Natural pigments recovery from bio-residues: widening the range of safe food colorants

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Bio-based hybrid molecules for coloring and preservative purposes

Publication . Novais, Cláudia; Molina, Adriana K.; Abreu, Rui M.V.; Santos-Buelga, Celestino; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R.; Pereira, Carla; Barros, Lillian

The increasing urgency to feed the growing world population, along with growing consumer awareness and expectations, have driven the evolution of food production systems and the processes and products applied in the food industry. Although substantial progress has been made in food additives, the controversy in which some of them are still embroiled has encouraged research into the next safer and healthier generations. These additives can come from natural sources and confer health benefits, in addition to serving to color or preserve, among others.1 Limiting factors of these additives are often related to stability, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness issues, which justify the need for innovative solutions. Finding compounds that can have both capabilities (colorant and preservative) and additionally exert bioactive functions may be a promising solution. However, to obtain benefits such as antioxidant or antimicrobial activity, the concentrations of these compounds are often high, not meeting the acceptable daily intake (ADI) requirement. In addition, such compounds may take time to become part of the additives authorized for use by regulators, remembering that in addition to the research for these new molecules, they must undergo thorough toxicity and safety evaluation before their use is allowed for consumption.2 The research and development of new molecules through new chemical approaches, such as the modification of natural molecules already known and of accepted use worldwide, so that they can develop a better and double performance (colorant plus preservative), may be a path to be followed to circumvent the difficulties and monetize the use of these additive molecules in the food industry. Non-covalent complexation is a natural process and an important mechanism responsible for stabilizing and enhancing the blue, violet, and red colors in flowers, vegetables, and fruits, as well as in food products derived from them. The increased interest in copigmentation has been remarkable, especially by the food industry, in order to enhance the color palette. In view of its mastery and use through the selection of the better copigments to be added to food products, precise (computer-aided) control of the supramolecular assemblies of non-covalent supramolecular copigments is essential. In this regard, copigmentation with antioxidant/antimicrobial molecules can be explored, and the use of new cheminformatics tools and models can support the development of unique hybrid compounds with dual function (coloring and preserving), based on the screening of numerous biomolecules so as to spawn new bio-based molecules as the next generation of food additives.3 In this regard, and with the observed advances in computers and computational methodologies for in silico experimental aid, their exploitation for the research and development of these safer and more efficient bio-based hybrid molecules with dual functionality by predicting and verifying the experimental results, allow the study of certain physical characteristics that are not easily examined in the laboratory and are very promising, which can help and accelerate research on a topic that is now fundamental.

2022Conference object

Open access

Desenvolvimento de corantes bioativos a partir de subprodutos de framboesa vermelha usando extrações assistidas por calor el ultrassom

Publication . Añibarro-Ortega, Mikel; Rocha, Rosiane; Pereira, Alexis; Pires, Tânia C.S.; Nogueira, António José M.; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R.; Pinela, José; Barros, Lillian

Atualmente, o uso de corantes artificiais está envolto em controvérsia devido a questões de segurança, enquanto as alternativas naturais são ainda limitadas devido à falta de fontes sustentáveis, ao custo de produção e a questões de estabilidade. As antocianinas são pigmentos bioativos encontrados em frutos vermelhos, como a framboesa vermelha (Rubus idaeus L.), responsáveis por um leque de cores do vermelho ao roxo. Portanto, este trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver um corante natural bioativo rico em antocianinas a partir de subprodutos de framboesa vermelha.

2022Conference poster

Open access

Effects of the fertilization system on the chemical profile of Ribes rubrum L.

Publication . Palmeira, Luís; Molina, Adriana K.; Pereira, Carla; Dias, Maria Inês; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R.; Barros, Lillian

Ribes rubrum L. fruits are widely consumed for their pleasant taste and nutritional features (Figure 1). These small red fruits are also considered superfoods, mostly due to their high content of phenolic compounds, fiber, iron, and vitamin C, among others, which confer them anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, depurative, and diuretic properties.1 In fact, in the last years, there has been a reasonable increase of these fruits’ consumption, with the growing interest of consumers in functional foods and the sustainability of their production. In this sense, organic and integrated production has been gaining expression, being seen as a way to enhance the quality of the fruits, rich in added-value antioxidant compounds, allowing to meet the most demanding consumers’ expectations.2 Through this study, fruits produced conventionally and by applying a biological fertilizer were compared in terms of nutritional value (AOAC) and fatty acids (GC-FID), free sugars (HPLC-RI), organic acids (UFLC-PDA), tocopherols (HPLC-fluorescence), and phenolic compounds (HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS) composition. Moreover, the antioxidant properties of their hydroethanolic extracts (ethanol:water 80:20, v/v) were assessed by two cell-based methods (TBARS and OxHLIA). In general, higher levels of carbohydrates and energy, sucrose, polyunsaturated fatty acids and anthocyanins were found in the fruits grown in conventional agriculture. On the other hand, the fruits cultivated in biological mode showed higher concentrations of lipids, fructose and glucose, ascorbic acid, saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, phenolic acids and flavonoids. This difference in the chemical profile revealed to influence the bioactivity of these fruits, both in terms of inhibition of lipid peroxidation (TBARS) and oxidative hemolysis (OxHLIA), which were enhanced in the fruits produced in biological way. The results obtained in the present study may serve as a basis for the definition of production parameters that best fit the culture of R. rubrum.

2022Conference object

Open access

Nutritional quality of mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) oil obtained by extrusion

Publication . Molina, Adriana K.; Paschoalinotto, B.H.; Añibarro-Ortega, Mikel; Pereira, Carla; Pinela, José; Esteves, Vasco T.; Dias, Maria Inês; Barros, Lillian

The world is rapidly changing, obviously at an environmental level, always at an economic level, and unfortunately at a social level, leading all of this to significant cultural changes, namely what people eat. One of the main issues of concern is precisely the availability of food resources in parallel with its nutritional and bioactive potential, which is why the industry and academia have been looking for alternative sources of essential molecules for the well-being and health of the consumers, such as: proteins, bioactives, essential fatty acids, and fibres. Edible insects have gained some prominence for their protein content and fatty acid content. However, there is still a great aversion on the part of consumers to insect-based food products, especially at the organoleptic level (texture, taste and appearance). Oilrich components are just one of the answers to maximize the use of these new sources of fatty acids, mainly omega- 3 and -6, such as the oil extracted from Tenebrio molitor (mealworm).1 The larvae are traditionally used for animal feed, pets and fish, but in some countries like China and Netherlands, they have been already consumed for food purposes. Its legal acceptance for incorporation and development of new food products was already stablished and, since it is tolerant to various environmental conditions and does not require a large area for growth, it is perfectly suitable for mass production.2 In this context, the present work aimed to characterize the mealworm oil, obtained by extrusion techniques, regarding its content in fatty acids by gas-chromatography coupled to a flame ionization (GCFID) detector, as also its salt content (NaCl) by the Mohr titration method. The results regarding the fatty acids profile in terms of total saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are described in Table 1. Twenty-two individual fatty acids were identified, having been found, in percentages higher than 0.1%, the following compounds: elaidic acid (C18:1n9, 44.7±0.1%), linoleic acid (C18:2n6, 31.4±0.5%), palmitic acid (C16:0, 14.2±0.4%), octadecanoic acid (C18:0, 2.9±0.2%), α-linoleic acid (C18:3n3, 1.293±0.001%), and heptadecanoic acid (C17:1, 0.123±0.002%), which are in accordance with previous bibliography.3 Regarding salt content, 2.3±0.1 mg/mL was within the accepted limits. This is one of the attributes that most affects the organoleptic acceptance of mealworms for food purposes, besides the particle size; as such, future studies are needed to further investigate the physicochemical characteristics of the studied oil sample. The results obtained revealed the huge potentiality of mealworm larva for the development of new food products, representing one of the greatest answers to the increasing unavailability of sustainable natural sources rich in molecules beneficial for human health.

2022Conference object

Open access

Production and fertilization system affects the nutritional, chemical, and bioactive properties of small red fruits