Blue Honeysuckle Fruit Research Articles

Optimising microwave vacuum puffing for blue honeysuckle snacks

AbstractFresh blue honeysuckle fruit slices were puffed in a microwave vacuum dryer up to a final moisture content about 5% (w.b.). The effect of initial moisture content (IMC) (25–45%), vacuum pressure (VP) (70–90 kPa) and microwave intensity (MI) (10–30 W g−1) on quality attributes, in terms of expansion ratio (ER), hardness (HD), crispness (CR) and colour of the products, were analysed by response surface methodology. Besides the effect of MI on chroma (CH), the high IMC and low VP had a significantly positive impact on the quality attributes of blue honeysuckle snacks. The optimum product qualities, which were ER (1.62 times), HD (5836.31 g), CR (4.48), and CH (28.7) were obtained at an IMC of 38.42%, VP of 82.02 kPa, and MI of 22.42 W g−1. The microwave vacuum method has obvious advantages when puffing the blue honeysuckle snacks.

Protective effects of phenolic fraction of blue honeysuckle fruits against UVA-induced damage to human keratinocytes

In this study, the UVA (photo)protective activity of the phenolic fraction of L. caerulea fruits (PFLC) was assessed in human keratinocytes HaCaT. The keratinocytes were pre- or post-treated with PFLC (1-250 mg/l) and exposed to UVA irradiation (10-30 J/cm(2)). The results showed that both pre- and post-treatment with PFLC significantly suppressed UVA-induced ROS production, which was also revealed as a decrease in intracellular lipid peroxidation and elevation of reduced glutathione. Protection was concentration-dependent with a maximum at 50 mg/l. These results suggest that PFLC attenuates UVA-induced oxidative stress by reduction of ROS generation and ROS-mediated damage. For this reason, PFLC has potentially skin-protective functions against the deleterious effects of sunlight.