Egg white peptides (EWPs) can be effectively used to alleviate and treat inflammatory diseases due to their anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, and microbiota regulation capabilities. A dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis model was used to clarify the regulatory effects of EWPs on colitis. Forty-three peptide sequences were identified from EWPs using LC-MS/MS. The results demonstrated that EWPs decreased the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the extent of crypt damage in a dose-dependent manner. 16S rRNA gene sequencing results indicated that 200 mg/kg EWPs significantly increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus and Candidatus Saccharimonas, and reduced the relative abundance of pathogenic bacteria Ruminiclostridium and Akkermansia. In addition, the degree of correlation between pro-inflammatory cytokines and microbiota was as follows: interleukin (IL)-1 beta > IL-8 > IL-6 > tumor necrosis factor-alpha To summarize, EWPs contributed to the alleviation of colitis symptoms and the intestinal injury through anti-inflammatory effects, repair of intestinal mucosa, and modulation of gut microbiota.

Self-aggregation and the hemolytic effect limit the application of gamma-cyclodextrin (gamma-CD) in bioactive molecular delivery systems. In this study, gamma-CD was modified by grafting onto bovine serum albumin protein (BSA), with epichlorohydrin (ECH) acting as the cross-linking agent. The effects of BSA concentration, reaction temperature, pH and time on the grafting rate were studied, and the gamma-CD-BSA complex with a grafting rate of 99.5 +/- 0.1% +/- 0.06)% was achieved. The complex was confirmed using H-1 NMR and FT-IR spectra. Compared with gamma-CD, the hemolytic effect and self-aggregation of gamma-CD-BSA were significantly reduced, and the encapsulation efficiency of curcumin was increased by 10.8%. The results of scanning electron microscopy showed that both gamma-CD and gamma-CDBSA nanoparticles were formed and the structure of the gamma-CD-BSA complex was more uniform. The pH stability and salt stability of gamma-CD-BSA were higher than gamma-CD. The release rate of gamma-CD-BSA was 15.2 +/- 0.2% after 2 h at pH 1.2, and 57 +/- 1% after 4 h at pH 7.2. The gamma-CD-BSA nanoparticles could protect curcumin in acidic environments and release it in neutral environments. The results suggested a promising wall material for delivery of hydrophobic substances.

Consumption of berries and pulses can protect against atherosclerosis and other metabolic diseases, by modulating plasma lipid profile, gut microbiota, and microbiota-dependent metabolites. These nutritional benefits are often attributed to high content of polyphenols (flavonoids and phenolic acids) and dietary fiber. In this thesis, methods for quantification of flavonoids in berry and pulse matrices were developed. The methods were used for characterization of polyphenols in Swedish berries and pulses. The nutritional benefits of lingonberries, brown beans, and their polyphenol and fiber fractions, were then investigated in an Apoe^-/- mouse model. 

The method developed for flavonoid analysis, based on reversed phase HPLC-UV/MS, and extraction procedures were optimized for the berry and pulse matrices, and used to characterize the flavonoids in four Swedish berry species and polyphenols in eight Swedish pulse species (raw and cooked). The fiber and flavonoid fractions from lingonberries and the fiber fraction from brown beans were isolated and evaluated for their in vivo effects on atherosclerosis, compared with whole lingonberries and brown beans. Lingonberries, brown beans, and the isolated fractions were added to a high-fat diet and fed to Apoe^-/- mice for 10.5 weeks, to determine their effects on atherosclerotic plaque amount, plasma lipids, gut microbiota, cecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and plasma methylamines.

The results showed that the optimized analytical methods were capable of quantifying flavonoids in berries and pulses with high precision and recovery. Swedish berries and pulses were found to be good sources of polyphenols. Hydrothermal processing decreased the polyphenol content in pulses by 50-85%, mainly due to leaching into the processing water. In the study on mice, the whole lingonberry diet resulted in 50% lower atherosclerotic plaque amount, but not positively affect the lipid profile. The lingonberry fiber fraction diet doubled the butyric acid concentration in cecum contents and decreased growth of Akkermansia in gut microbiota. Compared with the high-fat control diet, whole bean and its fiber fraction stimulated growth of Bifidobacterium and formation of cecal SCFAs. The diets with whole bean, its fiber fraction, and the two fractions from lingonberry, but not the diet containing whole lingonberry, resulted in higher plasma trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) concentrations in the Apoe^-/- mice. 

On comparing the diets, it was concluded that the whole lingonberry, but not the lingonberry flavonoid and fiber fractions, resulted in less atherosclerotic plaques. Whole brown and the bean fiber fraction showed a tendency for less atherosclerotic plaques. The effects on plasma lipids, gut microbiota, and microbiota-dependent metabolites in the Apoe^-/- mouse model were mainly caused by flavonoids in the case of lingonberries and by fiber in the case of brown beans.

Berries are considered an ideal source of polyphenols, especially from the flavonoid group. In this study, we examined the flavonoid content in 16 varieties of Swedish lingonberry, raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry. Nineteen flavonoids were simultaneously quantified using external standards. An additional 29 flavonoids were tentatively identified using MS as no standards were available. Quantification was done using HPLC-UV after optimization of chromatographic and extraction procedures. The method showed high linearity within the range of 2–100 µg/mL (correlation co-efficient >0.999), intra- and inter-day precision of 1.7–7.3% and average recovery above 84% for all compounds. Blueberries and lingonberries were found to contain higher contents of flavonoids (1100 mg/100 g dry weight) than raspberries and strawberries (500 mg/100 g dry weight). Anthocyanins were the dominant flavonoids in all berries. The tentatively characterized compounds contribute 18%, 29%, 61%, and 67% of the total flavonoid content in strawberries, lingonberries, raspberries, and blueberries, respectively. Overall, Swedish berries were shown to be good sources of polyphenols.

Pulses are an important crop for the human diet. The aim of this work was to characterize phenolic compounds (flavonoids and phenolic acids) in common Swedish dried pulses and to investigate the retention and distribution of phenolic compounds during hydrothermal treatment processes, including soaking, draining, and boiling. An ultrasound-assisted extraction method was optimized for flavonoid extraction. The phenolic compounds in the raw and cooked pulses, and the processing (soaking and boiling) water were analyzed using HPLC-UV/MS. Optimized extraction conditions for flavonoids were: 70 % methanol, pH 2, and sonication for 60 min. A total of 33 flavonoids and 6 phenolic acids were directly or tentatively identified and quantified. The profile of phenolic compounds largely depends on the pulse type with the total content ranging between 38-1860 mu g/g dry matter in the raw material. In most pulses, hydrothermal treatment led to a decrease of 50-85 % of total phenolic content, mainly due to leaching. The distribution of major phenolic compound subgroups in the soaking water, boiling water, and cooked pulse varied. The rate of retention of individual phenolic compounds depends possibly on both their structure and the pulse matrix.

It has not been clarified whether the anti-atherosclerotic effect of lingonberry can be ascribed to its content of flavonoids or dietary fibre or both. The aim of this study was to evaluate the metabolic effects of whole lingonberries compared with isolated flavonoid and fibre fractions on atherosclerotic plaques, plasma lipid profiles, gut microbiota and microbiota-dependent metabolites in an Apoe(-/-) mouse model. Mice fed whole lingonberries showed the lowest amount of atherosclerotic plaques, while mice fed the fibre fraction had the highest formation of caecal butyric acid. Flavonoids, rather than dietary fibre, were suggested to be the components that favour proliferation of Akkermansia, as judged by the lowest abundance of this bacterium in mice fed the fibre fraction. All groups fed lingonberry diets had both, lower Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratios and creatinine concentrations, compared with the control. To conclude, different components in lingonberries are associated with different physiological effects in Apoe(-/-) mice.

The health benefits of bean consumption are widely recognized and are largely attributed to the dietary fiber content. This study investigated and compared the effects of whole brown beans and an isolated bean dietary fiber fraction on the plasma lipid profile, atherosclerotic plaque amount, gut microbiota, and microbiota-dependent metabolites (cecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and plasma methylamines) in Apoe−/− mice fed high fat diets for 10.5 weeks. The results showed that both whole bean and the isolated fiber fraction had a tendency to lower atherosclerotic plaque amount, but not plasma lipid concentration. The whole bean diet led to a significantly higher diversity of gut microbiota compared with the high fat diet. Both bean diets resulted in a lower Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, higher relative abundance of unclassified S24-7, Prevotella, Bifidobacterium, and unclassified Clostridiales, and lower abundance of Lactobacillus. Both bean diets resulted in higher formation of all cecal SCFAs (higher proportion of propionic acid and lower proportion of acetic acid) and higher plasma trimethylamine N-oxide concentrations compared with the high fat diet. Whole beans and the isolated fiber fraction exerted similar positive effects on atherosclerotic plaque amount, gut microbiota, and cecal SCFAs in Apoe−/− mice compared with the control diets.