Functional foods

Sprouts of black beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.), soybeans ( Glycine max L.) and mung beans ( Vigna radiata L.) are widely consumed foods containing abundant nutrients with biological activities. They are commonly treated with sulphites for the preservation and extension of shelf-life. However, our previous investigation found that immersing the bean sprouts in sulphite might convert the active components into sulphur-containing derivatives, which can affect both the quality and safety of the sprouts. This study explores the use of FTIR in conjunction with chemometric techniques to differentiate between non-immersed (NI) and sodium sulphite immersed (SI) black bean, soybean and mung bean sprouts...

A significant portion of the human diet is comprised of fruits, which are consumed globally either raw or after being processed. A huge amount of waste and by-products such as skins, seeds, cores, rags, rinds, pomace, etc. are being generated in our homes and agro-processing industries every day. According to previous statistics, nearly half of the fruits are lost or discarded during the entire processing chain. The concern arises when those wastes and by-products damage the environment and simultaneously cause economic losses...

Trehalose is a functional sugar that has numerous applications in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products. Production of trehalose from maltose via a single-step enzymatic catalysis using trehalose synthase (TreS) is a promising method compared with the conventional two-step process due to its simplicity with lower formation of byproducts. In this study, a cold-active trehalose synthase (PaTreS) from Pseudarthrobacter sp. TBRC 2005 was heterologously expressed and characterized. PaTreS showed the maximum activity at 20 °C and maintained 87% and 59% of its activity at 10 °C and 4 °C, respectively...

Spirulina platensis biopigments have been documented as a potential source of nutritional, physiological, and pharmacological purposes due to the presence of bioactive pigments, total phenolic content (TPC) and the consequent antioxidant activity that these compounds present. Bioextracts market has increased in the last decades and is a key option for replacing fossil-derived products and promote the transition for a bio-based economy. To take advantage of these compounds more effectively, optimized extraction processes must be researched and used in biomass sources...

Global food production faces challenges concerning access to nutritious and sustainably produced food. Pleurotus djamor, however, is an edible mushroom that can be cultivated on agricultural waste. Considering that nutritional and functional potential of mushrooms can change based on cultivation conditions, we examined the influence of substrates with different compositions of banana leaf and sugarcane bagasse on the nutritional, mycochemical, and antioxidant properties of P. djamor. The mushrooms were grown for 120 days and dried in a circulating air oven at 45 °C for three days...

Terpenoids are pervasive in nature and display an immense structural diversity. As the largest category of plant secondary metabolites, terpenoids have important socioeconomic value in the fields of pharmaceuticals, spices, and food manufacturing. The biosynthesis of terpenoid skeletons has made great progress, but the subsequent modifications of the terpenoid framework are poorly understood, especially for the functionalization of inert carbon skeleton usually catalyzed by hydroxylases. Hydroxylase is a class of enzymes that plays an important role in the modification of terpenoid backbone...

Tolcapone is an orally active catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor used as adjuvant therapy in Parkinson's disease. However, it has a highly hepatotoxic profile, as recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As a possible solution, nanoscience brought us several tools in the development of new functional nanomaterials with tunable physicochemical properties, which can be part of a solution to solve several drawbacks, including drug's short half-life and toxicity. This work aims to use PEGylated poly(lactic- co -glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles as a stable carrier with lower hydrodynamic size and polydispersity to encapsulate tolcapone in order to overcome its therapeutic drawbacks...

BACKGROUD: We previously demonstrated that Shaziling and Yorkshire pigs differ in growth rate and meat quality. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for such phenotypic differences remains unclear. Here, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of 36 longissimus dorsi (LM) and 36 soleus (SM) muscle samples from Shaziling and Yorkshire pigs at six postnatal stages (30, 60, 90, 150, 210, and 300 days) to explore the differences in postnatal skeletal muscle of Shaziling and Yorkshire pigs...

The feces of healthy middle-aged and old people were first transplanted into d-galactose-induced aging mice to construct humanized aging mice with gut microbiota (FMTC) to confirm the antiaging effect of probiotics produced from centenarians. The mouse model was then treated with centenarian-derived Bifidobacterium bifidum (FMTL), Lactobacillus casei (FMTB), and their mixtures (FMTM), and young mice were used as the control. Compared with the FMTC group, the results demonstrated that the probiotics and their combinations alleviated neuronal damage, increased antioxidant capacity, decreased inflammation, and enhanced cognitive and memory functions in aging mice...

BACKGROUND: In past years, thousands of protein-polysaccharide complexes have been studied to modify protein characteristics and functionality in food systems. However, the interaction between pea protein isolate (PPI) and soluble soybean polysaccharide (SSPS) has not been thoroughly characterized yet. RESULTS: In the present work, the phase behavior of PPI and SSPS mixtures was analyzed as a function of PPI:SSPS mixing ratio (1:1 to 1:0.10) and pH (7.0 to 2.0), showing that these biopolymers could be electrostatically assembled at 1:1 to 1:0...

During last few decades, oligochitosan (OCS)-coated nanoparticles have received great interest for nanomedicine, food and environment applications. However, their current formulation techniques are time-consuming with multi-synthesis/purification steps and sometimes require the use of organic solvents, crosslinkers and surfactants. Herein, we report a facile and rapid one-pot synthesis of OCS-based nanoparticles using photo-initiated reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization-induced self-assembly (Photo-RAFT PISA) under UV-irradiation at room temperature...

Crop health directly affects yields and food security. At present, agrochemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides are mainly used in agricultural production to promote crop health. However, long-term excessive utilization of agrochemicals will damage the ecological environment of farmlands and increase the safety risk of agricultural products. It is urgent to explore efficient and environment-friendly agricultural products. Rhizosphere microbiome are considered as the second genome of plants, which are closely related to crop health...

Aminopeptidases with varied substrate specificities are involved in different crucial physiological processes of cellular homeostasis. They also have wide applications in food and pharma industries. Within the bacterial cell, broad specificity aminopeptidases primarily participate in the recycling of amino acids by degrading oligopeptides generated via primary proteolysis mediated by cellular ATP-dependent proteases. However, in bacteria, a truly broad specificity enzyme, which can cleave off acidic, basic, Gly and hydrophobic amino acid residues, is extremely rare...

Correction for 'Therapeutic effects of a walnut-derived peptide on NLRP3 inflammasome activation, synaptic plasticity, and cognitive dysfunction in T2DM mice' by Yanru Li et al. , Food Funct. , 2024, 15 , 2295-2313, https://doi.org/10.1039/D3FO05076A.

In the search for novel succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicides to control Rhizoctonia solani , thirty-five novel pyrazole-4-carboxamides bearing either an oxime ether or an oxime ester group were designed and prepared based on the strategy of molecular hybridization, and their antifungal activities against five plant pathogenic fungi were also investigated. The results indicated that the majority of the compounds containing oxime ether demonstrated outstanding in vitro antifungal activity against R...

Iodine insufficiencies are common among many populations, particularly pregnant women. One of the main functions of iodine is making thyroid hormone. The 2 main hormones that iodine influences are triiodothyronine and thyroxine. Thyroid hormone affects metabolism of most tissues. For the average adult, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for iodine is 150 µg. During certain stages of life, such as pregnancy, lactation, and infancy, the importance of iodine is even greater as it supports brain, bone, and organ development...

The GI tract hosts a dynamic community known as the gut microbiota, which encompasses thriving bacteria that actively contribute to the physiological functions of the human body. The intricacies of its composition are profoundly influenced by dietary preferences, where the quality, quantity, and frequency of food consumption play a pivotal role in either fostering or impeding specific bacterial strains. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a prevalent and deleterious condition that originates from excessive hyperglycemia...

The low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAP) diet, designed to alleviate symptoms in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), focuses on limiting the consumption of poorly absorbed fermentable carbohydrates known as FODMAP. These FODMAP are believed to be the primary triggers for food-related gastrointestinal symptoms in functional gastrointestinal disorders. However, there is currently insufficient direct evidence investigating the role of low FODMAP diets in cancer patients undergoing treatment...

Among tetrapods, grasping is an essential function involved in many vital behaviours. The selective pressures that led to this function were widely investigated in species with prehensile hands and feet. Previous studies namely highlighted a strong effect of item properties but also of the species habitat on manual grasping behaviour. African savannah elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) are known to display various prehensile abilities and use their trunk in a large diversity of habitats. Composed of muscles and without a rigid structure, the trunk is a muscular hydrostat with great freedom of movement...

OBJECTIVES: This research aims to present and assess the Primary Functions of autoinjectors introduced in ISO 11608-1:2022. Investigate the risks in current autoinjector technology, identify and assess risks and benefits associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered autoinjectors, and propose a framework for mitigating these risks. ISO 11608-1:2022 is a standard that specifies requirements and test methods for needle-based injection systems intended to deliver drugs, focusing on design and function to ensure patient safety and product effectiveness...