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Bakery products, especially bread, exist in many homes worldwide. One of the main reasons for its high consumption is that the main raw material is wheat, a cereal that can adapt to a wide variety of soils and climates. However, the nutritional quality of this raw material decreases during its industrial processing, decreasing the value of fibers, proteins, and minerals. Therefore, bread has become a product of high interest to increase its nutritional value. Due to the high consumption of bread, this paper provides a general description of the physicochemical and rheological changes of the dough, as well as the sensory properties of bread by incorporating alternative flours such as beans, lentils, and soy (among others). The reviewed data show that alternative flours can improve fiber, macro, and micronutrient content. The high fiber content reduces the quality of the texture of the products. However, new processing steps or cooking protocols, namely flour proportions, temperature, cooking, and fermentation time, can allow adjusting production variables and optimization to potentially overcome the decrease in sensory quality and preserve consumer acceptance.

The presence of phenol in wastewater poses a risk to ecosystems and human health. The traditional processes to remove phenol from wastewater, although effective, have several drawbacks. The best alternative is the application of ecological biotechnology tools since they involve biological systems (enzymes and microorganisms) with moderate economic and environmental impact. However, these systems have a high sensitivity to environmental factors and high substrate concentrations that reduce their effectiveness in phenol removal. This can be overcome by immobilization-based technology to increase the performance of enzymes and bacteria. A key component to ensure successful immobilization is the material (polymeric matrices) used as support for the biological system. In addition, by incorporating magnetic nanoparticles into conventional immobilized systems, a low-cost process is achieved but, most importantly, the magnetically immobilized system can be recovered, recycled, and reused. In this review, we study the existing alternatives for treating wastewater with phenol, from physical and chemical to biological techniques. The latter focus on the immobilization of enzymes and microorganisms. The characteristics of the support materials that ensure the viability of the immobilization are compared. In addition, the challenges and opportunities that arise from incorporating magnetic nanoparticles in immobilized systems are addressed., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Nowadays, consumers are demanding nutrient-rich products for health optimal benefits. In this regard, Brassicaceae family plants, previously named cruciferous, group a large number of widely consumed species around the world. The popularity of Brassica is increasing due to their nutritional value and pharmacological effects. The group includes a large number of vegetable foods such as cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, mustards as well as, oilseed rapeseed, canola, among others. In recent years, the phytochemical composition of Brassicaceae has been studied deeply because they contain many valuable metabolites, which are directly linked to different recognized biological activities. The scientific evidence confirms diverse medical properties for the treatment of chronic diseases such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, stroke), cancer, and osteoporosis. The unique features of Brassicaceae family plants conferred by their phytochemicals, have extended future prospects about their use for beneficial effects on human nutrition and health worldwide. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: For years, the Brassicaceae plants have been a fascinating research topic, due to their chemical composition characterized by rich in bioactive compounds. The implementation of extracts of these vegetables, causes various beneficial effects of high biological value in the treatment of diseases, owing to their bioactive properties (anti-obesity, anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, gastroprotective, anti-inflammatory, antianemic, and immunomodulator). Therefore, this review summarizes the chemical composition, describes the bioactive compounds isolated in the plant extracts, and highlights diverse biological activities, mainly the antimicrobial and antioxidant capacity. Brassica plants, as source of natural bioactive agents, have a great potential application to improve the human nutrition and health., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

In this work, galactomannans from Prosopis glandulosa seeds were evaluated for their chemical composition and functional properties for potential industrial applications. In addition, those characteristics were compared with the commercial galactomannan guar gum. Mannose and galactose were the two most abundant carbohydrates present in P. glandulosa seeds, which represent 95.32% of total carbohydrates present in this material. Galactomannans from mesquite seed (GMS) yield was 16.53% and presented a M/G ratio of 2:1, which was higher than value observed for guar gum (1.6:1). The results obtained from functional properties showed that GMS has considerable potential to be considered as a food additive., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)