Plant Foods for Human Nutrition最新文献

Consumers have become more conscious of their diet, resulting in an increased demand for low-calorie and nutrient-rich food. Therefore, finding alternative ways to develop food products with improved nutritional values has become necessary without compromising the textural and sensorial properties. In the last few years, emulsion gels have gained much popularity for oil structuring, delivery of bioactive compounds, and development of nutritious food products. Protein-stabilized emulsion hydrogels have the most significant potential to be utilized in the food industry as they contain natural ingredients that help with clean label tags. Different gelation methods can be used to fabricate emulsion gels depending on the requirements of end products. Emulsion hydrogels' rheological, textural, mechanical, and structural properties can be modified by altering their composition, oil concentration, gelation method, and gelling environment, such as pH, temperature, etc. This review addresses using protein-based emulsion gels to develop novel food products with reduced-calorie and nutrition-rich content.

Monarda fistulosa L. above-ground organs, collected at three phases of plant phenology, were investigated as potential raw materials for application in the food industry. They were evaluated regarding essential oil (EO) content, composition, and antimicrobial activity, as well as characteristics of phenolic fractions and antioxidant properties, which may determine health benefits and potential use in food preservation. The dominant constituent of leaf EO was carvacrol. In the inflorescence EO carvacrol content was especially high at the full flowering phase (45.12%), while during the fruit setting phase its content was lower than that of p-cymene (39.75%) and thymoquinone (25.04%). In the agar dilution test, leaf and inflorescence EOs inhibited the growth of the six tested microorganisms at the concentration range of 0.156-0.625 µL/mL. Leaves collected at the vegetative phase of plant growth were characterised by the highest content of rosmarinic acid and didymin. Inflorescences harvested during the flowering of plants were rich in linarin. Flavonoid content was highly correlated with antioxidant activity of extracts. Due to these properties, M. fistulosa extracts and essential oils could be used in the food industry as natural preservatives or antioxidants, thereby contributing to the development of safer and more sustainable food products.

The use of new types of raw materials to improve the quality and nutritional value of products is an important trend in flour confectionery. Flour from extruded sunflower seed kernels (FESSK), the by-product of oil production, was used as a new ingredient in muffin formulation. Analysis of physicochemical and nutritional properties of muffins prepared with FESSK, which was added in the amounts of 5, 10, and 15% to the total weight of mixture of wheat and rye flours, as well as their sensory evaluation, were performed. According to the sensory evaluation, the muffins with FESSK had a pleasant, nutty and sunflower aroma, and the best results were shown by muffins with 10% of FESSK. Addition of FESSK, 10%, led to an increase of the content of protein by 24.7%, fat by 16.9%, fiber by 23.3%, ash by 16.9%, and a decrease of content of total carbohydrates by 5.2% and sugars by 16.2%. Enriched muffins had improved texture characteristics, particularly, smooth, crack-free surface, soft, and elastic crumb with well-developed porosity and small, evenly distributed, thin-walled pores. The FESSK could be recommended as an ingredient for improving the nutritional and technological properties of flour confectionery products.

Sorghum is considered a promising food security crop and remarkable rich source of bioactive components including phenolic acids, flavonoids, and tannins. Sorghum phenolics exhibited numerous protective effects against multiple chronic diseases. However, there is no review of the effects of sorghum phenolics on gastrointestinal (GI) health. Specifically, recent studies have highly suggested that sorghum phenolics can maintain gastrointestinal homeostasis and enhance microbial diversity and richness. Furthermore, sorghum phenolics showed GI anticancer effects in both in vitro and in vivo studies against colorectal and esophageal cancers. Treatment of GI related human cancer cell lines stimulated apoptosis and suppressed proliferation. Sorghum intake and extracts treatments reduced intestinal oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators in human and in vivo studies. In addition, understanding the role and mechanisms underlying gastrointestinal health benefits of sorghum phenolics is crucial to determine treatment strategies of different GI diseases.

The study wanted to explore the preventative effects of Aornia melanocarpa Elliot anthocyanins (AMA) to Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) by bioinformatics prediction and experimental verification. We founded 419 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in GSE28619 related to ALD from GEO database, COL1A1 was selected by the core gene module construction and molecular docking. Mice were treated by intragastric administration of gradient 50% ethanol, AMA alleviated liver injury by ALD and ameliorated the model's body weight, lessened the liver inflammation according to histopathological evaluation, increased serum liver biochemical index (AST, ALT, TC, TG and LDL-C) and decreased HDL-C, reversed the expression of enzymes (ALDH and GSH-PX), decreased cytokines expression (Ki67, TNF-α and IL-6), reversed the expression of α7nAChR and collagen I, downregulated the PI3K-Akt pathway and Keap1/HO-1 pathway (p-PI3K, PI3K, p-Akt, Akt, Keap1, Nrf2, HO-1,GSK-3β and Bcl-2), indicated that α7nAChR and collagen I may be the AMA action targets.

The Houttuynia cordata Thunb. belongs to the Saururaceae family and is a well-known medicine and food homologous plant. Herein, the isolation of an α-glucosidase inhibitor from Houttuynia cordata Thunb. and characterization of its in vitro and in vivo hypoglycemic bioactivities are reported. We optimized the extraction conditions and isolated neochlorogenic acid (nCGA), which has α-glucosidase inhibitory activity from Houttuynia cordata Thunb. for the first time. nCGA competed with glucose for the α-glucosidase binding site, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 0.711 mg/mL. In vivo experiments in zebrafish showed that effects of nCGA on blood glucose varied by its concentrations. In particular, 4 mg/L nCGA significantly decreased the blood glucose level and inhibited effects of α-glucosidase in zebrafish. This work provides a theoretical basis for the extraction of hypoglycemic active ingredients from Houttuynia cordata Thunb. and a foundation for the development of natural and effective α-glucosidase inhibitors.

Increasing evidences suggest that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is closely related to gut microflora dysbiosis, which can be improved by dietary intervention. Four natural plant products, including Cyclocarya paliurus, Fu brick tea, Ampelopsis grossedentata, and Lithocarpus litseifolius, were blended to form a blended tea product for obtaining the better flavor. The blended tea was also expected to have excellent pharmacological activity. Therefore, the ameliorative effect of blended tea on T2DM and underlying mechanisms were studied in this study. The results showed that the blended tea extract effectively attenuated the symptoms of glucose and lipid metabolism-related disorders in T2DM mice fed by high-fat and high-sucrose diet. Furthermore, blended tea extract intervention significantly attenuated gut microbiota dysbiosis, the abundance of bacteria such as Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, which aid in the hydrolysis and utilization of carbohydrates, significantly increased, while the abundance of pathogenic bacteria such as Proteobacteria significantly decreased. Certain core microorganisms involved in energy metabolism, including Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, Butyricimonas, Roseburia, Oscillibacter, [Eubacterium]_nodatum_group, Muribaculaceae, Prevotellaceae UCG 001, were also found to be improved by blended tea extract. Collectively, our results demonstrated that the blended tea may ameliorate T2DM through modulation of gut microflora. The blended tea may serve as novel functional drink for the treatment of T2DM and dysbiosis of gut microbiota.

Hypertension is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease and causes widespread morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim of this work was to screen the fruit with high angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity and kallikrein (KLK) promotion activity by three different extraction methods from 22 kinds of fruits. Results showed that the aqueous extracts of fresh kiwifruit significantly inhibited ACE activity (47.71%), whereas the KLK activity was also inhibited (4.56%). This indicated that the substances inhibiting ACE activity existed in kiwifruit might be small molecular substances such as polyphenols. The nonpolar substance existed in the ethanol extracts of grape inhibited ACE activity significantly. The enzymatic hydrolysates of red grape significantly promoted KLK activity, whereas its ethanol extracts significantly inhibited KLK activity. This results suggested that the components that lower blood pressure and raise blood pressure are generally presented in the same fruit, the former are mostly water-soluble substances, while the latter are generally alcohol-soluble substances. If certain or individual components can be isolated from edible fruits, they may significantly affect blood pressure in humans.

Understanding the nutritional diversity in Perilla (Perilla frutescens L.) is essential for selecting and developing superior varieties with enhanced nutritional profiles in the North Eastern Himalayan (NEH) region of India. In this study, we assessed the nutritional composition of 45 diverse perilla germplasm collected from five NEH states using standard protocols and advanced analytical techniques. Significant variability was observed in moisture (0.39-11.67%), ash (2.59-7.13%), oil (28.65-74.20%), protein (11.05-23.15%), total soluble sugars (0.34-3.67%), starch (0.01-0.55%), phenols (0.03-0.87%), ferric reducing antioxidant power (0.45-1.36%), palmitic acid (7.06-10.75%), stearic acid (1.96-2.29%), oleic acid (8.11-13.31%), linoleic acid (15.18-22.74%), and linolenic acid (55.47-67.07%). Similarly, significant variability in mineral content (ppm) was also observed for aluminium, calcium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, sodium, nickel, phosphorus, and zinc. Multivariate analyses, including hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA), revealed the enriched nutritional diversity within the germplasm. Correlation analysis indicated significant positive and negative relationships between nutritional parameters, indicating potential biochemical and metabolic interactions present in the perilla seeds. TOPSIS-based ranking identified promising genotypes for functional foods, pharmaceuticals, and nutritional applications. This study provides a first in-depth report of the nutritional composition and diversity of perilla germplasm in the NEH region, thus aiding in the identification of superior varieties for food and nutritional diversification and security.

Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is a gluten-free underutilized pseudocereal with excellent therapeutic and nutraceutical potential. Sprouts and microgreens produced from this plant species can be consumed regularly owing to a rich nutritional profile that can be improved by regulating the abiotic factors during their growth. Therefore, this study explores the responses of common buckwheat sprouts and microgreens in terms of growth and phytochemicals accumulation under temperature (16, and 25 ºC) and photoperiodic (16/8 h and 20/4 h, light/dark intervals) variations. Some analyses were also performed at 4 and 8 ºC. The findings highlight the beneficial effects of mild stress induced by extended photoperiod and moderate temperature like enhanced yield and phytochemical content. Extending the photoperiodic duration from 16/8 h to 20/4 h significantly triggered the biosynthesis of pigments such as carotenoids and chlorophyll in 12-day-old microgreen leaves. Likewise, a moderate temperature i.e., 16 ºC was proved more effective in inducing the accumulation of secondary metabolites including phenolics and flavonoids. However, extreme cold conditions hindered the sprouting and growth rate underscoring common buckwheat sensitivity to low temperature. These findings are crucial for refining the production strategies, ensuring the nutritional values, and optimizing the potential of common buckwheat sprouts and microgreens as "superfoods".