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The most commonly used vesicular systems in the food industry include liposomes, niosomes, phytosomes, or transfersomes. This review focuses on showing how nano-vesicular carriers (NVCs) amend the properties of bioactive compounds (bioactives), making them suitable for food applications, especially functional foods. In this research, we elaborate on the question of whether bioactive-loaded NVCs affect various food aspects such as their antioxidant capacity, or sensory properties. This review also shows how NVCs improve the long-term release profile of bioactives during storage and at different pH values. Besides, the refinement of digestibility and bioaccessibility of diverse bioactives through NVCs in the gastrointestinal tract is elucidated. NVCs allow for stable vesicle formation (e.g. from anthocyanins) which reduces their cytotoxicity and proliferation of cancer cells, prolongs the release bioactives (e.g. d-limonene) with no critical burst, reduces the biofilm formation capacity of both Gram-positive/negative strains and their biofilm gene expression is down-regulated (in the case of tannic acid), low oxidation (e.g. iron) is endured when exposed to simulated gastric fluid, and unpleasant smell and taste are masked (in case of omega-3 fatty acids). After the incorporation of bioactive-loaded NVCs into food products, their antioxidant capacity is enhanced, maintaining high encapsulation efficiency and enduring pasteurization conditions, and they are not distinguished from control samples in sensory evaluation despite the reverse situation about free bioactives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to utilise and optimise the millifluidic and dripping encapsulation technique to develop and characterise the oil-core capsules. Sodium alginate with Tween-20 (continuous phase) and sunflower oil (dispersed phase) were used in millifluidic system. After determining the surface and interfacial tensions and flow behaviour parameters, flow rates of phases and concentrations of alginate and Tween were optimised by the Taguchi method. The flow regime of droplets was also evaluated. Optimised millicapsules were characterised concerning morphology, dimension, encapsulation efficiency, SEM, FTIR and, DSC results. Dripping flow regime during droplet formation was observed. Reducing the interfacial tension between the continuous and dispersed phases resulted in about a 10.18% reduction in diameter. Optimised millicapsules depicted spherical shape (0.03 ± 0.01) with 3.95 ± 0.05 mm size and 97.5 ± 0.2% encapsulation efficiency. The FTIR and DSC results confirmed the entrapment of oil. Millifluidic and dripping method effectively encapsulated sunflower oil in core-shell capsules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mayonnaise is one of the most well-known dressings in the world and has properly found its impossibility to apply thermal processing, the high level of cholesterol and some consumers' allergy to egg. In this study, the production of egg- free mayonnaise in model system has been investigated with the emphasis on flocculation enhancement in the system. Flocculation of emulsion droplets can have beneficial or harmful effect on food quality depending on product nature. In this study, influence of flocculation inducing on the stability, microscopic structure, zeta potential, droplet size and rheological properties of egg-free mayonnaise system were evaluated. Xanthan (XG), pectin (PE) and modified starch (MS) biopolymers mixed at different concentrations were used as flocculation inducer in emulsion system. XG-MS and PE-MS mixed polymers created depletion flocculation and reduced the speed of the oil droplets movement in the product and thus increased emulsion stability. In addition, an increase of all gum concentration caused an increment in the stability, consistency coefficient and heat stability values. Depending on the desirable level of xanthan gum and pectin gum for creating depletion flocculation, production of egg-free mayonnaise with properties closely matching those of commercial ones with egg is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proteins and polysaccharides are the two most important natural ingredients with unique functional properties. Their interactions can be considered as a route to produce new materials of various technological applications. In this study, the effect of pH (3–7) as well as the mixing ratio of whey protein isolate (WPI)/soluble part of Persian gum (PG) (1:3, 1:1, 3:1, 6:1, and 9:1% w/w WPI/PG) on the complex formation behavior of the two polymers were studied using spectrophotometric and dynamic light scattering techniques, soluble protein measurement, and microscopic observations. Investigating the curves of turbidity versus pH showed that pHc and pHϕ1, which are associated with the formation of soluble and insoluble complexes, moved toward higher pH values by increasing WPI:PG ratio. Increased solubility was observed at pHc > pH > pHϕ1for all biopolymers mixtures. In addition, lowering the pH toward pHϕ1resulted in a decrease in the size of complexes, while further decrease of pH beyond this point led to larger particles. No significant difference was noticed between pHcand pHϕ1of heated and unheated WPI/PG mixtures, although the turbidity of heated samples increased due to the formation of larger aggregates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract Iron (Fe) is an important element for our body since it takes part in a huge variety of metabolic processes. However, the direct incorporation of Fe into food fortification causes a number of problems along with undesirable organoleptic properties. Thus, encapsulation has been suggested to alleviate this problem. This study first sheds more light on the Fe encapsulation strategies and comprehensively explains the results of Fe encapsulation studies in the last decade. Then, the latest attempts to use Fe (in free or encapsulated forms) to fortify foods such as bakery products, dairy products, rice, lipid-containing foods, salt, fruit/vegetable-based products, and infant formula are presented. Double emulsions are highly effective at keeping their Fe content and display encapsulation efficiency (EE) > 88% although it decreases upon storage. The encapsulation by gel beads possesses several advantages including high EE, as well as reduced and great Fe release in gastric and duodenal conditions, respectively. Cereals, particularly bread and wheat, are common staple foods globally; they are very suitable for food fortification by Fe derivatives. Nevertheless, the majority of Fe in flour is available as salts of phytic acid (IP6) and phytates, reducing Fe bioavailability in the human body. The sourdough process degrades IP6 completely while Chorleywood Bread Making Process and conventional processes decrease it by 75% in comparison with whole meal flour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stressing the importance of diet in the prevention of certain diseases, nutritional scientists have emphasized on the reduction of calories in consumers’ diets. The steady-shear flow behavior of three optimized low-calorie pistachio butter formulations containing fat replacers (xanthan gum, Reihan seed gum, and Balangu seed gum) and sweeteners (sucrose and isomalt) were investigated at different temperatures. All three samples presented a non-Newtonian shear thinning flow behavior. Bingham, power law, and Moore models were selected as the appropriate time-independent rheological ones. Increasing the temperature resulted in lower values of Bingham viscosity, Bingham yield stress, and consistency coefficient. Increasing the amount of pistachio paste and isomalt led to higher and lower viscosity values, respectively. All data were reasonably fitted by Arrhenius model and formula containing xanthan gum showed the highest temperature dependency. The structural recovery evaluation revealed a weak thixotropic behavior for all samples. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The small and large deformation properties of different low-calorie pistachio butter formulas were studied in order to develop a background understanding of the changes in viscoelastic and textural characteristics that occur due to different types of fat replacers and sweeteners. Frequency, temperature, and time sweep analysis and also back extrusion and texture profile analysis tests were performed. The magnitudes of dynamic moduli increased in the frequency sweep test with loss tan values <1. The elastic structure of all samples changed to viscous behavior with increasing temperature (5–65°C), regardless of the type of fat replacers and sweeteners’ level. The temperature sweep test on heating and cooling samples resulted in higher viscoelastic properties and more solid-like behavior. There was no time dependency for loss tan at 45°C. A modified Cox-Merz rule could superimpose the steady and complex viscosity data. There was a good agreement between the results of G′ and hardness in small and large deformation tests. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionsAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders in children. Evidence regarding the impact of probiotics supplementation in ADHD children is limited and controversial. Thus, this study aimed to assess the effect of probiotics as an adjunctive therapy with Ritalin among ADHD children and adolescents.This study was a triple-blind, randomized controlled trial of 60 Iranian ADHD patients aged four to sixteen. The participants were randomly assigned to receive probiotics supplements containing both Lactobacillus plantarum PTCC 1896™ (A7) and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis (BB-12®) (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 8 weeks. ADHD symptoms were assessed using Conners’ Parent Rating Scale (CPRS) and Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA/CPT) at baseline and during the study.This study showed a significant decrease in the CPRS total score after 4 weeks of intervention in the probiotic group (baseline: 43.96 ± 21.52; fourth week: 37.22 ± 23.01; p = 0.01). However, no significant finding was found for the total score of the CPRS after 8 weeks. Moreover, at the end of the study, a significant increase was observed in score of auditory response control in the probiotic versus the placebo group (probiotic: 91.55 ± 16.69; placebo: 80.55 ± 17.43; p = 0.02).Probiotics supplementation with Ritalin may have some beneficial effects among ADHD children and adolescents, such as improving auditory response control and total score of CPRS. However, further clinical trials are required to clarify the impact of probiotics on ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]