Research
Research Projects
- Extraction and Characterization of natural antioxidants and anti-inflammatory present in Canadian cereal grains and fruits for improved human health
- Bioproducts from agri-food byproducts and explore their potential as source of nutraceutical and functional food ingredients
- Phytochemicals with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities
- Phytochemicals with anti-stress activities
- Environmentally friendly extraction techniques including microwave and supercritical CO
Antioxidants, Anti-inflammatory; Prebiotics/Probiotics
Antioxidants and Anti-inflammatory in foods and delay onset of obesity. Prebiotics/Probiotic from agri-food byproducts/leftovers and explore their potential as source of nutraceutical and functional food ingredients
"Let food be your medicine" – Hippocrates
The accelerated consumer demand for a healthy diet with a preference for natural products has led to a natural bioactive-based health promoting products. Studies suggest a positive correlation between diets rich in whole grains and fruits, and reduced incidence of chronic and nurogeneration diseases.
My research discipline is Food Chemistry and Food Functionality. I employ many aspects of food chemistry principles to understand the relationships between chemical structure and function in living organisms. My laboratory is focused on extraction and characterizing the mechanisms of antioxidant activity of two major bioactives, alkylresorcinols (ARs) in cereal bran and melatonin in sour cherries, in food and biological membranes in vitro.
Alkylresorcinols (ARs) in cereal bran
Alkylresorcinols (phenolic lipids) are mainly present in cereal bran (e.g. wheat, rye and triticale) and have shown antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Alkylresorcinols in cereal bran are examined for influencing their biological properties in prevention of obesity. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory are measured to find anti-obesity of ARs. Also we are interested to find the relationship between ARs and oligosaccharides in cereal bran on prebiotic activity.
Prebiotics/Probiotic from food by-products and leftovers/waste
A probiotic is a microorganism in a food containing sufficient live microorganisms (e.g. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium ) to enhance our health by improving the balance of microflora in the gastrointestinal tract. Yogurt is the most familiar food containing beneficial microorganisms. Probiotics help keep the intestinal tract more acidic, making it difficult for organisms causing disease.
Prebiotics are mainly oligosaccharides that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or more of of bacteria (probiotics) in the colon, and thus improve host health.
Oligosaccharides (as prebiotics) from food by-products and leftovers/waste including cereals bran, berries and cherries pulp and skin will be examined in yogurt. The relationship between between oligosaccharides and ARs will be examined.
Melatonin in sour cherries (Prunus cerasus )
Stress is a contributing factor in human nurogeneration disease, and in particular depression and cardiovascular disease. Depression is very common and it is believed to be estimated 4% to 6% in Canada every year. Neurotransmitters and neuromodulators are basic units of chemical communication within the nervous system. Melatonin is a natural hormone produced in the pineal gland in the brain that is a neuromodulator. Melatonin (0.1 to 0.3 mg) is anti-stress, helps sleep and because it is an antioxidant, it can help the body destroy free radicals, which cause aging and cell death. "Sour cherries or Tart cherries” contain significant quantity of melatonin, enough to produce positive results in the body.
Environmentally friendly extraction techniques
Microwave technology and supercritical CO2 extraction are used as environmentally friendly alternative techniques to organic-solvent extraction with the advantages of faster extraction time, improved safety, efficiency, consistency of the extraction and minimal ecological footprint.
Characterization
High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with soft ionization techniques including electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) are used for detection and characterization of bioactive alkylresorcinols and melatonin present in cereal bran and fruits. Other analytical tools such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) will aid further characterizing of the above bioactives. Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) and Rancimat methods are used to measure antioxidant capacities of bioactives in cell membrane and food model systems.