Effects of sourdough and dietary fibers on the nutritional quality of breads produced by bake-off technology

The aim was to evaluate the effect of sourdough and dietary fiber addition, as well as partially baked frozen (PBF) technology, on biological value of proteins, lipid profile, and some minerals content in selected tissues of rats.In all breads, the limited amino acid was lysine. Proteins of PBF conventional and PBF breads with an addition of dietary fiber (PBF DF breads) had significantly higher Chemical score and Essential amino acid index in comparison to proteins of Direct bread (P < 0.05). Protein digestibility corrected amino acids score was significantly lower in Direct DF and PBF improved breads (P < 0.05).Addition of fiber to Direct and PBF bread decreased significantly total digestibility of protein compared to all groups (P < 0.05).Concentration of calcium was significantly lower in liver of rats fed with Direct sourdough and PBF improved breads in comparison to rodents fed with Direct bread. The concentration of iron was significantly higher in liver of animals fed with Direct bread. The highest level of calcium in femoral bones of rats was shown in groups fed with PBF conventional bread. The lowest level of iron was measured in femoral bone of rats fed with PBF sourdough bread in comparison to the rest of the experimental groups.     

Chemical Composition and Starch Digestibility of Different Gluten-free Breads

The increasing demand for gluten-free products has favoured the design of numerous gluten-free bakery products which intended to mimic the quality characteristics of wheat bakery products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional pattern of gluten-free breads representative of the Spanish market for this type of products. The protein, fat and mineral content of the gluten-free breads showed great variation, ranging from 0.90 to 15.5 g/100 g, 2.00 to 26.1 g/100 g and 1.10 to 5.43 g/100 g, respectively. Gluten-free breads had very low contribution to the recommended daily protein intake, with a high contribution to the carbohydrate dietary reference intake. Dietary fiber content also showed great variation varying from 1.30 to 7.20 g/100 g. In vitro enzymatic hydrolysis of starch showed that the most predominant fraction was the rapidly digestible starch that varied from 75.6 to 92.5 g/100 g. Overall, gluten-free breads showed great variation in the nutrient composition, being starchy based foods low in proteins and high in fat content, with high glycaemic index.     

Antituberculosis activity of alkylated mulinane diterpenoids

Natural azorellane and mulinane diterpenoids show antituberculosis activity, which is increased by methylation of their free carboxyl group. We have systematically investigated the effect of alkylation in this class of diterpenoids and found that the profile of bioactivity is relatively unaffected by the introduction of short alkyl groups, both linear and branched. In this investigation, three semisynthetic diterpenoids, 13 hydroxy-mulin-11-en-20-oic acid n-propyl ester (3) and the n-propyl (19) and n-butyl (20) esters of isomulinic acid, showed the strongest antituberculosis activity (MIC = 6.25 μg/mL) against a drug-resistant strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.     

3-[4-(1H-Indol-3-yl)-1,3-thiazol-2-yl]-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridines,Nortopsentin Analogues with Antiproliferative Activity

A new series of nortopsentin analogues, in which the imidazole ring of the natural product was replaced by thiazole and the indole unit bound to position 2 of the thiazole ring was substituted by a 7-azaindole moiety, was efficiently synthesized. Two of the new nortopsentin analogues showed good antiproliferative effect against the totality of the NCI full panel of human tumor cell lines (~60) having GI₅₀ values ranging from low micromolar to nanomolar level. The mechanism of the antiproliferative effect of these derivatives, investigated on human hepatoma HepG2 cells, was pro-apoptotic, being associated with externalization of plasma membrane phosphatidylserine and mitochondrial dysfunction. Moreover, the compounds induced a concentration-dependent accumulation of cells in the subG0/G1phase, while confined viable cells in G2/M phase.     

Assessment of the Hyperaccumulating Lead Capacity of Salvinia minima Using Bioadsorption and Intracellular Accumulation Factors

Salvinia minima has been reported as a cadmium and lead hyperaccumulator being the adsorption and intracellular accumulation the main uptake mechanisms. However, its physicochemical properties, the effect of metal concentration and the presence of organic and inorganic compounds on its hyperaccumulating capacity are still unknown. Furthermore, the specific adsorption and accumulation mechanisms occurring in the plant are not clear yet. Thus, based on a compartmentalization analysis, a bioadsorption (BAF) and an intracellular accumulation factor (IAF) were calculated in order to differentiate and quantify these two mechanisms. The use of kinetic models allowed predicting the specific type of uptake mechanisms involved. Healthy plants were exposed to five lead concentrations ranging from 0.80?±?0.0 to 28.40?±?0.22 mg Pb²⁺l^?1 in batch systems. A synthetic wastewater, amended with propionic acid and magnesium sulfate, and deionized water were used as media. The BAF and IAF contributed to gain an in-depth insight into the hyperaccumulating lead capacity of S. minima. It is clear that such capacity is mainly due to adsorption (BAF 780–1980) most likely due to its exceptional physico-chemical characteristics such as a very high surface area (264 m² g^?1) and a high content of carboxylic groups (0.95 mmol H⁺g^?1 dw). Chemisorption was predicted as the responsible mechanism according to the pseudo-second order adsorption model. Surprisingly, the ability of S. minima to accumulate the metal into the cells (IAF 57–1007) was not inhibited at concentrations as high as 28.40±0.22 mg Pb²⁺l^?1.     

Evaluation of Potential Feed Ingredients for the Juvenile Four‐sided Sea Cucumber,Isostichopus badionotus

The objective of this study was to evaluate two seaweed species, Solieria filiformis and Macrocytis piryfera, both as dry‐meal powder and predigested meal, to be used as ingredients in artificial diets for the juvenile four‐sided sea cucumber, Isostichopus badionotus. Four diets were tested in triplicate: S. filiformis dry‐meal powder and predigested meal and M. piryfera dry‐meal powder and predigested meal, mixed with 70% of beach sand. Survival exceeded 90% in all the treatments, and there were no differences in the growth of juveniles using dry‐meal powder or predigested meal. Weight gain was calculated for all the diets, and the highest values were obtained by animals fed S. filiformis. No differences between using dry‐meal powder and predigested meal were found, so these diets were excluded from the second trial. The ingestion rate was the same with both algae, but the feed conversion ratio was twice as high for M. piryfera. Solieria filiformis exhibited a number of differences in fatty acid and amino acid profiles, including higher proline, arginine, and saturated fatty acid levels. The results indicate that S. filiformis has better nutritional characteristics to be an ingredient for an artificial I. badionotus juvenile diet.     

Pharmacokinetics of albendazole sulfoxide enantiomers administered in racemic form and separately in rats

The pharmacokinetic behaviour of albendazole sulfoxide (ABZSO) enantiomers was studied in rats after the oral administration of 10 mg/kg of rac-ABZSO, 5 mg/kg of (-)-ABZSO or 5 mg/kg of (+)-ABZSO. The disposition profiles of ABZSO enantiomers were similar in all treatments, but the calculated area under the curve for the (-)-ABZSO was higher in all cases compared with (+)-ABZSO. The results suggest that there is no chiral inversion of ABZSO enantiomers. After the administration of rac-ABZSO, 17.2% of the total dose was recovered in urine as albendazole ABZ (0.1%), albendazole sulfone ABZSO(2) (0.3%), albendazole 2-aminosulfone (ABZ-SO(2)NH(2)) (3.1%) and ABZSO (13.7%). The ratio (+) to (-) was similar in urine (1.6) and blood (1.7).     

Analysis of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) fruit growth with exponential mixed models

Blueberry fruit growth commonly exhibits a double-sigmoid pattern. The goal of this work was to characterize and compare fruit growth of cultivars differing in ripening time using exponential non-linear mixed models. Mixed-effects five-parameter exponential (Gompertz I and II; logistic; monomolecular) models were fitted to fruit diameter data from 2 years and three cultivars grown in the field in a cool temperate environment. Gompertz II mixed model provided the best fit to fruit growth data and was used for further analysis. In later ripening cultivars ‘Cape Fear’ and ‘Herbert’, clear-cut double-sigmoid patterns were observed, absolute growth rate models exhibited two marked peaks, and relative growth rate showed an initial decreasing trend, and a subsequent peak. The earlier cv. ‘O’Neal’ did not exhibit a defined double-sigmoid pattern. The time between relative extremes of absolute growth acceleration is proposed as an objective criterion for fixing stage boundaries within growth curves. Exponential mixed models accurately fitted blueberry growth patterns. These equations highlighted differences in fruit growth patterns between early and late ripening highbush blueberry cultivars.