Tipawan Thongsook

Short‐chain fructooligosaccharides (sc‐FOS) are prebiotics with significant health benefits and potential as low‐calorie sweeteners. This study employed a dual strategy to valorize unmarketable, fully ripe “Nam Dok Mai” mangoes—commonly responsible for substantial postharvest losses—by converting their inherent sucrose into sc‐FOS and subsequently utilizing the sc‐FOS–enriched mango syrup for osmotic dehydration (OD) of mango pieces. sc‐FOS was successfully synthesized from mango juice using Pectinex Ultra SP‐L. The addition of exogenous sucrose further enhanced sc‐FOS production, resulting in a sucrose conversion of 67.54% (g FOS·100 g initial sucrose ⁻¹ ). Mango syrup derived from juice with added sucrose (JUICE SU) contained sc‐FOS of 58.07% (g FOS·100 g total sugar ⁻¹ ) and was used as the OD agent. OD at 60°C significantly increased the sc‐FOS uptake of mango pieces compared to dehydration at 40°C. The sc‐FOS–enriched mango syrup proved more effective in facilitating OD than conventional sucrose syrup, leading to greater solid gain and water loss. The OD mango pieces using sc‐FOS–enriched mango syrup as the OD agent contained sc‐FOS of approximately 30% (db). This research demonstrates a promising approach for transforming food waste into value‐added functional food products while mitigating economic losses and environmental impacts associated with unmarketable fully ripe mangoes.

The valorization of salted duck egg white (SDEW), a high-salt by-product of the egg industry, was investigated through desalting and enzymatic hydrolysis to produce protein hydrolysates with enhanced functional properties. The desalting process resulted in a 97.13% reduction in sodium content while maintaining protein integrity, confirming desalted SDEW (DS-DEW) as a suitable substrate for enzymatic modification. Two proteases with distinct catalytic properties were compared: Protease M “Amano” SD (MSD, a dual endopeptidase and exopeptidase) and Thermoase GL30 (GL, an endopeptidase). Both enzymes showed time-dependent increases in the degree of hydrolysis (DH), with GL achieving a higher final DH at 6 hours, while MSD exhibited a faster initial hydrolytic rate. Total amino acid (TAA) content increased in both groups, with MSD yielding consistently higher levels of free amino acid. Predominant amino acids included glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glycine, and leucine, along with increased levels of hydrophobic and aromatic amino acids such as tyrosine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan. Antioxidant activity evaluated by the DPPH assay was significantly higher in MSD-treated samples, peaking at 3 hours (88.36%). In contrast, GL-treated samples exhibited lower activity, which declined over time. These results demonstrate the potential of controlled enzymatic hydrolysis of DS-DEW for producing antioxidant-active hydrolysates and support the development of value-added functional ingredients, contributing to the sustainable and industrial-scale utilization of egg industry by-products within the bio-circular-green economic model.

Research background. Heat-stabilised defatted rice bran (HSDRB) is a primary by-product of rice bran oil extraction industry and a nutritious source of protein. However, despite the unique nutritional profile of rice bran protein, the protein-rich by-product, HSDRB is underutilised as a low-value animal feed. Research on protein extraction from HSDRB by enzymatic hydrolysis has attracted the attention of numerous scientists. However, a cost-effective extraction method is required to mitigate the high costs associated with the use of enzymes. Therefore, we have presented an alternative economical and natural approach for protein extraction from HSDRB by solid-state fermentation (SSF) with heterofermentative microbes. Experimental approach. SSF of HSDRB with two types of traditional Asian fermentation starters, namely loog-pang and koji, were evaluated for enzyme production and their efficacy in extracting proteins from HSDRB. For this purpose, HSDRB fermentation was carried out for 0, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h followed by 24-hour hydrolysis to evaluate the extracted rice bran protein. In addition, microbiome diversity in the fermentation starters was also determined by metagenomic sequencing of 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer to identify bacteria and fungi, respectively. Results andconclusions. The microbial community in the fermentation starters showed the dominance of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) such as Bacillus subtilis in loog-pang and Streptococcus lutetiensis, Bacillus pumilus, Lactococcus cremoris, Lactococcus garvieae and Pediococcus pentosaceus in koji, while yeast species Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Saccharomyces cerevisiae dominated the fungal diversity in loog-pang and koji starters, respectively. The results suggest that loog-pang and koji can produce cellulase, neutral and acid proteases during fermentation. Despite the discrepancy in their microbial diversity and the enzyme activity during SSF, both starters could effectively increase protein extraction from HSDRB. A positive relationship between the SSF duration and extracted protein was observed. During SSF with loog-pang and koji after 72 h followed by 24-hour hydrolysis, 65.66 and 66.67 % protein was extracted from HSDRB, respectively. The amino acid analysis of the protein hydrolysate produced by the non-fermented and fermented methods showed no difference and had an abundance of glutamic and aspartic acids, leucine, arginine, alanine and glycine amino acids, which accounted for approx. 58 % of the total amino acids. Novelty and scientific contribution. Loog-pang and koji (traditional Thai and Japanese fermentation starters, respectively) were found to be effective in extracting proteins from HSDRB by SSF although they are inexpensive microbial enzyme sources. Future research aimed at scaling up HSDRB protein extraction for usage in industrial applications can draw on our results.

Short-chain fructooligosaccharides (sc-FOS) are prebiotics beneficial to human health, which can be synthesized from raw material containing a high sucrose content. Sugarcane syrup (SS) without molasses removal contains sucrose as a major sugar and is a rich source of several bioactive compounds. The aim of this study is to investigate factors affecting sc-FOS synthesis from SS using commercial enzyme preparations containing fructosyltransferase activity as biocatalysts. sc-FOS content increased significantly as the sucrose concentration of SS in the reaction mixture increased up to 40% (w/v). Changes in carbohydrate compositions during the transfructosylating reaction of a pure sucrose solution and SS prepared from the two sugarcane cultivars Khon Kaen 3 and Suphanburi 50, catalyzed by Pectinex Ultra SP-L and Viscozyme L, showed similar profiles. Both enzymes showed a high ability to transfer fructosyl moieties to produce sc-FOS and a plateau of the total sc-FOS concentration was observed after 4 h of reaction time. For the pure sucrose solution and SS (Suphanburi 50), Viscozyme showed a superior ability to convert sucrose to Pectinex, with a higher sc-FOS yield (g FOS/100 g of initial sucrose), GF2 or 1-kestose yield (g GF2/g of initial sucrose) and GF3 or nystose yield (g GF3/g of initial sucrose). sc-FOS syrup (FOS SS) and the foam-mat-dried syrup powder prepared from SS and FOS SS, respectively, contained a high total phenolic content and possessed higher antioxidant activities than those prepared from pure sucrose, but contained lower calories.

Musa (ABB group) “Kluai Namwa” bananas (Musa sp.) are widely grown throughout Thailand. Mali Ong is the most popular Kluai Namwa variety used as raw material for sun-dried banana production, especially in the Bangkratum District, Phitsanulok, Thailand. The sun-dried banana product made from Nanwa Mali Ong is well recognized as the best dried banana product of the country, with optimal taste compared to one made from other Kluai Namwa varieties. However, the production of Mali Ong has fluctuated substantially in recent years, leading to shortages. Consequently, farmers have turned to using other Kluai Namwa varieties including Nuanchan. This study investigated the nutraceutical contents of two popular Namwa varieties, Mali Ong and Nuanchan, at different ripening stages. Nutraceuticals in the dried banana products made from these two Kluai Namwa varieties and four commercial dried banana products were compared. Results indicated that the content of moisture, total sugar, and total soluble solids (TSS) (°Brix) increased, while total solids and texture values decreased during the ripening stage for both Kluai Namwa varieties. Rutin was the major flavonoid found in both Namwa Mali Ong and Nuanchan varieties ranging 136.00–204.89 mg/kg and 129.15–260.38 mg/kg, respectively. Rutin, naringenin, quercetin and catechin were abundant in both Namwa varieties. All flavonoids increased with ripening except for rutin, gallocatechin and gallocatechin gallate. There were no significant differences (p < 0.05) in flavonoid contents between both varieties. Tannic acid, ellagic acid, gallic acid, chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid were the main phenolic acids found in Mali Ong and Nuanchan varieties, ranging from 274.61–339.56 mg/kg and 293.13–372.66 mg/kg, respectively. Phenolic contents of both varieties decreased, increased and then decreased again during the development stage. Dopamine contents increased from 79.26 to 111.77 mg/kg and 60.38 to 125.07 mg/kg for Mali Ong and Nuanchan, respectively, but the amounts were not significantly different (p < 0.5) between the two Namwa varieties at each ripening stage. Inulin as fructooligosaccharide (FOS) increased with ripening steps. Production stages of sun-dried banana products showed no statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between the two Namwa varieties. Therefore, when one variety is scarce, the other could be used as a replacement in terms of total flavonoids, phenolic acid, dopamine and FOS. In both Namwa varieties, sugar contents decreased after the drying process. Sugar contents of the dried products were 48.47 and 47.21 g/100 g. The drying process caused a reduction in total flavonoid contents and phenolic acid at 63–66% and 64–70%, respectively. No significant differences (p < 0.05) were found for total flavonoid and phenolic contents between the dried banana products made from the two Namwa varieties (178.21 vs. 182.53 mg/kg and 96.06 vs. 102.19 mg/kg, respectively). Products made from Nuanchan varieties (24.52 mg/kg) contained significantly higher dopamine than that from Mali Ong (38.52 mg/kg). The data also suggest that the banana maturity stage for production of the sun dried products was also optimum in terms of high nutraceutical level.

This study demonstrated that oligosaccharides from copra meal could be prepared by using a commercial enzyme preparation containing mannanase for use as a prebiotic. The conditions giving the highest hydrolysis rate of the copra meal by the enzyme were pH 4 and temperature of 40 °C with an enzyme to substrate ratio (E/S) of 1092.69 β-mannanase activity unit/g of the dried copra meal. Monosaccharide was the predominant product of the hydrolysis reaction followed by di- and tri-saccharide. Activated carbon treatment of the copra meal hydrolysate reduced the monosaccharide content resulting in 36.13% of monosaccharide, 54.26% of disaccharide and 9.61% of trisaccharide. All monosaccharides were eliminated by incubating the copra meal hydrolysate with Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 48 h, which promoted the growth of B. breve, L. plantrarum, B. bifidum, L. bugaricus, L. acidophilus, L. brevis, L. casei, B. longum, and S. thermophiles while retarding the growth of the pathogenic bacteria, S. aureus and E. coli.

Summary: Sericin hydrolysate (SH), prepared from enzymatic hydrolysis of sericin, was investigated for its antipolyphenol oxidase (PPO) properties. SH decreased PPO activity from both purified mushroom PPO and extracts from apple and eggplant, and retarded browning in fresh‐cut apple and eggplant. SH was a competitive inhibitor using catechol as a substrate. SH exhibited copper ion‐chelating power and reducing power abilities. Fractionation of SH using size exclusion chromatography resulted in four fractions, designated as F1, F2, F3 and F4, with PPO inhibition of 35.75%, 3.89%, 24.52% and 14.75%, respectively. Ser and Asp were major amino acids found in F1. Amino acid sequences in F1, as investigated by LC‐MS/MS using de novo sequencing, contained a high ratio of amino acids with chelating ability. Moreover, amino acids with reducing power ability and with antityrosinase ability were also identified in the sequences.

Summary: Coconut residue or copra meal (CM), a by‐product after pressing cream and oil out of the coconut meat, is a good source of dietary fibre (DF), but high water‐holding capacity (WHC) of CM limits the quantity of fibre incorporated into food products. This study focused on the modification of CM physiochemical properties using acid hydrolysis to improve its potential utilisation as source of food fibres or low‐calories bulk ingredients in food applications. Acid hydrolysis using 0.5% HCl significantly reduced swelling capacity (SC) and water retention capacity, whereas bulk density (BD) and soluble DF content of the modified CM significantly increased. Monosaccharide composition profile, gel penetration profile and FT‐IR spectra indicated the destruction of CM matrix structure. This destruction increased compactness of the structure and lessened the ability of CM to hold water. Substituting the modified CM for wheat flour in bread and cookies significantly improved bread and cookies qualities compared with the use of the untreated CM. Response surface methodology showed that HCl concentration, hydrolysis temperature and time influenced properties of the modified CM. The models predicting their relationships were also generated.

Supplements of gypsum (calcium source), pumice (silicon source) and pumice sulfate (silicon and calcium source) into substrates for oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) were searched for their effects on production as well as qualities of fresh and canned mushrooms. The addition of pumice up to 30% had no effect on total yield, size distribution and cap diameters. The supplementation of gypsum at 10% decreased the total yield; and although gypsum at 5% did not affect total yield, the treatment increased the proportion of large-sized caps. High content (>10%) of pumice sulfate resulted in the lower yield. Calcium and silicon contents in the fruit bodies were not influenced by supplementations. The centrifugal drip loss values and solid content of fresh mushrooms, and the percentage of weight gained and firmness of canned mushrooms, cultivated in substrates supplemented with gypsum, pumice and pumice sulfate were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than those of the control. Scanning electron micrographs revealed the more compacted hyphae of mushroom stalks supplemented with silicon and/or calcium after heat treatment, compared to the control. Supplementation of P. ostreatus substrates with 20% pumice was the most practical treatment because it showed no effect on yield and the most cost-effective.