study on the Physiological Activities of White Bread Supplemented with Apple Peel and Blueberry Kim, Yeon ju Advisor : Prof. Chung Mi Ja Ph.D. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Graduate School of Gwangju University The present study postulated...
study on the Physiological Activities of White Bread Supplemented with Apple Peel and Blueberry Kim, Yeon ju Advisor : Prof. Chung Mi Ja Ph.D. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Graduate School of Gwangju University The present study postulated that phytochemicals derived from blueberries and apple peels possess potent antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities. To verify this hypothesis, white bread was formulated by incorporating blueberry and apple peel powders. The freeze-dried extracts of bread containing 3% blueberry powder with either 3% or 5% apple peel powder were designated as BP3APP3 and BP3APP5, respectively. The control bread, blueberry powder, and apple peel powder were labeled as CON, BP, and APP. Antioxidant potential was assessed through analyses of total polyphenol and flavonoid contents, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging capacities, ferrous ion (Fe²⁺) chelation, and reducing power. Both BP3APP3 and BP3APP5 exhibited markedly elevated polyphenol and flavonoid levels and demonstrated significantly enhanced antioxidant properties relative to the control (CON). These improvements are attributed to the intrinsic antioxidant components of BP and APP. The superior antioxidant capacity observed in BP3APP5 compared to BP3APP3 is likely due to the higher proportion of apple peel, which displayed a more pronounced antioxidant effect than blueberry. Moreover, both BP3APP3 and BP3APP5 showed immunomodulatory activity by elevating nitric oxide (NO) production in unstimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and suppressing NO generation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages. Collectively, these results indicate that white bread enriched with blueberry and apple peel powders may serve as a promising functional food exhibiting both antioxidative and immunoregulatory properties. Keywords: Antioxidant activity, apple peel, blueberry, functional bread, immunomodulation