Increasing levels of fibre and mineral (Fe, Ca, and K) in chicken meatballs added dragon fruit peel and oyster mushroom

The removal of the peel on dragon fruit fruits is a common step in food production for reasons of aesthetics and hygiene. One way to recycle dragon fruit peel is to make chicken meatball. Chicken meatball in Indonesia, which is called bakso are produced from ground chicken mixed with flour, spices and other mashed ingredients. The mixture is then formed into balls and boiled until cooked. Chicken meatballs contain mostly animal ingredients, so the quality needs to be improved by adding vegetable ingredients. The addition of vegetable ingredients is intended to increase the content of dietary fibre. The fruit fibres used in this study were dragon fruit peel and the vegetable ingredients was oyster mushrooms. The results showed that chicken meatball with higher concentration of dragon fruit peel has higher level of soluble dietary fibre, insoluble dietary fibre, and total dietary fibre content. This indicates that dragon fruit peel has higher levels of soluble dietary fibre, insoluble dietary fibre, and dietary fibre than oyster mushrooms. The addition of dragon fruit peel and oyster mushrooms causes an increase in iron and calcium mineral levels in chicken meatball products, but oyster mushrooms contribute more to increase these minerals. With these nutritious chicken meatballs, dragon fruit peel can be processed to become food that has economic value. Therefore, dragon fruit peel and oyster mushrooms can be used as a good ingredient in the formulation of chicken meatball.

Soluble Non-Starch Polysaccharides From Plantain (Musa x paradisiaca L.) Diminish Epithelial Impact of Clostridioides difficile

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. Adhesion of this Gram-positive pathogen to the intestinal epithelium is a crucial step in CDI, with recurrence and relapse of disease dependent on epithelial interaction of its endospores. Close proximity, or adhesion of, hypervirulent strains to the intestinal mucosa are also likely to be necessary for the release of C. difficile toxins, which when internalized, result in intestinal epithelial cell rounding, damage, inflammation, loss of barrier function and diarrhoea. Interrupting these C. difficile-epithelium interactions could therefore represent a promising therapeutic strategy to prevent and treat CDI. Intake of dietary fibre is widely recognised as being beneficial for intestinal health, and we have previously shown that soluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) from plantain banana (Musa spp.), can block epithelial adhesion and invasion of a number of gut pathogens, such as E. coli and Salmonellae. Here, we assessed the action of plantain NSP, and a range of alternative soluble plant fibres, for inhibitory action on epithelial interactions of C. difficile clinical isolates, purified endospore preparations and toxins. We found that plantain NSP possessed ability to disrupt epithelial adhesion of C. difficile vegetative cells and spores, with inhibitory activity against C. difficile found within the acidic (pectin-rich) polysaccharide component, through interaction with the intestinal epithelium. Similar activity was found with NSP purified from broccoli and leek, although seen to be less potent than NSP from plantain. Whilst plantain NSP could not block the interaction and intracellular action of purified C. difficile toxins, it significantly diminished the epithelial impact of C. difficile, reducing both bacteria and toxin induced inflammation, activation of caspase 3/7 and cytotoxicity in human intestinal cell-line and murine intestinal organoid cultures. Dietary supplementation with soluble NSP from plantain may therefore confer a protective effect in CDI patients by preventing adhesion of C. difficile to the mucosa, i.e. a “contrabiotic” effect, and diminishing its epithelial impact. This suggests that plantain soluble dietary fibre may be a therapeutically effective nutritional product for use in the prevention or treatment of CDI and antibiotic-associated diarrhoea.

Biochemical and Molecular Assessment of Cooking Quality and Nutritional Value of Pigmented and Non-pigmented Whole Grain Rice

To date, most people prefer softer and stickier rice with high glycaemic index, which has led to the study of the association between the dietary fibre profile and the textural properties to balance between the eating quality, and health benefits. A slight variation was observed in the dietary fibre composition among rice varieties with different amylose content. The percentage of insoluble dietary fibre (IDF) in whole grain rice varied from 1.65–4.32 while the percentage of soluble dietary fibre (SDF) ranged from 0.26–1.37. We demonstrated that the SDF/IDF ratio was higher in soft texture rice with low amylose and it shared a negative correlation with hardness and chewiness of cooked whole grain rice determined by a texture analyser, which suggested that the distribution of SDF throughout the rice endosperm influences the reduction of the hardness of cooked rice. According to the importance of dietary fibre, we proposed a simple linear regression method to estimate the amount of IDF and total dietary fibre with r = 0.97 and 0.92, respectively, of whole grain rice based on its bran layer, determined by the alternative alkaline method. Furthermore, low amylose rice has higher content of -glucan and pectin, which are classified as soluble dietary fibre, than high amylose rice. The percentage of -glucan and pectin in whole grain rice ranged from 0.03 and 0.07 respectively, for high amylose rice to 0.14 and 0.27 respectively for low amylose rice,

Oat and Barley in the Food Supply and Use of Beta Glucan Health Claims

Beta glucan is a type of soluble dietary fibre found in oats and barley with known cholesterol-lowering benefits. Many countries globally have an approved beta glucan health claim related to lowering blood cholesterol, an important biomarker for cardiovascular disease. However, the use of these claims has not been examined. The aim of this study was to explore the range and variety of oat and barley products in the Australian and global market within a defined range of grain food and beverage categories and examine the frequency of beta glucan health claims. Australian data were collected via a recognised nutrition audit process from the four major Australian supermarkets in metropolitan Sydney (January 2018 and September 2020) and Mintel Global New Product Database was used for global markets where a claim is permitted. Categories included breakfast cereals, bread, savoury biscuits, grain-based muesli bars, flour, noodles/pasta and plant-based milk alternatives and information collected included ingredients lists and nutrition and health claims. Products from Australia (n = 2462) and globally (n = 44,894) were examined. In Australia, 37 products (1.5%) made use of the beta glucan claim (84% related to oat beta glucan and 16% related to barley beta glucan, specifically BARLEYmax®). Of products launched globally, 0.9% (n = 403) displayed beta glucan cholesterol-lowering claims. Despite the number of products potentially eligible to make beta glucan claims, their use in Australia and globally is limited. The value of dietary modification in cardiovascular disease treatment and disease progression deserves greater focus, and health claims are an opportunity to assist in communicating the role of food in the management of health and disease. Further assessment of consumer understanding of the available claims would be of value.

Characteristics of inulin from mangrove apple (Soneratia caseolaris) with different extraction temperatures

Mangrove apple (Soneratia caseolaris) is a mangrove species from Sonneratiaceae family, rich in dietary fibre, from which they are composed of soluble dietary fibres. Inulins are carbohydrates and act like dietary fibre. The study on elucidating the characteristics of inulin from mangrove apples with different extraction temperatures has never been published. This present study aimed to determine the characteristics of inulin extracted from mangrove apples at different temperatures during the extraction process. The data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and further test Duncan's Multiple Range Test (P<0.05) and the experimental design in this study used a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four different extraction temperatures (60, 70, 80, and 90°C). They were relatively higher total yield (p<0.05), inulin content (p<0.05), solubility (p<0.05), soluble dietary fibre (p<0.05), FOS, but lower in the total sugar and reduction sugar in the extraction temperature at 90°C. The study indicated that the temperatures during the extraction process were able to improve the characteristics of inulin from mangrove apple.

The nutritional and functional properties of noodles prepared from sorghum, mung bean and sago flours

Noodles are popular carbohydrate-rich food products generally made from wheat flour. This study developed a new type of noodle out of local resources namely sorghum flour, mung bean, and sago starch with the following formula variations: F1 (20:30:50), F2 (30:30:40), F3 (40:30: 30), F4 (50:30:20) and F5 (60:30:10). The nutritional and functional property of each formula then analysed. All formulas fulfilled the daily dietary intake recommendations, which contain approximately 9.64-11.83% protein, 0.17-0.33% fat, 86.76-88.74% carbohydrate, with total calories of 397-399 kcal/100 g. F1 has the highest dietary fibre content (13.16%), with 4.2% soluble dietary fibre (SDF) and 9.48% insoluble dietary fibre (IDF). The resistant starch content of all formulas was relatively high, between 16.35-21.57%. Based on the results of this study, sorghum flour, mung bean and sago starch flour-based noodles can be a good source of daily nutrition which also include functional compounds such as dietary fibre and resistant starch.

Valorisation of Sea Buckthorn Pomace by Optimization of Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Soluble Dietary Fibre Using Response Surface Methodology

Sea buckthorn pomace is a valuable industrial waste/by-product obtained after juice production that contains bioactive, health-promoting dietary fibres. This pomace finds usage as animal feed or simply discarded, owed to the lack of appropriate handling or processing facilities. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effects of green extraction technologies such as ultrasonic-assisted extraction on the yield of soluble dietary fibre (SDF) from sea buckthorn pomace. Response surface methodology (RSM) coupled with Box–Behnken design (BBD) was applied for optimization of SDF yield. The effects of sonication temperature (60–80 °C), sonication power (100–130 W) and extraction time (30–60 min) on the yield of SDF were also investigated. Furthermore, colour measurement and hydration properties of sea buckthorn pomace powder (STP) and dietary fibre fractions (SDF and insoluble dietary fibre, IDF) were also investigated. From the RSM results, the optimal sonication temperature (67.83 °C), sonication power (105.52 W) and extraction time (51.18 min) were identified. Based on this, the modified optimum conditions were standardised (sonication temperature of 70 °C, sonication power of 105 W and extraction time of 50 min.). Accordingly, the yield of SDF obtained was 16.08 ± 0.18%, which was close to the predicted value (15.66%). Sonication temperature showed significant effects at p ≤ 0.01, while sonication power and extraction time showed significant effects at p ≤ 0.05 on the yield of SDF. The result on colour attributes of STP, SDF and IDF differed (L* (STP: 54.71 ± 0.72, IDF: 72.64 ± 0.21 and SDF: 54.53 ± 0.31), a* (STP: 52.35 ± 1.04, IDF: 32.85 ± 0.79 and SDF: 43.54 ± 0.03), b* (STP: 79.28 ± 0.62, IDF: 82.47 ± 0.19 and SDF: 71.33 ± 0.50), and ∆E* (STP: 79.93 ± 0.50, IDF: 74.18 ± 0.30 and SDF: 68.40 ± 0.39)). Higher values of hydration properties such as the water holding, swelling and oil holding capacities were found in SDF (7.25 ± 0.10 g g−1, 7.24 ± 0.05 mL g−1 and 1.49 ± 0.02 g g−1), followed by IDF (6.30 ± 0.02, 5.75 ± 0.07 and 1.25 ± 0.03) and STP (4.17 ± 0.04, 3.48 ± 0.06 and 0.89 ± 0.03), respectively. Based on our results, response surface methodology is recommended to be adopted to optimize the ultrasonic-assisted extraction to obtain maximum yield of SDF from sea buckthorn pomace. These results can be of practical usage while designing future functional food formulations using sea buckthorn pomace.