Food Environment and Its Effects on Human Nutrition and Health.

The concept of a healthy diet is not a static definition; over the years, it has been molded to scientific knowledge [...].

Argentinian Rose Petals as a Source of Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Compounds.

The total phenolic, flavonoid, and anthocyanin contents were evaluated in 11 cultivars of Argentinian roses of different colors. HPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS was used to identify the components where ellagic and quinic acids, quercetin, and kaempferol glycosylated derivatives were found. The phenolic contents ranged from 78.8 ± 3.2 to 203.4 ± 3.1 mg GAE/g dw, the flavonoid content ranged from 19.1 ± 3.8 to 125.9 ± 6.5 mg QE/g dw, and the anthocyanin content ranged from less than 0.01 to 5.8 ± 0.1 mg CE/g dw. The dark red cultivars exhibited the greatest levels of the analyzed compounds and of the antioxidant activities, even higher than those of certain plants known for their high phenolic contents and antioxidant activity. Moreover, the addition of these extracts decreased the population of L. innocua and P. aeruginosa to undetectable levels 24 h after inoculation. Rose petal extracts, mainly those with a dark red color, can be used as natural additives in food, feed, and cosmetics, as they contain a high proportion of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial effects.

Algae as a potential source of protein meat alternatives.

With the rise of plant-based meat alternatives, there is a growing need for sustainable and nutritious sources of protein. Alga is a rich protein source, and initial studies show that it can be a good component in developing protein meat alternatives. However, there are certain limitations in their use as the need for efficient and optimal technical process in large-scale protein extraction and purification, as well as overcoming certain negative effects such as potentially harmful compounds, allergenicity issues, or sensorial affections, especially in color but also in textural and flavor characteristics. This review offers a vision of the fledgling research about using alga protein in the development of meat alternatives or supplementing meat products.

Potential prebiotic effect of two Atlantic whole brown seaweeds, Saccharina japonica and Undaria pinnatifida, using in vitro simulation of distal colonic fermentation.

Two brown seaweeds (Saccharina japonica and Undaria pinnatifida) were characterized in terms of their nutritional and mineral composition, as well as their potential to modify the human gut microbiota. Nutritional analysis of these seaweeds showed that they comply with the criteria set out in European legislation to be labeled "low fat," "low sugar," and "high fiber." Mineral content analysis showed that 100 g of seaweed provided more than 100% of the daily Ca requirements, as well as 33-42% of Fe, 10-17% of Cu, and 14-17% of Zn requirements. An in vitro human digest simulator system was used to analyze the effect of each seaweed on the human colonic microbiota. The gut microbiota was characterized by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and short-chain fatty-acid analysis. Seaweed digestion and fermentation showed beneficial effects, such as a decrease in the phylum Firmicutes and an increase in the phyla Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria. At the species level, seaweed fermentation increased the proportion of beneficial bacteria such as Parabacteroides distasonis and Bifidobacterium. Regarding of metabolic pathways, no significant differences were found between the two seaweeds, but there were significant differences concerning to the baseline. An increase in short-chain fatty-acid content was observed for both seaweeds with respect to the negative control, especially for acetic acid. Given of the obtained results, S. japonica and U. pinnatifida intake are promising and could open new opportunities for research and application in the fields of nutrition and human health.

Effect of the Drying Method and Optimization of Extraction on Antioxidant Activity and Phenolic of Rose Petals.

The effect of freeze and hot air drying methods on the retention of total phenolics, antioxidant activity (AA), and color of different cultivars of rose petals was analyzed. Both methods similarly preserved the phenolic content and AA, while freeze drying showed better red color retention. Furthermore, the conditions of total phenolics and AA extraction from two rose cultivars, Lovely Red and Malu, were optimized by response surface methodology through a Box-Behnken design. The solvent exhibited a major effect on the total phenolic content (TPC) and AA. The selected parameters were ethanol 38%, 75 °C, and 30 min. Under these conditions, the predicted values for Lovely Red were 189.3 mg GA/g dw (TPC) and 535.6 mg Trolox/g dw (AA), and those for Malu were 108.5 mg GA/g dw (TPC) and 320.7 mg Trolox/g dw (AA). The experimental values were close to the predicted values, demonstrating the suitability of the model. Ultrasound-assisted extraction increased the AA of the extracts but not the TPC. Fifteen compounds were identified in the Lovely Red cultivar, with no differences between the two drying methods. The results obtained suggest that the analyzed cultivars, particularly the red ones, can be considered a natural source of powerful antioxidant compounds.

The Human Gut Virome and Its Relationship with Nontransmissible Chronic Diseases.

The human gastrointestinal tract contains large communities of microorganisms that are in constant interaction with the host, playing an essential role in the regulation of several metabolic processes. Among the gut microbial communities, the gut bacteriome has been most widely studied in recent decades. However, in recent years, there has been increasing interest in studying the influences that other microbial groups can exert on the host. Among them, the gut virome is attracting great interest because viruses can interact with the host immune system and metabolic functions; this is also the case for phages, which interact with the bacterial microbiota. The antecedents of virome-rectification-based therapies among various diseases were also investigated. In the near future, stool metagenomic investigation should include the identification of bacteria and phages, as well as their correlation networks, to better understand gut microbiota activity in metabolic disease progression.

Nutritional composition, heavy metal content and in vitro effect on the human gut microbiota of Talitrus saltator, an underutilized crustacean from the Atlantic coast.

In this study, an undervalued marine crustacean (Talitrus saltator) was characterized in terms of nutritional and heavy metal composition and its potential to affect human gut microbiota. Nutritional analysis of this crustacean revealed that it complies with the criteria established in European legislation to include nutritional claims in their labeling, such as "source of fiber," "low in fat," "low in sugars" and "high in protein." The analysis of the heavy metal content did not reveal any risk derived from the presence of Cd, Hg, or Pb, whereas essential metals contained in 100 g exceeded the minimum daily requirements recommended in Europe for Zn (19.78 mg/kg), Cu (2.28 mg/kg), and Fe (32.96 mg/kg). Using an in vitro system, the effect of T. saltator on the human colonic microbiota shows some beneficial effects, such as fermentation-maintained populations of Bifidobacterium or Lactobacillus, did not increase Firmicutes phylum counts, decreased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and stimulated 11 metabolic pathways with respect to baseline. These results are unusual in a high protein content-food. However, negative effects were also found in gut microbiota relative proportions, such as an increase in the Proteobacteria phylum and especially some opportunistic bacteria from this phylum, probably due to the antimicrobial effect of chitin on other groups more sensitive to its effect. This work shows for the first time the effect of T. saltator on human colonic microbiota using and in vitro system. The presence of chitin in its composition could provide some beneficial effects by modulating the microbiota, but as T. saltator is a high-protein food, more studies should be carried out showing these benefits.

Biochemical, Micronutrient and Physicochemical Properties of the Dried Red Seaweeds Gracilaria edulis and Gracilaria corticata.

The present study sought to evaluate the nutritional composition and physicochemical properties of two dried commercially interesting edible red seaweeds, Gracilaria corticata and G. edulis. Proximate composition of the dried seaweeds revealed a higher content in carbohydrates (8.30 g/100 g), total crude protein (22.84 g/100 g) and lipid content (7.07 g/100 g) in G. corticata than in G. edulis. Fatty acids profile showed that G. corticata samples contain higher concentrations of saturated fatty acids, such as palmitic and stearic acids, and polyunsaturated ones such as α-linolenic and docosahexaenoic acids. Contrariwise, G. edulis contained higher amounts of monounsaturated oleic acid. Total amino acid content was 76.60 mg/g in G. corticata and 65.42 mg/g in G. edulis, being the essential amino acid content higher in G. edulis (35.55 mg/g) than in G. corticata (22.76 mg/g). Chlorophyll a was found in significantly higher amounts in G. edulis (17.14 µg/g) than G. corticata, whereas carotenoid content was significantly higher in G. corticata (12.98 µg/g) than in G. edulis. With respect to physical properties, both water- and oil-holding capacities were similar in both seaweeds, whereas swelling capacity was higher in G. edulis. In view of the results, the present study suggests that G. corticata and G. edulis contains important nutrients for human health and are possible natural functional foods.

Development and validation of an HPLC method for the determination of thiamine and riboflavin in green leafy vegetables using clara-diastase.

There is no literature on the use of the currently available form of clara-diastase (≥ 35 U/mg; Fluka Product No. 86959) in the analysis of vitamins B(1) and B(2) . Consequently, a method for the determination of total riboflavin and total thiamine in green leafy vegetables by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) following sample preparation by sequential acid hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis with clara-diastase ≥ 35 U/mg, and for B1, derivatization to thiochrome, was developed and validated. Prepared samples are run at 35 °C on a 250 × 4.6 mm column of 5 µm Kromasil 100 C(18) , using a 0.8 mL/min flow of a 72:28 mixture of 5 mmol/L ammonium acetate and methanol as mobile phase and fluorescence detection. The linear response ranges and limits of detection are, respectively, 3.0 to 60.0 and 0.15 ng/mL for B(1) , and 3.1 to 155.0 and 0.103 ng/mL for B(2) . Of the 4 green leafy vegetables examined, young turnip tops had the highest B(1) and B(2) levels (0.19 and 0.20 mg/100 g fresh weight), followed by spinach (0.12 and 0.09 mg/100 g), lettuce (0.11 and 0.05 mg/100 g), and chard (0.04 mg/100 g).