Health benefits of Kombucha: drink and its biocellulose production

Abstract Kombucha (tea and biocelluose) has been used worldwide due to its high nutritional, functional, and economic potential. This fermented tea has been used in folk medicine to treat several pathological conditions and its biocellulose in the industrial sector. In this context, this paper presents a scientific literature review on the main phytochemicals of Kombucha and respective biological activities to assess their potential uses. The tea has presented a wide range of bioactive compounds such as amino acids, anions, flavonoids, minerals, polyphenols, vitamins, and microorganisms. Moreover, its biocellulose is rich in fibers. These compounds contribute to various biological responses such as antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antitumoral, antidiabetic, and antihypercholesterolemic effects. In this sense, both the tea and its biocellulose are promising for human use. Besides, Kombucha presents itself as a drink option for vegetarians and/or those seeking healthier diets, as its biocellulose can bring metabolic benefits. Our review demonstrates that both can be used as functional foods and/or sources of bioactive compounds for food and industrial applications.

Frailty syndrome: A target for functional nutrients?

Frailty is a late life phenotype characterized by a decline in physiological reserve across several organ systems, resulting in the increased susceptibility to endogenous and/or exogenous stressors. Although the etiology of frailty remains poorly understood, an interconnected network of putative mechanisms linked to the ageing process has been proposed. However, frailty is a dynamic process that may be prevented, delayed, or even reversed. The syndromic nature of frailty requires a multidomain approach, such as proper nutrition, as part of modifiable environmental factors, and represents one of the most promising and least costly ways to prevent and reduce frailty among older adults. Nutrient deficiencies have been consistently associated with frailty; however, mounting evidence also supports the hypothesis that beyond the traditional nutritional value, specific dietary components may exert function-enhancing effects and mitigate the extent of frailty. Thus, further mechanistic studies, along with large clinical trials, are imperative to establish the exact role of functional nutrients in the clinical management of frailty. Here, we provide a contemporary discussion of how emerging functional nutrients may contribute to modify the trajectory of the frailty syndrome.

Molecular identification and characterization of the edible and medicinal Morchellaceae germplasm collection of "mulch morels".

The accessions of the morel (Morchellaceae, Ascomycota) germplasm collection were genetically analyzed, in order to determine both their inter- and intraspecific relationships. This was done as a starting point for cultivation experiments, as well as to provide a genetic description of invasive morel populations linked to mulched garden patches, as compared with outdoor morels. The phylogenetic data, which was based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences and supported by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses, divided the germplasm isolates and accessions from the sequence database into three groups of yellow morels, and three groups of black morels, involving a remarkable monotypic genus of half-free morels (Mitrophora semilibera), the groups Morchella conica and M. angusticeps. Both Morchella groups include morel samples that use mulch bark as a vector for their spread across gardens in various locations in the Czech Republic. The AFLP analysis supported the ITS-based phylogenetic data and determined the intraspecific genetic profile of these, as a rule, almost entirely unstudied isolates.

An axenic culture system for fruiting body formation by an edible bolete phylogenetically related to culinary-medicinal penny bun mushroom, Boletus edulis Bull.:Fr. strains from China.

The ability of two freshly isolated Boletus stains to fruit under axenic conditions was tested using different solid and liquid nutrient media. One strain (YNCX04) produced numerous primordia from which fruiting bodies, 12 mm and 10 mm in length, with grey, convex pilei, and yellow-white, clavate stipes developed between 15 and 30 d after inoculation of fungal mycelium onto a solid medium consisting of mineral salts, thiamine, glucose, potato, an extract of Cunninghamia lanceolata root, and agar. The other strain (YNB200) produced numerous primordia but no sporophores. Strain YNCX04 lost the ability to form fruiting bodies in axenic culture 6 mo after initial isolation but retained the ability to form primordia for up to 18 mo. Based on internal transcribed spacer sequencing data, strains YNB200 and YNCX04 formed a sub-cluster together with four previously designated Boletus edulis strains from China. Phylogenetic analysis placed the Chinese strains closer to B. aestivalis than to European and North American strains of B. edulis, although a 29-bp fragment specific to all the B. aestivalis strains was absent from all the Chinese strains. Furthermore, partial 18S rDNA sequences from strains YNB200 and YNCX04 exhibited 98% similarity with an 18S rDNA sequence from B. edulis strain Be3. Further molecular studies are indicated to more accurately establish the taxonomic positions ofF3 and F4-3, as well as the Chinese strains designated as B. edulis.