Incorporation Of Micronutrients Research Articles

Microencapsulation: A Prospective to Protect Probiotics

Probiotics are viable microorganisms widely used for their claimed beneficial effects on the host health. A wide number of researchers proved that the intake of probiotic bacteria has numerous health benefits which created a big market of probiotic foods worldwide. The biggest challenge in the development of these products is to maintain the viability of bacterial cells during the storage of the product as well as throughout the gastrointestinal tract transit after consumption, so that the claimed health benefits can be delivered to the consumer. Different approaches have been proposed for increasing the resistance of these sensitive microorganisms, including the selection of resistant strains, incorporation of micronutrients, and most recently the use of microencapsulation techniques. Microencapsulation has resulted in enhancing the viability of these microorganisms which allows its wide use in the food industry. In this review, the most common techniques used for microencapsulation of probiotics will be presented, as well as the most usual microcapsule shell materials.

Nutrition promotion messages: The effect of information on consumer sensory expectations, experiences and emotions of vitamin A-biofortified sweet potato

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem in many developing countries globally. It is estimated that 250 million children under the age of five years suffer from clinical VAD. The effects of VAD include eye damage, weakened immunity and general increases in the incidence and severity of infectious diseases and mortality associated with e.g. birth-related complications, measles and diarrhoea among children. Biofortification is an essential strategy to alleviate VAD by incorporation of micronutrients into food staples through conventional breeding processes. However, vitamin A biofortification involves changes in other product attributes such as colour and taste that may be undesirable to some consumers. This study investigated how information about vitamin A biofortification influences the expected and actual sensory evaluation and the emotions evoked through actual tasting. For this, 501 randomly selected caregivers of children aged less than five years or pregnant women in western Kenya participated in a field information experiment combined with sensory testing of vitamin A-biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP). Surprisingly, the results showed that detailed information about nutritional benefits decreased consumer acceptance. Information about attribute drawbacks had discriminatory effects only in relation to expected taste and experienced texture. The findings indicated that the appropriateness of the nutritional aspect of OFSP was related to the information treatment and to household food insecurity status, but not to income or age of participants. An EmoSemio profile indicated a positive effect of nutrition information on emotions that did not correspond to the sensory assessment. These results raise important questions relating to how nutrition information should be provided to generate consumer acceptance and adoption of OFSP.

EFFECT OF MICRONUTRIENTS-ENRICHED FERTILIZERS ON BASAL STEM ROT DISEASE INCIDENCE AND SEVERITY ON OIL PALM (<i>ELAEIS GUINEENSIS</i> JACQ.) SEEDLINGS

Basal stem rot caused by Ganoderma boninense constitutes a serious threat to oil palm industry in Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia and in Papua New Guinea and Pacific Islands. It is also expanding in some oil palm growing countries in Latin America and Africa and will soon become a worldwide concern to oil palm cultivation. To date, none of the various control measures developed and tested to control the disease since many decade gives entire satisfaction. An experiment was carried out to see whether incorporation of micronutrients, Copper (Cu), Boron (B) and Manganese (Mn) could reduce the incidence and severity of this disease on oil palm seedlings inoculated with G. boninense. The concentrations tested were 2 mg B/kg of soil, 2 mg Cu/kg of soil and 2 mg Mn/kg of soil incorporated into the basic fertilizer NPKMg 14-10-10-2. Treatments were applied in solution for three months before inoculation, followed by soil application for eight months after inoculation. The results showed that although no significant difference was detected among treatments, the double combinations of these micronutrients, B+Cu, B+Mn and Cu+Mn, performed better than the single nutrients in reducing the incidence and the severity of BSR, while their triple combination rather increased these pathological parameters. These double combinations could therefore be field-tested for their further integration in oil palm fertilization programme.

Colloidal delivery systems for micronutrients and nutraceuticals

The formulation of micronutrients and nutraceuticals in the design of functional foods brings enormous technological challenges. The incorporation of micronutrients and/or nutraceuticals can compromise the product functionality. Issues often encountered are related to unwanted changes in the product physico-chemical stability, appearance, texture, flavour, taste and bioavailability due to inherited instability or interactions with other ingredients. This review intends to present the general strategies in using colloidal dispersions as delivery systems for micronutrients and nutraceuticals. Some illustrative examples will be given on how colloidal delivery systems can be utilised in the design of novel functional foods.

Characterization of iron, manganese, and copper synthetic hydroxyapatites by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.

The incorporation of micronutrients (e.g., Fe, Mn, Cu) into synthetic hydroxyapatite (SHA) is proposed for slow release of these nutrients to crops in NASA's Advanced Life Support (ALS) program for long-duration space missions. Separate Fe3+ (Fe-SHA), Mn2+ (Mn-SHA), and Cu2+ (Cu-SHA) containing SHA materials were synthesized by a precipitation method. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to determine the location of Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ ions in the SHA structure and to identify other Fe(3+)-, Mn(2+)-, and Cu(2+)-containing phases that formed during precipitation. The EPR parameters for Fe3+ (g=4.20 and 8.93) and for Mn2+ (g=2.01, A=9.4 mT, D=39.0 mT and E=10.5 mT) indicated that Fe3+ and Mn2+ possessed rhombic ion crystal fields within the SHA structure. The Cu2+ EPR parameters (g(z)=2.488, A(z)=5.2 mT) indicated that Cu2+ was coordinated to more than six oxygens. The rhombic environments of Fe3+ and Mn2+ along with the unique Cu2+ environment suggested that these metals substituted for the 7 or 9 coordinate Ca2+ in SHA. The EPR analyses also detected poorly crystalline metal oxyhydroxides or metal-phosphates associated with SHA. The Fe-, Mn-, and Cu-SHA materials are potential slow release sources of Fe, Mn, and Cu for ALS and terrestrial cropping systems.

Solid State 31Phosphorus Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of Iron‐, Manganese‐, and Copper‐Containing Synthetic Hydroxyapatites

The incorporation of micronutrients into synthetic hydroxyapatite (SHA) is proposed for slow release of these nutrients to crops in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Advanced Life Support (ALS) program for Lunar or Martian outposts. Solid state 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was utilized to examine the paramagnetic effects of Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ to determine if they were incorporated into the SHA structure. Separate Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ containing SHA materials along with a transition metal free SHA (pure-SHA) were synthesized using a precipitation method. The proximity (<1 nm) of the transition metals to the 31P nuclei of SHA were apparent when comparing the integrated 31P signal intensities of the pure-SHA (87 arbitrary units g-1) with the Fe-, Mn-, and Cu-SHA materials (37-71 arbitrary units g-1). The lower integrated 31P signal intensities of the Fe-, Mn-, and Cu-SHA materials relative to the pure-SHA suggested that Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ were incorporated in the SHA structure. Further support for Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ incorporation was demonstrated by the reduced spin-lattice relaxation constants of the Fe-, Mn-, and Cu-SHA materials (T'=0.075-0.434s) relative to pure-SHA (T1=58.4s). Inversion recovery spectra indicated that Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ were not homogeneously distributed about the 31P nuclei in the SHA structure. Extraction with diethylene-triamine-penta-acetic acid (DTPA) suggested that between 50 and 80% of the total starting metal concentrations were incorporated in the SHA structure. Iron-, Mn-, and Cu-containing SHA are potential slow release sources of Fe, Mn, and Cu in the ALS cropping system.

Solid State Phosphorus Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of Iron-, Manganese-, and Copper-Containing Synthetic Hydroxyapatites

The incorporation of micronutrients into synthetic hydroxyapatite (SHA) is proposed for slow release of these nutrients to crops in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Advanced Life Support (ALS) program for Lunar or Martian outposts. Solid state 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was utilized to examine the paramagnetic effects of Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ to determine if they were incorporated into the SHA structure. Separate Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ containing SHA materials along with a transition metal free SHA (pure-SHA) were synthesized using a precipitation method. The proximity (<1 nm) of the transition metals to the 31P nuclei of SHA were apparent when comparing the integrated 31P signal intensities of the pure-SHA (87 arbitrary units g−1) with the Fe-, Mn-, and Cu-SHA materials (37–71 arbitrary units g−1). The lower integrated 31P signal intensities of the Fe-, Mn-, and Cu-SHA materials relative to the pure-SHA suggested that Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ were incorporated in the SHA structure. Further support for Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ incorporation was demonstrated by the reduced spin-lattice relaxation constants of the Fe-, Mn-, and Cu-SHA materials relative to pure-SHA Inversion recovery spectra indicated that Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ were not homogeneously distributed about the 31P nuclei in the SHA structure. Extraction with diethylene-triamine-penta-acetic acid (DTPA) suggested that between 50 and 80% of the total starting metal concentrations were incorporated in the SHA structure. Iron-, Mn-, and Cu-containing SHA are potential slow release sources of Fe, Mn, and Cu in the ALS cropping system.