Importance of Lipid Analysis, Research and Development in Food Quality Evaluation

By

Dr. Raymond Thomas

Dr. Raymond Thomas

Associate Professor in Environmental Science

But trained:

Analytical Chemist/Plant Scientist/Biochemist/Neurochemist/Agriculturist/Food

Scientist

Environmental Science and Boreal Ecosystem Research Facility

Grenfell Campus, Memorial University

Who am I ?

What I do!

◼ Pressurized solvent & liquid-liquid extraction:

◼ Accelerated solvents, supercritical fluids, Bligh&Dyer, Folch

◼ Chromatographic

◼ SPME, liquid, thin layer, gas, ion, SPE and column)

◼ Mass spectrometry

◼ HESI-MS/MS, GC-MS/FID, DESI-MS,

◼ Study LIPIDS in

◼ Food/health science, biology, agriculture, neurobiology

I use specialized analytical techniques:

Research interests

◼ Development of novel or enhanced analytical techniques to better understand the roles of lipid metabolism in functional foods production, development, preservation and safety

Fall under 3 themes:

Lipids◼ Are fats

◼ Monomers are generally glycerol and fatty acids joined together by ester bonds

Fatty acids (FA)

◼ Building blocks of complex lipids

◼ Characteristics COOH functional group

◼ Saturated (animals) and unsaturated (plants)

(Mono vs Poly, (trans vs cis- occur natural)

◼ Odd or event numbered (C2-C26)

◼ Modified (hydroxylated, methylated, dicarboxylated, etc)

Classification Scheme

Complex lipids and their structural relationship

Function of Lipids in food

Fats and food stability

HYDROGENATION AND FOOD TEXTUTURE

HYDROGENATION AND SHELFLIFE

Phospholipids as food emulsifiers

Plant sterols as functional ingredients

Essential fatty acids must be obtained from food

Food sources of essential fatty acids

Omega Fatty Acids in Food

Good sources of omega 3

Dietary Intake of Food Lipids

Dietary Intake of Food Lipids

Why is it important to analyze lipids in food?

Indicator of food quality

Determine shelf life

Determine sensory quality (texture, taste, aroma, consumer preference)

Source of functional ingredients

Provide branding opportunity based on nutritional and health benefits

Examples of lipids as functional ingredients

◼ Omega-3 fatty acids

◼ (alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)),

◼ Omega-6 fatty acids

◼ (gamma linoleic acid (GLA), and linoleic acid (LA)),

◼ Conjugated

◼ linoleic and linolenic acid (CLA/CLN),

◼ Medium chain triglycerides

◼ Phytosterols

◼ Plasmalogens

◼ Diglycerides

◼ Vitamins

What are functional foods?

◼ Natural or processed foods/products

◼ Have bioactive ingredients with demonstrated health benefits beyond basic nutritional needs

◼ Examples of functional food components

◼ Antioxidants:

◼ Phenolics, vitamins C & E

◼ Lipids: (ω3 and ω6),conjugated

fatty acids

FUNCTIONAL FOODS CHARACTERISTICS

Why the interest in functional foods?

◼ Functional foods: Emerging field in food science (biggest industry food trend in next 10 yrs)

◼ Driven by a health conscious consumers who recognise

the benefits between healthy diets and enhanced health

◼ Global market = $176 billion at 15% annual growth

◼ $780 million industry in Newfoundland

◼ $30 billion industry in Canada ( Statistics Canada 2013) (www.agr.gc.ca)

◼ As Agriculture and Food Sector Grow in the Province

◼ Opportunities exist to produce functional foods unique to NL

◼ Supply Niche functional foods market/enhance health of locals◼ create new interest in existing products or develop new products

How can the functional food research program help:

◼ Through Applied research partnerships

◼ New Functional Foods Research Program on Grenfell Campus at Memorial University

◼ We use hypothesis driven question to help solve industry driven questions within our expertise and capabilities

◼ Secondary product development/food innovation/functional foods development/create new knowledge

Functional Foods Research benefits to industry

◼ Create new or improved products or processes

◼ Create new uses or new interests in existing products

◼ Create value added or secondary products

◼ Preserve functional components present in existing, new or enhanced products

◼ Enhance the quality and shelf life of existing, new or enhanced products.

◼ Sensory Evaluation of functional foods and other food products

◼ Health benefits/bioactivity assessment

Relevance & unique opportunity

◼ NL have unique climate

◼ Climate influence chemical composition and levels of functional components

◼ Plants, animals and microbes with unique composition

◼ Opportunities to develop functional foods/secondary products unique to NL for the functional foods market branded as unique NL products

Example of a Potential Unique NL Functional Product

Why Functional Foods

◼ Challenges:

◼ NL has the highest mortality due to:

◼ Hearth disease

◼ Stroke

◼ Cancer

◼ Diabetes

◼ Opportunities:

◼ Diet is the biggest factor that can be used to change health outcome and reduce disease risks

◼ Potential innovation, research collaboration, product development in functional foods/food products

Examples of functional foods and components

Yogurt enhanced with probiotics

Blueberries high in

antioxidants and polyphenolics

Functional Foods Research Program at Grenfell

◼ New Program

◼ Have

◼ 2 PDF

◼ 5 PhD students

◼ 5 MSc students

◼ 4 Undergraduates

◼ 3 years old

◼ Functional Foods Sensory Lab and BERI host facility for the research program and student training

Functional Foods Sensory Laboratory Integrated within the Boreal Ecosystem

Reseach Facility

Infrastructure Unique to Atlantic Canada

Enhance functional foods development and research in

the region

Capacity and Equipment of Facility

BERI Consist of a Suite of 4 Environmental

Labs

Lab 1: Pre-Process Lab◼ Primary function

◼ Preliminary sample

processing and storage

◼ Major equipment◼ Walk in cooler/freezer

◼ Drying ovens/incubators

◼ Autoclaves

◼ Centrifuges

Lab 2: Extraction and Chemical Analysis◼ Primary function

◼ High efficiency sample

extraction

◼ Major equipment◼ Accelerated solvent extractor◼ (extraction of solid and semisolid sample

matrices)

◼ Supercritical fluid extractor◼ (Extraction of solid and liquid

◼ sample matrices)

◼ Rotavapor/distillator

◼ Ultra sonic wave extractor

Lab 3: Molecular Biology Lab

◼ Primary function◼ Genetic: RNA, DNA analysis

◼ Tissue and cell culturing

◼ Food quality and microbiology

◼ Major equipment◼ Digital droplet DNA and RNA

quantifier

◼ Real time thermocyclers

◼ Bioreactors/fermentors

◼ Flow cytometer

◼ Bioinformatic system

◼ -80 ultra low freezer

◼ Media clave

Lab 4: Analytical Chemistry◼ Primary function

◼ Analyze inorganic and organic

analytes from any sample type

(solid, liquid or gas)

◼ Major equipment◼ Gas/liquid/ion chromatographs

◼ UV-VIS, CD,ECD, Florescent

◼ Mass spectrometers

◼ ESI, DESI, APPI, APCI modes

◼ Raman and FTIR microscopes

◼ NIR feed/food analyzer

◼ Spectrophotometers

◼ Flame ionization detectors

Laser ablation-inductively

coupled plasma-mass

spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS)

Enable multi-elements

trace analysis and

isotope ratios in samples

LA-ICP-MS used to

produce spatial

distribution (images) of

specific elements in

sample tissue sections

ICP-MS to be coupled

with the IC

New Functional Foods Sensory Laboratory

Built in collaboration with Industry

Food Lipid Chemical Imaging :

Confocal Raman, FTIR and laser scanning

microscopes

Imaging mass

spectrometry

DESI-MS + Orbitrap

Laser ablation

inductively

coupled plasma

mass

spectrometry

Multimode reader

Cytation cell imager

Gierlinger 2006, Becker 2007, Dill 2011,

Functional Food Sensory Laboratory and Program

◼ Capacity:

◼ Food sensory quality evaluation

◼ Functional Food formulation and development

◼ Food quality assessment

◼ Food lipid analysis

◼ Food shelf life evaluation

◼ Food Innovation

◼ Functional ingredients analysis

Research collaboration

◼ Facility is open to anyone interested in collaborative research as well as fee for service analysis to assist with food automation, development or analysis

◼ Examples of current collaborations

◼ Business/industry

◼ Mun faculty

◼ Government

◼ International

Questions

Dietary sources of functional lipids

What is lipidomics◼ Omics science concerned with the comprehensive

identification and quantification of cellular lipids and their function in biological systems