Near infrared hyperspectral imaging and spectral unmixing methods for evaluation of fiber distribution in enriched pasta.

Pasta is mostly composed by wheat flour and water. Nevertheless, flour can be partially replaced by fibers to provide extra nutrients in the diet. However, fiber can affect the technological quality of pasta if not properly distributed.

Identification of fiber added to semolina by near infrared (NIR) spectral techniques.

Ingredients added in food products can increase the nutritional value, but also affect their functional properties. After processing, determination of added ingredients is difficult, thus it is important to develop rapid techniques for quantification of food ingredients. In the current work, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and hyperspectral imaging (NIR-HSI) were investigated to quantify the amount of fiber added to semolina and its distribution.

Molecular mechanism driving retroperitoneal adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia in response to a high-sugar diet.

Scope: We have previously shown an increase in adipocyte size and lipid content in retroperitoneal white adipose tissue (rWAT) induced by an 8-week high-sugar diet (HSD). In this study, we assessed the effect of a HSD on the transcriptional activity of adipogenic genes in a time-course study to provide insight regarding the genetic networks involved in the rWAT response to dietary sugar.

Methods And Results: Weaned male Wistar rats were fed a standard chow diet or HSD (68% carbohydrates) for 4, 8 or 12 weeks, and rWAT was removed for histopathology and PCR array (adipogenesis) analyses.