Fresh produce, particularly the pre-cut variety, quickly undergoes
oxidative degradation during shipping and storage. Sour whey may offer a
natural way to increase produce freshness. Sour whey, a byproduct of
cottage cheese manufacture, is abundantly available and expensively
disposed of. But it offers significant antioxidative activity.
Scientists wanted to evaluate the efficacy of a sour whey edible
film that could be coated onto produce to extend its freshness. They
found that a coating of sour whey significantly reduced the weight loss
of apples, potato and carrot slices compared to the control. For potato
slices, the reduction was by 20% (w/w) compared to the control. Relative
moisture loss was reduced by 10% in the coated apple slices compared to
the control, which lost up to 34.2% of its moisture during the test
period. Data indicate that sour whey protein can be used as a natural
edible coating to enhance the freshness of cut vegetables and apples.
Contact: Zahur Haque, Department of Food Science, Nutrition and
Health Promotion, Mississippi State University, Herzer 203, Box 9805,
Mississippi State University, MS 39762. Phone: 662-325-3200. Fax:
662-325-8728. Email: haque@ra.msstate.edu.
Ginsenosides are the main active constituents in ginseng, one of
the oldest and most widely recognized traditional herbal nutraceuticals
for human health. They possess many important biological and
pharmacological activities, such as antitumor, chemopreventive and
anti-diabetic activity.
However, the bioavailability of ginsenosides is very low, due to
the low degree of decomposition of ginsenosides in the intestines. The
successful encapsulation of ginseng has potential to improve the
bioavailability of ginsenosides. Scientists hypothesized that
incorporating fatty acids into ginseng could increase the
bioavailability of ginsenosides and subsequently increase their utility.
Different emulsions of ginseng powder, whey protein isolate and
vegetable oil were homogenized and thermally treated at 120 C. During
heating, the emulsions formed encapsulated gels, which were caused by
the gelation of whey protein isolate and the gelatinization of starch in
ginseng.
Contact: Sundaram Gunasekaran, Department of Biological Systems
Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural Engineering Building,
Room 231, 460 Henry Mall, Madison, WI 53706. Phone: 608-262-1019. Fax:
608-262-1228. Email: guna@wisc.edu.
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