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Although peach kernels are rich in oil, there is a lack of information about its chemical and biological properties. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the lipid profile, antioxidant capacity, and trypsin inhibitory propriety of peach oil extracted from two varieties (sweet cap and O'Henry) cultivated in Tunisia. The investigated peach kernel oil contains significant amount of unsaponifiable (2.1±0.5-2.8±0.2% of oil) and phenolic compounds (45.8±0.92-74.6±1.3 mg GAE/g of oil). Its n-alkane profile was characterized by the predominance of tetracosane n-C24 (47.24%) followed by tricosane n-C23 (34.43%). An important total tocopherol content (1192.83±3.1 mg/kg oil) has been found in sweet cap cultivar. Although rich in polyphenols and tocopherols, the tested oil did not display an inhibitory effect on trypsin. However, all peach oil samples showed effective antioxidant capacity and the highest values (86.34±1.3% and 603.50±2.6 µmol TE/g oil for DPPH test and ORAC assay, respectively) were observed for sweet cap oil. Peach oil has an excellent potential for application in the food and pharmaceutical industries as source of naturally-occurring bioactive substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) and Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) have a heterogeneous collection of fructose polymers, known as inulin. This study was aimed to explore the effects of ultrasound (US) and autoclave (AC) on inulin physico‐chemical properties as well as investigate structural characterizations and relationships with inulin physico‐chemical properties. More specifically, Jerusalem artichoke powder (JA, 69.99% inulin in dry basis), purified inulin from Jerusalem artichoke (PJAI) and chicory inulin (CI) were studied to determine the effects of both treatments on reducing sugar contents, degree of polymerization (DP), water‐holding capacity (WHC) and particle size. US (90 W, 20 KHZ) treatments had increased reducing sugar content up to 12.27% for PJAI, 10.86% for JA powder and 2.18% for CI. HPLC analysis showed that the DP of inulin decreased for PJAI after 2 min US treatment. WHC analysis showed that both treatments did not have significant effects (p >.05) on WHC for JA powder. This study suggests that US can be a preferable treatment for reducing the DP of inulin from JA for designing variety of food formulations. Practical applications: Ultrasound treatments could result in more inulin breaking down into reducing sugars, and in the decrease of inulin DP. This research suggested that the DP of inulin might be a very important factor in ultrasound treatment for their affect in the absorption of energy from ultrasound. Therefore, ultrasound can be a desirable treatment for changing the degree of polymerization of inulin from JA for designing different food products. Future studies need to investigate the relationship between the viscosity of inulin solution and the de‐polymerization of inulin caused by ultrasound treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenolic lipids are multifunctional compounds which play an important biological role in the body. Their unique biologic functionality stems from their strong amphiphilic character which allows them to be incorporated in erythrocytes. Through membrane incorporation, these compounds exert their biological effects on neurons which are not modulated by hydrophilic compounds. These bioactive compounds are present in nature as secondary plant metabolites, and consequently their availability is limited, for dietary and medical purposes. In this review, the pathways and mechanisms associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease will be described. In addition, the modulatory effects of phenolic lipids on these pathways and a list of several synthetic, semi synthetic and natural sources of phenolic lipids will be examined as having the potential to prevent or combat Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]