Fortification with Morus indica extract attenuates the formation of AGEs in bread

Abstract: Intake of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) may be increased by consuming high-sugar meals and foods cooked at high temperatures. AGEs-induced inflammation has been linked to diabetes and degenerative diseases. Leaves from mulberry (Morus indica L) (MI) trees have been used in Chinese medicine for over 3000 years and are a functional food because of their phytochemical content. MI extract was used to substitute 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1% of wheat ?our for making MI wheat bread (MI-B). 5% of turmeric powdered bread (TM-B) was also prepared and used as a positive control. The bread’s overall acceptability was determined using a sensory evaluation on hedonic test. Further, the antioxidant capacity was assayed by using DPPH method and antiglycation effects of MI extract against the formation of ?uorescent AGEs in fortified bread samples. The overall acceptability of bread with MI extract at substitution levels of 0.5% had a good liking score. The total polyphenol content in the MI-B and TM-B were 2.01 mg GAE g^-1 and 1.54 mg GAE g^-1 on a dry weight basis. MI-B showed significantly higher antioxidant activities, followed by TM-B > control bread. When compared to TM-B, AGEs inhibit fluorescent formation by 31%. Overall, the findings support MI extract as a functional food ingredient in the bread system, providing consumers with a higher antioxidant intake by depleting AGEs load. However, the stability and reactivity of polyphenols during thermal processing should be considered before commercialization.