Search Results (27)

A rapid, traceable, and highly sensitive method was developed for the simultaneous separation and quantification of 24 water-soluble synthetic colorants in premade cocktails, utilizing ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (UPLC-DAD). The purity of each colorant was individually confirmed through multi-wavelength analysis. Chromatographic conditions, including mobile phase composition and gradient elution, were meticulously optimized, achieving the separation of the 24 colorants on a BEH C18 column using a linear gradient elution within 16 min. The mobile phase consisted of an ammonium acetate solution (100 mmol/L, pH 6.25) and a mixed organic solvent of methanol and acetonitrile (2:8, v/v). The method exhibited excellent linearity across the concentration range of 0.005–10 μg/mL, with limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.66 to 27.78 μg/L for all 24 colorants. The method also demonstrated good precision (0.1–4.9%) at various concentration levels and recoveries ranging from 87.8% to 104.5% at spiked concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 μg/mL. A comparison with other published methods for colorant determination in food samples using HPLC-DAD and LC-MS (2014–2024) revealed that the proposed method offers superior performance in terms of the number of analytes detected, lower limits of detection, and reduced analytical time. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the analysis of colorants in premade cocktails from different sources. Full article

Anthocyanins (ANCs) are water-soluble pigments that are useful as nutraceuticals due to their health benefits. This study was performed to evaluate the storage stability of purified and crude red grape ANCs in Raha Sweet (RS) during storage and to evaluate its sensory properties. ANCs were extracted from red grape pomace and purified with a macroporous resin. RS was prepared and colored with a synthetic food dye, Carmoisine (control), and ANCs (crude and purified). Pigments were extracted from RS weekly for a period of seven weeks and the absorbance was read spectrophotometrically. RS colored with ANCs was evaluated for its color and other sensory properties against another RS colored with the control. Results showed that the degradation of ANCs in RS followed the first-order reaction model, unlike the control, which showed no degradation during storage. The half-life of crude ANCs was three times higher than that of the purified ones, and RS colored with ANCs received a significantly (p < 0.05) lower score for color than that of RS colored with the control. ANCs could provide the food industry with a natural alternative to synthetic dyes to color foods with high sugar content that are stored for a short period of time. Full article

The development of biopolymer-based films represents a promising direction in the packaging industry that responds to stringent needs for sustainability, reducing the ecological impact. Traditional fossil-derived polymers present major concerns because of their long decomposition time and their significant contribution to the pollution of the environment. On the contrary, biopolymers such as chitosan, PVA, and PLA offer viable alternatives. This study aimed to obtain an innovative pH indicator for smart packaging using a synthetic non-toxic anthocyanin analogue dye incorporated in bio-based films to indicate meat freshness and quality. The pH-responsive color-changing properties of the dye make it suitable for developing intelligent films to monitor food freshness. The obtained polymeric films were characterized by FT-IR and UV–VIS spectroscopy, and their thermal properties were assessed using thermogravimetric methods. Moisture content, swelling capacity, and water solubility of the polymeric films were also evaluated. The sensitivity of the biopolymer–flavylium composite films to pH variations was studied in the pH range of 2 to 12 and noticeable color variations were observed, allowing the monitoring of the meat’s quality damage through pH changes. The pH-responsive films were applied directly on the surface or in the proximity of pork and chicken meat samples, to evaluate their colorimetric response to fresh and spoilt meat. This study can be the starting point for creating more durable packaging solutions leading to a circular economy. Full article

Naturally occurring Fe(III) films with rainbow reflection iridescence have been observed floating on the water surface of various spots covered with shallow water (e.g., edges of wetlands and creeks, standing water over soils). This natural phenomenon has become a scenic attraction and stimulated much curiosity. We pursued an experimental inquiry aimed at probing this interesting, curious natural wonder. As the first critical task, floating Fe(III) films were successfully generated in an assessable, controllable setting in our laboratory. This enabled us to establish this phenomenon reproducibly under controlled conditions and characterize the phenomenon over the entire span of the formation and transformation of the Fe(III) films. Our film generation method requires a few things: fresh soil (source for Fe(III) and microbes), glucose (energy source), and water in a container. The floating Fe(III) films as observed in the field occurred in ~1–3 day(s) on the water surface of the inundated soil mixed with the sugar. The Fe(III) films then grew from initial very thin, colorless, somewhat transparent films with rainbow reflection iridescence to colored thicker films and then to orange/orange-red/red crusts over the time. A comprehensive mechanistic picture was formulated to depict the formation of the Fe(III) films. Several sequential processes are operative. First, the Fe(III) (oxides, oxyhydroxides) in the soil is reduced to Fe(II) by the Fe(III)-reducing microbes during their anerobic respiration with Fe(III) as the electron (e⁻) acceptor after depletion of dissolved O₂ in the water as a result of aerobic microbial respiration with O₂ as the e⁻ acceptor. The Fe(II), being soluble, then diffuses to the water surface where it is oxidized to Fe(III). Subsequently, the Fe(III) hydrolyzes and various Fe(III) hydrolysis products polymerize to stabilize. A polymeric model was created to account for the Fe(III) film transformation. The Fe(III) films are considered to transform from the dimers and trimers and linear polymers of Fe(OH)₃ to Fe(III) polymer sheets (e.g., Fe(OH)₃, FeOOH), to 3D Fe(III) polymers, and eventually to Fe₂O₃ colloid particles. This floating Fe(III) film phenomenon boasts an environmental chemical drama of redox cycling of Fe(III)/Fe(II) at soil/water and water/air interfaces coupled with Fe(II) transport from the inundated soil to the water surface followed by ultimate mineralization of the Fe(III) polymers. Our Fe(III) film generation method can be readily scaled up to supply Fe(III) films of rich varieties in thickness, size, morphology, and structure over the entire span of various stages of their formation and transformation as desired for various uses. This setup offers a platform needed for further controlled studies on the kinetics, mechanism, and process of abiotic and biotic nature involved in the Fe(III) film phenomenon and for exploration of versatile roles of the Fe(III) films as nanofilms in Fe(III)/Fe(II)-surface catalyzed chemical and photochemical reactions involving various natural and synthetic compounds. Full article

Naturalized dyes (NDs) are innovative and eco-friendly synthetic compounds in which a chromophore is covalently linked to a natural sugar (e.g., lactose). The sugar moiety confers water-solubility and biocompatibility to the dye molecule as a whole. NDs have demonstrated potential application in dyeing textiles and leather. The purpose of this work was to demonstrate that selected NDs can be also applied to dye wood. To that aim, two NDs were tested to color beech and poplar wood. The NDs were applied as a simple aqueous solution or mixed with a waterborne, biogenic staining agent (commercially available Gemma U50). Moreover, the effect of the application of a biogenic waterborne top coat (commercially available Resina Plus U49) was also studied. Different methods were tested to investigate the potential application of these NDs to wood. The dyeing behavior was analyzed in terms of penetration into the substrate, covering capacity and color homogeneity through macro- and microscopic observations and colorimetric measurements. The color fastness to water washout and the color stability to light, in particular by exposing the wooden samples to artificial aging (UV radiations in a Solar Box), were also investigated. The NDs, when used as water solutions, were able to afford a homogeneous coating and a pleasant appearance on the wood surface, as well as a good color fastness to washout with water. Dissolving the dyes in the stain or applying the top coat generally resulted in even better color fastness to washout. However, all the application methods tested showed limited resistance to fading in the Solar Box, which therefore remains a drawback for this type of product. Full article

The brightly colored synthetic dyes used in the textile industry are discharged at high concentrations—for example, various azo dyes including Methylene Blue (MB) and Methyl Orange (MO)—which is a matter of global concern, as such dyes are harmful to humans and the environment. Microbial degradation is considered an efficient alternative for overcoming the disadvantages of conventional physical and chemical dye removal methods. In this study, we investigated the potential of multiple types of the enzyme-producing extremophilic bacteria Bacillus FW2, isolated from food waste leachate, for the decolorization and bioremediation of artificial synthetic dyes. The screening of enzyme production and assaying of bacterial strain enzymes are essential for enhancing the breakdown of azo bonds in textile azo dyes. The degradation efficiencies of the water-soluble dyes MB and MO were determined at different concentrations using rice husk, which is an efficient substrate. Using the rice husks, the MO was removed completely within 20 h, and an estimated 99.8% of MB was degraded after 24 h by employing shaking at 120 rpm at 40 °C—whereas a removal efficiency of 98.9% was achieved for the combination of MB + MO. These results indicate the possibility of applying an extremophilic bacterial strain, Bacillus sp., for large-scale dye degradation in the future. Full article

The aim of this study was the elaboration of isotonic drinks rich in bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity using organic ingredients and without synthetic additives. Grape juice was used as a natural source of sugars and phenolic compounds, combined with lemon juice and natural flavors from herb and spice extracts. The ingredients were diluted in two types of water with different mineralization, to which three different determined concentrations of salts (sodium chloride and potassium chloride) were added. The beverages had a sugar content ranging from 72.73 ± 0.23 to 78.43 ± 0.06 g/L, total soluble solids between 4.23 ± 0.06 and 4.83 ± 0.29 °Brix, and total acids from 1.75 ± 0.02 to 2.39 ± 0.08 g/L. Generally, antioxidant activity was higher in the beverages flavored with herb and spice extracts, ranging from 3.28 ± 0.01 to 4.27 ± 0.09 µmols Trolox equivalent/mL. Color intensity showed an increase of up to 129.39% in all samples during the storage period, being higher in beverages prepared with high-mineral water and having high pH values. The results of sensory analysis revealed that the flavored beverages had higher values of global perception than the controls. Thus, the functional properties of grape juice have been increased, and these beverages can be alternative natural and healthy products because their formulation is based only on organic and natural ingredients. Full article

Anthocyanins (ANCs) are naturally occurring water-soluble pigments responsible for conferring red, blue, and purple colors to fruits, vegetables, flowers, and grains. Due to their chemical structure, they are highly susceptible to degradation by external factors, such as pH, light, temperature, and oxygen. Naturally acylated anthocyanins have proven to be more stable in response to external factors and exhibit superior biological effects as compared with their non-acylated analogues. Therefore, synthetic acylation represents a viable alternative to make the application of these compounds more suitable for use. Enzyme-mediated synthetic acylation produces derivatives that are highly similar to those obtained through the natural acylation process, with the main difference between these two pathways being the catalytic site of the enzymes involved in the synthesis; acyltransferases catalyze natural acylation, while lipases catalyze synthetic acylation. In both cases, their active sites perform the addition of carbon chains to the hydroxyl groups of anthocyanin glycosyl moieties. Currently, there is no comparative information regarding natural and enzymatically acylated anthocyanins. In this sense, the aim of this review is to compare natural and enzyme-mediated synthetic acylated anthocyanins in terms of chemical stability and pharmacological activity with a focus on inflammation and diabetes. Full article

Functional ingredients are substances that offer health benefits beyond their nutritional value. A novel heteropolysaccharide, named Linum water soluble polysaccharide (LWSP) was purified from Linum usitatissimum L. seeds powder and identified, via TLC and NMR, as a polymer composite of α1-2-L-arabinose, β1-2-D-xylose, β1-2-D-mannose and α1-2-D-glucose. The effect of incorporating LWSP on the quality of beef sausages, stuffed into collagen casings after 15 days of storage at 4 °C, was evaluated for texture profile analysis, color, sensory analysis and oxidation attributes. The new sausages formulated with LWSP recorded good textural attributes via reduction of cohesiveness, hardness and chewiness and improved the sensory features, especially texture, color and general acceptability. In addition, substituting ascorbic acid, a synthetic antioxidant, via the biological ingredient LWSP, retarded lipid oxidation and improved the oxymyoglobin rate until 15 days of storage. LWSP was proved to be a good natural substituent to synthetic antioxidants that definitely improves the oxidation stability and quality of sausages. Full article

This study aimed to promote the total upcycling of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) peel into bioactive extracts (BEs) and fiber concentrates (FCs). The multicomponent extraction processes were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) coupled with a 20-run experimental design, where the effects of time (1–120 min), temperature (25–95 °C), and EtOH percentage (0–100%) were combined. In addition to the extraction yields, BEs were analyzed for phenolic compounds, organic acids, and other water-soluble constituents, while FCs were characterized for their color and dietary fiber content. Statistically valid theoretical models were obtained by fitting these dependent variables to a quadratic equation and used to predict optimal extraction conditions. Those obtained for phenolic compounds and malic acid were experimentally validated, yielding 9.3 mg/g and 7.6 g/100 g of these bioactive constituents, respectively, and about 51% (w/w) FC. These BEs showed in vitro antioxidant activity and antimicrobial effects against foodborne fungi and bacteria, standing out in some aspects in relation to synthetic food additives, mainly the malic acid-enriched BE. Overall, the developed extraction processes allowed valorizing of quince peel in FCs and BEs that could be used as natural fortifiers or preservatives in the formulation of foods, beverages and dietary supplements. Full article

In the food and beverage industries, replacing synthetic colorants with plant-based colorants has become popular in recent times. Purple corn (Zea mays L.) is an important source of natural colorants due to its range in color from orange to purple. The whole plant of purple corn has a high amount of anthocyanin content. Anthocyanin is the water-soluble pigment found in various fruits and vegetables. The color pigments are chiefly found in the pericarp or kernels, in addition to corn cobs. Purple corn is rich in various health-promoting compounds, mainly anthocyanins such as cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, perlagonidin-3-O-glucoside, peonidin 3-O-glucoside, and their malonylated forms. This review emphasized recent updates regarding the in vitro and in vivo biological properties of extracts and compounds from purple corn. Purple corn color extracts possess a variety of biological properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, etc. The results of in vitro and in vivo studies of the biological properties of purple corn could lead to the development of different health-promoting products in the near future. Full article

Novel personal care products are necessary to cope with the growing market demand for sustainable green products. In this context, this work deals with the formulation and fundamental physicochemical and rheological characterization of different natural personal care products using bioactive fractions from Chondrus crispus red macroalgae extracted under optimized green conditions. Body milks, body oils and shampoos were supplemented with soluble extracts with antioxidant features recovered after hydrothermal (200 °C) and microwave (170 °C)- and ultrasound (80 °C)-assisted extraction of the red macroalgae used as raw material. Formulated products were also compared with those prepared using (±)-α-tocopherol and butylhydroxytoluene standards. Body scrubs were formulated with the remaining solids (<2.25%) after microwave hydrodiffusion and gravidity treatment of the macroalgae. Results indicated that selected extracts provided personal care products with similar or even better physicochemical, color and viscous features than those supplemented with (±)-α-tocopherol or butylhydroxytoluene commercial antioxidants. Rheological profiles indicated that it is possible to develop personal care products with adequate viscous behavior (10²–10⁵ mPa s, at 1 s⁻¹), comparable with their synthetic counterparts. To conclude, the addition of antioxidant extracts led to lower apparent viscosity values suggesting an advantage from the skin applicability point of view, jointly with the absence of both the hysteresis phenomenon and water syneresis of the proposed formulations. Full article

As water-soluble flavonoid derivatives, anthocyanidins and anthocyanins are the plants pigments mostly rich in berries, pomegranate, grapes, and dark color fruits. Many bioactivity properties of these advantageous phytochemicals have been reported; among them, their significant abilities in the suppression of tumor cells are of the promising therapeutic features, which have recently attracted great attention. The prostate malignancy, is considered the 2nd fatal and the most distributed cancer type in men worldwide. The present study was designated to gather the preclinical and clinical studies evaluating potencies of anthocyanidins/anthocyanins for the treatment and prevention of this cancer type for the first time. In general, findings confirm that the anthocyanins (especifically cyanidin-3-O-glucoside) indicated higher activity against prostatic neoplasms compared to their correlated anthocyanidins (e.g., delphinidin); in which potent anti-inflammatory, apoptosis, and anti-proliferative activities were analyzed. Complementary anti-prostate cancer assessment of diverse naturally occurred anthocyanidins/anthocyanins and their synthetically optimized derivatives through preclinical experiments and eventually confirmed by clinical trials can promisingly lead to discover natural-based chemotherapeutic drug options. Full article

As an environmentally friendly coating, waterborne coatings have broad application prospects in paper packaging products in food and medicine. In this paper, a waterborne coating is synthesized from epoxy resin, polypropylene glycol diglycidyl ether, acrylic acid, trimellitic anhydride, maleic anhydride, and organic amine by three steps: ring opening reaction, esterification reaction, and neutralization reaction. Using viscosity, particle size, thermal stability, adhesion, and friction resistance as performance evaluation factors, the effects of the ratios of epoxy resin and polypropylene glycol diglycidyl ether in the polymerization system on the performance of synthetic waterborne coatings were discussed. Taking water solubility, water absorption, and water resistance as performance evaluation factors, the effects of the amount of ratio of anhydride groups to hydroxyl groups in the epoxy acrylic resin, which were produced in the second step of the reaction, were considered on the performance of synthetic waterborne coatings. The experimental results showed that when the molar ratio of the epoxy group in the epoxy resin and polypropylene glycol diglycidyl ether was about 1:1, and the molar ratio of anhydride in maleic anhydride to hydroxyl in the epoxy acrylic resin generated in the second step of reaction was about 0.9:1, the performance of the prepared waterborne coatings was comprehensively better. At the same time, the applicability of self-made waterborne coatings was tested. The results showed that when the coating amount was about 3.60 g/m², the properties of the packaging base paper were greatly improved with respect to air resistance, oxygen resistance, oil resistance, and color reproducibility. Full article

Anthocyanins are water-soluble, colored compounds of the flavonoid class, abundantly found in the fruits, leaves, roots, and other parts of the plants. The fruit berries are prime sources and exhibit different colors. The anthocyanins utility as traditional medicament for liver protection and cure, and importance as strongest plants-based anti-oxidants have conferred these plants products different biological activities. These activities include anti-inflammation, liver protective, analgesic, and anti-cancers, which have provided the anthocyanins an immense commercial value, and has impelled their chemistry, biological activity, isolation, and quality investigations as prime focus. Methods in extraction and production of anthocyanin-based products have assumed vital economic importance. Different extraction techniques in aquatic solvents mixtures, eutectic solvents, and other chemically reactive extractions including low acid concentrations-based extractions have been developed. The prophylactic and curative therapy roles of the anthocyanins, together with no reported toxicity has offered much-needed impetus and economic benefits to these classes of compounds which are commercially available. Information retrieval from various search engines, including the PubMed^®, ScienceDirect^®, Scopus^®, and Google Scholar^®, were used in the review preparation. This imparted an outlook on the anthocyanins occurrence, roles in plants, isolation-extraction, structures, biosynthetic as well as semi- and total-synthetic pathways, product quality and yields enhancements, including uses as part of traditional medicines, and uses in liver disorders, prophylactic and therapeutic applications in liver protection and longevity, liver cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. The review also highlights the integrated approach to yields maximizations to meet the regular demands of the anthocyanins products, also as part of the extract-rich preparations together with a listing of marketed products available for human consumption as nutraceuticals/food supplements. Full article