Browsing by Author "Vilas-Boas, Ana Martins"
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- Comparison of the dietary fiber content of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) flour as related to seed presence and roasting effectsPublication . Vilas-Boas, Ana Martins; Brassesco, María; Brandão, Teresa; Silva, Cristina; Pintado, ManuelaCarob fruit originates from the carob tree, a leguminous evergreen tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) cultivated in the Mediterranean area, namely in Portugal, with high relevance in production and low prices. Carob pods contain various relevant nutrients that include proteins, carbohydrates and fiber, as well as phytochemicals such as polyphenols, conferring great potential for carob pods to be used as functional ingredient. This study focused on extracting, by a thermal-enzymatic process and characterizing, by HPLC, the dietary fiber (DF) content for carob powders with and without seed at different roasting temperatures. An initial nutritional evaluation on carob powders (CPs) indicated that seed presence led to higher content in macronutrients. The CPs processed at 150 ºC showed significantly higher content in neutral sugars (NS). As for the determination of DF content, results indicated that the main fiber fraction present in all samples was insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) corresponding to 98.4 % of total fiber content. The uronic acid content was significantly higher in IDF, for both roasting temperatures. The Klason lignin was higher for CPs processed at 150 ºC and represented, in all cases, 50 % of total IDF. The DF were also evaluated for antioxidant activity and phenolic content. The total phenolic content (TPC), determined by Folin-Ciocalteau, was twice on IDF as high at 150 ºC than 80 ºC, probably due to the formation of certain Maillard reaction products (MRPs), or certain phenolics that may degrade during roasting. The free phenolic content was significantly affected by the roasting temperatures and seed presence. The antioxidant activity is correlated with TPC, increasing in IDF when the flour was roasted at 150 ºC. These findings could put in the best light the utilization of DF in food industry according to the requirement of the final product and can also incline the interest of consumers towards the less utilized carob flours.
- Polyelectrolyte precipitation: a new green chemistry approach to recover value-added proteins from different sources in a circular economy contextPublication . Gómez-García, Ricardo; Vilas-Boas, Ana A.; Vilas-Boas, Ana Martins; Campos, Débora A.; Pintado, ManuelaProteins have always been vital biological molecules used for industrial purposes, human nutrition and health. Nowadays, seeking new alternatives and sources of these biomolecules is becoming an increasing research trend derived from the present consumer awareness between food consumption and health promotion, but also on environmental sustainability. Although there are different consolidated/traditional downstream processes to obtain proteins, such as chromatography tools, alkali hydrolysis, precipitation by inorganic salts and organic solvents, their industrial-scale application still demands urgent innovation due to the poor recovery yields, high costs and time-consuming steps, environmental impact as well as some toxic concerns. Polyelectrolyte precipitation represents a green, innovative alternative for protein recovery; however, there are reduced data regarding its pilot or industrial-scale application. In this literature work, the action mechanism and principles with regards to its functionality and insights for its application on a big scale are reviewed. Overall, this review discusses the novelty and sustainability of protein precipitation by polyelectrolytes from different sources against traditional techniques as well as highlights the relationship between protein source, production relevance and bioactive properties that are key factors to maximize the application of this extractive method on a circular economy context.