Tosin Michael Olajide

Fortified germination is regarded as a straightforward and potent approach to boost the nutritional value and bioactive compounds of cereal seeds, and it is also used for cereal micronutrient fortification. Zinc (Zn) and ultrasound treatments have been applied in the fortified germination of cereals. This paper primarily investigated the synergistic effects of Zn fortification at varying concentrations and ultrasonic treatment on germinated black rice and its associated metabolomic profile. The results indicated that Zn fortification coupled with ultrasonic treatment increased Zn content, total flavonoid content, total polyphenol content, and antioxidant properties of germinated black rice. Untargeted metabolomics analysis of germinated black rice without Zn fortification or ultrasound treatment (GBR), ultrasound‐treated germinated black rice (UGBR), 150 mg/L Zn‐treated germinated black rice (GBR‐Zn150), and combined 150 mg/L Zn and ultrasound‐treated germinated black rice (UGBR‐Zn150) revealed 307 metabolites. The differential metabolites (DMs) analysis demonstrated that UGBR‐Zn150 exhibited the most metabolic changes. A notable upregulation of DMs in the phenylpropanoids and polyketides (PPs) was observed. Among these metabolites, gossypetin, taxifoliol, datiscin, and irigenol exhibited a significant positive correlation with antioxidant ability ( p < 0.05). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed four significantly enriched metabolic pathways, which contributed to increased phenolic compounds and gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), thereby enhancing its nutritional value and antioxidant properties. These results suggest that Zn fortification combined with ultrasonic treatment may serve as a promising approach for improving the nutritional fortified profile of germinated seeds. Practical Application: The synergistic treatment of germination with Zn fortification and ultrasound is an effective approach to enhance the Zn content, nutritional quality, and functional properties of black rice. This method promotes the potential application of germinated black rice in functional foods and provides a novel strategy for addressing Zn deficiency issues.

This study evaluated the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and taste properties of Gorgon Euryale seeds processed by five methods (steaming, boiling, microwaving, roasting, and stir‐frying) using electronic tongue (E‐tongue), electronic nose (E‐nose), gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), and gas chromatography‐ion mobility spectrometry (GC‐IMS). A total of 44 and 40 VOCs were identified by GC‐MS and GC‐IMS, respectively. Pyrazines (2‐ethyl‐3,5‐dimethylpyrazine, 2,3‐diethyl‐5‐methylpyrazine) and furans (2‐pentylfuran, 2‐ethylfuran) played a major role in the baked aroma characteristics of roasted and stir‐fried Gorgon Euryale seeds. Six and seven marker compounds were identified by Orthogonal Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (OPLS‐DA) models for GC‐MS and GC‐IMS based on 12 VOCs with odor activity value > 1 and 18 VOCs with relative odor activity value > 0.1, respectively. OPLS‐DA and principal component analysis score plots of the E‐tongue and E‐nose demonstrated that samples could be effectively distinguished in terms of flavor. This research provides a comprehensive basis for evaluating the impact of processing methods on the changes in flavor of Gorgon Euryale seeds. Practical Application: This work demonstrates that the use of E‐tongue, E‐nose, HS‐SPME‐GC‐MS, and GC‐IMS has the capability to thoroughly analyze the flavor profile of Gorgon Euryale seeds at both macro and micro levels. This approach effectively distinguishes Gorgon Euryale products subjected to different processing treatments and provides a reliable reference for evaluating and identifying the flavor quality of Gorgon Euryale seeds.

This study investigated the effects of preheat treatment (70–100 °C) and syringic acid (SA) grafting on the antioxidant, antibacterial, and physicochemical properties of black soybean protein isolate (BSPI) before and after in vitro digestion. The results revealed that both preheat treatment and SA grafting increased the digestibility and the absolute zeta potential value of BSPI. However, as the preheating temperature increased, the antioxidant ability of BSPI decreased, which was improved by SA grafting. During in vitro digestion, the absolute zeta potential and antioxidant activities of preheated BSPI and preheated BSPI–SA complex followed the order: intestine > gastric > before digestion. Compared with before digestion, preheated BSPI with its SA complex after in vitro digestion exhibited excellent antibacterial activities. Importantly, the preheated BSPI–SA complex enhanced the SA recovery rate during digestion and SA stability, with the highest recovery rate observed for the SA‐grafted BSPI with preheat treatment at 100°C (BSPI100–SA). The principal component analysis sufficiently distinguished preheated BSPI and preheated BSPI–SA complexes. There were partitions between BSPI and BSPI–SA treated at different preheating temperatures. This study contributes to expanding the potential applications of BSPI with its SA complex in food products and offers guidance for designing SA delivery systems. Practical Application: Preheated BSPI–SA complexes could serve as functional ingredients in food or health products. Besides, preheated BSPI has application potential as a carrier for SA delivery.

This study investigated preheated (25–100°C) black soybean protein isolate (BSPI) conjugated with syringic acid (SA) (25 and 50 µmol/g protein) under alkaline conditions, focusing on the structure, functional properties, and storage stability. The results revealed that the SA binding equivalent and binding rate on BSPI increased continuously as the preheat temperature increased. Additionally, preheating positively impacted the surface hydrophobicity (H ₀ ) of BSPI, with further enhancement observed upon SA binding. Preheating and SA binding altered the secondary and tertiary structure of BSPI, resulting in protein unfolding and increased molecular flexibility. The improvement in BSPI functional properties was closely associated with both preheating temperature and SA binding. Specifically, preheating decreased the solubility of BSPI but enhanced the emulsifying activity index (EAI) and foaming capacity (FC) of BSPI. Conversely, SA binding increased the solubility of BSPI with an accompanying increase in EAI, FC, foaming stability, and antioxidant activity. Notably, the BSPI100‐SA50 exhibited the most significant improvement in functional properties, particularly in solubility, emulsifying, and foaming attributes. Moreover, the BSPI‐SA conjugates demonstrated good stability of SA during storage, which positively correlated with the preheating temperature. This study proposes a novel BSPI‐SA conjugate with enhanced essential functional properties, underscoring the potential of preheated BSPI‐SA conjugates to improve SA storage stability. Practical Application: Preheated BSPI‐SA conjugates can be used as functional ingredients in food or health products. In addition, preheated BSPI shows potential as a candidate for encapsulating and delivering hydrophobic bioactive compounds.

1,3-Dioleoyl-2-palmitoylglycerol (OPO) was synthesized by enzymatic interesterification using palm stearin rich in tripalmitin (PPP) and ethyl oleate. Enzymatic interesterification parameters such as temperature, water content, enzyme load, and substrate molar ratio were optimized. High contents of C52 (primarily OPO and its isomeric compounds) production (46.7%) and sn-2 palmitic acid (PA) content of 75.3% were detected. In addition, OPO-human milk fat substitute (HMFS) was blended with coconut, soybean, algal and microbial oils at a weight ratio of 0.70:0.18:0.11:0.004:0.007 to simulate fatty acids in human milk fat (HMF) according to the mathematical model. The main and important fatty acids in the Final-HMFS were within the ranges of those present in HMF. The Final-HMFS could promote the absorption of fats and minerals and the development of retina tissues in infants. The mixture of L-ascorbyl palmitate (L-AP) and vitamin E (VE) resulted in a synergistic antioxidant effect both in OPO-HMFS and OPO-HMFS emulsions. This finding has great significance in improving the quality and extending shelf-life of HMFS.

The effectiveness of two lipophilic derivatives of the natural phenol, gallic acid (GA), synthesized using methyl gallate as starting material was investigated. The antioxidant activities of these novel phenolics compared to GA, tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were evaluated in bulk oil, emulsion and the DPPH systems. The results showed that the new compounds effectively delayed lipid oxidation much better than GA and other antioxidants under Rancimat (100-140 °C) and emulsion tests. In the bulk oil system at 65 °C, they still behaved better than GA, but TBHQ had the highest activity. Thus, replacing the electron-withdrawing carboxylic group on GA by covalently linking sterically hindered phenols to its phenyl ring increased its lipophilicity and also resulted in synergistic effects which improved overall antioxidant activity through stabilization of the phenoxy radical. These new antioxidant variants satisfy industrial demands for bioactive ingredients with strong antioxidant potentials under different food processing conditions.

Potato cookies were formulated by replacing red palm stearin (RPS) by red palm olein (RPOL) at 0, 17 and 35%, and then baked at 160, 180 and 200 °C for 10, 12 and 15 min. The sensory analysis, using an orthogonal test, showed that a RPS-RPOL ratio of 65:35, baking temperature of 160 ºC, and baking time 12 min were the optimal conditions. Cookies made from 65% RPS + 35% RPOL composition exhibited 0.6 times less squalene, but 1.5 times more β-carotene, tocopherols and tocotrienols than the mixture of RPS and RPOL at 100:0. In addition, cookies with superior oxidative stability were obtained at a lower temperature (160 ºC) and short baking time (10 min). This study demonstrates that the application of RPOL and RPS blending can positively enhance the nutritional properties and oxidative stability of baked food, and that using potato in the baking processing may be beneficial.

Tert-butyl curcumin (TBC), demethylated tert-butylated curcumin (1E,6E-1,7-bis(3-tert-butyl-4,5-dihydroxyphenyl)hepta-1,6-diene-3,5-dione, DMTC), demethylated curcumin (DMC), and Cur were synthesized from the starting compound, 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol. TBC and DMTC are two novel lipophilic compounds, and Cur and DMC are polar and hydrophilic. The antioxidant activities of Cur, TBC, DMC, and DMTC were evaluated by using the methods of 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trinitro-phenyl)-hydrazinyl (DPPH), deep-frying, and Rancimat. Tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were used as comparison compounds. Both Rancimat and deep-frying tests demonstrated that DMTC was the strongest antioxidant, and TBC also had stronger antioxidant activity than Cur. In the DPPH assay, DMC showed the highest scavenging activity, followed by DMTC, TBHQ, Cur, and TBC. DMTC and TBC can be potentially used as strong antioxidants in food industry, especially for frying, baking, and other high temperature food processing. DMTC is the strongest antioxidant in oil to our knowledge.

The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique was applied to monitor the quality of tea oil herein. The adulteration of virgin tea oil was monitored by 19F NMR and 1H NMR. The 19F NMR technique was used as a new method to detect the changes in quality and hydroperoxide value of tea oil. The research demonstrates that 19F NMR and 1H NMR can quickly detect adulteration in tea oil. High temperature caused a decrease in the ratio D and increase in the total diglyceride content. Some new peaks belonging to the derivatives of hydroperoxides appeared at δ-108.21 and δ-109.05 ppm on the 19F NMR spectrum when the oil was autoxidized and became larger when the hydroperoxide value increased. These results have great significance in monitoring the moisture content, freshness and oxidation status of oils and in detecting adulteration in high priced edible oils by mixing with cheap oils.