Ferulic acid is a chemical substance and a phenolic acid commonly found in the plant kingdom. In plants, it is mainly cross-linked with cell wall polysaccharides and lignin to form part of the cell wall. It is mainly derived from some traditional Chinese medicinal plants, such as Angelica sinensis, Ligusticum chuanxiong, etc.
Ferulic acid has many benefits. It can help our body resist oxidation, just like putting on a protective coat for the body, making our cells less susceptible to damage. It can also be anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic, protect our cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health, and help prevent and treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
In addition to its wide application in the medical field, ferulic acid has been approved as a food additive in some countries. Japan has allowed the use of antioxidants in food, while the United States and some European countries allow the use of some herbs, coffee, and pandan beans with high ferulic acid content as antioxidants.
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Ferulic acid in food and its metabolism
Ferulic acid in food exists in three states: water-soluble, fat-soluble and bound. Water-soluble ferulic acid exists in the cytoplasm of plants. In this state, ferulic acid combines with some small molecules (monosaccharides, disaccharides, polyamines, etc.) to form an easily soluble state. The fat-soluble state refers to the combination of ferulic acid and some fat-soluble substances (sterols, etc.), such as oryzanol, which mainly exists in the waxy layer on the surface of plants. The bound state means that ferulic acid is bound to plant cell wall substances (polysaccharides, proteins and lignin) in the form of esters or ethers.
Both water-soluble and fat-soluble ferulic acid complexes are easily absorbed by the human body's small intestine, reach the kidneys, liver, lungs, spleen and the whole body through the blood, and are quickly metabolized and excreted in the urine without accumulating in the body. In fact, after free ferulic acid is absorbed by the human body, it is not in a free state, but exists in the form of glycosides, glucosinolates and methyl esters, and is finally metabolized into compounds such as phenylpropionic acid and cinnamoylglycine. Most ferulic acid in plants exists in a bound form. Humans and animals cannot directly absorb this type of ferulic acid, but must rely on microorganisms in the colon to produce esterase to free the ferulic acid.
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Ferulic acid applications in food
- Production of vanillin
Since the selling price of natural vanillin is much higher than that of synthetic vanillin, there are many studies abroad using bioconversion method to produce vanillin using ferulic acid as raw material. To sum up, there are three main ways: First, use decarboxylase produced by microorganisms to decarboxylate ferulic acid to produce vanillin. The second is to reduce ferulic acid to form dihydroferulic acid, and then synthesize vanillin. The third is to convert ferulic acid into coniferyl alcohol and then into vanillin. Research shows that some bacteria, fungi and yeast can produce corresponding enzyme systems to convert ferulic acid into vanillin. Since vanillin is highly toxic to many microorganisms, when microorganisms are directly used to produce vanillin, the microorganisms often convert vanillin into less toxic vanillic acid. Therefore, it is more effective to use a specific enzyme to produce vanillin.
- Used as antiseptic and preservative
Ferulic acid can be used as a food preservative due to its antioxidant and antibacterial activity. Japan used ferulic acid in 1975 to preserve citrus and as an antioxidant in linseed oil, soybean oil and lard. Some amino acids and dipeptides can act as synergists.
Compared with other phenolic substances, ferulic acid has two advantages. First, it has strong antioxidant activity. Heinonen et al. compared the antioxidant activities of gallic acid, propyl gallate, caffeic acid, etc. in lecithin-liposome systems and found that ferulic acid has the strongest inhibitory ability to hydroperoxide production. Another advantage of ferulic acid is that it is stable to pH, and its pH stability is significantly stronger than chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid and gallic acid. This property of it is very important for foods processed under alkaline conditions, such as protein extraction and texturization, fruit peeling, etc. It is worth mentioning that some derivatives of ferulic acid show stronger antioxidant activity than ferulic acid, which provides a new way for people to synthesize new antioxidants.
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- As a food cross-linking agent
In plant cell walls, ferulic acid can cross-link polysaccharide molecules. Currently, people also use this property to increase the viscosity of polysaccharides and prepare food glues. Most reports use pectin and pentosan to prepare gels. If ferulic acid is bound to the polysaccharide and protein, the polysaccharide and protein can be cross-linked to form a gel by adding ammonium persulfate, hydrogen peroxide and laccase or peroxidase treatment. In production, the cross-linking effect of ferulic acid can be used to improve the application value of some polysaccharides, especially low-molecular polysaccharides. Ferulic acid and its oxidation products can react with tyrosine, lysine and cysteine in proteins, thereby cross-linking the proteins. Therefore, when preparing edible protein films, ferulic acid can increase the mechanical strength of the film and reduce the permeability of the film to water vapor and oxygen. At the same time, ferulic acid can also increase the thermal stability of dairy products during the heating process by reducing the content of free sulfhydryl groups in proteins and avoiding cross-linking caused by sulfhydryl groups in proteins. Due to these characteristics, ferulic acid provides a wider range of applications in food.
- Application in sports food
Athletes will cause oxidative damage to the body during strenuous exercise, so many sports foods need to add antioxidants. Ferulic acid is a potential antioxidant and can stimulate the secretion of hormones. Therefore, ferulic acid or herbs containing ferulic acid are currently added to many sports foods abroad.
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Natural Ferulic Acid from HSF Biotech
The natural ferulic acid produced by HSF has significant advantages such as safety, high efficiency, wide application, stability and easy storage, and environmental sustainability. It can meet the needs of different fields and provide consumers with high-quality products and services.
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- Natural source, safe and without side effects: Compared with chemically synthesized ferulic acid, natural ferulic acid does not produce any toxic side effects in the human body and is harmless to the user's health, so it is extremely safe.
- High activity and significant effect: Natural ferulic acid has strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and other biological activities. It can effectively fight against free radicals, inhibit inflammatory reactions, thereby protecting cells from damage. In addition, ferulic acid can also improve human immunity and promote human health.
- Wide range of applications: Natural ferulic acid is widely used in many fields such as medicine, health products, food, cosmetics, etc. In the field of health products, ferulic acid has antioxidant, anti-aging, and sleep-promoting effects; in the field of food, ferulic acid can be used as a natural preservative to extend the shelf life of food; in the field of cosmetics, ferulic acid can improve skin quality, Makes skin shiny, delicate and elastic.
- Good stability and easy to store: Natural ferulic acid remains stable in a variety of environments and is not easily oxidized or decomposed, so it is easy to store and transport. This allows our products to maintain stable quality and effectiveness during use.
- Environmental protection and sustainability: hsf pays attention to environmental protection and sustainable development in the production process, using environmentally friendly production processes and equipment to reduce the impact on the environment. Promote green and healthy consumption concepts.
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