Multidisciplinary analysis of Italian Alpine wildflower honey reveals criticalities, diversity and value.

Wildflower honeys produced in mountain grasslands are an expression of the biodiversity of these fragile habitats. Despite its importance, the botanical origin of honey is often defined without performing formal analysis. The aim of the study was to characterize six wildflower mountain honeys produced in the Italian Alps with different analytic techniques (SPME-GC-MS, HPLC-Orbitrap, cicatrizing and antioxidant activity) alongside melissopalynological analysis and botanical definition of the production area. Even though the apiaries were in mountain grasslands rich in Alpine herbaceous species, the honey could be defined as rhododendron/raspberry unifloral or raspberry and rhododendron bifloral while the honey produced at the lowest altitude differed due to the presence of linden, heather and chestnut. The non-compliance of the honey could be due to habitat (meadows and pastures) fragmentation, but also to specific compounds involved in the plant-insect relationship, such as kynurenic acid, present in a high quantity in the sample rich in chestnut pollen. 255 volatile compounds were detected as well as some well-known markers of specific botanic essences, in particular chestnut, linden and heather, also responsible for most of the differences in aroma profiling. A high correlation between nicotinaldehyde content and percentage of raspberry pollen (r = 0.853, p < 0.05) was found. Phenolic acid and hydroxy-fatty acid were predominant in the chestnut pollen dominant honey, which presented the highest antioxidant activity and the lowest cicatrizing activity, while the flavonoid fraction was accentuated in one sample (rhododendron pollen prevalent), that was also the one with the highest effect on wound closure, although all samples had similar cicatrizing effects apart from the chestnut pollen dominant honey (lowest cicatrizing activity). Our study highlighted the difficulty of producing mountain wildflower honey and the importance of a thorough characterization of this product, also to encourage its production and valorisation.

Pesticides and Environmental Contaminants in Organic Honeys According to Their Different Productive Areas toward Food Safety Protection.

Monitoring contaminant residues in honey helps to avoid risks to human health, as it is a natural product widely consumed in all population groups, including the most vulnerable, such as children and the elderly. This is important for organic honey production that may be negatively influenced by geographical area pollution. Considering the importance of collecting data on the occurrence of various xenobiotics in different geographical areas, this study aimed to investigate the presence of contaminant residues (persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and pesticides, including glyphosate and metabolites) in organic honey samples from different production areas using different analytical methods, in order to confirm their incidence and possible impact on the food safety traits of organic production. Regarding POPs, traces of benzofluoroanthene and chrysene were detected in honey from intensive orchards and arable lands. Traces of all polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) congeners were detected at different percentages in almost all of the samples, regardless of the origin area. Traces of polybromodiphenylethers (PBDE 28, 33, and 47) were found in different percentages of samples from all of the geographical areas examined. Traces of organochlorines (OCs) and organophosphates (OPs) were identified in honey samples belonging to all of the geographical areas. No glyphosate, glufosinate, and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) residues were detected.

Impact of Lipid Sources on Quality Traits of Medical Cannabis-Based Oil Preparations.

The feasibility of the use of two lipid sources and their impact on the cannabinoid profile, terpene fingerprint, and degradation products in medical cannabis oil preparations during 3 months of refrigerated storage time were investigated. LCHRMS-Orbitrap® and HS-SPME coupled to GC-MS for the investigation of targeted and untargeted cannabinoids, terpenes, and lipid degradation products in Bedrocan® and Bediol® macerated oils were used as analytical approaches. As regards the cannabinoid trend during 90 days of storage, there were no differences between PhEur-grade olive oil (OOPH) and medium-chain triglycerides oil (MCT oil) coupled to a good stability of preparations for the first 60 days both in Bedrocan® and Bediol® oils. MCT lipid source extracted a significant concentration of terpenes compared to olive oil. Terpenes showed a different scenario since MCT oil displayed the strongest extraction capacity and conservation trend of all compounds during the shelf life. Terpenes remained stable throughout the entire storage period in MCT formulations while a significant decrease after 15 and 30 days in Bediol® and Bedrocan® was observed in olive oil. Therefore, MCT oil could be considered a more suitable lipid source compared to olive oil involved in the extraction of medical cannabis for magistral preparations.

Plant tissue cultures as sources of new ene- and ketoreductase activities.

While many redox enzymes are nowadays available for synthetic applications, the toolbox of ene-reductases is still limited. Consequently, the screening for these enzymes from diverse sources in the search of new biocatalyst suitable for green chemistry approaches is needed. Among 13 plant tissue cultures, Medicago sativa and Tessaria absinthioides calli, as well as Capsicum annuum hairy roots, were selected due to their ability to hydrogenate the CC double bond of the model substrate 2-cyclohexene-1-one. The three axenic plant cultures showed more preference toward highly activated molecules such as nitrostyrene and maleimide rather than the classical substrates of the well-known Old Yellow Enzymes, resembling the skills of the NAD(P)H-dependent flavin-independent enzymes. When the three biocatalytic systems were applied in the reduction of chalcones, T. absinthioides showed high chemoselectivity toward the CC double bond whereas the other two demonstrated abilities to biohydrogenate the CC double bounds and the carbonyl groups in a sequential fashion.