Open Exploration Publishing

Open Access

Original Article

Untargeted and quantitative analyses of amine and phenol compounds in Baijiu via chemical isotope labeling

Aim: The aim of this study is to comprehensively investigate the distribution of amine and phenol compounds in different flavors of Baijiu. Methods: 12C-/13C-dansyl chloride labeling was [...] Read more.

Aim:

The aim of this study is to comprehensively investigate the distribution of amine and phenol compounds in different flavors of Baijiu.

Methods:

¹²C-/¹³C-dansyl chloride labeling was applied for untargeted and quantitative analyses of amine and phenol compounds in Baijiu.

Results:

A total of 267 amine/phenol compounds were detected, and 30 of them were confirmed by the standards. 4 of 30 confirmed compounds were newly identified in Baijiu, and 16 ones were related with flavor or biological activity. After statistical analysis, 34 amine/phenol compounds were defined as potential markers for indicating sauce flavor, strong flavor, and light flavor Baijiu. 30 compounds in Baijiu were quantified with high precision, high accuracy, and high sensitivity. Results of the untargeted and quantitative analyses indicated that the number and contents of amine and phenol compounds were generally richest in sauce flavor Baijiu, while lowest in light flavor Baijiu.

Conclusions:

The results obtained in the research are beneficial for comprehensively understanding the amine and phenol compounds in Baijiu and further provide the basis for the flavor blending of Baijiu.

Xiaoyu Xie, Fujian Zheng, Tiantian Chen, Xinyu Liu, Chunxiu Hu, Ming Ma, Xin Lu, Guowang Xu

Published: June 30, 2023 Explor Foods Foodomics. 2023;1:72–82
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eff.2023.00007

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Open Access

Original Article

Untargeted lipidomics for evaluating fish authenticity: the case of wild-caught and farmed species of Sparus aurata

Aim: This study aims to develop sensitive and reliable analytical technologies to enable the distinction between wild-caught and farmed fish through appropriate molecular markers to protect consu [...] Read more.

Aim:

This study aims to develop sensitive and reliable analytical technologies to enable the distinction between wild-caught and farmed fish through appropriate molecular markers to protect consumers from fraudulent fish labelling. Gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata L. (S. aurata L.), is a very common fish used as foodstuff worldwide and globally produced in aquaculture in the Mediterranean basin. Wild-caught and farmed species are very different in feed and lifestyle and the quality and safety of these products strongly depend on fish growth, processing history, and storage conditions.

Methods:

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled with electrospray ionization (ESI) and Fourier-transform mass spectrometry (FTMS; HILIC-ESI-FTMS) was employed to discriminate the phospholipidome profiles of fillets extracts of wild-caught from farmed gilthead sea breams.

Results:

The untargeted approach led to the annotation of a total of 216 phospholipids (PLs), namely 65 phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs), 27 lyso-PEs (LPEs), 61 phosphatidylcholines (PCs), 34 lyso-PCs (LPCs), and 29 sphingomyelins (SMs). Untargeted lipidomics data were investigated by principal component analysis (PCA) and K-means clustering. Lyso-PLs (LPLs) of PEs and PCs including ether-linked side chains were found as discriminating markers between the two types of fish samples. The PLs that were most responsible for distinguishing between the lipid extracts of farmed and wild S. aurata fillets were successfully characterized by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The analysis revealed that wild fillet lipid extracts contained some PE exhibiting ether bonds (PE P-), viz. 16:0, 18:0, 18:1, and 18:2 and polyunsaturated fatty acyl chains (i.e., 22:6 and 22:5). In farmed species, the estimated abundance ratios of fatty acyl chains 20:4/18:2 and 22:6/20:5 were 0.9 and 0.05, respectively. However, in wild-caught fish, these ratios were found to be two-fold higher and four-fold higher, respectively.

Conclusions:

This work demonstrates that the combination of HILIC-ESI-FTMS and chemometrics can serve as a valuable tool for evaluating fish authenticity and assessing quality concerns by monitoring specific lipid ratios.

Aim:

This study aims to develop sensitive and reliable analytical technologies to enable the distinction between wild-caught and farmed fish through appropriate molecular markers to protect consumers from fraudulent fish labelling. Gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata L. (S. aurata L.), is a very common fish used as foodstuff worldwide and globally produced in aquaculture in the Mediterranean basin. Wild-caught and farmed species are very different in feed and lifestyle and the quality and safety of these products strongly depend on fish growth, processing history, and storage conditions.

Methods:

Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled with electrospray ionization (ESI) and Fourier-transform mass spectrometry (FTMS; HILIC-ESI-FTMS) was employed to discriminate the phospholipidome profiles of fillets extracts of wild-caught from farmed gilthead sea breams.

Results:

The untargeted approach led to the annotation of a total of 216 phospholipids (PLs), namely 65 phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs), 27 lyso-PEs (LPEs), 61 phosphatidylcholines (PCs), 34 lyso-PCs (LPCs), and 29 sphingomyelins (SMs). Untargeted lipidomics data were investigated by principal component analysis (PCA) and K-means clustering. Lyso-PLs (LPLs) of PEs and PCs including ether-linked side chains were found as discriminating markers between the two types of fish samples. The PLs that were most responsible for distinguishing between the lipid extracts of farmed and wild S. aurata fillets were successfully characterized by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The analysis revealed that wild fillet lipid extracts contained some PE exhibiting ether bonds (PE P-), viz. 16:0, 18:0, 18:1, and 18:2 and polyunsaturated fatty acyl chains (i.e., 22:6 and 22:5). In farmed species, the estimated abundance ratios of fatty acyl chains 20:4/18:2 and 22:6/20:5 were 0.9 and 0.05, respectively. However, in wild-caught fish, these ratios were found to be two-fold higher and four-fold higher, respectively.

Conclusions:

This work demonstrates that the combination of HILIC-ESI-FTMS and chemometrics can serve as a valuable tool for evaluating fish authenticity and assessing quality concerns by monitoring specific lipid ratios.

Sara Granafei, Cosima D. Calvano, Giovanni Ventura, Andrea Castellaneta, Ilario Losito, Tommaso R.I. Cataldi

Published: June 30, 2023 Explor Foods Foodomics. 2023;1:83–100
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eff.2023.00008

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Open Access

Original Article

Correlation distance of browning characteristic and polyphenol distribution in apple slices from 20 Chinese cultivars

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the polyphenol composition and distribution in the core, flesh, and peel of 20 apple varieties from China and its relation with browning characteristi [...] Read more.

Aim:

The aim of this study is to investigate the polyphenol composition and distribution in the core, flesh, and peel of 20 apple varieties from China and its relation with browning characteristics of apple slices in the drying process.

Methods:

In this paper, the prominent phenolic compounds, which was determined by photo diode array-high-performance liquid chromatography (PDA-HPLC), and the chromatic value [coherent infrared energy (CIE) L*, a*, b*] were correlation analysised.

Results:

The results showed that apple core, flesh, and peel were characterized by phloridzin, chlorogenic acid, quercetin, and related derivatives respectively. The 20 apple varieties showed a significant difference (^*P < 0.05) in browning variation in the drying process. The browning at the initial stage was mainly L* declined, which was induced by polyphenols enzymatic oxidation. While the browning was characterized by b* and a* value increment at the end of the drying process, where the Maillard reaction was the dominant factor.

Conclusions:

The correlation distance between the main phenolic compounds in apple core, flesh, and peel with the average chromatic L*, a*, and b* values varied at different stages of the drying process.

Wenyue Wang, Xuan Li, Jiaxing Hu, Jinfeng Bi

Published: June 08, 2023 Explor Foods Foodomics. 2023;1:62–71
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eff.2023.00006

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Open Access

Review

Monitoring nanomaterials in food: a critical overview, perspectives, and challenges

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have experienced a dizzying development in recent years, which undoubtedly contributes to various fields of human activity such as biotechnology, engineering, medical [...] Read more.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have experienced a dizzying development in recent years, which undoubtedly contributes to various fields of human activity such as biotechnology, engineering, medical sciences, food security, etc. This impact has taken place in the food field too, especially in the role played by nanomaterials (NMs) for producing quality nano-based products, food shelf life, and target-specific bioactive delivery, since traditionally the presence of these materials was not at the nano-scale. Anyway, switching these materials to their nano-forms carries benefits as well as risks that must be assessed. Thus, the evaluation of the presence and quantity of these NMs must be achieved based on reliable physic-chemical-analytical information; hence the impact that analytical chemistry should have in the nanoscience to develop validated methodologies for its control. Currently, this fact represents a significant challenge due to the difficulties of measuring entities at the nanoscale in complex samples such as those of food. This review critically explores these analytical challenges, their difficulties, and their trends within the general framework of NMs’ analytical monitoring in food.

Natalia Villamayor, María Jesús Villaseñor, Ángel Ríos

Published: April 27, 2023 Explor Foods Foodomics. 2023;1:43–61
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eff.2023.00005

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Open Access

Review

Atlantic algae as food and their extracts

Among the species of the rich algological flora of the North Atlantic, some can be used for direct consumption in human food, although few are currently cultivated on a large scale and/or marketed f [...] Read more.

Among the species of the rich algological flora of the North Atlantic, some can be used for direct consumption in human food, although few are currently cultivated on a large scale and/or marketed for this purpose. The European tradition regarding this custom is practically nil and the expression of current eating habits is little different from the past. In Europe, only in times of hunger (for example, during the Great World Wars) was seaweed consumed by the populations closest to the coastline. In addition to the multiple applications described, which expanded enormously in the 1970s, based on phycocolloids (agar, carrageenans, and alginates)—used as thickeners in the food industry, in soups, meat preserves, dairy products, and pastries—there is currently a trend of increasing consumption, both in North America and Europe.

Leonel Pereira

Published: April 27, 2023 Explor Foods Foodomics. 2023;1:15–31
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eff.2023.00003
This article belongs to the special issue The food (r)evolution towards food quality/security and human nutrition

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Open Access

Original Article

Green subcritical water extraction of Mentha x rotundifolia leaves collected in different annuities

Aim: In this work, the development for the first time of a green and efficient method to obtain bioactive extracts from Mentha x rotundifolia leaves has been investigated. Methods: The effi [...] Read more.

Aim:

In this work, the development for the first time of a green and efficient method to obtain bioactive extracts from Mentha x rotundifolia leaves has been investigated.

Methods:

The efficiency of three techniques [microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), subcritical water extraction (SWE), and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE)] was compared in terms of total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity [1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthioazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays].

Results:

Under similar operating conditions, SWE outperformed MAE and UAE for providing M. rotundifolia extracts with improved antioxidant activity. Further in-depth optimization of the SWE method by means of a Box-Behnken experimental design showed 120°C, 5 min, 0.08 g dry sample: 1 mL water and 2 extraction cycles as optimal experimental parameters to provide the maximum yield of phenolics and the highest bioactivity. The application of the developed SWE method to M. rotundifolia leaves collected in different annuities (2014–2017) showed, in general, no significant differences regarding both composition and antioxidant capacity, as expected from plant samples grown in field under drip irrigation conditions.

Conclusions:

The SWE method here optimized is shown as a sustainable and efficient alternative for providing bioactive M. rotundifolia extracts with application as functional ingredients, natural preservatives, etc. in the food industry, among others.

María Jesús García-Sarrió, Ana Cristina Soria, Plácido Galindo-Iranzo, María Luz Sanz

Published: April 27, 2023 Explor Foods Foodomics. 2023;1:32–42
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eff.2023.00004

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Open Access

Original Article

Phytochemical screening of Psidium guajava and Carica papaya leaves aqueous extracts cultivated in Greece and their potential as health boosters

Aim: The scope of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical profile of Psidium guajava and Carica papaya leaves aqueous extracts, from plants cultivated on Crete island in Greece. [...] Read more.

Aim:

The scope of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical profile of Psidium guajava and Carica papaya leaves aqueous extracts, from plants cultivated on Crete island in Greece.

Methods:

Total phenolic content (TPC) in the aqueous extracts was determined spectrometrically using the Folin-Ciocalteu (F-C) assay. The identification and quantification of different phenolic compounds in the aqueous extracts were conducted using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis. Different metals were also determined (K, Fe, Zn, Ca, Mg, Pb, and Cd) to investigate the potential health claims or hazards in the water extractable infusion using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method.

Results:

TPC in the aqueous extracts was found to be 28.0 g gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/kg dry leaves for Psidium guajava leaves aqueous extract and 15.0 g GAE/kg dry leaves for Carica papaya leaves aqueous extract. The dominant phenolic compounds in Psidium guajava leaves aqueous extract were myricetin (3,852 mg/kg dry sample) and rutin (670 mg/kg dry sample) while the dominant phenolic compounds in Carica papaya leaves aqueous extract were salicylic acid (338 mg/kg dry sample) and rutin (264 mg/kg dry sample). Different metals were also determined (K, Fe, Zn, Ca, Mg, Pb, and Cd) to investigate the potential health claims or hazards in the water extractable infusion, and it was found that no toxic metals were extracted whereas some nutritional benefits were achieved.