The flowability of food powders is a critical determinant of their processing efficiency, product quality, and overall operational success. This review delves into the intricacies of powder flowability, elucidating the factors that govern it and exploring various methods for its evaluation and enhancement. Particle size and distribution, particle shape, surface properties, moisture content, and storage conditions stand as the key determinants of powder flowability. Finer powders, with their increased interparticle cohesive forces, tend to exhibit poorer flowability. Particle shape also plays a role, with irregular or elongated particles flowing less readily than spherical ones. Surface properties influence interparticle friction, thereby impacting flow behavior. Moisture content significantly affects flowability, as increased moisture can lead to liquid bridge formation, hindering powder movement. Storage temperature, on the other hand, generally enhances powder flow due to reduced interparticle cohesive forces at higher temperatures. This highlights the need to understand the factors influencing food powder flowability and to employ appropriate evaluation strategies for optimizing food powder processing efficiency, product quality, and overall production success.

Phenolic compounds are an important group of organic molecules with high radical scavenging, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. The emerging interest in phenolic compounds in food products has led to the development of various analytical techniques for their detection and characterization. Among them, the coulometric array detector is a sensitive, selective, and precise method for the analysis of polyphenols. This review discusses the principle of this method and recent advances in its development, as well as trends in its application for the analysis of phenolic compounds in food products, such as fruits, cereals, beverages, herbs, and spices.

A pot experiment, under greenhouse conditions, was carried out aiming at investigating the agronomic biofortification of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) with Se and monitoring the Se uptake and accumulation dynamics within four consecutive harvests within the same growing season. Two ionic Se forms, i.e., sodium selenate (Se (VI)) and sodium selenite (Se (IV)), were applied once at a rate of 1, 10, and 50 mg kg⁻¹ (added on Se basis), while 10 and 50 mg L⁻¹ of a red elemental Se (red Se⁰) were used; all Se treatments were added as soil application. Application of Se (VI) at the rate of 50 mg kg⁻¹ was toxic to alfalfa plants. The effect of Se forms on Se accumulation in alfalfa tissues, regardless of the applied Se concentration, follows: Se (VI) > Se (IV) > red Se⁰. The leaf, in general, possessed higher total Se content than the stem in all the treatments. The accumulation of Se in stem and leaf tissues showed a gradual decline between the harvests, especially for plants treated with either Se (VI) or Se (IV); however, the chemically synthesized red Se⁰ showed different results. The treatment of 10 mg kg⁻¹ Se (VI) resulted in the highest total Se content in stem (202.5 and 98.0 µg g⁻¹) and leaf (643.4 and 284.5 µg g⁻¹) in the 1st and 2nd harvests, respectively. Similar tendency is reported for the Se (IV)-treated plants. Otherwise, the application of red Se⁰ resulted in a lower Se uptake; however, less fluctuation in total Se content between the four harvests was noticed compared to the ionic Se forms. The Se forms in stem and leaf of alfalfa extracted by water and subsequently by protease XIV enzyme were measured by strong anion exchange (SAX) HPLC-ICP-MS. The major Se forms in our samples were selenomethionine (SeMet) and Se (VI), while neither selenocysteine (SeCys) nor Se (IV) was detected. In water extract, however, Se (VI) was the major Se form, while SeMet was the predominant form in the enzyme extract. Yet, Se (VI) and SeMet contents declined within the harvests, except in stem of plants treated with 50 mg L⁻¹ red Se⁰. The highest stem or leaf SeMet yield %, in all harvests, corresponded to the treatment of 50 mg L⁻¹ red Se⁰. For instance, 63.6% (in stem) and 38.0% (in leaf) were calculated for SeMet yield % in the 4th harvest of plants treated with 50 mg L⁻¹ red Se⁰. Our results provide information about uptake and accumulation dynamics of different ionic Se forms in case of multiple-harvested alfalfa, which, besides being a good model plant, is an important target plant species in green biorefining.

Background and Aims: Wet processed alfalfa-based products can provide high-quality concentrated protein, also contain nutrients and phytochemicals. Agronomic fortification can increase selenium (Se) incorporation into green biomass. For this reason, the aim was to investigate how different forms of Se are incorporated into the green biomass of multiple-harvest alfalfa and how they affect the chemical quality of the processed product candidates. Methods: In this research, alfalfa was enriched with three forms of selenium at different concentrations [selenate (Se(VI)); selenite (Se(IV)); and red elemental Se (Se0)]. The fortified green biomass was fractionated into leaf protein concentrate (LPC), fiber and phytoserum, and changes in selenium content and speciation, protein and phytochemical composition were determined. Results: Total Se content in alfalfa fractions drastically reduced within the four consecutive harvests, particularly for Se(VI) and Se(IV) forms, and significantly varied according to the Se treatments. Selenomethionine (SeMet) was the predominant organic Se species in LPC (35.7–246.0 µg g −¹ DW) and fiber (9.0- 47.7 µg g −¹ DW) fractions. Se-fortification induced considerable changes in the crude protein of LPC, which varied between 29—45 (m/m)%. Phytochemical composition markedly varied among Se-treatments. Besides several flavonoids, aglycones and glycosyl derivatives, apigenin glucuronide, and apigenin were the most abundant with a concentration up to 170.85 µg g −¹ DW. Medicagenic acid concentration was below 1.86 µg g −¹ DW in LPC. Conclusions: Se-enhanced alfalfa green biomass could provide functional products, such as LPC, for human and animal consumption with enhanced nutritional value, including Se, protein, and phytochemical contents.

Kamut® wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. turanicum), an ancient, underutilized cereal, offers potential health benefits due to its phenolic compounds. This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant potential of Kamut® wheat's free and bound phenolic extracts using an HPLC system equipped with three detectors. The bound extracts, released after alkaline hydrolysis, exhibited higher total phenolic and flavonoid content compared to the free extracts (p < 0.05). The total antioxidant capacity of bound extracts was six-fold greater than in free extracts (p < 0.05). The main antioxidants in free extracts were tyrosine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and apigenin. In bound extracts, ferulic acid, its dimers and trimer were present. Kamut® wheat exhibited a source of dietary antioxidants and should be considered a potential ingredient for the development of functional foods. Also, the HPLC-triple detector system is effective for in-depth profiling of antioxidant compounds, paving the way for future research on similar grains.

This study introduced differential photocalorimetry (DPC) as a method for real-time monitoring of the photo-oxidation kinetics of vegetable oils. DPC measures the heat flow generated during the oxidation of oils upon light exposure. Experiments conducted with stripped linseed oil (SLSO), an oil depleted from its natural antioxidants, showed no induction time (τ). Conversely, spiking SLSO with increasing concentrations of trans-ferulic acid resulted in an induction time (τ) proportional to the antioxidant concentration (R² = 0.99). A comparative study among different vegetable oils revealed that rice bran oil exhibited the highest resistant to photo-oxidation, followed by corn, soybean, and sunflower oils. The results are discussed in terms of sample oxidizability and antioxidant efficiency (A.E.), and validated through high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Furthermore, the measured heat flow enabled the determination of the rates of inhibited (R_inh) and uninhibited (R_uni) periods, as well as the rate constant of propagation (k_p) and inhibition (k_inh) reactions.