Browsing by Author "Nunes, Ricardo Jorge dos Santos"
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- Micromedronho: design of microencapsulated arbutus unedo leaves and fruits by spray drying for supplements and functional foodsPublication . Nunes, Ricardo Jorge dos Santos; Carvalho, Isabel Saraiva deArbutus unedo is a common tree in the Mediterranean area. Its fruits are consumed fresh or transformed, leaves are rich in antioxidants and not much is known about flowers. In this work we conduct a bibliographic survey utilizing text mining coupled with bibliography management software to expedite the process. We then study the best conditions to extract antioxidants from leaves, fruits and flowers of A. unedo and we compare their antioxidant activity with other plants from Algarve. In this step we found A. unedo to be the best plant. We then investigate the antiproliferative and antimicrobial activities of A. unedo and other plants from Algarve and also explore their phenolic profile and zinc contents, where we find A. unedo has antibacterial activity and retards sw480 cell line growth. Next we determine the vitamin E contents and fatty acid profile of the A. unedo extracts and explore their potential use in the treatment of chronic diseases, namely diabetes, Alzheimer and Parkinson, using enzymatic assays. At this step we find that leaves and fruits are rich in vitamin E, mostly α-tocopherol, and have a ω3:ω6 ratio above 1. Additionally, leaf and flower extracts have the best potential to be used in diabetes control, mostly via α-glucosidase inhibition. We also find the extracts show strong potential to be used in Alzheimer’s control but not in Parkinson’s and that they inhibit acetylcholinesterase and butyrilcholinesterase differently and via difference mechanisms. Finally we expose the development and stability to storage of three new products using A. unedo leaves and fruits as basis. These include a beverage with antioxidant and anti-Alzheimer activity, macrocapsules rich in antioxidants and microcapsules obtained using a spray dryer, which even after in-vitro digestion present the potential to be used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.