## 4 Discussion  
The innovation of the product developed herein lies in the utilization of purslane as the main ingredient in the product. The latter is considered a by-product of the agricultural practice and has minimum to zero application today in conventional foods sold in the market. Purslane is an annual plant rich in nutrients (e.g., antioxidants, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids), whose exploitation by its inclusion in the human diet could lead to environmentally friendly and sustainable food choices. E\(\lambda\)-yum is one such healthy and tasty food choice for any time of the day, provided to the consumer in the form of a bread spread containing the portulaca plant (_P. oleraca_). The first syllable of the product name comes from the word \"E\(\lambda\lambda\delta\omega\)\" (Greece) as it reflects the Greek Mediterranean diet, while the word \"yummy\" used as a synthetic in the product's name emphasizes the delicious taste and the special savor the product should offer to its consumers. E\(\lambda\)-yum spread is also suitable for a vegetarian diet as it does not include meat, poultry, and fish in its ingredients. Several studies have highlighted the functional properties of purslane in developing food products with high nutritional value, such as ice cream, cookies, yogurt, bread, and spaghetti [42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49]. TAC and TPC appeared to be higher after purslane supplementation to \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline  & **TPC (mg GAE/g dw)** & **TAC (mmol Fe2+/g dw)** \\ \hline Before digestion & 0.95 \(\pm\) 0.06 & 0.016 \(\pm\) 0.00 \\ After digestion & 0.27 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.005 \(\pm\) 0.00 \\ Predicted bioavailability \% & 28.03\% & 30.58\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: TPC and TAC values for a vegetable spread and their predicted bioavailability. TPC is expressed as mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per gram of dry weight of sample. TAC is expressed as mmol of Fe2+ per gram of dry weight of sample. Results are expressed as mean \(\pm\) standard deviation (SD). Figure 5: Reduction in TPC and TAC values after the in vitro digestion of a vegetable spread in a paste form: (**a**) TPC and its predicted bioavailability. TPC is expressed as milligrams of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per gram of dry weight of sample; (**b**) TAC and its predicted bioavailability. TAC is expressed in mmol of Fe2+ per gram of dry weight of sample. these products. Particularly, TAC in plants like purslane could be attributed to their high total phenol and flavonoid content [50]. More specifically, according to [PERSON] et al. [7], the TPC of _P. oleracea_ cultivars ranges from 127 \(\pm\) 13 to 478 \(\pm\) 45 mg of GAE/100 g fresh weight of plant, and the addition of purslane could lead to increased TPC in food commodities. Furthermore, as the predicted bioavailability is crucial for assessing polyphenol release from the food matrix, studies that determine the TPC of plant products should also evaluate their predicted bioavailability [9]. In this study, the relative bioavailability of a vegetable spread having purslane as its main ingredient was assessed using an in vitro static digestion model and was determined to be 28% and 31% for TPC and TAC, respectively (Table 4). Although high in moisture (_ca._ 63%; Table 2) and \(\mathrm{a}_{\mathrm{w}}\) (0.974), the acidic character of E\(\lambda\)-yum (pH 4.2-4.4) adds to the enhanced safety and microbiological stability of the product during storage (Table 3). Findings suggest that the shelf-life of the manufactured bread spread is 6-12 months, which is an acceptable shelf-life of the product for the food market and facilitates its distribution in distant markets. The microbiological stability of the unopened spread, due to the thermal processing treatment (pasteurization) it receives (Figure 2), renders the use of \"Best before date\" more appropriate for this type of product.