Functional Vegetable-Based Sausages for Consumption by Children

The dislike food preferences that children registered regarding vegetables and fish compromise the exposure to those iodine sources and may contribute to cause a nutritional deficiency in this micronutrient, causing serious damage of the brain and the central nervous system. Functional foods are becoming well-established in the market, focused on by an adult consumer more interested in healthy eating habits but without the motivation to optimize natural food preparation or to promote a wide variety of food in their diet. This article presents evidence of a new functional product concept, 100% vegetable, fermented soya based and salted by a red algae, that was approved by 900 parents who chose the sensorial features: distinctive aroma (57.9%), soft texture (38.4%), sausage shape (21%) and attractive color (77.9%). Three different varieties were developed: carrot (50% w/w), sugar-beet (50% w/w) and tomato (40% w/w) mini sausages, with tofu (20% w/w) and 0.8 % (w/w) of seaweed, reflecting trends that the younger consumer demands. The sensorial tests performed, after quality control assays, received very satisfactory acceptance by the potential buyer.

Medium factors affecting extracellular protease activity by <i>Bacillus</i>sp. HTS 102—A novel wild strain isolated from Portuguese merino wool

The synthesis of an extracellular protease by Bacillus sp. HTS102—a wild strain recently isolated from the wool of Portuguese Merino ewes, was optimized. This protease is thermostable and particularly resistant to harsh environmental conditions—and appears to bear a unique ability to hydrolyze keratin-rich solid materials. Following a preliminary screening for the most relevant medium factors involved in processing, a fractional factorial design (2VI6-1) was applied to ascertain the effects of six relevant parameters—viz. yeast extract concentration, peptone level, inoculum size, stirring rate, temperature and pH. The concentrations of yeast extract and peptone, as well as the incubation temperature and pH were found to play significant roles;and the 2-factor interaction between yeast extract level and pH was also significant. A 2.2-fold increase in the overall level of protease synthesis was eventually attained, with the improved medium relative to the basal medium—which is noteworthy when compared with competing proteases and previous optimization efforts.

Genotypic Assessment by RAPD Markers and Ultrastructural Characteristics of a NaCI-Tolerant Potato Cell Line

Salinity is a serious threat to agricultural production. Potato （Solanum tuberosum） is an important food crop characterised for having low to moderate salinity tolerance. Tissue cultures may be relevant to improve salt tolerance in potato through selection of salt-tolerant cell lines and subsequent regeneration of plants. In this work, the authors used the random amplified polymorphic DNA （RAPD） markers to investigate the occurrence of genetic polymorphism in a potato calli line tolerant to 150 mM NaCI. Out of 40 primers screened, eight generated polymorphic patterns that distinguished salt-tolerant line from the control. Although the macroscopic appearance was similar in both lines, ultrastructural study revealed alterations in salt-grown cells. These showed that plastids less differentiated with a lower number of grana had more and larger starch grains than control cells. In conclusion, RAPD analysis revealed that NaCl-adapted line is a somaclonal variant and the ultrastructural study showed changes essentially at the plastids.

3D Printed Gelatin Scaffold with Improved Shape Fidelity and Cytocompatibility by Using Antheraea pernyi Silk Fibroin Nanofibers

Gelatin(G)is a commonly used natural biomaterial owing to its good biocompatibility and easy availability.However,using pure gelatin as a bioink can barely achieve an ideal shape fidelity in 3D printing.In this study,Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin nanofibers(ASFNFs)with arginine-glycine-aspartic acid(RGD)peptide and partial natural silk structure are extracted and combined with pure gelatin bioink to simultaneously improve the shape fidelity and cytocompatibility of corresponding 3D printed scaffold.Results show that the optimum printing temperature is 30℃ for these bioinks.The printed filaments using 16G/4ASFNFs bioink(16wt%gelatin and 4wt%ASFNFs)demonstrate better morphology and larger pore size than those printed by pure gelatin bioink(20G,20wt%gelatin),thus successfully improve the shape fidelity and porosity of the 3D printed scaffold.The 16G/4ASFNFs scaffold also demonstrate higher swelling ratio and faster degradation rate than the pure gelatin scaffold.Moreover,the cell viability and proliferation ability of Schwann cells cultured on the 16G/4ASFNFs scaffold are significantly superior than those cultured on the pure 20G scaffold.The ASFNFs enhanced 16G/4ASFNFs scaffold reported here are expected to be a candidate with excellent potential for biomedical applications.

Functional properties of peptides obtained from whey proteins by ficin extract hydrolysis

Enzymatic whey proteins concentrates (WPC) hydrolysis under optimal conditions of ficin crude extract (FCE) in two ratios E/S (0.5 and 1%) was studied,assessing the impact of hydrolysis on WPC by determination degree of hydrolysis (DH),Fast proteins liquid chromatography (FPLC),Tricine SDS-PAGE,antioxidant activity at sampling time beside,and technological properties (solubility,emulsifying activity index (EAI) and foaming activity (FA)) at the best condition (maximum DH and antioxidant activity) other side.Results showed,in the first 30 min,DH reached 22.76% at E/S (1%) with a total degradation of α-lactalbumin (α-La) and almost of β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg).A significant increase in antioxidant activity and solubility was observed,while not for EAI,and FA.These results indicate for the first time that β-Lg is susceptible to hydrolyse by FCE that rarely found for other enzymes.Ficin hydrolysates showed very relevant performance,and suggest that could be appropriate production of functional ingredients.