The interplay between health claims and sensory attributes in determining consumers' purchase intentions for extra virgin olive oil

A large body of literature has supported the idea that both food-intrinsic sensory attributes (e.g., taste, aroma, etc.) and food-extrinsic attributes (e.g., origin, health claims etc.) play a crucial role in consumers' purchase intentions. However, it is still uncertain how the presence of health claims in the era of high prevalence of diseases and viruses (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic) might impact sensory attributes, and therefore shape consumers' purchase intentions. Thus, the aim of the study is to (i) investigate the impact of health claims presented to the consumers along with the sensory attributes on their purchasing intentions, and (ii) examine to what extent sensory attributes mediate the relationship between the presence of health claims and consumers' purchasing intentions. For that purpose, sensory analysis of a healthy food product (extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)) was conducted to examine consumers' interest in health claims in two scenarios: an informed scenario without health claims (n=102) and an informed scenario with health claims (n=105). The findings from a Structural Equation Model using STATA software suggest that the presence of health claims positively affects purchase intentions for EVOO. The sensory attributes taste and aftertaste partially mediate the relationship between the presence of health claims and consumers' purchasing intentions. Furthermore, consumers rated the sensory attributes higher in the presence of health claims. Therefore, the food industry should focus on ways to improve consumers' sensory and health perspectives by producing not only healthier food products with health claims but also tastier products than the ones available in the market. Moreover, food companies and marketers can make health claims more effective by targeting consumers' preferences and developing marketing campaigns using claims that are essential for promoting extra-virgin olive oil.

In Silico Approach for the Evaluation of the Potential Antiviral Activity of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) Bioactive Constituents Oleuropein and Oleocanthal on Spike Therapeutic Drug Target of SARS-CoV-2.

Since there is an urgent need for novel treatments to combat the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, in silico molecular docking studies were implemented as an attempt to explore the ability of selected bioactive constituents of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to act as potent SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) antiviral compounds, aiming to explore their ability to interact with SARS-CoV-2 Spike key therapeutic target protein. Our results suggest that EVOO constituents display substantial capacity for binding and interfering with Spike (S) protein, both wild-type and mutant, via the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of Spike, or other binding targets such as angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) or the RBD-ACE2 protein complex, inhibiting the interaction of the virus with host cells. This in silico study provides useful insights for the understanding of the mechanism of action of the studied compounds at a molecular level. From the present study, it could be suggested that the studied active phytochemicals could potentially inhibit the Spike protein, contributing thus to the understanding of the role that they can play in future drug designing and the development of anti-COVID-19 therapeutics.

Anti-Inflammatory Pantry Kit: Delivering Foods for Chronic Pain to the Patient's Kitchen

Methods: Participants of the 13 week program, Partner's Aligned in Transformative Healing (PATH), receive an Anti-Inflammatory Pantry Kit containing one retail size quantity of extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, green tea, ground flax seed, dried lentils, maple syrup, ground turmeric, ground ginger, and coconut milk. During week 5 of the program participants spend 90 minutes with the registered dietitian (virtual or in-person, depending on the group) for an interactive education and sensory experiential. Participants leave with the food and knowledge of the ingredients and how to use them. The registered dietitian procures the ingredients and puts together the kits. Food costs are reimbursed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont as it has been incorporated into the program's bundled payment model for each PATH participant. Results: What emerged from this experimental adjustment to the curriculum is an innovation that has engaged participants to make modifications to their diets to increase whole food sources of omega-3 fatty acids, phytonutrients, dietary fiber, zinc, selenium, plant-based protein, and healthy fat;all of which are evidenced based nutrients that have been demonstrated to impact inflammatory and immune systems in individuals experiencing chronic pain. Background: The Anti-Inflammatory Pantry Kit was designed during the covid-19 pandemic as a way to continue to offer hands-on culinary medicine to participants at the University of Vermont's Comprhensive Pain Program in the comfort and safety of their own home. Conclusion: Culinary medicine at the Comprehensive Pain Program looks different now that it did prior to the pandemic and the changes have been received with enthusiasm. The Anti-Inflammatory Pantry Kit is a dynamic tool for nutrition and culinary medicine education for chronic pain participants. This tool and approach to medical nutrition therapy has been made sustainable by the reimbursement by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont and the engagement of participants.

Natural products as LSD1 inhibitors for cancer therapy.

Natural products generally fall into the biologically relevant chemical space and always possess novel biological activities, thus making them a rich source of lead compounds for new drug discovery. With the recent technological advances, natural product-based drug discovery is now reaching a new era. Natural products have also shown promise in epigenetic drug discovery, some of them have advanced into clinical trials or are presently being used in clinic. The histone lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), an important class of histone demethylases, has fundamental roles in the development of various pathological conditions. Targeting LSD1 has been recognized as a promising therapeutic option for cancer treatment. Notably, some natural products with different chemotypes including protoberberine alkaloids, flavones, polyphenols, and cyclic peptides have shown effectiveness against LSD1. These natural products provide novel scaffolds for developing new LSD1 inhibitors. In this review, we mainly discuss the identification of natural LSD1 inhibitors, analysis of the co-crystal structures of LSD1/natural product complex, antitumor activity and their modes of action. We also briefly discuss the challenges faced in this field. We believe this review will provide a landscape of natural LSD1 inhibitors.

Exploitation of Some Natural Products for the Prevention and/or Nutritional Treatment of SARS-CoV2 Infection.

Dietary habits strongly influence our health status, mostly in terms of maintenance of the inflammatory/anti-inflammatory homeostasis. High fat and high sugar diets account for the development of a low-grade inflammation, which is the pathogenic common denominator of various chronic diseases. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS)-CoV2 (COVID-19) infection affects all ages and especially frail elderly people and a nutritional intervention seems to be crucial in the course of this pandemic. The present review describes the properties of some vegetal products and their derivatives, such as Lupin sp., garlic, salvia and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) that can be exploited for their beneficial effects, as preventive and/or nutritional treatment of coronavirus disease SARS-CoV2. Lupin, salvia, garlic and EVOO share overlapping properties, such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activities. Quite importantly, these products and their derivatives are able to recover the expression of angiotensin converting enzyme expression 2 on cell membrane, otherwise suppressed by COVID-19 binding and entry into cytoplasm. Dietary administration of the above nutraceuticals or their extracts may play a preventive or nutritional role in the course of SARS-CoV2 infection, even including the effects of the lockdown and the condition of inflamm-ageing.