Sorghum grain germination as a route to improve kafirin digestibility: Biochemical and label free proteomics insights.

Kafirin, the sorghum grain storage protein presents lower digestibility compared to its cereals counterparts. Germination has been proposed as an adequate bioprocessing method to improve seed protein digestibility. Here, germination was rationalized so as to evenly sample germinated seeds and the dynamic changes of the proteome and several biochemical markers was connected for the first time with the in vitro protein digestibility of germinated seeds. Free sulfhydryl groups increased during germination and in vitro protein digestibility enhanced. The dynamic in abundance of several enzymes out of which 3 cysteine proteases were found to coincide with appearance of aqueous soluble peptides derived from kafirin at boot time of their degradation. The study provides deep information about the molecular events occurring during sorghum seed germination and reveals potential biomarkers of the kafirin proteolysis. It points a way to improve sorghum nutritional value through controlled germination.

Food Service Kitchen Scraps as a Source of Bioactive Phytochemicals: Disposal Survey, Optimized Extraction, Metabolomic Screening and Chemometric Evaluation.

Untargeted metabolomics is a powerful tool with high resolution and the capability to characterize a wide range of bioactive natural products from fruit and vegetable by-products (FVB). Thus, this approach was applied in the study to evaluate the phenolic compounds (PC) by metabolomic screening in five FVB after optimizing their extraction. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity analyses were able to select the best extractor (SM) and ultrasonication time (US) for each FVB; methanol was used as a control. Although ultrasonication yielded a lower number of PC identifications (84 PC), the US extract was the most efficient in total ionic abundance (+21% and +29% compared to the total PC and SM extracts, respectively). Ultrasonication also increased the phenolic acid (+38%) and flavonoid classes (+19%) extracted compared to SM, while the multivariate analyses showed the control as the most dissimilar sample. FVB extracted from the same parts of the vegetable/fruit showed similarities and papaya seed presented the most atypical profile. The application of the metabolomics approach increased the knowledge of the bioactive potential of the evaluated residues and possibilities of exploring and valorizing the generated extracts.

Kombuchas from green and black teas reduce oxidative stress, liver steatosis and inflammation, and improve glucose metabolism in Wistar rats fed a high-fat high-fructose diet.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of green and black tea kombuchas consumption on adiposity, lipid and glucose metabolism, liver steatosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation in Wistar rats fed a high-fat high-fructose (HFHF) diet. Wistar rats, after 8 weeks to induce metabolic alterations, were divided into an AIN-93M control group, HFHF control group, green tea kombucha + HFHF diet (GTK group), and black tea kombucha + HFHF diet (BTK group), for 10 weeks. The kombuchas improved glucose metabolism, plasma total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase activity, and decreased nitric oxide concentration. Moreover, both kombuchas reduced systemic inflammation by decreasing the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), reduced the total adipose tissue and blood triglyceride, and reverted liver steatosis (from grade 2 to 1), besides the modulation of genes related to adipogenesis and ß-oxidation. Therefore, kombuchas from green and black teas have bioactive properties that can help control metabolic alterations induced by the HFHF diet.

Metabolite Profiling by UPLC-MSE, NMR, and Antioxidant Properties of Amazonian Fruits: Mamey Apple (Mammea Americana), Camapu (Physalis Angulata), and Uxi (Endopleura Uchi).

The metabolite profiling associated with the antioxidant potential of Amazonian fruits represents an important step to the bioactive compound's characterization due to the large biodiversity in this region. The comprehensive bioactive compounds profile and antioxidant capacities of mamey apple (Mammea americana), camapu (Physalis angulata), and uxi (Endopleura uchi) was determined for the first time. Bioactive compounds were characterized by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-MSE) in aqueous and ethanolic extracts. Globally, a total of 293 metabolites were tentatively identified in mamey apple, campau, and uxi extracts. The main classes of compounds in the three species were terpenoids (61), phenolic acids (58), and flavonoids (53). Ethanolic extracts of fruits showed higher antioxidant activity and total ion abundance of bioactive compounds than aqueous. Uxi had the highest values of phenolic content (701.84 mg GAE/100 g), ABTS (1602.7 µmol Trolox g-1), and ORAC (15.04 µmol Trolox g-1). Mamey apple had the highest results for DPPH (1168.42 µmol TE g-1) and FRAP (1381.13 µmol FSE g-1). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy results showed that sugars and lipids were the substances with the highest amounts in mamey apple and camapu. Data referring to chemical characteristics and antioxidant capacity of these fruits can contribute to their economic exploitation.

O efeito da biodiversidade nativa da Mata Atlântica sobre o metabolismo de amadurecimento da banana (Musa acuminata AAA, Cavendish, cv. Nanicão) / he effect of the Atlantic Coastal Forest´s native biodiversity on the metabolism of banana ripening (Musa acuminata AAA, Cavendish, cv. Nanicão).

A produção de banana no Vale do Ribeira, em São Paulo, está inserida numa região que abriga um fragmento remanescente da Mata Atlântica, considerada um dos principais repositórios de biodiversidade e a floresta mais devastada entre os biomas brasileiros. Medidas sustentáveis, como a adoção de práticas agrícolas alternativas, tem sido o caminho para a conservação da fauna e flora, como também para a redução do uso inapropriado de terras que consequentemente pode aumentar o índice de doenças que atacam as plantas. Apesar, do razoável conhecimento científico sobre a fisiologia pós-colheita da banana, ainda não foram elucidadas quais são as respostas fisiológicas do fruto diante das alterações do meio ambiente decorrentes das práticas agroecológicas. Principalmente quais são os mecanismos de ação de compostos específicos, relacionados com a resistência da planta contra os estresses bióticos e abióticos. Também, não há uma abordagem analítica integrada que identifique os reguladores das vias metabólicas e possibilite um estudo holístico a nível molecular. Neste trabalho, foi avaliado o efeito da proximidade da biodiversidade nativa da Mata Atlântica sobre o perfil de metabólitos da banana (Musa acuminata AAA, Cavendish, cv. Nanicão). Foram comparados os frutos da parcela Biodiversidade, o qual apresenta 60% de seu perímetro limítrofe à floresta com a parcela Controle, inserida em uma área de produção de banana convencional. Neste estudo, foram determinados os perfis de etileno, vida verde, amido, açúcares, textura, cor, metabólitos semi-voláteis e não-voláteis e poliaminas. Como resultado, ambas as parcelas avaliadas apresentaram diferenças significativas no metabolismo primário e secundário, nos frutos verdes e maduros, respectivamente. Os metabólitos com diferença significativa entre as parcelas experimentais apresentaram maior envolvimento no metabolismo primário, sobretudo na via de biossíntese de aminoácidos, compostos precursores de uma ampla faixa de metabólitos secundários. As alterações quanto à abundância destes compostos são uma referência de que as mudanças do meio modificam as respostas da planta a estresses e estímulos

Banana production in the Ribeira Valley, in São Paulo, is set in a region that embraces a remaining fragment of the Atlantic Coastal Forest (Mata Atlântica), considered one of the main biodiversity repositories and the most devastated forest among the Brazilians´ biomes. Sustainable measures such as the adoption of alternative farming practices has been the way for the conservation of fauna and flora, but also to reduce the inappropriate use of land which in turn may increase the disease index that attack plants. Although, reasonable scientific knowledge about banana postharvest physiology is available, the fruit´s physiologic response given the environment changes as a result agroecological practices has not been elucidated yet. Primarily what are the mechanisms of action of specific compounds, related to plant resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, there is not an integrated analytical approach to identify regulators of metabolic pathways and enable a holistic study at the molecular level. In this study, we evaluated the effect of proximity to the native biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest on the banana metabolites profile (Musa acuminata AAA, Cavendish, cv. Nanicão). The fruits of Biodiversity group were compared, which has 60% of its perimeter adjacent to the forest with the Control group set in a conventional banana production area. In this study, we determined the ethylene profiles, green life, starch, sugars, texture, colour, semi- volatile and non- volatile metabolites and polyamines. As a result, both evaluated groups showed significant differences in primary and secondary metabolism, green and ripen fruits respectively. The metabolites with significant differences between treatments showed greater involvement in primary metabolism, especially in amino acid biosynthesis, precursors of secondary metabolites. Changes in the abundance of these compounds are indicators that alterations in the environment modify the plant responses to stresses and stimuli