No abstract

This review examines the parameters of enzymatic browning in apple and apple products that is, phenolic compounds, polyphenoloxidases, and other factors (ascorbic acid and peroxidases), both qualitatively and quantitatively. Then the relationships between intensity of browning and the browning parameters are discussed, including a paragraph on the methods used for browning evaluation. Finally, the different methods for the control of browning are presented.

Diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) is widely used for quickly assessing the ability of polyphenols to transfer labile H atoms to radicals, a likely mechanism of antioxidant protection. This popular test generally pays no attention to the kinetics of H atom transfer, which however could be even more important than the total H-atom-donating capacities (stoichiometry, EC50) typically evaluated. In the present work, a series of dietary polyphenols belonging to the most representative families (flavonols from onion, flavanol monomers and oligomers from barley, and caffeic acid and caffeoyl esters from artichoke and endive) are characterized not only by their total stoichiometries (n(tot)) but also by their rate constants of first H atom abstraction by DPPH (k(1)), deduced from the kinetic analysis of the decay of the DPPH visible band following addition of the antioxidant. The mildly reactive DPPH radical allows a good discrimation between polyphenols, as demonstrated by the relatively large ranges of k(1) (ca. 400-5000 M(-)(1) s(-)(1)) and n(tot) (ca. 1-5) values typically measured with antioxidants having a single polyphenolic nucleus. With antioxidants displaying more than one polyphenolic nucleus (procyanidin oligomers, dicaffeoyl esters), the kinetic analysis makes it possible to demonstrate significant differences in reactivity between the subunits (two distinct k(1) values whose ratio lies in the range 3-10) and nonadditive stoichiometries.

Several studies have implicated the potent antioxidant properties of lycopene. However, most of the studies used only the (all-E)-isomer. (Z)-Isomers of lycopene were found in substantial amounts in processed foods and in human tissues. In the present study, we investigated in vitro the antioxidant activity of (5Z)-, (9Z)-, and (13Z)-lycopene compared to the (all-E)-isomer. Additionally, prolycopene, the (7Z,9Z,7'Z,9'Z)-isomer found in tangerine tomatoes, was analyzed. No significant differences were found between the isomers in ferric reducing antioxidant power assay and in bleaching the radical cation of 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), both based on ET mechanisms. In contrast, scavenging activity against peroxyl radicals generated by thermal degradation of 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) (AAPH) was higher in the (Z)-isomers. (5Z)-Lycopene was most antioxidant in scavenging lipid peroxyl radicals, evaluated by analyzing the inhibition of MbFe(III) lipid peroxidation of linoleic acid in mildly acidic conditions (pH 5.8) in a micellar environment, modeling a possible antioxidant action in the gastric compartment.

No abstract