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Dear Colleague,

Lipophilic bioactive compounds, including omega-3 fatty acids, carotenoids, tocols, and phytosterols have attracted significant attention due to their role in beneficial physiological, immunological, and behavioral effects. Moreover, the growing demands of these bioactive in the feed, food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries have triggered cutting-edge research focusing on economically viable large-scale industrial production, green extraction, microencapsulation for improved stability and bioavailability, and elucidating their role in human health and nutrition. This Special Issue is focused on these emerging and highly demanding fields.

Dr. Saini Ramesh Kumar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

emerging sources
industrial production
lipophilic bioactive based functional foods
chemical stability in foods
extraction methods and analysis
micro and nanoencapsulation
role in human health and nutrition

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3165 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phytosterol Profiling of Apiaceae Family Seeds Spices Using GC-MS

by Ramesh Kumar Saini, Min-Ho Song, Ji-Woo Yu, Xiaomin Shang and Young-Soo Keum

Foods 2021, 10(10), 2378; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10102378 - 08 Oct 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2651

Abstract

Phytosterols are nutritionally vital phytoconstituent owing to their cholesterol (low-density plasma lipoprotein-cholesterol, LDL-C)-lowering, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Among the widely used spices and herbs, the seeds spices of the Apiaceae family represented the healthiest fatty acid profile. Thus, to explore the other health-beneficial lipids, the present study was aimed to analyze the phytosterol profile of eight seed spices of the Apiaceae family, utilizing gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectrometry (MS). The sterols contents calculated on an oil (mg/100 g of oil) and spice weight (mg/100 g spices; dry weight) basis varied significantly among the seed spices (p < 0.05; Turkey HSD). The β-sitosterol and stigmasterol were the most dominating sterols among the studied spices, together accounted for 40.3 (Ajwain) to 69.8% (celery) of total sterols in the seed oil. Among the studied spices, the oil extracted from caraway seeds showed the highest total sterols (602.2 mg/100 g of oil). Interestingly, based on spice weight, fennel seeds also showed the similar highest number of total sterols (134.2 mg/100 g in fennel and 133.3 mg/100 g in caraway), owing to the high contents of oil (25.9%) in fennel seeds. Overall, celery, caraway, fennel, and anise seeds oil are rich sources of health-beneficial phytosterols. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lipophilic Bioactive Compounds in Food: Emerging Sources, Metabolism, and Impact on Human Health)

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Review

Jump to: Research

18 pages, 3816 KiB

Open AccessReview

Punicic Acid and Its Role in the Prevention of Neurological Disorders: A Review

by Claudia M. Guerra-Vázquez, Mariana Martínez-Ávila, Daniel Guajardo-Flores and Marilena Antunes-Ricardo

Foods 2022, 11(3), 252; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods11030252 - 18 Jan 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 8360

Abstract

Millions of people worldwide are affected by neurodegenerative diseases (NDs). NDs are characterized by progressive damage and death of nerve cells accompanied by high levels of inflammatory biomarkers and oxidative stress conditions. Punicic acid, the main bioactive component of pomegranate (Punica granatum) seed oil, is an omega-5 isomer of conjugated α-linoleic acid that has shown strong anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects that contributes towards its positive effect against a wide arrange of diseases. Punicic acid decreases oxidative damage and inflammation by increasing the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors. In addition, it can reduce beta-amyloid deposits formation and tau hyperphosphorylation by increasing the expression of GLUT4 protein and the inhibition of calpain hyperactivation. Microencapsulated pomegranate, with high levels of punicic acid, increases antioxidant PON1 activity in HDL. Likewise, encapsulated pomegranate formulations with high levels of punicic acid have shown an increase in the antioxidant PON1 activity in HDL. Because of the limited brain permeability of punicic acid, diverse delivery formulations have been developed to enhance the biological activity of punicic acid in the brain, diminishing neurological disorders symptoms. Punicic acid is an important nutraceutical compound in the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lipophilic Bioactive Compounds in Food: Emerging Sources, Metabolism, and Impact on Human Health)

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