Journal of Future Foods最新文献

The odor of the foxtail millet is one of the most important indexes to evaluate the foxtail millet quality. Different sowing time results in different quality of the foxtail millet, and the volatiles can be used as fingerprint for distinguish them. The odor components of foxtail millets from spring sowing area and summer sowing area were investigated by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with simultaneous distillation extraction (SDE). A total of 53 volatile compounds were identified in all the samples containing 19 aldehydes, 4 alcohols, 7 ketones, 7 benzene derivatives, 12 hydrocarbons, 3 heterocycles and 1 acid. Aldehydes were the predominant odor components in foxtail millet. Compared with summer sowing area, there were abundant variety and high content of odor components in spring sowing area. Twenty-one volatiles were found to be odor-active compounds. The components with the highest OAVs in most sowing area were (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, (E)-2-nonenal, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal and nonanal. Finally, 20 volatiles were screened out to distinguish the foxtail millet from spring-sowing area and summer-sowing area by multivariate statistical analysis. The results will be helpful to identify the foxtail millet from different sowing seasons and provide evidence that the spring-sowing foxtail millet shows more active odors.

Peach gum polysaccharides have multiple biological functions, such as anti-oxidation, blood lipids reduction, and immune protection. However, their impact on the gut microbiota was still unclear. Here, high throughput sequencing was used to study the regulatory effects of peach gum polysaccharide on gut microbiota using an in vitro fermentation model of human gut microbiota. The results showed that gut microbiota species increased significantly and α-diversity index (Sobs, Ace, Chao1, Shannon) decreased significantly after polysaccharide fermentation compared with control group (distilled water). At phylum level, the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Actinomyces increased (61.76% vs. 56.64%, 28.24% vs. 23.11%). In contrast, relative abundance of Bacteroides decreased significantly (8.10% vs. 19.21%). At genus level, the relative abundance of Bifidobacteria, Colinella and Parazobacteria increased significantly (21.43% vs. 19.08%, 6.32% vs. 3.73%, 6.37% vs. 0.00%), while the relative abundance of Bacteroides and Prevotella decreased significantly (3.83% vs. 5.52%, 3.49% vs. 12.15%). Precisely, peach gum polysaccharide can effectively regulate the structure of gut microbiota and has potential probiotic effects including anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, maintenance of gut epithelial barrier and so on.

Herbal therapy is a type of alternative or complementary medicine that uses natural ingredients to alleviate health issues including mental illness. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition marked by a slow loss of memory coupled with shrinkage of brain tissue, localized loss of neurons, primarily in the hippocampus and basal forebrain, and decreased levels of the central cholinergic neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Bacopa monnieri is also known as brahmi which is very well known for memory enhancer and Piper nigrum is work as bioavailability enhancer which will reduce the dose frequency and increase effectiveness on other drugs. So, this study's goal was to look at the physicochemical parameters, phytochemical characteristics, and synergistic memory enhancing effect of B. monnieri with P. nigrum a natural bioenhancer on mice with scopolamine-induced learning and memory deficits. Six group of six animal were treated respectively, once daily with ethanolic extract of B. monnieri (EEBM) (200 mg/kg), ethanolic extract of P. nigrum (EEPN) 200 mg/kg, Combination of EEBM (100 mg/kg) with EEPN (100 mg/kg), donepezil 1 mg/kg via oral dosing and were given intraperitoneal (ip) injection of scopolamine 1 mg/kg daily to induce cognitive deficits. The tests for locomotor activity, stair climbing, and pole climbing were utilised to evaluate the learning and memory components. Additionally examined were dopamine, serotonin (5-HT) and other physiological elements. The results showed combination of Brahmi and black pepper shows pole climbing, actophotometer activity, staircase activity that showed better therapeutic advantages for improving mice's antiamnesic activity as compared to single extract of Brahmi. In response, the treated groups with combined extract emitted noticeably more dopamine and serotonin. When compared to illness control, the extract's ability to improve memory was highly significant (P< 0.001). These findings indicate that the combination of Brahmi and black pepper improved memory and hence could serve as a viable therapeutic target for the treatment of neurodegenerative illnesses.

In order to improve the water-resistance and ultraviolet (UV) barrier properties of pullulan (PL) film, edible composite films were prepared by solution casting based on PL and shellac (SH). The physical properties, thermal stability, mechanical properties, water vapor permeability and UV barrier of the composite films were characterized. The analysis of the functional properties revealed that the composite films had good compatibility, water-resistance (33.50˚–60.15˚), and strong UV-blocking properties (84.60%–0.00%). The addition of SH improved the water-resistance and mechanical properties of the films, but the thermal stability was slightly reduced. These films can be used as an edible coating on Chinese cherries. According to the characteristics of weight loss, decay incidence and other indicators of cherries, the PL-SH composite films can keep Chinese cherries fresh at room temperature at least for 7 days. Therefore, PL-SH composite films may be an environmentally friendly packaging material with application prospects in the fruit preservation industry.

Methionine (Met) restriction in the diet can reduce intestinal permeability by modulating the expression of intestinal tight proteins leading to enhance the integrity of the intestinal epithelium. Furthermore, our previous study observed that 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butanoate (HMTBA) increased Tight junction protein 1 (ZO-1) mRNA expression in IPEC-J2 when compared with L-Met. This increment may be related to the decline in RNA N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modification level. Nonetheless, the impact of HMTBA utilization as a source of Met and the effects of combining it with Met restriction on the intestinal epithelial barrier in vivo remains uncertain. We constructed the methionine restrict model and Salmonella typhimurium-induced damage model, and then detected the intestinal damage by real-time qPCR, Immunofluorescence staining, and Elisa, and used LC-MS/MS to detect the m⁶A level and Met Metabolites. Results exhibited that dietary Met restraint, either through Met or HMTBA as the exclusive Met source, could drastically mitigate intestinal barrier dysfunction and the inflammation caused by S. typhimurium. The underlying mechanism involved in the impact of low HMTBA and Met concentration on intestinal barrier function alteration seems to be associated with changes in Met metabolism, along with m⁶A RNA or 5-methylcytosine (m⁵C) DNA level modification. The HMTBA addition to normal levels of Met, apart from enhancing the growth rate, fails to prevent S. typhimurium-induced damage to the intestinal barrier function.

Polymers can be produced naturally by organisms, such as chitosan, whey proteins, gums, pectins or gelatins; or in laboratories, synthetically, such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol and polylactic-co-glycolic acid. Polymers have a long history of use in the food industry, traditionally as gelling, thickening or stabilizing agents, used for the formation and modification of food matrixes. However, in recent years, polymers have been used as encapsulating materials for the incorporation of bioactives in foods. Incorporating into products such as breads, juices, or dairy products with the aim of fortifying, increasing stability or preventing degradation. The main encapsulation systems used in the food industry include liposomes, emulsions, nano- and microparticles, and their structure and formulation depend on the characteristics of the food, either as an encapsulating agent or as a bioactive component. In this work, the main natural and synthetic polymers used in food matrixes are reviewed, highlighting their applications as encapsulation systems and purposes of use.

Aquatic products are considered a potential source of novel bioactive proteins, which are used as therapeutic drugs for the treatment of different diseases (such as oxidative stress, immunocompromised, and inflammation), as well as nutraceuticals and cosmetics. However, the physical and chemical properties of proteins are unstable, and they are easily denatured by the influence of external high temperature and polar pH during processing, resulting in the loss of their functional activity. Herein, Fenneropenaeus chinensis water-soluble protein (FCWP) and Lateolabrax japonicus water-soluble protein (LJWP) were encapsulated within spherical biopolymer microgels composed of pectin and chitosan produced by the microfluidic device. The encapsulated samples remained inside the microgels when they were exposed to upper gastrointestinal but were released when they were exposed to simulated colonic fluid due to the hydrolysis effect by enzymes secreted by the colonic microflora. The results showed that microgels improve the thermal stability of FCWP and LJWP due to the interaction between polysaccharides and proteins in the microgels. In addition, microgels encapsulation did not affect the antioxidant and immunoenhancing activities of FCWP and LJWP. In summary, these microgels are suitable for oral colon-specific delivery in functional foods and supplements.

As modern technology evolves, researchers are attempting to discover novel strategies for controlling deadly lung cancer. The use of secondary metabolites from plants as a precursor in the green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has several advantages over the more common physiochemical synthesis as it includes, low cost, energy efficiency, biocompatibility, and therapeutic value. This review aims to investigate the effects of employing materials made from plant-based synthesis that contain metallic nanoparticles (Ag, Au, CuO, Se, ZnO, Pt, and SnO₂) highlighting the advantages of their widespread application in lung cancer treatment of the next-generation. Despite a persisting prejudice about the application of nanotechnological products and medicine. The phytochemicals found in plants that are responsible for nanoparticle bio-reduction include flavones, terpenoids, sugars, ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and amides. These molecules range in size from small molecules to low molecular weight (MW > 5 000) compounds. Additionally, these plant extract biomolecules serve as a reducing and stabilizing agent, resulting in nanoparticles that are stable and have a regulated form. The focus of this review is on the biomolecule green nanoparticles used in the treatment of lung cancer found in the plant extract, which is thought to be the next generation of futuristic materials.

For quality control improvement of medicine and food homology (MFH) health food, the concept of functional quality control and rapid screening strategy of functional compounds were proposed based on the dual identity characteristics. Taking Wuweisanqi Capsule as the research object, firstly, a modified method “syndrome correlation-network analysis” based on network pharmacology was used for analysis. Functions related targets were collected from common medical databases, while the clustering algorithm was used to extract the information of clinical records related to daily health care from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) database to obtain the targets. The bioactive compounds and related targets were retrieved from the TCM Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform around the five materials included in formula. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and pathway enrichment analysis were performed on the intersection targets. According to the constructed formula material-compound-target-pathway network, the potential functional compounds were preliminarily identified. Secondly, key targets and compounds were analyzed by molecular docking to further screen functional compounds. Finally, combined with references, the screening and establishing determination methods of functional compounds containing total saponins, astragaloside IV, puerarin and schisandrin were finished. The rapid screening strategy adequately utilizes the advantage of TCM background for MFH health food and the effective extracting ability of massive data by the algorithm. It links three aspects of health food functions, formula materials and functional compounds, providing an efficient solution for the realization of function-formula-component integrated functional quality control, which has great application potential in health food industry.

Sumac (Rhus coriaria) is a flowering plant that is widely consumed for its promoting health benefits and used in food preparations as a spice in the Mediterranean region. It is a high shrub or small tree with imparipinnate leaves, villus and red fruits with one-seeded drupe, and small greenish-white flowers. The nutraceutical and pharmaceutical potential of sumac makes it a remarkable functional food. In this review, the phytochemical and nutritional properties of sumac as an under valorized functional food have been discussed. Flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and organic acids have been reported as dominant phytochemicals in sumac, which are well known for their pharmacological properties that attract many consumers to commonly choose sumac in their diet as well as food preparations. The remarkable volatile compounds present in sumac give it a unique aroma that increases its acceptance by consumers and potential use in the food industry. Sumac has been evaluated for a broad range of nutritional and pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, anticancer, anti-infertility, and neuroprotective potential. This review has also briefly outlined the safety concerns concerning the use of sumac in terms of toxicology and interactions.