Taste, olfactory and texture related genes and food choices: implications on health status.

OBJECTIVE: The food choices are due to a mixture of sensory signals including gustatory, olfactory, and texture sensations. The aim of this quality review was to update data about studies concerning genetics of taste, olfactory and texture receptors and their influence on the health status in humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search was conducted in MEDLINE, Pubmed database and Scopus, for articles published in English until December 2018. Two independent researches selected the studies and extracted the data. RESULTS: The review confirms the importance of inter-individual variations in taste, olfactory and texture related genes on food choices and their implications in the susceptibility to nutrition-related conditions such as obesity, dental caries, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge of variants in taste, olfactory and texture related genes can contribute to the prevention of diseases related to unhealthy nutrition. Further studies would be useful to identify other variants in the genes involved in these systems.

Characterization of polyphenols in apricot and peach purees by UHPLC coupled to HRMS Q-Exactive(™) mass spectrometer: an approach in the identification of adulterations.

The genuineness of fruit juices and purees is regulated by guidelines of European Fruit Juice Association. Nevertheless, the addition of peach puree to apricot puree is considered the most common adulteration, very difficult to discover. In this study, the composition in free and conjugated polyphenols of apricot and peach purees was performed by target and untarget approaches with Q-Exactive(™) quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Apricot purees showed a higher polyphenol content than those of peaches. Between target coumpounds, chlorogenic acid, rutin, catechin and smaller quantities of hyperoside and kaempferol-3-rutinoside were found in both purees. Apricot puree was also found to contain epicatechin and procianidin B2, absent in peach puree. Peach puree was found to contain small amounts of kaempferol-3-glucoside, absent in apricot. In order to identify untarget polyphenols, data obtained by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis were processed with Thermo Scientific automated label-free differential expression software (sieve(™) 2.1 software). Three hydroxycinnamic acid conjugates and a procyanidin were identified and confirmed by tandem mass spectrometry spectra. Some compounds of interest found from differential analysis had a putative identification, while others remained unidentified. The high-resolution mass spectrometry approach using Q-Exactive(™) quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer could be an important and powerful tool for determination of new biomarkers in fruits and vegetables. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mechanical performance of electron-beam-irradiated UHMWPE in vacuum and in air.

Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was modified by a 5-MeV energy electron beam at different temperatures before, during, and after irradiation, both in air and in high vacuum. Wear resistance, hardness, and tensile strength of irradiated polyethylene were compared with those of untreated one. Physical analyses (like infrared spectroscopy and calorimetric analysis) were carried out to investigate about the changes in the material induced by irradiation. Experimental results suggested that structural changes (double bonds, crosslinks, and oxidized species formation) occur in the polymer depending on the environmental conditions of the irradiation. Mechanical behavior is related to the structural modifications. A temperature of 110 degrees C before, during, and after the in vacuum irradiation of UHMWPE produces a high amount of crosslinks and improves polymeric tensile and wear resistance, compared to that of the untreated material.

Fast ternary and quaternary breakup of the 197Au + 197Au system in collisions at 15 MeV/nucleon.

A new reaction mechanism of violent reseparation of a heavy nucleus-nucleus system, 197Au + 197Au, into three or four massive fragments in collisions at 15 MeV/nucleon has been observed. After reseparation, the fragments are almost exactly aligned, thus showing a very short time scale of the reseparation process, of about 70-80 fm/c.

Use of ion chromatography for monitoring microbial spoilage in the fruit juice industry.

Fruit juices and purees are defined as fermentable, but unfermented, products obtained by mechanical processing of fresh fruits. The presence of undesired metabolites derived from microbial growth can arise from the use of unsuitable fruit or from defects in the production line or subsequent contamination. This involves a loss in the overall quality that cannot be resolved by thermal treatment following the start of fermentation. With these considerations, together with microbiological control, the analysis of different metabolites, which can be considered as microbial growth markers, such as alcohols (i.e. ethanol, etc.), acids (i.e. acetic, fumaric, lactic, etc.) is fundamental in order to achieve a better evaluation of product quality. Enzymatic determination and other single-component analytical techniques are often used for the determination of these metabolites. When the microbial spoilage is not well known, this results in a long and cumbersome procedure. A versatile technique that is capable of determining many metabolites in one analysis could be helpful in improving routine quality control. For this purpose, an ion chromatographic technique, such as ion exclusion, for separation, and diode array spectrophotometry and conductivity, for detection, were evaluated. Both different industrial samples and inoculated samples were analyzed.

State-of-the-art ion chromatographic determination of inorganic ions in food.

A review of the applications of ion chromatography (IC) to the determination of inorganic ions in food is presented. The most promising sample preparation techniques, such as accelerated solvent extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, solid-phase extraction, UV photolysis, microwave-oven digestion and pyrohydrolysis are discussed. Among the various inorganic anions, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus species and halides are widely determined in foods and to a lesser extent only, cyanide, carbonate, arsenic and selenium species are considered. IC determination of inorganic cations deals with ammonium ion, alkali, alkaline-earth, heavy and transition metals particularly and only a small amount of literature is found on the other ones, like aluminium and plantinum. A particular advantage of IC over traditional techniques is the simultaneous determination of several species.

Free amino acids in plasma and skeletal muscle of patients with liver cirrhosis.

Free amino acids were measured under postabsorptive conditions in plasma and intracellular water of skeletal muscle obtained by needle biopsy in nine healthy controls and 14 subjects suffering from clinically stable liver cirrhosis. The aromatic amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine in cirrhotics were elevated to the same extent in plasma and in muscle water. Branched-chain amino acids were uniformly reduced in plasma, but in muscle water only valine was significantly lower (222 +/- 92 mumoles per kg intracellular water vs. 368 +/- 82, p less than 0.001), while isoleucine (142 +/- 63 vs. 103 +/- 30), leucine (223 +/- 88 vs. 226 +/- 36) and branched-chain amino acids as a whole (589 +/- 186 vs. 681 +/- 88) were normal or elevated with an increased muscle:plasma ratio (3.12 +/- 2.03 vs. 1.41 +/- 0.37, p less than 0.05 for isoleucine; 3.00 +/- 1.28 vs. 1.85 +/- 0.27, p less than 0.025 for leucine; 2.24 +/- 0.64 vs. 1.69 +/- 0.13, p less than 0.05 for total branched-chain amino acids. Our data show that, in cirrhosis, plasma concentrations of branched-chain amino acids do not reflect their levels in muscle cellular water; only the intracellular pool of valine is severely depleted. This suggests that higher amounts of valine supplementation may be useful in nutritional treatment of liver cirrhosis. The elevated muscle:plasma gradients for branched-chain amino acids may result from abnormalities in their transport through muscle-plasma membrane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Branched chain and aromatic free amino acids in plasma and skeletal muscle of uremic patients undergoing hemodialysis and CAPD.

Plasma and skeletal muscle free amino acids were measured in patients submitted to Hemodialysis (HD) or Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) in order to evaluate the effects of these different dialysis modalities on amino acid pools; the data were compared with those obtained in control subjects and in patients with advanced Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) not submitted to Regular Dialysis Treatment (RDT). Our findings show low intracellular concentrations of VAL, total Branched Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) and TYR in uremic patients treated with CAPD but not in those undergoing HD. The observed differences in muscle amino acid pattern could be well explained by a changed amino acid metabolism regulation in CAPD, possibly related to the sustained hyperinsulinism and to an increased rate of hepatic protein synthesis.

[Study on the rapid effects of SAMe in primary and secondary triglyceridemias]. / Studio degli effetti rapidi della SAMe nelle ipertrigliceridemie primitive e secondarie

A single dose of 30 mg of S-adenosylmethionine was administered to 15 fasting subjects, scrupolously typified, eight of which were affected with primary hypertriglyceridemia, either of type II B or IV according to Fredrickson's classification, and seven with secondary hypertriglyceridemia. Triglyceride and phosphatide concentrations determined 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours after SAMe administration have shown a decrease in blood triglycerides and an increase in phosphatide levels, with significant values for the subjects with the primary form.