Exam preparation
Case 1: food matrices
How can you increase the bioavailability and accessibility for a specific compound by using the
right food matrix?
Hydrophobic bioactive compounds have a low solubility in water which is present in the GI tract. To
ensure that the bioactive compounds can be absorbed by epithelial cells they need to be
incorporated into mixed micelles in the small intestine. Therefore, it is beneficial to deliver
hydrophobic bioactive compounds in excipient foods with high fat content or in a food matrix such as
an emulsion. I have several examples:
- Curcumin is a lipophilic compound and the presence of the lipid droplets might increase
curcumin bioaccessibility by increasing the solubilization capacity of the mixed micelle phase
formed in the GIT tract after lipid digestion. Also, smaller lipid droplets can be more effective
at increasing curcumin bioaccessibility due to their faster and more complete digestion, as
smaller droplets have a larger surface and is therefore more easily accessible to lipases. So, I
propose curcumin in a corn oil nano-emulsion, as the droplet size of nanoemulsion is way
smaller than in a normal emulsion. Curcumin has an anti-inflammatory potential as it targets
Nfkb routes.
- To increase the bioaccessibility of B-carotene I propose to incorporate lipid droplets
(containing B-carotene) in starch-based hydrogels. Starch-based hydrogels may increase and
fasten the lipid digestion as compared to free lipid droplets, because the starch prevents the
lipid droplets from aggregating in the mouth and stomach. This leads to smaller lipid droplets
which increases the ability of lipase to access the lipid droplets, in the end leading to a higher
B-carotene bioaccesibility.
- Procyanidins in cocoa are more accessible if they are incorporated in an excipient food which
contains a high level of digestible triacylglycerol.
- Addition of olive oil to carotenoid-rich carrots during cooking increases the amount of
carotenoids liberated from the food thereby increasing their bioavailability.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1541-4337.12170#:~:text=An%20integrated
%20excipient%20food%20can,designed%20to%20increase%20their%20bioavailability
I propose to entrap probiotics in water extractable arabinoxylan gels. Arabinoxylans are
polysaccharides which can be found in cells walls of plants such as cereal grains. Arabinoxylans
consist of xylose and arabinose sugars which are crosslinked with ferulic acid. Arabinoxylans can be
classified into water extractable (WEAX) or water-unextractable (WUAX). It has been shown that the
WEAX can form strong covalently cross-linked gels. I think these gels can function as a carrier to
deliver and protect probiotics in the intestine because the gels are not easily degraded by human
metabolism. Moreover, the gels have a porous structure which enables the release of the probiotics
if it reached the instance. Next to this, it also has been shown that WEAX can be degraded by
bacteria from the microbiota and it therefore also serves as a prebiotic. All in all, WEAX gels have a
symbiotic matrix design and could be a great opportunity for the entrapment of probiotics.
file:///C:/Users/Laura/Downloads/molecules-19-03628.pdf
Case 2: lipid oxidation & maillard reaction
How can you lower the change of lipid oxidation to increase shelve life/nutritional value?
, Lipid oxidation is a free radical reaction between fatty acids and oxygen resulting in the degradation
of lipids, rancidity, off-flavours and a lower nutritional value. Especially foods containing poly
unsaturated fatty acids are susceptible as they have double bonds between methyl bridges that
possess reactive hydrogen. Food products such as meat and salmon are very susceptible to lipid
oxidation and therefore innovations are needed to control the shelve life and nutritional value of
these foods. I propose a combination of two strategies to prevent lipid oxidation in salmon/beef
hamburger:
- First of all I want to infuse salmon with herb solutions possessing anti-oxidative compounds,
namely oregano and rosemary. The bioactive compounds in rosemary are carnosic acid and
carnosol. The bioactive compounds in oregano are thymol and carvacrol. The anti-oxidative
compounds can donate a hydrogen atom to radical species and therefore scavenge free
radicals. Of course, the herbs will affect the taste of the salmon/hamburger, but I think the
flavours of both herbs are complementary to the taste of salmon/beef hamburger.
- Besides this, I think it is important to design a package which excludes light and oxygen. The
light should be excluded because beef contains a relatively high in the sensitizers
haemoglobin and myoglobin. By absorbing light energy myoglobin and haemoglobin can be
excited and turn into triplet sensitizers, this process is called photo-oxidation. The excited
triplet sensitizers can abstract hydrogen from unsaturated fatty acids and produce alkyl
radicals which are the start of lipid oxidation. Moreover, excited triplet sensitizers can also
react with 3O2 (molecular oxygen) and produce a superoxide radical anion, which is a ROS
specie and can abstract hydrogen from unsaturated fatty acids.
https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0101-20612018005030103&script=sci_arttext
How can you modify the Maillard reaction?
The Maillard reaction can be modified via several ways.
- First of all, the speed of the Maillard reaction accelerates if the temperature increases.
Increased temperature increases the reactivity between sugar and amino groups, because
heat causes the evaporation of water. As the food dries the concentration of reactant
compounds increase. Next to this, molecules move faster and with the increases
concentration there is more chance that molecules hit each other with enough energy to
react. The optimum temperature for the Maillard reaction is 140 – 165 degrees, keeping
temperatures below this will slow down the reaction.
- Second, the reaction is favoured at high pH, as the amino groups are deprotonated and have
increased nucleophilicity, which means they are more reactive. So, keeping the pH as low as
possible decreases the rate of the Maillard reaction.
- Another potential strategy to modulate the Maillard reaction is trapping intermediates of the
Maillard reaction. For this phenolic compounds can be used. Phenolic compounds have
activating hydroxyl groups on the A ring and can form adducts with Maillard intermediate
products. For instance, a-dicarbonyls can be trapped with phenylpropanoids and flavonoids
present in tea (epicatechin), cinnamon, rosemary, mate, and other herbal plants. Also,
acrylamide can be scavenged by vitamins such as niacin which forms a adduct.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.7b00882
Case 7: ingredient replacers
Propose a recipe for tasty gluten free bread. What is the function of each ingredient?
Case 1: food matrices
How can you increase the bioavailability and accessibility for a specific compound by using the
right food matrix?
Hydrophobic bioactive compounds have a low solubility in water which is present in the GI tract. To
ensure that the bioactive compounds can be absorbed by epithelial cells they need to be
incorporated into mixed micelles in the small intestine. Therefore, it is beneficial to deliver
hydrophobic bioactive compounds in excipient foods with high fat content or in a food matrix such as
an emulsion. I have several examples:
- Curcumin is a lipophilic compound and the presence of the lipid droplets might increase
curcumin bioaccessibility by increasing the solubilization capacity of the mixed micelle phase
formed in the GIT tract after lipid digestion. Also, smaller lipid droplets can be more effective
at increasing curcumin bioaccessibility due to their faster and more complete digestion, as
smaller droplets have a larger surface and is therefore more easily accessible to lipases. So, I
propose curcumin in a corn oil nano-emulsion, as the droplet size of nanoemulsion is way
smaller than in a normal emulsion. Curcumin has an anti-inflammatory potential as it targets
Nfkb routes.
- To increase the bioaccessibility of B-carotene I propose to incorporate lipid droplets
(containing B-carotene) in starch-based hydrogels. Starch-based hydrogels may increase and
fasten the lipid digestion as compared to free lipid droplets, because the starch prevents the
lipid droplets from aggregating in the mouth and stomach. This leads to smaller lipid droplets
which increases the ability of lipase to access the lipid droplets, in the end leading to a higher
B-carotene bioaccesibility.
- Procyanidins in cocoa are more accessible if they are incorporated in an excipient food which
contains a high level of digestible triacylglycerol.
- Addition of olive oil to carotenoid-rich carrots during cooking increases the amount of
carotenoids liberated from the food thereby increasing their bioavailability.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1541-4337.12170#:~:text=An%20integrated
%20excipient%20food%20can,designed%20to%20increase%20their%20bioavailability
I propose to entrap probiotics in water extractable arabinoxylan gels. Arabinoxylans are
polysaccharides which can be found in cells walls of plants such as cereal grains. Arabinoxylans
consist of xylose and arabinose sugars which are crosslinked with ferulic acid. Arabinoxylans can be
classified into water extractable (WEAX) or water-unextractable (WUAX). It has been shown that the
WEAX can form strong covalently cross-linked gels. I think these gels can function as a carrier to
deliver and protect probiotics in the intestine because the gels are not easily degraded by human
metabolism. Moreover, the gels have a porous structure which enables the release of the probiotics
if it reached the instance. Next to this, it also has been shown that WEAX can be degraded by
bacteria from the microbiota and it therefore also serves as a prebiotic. All in all, WEAX gels have a
symbiotic matrix design and could be a great opportunity for the entrapment of probiotics.
file:///C:/Users/Laura/Downloads/molecules-19-03628.pdf
Case 2: lipid oxidation & maillard reaction
How can you lower the change of lipid oxidation to increase shelve life/nutritional value?
, Lipid oxidation is a free radical reaction between fatty acids and oxygen resulting in the degradation
of lipids, rancidity, off-flavours and a lower nutritional value. Especially foods containing poly
unsaturated fatty acids are susceptible as they have double bonds between methyl bridges that
possess reactive hydrogen. Food products such as meat and salmon are very susceptible to lipid
oxidation and therefore innovations are needed to control the shelve life and nutritional value of
these foods. I propose a combination of two strategies to prevent lipid oxidation in salmon/beef
hamburger:
- First of all I want to infuse salmon with herb solutions possessing anti-oxidative compounds,
namely oregano and rosemary. The bioactive compounds in rosemary are carnosic acid and
carnosol. The bioactive compounds in oregano are thymol and carvacrol. The anti-oxidative
compounds can donate a hydrogen atom to radical species and therefore scavenge free
radicals. Of course, the herbs will affect the taste of the salmon/hamburger, but I think the
flavours of both herbs are complementary to the taste of salmon/beef hamburger.
- Besides this, I think it is important to design a package which excludes light and oxygen. The
light should be excluded because beef contains a relatively high in the sensitizers
haemoglobin and myoglobin. By absorbing light energy myoglobin and haemoglobin can be
excited and turn into triplet sensitizers, this process is called photo-oxidation. The excited
triplet sensitizers can abstract hydrogen from unsaturated fatty acids and produce alkyl
radicals which are the start of lipid oxidation. Moreover, excited triplet sensitizers can also
react with 3O2 (molecular oxygen) and produce a superoxide radical anion, which is a ROS
specie and can abstract hydrogen from unsaturated fatty acids.
https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0101-20612018005030103&script=sci_arttext
How can you modify the Maillard reaction?
The Maillard reaction can be modified via several ways.
- First of all, the speed of the Maillard reaction accelerates if the temperature increases.
Increased temperature increases the reactivity between sugar and amino groups, because
heat causes the evaporation of water. As the food dries the concentration of reactant
compounds increase. Next to this, molecules move faster and with the increases
concentration there is more chance that molecules hit each other with enough energy to
react. The optimum temperature for the Maillard reaction is 140 – 165 degrees, keeping
temperatures below this will slow down the reaction.
- Second, the reaction is favoured at high pH, as the amino groups are deprotonated and have
increased nucleophilicity, which means they are more reactive. So, keeping the pH as low as
possible decreases the rate of the Maillard reaction.
- Another potential strategy to modulate the Maillard reaction is trapping intermediates of the
Maillard reaction. For this phenolic compounds can be used. Phenolic compounds have
activating hydroxyl groups on the A ring and can form adducts with Maillard intermediate
products. For instance, a-dicarbonyls can be trapped with phenylpropanoids and flavonoids
present in tea (epicatechin), cinnamon, rosemary, mate, and other herbal plants. Also,
acrylamide can be scavenged by vitamins such as niacin which forms a adduct.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.7b00882
Case 7: ingredient replacers
Propose a recipe for tasty gluten free bread. What is the function of each ingredient?
