Effects of food matrix and individual food components on potential bioaccessibility of pomegranate were investigated by means of simulating in vitro gastrointestinal (GI) digestion. The foodstuffs (sunflower oil, skim milk, cooked lean meat, bread, skim yogurt, probiotic yogurt, apple, lemon, honey, soy milk, cream, and soybean) and the food components (gluten, casein, isolated meat protein, lactose, fructose, galactose, glucose, salt, ascorbic acid, starch, cooked starch, tocopherol, linoleic acid, cellulose, citric acid and pectin) were codigested with pomegranate in model systems to better understand matrix effects. Total phenolic content (TPC) and total anthocyanin content (TAC) were determined by spectrophotometric methods and major phenolics/anthocyanins were analyzed by RP-HPLC/PDA detection both before and after in vitro GI digestion at post gastric (PG), dialyzable (IN) and non-dialyzable (OUT) fractions. Phenolics of pomegranate were found to be stable during gastric conditions (115%), with 25% loss in pancreatic digestion, available (14%) in IN. Although preserved (89%) in PG, anthocyanins were lost in pancreatic digestion (38%), but still available (12%) in IN. Milk, bread, yogurt, probiotic yogurt, lactose, starch, cellulose, salt, citric acid or tocopherol codigestion with pomegranate decreased TPC for all fractions. Proteins affected losses in PG and OUT fractions. Carbohydrates such as starch, lactose, glucose and pectin appeared to affect the loss of phenolics and exerted 2-fold decreases in serum fraction (IN). For TAC, only meat, soymilk or cream codigestion with pomegranate resulted in IN losses. Proteins did not significantly affect TAC in IN, but were inhibitory in PG. However, carbohydrates and fatty acids significantly increased TAC in IN. Generally cyanidins were found to be more stable in food matrices and pancreatic conditions than other anthocyanins.

Hazelnut shell (HS), husk and pruning residues were characterized and evaluated for xylooligosaccharides (XOS) production by autohydrolysis. HS contained the highest amount of xylan and yielded more XOS compared to other hazelnut residues. The temperature and holding time of HS autohydrolysis greatly influenced the composition of the liquor and the remaining solid. The highest XOS yield (62% of the feedstock xylan) was obtained at 190°C and 5min of holding time. At this temperature, 30min of holding time was required to maximize the percentage of XOS with low degree of polymerization. Xylose, acetic acid and furfural concentrations increased with treatment severity. The concentrations of the products in the autohydrolysis liquors followed specific trends with changing severity factor (log R) values. Solubilization of xylan in the treatments enhanced the cellulose and lignin contents in the remaining solids.

Effect of all processing steps on polyphenols and antioxidant activity was investigated during an industrial scale pasteurized pomegranate nectar production, from which sampling was done at 12 steps of the process. Total phenolic (TPC), flavonoid (TFC), anthocyanin (TAC), tannin contents (TTC), antioxidant activity (TAA) (2,2'-azinobis-3-ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulphonic acid diammonium salt (ABTS), cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC), ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays), phenolic and anthocyanin profiles were analyzed in those samples. TPC, TFC, TTC and TAA were highest in whole pomegranate. For all analyses, peeling and processing into nectar resulted in significant losses, except for TAC data obtained for peeling. Losses at mashing (for TFC 24%), pressing (for TAC 13%, TTC 48%, TAA 21-63%), pasteurization (for TFC 76%, TAA 42-77%) and ultrafiltration (for TPC 18%, TFC 28%, AA 17-19%) were also significant. Pomegranate nectar, when compared with fresh edible fruit, retained 19% of TPC and 14% of TAC at the end of processing, however, as initial values were very high for pomegranate, pasteurized nectar is still a promising source of polyphenols.

SummaryAntioxidant potential and bioaccessibility of co-products from industrial pasteurised pomegranate nectar (PN) processing such as peel (PP), press cake (PC) and precipitate after clarification (PAC) in comparison with raw material (arils) and final products (CON and PN) were determined. Total phenolic (TPC), flavonoid (TFC), anthocyanin (TAC), tannin contents (TTC) and antioxidant activity (TAA) were determined besides identifying major phenolics and investigating in vitro bioaccessibility after gastrointestinal (GI) digestion. PP showed the highest values, except for TAC. Phenolics (12.7-43.0%) were found to be more stable than anthocyanins (0.6-2.1%) after in vitro GI digestion. PAC was found to be a better source for anthocyanins than CON and also showed higher phenolic bioaccessibility (28.8%) than PN (19.6%). PC and PAC possessed as much TPC, TFC, TTC and TAA levels as CON, with some exceptions. Therefore, these results indicated that not only PP but also PC and PAC should be valorised as a good source for phenolics and anthocyanins.