Agricultural by-products with bioactive effects: A multivariate approach to evaluate microbial and physicochemical changes in a fresh pork sausage enriched with phenolic compounds from olive vegetation water.

The use of phenolic compounds derived from agricultural by-products could be considered as an eco-friendly strategy for food preservation. In this study a purified phenol extract from olive vegetation water (PEOVW) was explored as a potential bioactive ingredient for meat products using Italian fresh sausage as food model. The research was developed in two steps: first, an in vitro delineation of the extract antimicrobial activities was performed, then, the PEOVW was tested in the food model to investigate the possible application in food manufacturing. The in vitro tests showed that PEOVW clearly inhibits the growth of food-borne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. The major part of Gram-positive strains was inhibited at the low concentrations (0.375-3mg/mL). In the production of raw sausages, two concentrates of PEOVW (L1: 0.075% and L2: 0.15%) were used taking into account both organoleptic traits and the bactericidal effects. A multivariate statistical approach allowed the definition of the microbial and physicochemical changes of sausages during the shelf life (14days). In general, the inclusion of the L2 concentration reduced the growth of several microbial targets, especially Staphylococcus spp. and LABs (2log10CFU/g reduction), while the increasing the growth of yeasts was observed. The reduction of microbial growth could be involved in the reduced lipolysis of raw sausages supplemented with PEOVW as highlighted by the lower amount of diacylglycerols. Moisture and aw had a significant effect on the variability of microbiological features, while food matrix (the sausages' environment) can mask the effects of PEOVW on other targets (e.g. Pseudomonas). Moreover, the molecular identification of the main representative taxa collected during the experimentation allowed the evaluation of the effects of phenols on the selection of bacteria. Genetic data suggested a possible strain selection based on storage time and the addition of phenol compounds especially on LABs and Staphylococcus spp. The modulation effects on lipolysis and the reduction of several microbial targets in a naturally contaminated product indicates that PEOVW may be useful as an ingredient in fresh sausages for improving food safety and quality.

Cardiac and Vascular Synergic Protective Effect of Olea europea L. Leaves and Hibiscus sabdariffa L. Flower Extracts.

This study was aimed at investigating the cardiovascular effects of an Olea europea L. leaf extract (OEE), of a Hibiscus sabdariffa L. flower extract (HSE), and of their 13 : 2 w/w mixture in order to assess their cardiac and vascular activity. Both extracts were fully characterized in their bioactive compounds by HPLC-MS/MS analysis. The study was performed using primary vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) to investigate the antioxidant and cytoprotective effect of the extracts and their mixture and isolated guinea-pig left and right atria and aorta to evaluate the inotropic and chronotropic activities and vasorelaxant properties. In cultured HUVECs, OEE and HSE reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species formation and improved cell viability, following oxidative stress in dose-dependent manner. OEE and HSE exerted negative inotropic and vasorelaxant effects without any chronotropic property. Interestingly, the mixture exerted higher cytoprotective effects and antioxidant activities. Moreover, the mixture exerted an inotropic effect similar to each single extract, while it revealed an intrinsic negative chronotropic activity different from the single extract; its relaxant activity was higher than that of each single extract. In conclusion OEE and HSE mixture has a good potential for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical application, thanks to the synergistic effects of the single phytochemicals.

Olive oil enriched in lycopene from tomato by-product through a co-milling process.

The aim of this investigation was to produce an olive oil (OO) naturally enriched with antioxidants, recovering carotenoids, in particular lycopene, using an industrial by-product of tomato seeds and skin. For this purpose, a technological process in a low-scale industrial plant to co-mill olives and tomato by-product in de-frosted or freeze-dried forms was applied and studied with respect to control samples. Preliminary results obtained from two different experiments were carried out by 40 kg of cultivar Correggiolo olives and 60 kg of olive blends from different cultivars. In both the experiments, the co-milling showed significant enrichment in carotenoids, especially in lycopene (mean values of 5.4 and 7.2 mg/kg oil from defrosted and freeze-dried by-products, respectively). The experimental results demonstrated the possibility to obtain a new functional food naturally enriched in antioxidant compounds, which might be marketed as "OO dressing enriched in lycopene" or "condiment produced using olives and tomato by-product".

Phenolic profiling of the skin, pulp and seeds of Albariño grapes using hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry.

This paper describes for the first time a complete characterisation of the phenolic compounds in different anatomical parts of the Albariño grape. The application of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with two complementary techniques, hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry, allowed the phenolic composition of the Albariño grape to be unambiguously identified and quantified. A more complete phenolic profile was obtained by product ion and precursor ion scans, while a neutral loss scan at 152 u enabled a fast screening of procyanidin dimers, trimers and their galloylated derivatives. The compounds were confirmed by accurate mass measurements in QqToF-MS and QqToF-MS/MS modes at high resolution, and good fits were obtained for all investigated ions, with errors ranging from 0.2 to 4.5 mDa. To the best of our knowledge, two flavanol monomer hexosides were detected in the grape berry for the first time.

In vitro antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities of Ethiopian spice blend Berbere.

The metal chelating activity, antioxidant properties, and the effect on carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes of Ethiopian spice blend Berbere have been investigated. Berbere contains a total amount of phenols corresponding to 71.3 mg chlorogenic acid equivalent per gram of extract and a total flavonoid content of 32.5 mg quercetin equivalent per gram of extract. An increase of the resistance towards forced oxidation was obtained when Berbere was added to sunflower oil. In order to evaluate the bioactivity of the non-polar constituents, an n-hexane extract was obtained from Berbere. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed the presence of 19 fatty acids constituents (98.1% of the total oil content). Among them, linoleic acid was the major component (72.0% of the total lipids). The ethanolic extract had the highest ferric-reducing ability power (35.4 µM Fe(II)/g) and DPPH scavenging activity with a concentration giving 50% inhibition (IC(50)) value of 34.8 µg/ml. Moreover, this extract exhibited good hypoglycemic activity against α-amylase (IC(50) = 78.3 µg/ml). In conclusion, Ethiopian spice blend Berbere showed promising antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity via the inhibition of carbohydrate digestive enzymes. These activities may be of interest from functional point of view and for the revalorization of the spice blend in gastronomy also outside the African country.