1,721,114 research outputs found
Protein-Based Delivery Systems for the Nanoencapsulation of Food Ingredients
No full textMany proteins possess functional attributes that make them suitable for the encapsulation of bioactive agents, such as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. This article reviews the state of the art of protein-based nanoencapsulation approaches. The physicochemical principles underlying the major techniques for the fabrication of nanoparticles, nanogels, and nanofibers from animal, botanical, and recombinant proteins are described. Protein modification approaches that can be used to extend their functionality in these nanocarrier systems are also described, including chemical, physical, and enzymatic treatments. The encapsulation, retention, protection, and release of bioactive agents in different protein-based nanocarriers are discussed. Finally, some of the major challenges in the design and fabrication of protein-based delivery systems are highlighted
Food Nanotechnology De Gruyter STEM Ser.
No full textDescription based upon print version of record.Nanotechnology is increasingly being utilized within the food industry to create innovative products with new or improved properties. This book introduces the history of nanotechnology applications in the food industry. It then discusses the key physicochemical and structural characteristics of the different kinds of nanoparticles found in foods, as well as showing how these characteristics lead to their unique functional attributes. Applications of nanotechnology in the food and agricultural industries are then covered, including the creation of nanopesticides, nanofertilizers, nutrient delivery systems, functional ingredients, smart packaging materials, nanofilters, and sensors, as well as for the conversion of waste materials into value-added products. Finally, the potential toxicity of both organic and inorganic nanoparticles found in foods is critically assessed. The author is a Distinguished Professor of food science who uses physics, chemistry, and biology to improve the quality, safety, and healthiness of foods. He has published over a thousand scientific articles and numerous books in this area and is currently the most highly cited food scientist in the world. He has won numerous awards for his scientific achievements. The aim of this book is to provide scientists and technologists with an understanding of the basic principles of nanotechnology and how they can be used in the food and agricultural industry to improve the quality, sustainability, safety, and healthiness of our foods.Intro -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- About the author -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Chapter 2 Nanomaterial properties and their characterization -- Chapter 3 Applications of nanotechnology in agriculture -- Chapter 4 Applications in food and nutrition -- Chapter 5 Advanced nanomaterials for food and agriculture applications -- Chapter 6 Nanotoxicology: The potential risks of food nanotechnology -- Index1 online resource (194 p.)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Evaluating essential oils as biocidal anti-drift adjuvants for safe and sustainable agricultural spray enhancement
No full textTraditional agrichemical formulations are often composed of synthetic ingredients that may exhibit adverse environmental and health effects. Losses from spray drift mean that these potentially toxic ingredients can contaminate the environment and pose significant risks to human health. There is therefore a need for natural ingredients to formulate agrichemical sprays that are non-toxic to humans and less harmful to the environment to ensure greater safety and sustainability. Essential oils are promising candidates as natural biopesticides, but their application is limited due to their phytotoxicity at biocidal-effective dosages. A novel alternative approach utilizes essential oils as dilute oil-in-water emulsion spray adjuvants. This strategy can potentially reduce the usage of conventional pesticide ingredients by synergistically enhancing their effectiveness and reducing losses from spray drift. In this study, we evaluated the antidrift potential of using plant-derived essential oils and quillaja saponin (a natural surfactant) to prepare dilute oil-in-water emulsions for use as safe and sustainable agrichemical adjuvants. In this study, we evaluated the potential of plant-derived essential oils and quillaja saponin, a natural surfactant, to create dilute oil-in-water emulsions as safe and sustainable agrichemical adjuvants. We found that emulsions made with methylated seed oil (MSO) and quillaja saponin showed similar drift reduction performance to those made with MSO and Tween 80, a synthetic non-ionic surfactant. Carvacrol (oregano and thyme essential oil) in water emulsion was found to increase the spray droplet size, thereby making it a promising ingredient for drift reduction. However, we found that limonene (citrus fruits essential oil) in water emulsion had no drift reduction abilities at the same specifications. The different performances of the two essential oils likely arise from differences in their physicochemical properties, which influence the spray atomization mechanism, specifically the ability of the oil droplets entering and spreading on the water–air interface to form perforations.Fil: Heng, Joseph. University of Massachusetts; Estados UnidosFil: Bechard, Samuel. University of Massachusetts; Estados UnidosFil: Lach, David. University Of Massachusetts Amherst; Estados UnidosFil: Rothstein, Jonathan. University Of Massachusetts Amherst; Estados UnidosFil: Wang, Minghe. University Of Massachusetts Amherst; Estados UnidosFil: Ubal, Sebastian. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en Bioingeniería y Bioinformática - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en Bioingeniería y Bioinformática; ArgentinaFil: McClements, David Julian. University Of Massachusetts Amherst; Estados UnidosFil: Corvalan, Carlos M.. Purdue University; Estados UnidosFil: Lu, Jiakai. University Of Massachusetts Amherst; Estados Unido
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ENHANCING NUTRACEUTICALS BIOAVAILABILITY BY NANOEMULSION-BASED DELIVERY AND EXCIPIENT SYSTEMS
No full textThere are numerous kinds of hydrophobic nutrients, nutraceuticals, and vitamins present in foods that can be consumed as part of whole foods, in an isolated form, or as part of processed foods. The oral bioavailability (BA) of many of these hydrophobic bioactives is relatively poor because of their limited bioaccessibility, low absorption, and/or transformation within the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). As a result, their potential health benefits may not be fully realized. The bioavailability of hydrophobic bioactives can be enhanced by designing food matrices that breakdown within the GIT to form compositions and structures capable of controlling the bioaccessibility, absorption, and transformation. Oil-in-water emulsions are particularly suitable for this purpose because their compositions, structures, and properties can easily be controlled. Nanoemulsions can be used to form bioactive delivery systems or excipient systems. The bioavailability of isolated bioactives can be improved by incorporating them in nanoemulsion-based delivery systems, while the bioavailability of bioactives in whole foods can be improved by ingesting them with nanoemulsion-based excipient systems. In this research, the biological fate of nanoemulsions with various compositions and structures were studied by utilizing the simulated gastrointestinal tract. In addition, the nanoemulsion-based delivery systems were established for enhancing the carotenoids bioaccessibility and curcumin accumulation in C. elegans. Furthermore, the nanoemulsion-based excipient systems were studied to enhancing the bioaccessibility of model vegetable, carrot, by optimizing their composition and structure. However, a potential drawback of the excipient emulsion is that co-ingestion of them with fruits or vegetables could increase pesticide bioaccessibility. Our research indicated that the food matrix could significantly impact the bioavailability of nutraceuticals and pesticides, it may further impact other ingested materials, such as nanoparticles. However, there are currently no standardized food models can be used. Therefore, a standardized food model(SFM) was establised based on the average composition of the US diet. The properties of the SFM and its impact on the bioacessibility of nutraceuticals and pesticides and the cycotoxicity of nanopartlces were studied. This information should be useful to facilitate the comparison of results obtained on food matrix effects from different laboratories.Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
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RATIONALIZING NANOEMULSION FORMATION FOR ENCAPSULATION, PROTECTION AND DELIVERY OF BIOACTIVE FOOD COMPONENTS
Full text linkThe objective of this thesis was to design and develop novel food-grade nanoemulsion-based delivery systems for the encapsulation, protection and delivery of lipophilic bioactive food components. These delivery systems could be widely applied in aqueous-based fortified food products, such as beverages, salad dressing and yogurt etc. Both the low- and high-energy methods could be used for fabricating nanoemulsions (r 0.5) for forming nanoemulsions. Q-Naturale® is a natural food-grade surfactant, which is got from the bark of the Quillaja saponaria Molina tree. By using high pressure homogenization (microfluidization), Q-Naturale® could form relatively small droplets (d < 200 nm) at low surfactant-to-oil ratios (SOR < 0.1), but the droplets were not as small as those produced using Tween 80 under similar conditions (d < 150 nm). The emulsions formed by using Q-Naturale® as the emulsifier were stable to droplet coalescence over a range of pH values (2 to 8), salt concentrations (0 to 500 mM NaCl) and temperatures (20 to 90 ºC). Thus, the design of “all-natural” delivery system for vitamin E by using Q-Naturale® as the emulsifier were then studied. Ultrafine emulsions could not be fabricated using pure α-tocopherol acetate as the oil phase due to its very high viscosity, but they could be formed when ≥ 20% MCT was incorporated into the oil phase prior to homogenization. In the absence of glycerol, Q-Naturale® was able to form emulsions containing relatively small droplets (d < 400 nm) from oil phases containing relatively high vitamin levels (60 to 80%). The addition of glycerol into the aqueous phase could help decreasing this droplet size. Q-Naturale® was more effective than Tween 80 at producing small droplets with oil phase containing high levels of vitamin E acetate. The influence of carrier oil type on the bioaccessibility and molecular form of vitamin E encapsulated in Q-Naturale® delivery system was then examined using a simulated gastrointestinal model. The total bioaccessibility of vitamin E after digestion was higher for LCT- than MCT-emulsions, which was attributed to the greater solubilization capacity of mixed micelles formed from long chain fatty acids. The conversion of α-tocopherol acetate to α-tocopherol after in vitro digestion was also considerably higher for LCT- than MCT-emulsions, which may impact the subsequent absorption of the vitamin E. Morever, by using emulsion titration assay for further quantifying the kinetics and extent of vitamin E and vitamin E acetate solubilization in model mixed micelles, the solubilization capacities were depended on the composition of the mixed micelles: micelle solubilization of vitamin E was increased by the presence of phospholipid (DOPC), but did not depend strongly on the presence of free fatty acid (octanoic acid or linoleic acid). The solubilization capacity of the mixed micelles for vitamin E was higher than that for vitamin E acetate, which was attributed to differences in the ability of the vitamin molecules to be incorporated into the micelle structure. Finally, all the key factors impacting on the bioaccessibility of emulsified vitamin E, such as calcium ions, phospholipids, carrier oil type etc., were then overall studied using a simulated small intestine model. The addition of calcium (CaCl2) to the SSIF increased the extent of lipid digestion in LCT-emulsions, but had little impact in MCT-emulsions. The bioaccessibility of vitamin E increased in the presence of calcium and phospholipids (DOPC) in LCT-emulsions, but decreased in MCT-emulsions. The highest bioaccessibility (≈ 66%) was achieved for LCT-emulsions when the SSIF contained both calcium and DOPC. The conversion of α-tocopherol acetate to α-tocopherol after in vitro digestion was considerably higher for LCT-emulsions when calcium ions were present in the SSIF, but was not strongly affected by SSIF composition for MCT-emulsions. Overall, the results obtained in these studies will provide guidelines for rationally designing effective nanoemulsion-based delivery systems for encapsulating, protecting and delivering lipophilic bioactive components. These delivery systems could be used in various industrial products, such as fortified foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and personal care products in the future.Food ScienceDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
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DEVELOPMENT OF HYBRID MEAT ANALOG COMPOSITES: COMPARATIVE STUDY OF WHEY-MUSHROOM AND PLANT-BASED PROTEINS WITH POTATO PROTEIN-MYCOPROTEIN BLENDS
No full textIn response to growing concerns about the environmental impact of traditional animal-based food production, there has been a significant shift towards the development
of hybrid foods made from sustainable alternative proteins. Animal agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, water scarcity, and other
environmental issues, prompting a demand for more sustainable food solutions. Hybrid foods, particularly those combining plant proteins with fungi-based ingredients like
mushrooms or mycelium, offer a promising alternative, as they typically require fewer resources and have a lower carbon footprint. These foods also provide numerous health benefits, such as being lower in saturated fats and cholesterol, and high in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Hybrid foods therefore have the possibility of combining the
benefits from different alternative protein sources, thereby creating products that are more desirable to consumers.
This study explores two approaches: (i) blending whey protein isolate (WPI) with shiitake (SM) or oyster mushroom (OM) powders and (ii) combining potato protein (PP) with mycoprotein (MCP). SM and OM, which are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fibers, enhanced the nutritional profile of WPI, but their incorporation into whey protein gels reduced their hardness, elasticity, and lightness, and increased their brownness. OM also increased the thermal stability of WPI. In the PP-MCP system, MCP fibers reinforced the PP matrix, forming stable, elastic gels with improved strength, chewiness, and thermal resilience, addressing MCP's limited gelling properties. A range of analytical techniques, including confocal microscopy, particle electrophoresis, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic shear rheology, texture profile analysis, and scanning electron microscopy, were employed to assess the microstructural, physicochemical, and rheological properties of the hybrids. The findings of this study highlight the potential of combining fungal, plant-based, and dairy proteins to develop more sustainable, desirable, and nutritious meat alternatives.Master of Science (M.S.)2025-08-0
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Utilization of Soft Matter Physics Approaches to Create Plant-based Adipose Tissue and Muscle Analogs
Full text linkThe negative impacts of livestock production on the environment, animal welfare, and human health have stimulated research into the development of plant-based meat analogs that look, feel, and taste like real meat. However, there are challenges in creating high-quality meat analogs using existing technologies, such as extrusion methods, which have high capital costs and energy requirements. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore the possibility of using soft matter physics methods to create plant-based adipose and muscle tissues with microstructures and physicochemical properties similar to those of real meat.
Initially, the creation of plant-based analogs of beef adipose tissue was investigated. Microscopy, calorimetry, and rheology were used to characterize the microstructure and physicochemical properties of real and plant-based adipose tissue. The adipocytes in real adipose tissue had average diameters around 100 m and consisted of triacylglycerol-rich cells embedded in protein-rich matrices. Beef adipose tissue melted from 40 to 75 ºC, which led to significant melting, softening, and oiling off during cooking, which contributed to its desirable sensory attributes. Plant-based adipose tissue was developed using high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) to simulate the properties of real adipose tissue. Oil-in-water emulsions were prepared with different soybean oil (60-85%) and soybean protein (0.25-3%) concentrations by homogenization. HIPEs containing 75% oil and 2% protein were found to provide appearances, textures, and stabilities somewhat like real adipose tissue. Nevertheless, the average droplet diameter (around 10 µm) in the plant-based HIPEs was considerably less than that in the real adipose tissue (around 100 µm). Moreover, the hardness of the beef adipose tissue was greater than that of the plant-based HIPEs at ambient temperature, and the real adipose tissue melted upon heating, which was attributed to the presence of fat crystals. For this reason, other emulsion technologies were employed to overcome these challenges, including adding cold-setting polysaccharides (agar) to the aqueous phase solid fats (coconut oil) to the oil phase. These strategies led to plant-based adipose tissue that more closely mimicked the texture of real adipose tissue.
The potential of creating plant-based muscle tissue with a structure and texture similar to that of real meat was then explored by controlled phase separation-shearing-gelling of plant protein-polysaccharide blends. The impact of pH, salt addition, polysaccharide addition, and crosslinking with enzymes (transglutaminase) on the formation and properties of potato protein gels was examined. Potato protein was used as an example of a globular plant protein with good heat-set gelation properties. By controlling the composition, processing, and crosslinking of the protein-polysaccharide mixtures, plant-based muscle analogs could successfully be formed.
Real meat products usually contain fat in the form of adipocytes, which may be present as separate tissues are dispersed throughout the biopolymer-matrix. For this reason, the impact of oil droplet concentration, size, and surface characteristics on the physicochemical properties of potato protein gels was examined. Oil droplets were coated with either a non-ionic surfactant (Tween 20) or a plant protein (patatin) to provide different surface attributes. The introduction of the oil droplets caused the protein gels to change color from mauve to off-white, due to increased light scattering. Increasing the oil droplet concentration in the emulsion gels decreased their shear modulus and Young's modulus, probably because the oil droplets were less rigid than the surrounding protein matrix. Larger oil droplet sizes had a bigger effect due to their greater deformability (lower Laplace pressure). This study showed that oil droplets significantly influence the appearance, texture, and stability of plant protein gels.Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
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IMPROVEMENT OF SOLUBILITY, STABILITY, AND BIOACCESSIBILITY OF CURCUMIN USING COLLOIDAL DELIVERY SYSTEMS
No full textCurcumin is a yellow-orange crystalline substance found in certain foods (turmeric) that is claimed to exhibit a broad range of biological activities. Its application as a nutraceutical in functional foods and beverages is often limited by its relatively low solubility in aqueous media, its chemical instability, and its low bioavailability. Recent research suggests that colloidal delivery systems can overcome these hurdles and improve the efficacy and commercial value of curcumin in the food, supplement, and pharmaceutical fields. The purpose of this research was to develop colloidal delivery systems to improve the application of curcumin as a nutraceutical in foods. First, the chemical degradation of curcumin in oil-in-water emulsions and filled hydrogel beads (alginate and chitosan beads) was initially compared to that of curcumin in aqueous solutions (dimethyl sulfoxide, DMSO). The same amount of curcumin was encapsulated in all the delivery systems, and the emulsion and aqueous solution form of curcumin exhibited higher color intensity than the hydrogel beads. After being incubated in the samples under both acidic and neutral conditions for 15-days at 55 ºC in the dark, it was found that curcumin was more stable under acidic than neutral conditions. Interestingly, the encapsulation of curcumin in alginate beads actually promoted its degradation at both acidic and neutral pH, but encapsulation in chitosan beads enhanced its stability at pH 7 but reduced it at pH 3. The curcumin degradation rate increased in the following order: at pH 7, chitosan beads heat-driven (76%) > conventional method (56%). The bioaccessibility of the colloidal delivery systems created using the pH-driven method was then compared to that in three commercial supplements that use different encapsulation technologies: Nature Made, Full Spectrum, and CurcuWin. The curcumin concentration in the mixed micelles decreased in the following order: CurcuWin ≈ pH-driven nanoemulsions > heat-driven nanoemulsions > conventional nanoemulsions >> Full spectrum > Nature Made. This result indicated our natural emulsion-based system was suitable for encapsulating and increasing the bioaccessibility of curcumin. Third, we compared the efficacy of three different colloidal delivery systems produced using the pH-driven method: curcumin nanocrystals; curcumin-loaded nanoemulsions; and curcumin-loaded soy oil bodies. A control was also used that consisted of curcumin powder dispersed in water. The nanoemulsions and oil bodies formed yellowish creamy dispersions that were stable to creaming, whereas the nanocrystals formed a cloudy yellow-orange suspension that was prone to sedimentation. The potential fate of the different delivery systems after ingestion was assessed using a gastrointestinal tract (GIT) model that consisted of mouth, stomach, and small intestine phases. The nanoemulsions and oil bodies were rapidly and fully digested, while the nanocrystals were not. All three systems were relatively stable to chemical transformation in the in vitro digestion model, but the nanocrystals gave a low bioaccessibility, whereas the other two systems had a high bioaccessibility, which was attributed to their ability to form mixed micelles that solubilized the curcumin. Fourth, we examined the physical and chemical stability of curcumin-loaded soybean oil bodies prepared using the pH-driven method. First, the impact of pH (from 6.5 to 8) on the stability of curcumin-loaded soymilk during storage was investigated at 4 ºC for 36 days. At this low storage temperature, more than 85% of the alkaline-sensitive curcumin was retained at all three pH values, without any evidence of color fading. The impact of holding temperature (4, 20, 37, and 55 ºC) on the physicochemical stability of the curcumin-loaded soymilks was then measured during storage at pH 7 for 14 days. At 4 and 20 ºC, the emulsions remained physically stable, most of the curcumin (> 90%) was retained, and there was no evidence of color fading. At the higher temperatures, however, the rate of curcumin degradation increased. For instance, around 30% and 70% of curcumin was lost when the soymilks were stored at 37 and 55 ºC, respectively. On the other hand, the soymilks remained physically stable throughout this period. Finally, we showed that curcumin can be successfully loaded into dairy milk using this approach, without adversely affecting milk fat globule stability. The physical and chemical stability of curcumin-loaded milk stored under different pH and temperature conditions was assessed. The impact of pH on the stability of the curcumin-loaded milk was investigated by storing the samples at 4 ºC for 60 days at pH 6.5, 7.0 and or 8.0. At this low storage temperature, all milk samples were stable to fat globule aggregation, creaming, curcumin degradation (37 ºC (21%) > 20 ºC (10%) > 4 ºC (5%). Interestingly, the color of the samples stored at 4, 20 and 37 ºC remained similar to that of the initial samples, but the sample stored at 55 ºC showed significant color fading. The bioaccessibility of the curcumin determined using a simulated gastrointestinal tract model was around 40%, which was attributed to some chemical degradation and binding of the curcumin reducing its stability and solubilization. Overall, the results of this research provide valuable information that will facilitate the design and formulation of curcumin-fortified functional foods with potential health benefits.Food ScienceDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
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