Soy proteins designed to replace milk

Two new soy-based ingredients could allow processors to replace higher-priced dairy counterparts without significantly affecting nutrition and taste, their manufacturer claims.Solae said that its Suproplus 9000 and Suproplus 9040 products are the latest additions to its existing portfolio of isolated soy proteins. The two ingredients are designed as replacements to milk powder and proteins used in a variety of dairy, beverage and bakery products.Manufacturers are increasingly examining ways to maintain their margins in the face of rising prices for milk and dairy products. Reformulation is one means of reducting the cost, posing a threat to dairy processors, who are battling supply shortages and a doubling of prices for raw milk.According to Solae, Suproplus 9000 is designed to specifically to match the protein and nutrition profiles of non-fat dry milk, while the 9040 variety has similar benefits as a replacement for whole milk powders. Both products can be used in place of milk for formulating beverages, nutrition bars, bakery mixes and even processed dairy goods, the company stated.The group's senior director for global strategy, Will Black, said the ingredients would fulfil a wide number of manufacturers' needs."In many applications, we can replace all or a portion of the dairy proteins used, maintaining traditional taste, texture and nutrition while delivering significant cost savings," he stated.Solae joins a growing number of ingredients groups targeting food processors concerend about the rising cost of milk and dairy ingredients. Because of these cost hikes, some major dairy manufacturers have had to make significant changes to both their output and pricing to remain competitive. Danone has this year continually increased the cost of some of its products like yoghurts, while Arla foods has ceased production of some cheese varieties like Emmental to better manage milk supply.A number of ingredients firms have also been quick to encourage use of their products as non-dairy alternatives to existing ingredients.CP Kelco has recently suggested that its portfolio of pectin-based products, which have been on the market for some time, could have additional uses replacing milk powders in maintaining functionality in yoghurts.

Antioxidants may affect vitamin E absorption

Simultaneous ingestion of carotenoids with alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) may inhibit the absorption of vitamin E by 36 per cent, suggests new research from France.An in vitro study, followed up by a study with eight healthy men, found that a mixture of the carotenoids lycopene, beta-carotene and lutein significantly reduced absorption of alpha-tocopherol, while vitamin C did not, wrote the researchers in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.A number of epidemiological and animal studies have reported that antioxidants like vitamin E, vitamin C and beta-carotene might offer some protection against heart attack in individuals at risk.However, if the results of the present study are supported by further study, multi-vitamin formulators may have to rethink formulations in order to maximise the nutritional quality of the supplements.Researchers from France's Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U476 in Marseille, report that the polyphenol naringenin and a carotenoids mixture (lycopene, beta-carotene and lutein) significantly impaired the absorption of alpha-tocopherol across a Caco-2 cell monolayer, a test of the absorption of compounds across the intestinal cell barrier.Moreover, another form of vitamin E, gamma-tocopherol, also tended to reduce the absorption of the alpha-form.On the other hand, vitamin C did not affect absorption, while the polyphenols gallic acid, caffeic acid, and (+)-catechin also had no effect.(R,R,R)-alpha-tocopherol is a fat-soluble antioxidant vitamin generally ingested with other dietary antioxidants. The objective of this study was to assess whether the main dietary antioxidant classes, that is carotenoids, polyphenols, vitamin C and gamma-tocopherol, affect the intestinal absorption of alpha-tocopherol.Feeding the male volunteers an alpha-tocopherol-rich meal (24 mg in sunflower oil) in the presence of two doses of lutein (18 or 36 mg) showed that the highest dose of lutein had the greatest impact on the post-meal alpha-tocopherol absorption measurement (616280 versus 1001287 nanomoles per litre per hour). "The observed extent of reduction (38 per cent reduction) supported the inhibitory effect of carotenoids observed in the Caco-2 experiments," wrote the researchers, led by Patrick Borel.Further study is needed to confirm these results, with additional human absorption studies and mechanistic research to highlight how the other nutrients may impact negatively on alpha-tocopherol absorption.There are eight forms of vitamin E: four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta). Alpha-tocopherol (alpha-Toc) is the main source found in supplements and in the European diet, while gamma-tocopherol (gamma-Toc) is the most common form in the American diet.

Golden apple extracts eyed as novel pectin source

A collaboration between researchers in Cameroon and France is exploring the potential of ambarella peel as a source of pectin, and could offer industry a novel ingredient with new properties.Extracts from the tropical fruit, also known as golden apple (Spondias cytherea), were comparable to pectin from lime, report scientists from Cameroon's University of Yaounde I and Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, and France's INRA (UR1268). The research, published in the journal Food Chemistry, taps into the growing trend for alternative and novel sources of pectin, highlighted by an increasing number of studies looking at extracting pectin from sources such as sugar beet, mango, pumpkin and squash.The functionality of pectin is dictated by the chemical fine structure, and the majority of the pectin used currently comes from citrus peel and apple pomace. Other sources of the ingredient have remained largely unexploited because of certain undesirable structural properties.The researchers investigated the potential of ambarella peels to offer pectin for the food industry. Three types of extraction media were used - hydrochloric acid (HCl), deionised water, or oxalic acid/ammonium oxalate (OAAO) - to extract the pectin from dried alcohol-insoluble residues (AIR) of ambarella peels.The researchers report that the peels are a rich source of pectin, with yields up to 30 per cent of the AIR reported. Depending on the extraction method used, uronic acid contents vaired from 557 to 727 mg per g dry weight, the degree of methylation ranged from 50 to 58 per cent, and the molar masses were in the range 263,000-303,000 g/mol."Since molar mass and degree of methylation are important parameters in gel-breaking strength, OAAO ambarella pectins could be useful as food additives," wrote the authors, led by B.B. Koubala. The researchers added that the ambarella pectin compared well to lime pectin extracted under the same conditions, thereby "indicating their commercial significance".Koubala and co-workers confirmed that work was ongoing; with study currently focussing on the rheological properties of ambarella peels pectin gels.Researchers from Denmark and England recently highlighted the possibilities of this ingredient and proposed that 'designer' pectin will become increasingly common in the future (Trends in Food Science & Technology, Vol. 17, pp. 97-104). The ingredient, with worldwide production estimated at 35,000 tonnes a year, is currently widely used as gelling agents in jams, confectionary, and bakery fillings, and stabilisers in yoghurts and milk drinks.

Olive extract linked to better brain health

An extract from olive mill wastewater may protect brain cells from oxidative stress and guard against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, suggests new research.A study using brain cells (in vitro) and another using live mice (ex vivo) showed that the olive extract, rich in hydroxytyrosol, could reduce the damaging effects of iron- and nitric oxide-induced cytotoxicity, report researchers in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry."Although the first study of its kind, our data provide an informative basis for subsequent in vivo experiments exploring the neuroprotective potential of long-term hydroxytyrosol intake," wrote lead author Sebastian Schaffer from University of Frankfurt.Hydroxytyrosol is thought to be the main antioxidant compound in olives, and believed to play a signficant role in the many health benefits attributed to olive oil. Previous research by a team from the University of Barcelona found that LDL or 'bad' cholesterol levels could be cut substantially after consuming just 25 millilitres of virgin olive oil daily for one week. Other studies have suggested that it could also protect against cancer.Schaffer and co-workers used the hydroxytyrosol-rich ingredient OlivActiv (Glanbia Nutritionals, provided by Spanish company Genosa I+D), to investigate the potential of the olive extract to protect against oxidative stress in the brain cells of mice. The in vitro study added oxidative stressors (iron ions or SNP, a nitric oxide donor) to mice brain cells with or without the hydroxytyrosol-rich extract. The researchers report that, in the absence of the olive extract, the oxidative stressors resulted in a 40 per cent loss of adenosince triphosphate (ATP), the body's co-called 'energy currency'. In the presence of the extract however ATP loss was only 15 per cent.Moreover, the neuroprotective activity of hydroxytyrosol became apparent from concentrations as low as 0.01 mg/mL.In two ex vivo studies, the first report of the effects of hydroxytyrosol on brain cell survival, Schaffer and co-workers examined the bioavailability of hydroxytyrosol (including that isolated from olive mill wastewater), and penetration of hydroxytyrosol into brain cells.The researchers report that a 45.5 per cent hydroxytyrosol extract increased resistance to oxidative stress in dissociated brain cells (DBC). Indeed, levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), a reactive carbonyl compound and a major end product of lipid oxidation, was 25 per cent lower when the oxidative stressors were administered in the presence of the extract."This study indicates that hydroxytyrosol and extra-virgin olive oil afford neuroprotection and might contribute to the lower incidence of neurodegenerative diseases, as observed in the Mediterranean area. Moreover, we corroborate that olive mill wastewater can be exploited for obtaining hydroxytyrosol -rich extracts with promising biological effects," concluded the researchers.The results were welcomed by Mr. Pablo Baena, responsible for research and development at Genosa. "Polyphenols are being associated to exerting neuronal biological activities and brain biomarkers reflecting antioxidant response," he said. "Hydroxytyrosol is a low weight molecule with a significant antioxidant potential by acting as a free radical scavenger and non-toxic to DBC under the current experimental design."