Establishing health benefits of bioactive food components: a basic research scientist's perspective.

Bioactive food components or functional foods have recently received significant attention because of their widely touted positive effects on health beyond basic nutrition. However, a question continues to lurk: are these claims for 'super foods' backed by sound science or simply an exaggerated portrayal of very small 'benefits'? Efforts to establish health benefits by scientific means pose a real challenge in regards to defining what those benefits are, as well as how effective the foods are in justifying any health claim. This review discusses the pitfalls associated with the execution, interpretation, extrapolation of the results to humans and the challenges encountered in the dietary research arena from a basic scientist's perspective.

Preparation of five 3-MCPD fatty acid esters, and the effects of their chemical structures on acute oral toxicity in Swiss mice.

BACKGROUND: 3-monochloro-1, 2-propanediol fatty acid esters (3-MCPDEs) comprise a group of food toxicants formed during food processing. 3-MCPDEs have received increasing attention concerning their potential negative effects on human health. However, reports on the toxicity of 3-MCPD esters are still limited. To determine the effects of fatty acid substitutions on the toxicity of their esters, 1-stearic, 1-oleic, 1-linoleic, 1-linoleic-2-palmitic and 1-palmitic-2-linoleic acid esters of 3-MCPD were synthesized and evaluated with respect to their acute oral toxicities in Swiss mice. RESULTS: 3-MCPDEs were obtained through the reaction of 3-MCPD and fatty acid chlorides, and their purities and structures were characterized by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS), infrared, 1 H and 13 C spectroscopic analyses. Medial lethal doses of 1-stearic, 1-oleic, 1-linoleic, 1-linoleic-2-palmitic and 1-palmitic-2-linoleic acid esters were 2973.8, 2081.4, 2016.3, 5000 and > 5000 mg kg-1 body weight. For the first time, 3-MCPDEs were observed for their toxic effects in the thymus and lung. In addition, major histopathological changes, as well as blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, were examined for mice fed the five 3-MCPDEs. CONCLUSION: The results from the present study suggest that the degree of unsaturation, chain length, number of substitution and relative substitution locations of fatty acids might alter the toxicity of 3-MCPDEs. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.