A community-based intervention study involving family gardens with aromatic herbs on changes in dietary and urinary sodium.

OBJECTIVE: To measure dietary and urinary changes in sodium (Na) intake and excretion through the implementation of family gardens with aromatic herbs and workshops for cooking, using the herbs as a substitute for salt and seasoning powder. METHODS: Thirty-five participants from a neighborhood of Mexico City were included. A general questionnaire was administered to collect information on sociodemographic factors. At baseline and 3 months later, a dietary evaluation was conducted, and 24-hour urine samples were collected. Food items reported were classified according to the NOVA classification. Visits to participants´ houses were conducted to measure the amount of salt and seasoning powder added to food during the preparation of meals as well as a home food inventory. All participants were given a family garden with 6 aromatic herbs and a recipe book. The intervention included 7 cooking and 3 garden care workshops. Qualitative information on the experience was also collected. Linear regression models were run in order to estimate the contribution of each NOVA group, salt, and seasoning powder to total dietary Na intake. RESULTS: Participants were 44 years old on average and were mainly women (91.4%). The participation compliance in the workshops was 69.5%. After 3 months, there was a Na intake mean reduction of 976 mg. There was also a reduction in the excreted urinary Na of 325 mg per day. CONCLUSION: A positive level of involvement in this program had a direct influence on dietary habits to lower Na consumption.

First Report of Puccinia menthae Causing Leaf Rust on Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) in Mexico.

Peppermint (Lamiaceae) is an aromatic herb with culinary, medicinal, and industrial properties. In June 2022, symptoms and signs of foliar rust were observed in four commercial fields of peppermint (Mentha × piperita) in San Buenaventura Tecalzingo, San Martín Texmelucan, Puebla, Mexico (19°14'34.0"N 98°27'25.4"W; 19°14'16.7"N 98°27'21.4"W; 19°14'37.0"N 98°27'07.7"W; 19°15'00.6"N 98°26'54.7"W). Two diseased plants were collected at each site. The disease was present in 50% of the plants and the damaged foliar tissue was under 17%. Initial symptoms included small chlorotic spots on the adaxial surface of the leaves, which later spread to form a necrotic area surrounded by a broad chlorotic halo. Necrosis developed only in the presence of abundant reddish-brown pustules on the abaxial surface of the leaf, while smaller pustules were observed on the adaxial surface. The signs were detected as numerous reddish-brown pustules on the abaxial surface of the leaves. The infected leaves of all samples showed subepidermal uredinia, erumpent, with hyaline and cylindrical paraphyses. Urediniospores (n = 50) were hyaline to light brown, echinulate, with two germinative pores, obovoid (16.5-26.5 × 11.5-25.5 µm, mean ± SD = 22 ± 1.6 × 19 ± 0.4 µm and 0.6 µm of wall thickness), individually supported on pedicels. Morphological characteristics aligned most closely with the description of Puccinia menthae by Kabaktepe et al. (2017) and Solano-Báez et al. (2022). A voucher specimen was deposited in the Herbarium of the Department of Plant-Insect Interactions at the Biotic Products Development Center of the National Polytechnic Institute under accession no. IPN 10.0115. From one sample, genomic DNA was extracted, and the 28S gene region of rDNA was amplified by a nested PCR using the primer sets Rust2inv (Aime, 2006) and LR6 (Vilgalys and Hester, 1990), and Rust28SF (Aime et al., 2018), and LR5 (Vilgalys and Hester, 1990) for the first and second reactions, respectively. The obtained sequence (GenBank accession No. OQ552847) showed 100% homology (902/1304bp) with the type-specimen sequence of P. menthae (DQ354513) from Cunila origanoides from USA (Aime, 2006). A phylogenetic analysis using Maximum Likelihood including a published 28S dataset for Puccinia species was executed and the isolate IPN 10.0115 was grouped into a clade of P. menthae with bootstrap support value of 100%. Pathogenicity was assessed by spraying a suspension of urediniospores (1×104 spores/ml) of the isolate IPN 10.0115 onto six healthy peppermint plants (Mentha × piperita) that were 30 days old, while six other plants were sprayed with sterile distilled water. All plants were kept in a wet chamber for 48 h at temperatures from 28±2°C and relative humidity of 95%, after which the plastic bag was removed. All inoculated plants developed disease symptoms after 15 days, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The pathogenicity assay was conducted twice with similar results. The morphology of the pathogen recovered from the pustules of the inoculated plants was identical to that originally recollected, thus fulfilling Koch'postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Puccinia menthae causing leaf rust on Mentha × piperita in Mexico. This species has been previously identified using morphological characteristics in Brazil, Canada, Poland, and USA on Mentha × piperita (Farr and Rossman, 2023). Since the disease defoliates peppermint plants reducing yield, further information on disease management is needed.

First Report of Puccinia menthae Causing Leaf Rust on Spearmint (Mentha spicata) in Mexico.

Spearmint (Lamiaceae) is an aromatic herb widely cultivated in Mexico for its culinary, medicinal, and industrial properties. In May 2020, symptoms and signs of rust were observed in a two-ha commercial crop of spearmint in Cuautla, Morelos (18°50'26.6"N 98°57'31.9"W), Mexico. The disease incidence was 85% and the severity was 23%. Initial symptoms included chlorotic spots on the adaxial surface of the leaves. At advanced stages of the disease, necrotic spots surrounded by chlorotic halos were developed, and later the plants were defoliated. The signs were observed as numerous orange to reddish-brown erumpent pustules primarily on the abaxial surface of the leaves. Microscopic examination of the samples revealed the presence of subepidermal uredinia, erumpent, with hyaline and cylindrical paraphyses. Urediniospores (n = 50) were hyaline to light yellow, globose to obovoid, measuring 17-27  11-25 µm, including 0.6-0.7 µm wall thickness, individually supported on pedicels, echinulate, with two germinative pores. Morphological features of the fungus correspond with previous descriptions of Puccinia mentha by Kabaktepe et al. (2017). A voucher specimen (accession no. UACH448) was deposited in the Department of Agricultural Parasitology Herbarium at the Chapingo Autonomous University. To confirm identification, the 28S gene region of rDNA was amplified from one sample by a nested PCR using the primer sets Rust2inv (Aime, 2006) and LR6 (Vilgalys and Hester, 1990), and Rust28SF primers (Aime et al., 2018), and LR5 (Vilgalys and Hester, 1990) for the first and second reactions, respectively. The sequence of our specimen (GenBank accession No. OL878354) showed 100% homology (923/1304bp) with the type-specimen sequence of P. menthae (GenBank accession No. DQ354513) from Cunila origanoides from USA (Aime, 2006). Also, a phylogenetic analysis (Bayesian inference) including a published 28S dataset for Puccinia species was performed and the isolate UACH448 was grouped into a clade with P. menthae. Pathogenicity was demonstrated by spraying five ml of a suspension of urediniospores (1104 spores/ml) recovered from infected leaves onto leaves of ten healthy spearmint plants and ten noninoculated plants served as controls. All plants were maintained at temperatures from 28 to 35°C and relative humidity ranging from 70 to 80%. All inoculated plants developed the characteristic symptoms of the disease after 14 days, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The pathogenicity test was performed twice with similar disease response. The morphological characteristics of the pathogen recovered from all the inoculated plants were identical to that originally inoculated, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Puccinia menthae causing leaf rust on Mentha spicata in Mexico. This species has been previously identified in Australia (Edwards et al. 1999), New Zealand (Beresford et al. 1982), and USA (Farr and Rossman, 2021) on Mentha spicata. This disease reduces considerably the quality of peppermint plants, so it is necessary to develop management strategies.

Mycotoxin in medicinal/aromatic Herbs: a review / Micotoxinas en hierbas medicinales y/o aromaticas: Revisión

Owing to their conditions of production, and sometimes to poor storage and transportation conditions, herbal products are susceptible to fungal contamination and development. This can lead to the accumulation of mycotoxins in this kind of commodities. Consequently, herbal products can be contaminated with fungal toxins, such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins and other mycotoxins, which pose a serious risk to public health. This paper reviews the main aspects regarding mycotoxin contamination of medical/aromatic herbs, in the context of the importance of this product in a global market. Moreover, the effect of processing on final contamination of derived foods, as well as the analytical methodology commonly employed in fungal and mycotoxin analysis in this type of products was reviewed.

Debido a sus condiciones habituales de producción, así como a condiciones inadecuadas de almacenamiento y de transporte, los productos a base de plantas medicinales o aromáticas son susceptibles a la contaminación por mohos, lo que puede conducir a la acumulación de toxinas fúngicas tales como las aflatoxinas, ocratoxinas y otras micotoxinas, lo que supone un grave riesgo para la salud pública. Este artículo revisa los principales aspectos de la contaminación por micotoxinas de las hierbas medicinales y/o aromáticas, teniendo en cuenta el contexto de este producto en un mercado globalizado, así como el efecto del procesado sobre la contaminación final de estos productos. También se revisa la metodología más comúnmente empleada en el análisis de mohos y micotoxinas en este tipo de productos.

Análise sensorial de feijões de restaurantes comerciais com substituição do sal por ervas e especiarias / Sensory analysis on beans in commercial restaurants with replacement of salt by herbs and spices

Eating in restaurants is becoming a habit, especially in bigger cities. Buffet restaurants which sell food by weight offer beans every day, as the consumption of beans and rice is a cultural habit in Brazil. Researches report that 80% of the sodium consumed by individuals comes from eatingin restaurants and ready-to-eat food and that the high consumption of sodium is the main cause of hypertension. In this context, the objective of this study was to carry out a sensory analysis on the beans served in five buffet restaurants, located downtown Chapecó - SC. Three different preparations of beans for each restaurant were considered: a sample prepared with 100% of the salt indicated in the technical datasheet of the restaurant; another sample using 50% of salt indicated; and a third sample with 25%of salt indicated in the datasheet. In these two latter cases, the seasoning has been replaced with herbs and spices. During five days, tests on these three preparations of beans were performed with a total of 185 untrained tasters using the nine-point structured scale, anchored with verbal terms. The data regarding acceptance were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and to Tukey's test, with a significance level (p < 0,05). The results show that the tasters preferred the samples which contained 100% and rejected the samples which contained 50% and 25% of seasoning. With the exception of restaurant A, which showed an average acceptance rate between 6.47 and 6.03 for all kinds of preparations. Public health actions should be prioritized in order to promote healthy food in restaurants for the maintenance of health and prevention of diseases.

La alimentación fuera de casa es un hábito cada vez más arraigado, principalmente en los grandes centros urbanos. Los restaurantes que comercializan comida al kilo ofrecen frijoles diariamente, pues su consumo junto con arroz hace parte de la cultura del brasileño. Los estudios relatan por un lado que 80% del consumo de sodio de una persona proviene de la alimentación fuera de casa y de alimentos prontos para consumo y por otro, que el consumo elevado de sodio es la principal causa de la hipertensión. En este contexto, el objetivo del trabajo fue realizar análisis sensorial de losfrijoles servidos en cinco restaurantes al kilo, localizados en el centro de Chapecó (Santa Catarina, Brasil). Fueron consideradas tres preparaciones de frijoles para cada restaurante: una preparada con 100% de la sal indicada en la ficha técnica del restaurante; otra con utilización de 50% de la indicación; y una tercera con 25%. En los dos últimos casos, la sal fue sustituida por hierbas aromáticas y especias. Durante cinco días, fueron realizados ensayos con las tres preparaciones de frijoles con un total de 185 probadores no entrenados, utilizándose una escala estructurada de nueve puntos, anclada en expresiones literales. Los datos referentes a la aceptación fueron sometidos a un análisis de varianza (ANOVA) y a la prueba de Tukey, con nivel de significancia (p < 0,05). El resultado muestra que los probadores se inclinaron por las muestras que contenían 100% de sal y rechazaron las que contenían 50 y 25% del condimento. La excepción fue el Restaurante A que presentó medias de aceptación entre 6,47 y 6,03 para todas las preparaciones. Acciones de salud pública deben ser priorizadas con el objetivo de promover una alimentación saludable en establecimientos comerciales, para mantención de la salud y prevención de enfermedades.

A alimentação realizada fora de casa está se tornando um hábito, principalmente nos grandes centros. Os restaurantes comerciais com bufê por peso oferecem feijão diariamente, pois o consumo de feijão e arroz é um hábito cultural no Brasil. Estudos relatam que 80% do consumo de sódio pelos indivíduos provêm de alimentação fora de casa e de alimentos prontos e que o consumo elevado de sódio é causa principal da hipertensão. Nesse contexto, o objetivo do trabalho foi realizar análise sensorial dos feijões servidos em cinco restaurantes por peso, localizados no centro de Chapecó (SC). Foram consideradas três preparações de feijão para cada restaurante: uma amostra preparada com 100% do sal indicado na ficha técnica do restaurante; outra com a utilização de 50% do sal indicado; e uma terceira com 25% do sal. Nesses dois últimos casos, o tempero foi substituído por ervas aromáticas e especiarias. Durante cinco dias, foram realizados testes desses três tipos de feijão com um total de 185 provadores não treinados, utilizando-se a escala estruturada de nove pontos, ancorada com termos verbais. Os dados referentes à aceitação foram submetidos à análise de variância (ANOVA) e ao teste de Tukey, com nível de significância (p < 0,05).O resultado mostra que houve preferência dos provadores pelas amostras que continham 100% e rejeição pelas amostras que continham 50 e 25% do tempero. Com exceção do Restaurante A que apresentou médias de aceitação entre 6,47 e 6,03 para todas as preparações. Ações de saúde pública devem ser priorizadas no intuito de promover alimentação saudável em estabelecimentos comerciais, para manutenção da saúde e prevenção de doenças.