considered to this aim because of the complementarity with the color of the product. The images were acquired under controlled illumination, inside a styrofoam box containing a LED lamp in the bottom, using the camera of a smartphone Xiaomi Mi A3 positioned perpendicularly to the sample, with a region of interest of 32 x 32 pixel. Images were processed in ColorGrab app (Loomatix®, version 3.6.1, 2017). The best condition for the extraction was 66% v/v ethanol, at 38 °C, for 50 min. Total phenolic compounds was determined by the proposed procedure, corresponding to 146 ± 4 mg GAE g^-1 dry weight, which agreed with the reference procedure (145.0 ± 0.7 mg GAE g^-1 dry weight) at the 95% confidence level. A five-fold reduction in the reagent amount was achieved.

Heterocyclic amines (HCA) are compounds formed by heating meat at high temperature. Concentrations of HCA in meat products should be minimized by applying different approaches. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of roselle extract (RE, 0-1%), potato peel flour (PP, 0-2%), and beef fat (BF, 0-15%) on the formation of HCA in beef patties using response surface methodology. IQx, IQ, MeIQx, MeIQ, 4,8-DiMeIQX and PhIP were identified and quantified by HPLC. Values from 0 to 18.09 ng IQx, 0.20 to 11.66 ng IQ, 0.29 to 3.93 ng MeIQx, 0.19 to 11.51 ng MeIQ, 0.65 to 1.72 ng 4,8-DiMeIQx and 1.87 to 14.7 ng PhIP per gram of sample were obtained. All models were significant (P < .05), with no lack of fit (P > .05) and showed a determination coefficient > 0.70. Roselle extract had a negative linear effect on the formation of the total HCA, while PP and BF had positive quadratic effect. The optimal formula that minimize the formation of HCA included 0.80% RE, 0.85% PP and 7.54% BF. Roselle extract and potato peel are foods that can be used as ingredients to minimize the formation of HCA in beef patties.