Mayra Esthela González-Mendoza

La leche y sus derivados constituyen uno de los sistemas biológicos más complejos y versátiles que la industria alimentaria tiene a su disposición. Este libro ofrece una lectura integrada del potencial funcional de sus componentes principales: proteínas, lípidos y carbohidratos. El libro analiza cómo estas moléculas interactúan, se transforman y pueden diseñarse para cumplir funciones específicas en matrices alimentarias de distinta complejidad. Desde la estabilización de emulsiones hasta la formulación de bebidas funcionales, cada capítulo conecta el conocimiento de base con decisiones reales de proceso y formulación. Un eje central del libro es la revalorización de subproductos lácteos, particularmente el suero de quesería y el suero de mantequilla. Lejos de tratarlos como efluentes problemáticos, se examinan como fuentes de ingredientes de alto valor, cuya recuperación y aplicación responde tanto a criterios tecnológicos como a imperativos ambientales y económicos. El libro incorpora también una mirada crítica sobre las tecnologías emergentes y los procesos biotecnológicos que están redefiniendo los límites de la funcionalidad láctea, situando estas herramientas dentro del marco más amplio de la economía circular.

Probiotics offer significant health benefits; however, their efficacy is often compromised by low survival rates in stressful conditions. Microencapsulation using modified starches presents a promising strategy to enhance probiotic viability. This study aimed to evaluate microwave-assisted octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) modification of faba bean starch to provide a protective matrix for the microencapsulation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) through spray drying. Starch was extracted from faba beans and hydrolyzed, and a factorial design was employed for OSA esterification (3% w/w) using a conventional microwave (30 or 60 s at power levels of 2 or 10). The starches were characterized, and the most effective treatment was selected for the microencapsulation of LGG, varying the inlet temperature (120 and 140 °C) and flow rate (7 and 12 mL/min) at 30% solids content. Microwaves significantly reduced the processing time for starch esterification. Microwave-assisted OSA modification produced starches with low viscosity (<0.015 Pa·s), high amylose and resistant starch content, and good solubility, making them suitable for probiotic encapsulation. The microencapsulation of LGG resulted in a powder yield of 41–55%, with particle sizes ranging from 5 to 20 µm and survival rates of 81–90%. This study presents an effective method of producing OSA-modified starch from faba beans using microwave energy, demonstrating strong potential for probiotic delivery applications.

Starch is the most abundant carbohydrate in legumes (22–45 g/100 g), with distinctive properties such as high amylose and resistant starch content, longer branch chains of amylopectin, and a C-type pattern arrangement in the granules. The present study concentrated on the investigation of hydrolyzed faba bean starch using acid, assisted by microwave energy, to obtain a possible food-grade coating material. For evaluation, the physicochemical, morphological, pasting, and structural properties were analyzed. Hydrolyzed starches developed by microwave energy in an acid medium had low viscosity, high solubility indexes, diverse amylose contents, resistant starch, and desirable thermal and structural properties to be used as a coating material. The severe conditions (moisture, 40%; pure hydrochloric acid, 4 mL/100 mL; time, 60 s; and power level, 6) of microwave-treated starches resulted in low viscosity values, high amylose content and high solubility, as well as high absorption indexes, and reducing sugars. These hydrolyzed starches have the potential to produce matrices with thermo-protectants to formulate prebiotic/probiotic (symbiotic) combinations and amylose-based inclusion complexes for functional compound delivery. This emergent technology, a dry hydrolysis route, uses much less energy consumption in a shorter reaction time and without effluents to the environment compared to conventional hydrolysis.