Baking & Snack - August 2007 - 80

Preserving Products Naturally
Rosemary extracts offer the antioxidant properties needed to
keep processed foods, including grain-based foods, fresh while
allowing manufacturers to tap into the all-natural trend.
Vitiva, Markovci, Slovenia, offers Inolens 12, a rosemary
extract with antioxidant properties that may work in applications
for cakes, cookies, specialty breads, frozen dough, frozen pastry
and bread crumbs. The rosemary extracts are available in liquid
and powder form.
Naturex, Avignon, France, offers Nat'Stabil products that are
extracted from rosemary. These can be used to naturally preserve
such grain-based foods as cookies, cereal products, fillings for
cookies and pastas.
The topic of natural solutions to problems posed by chemical
preservatives and antioxidants came up during a panel
discussion at the AACC International Milling & Baking Division's
annual spring technical conference, held this year at Las Vegas,
NV, May 16-18.
"We need to look at 'natural' ingredients to determine what
'natural' means," said Mark Ingelin, advanced specialist, bakery,
The Kroger Co., Columbus, OH. "There are many formulators who
would like clarification."

ᮡ Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) can be used to determine
antioxidant capacity per serving in
items such as berries.
USDA Agricultural Research Service

enabling processors greater freedom
during the formulation process."
Another new ingredient comes from
a South American tropical fern. Gourmetceuticals, LLC, Big Horn, WY, offers PPL-240, an extract derived from
Polypodium leucotomos, said Garrett
Lindemann, Ph.D., founder and c.e.o.
The ingredient is clinically proven to
protect cells against the damaging effects of free radicals. Gourmetceuticals
and potential partners are discussing
possible incorporation of PPL-240 into
various foods, including grain-based
foods, according to Dr. Lindemann.
"PPL-240 is a heat-stable compound
and can, therefore, be included in foods
that are exposed to heat," he said. He

84 / BAKING & SNACK / August 2007

added that PPL240 has been
shown to retain
activity and stability when tested up to 200°F
for 20 minutes.
"Gourmetceuticals is currently working
with a major
national food laboratory to evaluate
the ingredient at higher temperatures
and various manufacturing processes," Dr. Lindemann said.
The suggested single serving for PPL240 is 48 mg per kg (2.2 lb) with a suggested daily serving of 240 mg per kg.
"The bioavailability will change with
different foods and food processing
techniques and will have to be tested
for each individual product in which it
is included," Dr. Lindemann said.

RANKING ANTIOXIDANTS
Other tests seek to find the antioxidant capabilities of domestic ingredients. Research led by Ronald Prior, a
chemist who works at the Arkansas
Children's Nutrition Center in Little Rock, AR, measured the plasma
(blood) antioxidant capacity (AOC)
of volunteers who had ingested blueberries, cherries, dried plums, dried
plum juice, grapes, kiwifruit or strawberries. Eating grapes and kiwifruit

both led to noticeable spikes in plasma AOC. A half-cup serving of wild
blueberries also boosted AOC levels.
According to research published
in the July 2006 issue of the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, blackberries, walnuts, strawberries, artichokes
and cranberries are the Top 5 foods
and beverages consumed in the US
that have the highest total concentration of antioxidants per serving.
Study results published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
in 2004 ranked wild blueberries highest in antioxidant capacity per serving
compared with 20 other fruits. The researchers measured the Oxygen Radical
Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of each.
However, ORAC values show cranberries have the highest antioxidant
content per g among common fruits,
according to Ocean Spray ITG, Lakeview-Middleboro, MA. Cranberries'
ORAC value of 94.56 ranks ahead of
wild blueberries (92.60), plums (62.39)
and cultivated blueberries (62.20). Research has found cranberry flavonoids
or anthocyanin metabolites in urine after consumption of cranberry products,
an indication of their bioavailability.
Cranberries have been associated
with helping prevent urinary tract infections and promoting dental, stomach, cardiovascular and respiratory
health, according to Ocean Spray ITG.
Sweetened, dried cranberries may be

Baking & Snack - August 2007

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