Search

The main aim of the current study was to examine and compare the nutritional quality and degree of naturalness of chocolate and cereal bars. Our analysis relied on a dataset (n = 100) of the most consumed chocolate and cereal bars in Germany in 2019. The Nutri-Score and the Food Naturalness Index were calculated to measure nutritional quality and naturalness of the bars, respectively. Cereal bars were nutritionally better and slightly more natural, but had longer ingredient lists, as compared to chocolate bars. Nutritional quality and food naturalness were only weakly correlated, which suggests that they are two distinct food characteristics. Despite increased criticism regarding the effects of ultra-processed foods on health, our results suggest that not all ultra-processed foods are necessarily unhealthy. Although there is plenty of room for improvement in the formulation of cereal bars, they have the potential to be a healthier and more natural alternative to chocolate bars.

In this study, the effect of berry polyphenols on starch digestion was tested in vitro both by co-digestion of berry extract with bread or by fortifying bread with berry extract. Results show that the co-digestion of bread with berry extracts significantly reduce the rate and extent of starch digestion. Sixty one percent of starch digestion is inhibited by co-digesting 1 g of raspberry extract with 4 g of the bread. The inhibition obtained by co-digesting berry extracts and bread is much higher than the inhibition obtained by digesting berry-fortified bread. Interactions of polyphenols with matrix reduce polyphenols bio-accessibility, thus reducing the amount of polyphenols available for α-amylase inhibition. The interaction of polyphenols and starch seems also a crucial mechanism for the inhibition of starch digestion. This study shows that the co-ingestion of berry polyphenols with bread is a promising strategy to reduce glycaemic index of starchy food.

Chewing disrupts broccoli cells, and myrosinase can effectively hydrolyze the glucosinolate glucoraphanin into the biological active sulforaphane. The influence of chewing time and steaming time on glucoraphanin hydrolysis as well as sulforaphane and sulforaphane nitrile formation in broccoli was studied.To study the effect of chewing time on differently steamed broccoli, broccoli was chewed for 11 s, 22 s, 30 s and 40 s by volunteers. To determine the effect of steaming time, raw and steamed broccoli samples were chewed for 22 s. Glucoraphanin, sulforaphane and sulforaphane nitrile were analyzed in all samples. Longer chewing times of raw, 0.5-min and 1-min steamed broccoli, which contained active myrosinase, lead to a higher hydrolysis. The highest hydrolysis rate of glucoraphanin was found in 0.5-min steamed broccoli (38%) and 2-min steamed samples which contained the highest sulforaphane concentration. This could lead to a recommendation to steam broccoli for a short time before consumption.

Cape gooseberry is a fruit recognised for having relevant contents of health-promoting compounds. Changes in the content of phytochemicals (ascorbic acid, β-carotene, catechin and epicatechin), hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and antioxidant activity of this fruit were studied at various temperatures and times. Ascorbic acid degradation was described by a first order reaction. β-carotene was not degraded and followed an isomerization reaction from 80 °C onwards. Formation of HMF was described with a consecutive zero together with a first order reaction model. The contents of catechin and epicatechin increased at 40 °C. More than three competing reactions did not allow to make kinetic modelling. Antioxidant activity followed fractional first order conversion model. Comparison with kinetics found in other fruits showed that health-promoting compounds of cape gooseberry are relatively more stable to heat treatment. This makes cape gooseberry suitable for the preparation of foods (jam, juices and dehydrated fruit) with relevant health-promoting compounds contents.