Phenolic compounds profile of optimised green and eco-friendly extracts of Eugenia pyriformis leaves: an alternative for antioxidant and antibacterial applications.

The Eugenia pyriformis Cambess (uvaia) is a well-known source of bioactive compounds. This study investigated the efficiency of Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction (UAE) and Enzyme-Assisted Extraction (EAE) in obtaining uvaia leaf extracts with high antioxidant and antibacterial activity. In a first step, different variables of the leaves were employed to define the best conditions for obtaining the extract with the highest total phenolic content. In a second step, the optimised extracts were characterised. In total, twenty-four phenolic compounds were identified through LC-ESI-MS/MS. The EAE in optimised conditions showed a higher amount of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant potential. It was possible to note an analogous potential of antibacterial activity of the extracts, which showed action mainly against Gram-positive bacteria. These findings suggest that the aqueous extracts of uvaia leaves are feasible, economic, and sustainable alternatives for adding value to uvaia leaves, which are an agricultural residue that is generally underutilised.

Influence of sprouting on the bioaccessibility and bioactivity of benzoxazinoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids of soft and hard wheat cultivars.

Grain germination increases the contents of benzoxazinoids and the antioxidant capacity of wheat and differentially affects the phytochemical composition of hard and soft wheat cultivars. It was investigated whether wheat cultivars (sprouted or not) with distinct grain texture characteristics (BRS Guaraim, soft vs. BRS Marcante, hard texture) would have different behavior in relation to changes in phytochemical compounds, bioaccessibility and antioxidant capacity during simulated gastrointestinal digestion of a tabbouleh preparation. Sprouting increased the nominal amount of phytochemicals in tabbouleh resulting in increased release of phenolic acids (up to 7.5-fold) and benzoxazinoids (up to 12.5-fold) during all digestion phases besides higher bioaccessibility (up to 2.8-fold). Sprouting caused greater increase in the bioaccessibility of phenolic acids for the soft wheat cultivar (4.5-fold) than for the hard cultivar (1.9-fold) and it increased the colon available index of phenolic acids only for the soft cultivar (1.8-fold). Flavonoids, mainly represented by apigenin glycosides, were marginally increased after sprouting but underwent relative increase along digestion being the major phytochemicals found in the bioaccessible fraction obtained after intestinal digestion (73-94% of total phytochemicals). The increase in apigenin glycosides was associated to the increase of in vitro and intracellular antioxidant capacity of tabbouleh along digestion. Sprouting increased the peroxyl radical removal capacity of tabbouleh in the gastric phase and in the non-bioaccessible fraction regardless of the cultivar. The highest hydroxyl radical removal capacities were found in non-sprouted cultivars, especially in the soft texture cultivar in the undigested and bioaccessible fractions. The bioaccessible fraction obtained after wheat digestion was more efficient to scavenge intracellular ROS than undigested samples, the highest scavenging potency being observed for the hard texture cultivar with no effect of sprouting. These findings confirm the hypothesis that the phytochemicals of hard and soft wheat cultivars (sprouted or not) have different behavior during digestion in terms of biotransformation, bioaccessibility and ability to remove reactive species and indicate that tabbouleh produced from sprouted wheat results in increased release of bioactive phytochemicals during digestion.

Effect of micronization on olive pomace biotransformation in the static model of colonic fermentation.

The effect of granulometric fractionation and micronization of olive pomace (OP) on the biotransformation of phenolic compounds by intestinal microbiota was investigated in vitro. Three types of powdered OP samples were incubated with human feces to simulate colonic fermentation, after a sequential static digestion: non-fractionated OP (NF), granulometrically fractionated OP (GF) and granulometrically fractionated and micronized OP (GFM). GF and GFM favored the release of hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein aglycone, apigenin and phenolic acid metabolites in the first hours of colonic fermentation compared to NF (up to 41-fold higher). GFM caused higher release of hydroxytyrosol than GF. GFM was the only sample to release tyrosol and sustained tyrosol levels up to 24 h of fermentation. Micronization associated with granulometric fractionation was more efficient than granulometric fractionation alone to increase the release of phenolic compounds from the OP matrix during simulated colonic fermentation and can be further studied for nutraceutical purposes.

Grain Germination Changes the Profile of Phenolic Compounds and Benzoxazinoids in Wheat: A Study on Hard and Soft Cultivars.

Pre-harvest sprouting is a frequent problem for wheat culture that can be simulated by laboratory-based germination. Despite reducing baking properties, wheat sprouting has been shown to increase the bioavailability of some nutrients. It was investigated whether wheat cultivars bearing distinct grain texture characteristics (BRS Guaraim, soft vs. BRS Marcante, hard texture) would have different behavior in terms of the changes in phytochemical compounds during germination. Using LC-Q-TOF-MS, higher contents of benzoxazinoids and flavonoids were found in the hard cultivar than in the soft one. Free phytochemicals, mainly benzoxazinoids, increased during germination in both cultivars. Before germination, soft and hard cultivars had a similar profile of matrix-bound phytochemicals, but during germination, these compounds have been shown to decrease only in the hard-texture cultivar, due to decreased levels of phenolic acids (trans-ferulic acid) and flavonoids (apigenin) that were bound to the cell wall through ester-type bonds. These findings confirm the hypothesis that hard and soft wheat cultivars have distinct behavior during germination concerning the changes in phytochemical compounds, namely the matrix-bound compounds. In addition, germination has been shown to remarkably increase the content of benzoxazinoids and the antioxidant capacity, which could bring a health-beneficial appeal for pre-harvested sprouted grains.

Interesterified fat maternal consumption before conception programms memory and learning of adulthood offspring: How big is this deleterious repercussion?

In recent years, interesterified fat (IF) has largely replaced trans fat in industrialized food. Studies of our research group showed that IF consumption may not be safe for central nervous system (CNS) functions. Our current aim was to evaluate IF maternal consumption before conception on cognitive performance of adult rat offspring. Female Wistar rats were fed with standard chow plus 20% soybean and fish oil mix (control group) or plus 20% IF from weaning until adulthood (before mating), when the diets were replaced by standard chow only. Following the gestation and pups' development, locomotion and memory performance followed by neurotrophin immunocontent and fatty acids (FA) profile in the hippocampus of the adulthood male offspring were quantified. Maternal IF consumption before conception decreased hippocampal palmitoleic acid incorporation, proBDNF and BDNF levels, decreasing both exploratory activity and memory performance in adult offspring. Considering that, the adult male offspring did not consume IF directly, further studies are needed to understand the molecular mechanisms and if the IF maternal preconception consumption could induce the epigenetic changes observed here. Our outcomes reinforce an immediate necessity to monitor and / or question the replacement of trans fat by IF with further studies involving CNS functions.

Enhancement of the Functional Properties of Mead Aged with Oak (Quercus) Chips at Different Toasting Levels.

Consumers increasingly prefer and seek functional beverages, which, given their characteristics, provide important bioactive compounds that help prevent and treat chronic diseases. Mead is a traditional fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey solution. The aging process of mead with oak chips is innovative and bestows functional characteristics to this beverage. Thus, in this study, we sought to develop and characterize a novel functional beverage by combining the health benefits of honey with the traditional aging process of alcoholic beverages in wood. Phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity were analyzed in mead using oak chips at different toasting levels and aged for 360 days. LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS was used to analyze the chemical profile of different meads. Over time, the aging process with oak chips showed a higher total phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity. Eighteen compounds belonging to the classes of organic acids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and tannins were identified in meads after 360 days. Our findings revealed that the addition of oak chips during aging contributed to p-coumaric, ellagic, abscisic, and chlorogenic acids, and naringenin, vanillin, and tiliroside significantly impacted the functional quality of mead.

Natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES): A strategy to improve the bioavailability of blueberry phenolic compounds in a ready-to-use extract.

This study investigated whether a ready-to-use extract obtained using a natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES) affects the pharmacokinetic profile of blueberry phenolic compounds compared to organic solvent (SORG)-extracted compounds. SORG extract was administered as an aqueous solution after solvent removal. Wistar rats received a single dose of crude extract of blueberry obtained using NADES (CE-NADES) or SORG (CE-SORG), followed by LC-DAD-MS/MS analysis of blood and cecal feces. Non-compartmental pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that CE-NADES increased the bioavailability of anthocyanins by 140% compared to CE-SORG. CE-NADES increased the stability of phenolic compounds during in vitro digestion by delaying gastric chyme neutralization. These results suggest that besides being an eco-friendly solvent for the extraction of phytochemicals, choline chloride:glycerol:citric acid-based NADES can be used as a ready-to-use vehicle for increasing oral absorption of bioactive compounds such as anthocyanins.