Pectins are plant cell wall natural heteropolysaccharides composed mainly of α-1-4 d-galacturonic acid units, which may or may not be methyl esterified, possesses neutral sugars branching that harbor functional moieties. Physicochemical features as pH, temperature, ions concentration, and cosolute presence, affect directly the extraction yield and gelling capacity of pectins. The chemical and structural features of this polysaccharide enables its interaction with a wide range of molecules, a property that scientists profit from to form new composite matrices for target/controlled delivery of therapeutic molecules, genes or cells. Considered a prebiotic dietary fiber, pectins meetmany regulations easily, regarding health applications within the pharmaceutical industry as a raw material and as an agent for the prevention of cancer. Thus, this review lists many emergent pectin-based composite materials which will probably palliate the impact of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, aid to forestall actual epidemics, expand the ken of food additives and food products design.

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Feruloylated arabinoxylans are the major non-starch polysaccharides from the cereal cell walls. Depending on the source, arabinoxylans exhibit different molecular features, which are determinants for their functional properties. Feruloylated arabinoxylans are of considerable importance in cereal process such as bread making and brewing. This polysaccharide represents a significant portion of human dietary fiber intake offering nutritional benefits as soluble and insoluble fiber. The presence of ferulic acid in arabinoxylans confers them antioxidant properties. Feruloylated arabinoxylans posses a unique capacity to form covalent gels in the presence of free radical-generating agents. The gels formed present interesting characteristics as neutral odor and taste, stability to pH and electrolyte concentration changes and a macroporous structure, which give them potential applications as matrices for controlled release in food and non-food applications. In this manuscript are reviewed the chemical structure, sources and applications of feruloylated arabinoxylans and arabinoxylan gels.

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The grafting of fruits and vegetables influences fruit quality. The aim of the present work was to assess the effect of the rootstock and the scion on the antioxidant activity and the content in vitamin C, total phenols, lycopene and β-carotene of bell pepper. The cultivars Fascinato and Jeanette were used as scion and Terrano was used as rootstock. Four harvests in the production cycle of the vegetable were analyzed in a cultivation system under shading nets. The results indicate statistical differences in the content of these bioactive compounds between the varieties, between grafting and not grafting and between sampling dates ( p ≤ 0.05). The vitamin C content, β-carotene, and antioxidant capacity proved significantly higher in Fascinato than in Janette. On average, grafting increased β-carotene and vitamin C concentrations and improved the antioxidant capacity, but had no influence on the total phenol or lycopene contents. It is concluded that grafting to the rootstock Terrano improves the nutritional quality of the fruit produced in both varieties of bell pepper studied.