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Agro-industrial by-products are important sources of functional food ingredients with commercial interest to decrease the volume of by-products and also to improve the economic viability of processes, by producing added value ingredients. For this purpose, application of the supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) technology to add value to tomato (cultivar 'Admiro' F1) by-products (peel, seeds and small amount of pulp) was tested. Optimisation of extraction parameters of high value-added ingredients (oleoresin with 60% cis-lycopene isomers concentration) was carried out and antioxidant effect of extract in cell culture was analysed. The extract obtained at optimised conditions (52°C temperature, a 55 MPa pressure and a 180 min extraction time), was characterized for total lycopene and lycopene different isomers (15-cis-lycopene, 13-cis-lycopene, 9-cislycopene, 7-cis-lycopene, trans-lycopene and 5-cis-lycopene) and the antioxidant effect of extracts was evaluated by assessing the production of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) by murine macrophage J774 cell culture. Results showed that the SC-CO2 extracts of tomato by-products (peel, seeds and small amount of pulp) is a potential source of cis-lycopene isomers (the total content of cis-lycopene isomers in the SC-CO2 extract was 60%) oleoresin with promising applications in food and pharmaceutical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lycopene content in food may be increased by thermal and mechanical processing. Food processing is beneficial because it disrupts food matrices facilitating the release and solubilisation of lycopene resulting in increased carotenoid bioavailability for the formation of cis-isomers. A lycopene-rich and β-carotene oil-based system was used in this study. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and colour coordinates analyses were employed to analyse lycopene, its cis-isomers and β-carotene stability of the following sample set after 28 days of storage: fridge temperature at 1 ± 1°C in absence of light (FT dark), ambient temperature at 20 ± 1°C in natural light with different day and night illumination (AT light), ambient temperature at 20 ± 1°C in absence of light (AT dark), thermostatically controlled temperature at 37 ± 1°C in absence of light (TT dark) and thermostatically controlled temperature at 37 ± 1°C in UV irradiation (TT UV). The control sample in our study was lycopene enriched oil stored in the dark at 1 ± 1°C on day zero (0). The aim of this study was to create lycopene-enriched oil from tomato to investigate its stability and to prepare the recommendations to consumers for the storage conditions of this functional food. The results indicated that the trans-lycopene amount changed from 76.6% to 61.0% at ambient temperature (AT light and AT dark sample), and from 76.6% to 46.8% (TT dark) and 44.4% (TT UV) at 37 ± 1°C. According to our investigation, the highest percentage of 5-cis-lycopene isomer in all samples was found after 28 days of storage. The TT UV samples had the most colour changes. Vegetable oil enriched with lycopene from tomatoes is a high quality food product that can supplement daily diet and enhance absorption of lycopene from the intestine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The effects of short-term ultraviolet B (UV-B) irradiation on sweet basil ( Ocimum basilicum L. cv. Cinnamon) plants at the 3-4 leaf pair and flowering stages were examined in controlled environment growth chambers. Plants were exposed to 0 (reference), 2 and 4 kJ UV-B m−2 day−1 over 7 days. RESULTS: Exposure of basil plants to supplementary UV-B light resulted in increased assimilating leaf area, fresh biomass and dry biomass. Stimulation of physiological functions in young basil plants under either applied UV-B dose resulted in increased total chlorophyll content but no marked variation in carotenoid content. At the flowering stage the chlorophyll and carotenoid contents of basil were affected by supplementary UV-B radiation, decreasing with enhanced UV-B exposure. Both total antioxidant activity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical assay) and total phenolic compound content were increased by UV-B light supplementation. Young and mature basil plants differed in their ascorbic acid content, which was dependent on UV-B dose and plant age. UV-B radiation resulted in decreased nitrate content in young basil plants (3-4 leaf pair stage). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the application of short-exposure UV-B radiation beneficially influenced both growth parameters and biochemical constituents in young and mature basil plants. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 5% co-solvent ethanol increased supercritical CO 2 extract yield from cranberry pomace. • Precipitation of extract in the 1st separator at 0 ÷ −−30 °C and 7 MPa gave 2 products. • The fractions (lighter) in the 2nd separator were remarkably stronger antioxidants. • Higher content of polyunsaturated triacylglycerols was determined in lighter fraction. • Higher contents of tocopherols, phytosterols and volatiles were in the 2nd separator. The study investigated the possibilities of fractionation of cranberry pomace after its extraction with supercritical CO 2 (scCO 2) without and with 5% ethanol (EtOH) at previously optimized 42.4 MPa pressure and 53 °C temperature. The extract was separated into heavier (HF, 1st separator, S 1) and lighter (LF, 2nd separator, S 2) fractions by decreasing temperature in the S 1 from 0 to −−30 °C at the constant 7 MPa pressure. In case of scCO 2 61–74% of extracts precipitated in S 1 ; when EtOH was added the content of LF at 0 and −10 °C was higher, while at −20 and −30 °C the content of HF was 2.9–3.5-fold higher. LF was remarkably stronger antioxidant than HF. The differences in triacylglycerol (TAG) and fatty acid composition were not remarkable; higher percentages of higher saturation TAGs were in HFs. Higher amount of squalene was in scCO 2 /EtOH extracts; its concentration in HF was up to 12-fold (at −30 °C) higher. The amounts of carotenoids were also higher in the HF. The concentrations of phytosterols, tocopherols and volatile compounds were remarkably higher in the LFs, particularly in case of scCO 2 /EtOH. The results demonstrated that different classes of lipophilic compounds present in pomace may be pre-concentrated at freezing temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]