The Health Benefits of Selected Culinary Herbs and Spices Found in the Traditional Mediterranean Diet.

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest diets in the world. This is often attributed to low saturated fat consumption, moderate wine consumption, and high vegetable consumption. However, herbs and spices associated with these diets may also play an important role in the quality of this diet. This review summarizes the most recent research regarding the anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-hypertensive properties of this collection of culinary species. Additionally, this review briefly summarizes studies performed on lesser known herbs from around the world, with the goal of identifying new culinary species that may be useful in the treatment or prevention of diseases.

The global regulatory landscape regarding micronutrient fortification of condiments and seasonings.

Fortification of staple foods has been a successful strategy for combatting micronutrient deficiency. Recently, fortification of condiments and seasonings has been considered as a new approach to mitigate micronutrient deficiencies worldwide. The regulatory environment of already existing programs must be examined to assess their safety, efficacy, and sustainability as this strategy expands globally. The objective of this review is to summarize the global regulatory landscape for the fortification of condiments and seasonings. Presently, legislation regarding the fortification of condiments and seasonings is primarily voluntary and limited to a few nations in Asia. The only dietary vehicles addressed are salt, soy sauce, and fish sauce, and the micronutrients addressed are iron and iodine. A marketing-driven introduction of fortified seasoning powders with iron, and indirectly with iodine, is also gaining popularity in Africa, Central America, and Caribbean countries. It is recommended that legislation regarding food fortification be mandatory in nature and follow established CODEX and World Trade Organization principles as well as World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations fortification guidelines to ensure that these programs are safe, effective, and sustainable.

Bioactive compounds from culinary herbs inhibit a molecular target for type 2 diabetes management, dipeptidyl peptidase IV.

Greek oregano (Origanum vulgare), marjoram (Origanum majorana), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens) are concentrated sources of bioactive compounds. The aims were to characterize and examine extracts from greenhouse-grown or commercially purchased herbs for their ability to inhibit dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), enzymes that play a role in insulin secretion and insulin signaling, respectively. Greenhouse herbs contained more polyphenols (302.7-430.1 µg of gallic acid equivalents/mg of dry weight of extract (DWE)) and flavonoids (370.1-661.4 µg of rutin equivalents/mg of DWE) compared to the equivalent commercial herbs. Greenhouse rosemary, Mexican oregano, and marjoram extracts were the best inhibitors of DPP-IV (IC50=16, 29, and 59 µM, respectively). Commercial rosemary, Mexican oregano, and marjoram were the best inhibitors of PTP1B (32.4-40.9% at 500 µM). The phytochemicals eriodictyol, naringenin, hispidulin, cirsimaritin, and carnosol were identified by LC-ESI-MS as being present in greenhouse-grown Mexican oregano and rosemary. Computational modeling indicated that hispidulin, carnosol, and eriodictyol would have the best binding affinities for DPP-IV. Biochemically, the best inhibitors of DPP-IV were cirsimaritin (IC50=0.43±0.07 µM), hispidulin (IC50=0.49±0.06 µM), and naringenin (IC50=2.5±0.29 µM). Overall, herbs contain several flavonoids that inhibit DPP-IV and should be investigated further regarding their potential in diabetes management.

Green tea extract suppresses NFκB activation and inflammatory responses in diet-induced obese rats with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by oxidative stress and inflammatory responses that exacerbate liver injury. The objective of this study was to determine whether the antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities of green tea extract (GTE) would protect against NASH in a model of diet-induced obesity. Adult Wistar rats were fed a low-fat (LF) diet or high-fat (HF) diet containing no GTE or GTE at 1% or 2% (HF+2GTE) for 8 wk. The HF group had greater (P ≤ 0.05) serum alanine (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferases and hepatic lipids than the LF group. Both GTE groups had lower ALT and hepatic lipid than the HF group. In liver and epididymal adipose, the HF group had lower glutathione as well as greater mRNA and protein expression of TNFα and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and NFκB binding activity than the LF group. Compared to the HF group, the HF+2GTE group had greater glutathione and lower protein and mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines in both tissues. NFκB binding activities at liver and adipose were also lower, likely by inhibiting the phosphorylation of inhibitor of NFκB. NFκB binding activities in liver and adipose (P ≤ 0.05; r = 0.62 and 0.46, respectively) were correlated with ALT, and hepatic NFκB binding activity was inversely related to liver glutathione (r = -0.35). These results suggest that GTE-mediated improvements in glutathione status are associated with the inhibition of hepatic and adipose inflammatory responses mediated by NFκB, thereby protecting against NASH.