Search Results (409)

Oxidative stress plays a key role in the development of chronic diseases, which determines the relevance of the development of multicomponent antioxidant systems based on natural compounds. The aim of the study was a comprehensive evaluation of a lycopene-based dietary supplement (DS) and an investigation of the possibility of its use in flour products. The DS was obtained from tomato and watermelon powders with the addition of plant components; the composition was analyzed spectrophotometrically and chromatographically, and the antioxidant activity was determined using the DPPH method. A high content of lycopene (20.08%) and polyphenolic compounds, which form the antioxidant potential of the system, was established. The antioxidant activity of the DS was 300.0 ± 5.7 μmol Trolox equivalents/g and was statistically lower compared to lycopene concentrate (p < 0.05), reflecting the influence of the multicomponent matrix. The addition of 2–10% of the dietary supplement to the oatmeal cookie recipe affects the product’s organoleptic properties, with the optimal dosage being 5%, which ensures the best sensory perception without degrading the texture. The obtained results demonstrate the potential of using the developed dietary supplement in functional flour product technology. Full article

This research focuses on the synthesis of a novel baking powder enriched with bioactive molecules recovered from olive pomace via ultrasound-assisted extraction using a hydro-ethanolic mixture. The functional ingredient was engineered by anchoring the extracted phytocompounds onto a starch backbone through a sustainable grafting technique. Biscuits formulated with the innovative ingredient showed an increased concentration of phenolic compounds (2.162 mg GAE/g), encompassing both phenolic acids (0.372 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (0.360 mg CTE/g). Enhanced antioxidant efficacy was recorded, mostly in aqueous media (IC₅₀ = 0.554 mg mL⁻¹ against ABTS radical) compared to organic environments (IC₅₀ = 0.132 mg mL⁻¹ against DPPH radical). Furthermore, Oxitest and oxidation stability reactor analyses revealed exceptional antioxidant capacity (induction period = 37 ± 2 h). By an accelerated shelf-life test, a marked instrumental color difference was observed with the fortified sample showing a darker, redder/brown color (ΔE > 16), as also confirmed by trained panelists. On the contrary, similar scores were achieved for the olfactory, textural and tasting attributes of the two samples, as well as values of the friability index (<1 mm⁻¹) evaluated by instrumental techniques. This approach represents a sustainable strategy, transforming a high-polluting agri-food by-product into a source of bioactive compounds for nutritional and technological improvement of baked foods. Full article

Ants play a central role in seed dispersal and predation, shaping plant recruitment, yet their foraging behavior is increasingly influenced by anthropogenic food subsidies. In human-modified landscapes, processed food waste may disrupt ant–seed interactions by diverting foragers or altering activity patterns, but the extent and mechanisms of these effects across habitats remain unclear. We conducted three field experiments in Panama to test how common food residues affect seed removal by ants in urban and forest environments. Using oat seeds as standardized diaspores, we (1) tested whether potato chips surrounding seed depots reduced removal, (2) evaluated the effects of adjacent chips or cookies on removal rates, ant activity, and species composition, and (3) manipulated the distance between chips and seeds (0, 30, 60 cm) to distinguish behavioral distraction from physical obstruction. Across experiments, seeds near food residues were removed significantly more slowly than controls, approximately half as fast in both habitats, despite differences in ant assemblages. Ant activity near seeds declined in the presence of food, particularly in the urban site. Suppression of seed removal occurred at close range but disappeared at 60 cm. These findings indicate that food waste disrupts ant-mediated seed removal through fine-scale behavioral shifts across contrasting habitats. Full article

This study investigated the effects of incorporating colored wheat flours (red, blue, purple, and black) and replacing sucrose with xylitol on the technological, functional, and nutritional properties of cookies. Cookies were produced using 50:50 blends of colored whole wheat flours and refined cookie flour, and their physical, color, textural, phenolic, antioxidant, and in vitro glycemic index (GI) properties were evaluated. It has been determined that the addition of colored wheat flours significantly alters the textural properties. The incorporation of colored wheat flours significantly decreased width and increased thickness compared with the control cookies. The spread ratio of sucrose-containing cookies was higher (5.07 to 5.82) compared to xylitol-containing ones (4.91 to 5.41). Substitution of sucrose with xylitol generally reduced dough hardness. The colored wheat flour cookies had lower lightness values (52.31 to 63.18) compared to control samples (68.38 and 69.07 for sucrose and xylitol), while xylitol-based formulations produced slightly lighter cookies due to their lower browning potential. The cookies containing colored whole wheat flours exhibited higher hardness and brittleness than control cookies, likely due to their higher dietary fiber content, whereas xylitol resulted in softer cookies than sucrose. Cookies prepared with colored wheats showed significantly higher total phenolic content (367.41 and 424.87 mg GAE/100 g) and antioxidant capacity than the control samples (312.42 and 306.28 mg GAE/100 g for sucrose and xylitol), with purple wheat cookies exhibiting the highest values (424.69 and 424.87 mg GAE/100 g for sucrose and xylitol). Furthermore, colored wheat cookies demonstrated lower estimated GI values compared with control cookies (73.74 and 67.12), particularly those produced with blue wheat (66.68 and 60.94). Overall, the results indicate that colored wheat flours combined with alternative sweeteners such as xylitol can be used to develop cookies with improved antioxidant properties and moderated glycemic response while maintaining acceptable technological quality. Full article

To change the saturated fatty acid composition of traditional cookies and enhance their functionality, corn oil-based emulsion gels were innovatively used as a substitute for butter. The study also investigated the impact of adding powder on the overall quality of cookies. Under optimal conditions comprising a 6:4 oil-to-water ratio, 3% gelatin concentration, and 0.1% grape seed polyphenol concentration, the prepared emulsion gel achieved an oil retention rate of 84.5%. Following the incorporation of the emulsion gel, the sensory score of the composite sample WZ significantly increased. The texture became softer, and a greenish-brown color, more acceptable to consumers, was developed. In vitro digestion analysis further revealed that the combined incorporation of Nannochloropsis gaditana powder and the emulsion gel reduced the RDS content from 59.6% to 54.0%,while increasing RS content to 25.8%, thereby effectively retarding the rate of in vitro starch digestion. This study utilized a corn oil-GSP/gelatin emulsion gel as a butter substitute in combination with microalgae incorporation, thereby achieving concurrent health enhancement and quality improvement of cookie products. The approach provides a feasible technical strategy and theoretical foundation for developing novel baked foods that exhibit favorable sensory properties and controlled starch digestion characteristics. Full article

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of minimally processed beetroot pomace (BP), obtained from an industrial juice producer selected as a case study, converted into a stable beetroot pomace flour (BPF) at an industrial scale level, for flour fortification, functional confectionery development, and dietary supplementation. It was characterized by a high dietary fiber content (~27 g/100 g) and a very low carbohydrate-to-fiber ratio (1.9). High level of total phenolics and flavonoids (14.1 ± 0.1 mg GAE/g and 1.43 ± 0.1 mg QE/g), betacyanins and betaxanthins (898 ± 54 and 960 ± 65 µg/g), as well as pronounced antioxidant (FRAP 31.5 ± 1.1 and DPPH 25.8 ± 2.9 µmol TE/g), anti-hyperglycemic and anti-inflammatory activity (27.3 ± 1.3% and 41.0 ± 3.4%) remained upon in vitro digestion. Replacing 14–28% of cereal and pseudo-cereal flour with BPF reduced the carbohydrate-to-fiber ratio to the recommended 10:1, while incorporation of 20% BPF into cookies reduced this ratio by 2.5-fold and the glycemic index from ~56 to ~30. Furthermore, long-term supplementation of standard and high-fat/high-sucrose diet with BPF (0.5% w/w) reduced feed efficiency by 1.7 and 2.6-fold respectively, and improved glucose tolerance in C57BL/6J mice. Findings show the effectiveness of the by-product in bridging the fiber intake gap and body weight regulation. Full article

Burdock (Arctium lappa L., Asteraceae) seeds, a rich source of dietary fibre, proteins, essential and fatty acids, also contain high levels of polyphenols and lignans, especially arctigenin and arctiin. This study investigated the incorporation of native and supercritical CO₂-defatted burdock seed flour into gingerbread cookies formulated with sweetener xylitol compared to burdock seeds’ free sugar-based and xylitol-based cookies as a control. Arctiin was the dominant lignan in both native and defatted seed flours (68.30 and 75.16 mg/g, respectively), while isochlorogenic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid (7.01 and 7.86 mg/g, respectively). Among enriched formulations, xylitol cookies with defatted burdock seed flour exhibited the highest soluble dietary fibre content (0.29 g/100 g) and reduced hardness, comparable to the xylitol control. All samples achieved “good” sensory quality (18.33–19.65 points), with no significant differences among formulations (p > 0.05). Storage studies (60 days) under varying temperature and light conditions revealed a significant decline in sensory quality only for sucrose-based control cookies stored at 40 °C. The concentrations of major phenolic compounds remained stable under all storage conditions. These results demonstrate the technological and nutritional potential of defatted burdock seed flour as a functional ingredient in bakery products. Full article

Background: Obesity is characterized by chronic low-grade systemic inflammation that contributes to metabolic dysfunction. Diet is a modifiable factor that can help reduce this inflammation. Nuts such as almonds are rich in unsaturated fats, and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory micronutrients, which may work synergistically to attenuate obesity-related inflammation. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate whether daily almond consumption improves systemic inflammatory and immune markers in adults with obesity. Methods: In this randomized controlled parallel-arm trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05530499), 69 adults (age 30–45 years) with obesity (BMI 30–45 kg/m²) were assigned to consume either 57 g/day of almonds (n = 38) or an isocaloric snack (cookie; n = 31) for six weeks. Fasting serum inflammatory cytokines, innate immune cell counts, body weight, serum glucose, insulin, lipid profile, and alpha-tocopherol were measured at baseline and week six. Dietary intake, compliance, palatability, acceptance, and appetite ratings were also assessed. Primary outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed models and baseline-adjusted linear models. Results: Subjective compliance was high in both groups, with greater acceptance of almonds (p < 0.05); however, serum alpha-tocopherol did not change. Almond consumption significantly decreased serum IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ over 6 weeks compared with the cookie group (p < 0.05). No significant group differences were observed for innate immune cell counts, body weight, appetite ratings, blood pressure, or serum fasting glucose, insulin, total cholesterol (C), LDL-C, and triglycerides over six weeks. The almond group also increased intakes of monounsaturated fat, fiber, alpha-tocopherol, magnesium, zinc, and manganese, and improved diet quality indices relative to the cookie group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Daily almond consumption for six weeks improved inflammatory cytokine profiles in adults with obesity, without changes in body weight under free-living conditions. These findings support recommending almonds as part of healthy dietary patterns to help attenuate obesity-related inflammation. Full article

Despite the growing demand for functional gluten-free (GF) foods, the application of Quercus pubescens acorn flour remains largely underexplored. This study addresses this gap by optimizing GF cookies using response surface methodology (RSM) and prepared with Q. pubescens acorn flour and xanthan gum to balance technological quality, sensory acceptability, and functional value. A three-level full factorial design (FFD) evaluated the effects of acorn flour proportion (0, 50 and 100%), and xanthan gum level (1, 2 and 3%) on physicochemical properties (moisture, water activity, color, texture, and dimensions), sensory attributes using a 9-point hedonic scale, proximate composition, and bioactive and antioxidant properties (total polyphenols, tannins, DPPH, ABTS, FRAP). Linear and quadratic polynomial models adequately described the experimental data (R² = 0.86–0.99; non-significant lack of fit). Increasing acorn flour content significantly intensified cookie darkening, reduced snapping force and bending stiffness, reduced spread factor, and affected sensory perception, while xanthan gum improved structural integrity and dimensional stability. Multi-response optimization identified an optimal formulation containing 41.05% acorn flour and 1.46% xanthan gum, achieving balanced color development (darkness index ≈ 62), bending stiffness (~38 N/mm), and high overall sensory acceptability (~7.8). The optimized GF cookies exhibited a favorable nutritional profile and antioxidant properties, characterized by elevated total polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity, confirming the functional potential of acorn flour. The optimized cookies (containing 41.05% acorn flour) exhibited a six-fold increase in total phenolic content (from 1.63 to 10.08 mg GAE/g) and 8–10 times higher antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays) compared to the control, confirming the substantial functional potential of Q. pubescens in gluten-free systems. Full article

Ultrafine dark tea powder (UDTP) was prepared by superfine grinding and sieving through a 200-mesh sieve, and incorporated into cookies to improve their textural properties, sensory acceptability and flavor characteristics. Through single-factor experiments and orthogonal testing, the optimal formulation was determined. The quality of cookies was evaluated by texture analysis, sensory evaluation, electronic nose (E-nose), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results showed that cookies supplemented with 4 g UDTP per 80 g butter exhibited significantly lower hardness and comparable fracturability, along with higher sensory scores in texture, odor and taste compared to basic butter cookies. E-nose and GC-MS analyses revealed that UDTP enrichment promoted the formation of desirable volatile compounds, particularly aldehydes, ketones, and heterocyclic compounds, which contributed to floral, fruity, roasted nutty, and caramel aromas. This study demonstrates that UDTP can effectively improve both the textural and flavor properties of cookies, providing a viable approach for developing tea-fortified baked products with enriched sensory profiles. Full article

Background/Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the daily lives of older adults, impacting their cognitive abilities as well as speech and language communication. Early detection is crucial, as it enables timely intervention and helps improve the quality of life for those affected. While large language models (LLMs) have shown promise from spontaneous speech, most studies are unimodal and miss complementary signals across modalities. Methods: We present an LLM-powered multimodal cross-attention framework that integrates lexical (text), acoustic (speech), and visual (image) information for dementia detection using the ADReSSo 2021 picture-description dataset. Within this framework, text data are encoded using the ModernBERT, audio features are extracted using the wav2vec 2.0-base-960, and the Cookie Theft image is represented through the CLIP ViT-L/14. These embeddings are linearly projected to a shared space and then combined via Transformer-based cross-attention, yielding a fused vector for AD detection. Results: Our results show that the trimodal model achieved the best overall performance when paired with an SVC classifier, reaching an accuracy of 0.8732 and an F1 score of 0.8571, surpassing both the top-performing unimodal and bimodal configurations. For interpretability, a sensitivity analysis of modality contributions reveals that text plays the primary role, audio provides complementary improvements, and image offers modest yet stabilizing contextual support. Conclusions: These results highlight that the method of multimodal embedding fusion significantly influences performance: a cross-attention block achieves an effective balance between accuracy and simplicity, producing integrated representations that align well with interpretable downstream classifiers. Full article

The processing of Brazil nuts generates by-products such as cracked kernels and press cakes that are frequently undervalued despite their rich biochemical composition. This study provides a comparative compositional evaluation of partially defatted Brazil nut flour applied to gluten-free cookies, focusing on sugars, tocopherols, selected phenolic acids, and mineral composition. Cookies formulated with Brazil nut flour were compared with control formulations and, descriptively, with commercial gluten-free products. The incorporation of Brazil nut flour resulted in consistent compositional enrichment, including higher levels of γ- and α-tocopherols, gallic and caffeic acids, and essential minerals, alongside a lower sucrose content relative to control cookies. From a food biochemistry perspective, these results indicate an improved nutritionally relevant of the formulated cookies. The findings support the compositional potential of Brazil nut by-products as upcycled ingredients for nutritionally improved gluten-free baked products and provide a foundation for future studies addressing biological activity, bioaccessibility, and functional validation. Full article

Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum), a medicinal and edible crop, is valued for its richness in flavonoids and polyphenols, which confer antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities. Eurotium cristatum, a dominant fungus crucial for the quality of Fuzhuan tea, produces unique aromas and metabolites. This study developed cookies by replacing 20% of low-gluten flour with Tartary buckwheat flour that had undergone solid-state fermentation with E. cristatum followed by baking. Compared to cookies containing non-inoculated buckwheat flour, the fermented cookies contained significantly higher levels of total flavonoids (4.97 mg/g) and polyphenols (2.31 mg/g), and exhibited markedly enhanced antioxidant activity, as evidenced by a 16.4% higher ABTS radical scavenging rate and a 42.5% greater ferric reducing power. The fermented cookies also exhibited improved textural and sensory properties, a unique aroma profile characterized by pleasant floral notes, and a more homogeneous microstructure. HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis indicated that the optimized flavor resulted from the upregulation of key pleasant aroma compounds (e.g., (E)-2-nonenal, anethole) and the suppression of specific off-odor compounds (e.g., 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine, p-cresol). In conclusion, solid-state fermentation with E. cristatum followed by baking, effectively improves both the nutritional and sensory characteristics of Tartary buckwheat cookies, providing a viable strategy for developing novel, health-promoting bakery products with an appealing compelling flavor profile. Full article

Wheat and rice are major sources of human nutrition worldwide. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) with lignocellulolytic mushrooms can enhance their nutritional value and increase their functional properties. However, this technology is not yet widely applied. In this work, whole wheat and brown rice hydrated to 60% were used as substrates for the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus and the medicinal Ganoderma sessile, which were incubated for 14 days at 25 °C in the dark. The fermented substrate biomass was incorporated into standard sugar-snap cookie recipes, substituting 20% of the wheat flour. We evaluated the technological and nutritional properties of alternative fermented flours and cookies. Both the fermented flours and cookies exhibited increased soluble and total protein content, antioxidant power, and phenol content, indicating overall functional improvement. Fermented G. sessile flour also showed increased triterpenoid content. The physical quality of cookies remained within expected ranges, demonstrating the feasibility of the application. These results highlight the potential of SSF as a method for nutritional and functional enrichment of grains and extend the health benefits of mushrooms to populations relying on low-cost, grain-derived carbohydrates. Further studies on digestibility and in vivo activity of metabolites are needed to confirm the potential health benefits of fermented flours. Full article

This study investigated gluten- and lactose-free cookies enriched with pomegranate seed flour (PSF, 5 and 10% w/w), a sustainable by-product of juice processing. LC-ESI/HRMS/MS analysis of PSF identified 36 bioactive compounds, mainly flavonoids, phenolic acids, hydrolysable tannins, and polar lipids. PSF incorporation significantly affected colour and texture, increasing friability, as evidenced by a reduction in breaking force from 35.37 N in the control cookie to 21.72 N in cookies enriched with 10% PSF, while maintaining good sensory acceptability. Total phenol (≈1.60–1.82 mg GAE/g) and flavonoid contents were only slightly affected by PSF addition; however, antioxidant activity markedly increased, with FRAP values rising from 55.8 to 67.82 μM Fe (II)/g and DPPH IC₅₀ values decreasing from 31.38 to 12.72 μg/mL in the 10% PSF-enriched cookies. The enriched cookies inhibited pancreatic lipase, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase in a clear concentration-dependent manner and showed a reduced predicted glycaemic index (pGI 46.80 vs. 50.08 in the control). Multivariate analysis confirmed a clear dose-dependent effect of PSF on functional, textural, and sensory properties. Overall, pomegranate seed flour proved to be an effective upcycled ingredient for enhancing the functional profile of gluten- and lactose-free bakery products. Further studies using digestion models and in vivo or clinical approaches are needed to clarify the nutritional relevance and health effects of PSF-enriched foods. Full article