Comparative profiling analysis of woody flavouring from vine-shoots and oak chips.

BACKGROUND: Woody liquid flavourings extracted from different varieties of vine shoots and oak chips have been characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to compare the profile of compounds as potential contributors to the organoleptical properties of wine and spirits aged in oak barrels. Oak chips are frequently added to barrels to accelerate the ageing process, while vine shoots are produced in high amounts in wine-producing countries. RESULTS: The extracts were isolated by superheated liquid extraction (SHLE) after optimization of extraction variables. The SHLE protocol was performed using ethanol-water mixtures (pH 3) at 220 °C for 60 min. Compounds were identified using NIST databases, and the resulting profile was used as a dataset for qualitative and semi-quantitative comparison between extracts obtained from different varieties of vine shoots and oak chips. CONCLUSION: Statistical analysis enabled demonstration of the similarity among extracts from vine shoots and oak wood, providing the first study on this subject. The special role of phenols and furanic derivatives has been described. This study is the first stage for characterization of vine shoots as a by-product with potential for use in the oenological field.

Olive oil phenolic compounds decrease the postprandial inflammatory response by reducing postprandial plasma lipopolysaccharide levels.

We investigated the molecular mechanisms by which phenolic compounds (phenols) in virgin olive oil reduce the postprandial inflammatory response with the aim of identifying the transcription factor involved and the downstream effects. Olive oil-based breakfasts prepared with virgin olive oil (VOO) with high (398 ppm), intermediate (149 ppm) and low (70 ppm) phenol content were administered to 49 metabolic syndrome patients following a randomized crossover design. The consumption of a high-phenol VOO-based breakfast limited the increase of lipopolysaccharide plasma levels, TLR4, and SOCS3 proteins (p<0.001, p=0.041 and p=0.008, respectively), the activation of NF-κB (p=0.016) and the IL6 (p=0.007 and p=0.048, low and intermediate oil, respectively), IL1B (p=0.002, intermediate oil), and CXCL1 (p=0.001) postprandial gene expression, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, as compared with the consumption of a breakfast prepared with the same oil but with low or intermediate phenol content. Virgin olive oil phenolic compounds reduce the postprandial inflammatory response in association with postprandial plasma lipopolysaccharide levels.