Extruded corn snacks are accepted by all human ages especially children, but they have low functional value. Therefore, corn extruded snacks contain rich nutraceuticals dried herbs including Laurus nobilis (T1), Curcuma longa (T2), Zingiber officinale Roscoe (T3), and the mixture of these herbs (T4) were manufactured and analyzed. The results declared that all the herbal extruded corn snacks had significantly higher ash, fibers, minerals, and vitamins A and B6. For minerals, the highest percent of increase compared to control was achieved by Fe, K, Ca, Zn content in order, being the highest in T4. The contents of Vitamin A and B6 were ranged from 283 to 445 IU/100 g and from 0.01 to 0.08 mg/100 g for the herbal extrudates, respectively. The increased percent in herbal corn snacks relative to control ranged from 743 to 452%, 188 to 17.6%, and from 313 to 99% for total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity. Besides, the highest number of phenolic compounds was recorded in T4. Despite the fact that approximately all herbal extruded products had good texture and color characteristics, the best formulation was T2 and T4 corn snacks. Furthermore, the extruded products were microbiologically safe for up to 9 months. The formulation of herbal-corn snacks could fulfill consumers’ requirement for ready-to-eat-healthy foods with acceptable sensory attributes and also economically suitable for the food industry. Graphical abstract
Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a nanofibrillar polymer that possesses unique characteristics such as high chemical purity, mechanical strength, flexibility, and absorbency. In addition, different bacterial strains can form nanocellulose (NC) in multiple shapes and sizes. This study describes the first report of a marine Bacillus strain that is able to synthesize NC. The strain identified as B. velezensis SMR based on 16S rDNA sequencing, produced highly structured NC, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis (SEM). In Hestrin-Schramm (HS) medium, B. velezensis SMR produced twice the quantity of BNC in comparison to the reference strain, G. xylinus ATCC 10245. The ability of B. velezensis SMR to produce NC using different industrial waste materials as growth media was tested. Growth in Ulva seaweed extract supported a 2.5-fold increase of NC production by B. velezensis SMR and a threefold increase in nc production by G. xylinus ATCC 10245. As proof of principle for the usability of nc from B. velezensis SMR, we successfully fabricated a BNCbased polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel (BNC-PVA) system, a promising material used in different fields of application such as medicine, food, and agriculture. Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), an extracellular produced structure, is considered a highly desirable biomaterial due to its superior qualities in comparison to other cellulose-containing structures. Compared to plant cellulose, nanofibril network of biocellulose possesses high water retaining capacity, degree of polymerization, chemical purity, high crystallinity, in vivo biocompatibility to be used as a scaffold in tissue engineering, and excellent mechanical properties 1,2. BNC production has been reported in both Gram-negative bacteria such as G. xylinus, Agrobacterium, Achromobacter, Aerobacter, Azotobacter, Pseudomonas, and Rhizobium, and Gram-positive bacteria such as Sarcina 3. Among the different BNC-producing bacteria, G. xylinus is the most commonly studied species 4. Synthesis of BNC is a complex process involving polymerization of glucose monomers and secretion of the complex cellulose structures to the external environment to create a three-dimensional microfibril and nanofibril network. During the fermentation process, bacteria either move freely in the media or attach to cellulose fibers, producing a highly swollen gel structure 5. Purification of NC from the culture medium involves the removal of bacterial cells and collection of the cellulose matrix from the cultural medium. This is a crucial step to ensure the quality of BNC and can be performed either by repeated washing using a hot sodium hydroxide solution, followed by water until reaching a neutral pH or by other methods, such as gamma radiation 6. While BNC-production by several bacterial species have been reported, it has never been shown that members of the genus Bacillus were able to produce NC. B. velezensis is a Gram-positive bacterium that has been extensively studied for its ability to induce plant growth-...
Background: Researchers have focused on isolating and identifying the bacteriocin producing lactic acid bacteria from various food systems especially dairy products. Molecular techniques have been recently used for rabid identification of bacteriocins rather than time-consuming biochemical characters. Global climate disturbances can affect the diversity of beneficial microorganisms in dairy and their products, especially lactic acid bacteria, so it is worth to evaluate their bacteriocinogenicity in different climates. Thus, the aim of this study was to screen for predominant bacteriocin producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in traditional dairy products of Luxor governorate at Upper Egypt and determine their bacteriocin-encoding genes. Results: Eighty-six strains of the LAB were isolated from raw milk and traditional dairy product of Luxor province, Egypt, in which 76.1% and 23.9% were identified as lactic acid bacilli and cocci, respectively. On the basis of their antibacterial potentials, 30 out of 68 LAB isolates were found to be antimicrobial producers. These isolates exhibited a potential antibacterial activity against Salmonella paratyphi B, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Proteus mirabilis, except for Listeria monocytogenes. LAB isolates were analyzed using species-specific PCR; results emphasized that 22 of isolates were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum, while 8 were Leuconostoc mesenteroides. According to the sequencing of isolates, two strains named Lactobacillus plantarum Egypt 2018 (accession no. MH817034) and Leuconostoc mesenteroides Egypt 2018 (accession no. MH817035) were identified. Detection of bacteriocin-encoding genes was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results emphasized that almost all tested Lb. plantarum strains (n = 10) possess both plnA and plnEF genes, whereas the gene encoding mesentericin Y105 was detected in one Lc. mesenteroides of the examined isolates. Conclusions: This study was effective for the rapid detection of bacteriocin producing strains within dairy products. Extracted bacteriocin could be a valuable source of natural food biopreservative.
Background Bacteriocins are proteinaceous compounds produced from lactic acid bacteria. Bacteriocins are well-known for their antibacterial potential and safety for application in food. However, the commercial availability of bacteriocin is facing several limitations; among them is the low yield and short stability period. That calls for a new strategy for overcoming these hurdles. Among these approaches is incorporating bacteriocin in nanoparticles. So, the aim of this study was to enhance the plantaricin produced from isolated Lactobacillus plantarum strain using nanotechnology. Results In this study, the plnEF genes encoding plantaricin EF have been identified and sequenced (accession number of MN172264.1). The extracted bacteriocin (EX-PL) was obtained by the ammonium sulfate method. Then, it was used for biosynthesizing plantaricin-incorporated silver nanoparticles (PL-SNPs). The synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed by SEM-EDAX analysis. The antibacterial activity of both combined (PL-SNPs) and extracted plantaricin (EX-PL) were tested against some strains of foodborne pathogenic bacteria. The results revealed that the antibacterial activities were increased by 99.2% on the combination of bacteriocin with the silver nanoparticle. The MIC of EX-PL (7.6 mg/mL) has been lowered after incorporating into silver nanoparticles and reached 0.004 mg/mL for PL-SNPs. Despite that extracted plantaricin showed no inhibitory activity towards Listeria monocytogenes, plantaricin-incorporated silver nanoparticles displayed inhibitory activity against this strain. Furthermore, the stability period at 4 °C was increased from 5 days to 60 days for EX-PL and PL-SNPs, respectively. Conclusions Plantaricin-incorporated silver nanoparticles possess higher antibacterial activity and more stability than the free one, which makes it more fitting for combating foodborne pathogens and open more fields for applications in both food and pharmaceutical industries. Graphical abstract
F RANKINCENSE (Boswellia carterii) has many medicinal benefits. In Egypt, a few people like to use it in chewing and sometimes in incense. This study aimed to use the water extract of frankincense powder prepared by soaking in drinkable water for 24 hr (T1) and boiling in water for one hour (T2) for the fortification of guava nectar in concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 2% (volume/ volume (v/v)). The chemical composition, phenols, and flavonoids contents of the frankincense were determined. Anti-oxidant (DPPH method) and antimicrobials (pathogenic bacteria) and cytotoxicity (HepG-2 and MCF-7 human cancer cell lines) activities were measured. Sensory evaluation and the physical properties of the guava nectar mixed with water extracts of frankincense were evaluated. The phenols and total flavonoid contents of the T2 sample were 0.869 and 0.147 mg/g, respectively. However, it was 0.748 and 0.070 mg/g, respectively for T1. The results showed that frankincense powder has 93.74% antioxidant activity with 67.26 mg/ml IC 50 . The results also showed that the T2 sample has antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi and Bacillus cereus. The results also showed that the frankincense powder has cytotoxic activity and this activity is strong on HepG-2 human cancer cell lines compared to the positive control (doxorubicin), however, it is less activity on the human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7). The IC 50 values of the frankincense powder were 7.8 and 33.9 µM, respectively, while doxorubicin values were 10.3 and 28.5 µM, respectively. The results of the sensory evaluation showed that water extracts of the frankincense can be added to guava nectar at concentrations up to1%. It can be concluded that it is possible to mix aqueous extracts of the frankincense with guava nectar to obtain a product with a pleasant taste, color, and aroma and having also the advantages of frankincense.
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