Immunomodulatory Activities of a Concentrated Fruit and Vegetable Juice Tested in a Randomized,Placebo-Controlled,Double-Blind Clinical Trial in Healthy Volunteers

22 healthy volunteers were included in a randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study in order to investigate immunomodulatory effects of a concentrated juice, containing the ingredients of a total of 80 different fruits, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, oils, and others (Cellagon aurum?, “CA”). 11 subjects received the concentrated juice while 11 were allocated to the placebo group. Stimulated whole-blood cultures were used to assess any treatment-related changes in the response of leukocytes towards experimental immune cell activation. For each of the individuals, 5 cultures were performed either immediately before, during, or 3 days after termination of the 7 weeks treatment. Leukocyte activities were determined by measuring cytokine levels in the supernatants at the end of the 48 h of stimulation (induced by the addition of LPS + SE-B + anti-CD28 antibodies). Despite the relatively small number of volunteers, multiplexed cytokine assays revealed a typical T-cell signature of cytokines that were increased significantly in the course of CA treatment compared to placebo (GM-CSF, IFNγ, IL-4, IL-10, IL-17, TNFβ, all p 0.05). These preliminary results suggest that CA is able to support leukocyte activation, in particular that of T-lymphocytes.

Changes in color and rheological behavior of pineapple concentrate through various evaporation methods

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of various concentration methods namely microwave vacuum evaporation(MVE),microwave heating evaporation(MHE),and rotary vacuum evaporation(RVE)on the concentrate change,the kinetic of color degradation,and the rheological behavior of pineapple juice.The concentrated behavior of pineapple juice from the experimental data of concentration rate was fitted with three types of exponential models for evaluating a suitable prediction.The four-parameter exponential model was found to agreeably explain the concentrated change of pineapple juice during each concentration methods.The Kinetics of color change during concentration processes was evaluated.The color changing from three different evaporations was measured by lightness values(L*),redness values(a*)and yellowness(b*)values,total color difference(TCD)and brown pigment formation index(A420).The result indicated that the change in Hunter parameters,L*and b*,fitted well with the first-order kinetic model while a*,TCD,and Browning index followed the zero-order kinetic model.The observed apparent viscosities(μa)of pineapple concentrate at 55-85℃through the three different evaporation methods were also measured.In relation to temperature and shear rate,the viscosity decreased as these two parameters increased,for all concentrated pineapple juice.On comparing the values ofμa of pineapple concentrate from different concentration methods,pineapple concentrate from MHE has higher values than those from MVE and RVE.The Duncan test,applied to the experimental results,indicates no significant difference in theμa of pineapple juice concentrate by MVE and by RVE.