Daniel A. Madalena

This study aimed to develop plant-based nanoemulsions (NE) for co-encapsulation of vitamin D ₃ and curcumin, comparing the emulsifying properties of pea and potato proteins.

3D printing has emerged as a groundbreaking technology, aiming to enhance sensory attributes and improving nutritional/functional aspects. Simultaneously, nano-delivery systems have emerged as an opportunity to protect bioactive compounds against degradation and improve their bioaccessibility. Therefore, a novel concept is underway, involving the 3D printing of perishable healthy foods previously fortified with bioactive compound-loaded nanostructures. As a model concept, whey protein isolate (WPI) nanostructures were associated with riboflavin with an efficiency of 59.2%. Carrot pastes with adequate printability, shape retention and rheological characteristics were formulated. Riboflavin-WPI loaded nanostructures were incorporated into carrot inks and submitted to a static in vitro digestion. There was a notable increase in riboflavin bioaccessibility (+23.1%), suggesting a synergistic interaction between WPI nanostructures and carrot matrix. These results may contribute to validating the use of WPI nanostructures as effective encapsulating systems allied with 3D food printing towards the development of functional foods with personalized structure and nutrition profile.

This research work investigates the development of alginate-based films incorporating phenolic compounds extracted from Amaranthus cruentus grain using different solvents. Alginate, glycerol, and amaranth grain phenolic compounds at various concentrations were used to produce the films. An experimental Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was used to evaluate the effect of these variables on different film’s properties, i.e., water vapor permeability, hydrophobicity, moisture content, solubility, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties. This study demonstrated that high phenolic compound content and antioxidant capacity were obtained from amaranth grain using ethanol as the extraction solvent. Alginate films incorporating amaranth phenolic compounds were successfully manufactured, and this study can be used to tailor the formulation of alginate films containing amaranth phenolic compounds, depending on their final food application. For example, less flexible but more resistant and water-soluble films can be produced by increasing the alginate concentration, which was confirmed by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis. This study showed that active alginate films with amaranth phenolic compounds can be tailored to be used as food packaging material with potential antioxidant activity.

Starch is the main sugar source present in staple foods. Understanding starch hydrolysis during digestion and the resulting glucose release can be important to strategically modulate starch digestion and glucose absorption. In vitro digestion methodologies are fundamental to evaluate starch hydrolysis length and rate, but the lack of uniformity between protocols prevent the comparison of results. In this context, three different Carolino rice varieties (i.e., Carolino white—Cw, Carolino brown—Cb and Carolino Ariete brown—CAb) were submitted to the INFOGEST harmonized in vitro digestion protocol for the evaluation of starch hydrolysis and subsequent glycemic index (GI) determination, and starch granules morphological study. Samples of Carolino rice presented total starch percentages between 64.52 (for Cb) to 71.52% (for Cw) with low amylose content (16.19–19.95%, varying in the following order Cb < Cab ≈ Cw). During digestion, between 39.43 (for CAb) to 44.48% (for Cb) of starch was hydrolyzed, classifying samples as medium GI foods (61.73–69.17). Starch hydrolysis was accompanied by a decrease of starch granules dimensions. For all samples, area decrease was higher than 59%, perimeter decrease was higher than 37%, feret diameter decrease was higher than 39% and minimum feret diameter decrease was higher than 32%. This work provides new insights to describe, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the fate of rice during digestion, and allowed establishing a comparative basis for the development of rice-based recipes with a lower GI.