Food frontiers最新文献

It is crucial to improve the gel properties of myofibrillar protein (MP) in the production of surimi products. This study investigated the effects of combining acetylated distarch phosphate (ADSP) with pea protein isolate (PPI) as exogenous additives on the physicochemical properties of Larimichthys crocea MP gel and elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying the improvement of MP gel quality. The results showed that the mixture of 3% ADSP and 1% PPI increased the MP gel strength to 2.1 times and water holding capacity to 1.8 times. The rheological properties during thermal-induced gelation were improved, and the surface roughness of gel microstructure was reduced. The protein conformation was stabilized by enhancing surface hydrophobicity and sulfhydryl content, and the gels showed trends of decreasing α-helix and increasing random coils. Correlation and cluster analysis showed that physicochemical properties of MP gels were closely related to the changes of protein structure and the denaturation of active groups. The molecular interaction between ADSP, PPI, and MP and the mechanism of enhancing the properties and functions of MP gel were further clarified. These findings highlight the feasibility of ADSP–PPI as an effective strategy to improve the quality of fish MP gel.

Effective geographical origin discrimination of Chinese rice requires a large database of samples to ensure sufficient data for origin verification at a regional scale. In this study, environmental similarity was used to establish a spatial database of rice nutrient element, and then the validity of the database was verified using the back propagation artificial neural networks modeling (BPNN). The spatial distribution model of 14 rice nutrient element (Al, Ba, Ca, Cu, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Rb, and Zn) on regional scale was built using an environmental similarity method for the first time. Elemental concentrations of 692 samples were used to build a simulated geographical origin prediction model for northeastern (N-E), middle to lower Yangtze River plain (Y-R), southwestern (S-W), and southeastern (S-E) in China. The results indicated that the performance of the environmental similarity model for these four growing regions was S-W > N-E > S-E > Y-R based on the lowest ranking root mean square error (RMSE) for each region. For example, the RMSEs of Zn in S-W, N-E, S-E, and Y-R regions were 2.0, 2.4, 2.7, and 3.7 mg/kg, respectively. A case study on the traceability of Japonica rice was shown that Japonica rice could be discriminated with higher origin accuracy using a simulated database (91.8%) than by the actual database (87.0%) using the BPNN model. This indicates that a simulated rice element database could improve the accuracy of geographical origin discrimination for Chinese rice and potentially be applied to other large national-scale crop datasets.

Areca (Areca catechu L.) nut is a tropical plantation fruit cultivated mainly in South and Southeast Asia. As a chewing hobby, it has become the most common psychoactive substance in the world, besides tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine. Areca catechu contains abundant nutrients and active components such as alkaloids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, proteins, and vitamins, which have been reported to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-depressant, anti-hypertensive, anti-fatigue, and other biological properties. However, at present, the resource utilization rate of the whole-plant areca nut is low, which not only causes resource waste but also damages the environment. Establishing effective, safe, and environmentally friendly techniques and methods is necessary for the comprehensive utilization of A. catechu resources. In this review, we summarized the traditional and advanced methods for the extraction and identification of main bioactive substances in A. catechu and compared the advantages and disadvantages of these methods. Furthermore, the possible trends and perspectives for future use of A. catechu are also discussed. Our objective is to extend the application of this bioactive ingredient to improve the added value, provide valuable information for developing new A. catechu products and derivatives, and improve the comprehensive utilization of areca nut resources.

Being a respiratory climacteric fruit, kiwifruit is susceptible to age and decay rapidly in the postharvest stage. Therefore, the development of efficient postharvest methods to maintain the kiwifruit quality has been a long-standing goal. This review summarizes the preservation and disease control methods of kiwifruit conducted over the past 5 years, and the characteristics, advantages, and action mechanisms of various methods are thoroughly discussed. Physical, chemical, and biotechnological methods, such as low-temperature, essential oil, and endophytic yeast treatment, can enhance postharvest kiwifruit quality to a certain extent by controlling disease, delaying chilling injury, alleviating oxidative damage, inhibiting oversoftening and off-flavor development. However, all these techniques have limitations per se, such as the inability to prevent secondary infections and potential side effects on human health. Novel approaches such as pulsed light and cold plasma or a synergistic application of several techniques may be the future direction for kiwifruit postharvest preservation.

Emerging research has shown that lactic acid bacteria in the intestines of newborns play a beneficial role in the growth, immune function, and metabolism of infants after birth. In this study, four strains of Lactobacillus were isolated from fecal samples of newborns, and a safe Lactiplantibacillus plantarum ZFM518 (ZFM518) strain was obtained after the screening, which showed excellent antibacterial activity and adhesion potential. The strain exhibited excellent ability to survive in acidic environments, simulated gastric juice, and simulated intestinal environments, respectively. ZFM518 had a bacteriostatic zone of 31.12 ± 0.33 mm against Staphylococcus aureus, a hydrophobic rate of 76.97% ± 3.35%, and a survival activity of 96.54% ± 0.14% under a simulated intestinal fluid environment. Moreover, ZFM518 can produce up to 161.11 ± 9.67 ng/mL of folate. A genome-wide investigation of ZFM518 revealed that the majority of its genes were involved in the metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates, adhesion, immunological defense, and antibacterial activity. In addition, only one antibiotic resistance gene of the antimicrobial peptide was annotated. These results indicate that ZFM518 is a new strain with a strong comprehensive ability and probiotic potential. This study can provide practical support for screening potential probiotics from infant feces and provide a theoretical basis for developing probiotic resources.

The escalating global cancer burden underscores the urgent need for more effective therapeutic strategies. Phytochemicals, naturally occurring compounds in plants, have garnered attention for their potential in cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy. Their ability to modulate molecular mechanisms and influence cell signaling pathways offers a promising avenue for cancer management. This review aims to synthesize current knowledge on phytochemicals’ chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic potential, focusing on their molecular mechanisms of action and impacts on cell signaling pathways involved in cancer. A systematic literature search was conducted across major databases, including PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The search strategy uses Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and free-text terms using Boolean operators to capture relevant studies. Inclusion criteria targeted original research and reviews on the effects of phytochemicals in cancer, with a specific focus on molecular mechanisms. Phytochemicals, including flavonoids, polyphenols, and terpenoids, demonstrated significant anticancer properties by inducing cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and autophagy. They modulate critical cell signaling pathways, such as cyclooxygenase-2, nuclear factor kappa B, and various growth factor-related pathways, and rectify epigenetic alterations, contributing to their chemopreventive and therapeutic effects. Phytochemicals represent a valuable resource for developing novel cancer prevention and treatment strategies; their actions on molecular mechanisms and cell signaling pathways underscore their potential in cancer prevention and combat. Further research is warranted to translate these findings into clinical applications, optimizing phytochemical-based interventions for cancer management.

Lycium ruthenicum fruit (LRF) is a potential source of natural colorant in a wide pH range due to richness in monoacylated anthocyanin petanin. However, the yield of LRF largely lags behind the market demand in food industry. In this study, overexpressing LrAN2 (LrAN2OE), an anthocyanin activator in LRF, produced excessive acylated anthocyanins including petanin in L. ruthenicum callus (LRC). Physiological analysis indicates that LrAN2OE extensively orchestrate the redox homeostasis, including antioxidant enzymes system and antioxidants with low molecular weight. KEGG enrichment analysis indicates that LrAN2 hierarchically orchestrate the acylated anthocyanin biosynthesis in LRC at multi-omics level, such as small RNAome, transcriptome, and metabolome. The anthocyanin yield of LrAN2OE callus cultured by 5% sucrose or glucose is significantly enhanced. Furthermore, the anthocyanin yield approach to 96.23 mg/g dry weight, approximately 3.5 folds of that in LRF, when LrAN2OE suspension cells are cultured in liquid MS medium supplement with 5% sucrose and 100 mM NaCl. Notably, anthocyanins extracted from LrAN2OE callus are stable in pH 1.0–2.0, pH 7.0, and pH 9.0, showing red or blue color within 30 days at 4°C. Our findings suggest that LrAN2 is perfect gene resource for metabolic engineering of acylated anthocyanins in LRC, a promising chassis producing acylated anthocyanins. Taken together, LRC metabolically engineered by LrAN2 is a potential source of natural food color, which facilitates to make up the shortfall of LRF as source of natural colorant in future food industry.

Fresh-cut pineapple is highly popular with consumers, but it is also susceptible to quality deterioration during storage or shelf life. This study aimed to explore the effects of caffeic acid on the quality of fresh-cut pineapple, specifically in relation to epigenetic regulation. The application of caffeic acid efficiently maintained fruit quality of pineapple slices stored at 4°C. Interestingly, caffeic acid treatment resulted in the increased accumulation of flavonoids in fresh-cut pineapple. Moreover, the expression of several flavonoids biosynthesis-related genes (AcPAL, AcF3’H, AcCHI, AcCHS2, Ac4CL, and AcFLS) was upregulated by caffeic acid. Furthermore, caffeic acid increased the methylation levels of H3K4me3, a gene-activated epigenetic marker, at the loci of AcF3’H, AcCHI, AcCHS2, Ac4CL, and AcFLS. Overall, these findings suggest that the treatment with caffeic acid leads to increased levels of H3K4me3 and activates the expression of flavonoids biosynthesis-related genes, thereby promoting the accumulation of flavonoids and maintaining the quality of pineapple slices.

Maintaining freshness and quality is crucial in the meat industry, as lipid oxidation can lead to undesirable odors, flavors, and potential health risks. Traditional methods for assessing meat freshness often involve time-consuming and destructive techniques, highlighting the need for rapid, noninvasive approaches. Recent advancements in spectroscopic and chromogenic sensor array technologies have opened up new avenues for monitoring meat quality parameters, offering the potential for real-time, accurate, and cost-effective solutions. As thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value is a classic indicator of meat lipid oxidation, this study investigated the data fusion of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and paper chromogenic array (PCA) for monitoring ground beef TBARS. A standardized PCA was fabricated by photolithography with nine chemoresponsive dyes. Changes in ground beef volatile organic compounds during storage were captured in the shifts of PCA color patterns. Nippy, an open-source Python module, was used for automated NIR spectra preprocessing. The optimal preprocessing pipeline was found by 10-fold cross-validation in machine learning model development. Among optimized models, partial least square regression showed the best performance in coefficient of determination (R²) of .9477, root mean squared error of prediction of 0.0545 mg malondialdehyde/kg meat, and residual prediction deviation of 4.3717. The promising result of this study indicated the potential for NIR and PCA combinations to monitor TBARS values for ground beef freshness assessment.

Microplastics (MPs) have emerged as a significant food-related risk factor, posing potential threats to human health through dietary intake and the food chain. This review comprehensively analyses the impact of MPs as a novel food safety risk factor on human health (in particular on the gastrointestinal route). Furthermore, we explore the potential mechanisms by which dietary fibers (DFs) may alleviate the health risks associated with MPs. The impact of DFs on human health is intricately linked to factors such as their size, concentration, and composition. We characterize current knowledge and highlight gaps. Although DFs may be a potential strategy to reduce the impact of MPs on organism health, more in-depth studies are needed to determine their practical effects and application prospects. In particular, research on MPs that actively reduce intake in vivo remains relatively limited and needs to receive more attention from the scientific community.