BLUEBERRIES ARE A POPULAR FRUIT WITH AN ATTRACTIVE FLAVOR AND COLOR, AS WELL AS HEALTH BENEFITS. THESE HEALTH BENEFITS HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO THE IMPORTANT NUMBER OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN BLUEBERRIES WITH ACTIVITIES SUCH AS ANTIOXIDANT, ANTITUMOR, ANTIMUTAGENIC, AND ANTIDIABETIC EFFECTS AND THE PREVENTION OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES. DESPITE THESE ADVANTAGES, BLUEBERRIES ARE ONLY OBTAINED FRESH IN CERTAIN SEASONS; THEREFORE, THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY TRANSFORMS THEM INTO JELLY, PUREE, OR JUICE. HOWEVER, THE CONCENTRATION PROCESS COULD HELP PRESERVE THE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS OF BLUEBERRY BYPRODUCTS. CONCENTRATION TECHNOLOGIES FOCUS ON THE REMOVAL OF EXCESS WATER TO INCREASE THE PRODUCT STABILITY AND REDUCE STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION COSTS BY CAUSING THEM TO TAKE UP LESS SPACE OR AS A PRETREATMENT BEFORE DEHYDRATION. THESE TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDE EVAPORATION, REVERSE OSMOSIS, AND FREEZE CONCENTRATION, AND EACH ONE HAS DIFFERENT EFFECTS ON THE EFFICIENCY, QUALITY, AND NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF THE FINAL CONCENTRATES. HOWEVER, FREEZE CONCENTRATION AND REVERSE OSMOSIS PRODUCE A HIGHER-FINAL QUALITY CONCENTRATE THAN EVAPORATION DUE TO THE USE OF LOW TEMPERATURES, WHICH PREVENTS THE LOSS OF THERMOLABILE COMPONENTS SUCH AS BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS. THEREFORE, THIS REVIEW SUMMARIZES THE IMPACT OF CONCENTRATION TECHNOLOGIES ON THE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF BLUEBERRY JUICE.

CRYOCONCENTRATED BLUEBERRY JUICE (CBJ) WAS INCORPORATED INTO AERATED GELATIN GEL AND THE EFFECTS ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY (AA) WERE EVALUATED AT DAY 1 AND DAY 28 UNDER REFRIGERATED STORAGE. AT DAY 1, 8 G OF GELATIN GEL AND 40 G OF CBJ (CALLED M5) EXHIBITED A SOFT TEXTURE AND HETEROGENEOUS AND NON-SPHERICAL SMALL BUBBLES, WITH VALUES CLOSE TO 10.5, 8.0 AND 7.1 N, FOR HARDNESS, GUMMINESS AND CHEWINESS, RESPECTIVELY. M5 PRESENTED AN INCREASE OF APPROXIMATELY 1.7, 1.9 AND 1.9, AND 1.2, 1.8, 2.1 AND 1.3 TIMES IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER SAMPLES, FOR TOTAL POLYPHENOL, ANTHOCYANIN AND FLAVONOID CONTENTS, AND INDIVIDUAL PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS, 2,2-DIPHENYL-1-PICRYLHYDRAZYL (DPPH), FERRIC REDUCING ANTIOXIDANT POWER (FRAP) AND OXYGEN RADICAL ABSORBANCE CAPACITY (ORAC) ASSAYS, RESPECTIVELY. AT DAY 28, THE SAMPLES SHOWED A WEAKENING OF THE 3D NETWORK, WITH HIGH DEGRADATION OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AND AA DUE TO THE OXIDATION, POLYMERIZATION AND SYNERESIS. THEREFORE, CBJ MIGHT BE AN INTERESTING FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENT TO ADD TO (AERATED AND NON-AERATED) GELATIN GEL WITHOUT AFFECTING ITS PROPERTIES, AND THUS DIFFERENT FOOD PRODUCTS WITH HIGH NUTRITIONAL VALUES AND WITHOUT ADDED ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS COULD BE DEVELOPED. ADDITIONALLY, THE GELATIN GEL/CBJ COMBINATIONS MIGHT BE SUITABLE FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AS A COATING OF FOOD MATRICES.

CRYOCONCENTRATE BLUEBERRY JUICE (CBJ) AT DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS WAS INCORPORATED INTO GELATIN GEL AND THE EFFECTS ON RHEOLOGICAL AND TEXTURAL PROPERTIES, TOTAL BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS (TBC) AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY (AA) WERE EVALUATED. SPECIFICALLY, CBJ AT 20 G/100 G REINFORCED THE GEL STRUCTURE, SINCE THE SAMPLE SHOWED THE HIGHEST GELLING (15.0 °C) AND MELTING TEMPERATURES (27.4 °C) IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER SAMPLES. ADDITIONALLY, THIS CBJ CONCENTRATION HAD AN INCREASE OF 28%, 46%, 47% AND 54% IN RELATION TO THE INITIAL GEL STRENGTH, HARDNESS, GUMMINESS, AND CHEWINESS, RESPECTIVELY. IN TBC AND AA TERMS, THE VALUES WERE CLOSE TO 55 MG GAE/100 G, 4.5 MG C3G/100 G, 18 MG CEQ/100 G, 42, 29 AND 738 ?MOL TE/100 G, WHICH ARE EQUIVALENT TO 18%, 11%, 14%, 8%, 3% AND 32%, FOR TOTAL POLYPHENOL, ANTHOCYANIN AND FLAVONOID CONTENTS, 2,2-DIPHENYL-1-PICRYLHYDRAZYL (DPPH), FERRIC REDUCING ANTIOXIDANT POWER (FRAP) AND OXYGEN RADICAL ABSORBANCE CAPACITY (ORAC) ASSAYS, IN RELATION TO THE INITIAL CBJ VALUE, RESPECTIVELY. SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE IMAGES REVEALED THAT THE CBJ-GELATIN GELS FORMED A STRUCTURAL NETWORK WITH POROUS AND THICK WALLS. THEREFORE, CBJ HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE AN EXCELLENT INGREDIENT TO ADD DURING GELATIN GEL PREPARATION SINCE IT DELIVERS BIOACTIVE COMPONENTS WITHOUT AFFECTING THE RHEOLOGICAL AND TEXTURAL PROPERTIES.

HYDROGELS CAN ABSORB AND/OR RETAIN COMPONENTS IN THE INTERSTITIAL SPACES DUE TO THE 3D CROSS-LINKED POLYMER NETWORK, AND THUS, THESE MATRICES CAN BE USED IN DIFFERENT ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS. THIS STUDY FOCUSES ON THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND TEXTURAL PROPERTIES, AS WELL AS BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS AND THEIR ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY STABILITY OF COMMERCIAL HYDROGELS FORTIFIED WITH CRYOCONCENTRATED BLUEBERRY JUICE (CBJ) STORED FOR 35 DAYS. CBJ WAS ADDED TO COMMERCIAL HYDROGELS (GELATIN GEL (GG), AERATED GELATIN GEL (AGG), GUMMY (GM), AND AERATED GUMMY (AGM)). THE SAMPLES SHOWED A TOTAL POLYPHENOL, ANTHOCYANIN, AND FLAVONOID CONTENT RANGING FROM 230 TO 250 MG GAE/100 G, 3.5 TO 3.9 MG C3G/100 G, AND 120 TO 136 MG CEQ/100 G, RESPECTIVELY, AND GG AND GM SHOWED THE LOWEST BIOACTIVE COMPONENT DEGRADATION RATE, WHILE AGM PRESENTED THE HIGHEST DEGRADATION. GG AND GM SAMPLES COULD BE STORED FOR UP TO 21 DAYS WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES, WHILE THE RESULTS INDICATED ?15 DAYS FOR THE AGG AND AGM SAMPLES. THEREBY, CBJ OFFERS ENORMOUS POSSIBILITIES TO BE USED AS A FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENT DUE TO THE HIGH NUTRITIONAL VALUES, AND IT ALLOWS ENRICHING DIFFERENT HYDROGEL SAMPLES, AND IN TURN, THE STRUCTURES OF HYDROGELS PROTECTED COMPONENTS DURING IN VITRO DIGESTION, ENHANCING THE BIOACCESSIBILITY AFTER THE DIGESTION PROCESS.

AVOCADO HASS (PERSEA AMERICANA MILL) PEEL EXTRACT (APE) HAS THE POTENTIAL AS A NATURAL INGREDIENT TO SUBSTITUTE FOR CHEMICAL PRESERVATIVES. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY WERE TO ASSESS THE PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY?QUADRUPOLE TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS/MASS SPECTROMETRY (HPLC-QTOF-MS/MS), TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENT (TPC), PROANTHOCYANIDIN (PAC) CONTENT, AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE APE, THE ORGANIC FRACTION (OF), THE AQUEOUS FRACTION (AF), AND THE ACID-MICROWAVE HYDROLYZED APE (HAPE), ON THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY (ABA). THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT APE AND OF CONTAINED (P ? 0.05) A HIGHER PHENOLIC COMPOSITION AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY THAN AF AND HAPE. THE ABA SPECIFIED THAT PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA AND BACILLUS CEREUS WERE INHIBITED BY ALL THE EXTRACTS (MINIMAL INHIBITORY CONCENTRATION?MIC ? 500 ?G/ML), STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS WAS ONLY SIGNIFICANTLY INHIBITED BY APE (?750 ?G/ML), THE SAME MIC WAS OBSERVED FOR THE OF ON SALMONELLA SPP. AND LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES. THE HAPE INCREASED THE INHIBITORY EFFICIENCY UP TO 25% ON ESCHERICHIA COLI AND SALMONELLA SPP. (MIC ? 750 ?G/ML), AND 83.34% ON L. MONOCYTOGENES (MIC ? 125 ?G/ML) COMPARED TO APE (MIC ? 750 ?G/ML). ALSO, HAPE INHIBITED THE BIOFILM FORMATION AT THE LOWEST CONCENTRATION (125 ?G/ML); MEANWHILE, THE BIOFILM DISRUPTION SHOWED TO BE CONCENTRATION-TIME-DEPENDENT (P ? 0.05) COMPARED TO AMOXICILLIN. IN CONCLUSION, THE FRACTIONATION AND HYDROLYZATION OF APE IMPROVED THE ABA; THUS, THOSE STRATEGIES ARE USEFUL TO DESIGN NEW ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUNDS.

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE IMPACTS OF CENTRIFUGAL BLOCK FREEZE CONCENTRATION (CBFC) AND EVAPORATION PROCESSES ON PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES, BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY APPLIED TO FRESH BLUEBERRY JUICE. AFTER THREE CONCENTRATION CYCLES, THE SOLUTES WERE APPROXIMATELY 3.6 TIMES TO THE INITIAL CONDITION (12 °BRIX) AND THE FINAL COLOR (?E*>4.7) WAS DARKER THAN THE FRESH JUICE. IN ALL CYCLES, CBFC OBTAINED HIGHER BIOACTIVE COMPOUND CONCENTRATION THAN EVAPORATION, WITH VALUES, IN THE LAST CYCLE, CLOSE TO 610 MG GAE/100 ML, 57 MG M3G/100 ML AND 279 MG CEQ/100 ML FOR TOTAL POLYPHENOL, ANTHOCYANIN AND FLAVONOID CONTENT, RESPECTIVELY, CAUSING A RETENTION OVER 70%. SIMILARLY, AS THE CYCLES PROGRESSED, DPPH ASSAY PRESENTED VALUES FROM 1916 TO 5700 ?MOL TROLOX EQUIVALENTS/L, WHICH WERE HIGHER THAN THOSE REPORTED BY THE TREATMENT AT HIGH TEMPERATURES (1916 TO 4600 ?MOL TROLOX EQUIVALENTS/L), RESULTING IN GOOD ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY IN THE CRYOCONCENTRATES ACHIEVED AT LOW TEMPERATURES. MOREOVER, A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS BETWEEN CIELAB PARAMETERS, BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY WERE OBSERVED. THUS, CBFC IS AN INTERESTING AND NOVEL TECHNIQUE TO PRESERVE IMPORTANT QUALITY PROPERTIES FROM FRESH FRUIT JUICES.

THIS STUDY AIMED TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL OF CENTRIFUGAL BLOCK CRYOCONCENTRATION (CBCC) AT THREE CYCLES APPLIED TO FRESH CALAFATE JUICE. THE FRESH JUICE AND CRYOCONCENTRATE AT EACH CYCLE WERE STORED FOR FIVE WEEKS AT 4 °C AND QUALITY ATTRIBUTES WERE ANALYZED EVERY 7 DAYS. CBCC HAD SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS IN THE CALAFATE JUICE, SINCE IN THE LAST CYCLE, THE CRYOCONCENTRATE REACHED A HIGH VALUE OF TOTAL SOLUBLE SOLIDS (TSS, ?42 °BRIX), WITH FINAL ATTRACTIVE COLOR, AND AN INCREASE OF APPROXIMATELY 2.5, 5.2, 5.1, 4.0 AND 5.3 TIMES IN RELATION TO THE FRESH JUICE VALUES, FOR TOTAL BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS (TBC), 2,2-DIPHENYL-1-PICRYLHYDRAZYL (DPPH), 2,2-AZINO-BIS(3-ETHYLBENZOTHIAZOLINE-6-SULFONIC ACID) (ABTS), FERRIC REDUCING ANTIOXIDANT POWER (FRAP) AND OXYGEN RADICAL ABSORBANCE CAPACITY (ORAC), RESPECTIVELY. HOWEVER, AT 35 DAYS UNDER STORAGE, THESE VALUES DECREASED BY 5%, 13%, 15%, 19%, 24% AND 27%, FOR TSS, TBC, DPPH, ABTS, FRAP AND ORAC, RESPECTIVELY. ADDITIONALLY, UNTIL THE DAY 14, THE PANELISTS INDICATED A GOOD ACCEPTABILITY OF THE RECONSTITUTED CRYOCONCENTRATE. THEREFORE, CBCC CAN BE CONSIDERED A NOVEL AND VIABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF QUALITY ATTRIBUTES FROM FRESH CALAFATE JUICE WITH INTERESTING FOOD APPLICATIONS OF THE CRYOCONCENTRATES DUE TO THEIR HIGH STABILITY DURING STORAGE TIME IN COMPARISON TO THE FRESH JUICE.

THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DESCRIBE THE IMPACT OF CENTRIFUGAL BLOCK CRYOCONCENTRATION (CBCC) AT THREE CYCLES ON PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS, TOTAL BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS (TBC), INDIVIDUAL PHENOLIC CONTENT (IPC), AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY (AA) APPLIED TO FRESH BLUEBERRY JUICE. ADDITIONALLY, THE RECOVERY OF CRYOCONCENTRATE SOLUTION FROM THE ICE FRACTIONS WAS EVALUATED. THE TOTAL SOLUBLE SOLIDS (TSS), TBC, IPC, AND AA OF THE CRYOCONCENTRATE AND ICE FRACTIONS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE LAST CYCLE, AND THESE RESULTS WERE OVER 3.3, 2.7, 3.2, AND 1.8 TIMES HIGHER THAN THE FRESH JUICE, RESPECTIVELY. HOWEVER, A HIGH CRYOCONCENTRATE OCCLUSION WITHIN THE ICE CRYSTALS WAS OBSERVED IN THE SECOND AND THIRD CYCLES, IN WHICH THE AVERAGE PARTITION COEFFICIENT WAS BETWEEN 0.4 AND 0.6, RESPECTIVELY. THUS, THE RECOVERED CRYOCONCENTRATES FROM THE ICE FRACTIONS EXHIBITED VALUES OF APPROXIMATELY 34 °BRIX, 1700 MG GAE/100 G D.M., 770 MG CEQ/100 G D.M., AND 210 MG C3G/100 G D.M., 3200, AND 4800 ?MOL TE/100 G D.M. FOR TSS, TOTAL POLYPHENOL, FLAVONOID, AND ANTHOCYANIN CONTENTS, 2,2-DIPHENYL-1-PICRYL-HYDRAZYL (DPPH), AND FERRIC REDUCING ANTIOXIDANT POWER (FRAP), RESPECTIVELY. THEREFORE, THE RECYCLING OF THE ICE FRACTION TO RECOVER CRYOCONCENTRATED SOLUTION IS AN INTERESTING ALTERNATIVE TO IMPROVE PROCESS PARAMETERS IN CBCC, AND IN ADDITION, THIS ALLOWS OBTAINING A CRYOCONCENTRATE RICH IN PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES, PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS, AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY, AND THUS, IT COULD BE INCORPORATED INTO THE CRYOCONCENTRATED STOCK SOLUTION.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCED DIETARY HABITS, WHICH INCLUDE APPROPRIATE AMOUNTS OF ANTIOXIDANTS TO MAINTAIN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY RELEVANT DURING THE CURRENT SARS-COV-2/COVID-19 PANDEMIC, BECAUSE VIRAL INFECTIONS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY HIGH OXIDATIVE STRESS. FURTHERMORE, THE MEASURES TAKEN BY GOVERNMENTS TO CONTROL THE PANDEMIC HAVE LED TO INCREASED ANXIETY, STRESS, AND DEPRESSION, WHICH AFFECT PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH, ALL OF WHICH ARE INFLUENCED BY NUTRITIONAL STATUS, DIET, AND LIFESTYLE. THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET (MD), ATLANTIC DIET (AD), AND THE DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR AMERICANS ALL PROVIDE THE ESSENTIAL VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS NEEDED TO ACTIVATE ENZYMATIC AND NONENZYMATIC ANTIOXIDANT RESPONSES. HOWEVER, VIRAL PANDEMICS SUCH AS THE CURRENT COVID-19 CRISIS ENTAIL HIGH OXIDATIVE DAMAGE CAUSED BY BOTH THE INFECTION AND THE RESULTANT SOCIAL STRESSES WITHIN POPULATIONS, WHICH INCREASES THE PROBABILITY AND SEVERITY OF INFECTION. BALANCED DIETARY PATTERNS SUCH AS THE MD AND THE AD ARE CHARACTERIZED BY THE CONSUMPTION OF FRUIT, VEGETABLES, LEGUMES, OLIVE OIL, AND WHOLE GRAINS WITH LOW INTAKES OF PROCESSED FOODS AND RED MEAT. FOR A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE IN YOUNG ADULTS, THE MD IN PARTICULAR PROVIDES THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OF ANTIOXIDANTS PER DAY FOR VITAMINS D (0.3-3.8 ?G), E (17.0 MG), C (137.2-269.8 MG), A (1273.3 ?G), B-12 (1.5-2.0 ?G), AND FOLATE (455.1-561.3 ?G), THE MINERALS SE (120.0 ?G), ZN (11.0 MG), FE (15.0-18.8 MG), AND MN (5.2-12.5 MG), AND POLYPHENOLS (1171.00 MG) NEEDED TO MAINTAIN AN ACTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSE. HOWEVER, ALL OF THESE DIETS ARE DEFICIENT IN THE RECOMMENDED AMOUNT OF VITAMIN D (20 ?G/D). THEREFORE, VULNERABLE POPULATIONS SUCH AS ELDERS AND OBESE INDIVIDUALS COULD BENEFIT FROM ANTIOXIDANT SUPPLEMENTATION TO IMPROVE THEIR ANTIOXIDANT RESPONSE. ALTHOUGH EVIDENCE REMAINS SCARCE, THERE IS SOME INDICATION THAT A HEALTHY DIET, ALONG WITH SUPPLEMENTAL ANTIOXIDANT INTAKE, IS BENEFICIAL TO COVID-19 PATIENTS.