Lipids and Nutraceuticals
July 2024
Laurence Eyres
Memory of Peter Hawkins
Peter sadly passed away in early July at the age of eighty-one. He was such a well-loved character by all in the NZIFST, the general food industry and the staff at Hawkins Watts. We sent out our tribute to Peter as a separate communique to the members of the group. It is on the website. He was a long-term friend, and his loss is extreme.
July 2024 | Oils, fats and more (oilsfats.org.nz)
AOCS Montreal report from Roy Wang (PhD student)
We helped to get Roy to the AOCS to present his work on avocado oil. The Attached photo shows him and Selina Wang with the poster paper at the conference in Montreal.
“I had the privilege of attending the AOCS Annual Meeting 2024 in Montreal, which brought together leading experts in the field of oil chemistry and technology. Here are the key highlights and insights from my attendance.
During the poster presentation session, there was a notable focus on avocado oil processing, with significant differences observed between Mexican and New Zealand practices. In Mexico, manufacturers extract oil from fruits of mixed maturities at higher temperatures (60°C) to increase yield, unlike the more controlled process in New Zealand. Two significant posters were presented in the Processing Poster Session. The first poster, titled “Impact of Fruit Rot Level on Extra Virgin Cold-Pressed Avocado Oil Quality,” was authored by Youwei Wang, Charles Diako, Selina C. Wang, Bertrand Matthäus, Laurence Eyres, Allan Woolf, and Marie Wong. This study examined how varying levels of fruit rot affect the quality of cold-pressed avocado oil, highlighting the importance of fruit selection in oil quality. The second poster, “Effect of Including Avocado Skin and Seed During Malaxing on Oil Yield, Quality, and Composition of Cold-Pressed Avocado Oil,” was authored by Yutong Liang, Youwei Wang, Allan Woolf, and Marie Wong. This research explored the impact of incorporating avocado skin and seed during the malaxing process, revealing potential benefits for oil yield and composition.
Several key sessions provided valuable insights. Dr. Jan Kuhlmann’s session on “New Challenges in Analysis of 3-MCPD Esters & Glycidyl Esters” highlighted that current indirect methods may overestimate glycidyl esters (GE) due to bromide-containing standards, posing compliance challenges with EU regulations. Prof. Selina C. Wang’s presentation, “Relentless Pursuit for Edible Oil Quality, Purity, and Safety,” discussed her research on improving the quality and authenticity of olive and avocado oils. She suggested that cis-vaccenic acid could be a robust marker for avocado oil adulteration, although further validation is needed. Prof. Wang also received the Timothy L. Mounts Award for her contributions to edible applications technology. Pierluigi Delmonte’s session, “Assessment of Fatty Acid Composition as a Tool to Evaluate the Purity of Avocado Oil Sold in the US Marketplace,” proposed using cis 9-20:1 as a marker for avocado oil purity, distinguishing it from sunflower and olive oils.
Other notable sessions included Renan Felicissimo Marangoni’s presentation on “Early Shelf-Life Prediction of Soybean Oil Using Computational Modelling of Tocopherol Depletion Kinetics During Lipid Oxidation,” Zhehan Jiang’s research on “Investigating α-Tocopherol’s Role as Both Anti- and Pro-oxidants in Model Systems,” and Veronique J. Gibon’s work on “Enzymatically Catalysed Hydrolysis of Diglycerides in Shea Oils.”
Overall, the conference provided valuable insights into current challenges and innovations in the field of oil processing and quality assessment. The knowledge gained will significantly contribute to our ongoing research and development efforts.
Youwei (Roy) Wang
Sleina Wong (right) and Youwei (Roy) Wang (left) at AOCS Montreal
Kawakawa and Horopitu extracts and other NZ natural products.
Ruth and I have been making an infusion of kawakawa and horopito extracts (pseudowintera colorata) which makes up to a pleasant herbal tea and with tonic as an evening snifter. I looked back in my notes and my old boss (50 years ago) introduced me to these NZ native’s extracts.
Stan Brooker FNZIFST was the Chief Chemist at Abels and an early mentor. As well as fatty stuff, together with Professor Con Cambie they had a deep and long-term interest in Māori natural products.
They had done early work on Kawakawa and Horopitu extracts. More detailed work followed by Dr. Nigel Perry at Plant and Food Dunedin.
An early practical job was to collect Titoki berries (Alectryon excelsis) from the trees surrounding Newmarket. These were extracted in a Soxhlet with hexane and analysed by GLC/TLC. The yellow oil was not a triglyceride oil but consisted of cyanolipids. The analysis was reported and discussed at an international conference on Natural Products in Dunedin in 1976.
Deep frying-heat abused fats.
A new study found higher levels of neurodegeneration in rats that consumed reused deep-fried cooking oils and their offspring compared to rats on a normal diet. Deep frying, which involves completely submerging food in hot oil, is a common method of food preparation around the world.
Results from the study also suggest that the increased neurodegeneration is tied to the oil’s effects on the bidirectional communication network between the liver, gut, and brain. The liver–gut–brain axis plays a crucial role in regulating various physiological functions, and its dysregulation has been associated with neurological disorders.
“Deep-frying at high temperatures has been linked with several metabolic disorders, but there have been no long-term investigations on the influence of deep-fried oil consumption and its detrimental effects on health,” said Shanmugam, formerly at Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. “To our knowledge we are first to report long-term deep-fried oil supplementation increases neurodegeneration in the first-generation offspring.”
Deep frying food not only adds calories; reusing the same oil for frying, a widespread practice in both homes and restaurants, removes many of the oil’s natural antioxidants and health benefits. The oil that is reused also can contain harmful components such as acrylamide, trans fat, peroxides, and polar compounds.
Vitamin D-does it work?
The first meta-analysis conducted exclusively on studies that considered preventive vitamin D for Covid included only two meta-analyses, which focused on vitamin D supplementation post COVID-19 diagnosis, these included subgroup analyses conducted on vitamin D supplementation pre COVID-19 diagnosis.
The results of the meta-analysis seem to support the use of vitamin D, especially in populations with vitamin D deficiencies, in the prevention of COVID-19 infection and in the prevention of related complications.
Nutrients 2024, 16, 679 13 of 15
HMB-hydroxy methyl butyrate for sarcopenia and memory.
A supplement has been shown to boost memory and muscle health in old age. Researchers say the findings open a “promising avenue” for treating Alzheimer’s disease. Beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate, also called HMB, is not a prescription drug or a steroid, but an over-the-counter supplement that is available in sports and fitness stores. HMB enters the brain to increase beneficial proteins, restore neuronal connections and improve memory, researchers found.
Peng, LN., Cheng, YC., Yu, PC. et al. Oral Nutritional Supplement with β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) Improves Nutrition, Physical Performance and Ameliorates Intramuscular Adiposity in Pre-Frail Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Nutr Health Aging 25, 767–773 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-021-1621-7
Sarcopenia is recognized as a major public health concern because of its association with several adverse health events and is reported to help with this condition.
Herbal teas
The lipids in some herbal teas have been identified in detail for the first time, preparing the ground for investigating their contribution to the health benefits of the teas.
Herbal teas are enjoyed worldwide, not only for their taste and refreshment but also for a wide range of reputed health benefits. But the potential significance of a category of compounds called lipids in the teas has been unexplored. Researchers at Hokkaido University, led by Associate Professor Siddabasave Gowda and Professor Shu-Ping Hui of the Faculty of Health Sciences, have now identified 341 different molecular species from five categories of lipids in samples of four types of herbal tea. They published their results in the journal Food Chemistry.
These included a distinct category of lipids called short-chain fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (SFAHFAs), some of which had never previously been found in plants. SFAHFAs detected in tea could be a novel source of short-chain fatty acids, which are essential metabolites for supporting gut health.
The lipids discovered also included α-linolenic acid, already known for its anti-inflammatory properties, and arachidonic acid.