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Nutraceuticals Process Design for a Healthier Tomorrow
By: Dharmendra K Mishra, graduate student, departments of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, major professor Dr. Kirk Dolan
Nutraceuticals
Diet and nutrition are increasingly linked with disease prevention and treatment. Nutraceutical compounds are food components having health promoting, disease preventing or medicinal properties. Examples include oat bran in cheerios, lycopene in tomatoes, and lutein in berries. Anthocyanins are a class of nutraceuticals found in many fruits. Anthocyanins act not only as natural colorant, but also as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Anthocyanins show beneficial action against the vascular diseases and contribute towards the reduction of age-related deficits in neurological impairments.
Grape Pomace
The grape industry in United States is valued at $2.9 billion (2004, USDA), which makes it the highest value fruit crop in the country. In California alone there are 800,000 acres under grape production. The major grape producing states in order of production include California , Washington , New York , Michigan and Pennsylvania .
Grape pomace is the solid part of the fresh grapes, and consists of skins and the seeds. Wineries generate grape pomace as a waste product from the wine-making process. Such grape pomace may be used for composting, feed for cattle or even end up in landfills.
Although grape pomace may be considered waste by some industries, it is a rich source of antioxidants and has thus has many potential food applications. Research studies have shown that nutraceuticals may play a vital role in preventing many diseases. However, antioxidants are sensitive and unstable at high temperatures. Food processing usually involves the use of heat and other physical methods, which may destroy these beneficial compounds. Hence, it is necessary to design processes that minimize degradation of these compounds during processing.
Mathematical Modeling
Mathematical models use mathematical language to describe a physical process. Thus, it is possible to predict how changing certain conditions of the process would affect the results. If we can describe any process mathematically, we can use that knowledge to modify, tweak or optimize the process.
For grape pomace to be used in various applications, it will have to be subjected to various processing methods. Most processing techniques involve the use of heat. This may lead to degradation of anthocyanins and other Nutraceuticals. It is therefore important to study the effect of such processing on the nutritional quality of pomace. Developing mathematical models enable us to simulate such processes and predict their effect on Nutraceuticals without extensive experimentation.
Objectives of this Research
Currently, process design for nutraceuticals is still in its infancy. High temperature processes are difficult to model because they require sophisticated instrumentation and design techniques for pressurized containers. There is lack of experimental and statistical tools for studying low-moisture and high-temperature foods such as extruded snacks, pastries, breads, backed goods etc.
We as Biosystems Engineers are working to fill this void. The main objective of our research is to improve modeling methods to foresee the degradation of nutraceuticals during processing using the experimental data and the computer programming. We are using Monte Carlo statistical methods along with commercial software tools such as MATLAB and FEMLAB to simulate and predict the process. Use of these powerful tools greatly increases the efficiency and capability when designing nutraceuticals processes. We are evaluating the change in the level of anthocyanins subjected to heat treatment using HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) while the total antioxidants are quantified using ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) methods. On-going research in our lab has computed the level of error when running these types of experiments. These errors estimates were not previously available for high-temperature, low-moisture foods, and can be valuable for process designers.
Concluding remarks
We have chosen anthocyanins as an example to demonstrate mathematical techniques that can apply to many other nutraceuticals. Our research will provide future researchers with experimental and statistical tools to trace the fate of nutraceuticals during processing. Mathematical models generated from our research will prove valuable for various food industries engaged in making functional foods with reduced investment of time and money. New applications for grape pomace will add value for grape farmers. Grape pomace has a great potential to be a healthy food additive and hence this research will help design the process for a healthier tomorrow.
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