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 [...].

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.

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).