1,721,229 research outputs found
Bioactive phytochemicals and functional food ingredients in fruits and vegetables
No full textToday, it is widely accepted that a plant-based diet produces wellbeing and prevents the onset of several human diseases [...]
Planning Well-Balanced Vegetarian Diets in Infants, Children, and Adolescents: The VegPlate Junior
No full textVegetarian diets, defined as being devoid of flesh foods (such as meat, poultry, wild game, seafood, and their products), are followed by a growing number of people worldwide because of ethical, health, and environmental reasons.1 Vegetarian diets include a variety of plant-based foods such as grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, fruits, and vegetables, and may or may not include dairy products and eggs. Vegan diets exclude all animal foods.
Although for over 30 years we have known that well-planned vegetarian diets, including vegan, are nutritionally adequate and promote regular growth from the early years of human development on,2, 3, 4 some researchers still discourage parents from raising vegetarian children.5, 6
This may be at least partially accounted for by the fact that children following very restrictive vegetarian patterns, which limit food choices and calorie intake, have been described.7 These dietary patterns do not meet the criteria to be defined as well planned,8 and therefore no conclusions about the growth of children following them should be made.
In Italy, 7.1% of the population follows a vegetarian diet (6.2% a lacto-ovo-vegetarian and 0.9% a vegan diet), a percentage that has nearly doubled in the last 5 years.9 The exact number of vegetarian children is not known, but likely vegetarian parents would raise children following the same dietary pattern.
Various Vegetarian Food Guides have been proposed for adult vegetarians since 1997,8 but so far none specifically for vegetarians aged 6 months to 17 years. Therefore, we designed the VegPlate Junior (VPJ), a Vegetarian Food Guide specific for dietary planning in infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and conceived to meet the Italian, as well as US, Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs).10, 11 Diets obtained with the VPJ method meet all the criteria defining a vegetarian diet as “well-planned”8 and are therefore suitable for promoting thriving and regular growth.
These criteria are:
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Including a wide variety of plant foods, such as grains, legumes and their derivatives, nuts and seeds, vegetables, and fruit. Dairy products and eggs are considered optional.
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Carefully choosing vegetable fats, consuming good sources of n-3 fatty acids, such as flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts.
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Including reliable sources of calcium and paying attention to the status of both vitamin B-12 and vitamin D.
The aim of the VPJ is to help health care professionals in advising vegetarian parents, because parental education plays a central role in achieving optimal dietary patterns in vegetarian children.1
Effect of stabilizing agents on characteristics, antioxidant activities and stability of liposome loaded with hydrolyzed collagen from defatted Asian sea bass skin
No full textPoor stability of fish hydrolyzed collagen (HC) hampers its applications, especially as food ingredients. The use of liposome as a vesicle can be a potential means to enhance bioactivities and stability of HC. HC from defatted Asian sea bass skin at different levels (0.25%–2%, w/v) were loaded into liposomes prepared from soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC) with various stabilizers (cholesterol (CHO) or glycerol (GLY)). The highest encapsulation efficiency (EE) was found in SPC-CHO-0.5%HC (P < 0.05) (85.42%), while liposome stabilized with GLY had the highest EE (74.54%) for SPC-GLY-0.25%HC (P < 0.05). After lyophilization, SPC-CHO-0.5%HC had higher EE than SPC-GLY-0.25%HC (P < 0.05). Increasing particle size and decreasing negative surface charge were found for both lyophilized samples. Lyophilized SPC-CHO-0.5%HC exhibited higher stability than lyophilized SPC-GLY-0.25%HC during storage at 25 °C for 28 days. Also, higher antioxidant activities in gastrointestinal track model system was found for SPC-CHO-0.5%HC. Thus, SPC-CHO liposome could be used as a promising carrier of HC
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Conjugate between hydrolyzed collagen from defatted seabass skin and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG): characteristics, antioxidant activity and: In vitro cellular bioactivity
No full textConjugation between peptides and polyphenols, especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) using covalent grafting, is a promising method that can modify peptides or augment their antioxidant activities. Moreover, the resulting conjugates can be intensively served as functional ingredient or supplement. Thus, the objectives of the present study were to investigate the grafting between hydrolyzed collagen (HC) from defatted seabass skin and EGCG and to study characteristics as well as bioactivities of the obtained HC-EGCG conjugate. Levels of EGCG used (1-5%, w/w) affected surface hydrophobicity (SH) and antioxidant activities of the conjugates. Overall, the addition of EGCG at 3% to HC (HC-3% EGCG) increased SH, ABTS radical scavenging and metal chelating activities (p < 0.05). FTIR spectra of HC-3% EGCG revealed the interaction between HC and EGCG via H-bonding and covalent interaction. Sephadex G-25 fraction of conjugate with molecular weight (MW) of 2771 Da rendered the highest redox ability. When HC-3% EGCG was applied in fibroblast (MRC-5) and keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells, all levels tested (125-1000 μg mL-1) had no toxicity on both cells. Higher proliferation of both cells were attained with increasing levels of HC-3% EGCG, particularly at 500 and 1000 μg mL-1 (p < 0.05). Moreover, both levels used had cytoprotective ability against reactive oxygen species (ROS) as evidenced by lowered ROS and cell death detected as compared to those found in cells induced with H2O2 or AAPH alone (p < 0.05) for both cells. HC-3% EGCG could serve as an effective antioxidant for application in foods or as supplement for skin nourishment
Coenzyme Q, peroxidation and cytochrome oxidase features after parkinson's-like disease by MPTP toxicity in intra-synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria from Macaca fascicularis cerebral cortex and hippocampus: action of dihydroergocriptine
No full textThe effects of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) administration on respiratory chain features were studied in synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondrial populations from cerebral cortex and hippocampus of Macaca Fascicularis (Cynomolgus monkey). Enzymatic activity, cytochrome a + a3 content and turnover numbers of Complex IV, contents of Coenzyme Q10, of hydroperoxides and membrane fluidity were assessed in non-synaptic "perikaryal" and intra-synaptic "light" and "heavy" mitochondria isolated: (a) from the dopaminergic ascending terminal areas of cerebral cortex of monkeys treated p.o. with dihydroergocriptine at the dose of 2, 6 or 20 mg/kg/day for 52 weeks; (b) from the dopaminergic terminal areas of hippocampus of monkeys treated p.o. with dihydroergocriptine at the dose of 12 mg/kg/day before and during the induction of a Parkinson's-like syndrome by MPTP administration (i.v., 0.3 mg/kg/day for 5 days). Dihydroergocriptine administration moderately increased both cytochrome oxidase activity and cytochrome a + a3 content in "light" intra-synaptic mitochondria and hydroperoxides/CoQ10 ratio in all the types of mitochondria, as a consequence of the enhanced energy metabolism. The Parkinson's-like syndrome by MPTP changed the biochemical investigated parameters, affecting both directly the respiratory chain structures, i.e. by respiratory chain complexes inhibition and indirectly, i.e. by free radical mediated damages. MPTP administration negatively influenced Complex IV activity and Turnover Number of intra-synaptic mitochondria, without affecting the total cytochrome a + a3 amount. In all types of mitochondria and particularly on the "light" intra-synaptic ones, MPTP-induced lesion enhanced hydroperoxides/Coenzyme Q10 molar ratio due to the fall in Coenzyme Q10 levels and the concomitant increase in hydroperoxides. Dihydroergocriptine treatment appeared to be effective in MPTP-treated animals in improving those mitochondrial features that probably suffered free radical insult
Pre-harvest factors influencing the quality of berries
No full textQuality of berries is a difficult concept to describe objectively. The aim of this review is, to better define the concept of quality in berries, and summarize the main pre-harvest factors that influence quality of the fruit. Berry quality could be defined as a set of agronomic/commercial, organoleptic and nutritional qualities: the first one comprising of characters that belong to the adaptation of the plant to specific cultivation such as fruit size, plant yield, harvesting speed, and resistance to pests and diseases. Organoleptic quality is the main set of characteristics generally related to quality attributes that are recognizable through the five senses of the consumer. Finally, nutritional quality is the “hidden” quality present in berry fruits, that comprises all the macro- and micro-nutrients, vitamins and bioactive compounds. Not only are these characteristics very variable among different species, but also among different cultivars within the same species. This kind of variability is ascribed to the category of genetic factors. The adaptability of berries to different climatic conditions (different latitude, soil conditions, production cycle, light exposition, etc.) represent the environmental factor that influence fruit quality. Finally, also the so called agronomic factors, related to the cultivation systems (open field or protected or soilless cultivation, organic or conventional cultivation), fertilization, water stress and salinity, and fruit harvest, influence the final quality of the berry fruits
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