Evaluation of the Fruit Quality and Phytochemical Compounds in Peach and Nectarine Cultivars.

Qualitative traits and chemical properties of 32 peach cultivars (yellow flesh and white flesh fruits) and 52 nectarine cultivars (yellow flesh and white flesh fruits) of different pomological characteristics is performed, and the correlation between cultivars and chemical characteristics is analyzed. Yellow nectarines have a higher variability in soluble solids concentration (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA) values. Evaluation of color parameters (a*, b*, L*) shows a significant interaction between pulp color (white vs. yellow) and types (peaches vs. nectarines) of fruit. The difference between yellow and white fruits is stronger in nectarines than in peaches. Sucrose is the main sugar detected in peach fruits, with a percentage content of 78.37% and 76.70% of the total sugar content in yellow and white peaches, respectively, and 78.29% and 78.12% in yellow and white nectarines, respectively. Variability is found among cultivars for the chemical compounds analyzed. The yellow flesh has higher amounts of total carotenoids and TPC, while white-flesh fruits present an average antioxidant value higher than yellow-flesh fruits. No significant correlation is found for polyphenol content and DPPH, while an interaction (p < 0.005) between neochlorogenic acid content and peaches and nectarines is evidenced, with a neochlorogenic acid content higher in nectarines than in peaches.

Affordable Production of Antioxidant Aqueous Solutions by Hydrodynamic Cavitation Processing of Silver Fir (Abies alba Mill.) Needles.

Extracts from parts of coniferous trees have received increased interest due to their valuable bioactive compounds and properties, useful for plenty of experimental and consolidated applications, in fields comprising nutraceutics, cosmetics, pharmacology, food preservation, and stimulation of plant growth. However, the variability of the bioactive properties, the complexity of the extraction methods, and the use of potentially harmful synthetic chemicals, still represent an obstacle to the spreading of such valuable natural compounds. Hydrodynamic cavitation is emerging as a promising innovative technique for the extraction of precious food components and by-products from waste raw material of the agro-food production chain, which can improve processing efficiency, reduce resource consumption, and produce healthy, high-quality products. In this study, a process based on controlled hydrodynamic cavitation was applied for the first time to the production of aqueous solutions of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) needles with enhanced antioxidant activity. The observed levels of the in vitro antioxidant activity, comparable or higher than those found for reference substances, pure extracts, and other water extracts and beverages, highlight the very good potential of the hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) process for the creation of solvent-free, aqueous solutions endowed with bioactive compounds extracted from silver fir needles.

Efeito de ondas curtas por método indutivo na lombalgia crônica inespecífica em indivíduos sedentários / Effect of inductive shortwave on chronic non-specific low back pain in sedentary individuals

OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a eficácia do tratamento com ondas curtas por método indutivo em indivíduos sedentários com lombalgia crônica inespecífica. MÉTODOS: Um ensaio clínico quase-experimental e cruzado foi realizado com indivíduos lombálgicos e sedentários. A amostra foi recrutada entre acadêmicos da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (Unioeste) na faixa etária entre 18 e 25 anos, que apresentavam dor lombar de origem postural não traumática há mais de três meses, eram sedentários, e aceitaram participar da pesquisa. O protocolo de intervenção consistiu na aplicação de ondas curtas por método indutivo por 15 minutos, uma vez ao dia, três vezes por semana, com intervalo de um dia entre cada aplicação. Na semana seguinte os voluntários recebiam tratamento placebo também por três vezes na semana, com tempo semelhante àquele realizado na semana tratamento, porém o equipamento era apenas ligado, sem emissão do campo eletromagnético. O protocolo foi aplicado por duas semanas. As variáveis analisadas foram o grau de incapacidade funcional, avaliado pelo Índice de Incapacidade de Oswestry (ODI) e pelo Questionário de Incapacidade de Roland-Morris (QIRM), no início do experimento e ao final de cada semana; e a dor, avaliada pela Escala Visual Analógica (EVA), antes e após cada sessão. Os dados foram apresentados em média e desvio-padrão ou mediana e quartis e o nível de significância aceito foi de 5%. RESULTADOS: Vinte voluntários participaram do estudo. Para a ODI houve redução dos valores de incapacidade ao longo da semana de tratamento, com retorno aos valores iniciais na semana placebo; já para o QIRM não houve diferenças entre o tratamento e o placebo. Pela EVA, houve redução na intensidade da dor ao longo dos três dias de terapia, fato que ocorreu apenas no segundo dia do placebo. CONCLUSÕES: O tratamento com ondas curtas na modalidade indutiva foi eficaz na diminuição da dor em pacientes sedentários com lombalgia crônica, contribuindo para melhora da capacidade funcional.

AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy of inductive shortwave treatment in sedentary individuals with non-specific chronic low back pain. METHODS: A quasi-experimental and cross-over trial was performed with sedentary individuals with chronic back pain. The sample was recruited among students from the State University of Western Paraná (Unioeste), aged between 18 and 25 years old, who had low back pain of non-traumatic postural origin for more than three months, were sedentary, and accepted to participate in the study. The intervention protocol consisted in the application of short waves by inductive method for 15 minutes, once a day, three times a week, with interval of one day between each application. In the following week, volunteers also received placebo treatment three times a week, with time similar to that performed in the treatment week, but the equipment was only switched on, without emission of the electromagnetic field. The protocol was applied for two weeks. The variables analyzed were the degree of functional disability, assessed by the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (QIRM), at the beginning of the experiment and at the end of each week; and pain, assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), before and after each session. Data were presented as mean and standard deviation or median and quartiles, and the accepted level of significance was 5%. RESULTS: Twenty volunteers participated in the study. For ODI, there was a reduction in the disability values throughout the treatment week, with a return to previous values in the placebo week; there were no differences between treatment and placebo for the MIRR. By VAS, there was a reduction in pain intensity over the three days of therapy, which occurred only on the second day of the placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with short waves in the inductive modality was effective in reducing pain in sedentary patients with chronic low back pain, contributing to improve functional capacity

Biotransformation of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) flavonoid glycosides by bifidobacterium species from human intestinal origin.

Bifidobacteria strains from human origin were screened for the specific activity (beta-glucosidase activity) involved in the metabolism of dietary flavonoids. Five strains with high beta-glucosidase activity were selected for further metabolism analyses (high-performance liquid chromatography separations) of flavonoid glycosides occurring in Phaseolus vulgaris L. (common bean) seeds and seedlings. All selected strains were found to be active in the conversion of kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, daidzin, genistin, and glycitin into their aglyconic forms. No metabolites were detected after the fermentation tests with the diglucosidic compound kaempferol 3-O-xylosylglucoside. In addition, to verify the effective bioavailability of flavonoid aglycones, the degradation rates of daidzein, genistein, glycitein, and kaempferol, following incubation with selected strains, were monitored. The results showed that the five selected strains of bifidobacteria, being active in the biotranformation of flavonoid glycosides occurring in common bean seeds and seedlings, could be considered as probiotic dietary adjuncts to improve the nutritional and health properties of flavonoid-based products, comprising hypothetical common bean food derivatives.

Composition and content of seed flavonoids in forage and grain legume crops.

Flavonoid content and composition in 124 accessions of forage and grain legumes was assessed by means of HPLC-DAD and HPLC-ESI-MS analyses of seed extracts. Excluding soybean, only 7 out of 77 grain legume accessions exhibited a total flavonoid content higher than 0.1 mg/g fresh seed weight (mean content 0.33 +/- 0.31 mg/ g fresh seed weight); while in 38 out of 47 forage legume, the mean flavonoid content was 1.49 +/- 0.89 mg/g fresh seed weight. On the basis of their higher seed flavonoid content and agronomic relevance, two grain and five forage legume accessions were selected for further HPLC-ESI-MS analyses aimed to identify bioactive compounds. Chemical analysis of the selected accessions permitted the identification of several flavonoids with pharmaceutical properties such as vitexin in Vigna angularis and Trigonella foenum-graecum, quercetin in all Trifolium spp and Medicago sativa, taxifolin in Trifolium pratense and Trifolium alexandrinum, myricetin in Trifolium repens, kaempferol in Phaseolus vulgaris and T. repens and luteolin in M. sativa and T. alexandrinum. Since much of literature information is regarding flavonoid content and composition of the green part of legume species, the obtained results contributed to fill the gap in knowledge about flavonoid content at the seed level.

Compositional changes induced by UV-B radiation treatment of common bean and soybean seedlings monitored by capillary electrophoresis with diode array detection.

In this work, a new CE method with diode array detection (DAD) was developed for the monitoring and quantitation of flavonoids in different beans treated and untreated with UV-B radiation. Flavonoid concentration was monitored in UV-B-treated and untreated sprouts of three common beans (Zolfino ecotype, cv. Verdone, cv. Lingua di Fuoco) and one soybean (cv. Pacific). After acid hydrolysis of extracts, the CE-DAD method provides reproducible quantitative determinations of daidzein, glycitein, genistein, and kaempferol at ppm level in these natural matrices within a relatively short time (less than 16 min). Total flavonoid content determined by CE-DAD was 159 +/- 8, 26 +/- 2, 13 +/- 1, and 1.3 +/- 0.3 microg/g fresh weight for untreated sprouts of Pacific soybean, Verdone bean, Zolfino bean, and Lingua di Fuoco bean, respectively. UV-B treatment caused no significant quantitative effect on Pacific soybean sprouts, whereas it enhanced the total isoflavone content by 1.5, 1.8, and 3.2-fold in Verdone, Zolfino, and Lingua di Fuoco beans, respectively. The proposed method shows (i) the potentialities of bean sprouts as a natural source of bioactive compounds (antioxidants); (ii) the technological role of UV-B treatment for sprout isoflavone enrichment; and (iii) the good capabilities of CE-DAD to monitor this process.

Quantitative-competitive polymerase chain reaction coupled with slab gel and capillary electrophoresis for the detection of roundup ready soybean and maize.

The aim of the present study was to develop a quantitative-competitive PCR (QC-PCR) method to detect DNA from transgenic herbicide-resistant (roundup ready, RR) soybean and maize. Since no QC-PCR system for the quantification of RR maize had been published at the time of writing, a specific competitor DNA for transgenic event was developed. For the QC-PCR of RR-soybean, a commercially available competitor was employed. These internal standards were calibrated by coamplifying with mixtures containing RR-soybean and maize DNAs. The calibrated QC-PCR systems were applied to certified RR-soybean and maize flour mixtures in order to demonstrate their suitability not only for the quantification of the glyphosate resistance traits in DNA matrices, but also in practically relevant samples. In addition, a special focus of the present work was to compare the detection of QC-PCR products by slab gel and CGE with UV detection. CGE permitted the precise detection of transgenic events also below the equivalence points; while in slab gel electrophoresis, due to the low sensitivity the quantification of genetically modified DNA was allowed only at the equivalence point.

Compared use of HPLC and FZCE for cluster analysis of Triticum spp and for the identification of T. durum adulteration.

Wheat quality criteria continually evolve in response to market pressure and consumer preference. Characterization of cereal cultivars for quality and agronomic properties, have widely shown the importance of the protein content to ensure good quality products. The aim of this work is a comparison of reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and free zone capillary electrophoresis (FZCE) in the identification of Italian wheat cultivars and detection of durum wheat flour adulteration. Mainly alcohol soluble (gliadins) and water soluble (albumins) proteins were extracted from 14 common wheat cultivars and from 9 durum wheat cultivars. In RP-HPLC chromatograms, wheat albumins and gliadins eluted between 3 and 9 min and between 10 and 42 min, respectively. Even if the chosen chromatographic conditions (reversed phase) did not permit a complete resolution of hydrophilic proteins such as albumins, a good reproducibility was observed for both albumins and gliadins. In FZCE electropherograms, wheat albumins and gliadins migrated between 8 and 14 min and 16-25 min, respectively. A good reproducibility was found for wheat albumins, while the relatively poor reproducibility of gliadin fractions was a consequence of the selected separation conditions aimed to separate in the same run either hydrophilic (albumins) and alcohol-soluble (gliadins) proteins. The principal component analysis (PCA) of HPLC and FZCE data evidenced that both techniques allowed the univocal identification of the great proportion of investigated wheat cultivars. Three peaks were exclusively detected in RP-HPLC chromatograms of common wheat cultivars, while three unique peaks were found in FZCE electropherograms of common wheat cultivars. These peaks were investigated as a basis for detecting and estimating the adulteration of durum wheat flour with flour from common wheat. The direct relationship between the area of the peaks and adulteration level enabled standard curves to be constructed. The standard curves showed that adulteration may be quantified by either RP-HPLC or FZCE.