Development of 3D Printed Snack-dish for the Elderly with Dementia / 대한지역사회영양학회지

Objectives@#This study was conducted to create a 3D printable snack dish model for the elderly with low food or fluid intake along with barriers towards eating. @*Methods@#The decision was made by the hybrid-brainstorming method for creating the 3D model. Experts were assigned based on their professional areas such as clinical nutrition, food hygiene and chemical safety for the creation process. After serial feedback processes, the grape shape was suggested as the final model. After various concept sketching and making clay models, 3D-printing technology was applied to produce a prototype. @*Results@#3D design modeling process was conducted by SolidWorks program. After considering Dietary reference intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) and other survey data, appropriate supplementary water serving volume was decided as 285 mL which meets 30% of Adequate intake. To consider printing output conditions, this model has six grapes in one bunch with a safety lid. The FDM printer and PLA filaments were used for food hygiene and safety. To stimulate cognitive functions and interests of eating, numbers one to six was engraved on the lid of the final 3D model. @*Conclusions@#The newly-developed 3D model was designed to increase intakes of nutrients and water in the elderly with dementia during snack time. Since dementia patients often forget to eat, engraving numbers on the grapes was conducted to stimulate cognitive function related to the swallowing and chewing process. We suggest that investigations on the types of foods or fluids are needed in the developed 3D model snack dish for future studies.

The cultivation of wild food and medicinal plants for improving community livelihood: The case of the Buhozi site, DR Congo

This study aims to demonstrate the effect of farming technology on introducing medicinal plants (MP) and wild food plants (WFP) into a traditional agricultural system within peri-urban zones. Field investigations and semi-structured focus group interviews conducted in the Buhozi community showed that 27 health and nutrition problems dominated in the community, and could be treated with 86 domestic plant species. The selected domestic MP and WFP species were collected in the broad neighboring areas of the Buhozi site, and introduced to the experimental field of beans and maize crops in Buhozi. Among the 86 plants introduced, 37 species are confirmed as having both medicinal and nutritional properties, 47 species with medicinal, and 2 species with nutritional properties. The field is arranged in a way that living hedges made from Tithonia diversifolia provide bio-fertilizers to the plants growing along the hedges. The harvest of farming crops does not disturb the MP or WFP, and vice-versa. After harvesting the integrated plants, the community could gain about 40 times higher income, than from harvesting farming crops only. This kind of field may be used throughout the year, to provide both natural medicines and foods. It may therefore contribute to increasing small-scale crop producers' livelihood, while promoting biodiversity conservation. This model needs to be deeply documented, for further pharmaceutical and nutritional use.

A Methanol Extract of Adansonia digitata L. Leaves Inhibits Pro-Inflammatory iNOS Possibly via the Inhibition of NF-kappaB Activation

This study examined the total polyphenol content of eight wild edible plants from Ethiopia and their effect on NO production in Raw264.7 cells. Owing to its relatively high polyphenol concentration and inhibition of NO production, the methanol extract of Adansonia digitata L. leaf (MEAD) was subjected to detailed evaluation of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Antioxidant effects were assessed by measuring free-radical-scavenging activity using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and oxygen-radical-absorbance capacity (ORAC) assays, while anti-inflammatory effects were assessed by measuring inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. In the ORAC assay, MEAD was 10.2 times more potent than vitamin C at eliminating peroxyl radicals. In DPPH assay, MEAD also showed a strong ROS scavenging effect. MEAD significantly inhibited iNOS activity (IC50=28.6 microg/ml) of LPS-stimulated Raw264.7 cells. We also investigated the relationship between iNOS expression and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) activation. MEAD inhibited IkappaBa degradation and NF-kappaB translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells without significant cytotoxic effects, as confirmed by MTT assay. These results suggest that MEAD inhibits anti-inflammatory iNOS expression, which might be related to the elimination of peroxyl radicals and thus the inhibition of IkappaBa-mediated NF-kappaB signal transduction.

Identification and quantification of anthocyanin pigments in colored rice

Anthocyanin pigments from varieties of black, red and wild rice were identified and quantified to evaluate their potential as nutritional function, natural colorants or functional food ingredients. Anthocyanin extraction was conducted with acidified methanol with 0.1M HCl (85:15, v/v) and identification of anthocyanin, aglycone and sugar moieties was conducted by comparison with purified standards by HPLC, Ultraviolet-Visible absorption spectrophotometer and paper chromatography. Black and wild rice showed three different types of pigments by HPLC whereas red rice variety did not show any anthocyanins. Out of three pigments detected, one (peak 2) was characterized as cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) by comparison of spectroscopic and chromatographic properties with an authentic standard, and another (peak 3) was tentatively identified as cyanidin-fructoside on the basis of spectroscopic properties with lambdamax of aglycone in 1% HCl methanol at 537 nm, electrospray ionization mass spectra with major ions at 449 and 287 m/z and chromatographic properties. But another pigment (peak 1) has not been characterized. The most abundant anthocyanin in black and wild rice was C3G.