Wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) is a medicinal herb with anti-aging and neuroprotective effects. The purpose of this study was to explore the enhanced neuroprotective effects of red wolfberry water extract (RW), and brown wolfberry water extract (BBW). The reduced percentage of reducing sugar in BBW was shown to be 62.8%, 64.3%, 39.8%, and 11.6% for glucose, fructose, maltose, and lactose compared to those of RW, as well as free amino acids. And the contents of total phenols and total flavonoids were increased by 62.0% and 51.0%. Melanoidins (1.00%) were first isolated from BBW. RW and BBW increased anti-stress abilities (oxidative stress: 24.2% vs. 35.7%, and heat stress: 17.78% vs. 57.57%) while decreasing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in vivo. RW and BBW reduced the rate of paralysis and odor cognitive deficits. At the same time, RW and BBW reduced the number of fluorescent spots of Aβ::GFP. The RW and BBW activated autophagy by upregulating the gene levels (bec-1, lgg-1, lgg-2, unc-51, vps-34, atg-5, atg-18, and sqst-1). Additionally, BBW promoted the nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio of DAF-16::GFP and fluorescence intensity of SOD-3::GFP by 39.4 and 1.16 fold. This study laid a new insight for exploring the Maillard reaction in improving the anti-Alzheimer's disease (AD) activity of wolfberry.

In this study, the effect of transglutaminase (TGase)-Ca²⁺ crosslinking on the texture, water-holding capacity (WHC), rheological properties, and vitamin D₃ (VD₃)-loading capacity of soy protein isolate (SPI) emulsion gels was investigated. The results showed that with increasing SPI concentration (4%-12%), Ca²⁺ concentration (0-30 mmol/L) and TGase dosage (0-90 U), the hardness, elasticity, WHC and rheological properties of SPI emulsion gels first increased and then decreased or leveled off. Upon the addition of 10% SPI, 10 mmol/L Ca²⁺ and 30 U of TGase, the best gel characteristics were obtained. The emulsion gel prepared by TGase-Ca²⁺ crosslinking showed a denser microstructure and more uniform oil droplet distribution as observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The results of in vitro simulated digestion showed that compared with free VD₃, its mixture with medium chain triglycerides (MCT), and SPI emulsionencapsulated VD₃, SPI emulsion gel-encapsulated VD₃ showed reduced release rate of free fatty acids (FFAs) and increased bioaccessibility of VD₃. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for the preparation of protein supplements and the application of hydrophobicity-enhancing substances in functional foods.