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Territorial Products and food-culture relationship are described. On the basis of food extra-nutritional constituents and on the characteristics of functional food (nutraceutical food), traditional Parma products, i.e. Parma Ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, are examined in their nutritional, extra-nutritional and functional consequences.
Phytoene, a colorless precursor of carotenoids, has attracted increasing attention because of its favorable bioavailability, antioxidant activity, and potential applications in functional foods, nutraceuticals, and animal nutrition. However, its industrial utilization remains limited by low natural abundance and the dependence of current production strategies on genetic engineering or metabolic pathway manipulation. In this study, we identified and characterized a naturally occurring Brevundimonas vesicularis strain (Bv-xms2024) exhibiting pronounced phytoene accumulation without genetic modification. The strain was comprehensively characterized using morphological, biochemical, molecular, genomic, metabolomic, and transcriptional analyses. Quantitative LC-MS/MS analysis demonstrated that Bv-xms2024 accumulated phytoene to 420.42 ± 98.11 μg/g dry biomass after 96 h of cultivation, substantially exceeding the levels of downstream carotenoids, including β-carotene and astaxanthin. Optimization of cultivation parameters identified 25 °C, pH 7.0, and 96 h as the optimal conditions for phytoene accumulation, while serial passaging confirmed stable production over 20 generations. Genome annotation identified the carotenoid biosynthetic gene repertoire, while RT-qPCR analysis revealed a temporal shift from early upregulation of crtE and crtB to later upregulation of downstream pathway genes, consistent with the observed phytoene-dominant carotenoid profile. Short-term tolerance evaluations in mice and chickens revealed no observable adverse effects under the tested conditions. Collectively, these findings identify Bv-xms2024 as a promising natural microbial resource for phytoene production and provide a basis for further process development and strain-level safety evaluation.
Cumulative food intake curves and diet-induced thermogenesis were recorded in women during four-course solid-food lunches, consisting of familiar and unfamiliar food, offered in ad lib or restricted portions, in order to assess a possible relation between eating behaviour on the one hand and a reflection of internal processes and subject characteristics on the other. The subjects were characterized as normal weight restrained, normal weight unrestrained, and overweight restrained. A negative relation was found between degree of restraint and deceleration of the cumulative food intake curve during the ad lib courses of any menu, and between degree of restraint and diet-induced thermogenesis (p less than 0.001). Consequently, a positive relation was found between deceleration of the cumulative food intake curves during the ad lib courses of any menu and diet-induced thermogenesis (p less than 0.001). Diet-induced thermogenesis during the first serving of a meal consisting of unfamiliar food was significantly higher in all groups than during the other two times, when meals consisting of more familiar food were served (+0.98%; 0.71%, p less than 0.05).
Food is an important factor in determining cancer incidence in many countries and regions. Food components relevant to cancer development can be divided into macro- and microcomponents. The former tends to act indirectly. The latter usually has a clearly defined action, for example as genotoxic agents. Food can have both positive (carcinogenic) and negative (preventive) effects. Total calory intake appears to have a strong positive influence on cancer incidence. Food typical of advanced nations including fat-rich food is associated with increases in breast, colon and prostate cancers. Vegetables rich in antioxidants and fibers tend to reduce cancer incidence. Carcinogenic plant alkaloids, myctoxins and other food contaminants frequently enter our bodies. Heat-cooking generates genotoxicants, including aromatic hydrocarbons (via combustion) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) through reactions involving creatin(in)e, sugar and amino acids in meat. HCAs are relatively newcomers as food genotoxicants and can produce breast, colon and prostate cancers in rodents. Some epidemiological investigations positively correlate HCA intake and cancer incidence. HCAs can produce other toxicological effects including salivary gland atrophy and myocardial degeneration. Improved food, better life styles and developments in the functional food industry are all crucila to cancer prevention.
This study evaluated the effect of fermentation on the nutritional quality of food-grade soybeans and feed-grade soybean meals. Soybeans and soybean meals were fermented by Aspergillus oryzae GB-107 in a bed-packed solid fermentor for 48 hours. After fermentation, their nutrient contents as well as trypsin inhibitor were measured and compared with those of raw soybeans and soybean meals. Proteins were extracted from fermented and non-fermented soybeans and soybean meals, and the peptide characteristics were evaluated after electrophoresis. Fermented soybeans and fermented soybean meals contained 10% more (P < .05) crude protein than raw soybeans and soybean meals. The essential amino acid profile was unchanged after fermentation. Fermentation eliminated (P < .05) most of the trypsin inhibitor from both soybeans and soybean meals. Fermentation increased the amount of small-size peptides (<20 kDa) (P < .05) compared with raw soybeans, while significantly decreasing large-size peptides (>60 kDa) (P < .05). Fermented soybean meal contained more (P < .01) small-size peptides (<20 kDa) than soybean meal. Fermented soybean meal did not contain large-size peptides (>60 kDa), whereas 22.1% of peptides in soybean meal were large-size (>60 kDa). Collectively, fermentation increased protein content, eliminated trypsin inhibitors, and reduced peptide size in soybeans and soybean meals. These effects of fermentation might make soy foods more useful in human diets as a functional food and benefit livestock as a novel feed ingredient.
Fructans (fructooligosaccharides and inulin) are of increasing interest to clinical nutritionists as functional food additives. The chemically closely related food carbohydrates fructose and sorbitol are implicated in functional bowel disease. Intestinal handling of these carbohydrates is incompletely understood. Intestinal absorption, transit, and fermentation (breath hydrogen and methane, venous acetate, blood glucose, and urine fructans) after ingestion of 10-30 g short- and long-chain fructans from chicory were studied by single-blind, crossover randomization in 10 healthy adults. Responses were compared with responses after ingestion of lactulose, fructose, and sorbitol. Breath hydrogen and venous acetate production increased in proportion to increasing fructan dose and were similar to responses to lactulose. The transit times of long-chain fructans were longer than those of short-chain fructans (75 compared with 30 min, P<0.001). Semiquantitative estimates of unabsorbed carbohydrate were not significantly different with either short-chain fructans or lactulose as nonabsorbable standards. Venous acetate curves were less precise estimates of the magnitude of carbohydrate malabsorption than were breath-hydrogen curves (P<0.01). All subjects showed malabsorption of 50 g fructose, resulting in significantly more symptoms than 20 g fructose (P<0.05). Ingestion of sorbitol with equimolar amounts of glucose did not reduce malabsorption or abdominal distress. Abdominal symptoms after fructans increased with increasing dose and decreasing chain length. The overall gastrointestinal effects of short-chain fructans seem similar to those of lactulose. Fructans with different chain lengths may have different physiologic properties and further studies of fructans in disease states are warranted.
The aim of this paper is to focus the attention on the role of rice not only as food, but as a natural dietetic product. In fact, a regular intake of rice may contribute to the well-being of subjects due to the particular positive qualities of this food (high digeribility, high biological value of amino acids, high content of EFA, positive sodium/chloride rate, high content of selenium and silicium, antihypertensive effect) which have been scientifically confirmed. Stress is laid on the particular nutritional composition of rice, underlying the dietetic usefulness of this food and the new frontiers of rice as functional food.
Soybean isoflavones show structural similarity to estradiol and therefore are known as phytoestrogen. Recently, isoflavones have received a great deal of attention for their preventive roles against hormone dependent diseases including postmenopausal osteoporosis, hyperlipidemia and cancer. Particularly, a number of studies have reported that soybean isoflavones inhibited bone loss in both female and male osteoporotic animal models as well as in postmenopausal women. On the other hand, since a kind of tablet with concentrated isoflavones has been recently applied for foods for specified health use (FOSHU), which are functional foods permitted to label a health claim by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan, Food Safety Commission submitted a report the upper limit of daily isoflavone aglycon intake from FOSHU as well as from soybean products. This report demonstrates the effects of isoflavones on bone metabolism and safety.
The effects of food restriction on immune function was investigated in germfree (GF) and specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice. They were maintained from five weeks of age under either full-fed or food-restricted conditions to 4.5 grams per day (equivalent to approximately 80% of full-fed intake) of a commercial diet. Longest survival rate was attained in food-restricted SPF mice followed by food-restricted GF, full-fed GF, and full-fed SPF animals. Food-restricted GF mice showed shorter survival rate than their SPF counterparts. This result suggests that food restriction may be just as effective as GF status for extending life span. Immune function declined significantly with age in full-fed groups of GF and SPF mice. In both food-restricted GF and SPF mice, mitogenic response to concanavalin A or lipopolysaccharide and antibody response to sheep red blood cells were lower early in life and became higher later in life as compared with full-fed mice. Hence, the maintenance of effective immunological function until old age may be the reason for food-restricted groups to live slightly longer than full-fed groups.
The aims of this paper are (1) to probe the relationship between molecular structure and protein cross-linking ability for a range of small molecules; (2) to establish whether this relationship holds within a food matrix; and (3) to test the impact of Maillard cross-linking on food functionality, particularly texture, in wheat- and soy-based food systems. A variety of molecules were obtained, either commercially or via organic synthesis. Cross-linking ability was tested using our standard model system, employing ribonuclease A and analyzing the results by SDS-PAGE. Molecules of varying reactivity were tested in wheat- and soy-based products, and the changes in functionality were correlated with changes in protein cross-linking. No simple relationship was found between molecular structure and ability to cross-link ribonuclease. Only the most reactive reagents were able to cross-link within the food matrix. Nevertheless, a low degree of cross-linking was shown to have significant consequences on the properties of wheat- and soy-based foods, suggesting that the Maillard reaction may represent a means to control food texture.
Palm oil carotenoids are a mixture of alpha- and beta-carotenes, which are used as food colorants. They may also be applied as a functional food ingredient because of the provitamin A activity of alpha- and beta-carotenes and their proposed beneficial roles in the prevention of chronic diseases. This paper discusses the results of an incomplete balanced crossover study with 69 healthy adult volunteers to compare palm oil carotenoids with synthetic beta-carotene in their efficacies to increase plasma levels of carotenoids. Four days of supplementation with natural palm oil carotenoids (7.6 mg/day of alpha-carotene, 11.9 mg/day of all-trans-beta-carotene, 7.5 mg/day of cis-beta-carotene) or synthetic beta-carotene (23.8 mg/day of all-trans-beta-carotene, 4.4 mg/day of cis-beta-carotene), added to a mixed meal, resulted in significant increases in plasma levels of the supplied carotenoids as compared to consumption of a low-carotenoid meal (i.e., 7.2-fold increase in alpha-carotene and 3.5-fold increase in all-trans-beta-carotene following palm oil carotenoids; 6.9-fold increase in all-trans beta-carotene following synthetic beta-carotene). As the carotenoid content differed between the treatments, the relative plasma responses were calculated per milligram of beta-carotene intake. These were similar for the two supplements, suggesting that the presence of alpha-carotene does not affect the bioavailability of beta-carotene from palm oil. It was concluded that 4 days of supplementation with palm oil carotenoids or synthetic beta-carotene improves the plasma beta-carotene status substantially, whereas alpha-carotene is additionally delivered by the palm oil supplement.
Various natural carotenoids, besides beta-carotene, were proven to have anticarcinogenic activity, and some of them showed more potent activity than beta-carotene. Thus, these carotenoids (alpha-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, beta-cryptoxanthin, fucoxanthin, astaxanthin, capsanthin, crocetin and phytoene), as well as beta-carotene, may be useful for cancer prevention. In the case of phytoene, the concept of 'bio-chemoprevention', which means biotechnology-assisted method for cancerchemoprevention, may be applicable. In fact, establishment of mammalian cells producing phytoene was succeeded by the introduction of crtB gene, which encodes phytoene synthase, and these cells were proven to acquire the resistance against carcinogenesis. Antioxidative phytoene-containing animal foods may be classified as a novel type of functional food, which has the preventive activity against carcinogenesis, as well as the ability to reduce the accumulation of oxidative damages, which are hazardous for human health.
The continued emphasis on the importance of dietary fibers to the Western diet and the need for products with a lower calorific content is pressuring food companies to allocate more resources to the development of fiber-enriched products. The challenge to the industry is to accomplish this goal without sacrificing the organoleptic appeal of some of their core offerings. As future research details specific nutritional benefits of individual components of dietary fiber, food companies will need flexible alternatives in order to validate new 'functional' food claims and to respond rapidly to emerging trends in fiber-enriched products. These objectives will be achieved by understanding the physicochemical basis for the biotechnical functionality of fibers and by developing, and making available fibers which provide a broad spectrum of bioactive and texture modulating properties.
Accumulation of fibrin in the blood vessels usually results in thrombosis, leading to myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases. For thrombolytic therapy, microbial fibrinolytic enzymes have now attracted much more attention than typical thrombolytic agents because of the expensive prices and the undesirable side effects of the latter. The fibrinolytic enzymes were successively discovered from different microorganisms, the most important among which is the genus Bacillus from traditional fermented foods. The physiochemical properties of these enzymes have been characterized, and their effectiveness in thrombolysis in vivo has been further identified. Therefore, microbial fibrinolytic enzymes, especially those from food-grade microorganisms, have the potential to be developed as functional food additives and drugs to prevent or cure thrombosis and other related diseases.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial, we investigated the effects of the prokinetic drug cisapride in patients with cystic fibrosis and chronic recurrent distal intestinal obstruction syndrome (DIOS). After a baseline period, 17 patients (12.9 to 34.9 years; 12 boys) received, in random order, cisapride (7.5 to 10 mg) and placebo three times daily by mouth, each for 6 months. Gastrointestinal symptoms (flatulence, abdominal pain, fullness, abdominal distension, nausea, anorexia, heartburn, diarrhea, vomiting and regurgitation) were scored three times monthly and physical examinations assessed. At baseline and at each 6-month period, assessment included food intake for 7 days, 3-day stool collection, pulmonary function tests, and abdominal radiographs. During cisapride therapy compared with placebo, there were significant reductions in flatulence (p less than 0.005), fullness, and nausea (p less than 0.05). Patients with the worst symptom scores benefited most from cisapride. With cisapride, 12 patients felt better and three worse (p less than 0.05); physicians judged 11 patients improved and two worse (p less than 0.05). No side effects were noted. There were no significant differences between cisapride and placebo periods in nutritional status, x-ray scores, pulmonary function, food intake (fat, protein, calories), stool size and consistency, and fecal losses of fat, bile acids, chymotrypsin, and calories. For acute episodes of DIOS, intestinal lavage was needed 6 times in 4 patients during treatment with cisapride, and 11 times in 6 patients receiving placebo. In comparison with unselected patients with cystic fibrosis and pancreatic insufficiency who were receiving enzyme supplements and who had no distal intestinal obstruction, fecal fat losses (percentage of intake) were almost twice as high in the study group with DIOS (31.2 +/- 20.6% vs 16.2 +/- 17.6%; p less than 0.01). We conclude that in the dosage used, long-term treatment with cisapride appears to improve chronic abdominal symptoms in patients with cystic fibrosis and DIOS, but fails to abolish the need for intestinal lavage. Cisapride treatment had no effect on digestion and nutritional status of cystic fibrosis patients with pancreatic insufficiency.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Sense line diet (SLD) is a newly developed dietary functional food that is composed of a lot of herbs. The function of SLD is to help control weight. Although it is reported that each herb has effects on lipid metabolism and obesity, these effects are not the same as SLD. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate whether SLD combined with high fat (HF) diet can influence body weight and fat accumulation. METHODS: An experiment was conducted with 40 C57BL/6J mice with an initial body weight of about 16 g. Body weight was recorded every week, plasma levels of triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were analyzed at the end of the study. RESULTS: Weight increases in the 10 or 20% SLD group were significantly less than in the HF diet group (p < 0.05). Plasma triglyceride and LDL cholesterol levels were decreased by 52.1 and 34.2% in the 10% SLD group and 15.4 and 15.4% in the 20% SLD group, respectively, compared to the high-fat diet group. HDL cholesterol level was increased by 7.8% in the 10% SLD and by 54.9% in the 20% SLD group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that SLD may be beneficial in the regulation of high-fat-diet-induced blood circulatory disorders as well as overweight.
Anthocyanins are a group of very efficient bioactive compounds that are widely distributed in plant food. Several fruits (blackcurrant, blackberry, red grape) and some vegetables (eggplant, onion, red radish) are rich sources of these natural pigments. Extracts of some of them are used as food colorants as well as components of pharmaceutical preparations and functional foods. Anthocyanins, through their ability to inhibit radical reactions, are considered to exert several protective effects in the human body. Until now there has been only a small amount of data available on their capability, in intact or metabolized form, to reach the systemic circulation of humans. The present study was designed to determine the potential bioavailability in humans of the most important anthocyanins of blackcurrants: delphinidine-3-glucoside, delphinidine-3-rutinoside, cyanidine-3-glucoside, and cyanidine-3-rutinoside. Urinary samples from 4 healthy volunteers (2 women and 2 men) were collected before (baseline) and over a period of 5 hours with intervals of 30 minutes after the ingestion of 200 mL of blackcurrant juice (containing 153 mg of anthocyanins). Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), it was possible to quantify the 4 main anthocyanins of blackcurrants, excreted unchanged in the urine (0.020-0.050% of the oral doses). We present data on the bioavailability in humans of blackcurrant anthocyanins, which are dietary antioxidants with possible biological effects.
OBJECTIVE: To establish a method for the determination of soybean isoflavones including daidzein and genistein in foods by high performance liquid chromatography. METHODS: Soybean isoflavones in food samples were refluxed and extracted by 0.5 mol/L hydrochloric acid and ethanol. Soybean isoflavones were chromatographically separated on a C18 column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0.01 mol/L ammonium acetate buffer solution (pH 4.5) (60 + 40), and then detected at 254 nm with ultraviolet-visible detector. RESULTS: The detection limits were 0.05 microg/ml for daidzein and 0.04 microg/ml for genistein, respectively. The spiked recoveries of the samples were 91.4%-113.1%. The within-day and between-day (n = 6) relative standard deviations were 1.1%-2.8% and 2.9%-5.1%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The method is simple, sensitive and applicable to the determination of soybean isoflavones in foods. It also provides an analytical method for isoflavones in functional food and the absorption of phytoextrogens from foods.