Evelia María Milán-Noris

Corn tortillas are consumed daily in Mexico. Alkaline extrusion is an alternative process that generates nixtamalized tortillas and preserves more bioactive compounds. Chickpea germination-extrusion may enhance the bioactive compound content. The aim was to characterize the physicochemical and antioxidant/antidiabetic properties of functional tortillas of alkaline-extruded blue corn (TC) with germinated (TG) or germinated-extruded (TGE) desi-chickpea. Likewise, the effect of simulated gastrointestinal digestion (SGD) on the bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds (phenolics, soluble protein, peptides, anthocyanins, and isoflavones) was estimated. Antioxidant capacity/cellular activity was determined by ORAC (AoxC) and in the Caco-2 cell line (CAA), while antidiabetic potential by α-amylase inhibition. The supplementation with processed chickpeas (TG/TGE) increased protein, ash, and isoflavone content (p < 0.05) compared with TC. SGD (%) released (p < 0.05) bioactive compounds from tortillas, and their bioaccessibility was among 34–70%; noticeably low phenolic bioaccessibility in TG/TGE. The AoxC was higher in TG/TGE (p < 0.05) compared with TC; in contrast, CAA was higher in TC, and both increased after SGD. TG depicted the lowest amylase inhibition; after SGD, the IC₅₀ values were 62–72-fold lower in the digests than in the tortillas. These results suggest that functional tortillas with processed chickpeas enhance nutraceutical potential.

Extrusion has been used to develop functional foods. Thisstudy aimed to evaluate the hypoglycemic activity (HGA), antioxidantcapacity (AoxC), and nutritional properties of foodpasta based on amaranth/blue maize, obtained throughthe extrusion-cooking process. To obtain food pasta, theconditions were Extrusion Temperature = 82 °C / HumidityContent = 33 % and 10 % Semolina was added. A simulatedgastrointestinal digestion was performed, and the HGA,AoxC, and nutritional properties were evaluated. Amaranth/blue maize flour (ABMF) showed 10.04 and 45.72 % inhibitionof α-amylase (AphA) and α-glucosidase (AphG), respectively,while extruded pasta with semolina (EPS) showed a 41.31 and42.94 % inhibition of AphA and AphG, respectively. EPS afterhydrolysis showed good inhibition value for AphA and AphGin both fractions, in and out. The out fraction showed thehighest percentage of inhibition for AphG and AphA (40.44and 22.51 %, respectively). The ABMF and EPS had 18,844and 12,652 μmol TE/100 g sample (dw) of AoxC, respectively.Most of the amino acids achieve the FAO recommendations.Protein digestibility in vitro showed an increment in EPS(76.61 %) with respect to ABMF (71.09 %). Additionally, C-PERhad a positive effect after the extrusion-cooking process(3.05 vs. 2.94 for EPS and ABMF, respectively). Extrusion is agood technique for developing functional foods with potentialbiological activity.

El amaranto posee buenas características nutricionales, nutracéuticas y además es libre de gluten, lo que lo hace interesante para ser incorporado en la industria alimentaria. Procesamientos como la extrusión y germinación modifican las características bioquímicas del amaranto. El objetivo de esta investigación fue caracterizar las propiedades fisicoquímicas, nutricionales y nutracéuticas en galletas de amaranto crudo, germinado, extrudido y germinado-extrudido. Las galletas se elaboraron con solo amaranto (100 %) o suplementadas con trigo (50 %). Se determinó composición proximal, color, actividad de agua (aw), compuestos fenólicos totales (CFT), capacidad antioxidante (CAoX) y digestión de proteína in vitro. La suplementación con amaranto procesado (germinado y extrudido 50 %) produjo cambios (p < 0.05) en el color de las galletas y se mantuvo la aw en niveles adecuados, donde se evita el crecimiento de microorganismos. Las galletas con amaranto presentaron valores más altos en el contenido de proteína (1.06 a 1.26 veces más), CFT (1.50 a 10 veces más) y CAoX (1.32 a 9.0 veces más), comparado con la galleta de trigo. La galleta con 100 % amaranto germinado (GAG100) tuvo los valores más altos de CFT y CAoX. La digestión de proteína de las galletas fue mejor en la galleta con amaranto extrudido suplementada con trigo al 50 % (GAET50). En conclusión, el amaranto procesado, tanto extrudido como germinado o ambos en conjunto, resulta un ingrediente muy interesante para el desarrollo de galletas funcionales o libres de gluten. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54167/tch.v20i1.2171

Amaranth is a nutritional and naturally gluten-free pseudocereal with several food applications. The germination and pepsin/pancreatin hydrolysis in amaranth releases antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds but the hydrolysis times (270 or 360 min) are too long to scale up in the development of amaranth functional ingredients. The aim of this study was to estimate the influence of the germination and pepsin/pancreatin hydrolysis reduction time on the techno-functional properties and nutraceutical potential of amaranth flours and hydrolysates. The germination process increased 12.5% soluble protein (SP), 23.7% total phenolics (TPC), 259% water solubility, and 26% oil absorption in germinated amaranth flours (GAFs) compared to ungerminated amaranth flours (UAFs). The ungerminated (UAFH) and germinated (GAFH) amaranth hydrolysates showed values of degree of hydrolysis up to 50% with 150 min of sequential (pepsin + pancreatin) hydrolysis. The enzymatic hydrolysis released 1.5-fold SP and 14-fold TPC in both amaranth flours. The water solubility was higher in both hydrolysates than in their unhydrolyzed flour counterparts. The reduction in hydrolysis time did not significantly affect the nutraceutical potential of GAFH, enhancing its potential for further investigations. Finally, combining germination and enzymatic hydrolysis in amaranth enhances nutraceutical and techno-functional properties, increasing the seed. Consequently, GAF or GAFH could be used to elaborate on functional or gluten-free food products.

Malaria is a tropical human disease, caused by protozoan parasites, wherein a significant number of the world's population is at risk. Annually, more than 219 million new cases are reported. Although there are prevention treatments, there are no highly and widely effective licensed anti-malarial vaccines available for use. Opportunities for utilization of plant-based vaccines as novel platforms for developing safe, reliable, and affordable treatments offer promise for developing such a vaccine against malaria. In this study, a Malchloroplast candidate vaccine was designed, composed of segments of AMA1 and MSP1 proteins, two epitopes of Plasmodium falciparum, along with a GK1 peptide from Taenia solium as adjuvant, and this was expressed in tobacco chloroplasts. Transplastomic tobacco lines were generated using biolistic transformation, and these were confirmed to carry the synthetic gene construct. Expression of the synthetic GK1 peptide was confirmed using RT-PCR and Western blots. Furthermore, the GK1 peptide was detected by HPLC at levels of up to 6 µg g⁻¹ dry weight of tobacco leaf tissue. The plant-derived Malchloroplast candidate vaccine was subsequently tested in BALB/c female mice following subcutaneous administration, and was found to elicit specific humoral responses. Furthermore, components of this candidate vaccine were recognized by antibodies in Plasmodium falciparum malaria patients and were immunogenic in test mice. Thus, this study provided a ‘proof of concept’ for a promising plant-based candidate subunit vaccine against malaria.

Hypertension is considered a risk factor for coronary heart disease, and its prevalence has increased substantially. Inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE-I) is key to lower blood pressure, making it an excellent treatment for hypertension. Corn (Zea mays L.) is an important source of bioactive peptides with potential anti-hypertensive activity related to ACE-I inhibition. These peptides can be obtained through the hydrolysis of corn gluten meal (CGM), as wetmilling by-products. The aim was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo ACE-I inhibitory activity of blue CGM hydrolysates. Enzymatic digestion in vitro of blue CGM was conducted at different times. Hydrolysis for 360 min significantly increased both soluble protein and antioxidant activity by 4 and 8-fold respectively, the maximum ACE-I inhibition (94.3 %) was observed with 260 min hydrolysate. Mice were treated with the blue CGM hydrolysate (260 min), captopril or PBS to test the bioavailability in vivo. The CGM hydrolysate was detected in serum after 5 and up to 30 min after ingestion, showing the maximum ACE-I inhibitory capacity (59 %) during the first 15 min. Overall, this work showed that the blue CGM hydrolysate could serve as a functional food ingredient with antihypertensive effect due to its blood pressure-lowering peptides.RESUMENLa hipertensión es factor de riesgo en enfermedades coronarias, y su prevalencia ha aumentado sustancialmente. La inhibición de enzima convertidora de angiotensina (ECA) es clave para disminuir presión arterial, y excelente tratamiento para hipertensión. El maíz (Zea mays L.) es fuente de péptidos bioactivos con actividad antihipertensiva por inhibición de ECA. Péptidos pueden obtenerse por hidrólisis de harina de gluten de maíz (HGM), como subproducto de molienda húmeda. El objetivo fue evaluar in vitro e in vivo actividad inhibitoria de ECA en hidrolizados de HGM azul. La digestión enzimática in vitro de HGM fue conducida a diferentes tiempos. La hidrólisis por 360 min aumento significativamente proteína soluble y actividad antioxidante de 4 y 8 veces, respectivamente; la máxima inhibición de ECA (94.3 %) fue observada a 260 minutos del hidrolizado. Ratones fueron tratados con HGM hidrolizado (260 minutos), captopril o PBS para evaluar biodisponibilidad in vivo. Después de la ingestión, HGM hidrolizado fue detectado en suero en 5 hasta 30 minutos, mostrando máxima inhibición de ECA (59 %) durante los primeros 15 minutos. En general, este trabajo mostró que hidrolizado de HGM podría servir como ingrediente funcional en alimentos con efecto antihipertensivo debido a péptidos reductores de presión arterial.