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The present study is about the development of a techno-functional confectionery (soft candy), based on native raw materials from the Chaqueña region. In order to analyze it shelf life, the sorption isotherms were determined at 4, 20 and 30 ° C. Several mathematical models were applied to adjust the sorption behavior, with Peleg's model being the one that best fit the experimental data. The results obtained in this study, open an opportunity for future work in which the food developed can be used as a carrier of functional compounds such as fibers, proteins, bioactive compounds and natural dyes, among others.

Consumers’ interest in a high-quality healthy diet is creating a growing trend in the food industry, focusing on the design and development of new products rich in bioactive compounds. This work involves the formulation of a vegetable sauce obtained from a mixture of pumpkin and pepper, the study of the evolution of bioactive compounds, quality and sensory parameters during storage at 4 and 25 °C, the influence of the packaging materials (PVC, PE/PA, and PS), and the migration degree. Antioxidant activity, polyphenols, carotenoids, and brown pigments contents were studied at 25 °C. Overall migration of the containers and the evolution of the physicochemical parameters and sensory attributes of the sauce were analyzed. All plastic materials showed an overall migration lower than the limit of EU and Mercosur Regulations. PVC better preserved polyphenols, antioxidant activity, and carotenoids until 50, 10, and 30 days, respectively, and lower development of brown pigments was observed. Higher storage temperatures favored undesirable changes in sensory attributes before 50 days of storage. PVC can be used to achieve greater conservation of the sensory attributes of sauce, regardless of the storage temperature. It could be considered the best material to preserve the bioactive properties and sensory attributes of the sauce until 30 days.

Antioxidants derived from food by-products are known for their bioactive properties and impact on human health. However, the gastrointestinal behavior is often poor due to their degradation during digestion. The development of Ca(II)–alginate beads supplemented with biopolymers and enriched with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) extract could represent a novel environmentally friendly technological solution to produce functional ingredients in the food industry. The present study evaluates the impact of in vitro digestion/fermentation by analyzing global antioxidant response (GAR), production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as a modulation of gut microbiota, and behavior of proton transverse relaxation times by low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (as an indicator of gelation state and characterization of microstructure). Results revealed that guar gum and cowpea protein preserved a high GAR of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity by ABTS and FRAP methods after digestion/fermentation, promoting an adequate protection of the bioactives for their absorption. Alginate-based beads have great potential as prebiotics, with the guar gum-containing system contributing the most to SCFAs production. Finally, the overall higher mobility of protons observed in the intestinal phase agrees with structural changes that promote the release of phenolic compounds during this stage. Beads are excellent carriers of bioactive compounds (cowpea phenolic compounds and peptides) with potential capacities.

Petroleum-based food packaging materials are non-degradable and considerably affect the environment. In this context, edible films and coatings for food preservation represent a feasible alternative that could potentially reduce conventional non-biodegradable materials. It has been shown the suitability of starch as a non-toxic, widely available, low-cost and adequate film-forming biopolymer. In addition, natural compounds contained in tropical fruits are of great interest due to their proven antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, which are beneficial for the health of consumers and for obtaining more stable and safe foods. This review focuses on the new trends and benefits of incorporating tropical fruit extracts into starch-based edible films and coatings formulations as a source of bioactive compounds. The starch and fruit resources, extraction techniques, filmmaking methods, assays for determining functional properties and the potential uses of edible films and coatings in the food industry were stated and described.

Currently and according to the growing worldwide interest in the revaluation of agricultural by-products, the use of legumes waste presents great potential to obtain bioactive compounds. In this context, an extract rich in phenolic compounds was obtained from Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) pods by optimizing the high-intensity ultrasound conditions (10 min and 36% of amplitude) using response surface methodology. Then, the extract was encapsulated in Ca(II)-alginate beads with the addition of arabic or guar gums or cowpea isolated proteins. A complete morphological study by image analysis and microstructural evaluation by SAXS has been carried out. Results showed that beads containing alginate and alginate-guar gum have the highest loading efficiency of total phenolic compounds (47 ± 5%) and antioxidant activity (44 ± 3%). However, the coupled effect of the cowpea extract and the isolated proteins (at it higher concentration) increased the antioxidant capacity of the beads due to the contribution of the phenolic compounds and the amino acids with anti-radical activity, reaching a value of 67 ± 3 % of inhibition of ABTS.+. Finally, the microstructural analyses revealed that cowpea pod extract increased the interconnectivity of the rods due to the presence of trivalent cations, conferring versatility, and larger coordination to the network. Also, it was observed that the addition of cowpea proteins produced more interconnected bigger and fewer compacts rods than beads containing only alginate, increasing 12 and 49 % the interconnection and the size, respectively, and decreasing 10 % their compactness. This research demonstrated the use of cowpea sub-products as a source of bioactive compounds that further modulate the microstructure of the hydrogel network, and the outstanding potential for being incorporated in techno-functional foods by using Ca(II)-alginate as a carrier.

Hot air drying (HAD) at temperatures below the spontaneous evaporation temperature could be combined with microwave (MW) radiation as a thermal energy source in order to reduce the drying time. A photon flux in the microwave range interacts with dipolar molecules (water) through orientation and induction, producing electrical energy storage and thermal energy accumulation and generating an increase in the internal energy of food. The different mechanisms involved in water transport could change when the microwave penetration depth exceeds the sample characteristic dimension of mass transport. The aim of this paper is to determine the effect of MW in the combined HAD-MW drying of raw potato in order to obtain the real driving forces and mechanisms involved in the water transport, with the purpose of optimizing the MW power used. For this purpose, combined drying was carried out on potato samples (0, 4 and 6 W/g). The sample surface temperature was monitored by infrared thermography, and the sample mass was measured continuously through a precision balance. In parallel with continuous drying, another drying treatment was performed at different times (20, 40, 60, 90, 120, 180, 420 min) and conditions (0, 4 and 6 W/g) to analyze the dielectric properties, mass, moisture, volume and water activity. The results show that it is possible to monitor combined drying by infrared thermography, and it can be concluded that the convection heating is mostly transformed into surface water evaporation, with negligible thermal conduction from the surface, and microwave radiation is mostly transformed into an increase in the potato’s internal energy.