Dietary fiber and phenolic compounds are key bioactives in gastrointestinal and metabolic health; however, their compositional features and metabolic implications have rarely been studied as an integrated system within realistic food matrices. Mango bagasse confectionery previously demonstrated prebiotic potential, and its reformulation with extruded mango peel showed hepatoprotective effects linked to gut microbiota modulation. In this study, mango bagasse and peel confectionery (MBPC) was characterized and its metabolic impact was evaluated in vivo. Wistar rats were fed standard or high-fat diets with or without MBPC supplementation, followed by fecal fatty acid analysis. MBPC exhibited a high dietary fiber content for a confectionery product (25 g total fiber per 100 g), with monomeric profiles indicative of cell wall-derived polysaccharides and pectic components. The fiber fraction showed a low Mw (14.71 ± 0.02 kDa), suggesting a matrix favorable for fiber–phenolic interactions. Phenolic profiling revealed substantial concentrations of free (9.0 mg/mL) and bound (16.7 mg/mL) phenolic compounds. Fecal fatty acid profiles were diet-dependent, with palmitic acid showing the highest relative abundance, followed by stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids, associated with dietary fiber intake. This study elucidates the structural and metabolic relevance of dietary fiber–phenolic interactions within a formulated food matrix.

Mezcal vinasse contains potentially valuable compounds but also 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF), which limits its utilization as a food ingredient. This study evaluated a sequential process comprising HMF mitigation with activated carbon and laccase under a central composite design, followed by corn starch microencapsulation through spray drying using a 15-run Box–Behnken design. The best observed HMF-treatment condition, consisting of 0.01 g activated carbon/100 mL, 873 µL laccase/100 mL, and pH 4.5, achieved a 76.69% HMF reduction while retaining 72.30% of the phenolic compounds. The quadratic HMF model showed R² = 0.921 and adjusted R² = 0.850. For microencapsulation, the best condition (140 °C inlet temperature, 50 V airflow, and 10 mL/min solution flow) produced the lowest water activity (0.1306), showed no resolvable low-temperature differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) endotherm, and exhibited comparatively smooth, low-defect morphology. Across the formulations, FTIR fingerprint-region correlations ranged from 0.9612 to 0.9996, and the first two principal components explained 91.1% of spectral variability. Median particle-domain diameter ranged from 4.331 to 5.808 µm, circularity from 0.556 to 0.599, and solidity from 0.837 to 0.864. Overall, the process reduced HMF while preserving phenolic compounds and produced a physically stabilized vinasse powder, allowing for a first step into the revalorization of mezcal vinasse.

This article examines De tripas corazón, a project merging generative art with scientific data to visualize the gut-brain axis and emotional states. The project aims to use generative art as an innovative way to represent technical and scientific data to an audience. Dynamic visual and auditory portraits were created with Touchdesigner software and a Muse headband for real-time interaction; electroencephalography and DNA sequencing of colonic microbiota data were used to construct the portraits. This article highlights the versatility of generative art presenting physiological data as an immersive aesthetic experience.