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Extracted polysaccharides from green seaweeds are heterogeneous in structural and molecular properties. Basically, sulfated polysaccharides from green seaweeds contain various amounts of rhamnose (16.5-45.0%), xylose (2.1-12.0%), glucose (0.5-6.4%) and sulfate (16.0-23.2%), and their building blocks are chiefly comprised of β-D-GlcpA-(1 → 4)α-L-Rhap3s. Molecular weight of sulfated polysaccharides varies from 93.4 × 103 to 1690 × 103 g/mol. The biological effects of seaweed sulfated polysaccharides are immunomodulation, cancer cell growth suppression, antioxidation, antihyperlipidemic, antiviral and anticoagulation. As the chemical structure and molecular properties of sulfated polysaccharides differ from one seaweed species to another, the biological properties varies subsequently. Overall, given the fact that highly variable marine environment can significantly incorporate into the existing discrepancies of sulfated polysaccharide structures due to seaweed phylogenetic differences, executing more comprehensive studies on various species is necessary to have a better understanding of their function and future applications

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Polysaccharides possess diverse biological properties, mostly owed to their structural complexity and molecular heterogeneity, that could be improved through engineering methods and application of structural modifications. The objective of the present study was the assessment of antioxidant properties of hydrolyzed fucoidan from seaweed Nizamuddinia zanardinii and the correlation of molecular weight with biological function. After the removal of pigments and low molecular weight compounds, crude extracted polysaccharide was hydrolyzed at 100 C for 10, 20, 40 and 60 minutes using 0.01N HCl. The average molecular weight of crude fucoidan 1254.4 × 10³ g/mol and for hydrolysates FH10, FH20, FH40 and FH60 was 974.5, 891.8, 806.5 and 705.5 × 10³ g/mol, respectively. With the decrease of molecular weight, hydrolysates, compared with the crude fucoidan, exerted considerable DPPH (61.27-84.54%) and ABTS (40.1-88.5%) radical scavenging and Fe³⁺ reducing power (0.49-0.81 Abs) activities. Among different samples, hydrolysate FH20 showed the greatest capacity for DPPH radical scavenging activity (70.45-84.54%) and Fe³⁺ reducing power (0.49-0.81 Abs). Overall, the results of the current study showed that hydrolysis and reduction of molecular weight significantly improved the antioxidant activities of the fucoidan while time did not result any significant differences in antioxidant properties of hydrolysates which could be due to alterations in functional groups. Hence, fucoidan isolated from the examined species could be utilized as antioxidant agents in forms of native or hydrolysates.
 

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Drying is one of the most common and effective techniques for maintaining the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of medicinal plants in the postharvest stage. Thus, in the current study, the effect of different drying methods including shade drying (SD), hot air (HAD; 40 and 60 ºC) and freeze drying (FD) on the extraction yield, chemical compositions, total phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of essential oil from aerial parts of Ferulago angulata was investigated. The results revealed that the drying method has a significant effect on the studied properties. The lowest (0.89%v/w) and the highest essential oil extraction yield (2.5%v/w) were obtained for SD and FD aerial parts of F. angulata, respectively. The identified chemical compounds using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry represented 74.74-96.97% of the essential oil. Cyclofenchene (15.02-21.65%), Trans-ß-Ocimene (14.90-20.10%), O-Cymene (4.48-8.88%), Bornyl acetate (4.57-7.94%), ß-Myrcene (2.84-3.75%), ɣ-Terpinene (2.77-4.61%), Trans-Verbenol (2.15-3.29%), Limonene (2.15-2.92%),  β-Pinene (1.55-2.58%) and Germacra-D (1.38-3.46%) were the main chemical constituents of the SD, HAD and FD aerial parts of F. angulata essential oil. FD preserves the maximum chemical constituents and increasing temperature in HAD reduces the amount of chemical constituents of the essential oil. Total phenolic content of essential oil from FD (188 ± 0.23 mg GAE/g), HAD 40°C (185± 0.31 mg GAE/g), HAD 60ºC (169.56 ±0.26 mg GAE/g) and SD (167.03± 0.19 mg GAE/g) were almost more than twice the total flavonoid content. The highest scavenging activity of DPPH· and ABTS^· based on IC₅₀ were obtained for FD sample and were equal to 5.614±0.25 and 3.368±0.62 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, the FRAP of essential oil from FD aerial parts of F. angulata was obtained in the range of 5.923-11.074 mM FeSO₄.7H₂0. Finally, it can be concluded that FD could be a suitable method for drying aerial parts of F. angulata.

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Due to the importance of diet in consumer health, the use of functional foods has become widespread. Foods containing probiotics are a good example of these foods, which have both high nutritional value and prevent disease. In addition, the use of bioactive compounds in food formulations is also technologically important. Natural protection with the use of biological preservatives, in addition to improving food safety and increasing its shelf life, as a technological effect, also has a positive effect on promoting consumer health. The mechanisms by which probiotic bacteria develop health-promoting properties can be complex and multifaceted. These beneficial microorganisms produce a potential and almost unlimited source of bioactive substances that can directly or indirectly affect human health. In this regard, active and live cultures of probiotic bacteria can be used to produce postbiotic bioactive compounds, such as exopolysaccharides, enzymes, organic acids, bioactive and antimicrobial peptides such as bacteriocins and unsaturated fatty acids such as conjugated linoleic acid. In recent years, new concepts related to probiotics, such as postbiotics, have been used to describe inanimate microorganisms or extracts free of bacteria that may provide benefits to the host by providing additional bioactivity to probiotics. Therefore, the present review article investigates various aspects of postbiotics and their bioactivity with the aim of expressing the valuable and practical potential of these compounds for the food industry.

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In this study, the effect of temperature and storage time on biological activity and physicochemical stability of nanovesicles (liposomes and niosomes) containing bee pollen hydrolyzed protein obtained from alcalase and pepsin enzymatic hydrolysis was evaluated. 0.2% chitosan was used to coat nanoliposomes. DPPH radical scavenging power, ferric ion reducing power, ACE scavenging power, particle size, particle dispersion index, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency and release rate of hydrolyzed proteins from nanovesicles during 28 days storage at refrigerator and ambient temperature were investigated. Results of DLS showed that the size of nanovesicles increased significantly by loading with hydrolyzed protein and coated with chitosan (P<0.05). Chitosan coated nanoliposomes had the highest amount of PDI. The zeta potential of nanovesicles reached the highest value by coating with chitosan. Chitosan coated nanoliposomes had the highest encapsulation efficiency. After 28 days, the size of coated and uncoated nanovesicles increased 2-26 times.The encapsulation efficiency of nanonisomes and uncoated nanoliposomes showed the lowest and highest decrease, respectively. The values of the measured factors during storage at the refrigerator were significantly lower than ambient temperature (P<0.05). The decline in the antioxidant activities of nanovesicles was significantly prevented by loading hydrolyzed proteins and coating the nanovesicles with chitosan. The ACE inhibition was lower in the nanoliposomes as compared with the nanoniosomes. After 28 days, the ACE inhibition activity of the loaded in nanoliposomes without coating chitosan decreased slightly. These findings are of great importance for designing and developing nutritious foods containing hydrolyzed protein.