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Physicochemical Interactions in Food

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2023) | Viewed by 7895

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xin Wen

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Guest Editor

College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: bioactive components; carotenoids; polyphenols; natural products; functional food; sustainable food processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Yongtao Wang

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Guest Editor

College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: interaction of food components in processing and storage; non-thermal processing; fruit and vegetable processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Dandan Zhao

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Guest Editor

College of Food Science & Biology, Hebei University of Science & Technology, Shijiazhuang 051432, China
Interests: fruit and vegetable storage and processing; agricultural product drying; bioactive ingredient retention; quality control; polyphenols; pectin

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Physicochemical interaction between food components has received recent interest in various research areas, including food science, food processing, food nutrition, and human health. Emerging evidence indicates the potential role of physiochemical interaction in the stability, bioavailability, and biological activity of food components.

Therefore, contributions to this Special Issue may cover all research aspects related to the characterization of interactions between micromolecules (e.g. polyphenols, flavor compounds, etc.) and macromolecules (e.g. proteins, polysaccharides, lipids), or interactions between macromolecules in foods; the effects of food processing methods and parameters on their interactions; the influences of the interactions on stability, bioavailability, and biological activity of food compounds; the potential modulation of interactions to improve food quality; and critical reviews on related topics.

Dr. Xin Wen
Dr. Yongtao Wang
Dr. Dandan Zhao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

interactions
food components
stability
bioavailability
biological activity

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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29 pages, 3839 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Pasteurization on Maillard Reaction in Lactose-Free Milk

by Haixin Bi, Yingbin Wang, Yujuan Guo, Ziyan Liao and Zhiguo Na

Molecules 2023, 28(20), 7105; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28207105 - 15 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1379

Abstract

In order to improve the safety and quality of lactose-free milk (LFM) Maillard reaction products (MRPs), this study used raw cow’s milk as raw material and lactase hydrolysis to prepare LFM, which was heat-treated using pasteurization and then placed in storage temperatures of 4 °C, 25 °C and 37 °C to investigate the changes in the Maillard reaction (MR). The results of the orthogonal test showed that the optimal conditions for the hydrolysis of LFM are as follows: the hydrolysis temperature was 38 °C, the addition of lactase was 0.03%, and the hydrolysis time was 2.5 h. Under these conditions, the lactose hydrolysis rate reached 97.08%, and the lactose residue was only 0.15 g/100 g as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), complying with the standard of LFM in GB 28050–2011. The contents of furoamic acid and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, the color difference was determined by CR-400 color difference meter, and the internal fluorescence spectrum was determined by F-320 fluorescence spectrophotometer. The test results showed that the variation range of furosine in lactose-free milk after pasteurization was 44.56~136.45 mg/100g protein, the range of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was 12.51~16.83 mg/kg, the color difference ranges from 88.11 to 102.53 in L*, from −0.83 to −0.10 in a*, and from 1.88 to 5.47 in b*. The furosine content of LFM during storage at 4, 25, and 37 °C ranged from 44.56 to 167.85, 44.56 to 287.13, and 44.56 to 283.72 mg/100 g protein, respectively. The average daily increase in protein content was 1.18–3.93, 6.46–18.73, and 15.7–37.66 mg/100 g, respectively. The variation range of HMF was 12.51~17.61, 12.51~23.38, and 12.51~21.1 mg/kg, and the average daily increase content was 0.03~0.07, 0.47~0.68, and 0.51~0.97 mg/kg, respectively. During storage at 4 °C, the color difference of LFM ranged from 86.82 to 103.82, a* ranged from −1.17 to −0.04, and b* ranged from 1.47 to 5.70. At 25 °C, color difference L* ranges from 72.09 to 102.35, a* ranges from −1.60 to −0.03, b* ranges from 1.27 to 6.13, and at 37 °C, color difference L* ranges from 58.84 to 102.35, a* ranges from −2.65 to 1.66, and b* ranges from 0.54 to 5.99. The maximum fluorescence intensity (FI) of LFM varies from 131.13 to 173.97, 59.46 to 173.97, and 29.83 to 173.97 at 4, 25, and 37 °C. In order to reduce the effect of the Maillard reaction on LFM, it is recommended to pasteurize it at 70 °C—15 s and drink it as soon as possible during the shelf life within 4 °C. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Interactions in Food)

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14 pages, 2075 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Relationships between Molecular Characteristics of Novel Organic Selenium Compounds and the Formation of Sulfur Compounds in Selenium Biofortified Kale Sprouts

by Paweł Zagrodzki, Agnieszka Wiesner, Monika Marcinkowska, Marek Jamrozik, Enrique Domínguez-Álvarez, Katarzyna Bierła, Ryszard Łobiński, Joanna Szpunar, Jadwiga Handzlik, Agnieszka Galanty, Shela Gorinstein and Paweł Paśko

Molecules 2023, 28(5), 2062; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28052062 - 22 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1351

Abstract

Due to problems with selenium deficiency in humans, the search for new organic molecules containing this element in plant biofortification process is highly required. Selenium organic esters evaluated in this study (E-NS-4, E-NS-17, E-NS-71, EDA-11, and EDA-117) are based mostly on benzoselenoate scaffolds, with some additional halogen atoms and various functional groups in the aliphatic side chain of different length, while one compound contains a phenylpiperazine moiety (WA-4b). In our previous study, the biofortification of kale sprouts with organoselenium compounds (at the concentrations of 15 mg/L in the culture fluid) strongly enhanced the synthesis of glucosinolates and isothiocyanates. Thus, the study aimed to discover the relationships between molecular characteristics of the organoselenium compounds used and the amount of sulfur phytochemicals in kale sprouts. The statistical partial least square model with eigenvalues equaled 3.98 and 1.03 for the first and second latent components, respectively, which explained 83.5% of variance in the predictive parameters, and 78.6% of response parameter variance was applied to reveal the existence of the correlation structure between molecular descriptors of selenium compounds as predictive parameters and biochemical features of studied sprouts as response parameters (correlation coefficients for parameters in PLS model in the range—0.521 ÷ 1.000). This study supported the conclusion that future biofortifiers composed of organic compounds should simultaneously contain nitryl groups, which may facilitate the production of plant-based sulfur compounds, as well as organoselenium moieties, which may influence the production of low molecular weight selenium metabolites. In the case of the new chemical compounds, environmental aspects should also be evaluated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Interactions in Food)

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16 pages, 3199 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Matrix-Specific Effects on Caffeine and Chlorogenic Acid Complexation in a Novel Extract of Whole Coffea arabica Coffee Cherry by NMR Spectroscopy

by Boris Nemzer, John Edwards and Diganta Kalita

Molecules 2022, 27(22), 7803; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27227803 - 12 Nov 2022

Viewed by 2246

Abstract

Coffee cherry is a rich source of caffeine and chlorogenic acids. In this study we investigate the structural analysis of caffeine-enriched whole coffee cherry extracts, CEWCCE by using ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The changes in ¹H chemical shift data in NMR spectra of CEWCCE compared to pure caffeine indicated the formation of complexes between caffeine and chlorogenic acids in aqueous solution. The effect of complexation on the peak position of caffeoylquinic acid and caffeine resonance with increasing addition of caffeine was investigated. 2D NOESY experiments show the presence of cross-peaks that are due to the proximity of chlorogenic acid and caffeine molecules in stable complexes in protic solvents. The quantification data of caffeine by ¹H qNMR was found to be in close agreement with the data obtained by HPLC analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Interactions in Food)

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Review

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16 pages, 2205 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Interactions of Soy Protein and Wheat Gluten for the Development of Meat-like Fibrous Structure

by Yu Peng, Dandan Zhao, Mo Li, Xin Wen and Yuanying Ni

Molecules 2023, 28(21), 7431; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28217431 - 4 Nov 2023

Viewed by 2268

Abstract

Consumers who are environmentally and health conscious are increasingly looking for plant-based alternatives to replace animal-based products in their daily diets. Among these alternatives, there is a growing demand for meat analogues that closely resemble the taste and texture of meat. As a result, significant efforts have been dedicated to developing meat analogues with a desirable meat-like structure. Currently, soy protein and wheat gluten are the main ingredients used for producing these meat analogues due to their availability and unique functionalities. This study observed that high moisture extrusion at moisture levels of 50–80% has become a common approach for creating fibrous structures, with soy protein and wheat gluten being considered incompatible proteins. After the structuring process, they form two-phase filled gels, with wheat gluten acting as the continuous phase and soy protein serving as a filler material. Moreover, the formation of soy protein and wheat gluten networks relies on a combination of covalent and non-covalent interaction bonds, including hydrogen bonds that stabilize the protein networks, hydrophobic interactions governing protein chain associations during thermo-mechanical processes, and disulfide bonds that potentially contribute to fibrous structure formation. This review provides case studies and examples that demonstrate how specific processing conditions can improve the overall structure, aiming to serve as a valuable reference for further research and the advancement of fibrous structures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Interactions in Food)

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