RESUMO
The food manufacturing industry has increasingly focused in the development of wholesome and safer products, including certified labeled "super foods," "healthy foods" and "functional foods," which are currently under great demand worldwide. Plant pigments and vitamins are amidst the most common additives incorporated to foodstuff, not only for improving their nutritional status but also for coloration, preservation, and even therapeutic purposes. The recovery of pigments from agro industrial wastes using green emerging approaches is a current trend and clearly the best alternative to ensure their sustainable obtainment and make these ingredients more popular, although still full of challenging aspects. Stability and bioavailability limitations of these active molecules in food matrices have been increasingly studied, and a number of methods have been proposed to minimize these issues, among which the incorporation of a co-pigment, exclusion of O2 during processing and storage, and above all, microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation techniques. The most recent advances and challenges in the application of natural pigments and vitamins in functional foods, considering only reports of the last 5 years, were the focus of this chapter.
Assuntos
Indústria Alimentícia/tendências , Alimento Funcional/análise , Pigmentos Biológicos/análise , Plantas Comestíveis/química , Vitaminas/análise , Disponibilidade Biológica , Estabilidade de Medicamentos , Corantes de Alimentos , Conservantes de Alimentos , Alimentos Fortificados/análise , Valor NutritivoRESUMO
A single laccase with molecular weight of 41â¯kDa was produced by the white-rot fungus Oudemansiella canarii cultured on solid state fermentation using a mixture of sugarcane bagasse-wheat bran as substrate. The enzyme (5â¯U) was able to decolourize 80% of 50â¯mg/L Congo red within 24â¯h at 30⯰C and pH 5.5. The relationship between the decolorization rate and dye concentration obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with KM and Vmax values of 46.180⯱â¯6.245⯵M and 1.840⯱â¯0.101⯵mol/min, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and mass spectrometry allowed to conclude that the laccase acts not only on the dye chromophore group, but also that it cleaves different covalent bonds, causing an effective fragmentation of the molecule. The action of the laccase caused a significant reduction in toxicity, as indicated by the Microtox test. In conclusion, O. canarii laccase could be useful in future biological strategies aiming at degrading azo dyes.