Plant Antioxidants in Food Emulsions

Abstract

Addition of free radical scavenging antioxidants (AOs) is one of practical strategies controlling the oxidative stability in food emulsions. Attention has been directed toward AOs derived from natural plant extracts with the capacity to improve health and well-being due to lack of consumers' trust toward synthetic antioxidant in food. Nevertheless, antioxidant efficiency varies widely from one compound to another and the most abundant AOs in our diet are not necessarily those that have the best availability profile at the reaction place with free radicals. In this book chapter, we will provide a state-of-the-art summary of the uses of plant AOs in colloidal systems, ranging from their main structural features to their benefits for the human health and their antioxidant role in controlling the oxidative stress and, particularly, the oxidation of lipid-based food emulsions.

Exploring the Use of Bryophyllum as Natural Source of Bioactive Compounds with Antioxidant Activity to Prevent Lipid Oxidation of Fish Oil-In-Water Emulsions

“…In this sense, artificial antioxidants (AOs) are being gradually replaced with natural ones obtained from plant sources to satisfy the current demands of consumers for food naturalness [ 22 , 23 ], and the food industry is facing a continuous search of novel approaches to successfully add natural AOs with nutritional and health benefits to food matrices. Plants, as a result of their secondary metabolism, synthesize a plethora of metabolites with associated bioactivities, as it is the case of polyphenols [ 24 ]. Thus, plant-based polyphenols have been widely reported as antioxidants, with the ability of attenuating ROS- or RNS-induced oxidative damage.…”

“…In this work, our main objective was to obtain an efficient and sustainable biological system for the production of polyphenolic compounds [ 24 , 31 ] and to analyze the efficiency of their derived plant extracts to minimize the oxidation process associated with fish oil-in-water emulsions. To simulate different storage conditions, different factors including the effects of plant extract concentration, the oil-to-water ratio used in the preparation of the emulsion, the acidity of the aqueous phase and the effects of temperature, were evaluated.…”

Roles and action mechanisms of herbs added to the emulsion on its lipid oxidation

“…The antioxidant activity of polyphenols is resulted from scavenging reactive oxygen species including hydroxyl, peroxyl and alkyl radicals, chelating prooxidative metals, and decomposing lipid peroxides (García-Pérez et al, 2018 ; Kurek-Górecka et al, 2014 ). Hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein improved the oxidative stability of lipids in an O/W emulsion through a complex formation with prooxidative copper in addition to scavenging radicals (Paiva-Martins et al, 2006 ).…”

“…Radical scavenging activities of polyphenols depend on the chemical structure and distribution in each phase of an emulsion, the oil, interfacial, and aqueous regions (García-Pérez et al, 2018 ). Since polyphenols produce phenoxyl radicals upon hydrogen donation to scavenge various lipid radicals, the stability of the phenoxyl radicals determine the efficiency of polyphenols as antioxidants; the higher the stability of the phenoxyl radical is, the more efficient the polyphenol is.…”

Southern-style Pad Thai sauce: From traditional culinary treat to convenience food in retortable pouches

“…Generally, oxidation in emulsions can occur via a free radical route, and it can be triggered by permeation of free radicals generated at the emulsion interface [14]. The addition of free radical scavenging antioxidants is one of the practical strategies to prevent lipid oxidation in food emulsions [15]. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were authorized as synthetic antioxidants for use in food [16].…”