Replacing artificial additives by natural compounds is a current trend in the food industry. In addition to their preserving effect, naturally obtained ingredients often exhibit important levels of bioactivities. Generally, plant species represent better sources of natural ingredients, since their compounds are less prone to causing unpleasant taste or odour. Chestnut male flower (CMF) was reported to have high antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Hence, it was tested as an alternative to potassium sorbate in the most treasured Portuguese delicacy: “pastel de nata”. Different nutritional, chemical, physical and bioactive parameters were compared in two different periods: baking day and two days after baking. All samples presented similar nutritional and chemical profiles, but those added with CMF revealed higher contents of reducing agents and radical scavengers. Accordingly, the newly obtained formulation is expected to have better effects on consumers’ health, maintaining the chemical characteristics, besides rendering a novel, economically profitable, application to CMF.

中文翻译：

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栗木雄花提取物作为葡萄牙糕点“ pastel de nata”的替代添加剂

用天然化合物代替人工添加剂是食品工业中的当前趋势。除了具有防腐作用外，天然获得的成分通常还具有重要的生物活性水平。通常，植物物种代表天然成分的更好来源，因为它们的化合物不易引起令人不快的味道或气味。据报道，板栗雄花（CMF）具有很高的抗氧化和抗菌活性。因此，在葡萄牙最珍贵的美味佳肴“意大利面糊”中，它被用作山梨酸钾的替代品。在两个不同的时期（烘烤日和烘烤后两天）比较了不同的营养，化学，物理和生物活性参数。所有样品的营养和化学成分相似，但是添加了CMF的那些则显示出还原剂和自由基清除剂的含量更高。因此，期望新获得的制剂除了对CMF提供新颖，经济上有利的应用之外，还可以保持消费者的化学特性，从而对消费者的健康产生更好的影响。