Explore the vast range of titles available.

Mushrooms, due to their basic composition and the presence of numerous mycochemicals, can be used to improve various food matrices. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of replacing wheat flour (2%, 4%, 6% w/w) with mushroom lyophilisates from cultivated mushrooms—A. bisporus and P. ostreatus—on the technological quality, basic nutritional and elemental composition, antioxidant activity (ABTS, FRAP), total polyphenol content (TPC), and sensory evaluation of shortbread cookies. The functional properties of blended flours were also determined, such as bulk density (BD), water- and oil-holding capacity (WHC, OHC), swelling capacity (SW), and water solubility index (WSI). The results show that the amounts of protein, fiber, and ash were higher in cookies enriched with mushrooms than in control cookies. The enriched products, depending on the amount of mushroom powder used and the mushroom species, had a higher content of zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium, and copper. The increase in the addition of mushroom powder resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the TPC content and antioxidant properties. The use of composite flours contributed to a significant increase in hardness (at 6% mushroom powder) and a change in color parameters, with lower whiteness and a greater ΔE recorded for cookies with A. bisporus lyophilisate. In the sensory evaluation, the samples enriched with P. ostreatus powder received higher scores compared with control samples, while the cookies with A. bisporus flour were evaluated lower than the control.

Freeze-dried stems and caps of six cultivated mushroom species, namely Agaricus bisporus (white) Agaricus bisporus (brown), Lentinula edodes, Pholiota nameko, Pleurotus eryngii and Pleurotus ostreatus were subjected to ethanolic extraction. The obtained extracts were analyzed in terms of total phenolics content, total flavonoids content and antioxidant capacity, and the results were calculated per gram of mushroom dry weight and extract dry weight. The LC–MS technique was applied to determine the profiles of phenolic acids. The amount of total phenolics in the stems (per the fruiting bodies’ dry weight) ranged from 1.09 ± 0.09 mg/g (P. ostreatus) to 4.02 ± 0.20 mg/g (the white A. bisporus), whereas in the caps it ranged from 1.49 ± 0.07 mg/g (P. nameko) to 6.22 ± 0.21 mg/g (the brown A. bisporus). The total flavonoid content in the stems (per the fruiting bodies’ dry weight) varied from 0.46 ± 0.05 mg/g (P. ostreatus) to 1.72 ± 0.02 mg/g (the brown A. bisporus), and in the caps it ranged from 0.48 ± 0.01 mg/g (P. ostreatus) to 1.93 ± 0.05 mg/g (the white A. bisporus). The antioxidant potential measured with the FRAP assay showed that the caps displayed higher activity compared to the stems. However, in the case of the DPPH assay performed on A. bisporus, this relationship was inverted. Different species contained varied concentrations of phenolic acids. P. eryngii caps contained the highest amount of 3,4-DHBA, L. edodes caps were the richest source of caffeic acid, whereas the highest amount of syringic acid was observed in L. edodes stems. The caps of P. nameko contained the highest amounts of p-coumaric and t-cinnamic acid, as well as 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde.

Increasingly, consumers are looking for products with specific nutritional and health-promoting properties. The answer of the producers for this demand is fortified food. The raw material that can be used to enrich food is, among others, mushrooms. Crude water soluble polysaccharides (cWSP) were isolated from fruiting bodies of Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster) mushroom. Chemical analysis showed that they consisted mainly of carbohydrates (~61%), protein (~9%) and phenolics (~0.8%). The isolated cWSP were used to obtain enriched cow milk set yogurts. cWSP were added at the concentration of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5%, and milk containing no cWSP was prepared as the control. All of the variants were fermented via applying two commercially available culture starters. The addition of cWSP led to a drop in pH in the case of one starter culture. Also, the decline in total soluble solids (TSS) content was higher where cWSP was used for the enrichment. Texture profile analysis (TPA) revealed that parameters of hardness and gumminess increased along with the concentration of cWSP (reaching values approximately 7–8 times higher, compared to the control). A significant increase in syneresis level (proportional to cWSP concentration and ranging from ~10% to ~50%) was also observed after the fermentation. Fortifying milk with cWSP led to a slight increase in antioxidant capacity in FRAP assay (up to ~12%) and ABTS assay (up to ~23%). The results demonstrate that using cWSP to enrich set-type yogurts is fairly limited.

The increasing awareness of modern consumers regarding the nutritional and health value of food has changed their preferences, as well their requirements, for food products, including meat and meat products. Expanding the knowledge on the impact of food on human health is currently one of the most important research areas for scientists worldwide, and it is also of interest to consumers who want to consciously compose their daily diets. New research methods, such as in silico techniques, offer solutions to these new challenges. These research methods are preferred over food evaluation, e.g., from meat, because of their advantages, such as low costs, shorter analysis times, and general availability (e.g., online databases), and are often used to design in vitro and, subsequently, in vivo tests. This review focuses on the possible use of in silico computerized methods to assess the potential of food as a source of these health-relevant biomolecules by using examples from the literature on meat and meat products. This review also provides information and important suggestions for analyzing peptides in terms of assessing their best sources, and screening those resistant to digestive factors and that show biological activity. The information provided in this review could contribute to the development of new sources of foods as biomolecules important for preventing or treating food-related chronic diseases, such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.

There is a global need to explore alternative protein sources and develop new health-promoting plant-based products. This study aimed to produce beverages from organic seeds of chickpeas and green or red lentils and assess the potential of using L. plantarum 299v to ferment these beverages. Spectrophotometric methods were used to evaluate the ability of the beverages to neutralize 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals (DPPH•) and chelate Fe2+. Total dietary fiber (including soluble and insoluble fractions) and the protein profiles were compared among the tested legume-derived beverages. The observations were focused on reductions in pH levels, total extract content, dietary fiber, ash, and moisture levels in all the fermented legume products. Fermentation contributed to increased antioxidative activity in all the tested products. The strongest ability to chelate Fe2+ (58.33 ± 2.35%) was noted in non-fermented green lentil products, while green lentil beverages fermented for 72 h exhibited the highest value of free radical scavenging activity (88.44 ± 4.24 DPPH• inhibition %). Chickpea products fermented for 72 h displayed the highest count of viable bacterial cells at 7.0 ± 0.7 × 108 CFU/g, while those fermented for 48 h exhibited the greatest number (2764) of potential biopeptide sequences. These findings highlight the feasibility of using this probiotic strain to enhance the functional properties of legume-based beverages.

The bioactive components present in onion peel powder are a promising factor in preventing/treating obesity. Overweight/obesity causes metabolic changes, which can lead to leptin resistance in the central nervous system (CNS) and, thus, to structural and functional changes in the brain. Objectives: The presented study focused on evaluating the influence of a diet supplemented with onion peel powder on the immunoexpression of leptin receptors (LepRs) in the hippocampus in obese rats and the potential anti-obesity role of the onion in the brain. Methods: To induce obesity, the animals were given a high-energy chow containing lard and sucrose. Onion skin powder was used to modify the standard and high-energy diets (10.5 g per rat/week) of Wistar rats in a 14-week experiment followed by a brain IHC study. Results: The effect of the onion diet on the expression of neuronal LepRs and astrocytes in the hippocampus was analyzed. Obese animals receiving onion in the diet showed significant growth in the average number of immunoreactive LepR (LepR-IR) neurons (p = 0.00108) and their average size (p = 0.00168) in the CA1 field of the hippocampus. Meanwhile, in obese rats not given onion peel powder, a significant increase in the average density of astrocytes was observed (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The increased density of astrocytes in the hippocampus of obese animals can probably have a beneficial effect on brain changes in overweight individuals. The inclusion of onion in the diet of overweight/obese individuals may lead to increased hippocampal neuroplasticity, manifested by changes in the immunoexpression of LepRs. It can be speculated that the observed changes have a protective effect on the CNS structures during obesity, but this undoubtedly requires further research.

The aim of the investigation was the identification and initial study of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from spontaneously fermented (at 28 °C for 5 days) fruiting bodies of white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus). The isolated LAB were preliminarily characterized applying the MALDI-TOF Biotyper. Moreover, further phenotypical, genotypical characteristics as well as some functional and technological properties of the selected microorganisms (including the ability to produce exopolysaccharides, cell hydrophobicity, resistance to low pH, and bile salt) were also analyzed. Among autochthonous LAB (isolated from the tested mushroom raw material), Leuconostoc mesenteroides predominated in spontaneously fermented A. bisporus, while Lactiplantibacillus paraplantarum, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, and Lactococcus lactis were less abundant. The highest dynamics of acidification of the mushroom material were exhibited by isolates EK55 and EK4 that, after 24 h of incubation, were able to decrease the pH of the raw material up to 5.06 ± 0.021 and 5.17 ± 0.015, respectively. Furthermore, the analysis of bacterial cell hydrophobicity indicated that the highest values of this parameter were noted for L. plantarum isolates EK12 (29.59 ± 0.7%), EK55 (28.75 ± 0.551%), and EK5 (27.33 ± 1.516%). It was revealed some of the analyzed LAB (especially isolates L. plantarum EK55 and L. paraplantarum EK4) exhibited functional and technological potential that might be used in the formulation of novel starter cultures.

Pulses have desirable nutritional properties and a wide range of applications in the food industry as meat-free, casein-free, gluten-free, and functional food products. Unfortunately, the legume raw material contains some anti-nutrients and allergenic agents; nonetheless, fermentation processes may reduce some of these undesirable compounds. Therefore, the objective of the preliminary investigation was to determine the profile of bacteria occurring after spontaneous fermentation of Lens culinaris Medik. and detect changes in the protein–peptide pattern, including potential modifications of Len c3, i.e., a non-specific lipid-transfer protein (nsLTP) recognized as an important allergen. This study involved MALDI TOF/TOF, Illumina next-generation sequencing, and FT-IR spectroscopy analyses. Sixteen different species were identified in the plant-based material after 48-h spontaneous fermentation. The most abundant species were Lactococcus taiwanensis and Pediococcus pentosaceus (54.95% and 25.34%, respectively). The performed initial analysis revealed that after spontaneous fermentation had occurred the degradation of proteins (~10 kDa) and peptides (6–8 kDa), as well as the decomposition of proteins in the mass range that might be attributed to allergenic nsLTP. The preliminary findings encourage further research into the functional and technological properties of the isolated bacteria and in-depth analyses of the possibility of the removal of allergenic compounds from red lentils through fermentation carried out by the isolates.

With their desired functional and technological properties, whey protein preparations are used in the food industry. In turn, lactic acid fermentation may contribute to release of a wide range of biologically active peptides (BAPs) (known also as bioactive peptides or biopeptides) from whey and milk proteins, which are perceived as potential therapeutic tools and important constituents of personalized food suitable for prevention of many civilization and diet-related diseases. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the suitability of new Lb. helveticus strains for production of fermented milk beverages (drinking type) supplemented with whey protein isolate (WPI). Liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) was employed to assess if WPI (water solution) might be a suitable precursor for BAPs produced by selected strains of Lb. helveticus. In order to identify the bioactivities of the peptides generated in WPI hydrolysates, the procedures indicated in databases were used. The fermented products differed from each other in some texture parameters, the content of protein, total nitrogen, and non-protein nitrogen, and the proteolysis index, which was dependent on the strain. Strain B734 was found to exhibit technological potential for development of new health-oriented fermented milk beverages with characteristics of functional food. Additionally, it proved to be able to release a wide range of BAPs from WPI with antioxidative, antibacterial, and immuno- and cyto-modulatory effects, as well as ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitory and antihypertensive activities.

Most of the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are able to grow in milk mainly due to the activity of a complex and well-developed proteolytic system. Cell envelope-associated proteinases (CEPs) begin casein hydrolysis and allow for releasing the peptides, enclosed in the structure of native milk proteins that are essential for growth of . The biodiversity of genes encoding CEPs among strains can have an effect on some technological parameters such as acid production, bacterial growth rate in milk as well as liberation of biologically active peptides. The study reveals significant differences in the presence of various variants of CEPs encoding genes among ten novel Polish strains and indicates the intraspecific diversity exhibited by . In terms of distribution of CEPs genes, four different genetic profiles were found among the microorganisms analyzed. Furthermore, the strains exhibited also various levels of proteolytic activity. Molecular analysis revealed that H3 is the most abundant CEPs-encoding gene among the strains investigated. The results indicate also that ecological niche and environmental conditions might affect proteolytic properties of strains. The greatest variety in terms of quantity of the detected CEP encoding genes was noticed in 141, T105 and T104 strains. In these strains, the combination of three nucleotide gene sequences ( H/ H2/ H3) was identified. Interestingly, T104 and T105 exhibited the highest proteolytic activity and also the fastest dynamic of milk acidification among the tested strains of