Alpine Diet in Valmalenco (Lombardy, Italy): Nutritional Features of Spontaneous Plants and Traditional Dishes.

BACKGROUND: Along the Alps, the Alpine diet is considered to be one of the most common nutritional models. Next to traditional animal-based products, spontaneous plants of the territory are collected and eaten. AIM: The aim of this study is to evaluate the nutritional features of selected autochthonous plants of the territory and the typical recipe of green gnocchi. METHODS: The analyses of proximate composition, carotenoid, total phenol, and mineral contents in raw and cooked plant samples and the chemical composition and in vitro starch digestibility in green and control gnocchi were performed. RESULTS: Except for Aruncus dioicus, all the wild plants contained high levels of carotenoids (15-20 mg/100 g FW), mainly as xanthophylls. Rumex acetosa showed the highest levels of total phenols (554 mg GAE/100 g FW), and Urtica dioica can be considered to be a good dietary source of iron, calcium, and magnesium (4.9, 410, and 72 mg/100 g FW). Cooking significantly decreased the potassium and magnesium contents in all wild species, and total phenols and carotenoids in Aruncus dioicus, Blitum bonus-henricus, and Silene vulgaris (p < 0.05). The slowly digestible fraction of starch (%SDS/available starch), which is inversely correlated to insulin demand, was significantly increased in green gnocchi compared to matched control gnocchi (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Traditional consumption of spontaneous plants in the Alpine regions might increase the dietary intakes of several bioactive substances and contribute to cover the nutritional needs of micronutrients.

Nutritive Evaluation of the Bambara Groundnut Ci12 Landrace [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc. (Fabaceae)] Produced in Côte d'Ivoire.

The nutritional evaluation of the Bambara groundnut Ci12 landrace (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) seeds produced in Côte d'Ivoire shows a 19% content of protein, containing all the essential amino acids with tryptophan as the limiting amino acid, a total dietary fiber level of 10%, with a low soluble fraction content, and a fat content of 1.4%, with a high proportion of total unsaturated fatty acids (61%) of which 36% were n-6 fatty acids. This legume contains phosphorus, as the major mineral, followed by magnesium and calcium, and trace elements (iron, copper and zinc). It is characterized by the same amount of α-tocopherol and antioxidant capacity as common legumes. The high concentration of essential amino acids, n-6 fatty acids and minerals, mainly Fe, in the Ci12 landrace of Bambara groundnut indicates that this local legume has the potentiality to improve the nutritional status in Côte d'Ivoire and it could be regarded as a nutrient dense food.

Effect of cooking on the anthocyanins, phenolic acids, glycoalkaloids, and resistant starch content in two pigmented cultivars of Solanum tuberosum L.

HPLC/DAD/MS analysis of the phenolic acids and anthocyanin content of three cultivars of Solanum tuberosum L. (Vitelotte Noire, Highland Burgundy Red, with pigmented flesh, and Kennebec with white pulp) was performed. The analyses were carried out both on fresh tubers and after cooking treatments (boiling and microwaves). Starch digestibility and the % of resistant starch were also determined on cooked tubers by in vitro methods. For the pigmented potatoes, the heating treatment did not cause any changes in the phenolic acids content, while anthocyanins showed only a small decrement (16-29%). The cv. Highland Burgundy Red showed anthocyanins and phenolic acid concentrations close to 1 g/kg and more than 1.1 g/kg, respectively. Vitellotte Noire showed the highest amounts of resistant starch. Potato starch digestibility and % of resistant starch, considered as a component of dietary fiber, were affected both by cultivar and by heating/cooling treatments.

Post-prandial responses to cereal products enriched with barley beta-glucan.

BACKGROUND: High amounts of soluble beta-glucan in barley products may exert beneficial effects on glucose tolerance and blood lipids. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the acute postprandial response on plasma glucose, insulin and lipids after consumption of two experimental products made from barley flour enriched with beta-glucan in comparison with similar products made from whole-wheat flour. METHODS: A group of 10 healthy volunteers (5 males, age 25.4 +/- 0.5 y, BMI 22.6 +/- 0.7 Kg/m(2)) received at breakfast, in random order and in different days, portions (40g of available carbohydrate) of different cereal products or white bread consumed together with a load of 90000 UI retinol. Products were crackers and cookies made either from barley or whole-wheat flour in a 2 x 2 design, where the two factors were the cereal source of dietary fiber (DF), and the food processing. Barley products supplied 12 g DF, 50% soluble, with 3.5 g of beta-glucan per portion. Whole-wheat products supplied about 14 g of dietary fiber, mainly in the insoluble form, with negligible amount of beta-glucan. Fasting and post-prandial glucose and insulin were evaluated for 180 min after the meals; retinyl-palmitate (RP) and triacylglycerol (TAG) were evaluated hourly over 8 hours. Glycemic (GI) and Insulinemic (II) indexes of products were also assessed, using white bread as reference. RESULTS: Glucose curves were significantly different between types of food processing (p < 0.01) but not between cereal sources of DF (p = 0.07). On the contrary, the effect of fiber but not of processing was evident when glucose response was expressed as Glycemic Index (effect of DF p < 0.01, effect of processing p = 0.69). Individual GI values were 78, 81, 49 and 34 for whole-wheat crackers (WWCr), whole-wheat cookies (WWc), barley crackers (BCr) and barley cookies (Bc) respectively. Insulin curves were significantly different both between type of processing and fiber source (p < 0.001 for both effects). Again, insulin indices were different between fiber but not between processing (p < 0.5 and p = 0.174 respectively). RP and TAG daily profiles were not significantly different between the factors studied. CONCLUSIONS: Products prepared from barley flour enriched with beta-glucan exhibit favourable responses on glucose metabolism, and particularly on insulinemic responses. In general, cookies responded better to the addition of barley fiber than crackers. Our results highlight the complexity of the effect that barley fiber may exert when added to different food products in reducing postprandial metabolic responses.