Development of an easy-to-set-up multiple heart-cutting achiral-chiral LC-LC method for the analysis of branched-chain amino acids in commercial tablets.

In this paper, the development and application of a multiple heart-cutting achiral-chiral LC-LC method (mLC-LC) for the analysis of dansylated (Dns) branched-chain amino acids in commercial tablets are described. In the first dimension, a Waters Xbridge RP C18 achiral column was used under gradient conditions with buffered aqueous solution and acetonitrile. The elution order Dns-valine (Dns-Val) < Dns-isoleucine (Dns-Ile) < Dns-leucine (Dns-Leu) turned out with full resolution between adjacent peaks: 7.25 and 1.50 for the Val/Ile and the Ile/Leu pairs, respectively. A "research" validation study was performed, revealing high accuracy (Recovery%) and precision (RSD%) using two external set solutions, respectively, in the range 93.7%-104.1% and 0.4%-3.2%. The C18 column was connected via a two-position six-port switching valve to the quinidine-based Chiralpak quinidine-anion-exchange chiral column. A water/acetonitrile, 30/70 (v/v) with 50 mM ammonium acetate (apparent pH of 5.5) eluent allowed getting the three enantiomers' pairs resolved: RS equal to 4.3 for Dns-Val and Dns-Ile, and 1.7 for Dns-Leu. The application of the mLC-LC method confirmed that the content of Val, Ile, and Leu in the tablets was compliant with that labeled by the producer. Only l-enantiomers were found in the food supplement, as confirmed by LC-MS/MS analysis.

In vitro evaluation of the immunomodulatory activity of the nutraceutical formulation AminoDefence.

Immune system (IS) functionality is warranted by inter-dependent processes that balance body defences without exceeding in inflammation. An ideal nutraceutical approach should sustain the protective IS activity while controlling inflammation. The potential immunomodulatory activity of the food supplement (FS) AminoDefence was studied in resting macrophages RAW264.7 and following stimulation of bacterial- and viral-associated inflammation trough LPS and PolyI:C treatments, respectively. In unstimulated macrophages, the formulation exerted a dose-dependent immunostimulant activity by up-regulating NO, IL-6, TNF-α and MCP-1 release, while it dampened the aberrant release of these factors induced by pro-inflammatory stimuli. Exploring the contribution of single components Echinacea purpurea (E. purpurea) extract and quercetin, used at proportional concentrations than in whole formulation, a more pronounced immunostimulant effect was observed for E. purpurea, and an anti-inflammatory activity for quercetin. Hence, AminoDefence exerts an immunomodulatory activity in macrophages by effectively stimulating a protective inflammatory response and limiting it in cases of excessive inflammation.

Efficacy of ready-to-use food supplement for treatment of moderate acute malnutrition among children aged 6 to 59 months.

Moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) is a persistent public health problem in Tanzania. The current approach for its management is nutrition counselling. However, there has been no commercial production of ready-to-use supplementary foods for the management of MAM in the country but rather imported from companies outside the country. The objective of the study was to determine the ability of a ready-to-use food supplementation versus corn soya blend (CSB+) to manage MAM. The randomised controlled trial employed three parallel arm approach. The first arm received CSB+ and infant and young child feeding (IYCF) counselling, the second arm received ready-to-use food (RUF) and IYCF counselling and the third arm, a control group, received IYCF as standard care for three consecutive months. Results indicated that the overall proportion of children who recovered from MAM was 65.6%. There was a significant difference (p < 0.001) in the proportion of children who recovered from MAM between the three arms (CSB+, RUF and standard care). Results revealed further a high recovery rate of 83.7% in the RUF arm, followed by 71.9% in the CSB+ arm and 41% in the standard care arm. The risk differences for RUF compared with CSB+ and standard care were 11.8% and 42.7%, respectively. RUFs can be used as an alternative supplement to conventional CSB+ for the management of MAM in children and, thus, has the potential to scale up its use to address the problem of MAM among 6 to 59 months' children.

A Pilot Prospective Study Evaluating the Effect of Curcuma-Based Herbal Food Supplement on the Outcome of In Vitro Fertilization in Patients Testing Positive for Four Immunological Biomarkers.

Background and Objectives: Inflammation and oxidative stress have been described to reduce the chance for pregnancy instauration and maintenance. NOFLAMOX, a recently developed herbal preparation with recognized antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, can represent an interesting treatment to increase the chance of pregnancy, both physiological or after in vitro fertilization (IVF). The aim of this study was to assess NOFLAMOX's effect; a population with unexplained infertility was screened for the recently described IMMUNOX panel based on four immunological biomarkers with a prospective study approach. Materials and Methods: Patients with unexplained infertility and positive for at least one of the biomarkers of the IMMUNOX panel were included in this study and treated with NOFLAMOX for three months prior to an IVF cycle. Results: Eighty-six patients (n = 86) were screened with the IMMUNOX panel and the forty-seven (54.5%) found positive were included in this study. In more detail, 11 were positive for TNFα (23.4%), 18 (38.3%) for glycodelin (GLY), 29 (61.7%) for Total Oxidative Status (TOS), and 32 (68.1%) for Complement Activity Toxic Factor (CATF). After three months of treatment, a significant reduction in the number of IMMUNOX-positive patients was observable, with 26 patients who turned IMMUNOX-negative displaying a quantitative statistically significant variation of 100% (11/11), 38.9% (7/18), 65.5% (18/29), and 75% (24/32), for TNFα, glycodelin, TOS, and CATF, respectively. Followed in the subsequent IVF cycle, this NOFLAMOX-treated population showed a pregnancy rate of 42.3% compared to the 4.7% of the IMMUNOX-positive group of patients. Conclusions: Taken together, the results of this study suggest that NOFLAMOX could represent an interesting option for those patients with unexplained infertility of inflammatory/oxidative origin. Further studies are needed to confirm these results and explore possible strategies to restore fertility in women with immune-mediated sterility.

Zinc citrate-coated whey protein nanoparticles alleviate kidney damage and the disturbances in inflammatory gene expression in rats.

This work was conducted to synthesize whey protein nanoparticles (WPNPs) for the coating of zinc citrate (Zn CITR) at three levels and to study their protective role against CCl4 -induced kidney damage and inflammatory gene expression disorder in rats. Seventy male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into seven groups and treated orally for 4 weeks as follows; the control group, the group treated twice a week with CCl4 (5 mL/kg b.w), the groups received CCl4 plus WPNPs (300 mg/kg b.w); the group received 50 mg/kg b.w of Zn CITR or the three formulas of Zn CITR-WPNPs at low, medium and high doses (LD, MD, and HD). Blood and kidney samples were collected for different assays and histological analyses. The fabricated particles were semispherical, with an average size of 160 ± 2.7, 180 ± 3.1, and 200 ± 2.6 nm and ζ potential of -126, -93, and -84 mV for ZN CITR-WPNPs (LD), Zn CITR-WPNPs (MD), and ZN CITR-WPNPs (HD), respectively. CCl4 significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05) kidney function indices, oxidative stress markers, messenger RNA expression of transforming growth factor-ß1, interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-10, IL-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and tumor necrosis factor-α and significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05) renal superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase along with the histological changes in the kidney tissues. WPNPs, Zn CITR, and Zn CITR loaded WPNPS showed a protective effect against these complications and Zn CITR-WPNPs (LD) was more effective. WPNPs can be used effectively for coating Zn CITR at a level of 7 mg/g WPNPs to be used as a supplement for the protection of the kidney against different toxicants to enhance immunity and avoid harm of excess Zn.

Preparation and Characterization of a Multicomponent Arthrospira platensis Biomass Hydrolysate with Superior Anti-Hypertensive, Anti-Hyperlipidemic and Antioxidant Activities via Selective Proteolysis.

Arthrospira platensis biomass is a sustainable source of bioactive products for the food, cosmetic, and medicine industries. As well as primary metabolites, different secondary metabolites can be obtained via distinct enzymatic degradation of biomass. In this work, different hydrophilic extracts were obtained after treating the biomass with: (i) a serine endo-peptidase (Alcalase®), (ii) a mixture of amino-, dipeptidyl-, and endo-peptidases (Flavourzyme®), (iii) a mixture of endo-1,3(4)-ß-glucanase and an endo-1,4-xylanase, and ß-glucanase (Ultraflo®), and (iv) an exo-1,3-glucanase (Vinoflow®) (all the enzymes from Novozymes A/S (bagsvaerd, Denmark)); with subsequent extraction of the biocomponents with an isopropanol/hexane mixture. The composition of each aqueous phase extract (in terms of amino acids, peptides, oligo-elements, carbohydrates, and phenols) and their in vitro functional properties were compared. The conditions described in this work using the enzyme Alcalase® permits the extraction of eight distinctive peptides. This extract is 7.3 times more anti-hypertensive, 106 times more anti-hypertriglyceridemic, 26 times more hypocholesterolemic, has 4.4 times more antioxidant activities, and has 2.3 times more phenols, than the extract obtained without any prior enzyme biomass digestion. Alcalase® extract is an advantageous product with potential application in functional food, pharmaceutics, and cosmetics.

Suspected adverse reactions to medications and food supplements containing Serenoa repens: A worldwide analysis of pharmacovigilance and phytovigilance spontaneous reports.

The safety of Serenoa repens (SR)-containing products was evaluated conducting a retrospective worldwide analysis of pharmaco- and phytovigilance report forms of suspected adverse reactions (SARs) collected up to 31 January 2022. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) of serious SAR. A total of 1810 report forms were analysed; 92% of subjects were males, with a median age of 69 years; 44% of cases were defined as serious. Subjects exposed to dietary supplements had a higher risk of developing serious SARs (OR: 1.60 [95% CI: 1.20-2.15]), as subjects exposed to 2-5 (OR: 1. 83 [95% CI: 1.30-2.58]) or more than 5 (OR: 3.45 [95% CI: 2.36-5.06]) suspect/interacting products. The probability of experiencing serious SAR was higher for subjects exposed to concomitant products (OR: 1.55 [95% CI: 1.15-2.08]), to more than four active compounds (OR: 4.38 [95% CI: 3.21-5.99]) and to SR for more than 14 days (OR: 1.89 [95% CI: 1.10-3, 22]), and lower for subjects exposed to higher doses of SR (OR: of 0.34 [95% CI: 0.20-0.58]). This evidence improves awareness on safety of SR containing products, suggesting the need of a further update of periodic reviews by national and international regulatory agencies.

Development of the whole tomato and olive-based food supplement enriched with anti-platelet aggregating nutrients.

BACKGROUND: Platelet dysfunctions are shared by cardiovascular diseases and a wide range of inflammatory diseases. AIMS: To determine the ability of a new whole tomato-based food supplement (WTBFS) containing carotenoid and olive polyphenols to inhibit platelet aggregation. METHODS: Aggregation was evaluated in platelet-rich plasma using microtiter plates and a plate reader. RESULTS: Platelets treated with WTBFS showed a >70% reduction of 5 µM adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation; at 10 µM of ADP, the inhibitory effect of WTBFS was reduced of about 50%. Similarly, 78% and 48% reduction were obtained using 5 µg/mL and 10 µg /mL of collagen as an agonist. CONCLUSION: Since the compounds in WTBFS share the ability to inhibit STAT3, the inhibition of its signaling pathway may represent the mechanism underlying the antiplatelet activities. The activity of a lipophilic solution prepared from WTBS was in vitro tested on the platelet aggregation in response to ADP agonists and Collagen.

Improving Whole Tomato Transformation for Prostate Health: Benign Prostate Hypertrophy as an Exploratory Model.

It is well-established that the beneficial properties of single phytonutrients can be better attained when they are taken with the complex of the molecules present in their natural milieu. Tomato, the fruit providing the most comprehensive complex of prostate-health-preserving micronutrients, has been shown to be superior to its single-nutrient counterparts in decreasing the incidence of age-related prostate diseases. Herein, we describe a novel tomato food supplement enriched with olive polyphenols, containing cis-lycopene concentrations far exceeding those present in industry-produced tomato commodities. The supplement, endowed with antioxidant activity comparable to that of N-acetylcysteine, significantly reduced, in experimental animals, the blood levels of prostate-cancer-promoting cytokines. In prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies performed on patients affected by benign prostatic hyperplasia, its uptake significantly improved urinary symptoms and quality of life. Therefore, this supplement can complement and, in some cases, be an alternative to current benign prostatic hyperplasia management. Furthermore, the product suppressed carcinogenesis in the TRAMP mouse model of human prostate cancer and interfered with prostate cancer molecular signaling. Thus, it may offer a step forward in exploring the potential of tomato consumption to delay or prevent the onset of age-related prostate diseases in high-risk individuals.

The Potential of Algae in the Nutricosmetic Sector.

Seaweeds or algae are marine autotrophic organisms. They produce nutrients (e.g., proteins, carbohydrates, etc.) essential for the survival of living organisms as they participate in biochemical processes and non-nutritive molecules (such as dietary fibers and secondary metabolites), which can improve their physiological functions. Seaweed polysaccharides, fatty acids, peptides, terpenoids, pigments, and polyphenols have biological properties that can be used to develop food supplements and nutricosmetic products as they can act as antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory compounds. This review examines the (primary and secondary) metabolites produced by algae, the most recent evidence of their effect on human health conditions, with particular attention to what concerns the skin and hair's well-being. It also evaluates the industrial potential of recovering these metabolites from biomass produced by algae used to clean wastewater. The results demonstrate that algae can be considered a natural source of bioactive molecules for well-being formulations. The primary and secondary metabolites' upcycling can be an exciting opportunity to safeguard the planet (promoting a circular economy) and, at the same time, obtain low-cost bioactive molecules for the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries from low-cost, raw, and renewable materials. Today's lack of methodologies for recovering bioactive molecules in large-scale processes limits practical realization.

Effects of the inclusion of coffee pulp silage in the diet on the performance and profitability of crossbred milk cows in the middle tropics.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of coffee pulp silage (CPS) on the performance and profitability of crossbred cows in the middle tropics. The research took place at the Villa Marina Experimental Farm of the University of Pamplona, Pamplonita, Colombia. Four lactating multiparous bovines with a body weight of 380 ± 10 kg, 6 ± 0.03 years of age and a body condition of 3.8 on a scale of 1 to 5. The animals were distributed in a balanced 4 × 4 Latin square for residual effect. The experiment consisted of four subperiods of 21 days each, being the first 14 days of adaptation to the experimental diet and 7 days for taking samples. The base diet consisted of Pennisetum sp. forage, concentrated in a proportion of 0.2% of body weight, water, and mineralized salt at will. The inclusion of the CPS was included in levels of 4, 8, and 12% of the dry matter (DM) intake. DM intake parameters, nutrient digestibility, milk production and composition, blood parameters, and economic analysis were evaluated. Treatments were compared using orthogonal contrasts; contrasts were constructed in order to evaluate the effects of inclusion of CPS, and the linear and quadratic effects of level inclusion in the DM of the diet. For the variables which did not present inclusion of CPS effect but a linear or quadratic effect was significant, a Dunnett's test was performed to identify whether a supplemented treatment differed from the control. Significance was considered at P < 0.05 and tendencies when 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10. The inclusion of CPS in the diet increases (P < 0.05) the voluntary intake in kg day-1 of DM, organic matter (OM), CP, ethereal extract (EE), non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC), digested OM (DM), neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein (NDFap), DNDF and dietary NTD concentration, the total digestibility of DM and OM, and dietary DOM content. The production and chemical composition of milk was not affected (P > 0.10) by the inclusion of EPC in the diet. The inclusion of CPS increased (P < 0.05) the concentration of albumin and globulins in the blood. The inclusion of CPS in the diet improved the productive efficiency of dairy cattle. The inclusion of 4% CPS in the DM of the diet is a nutritional strategy, which improves the nutritional characteristics and the concentration of albumin and globulins in the blood of crossed dairy cows in the middle tropics and benefit: cost ratio without affecting milk production.

The need for European harmonization of Nutrivigilance in a public health perspective: a comprehensive review.

According to the European Union regulation, some countries have established a pre-market notification system for food supplements while others have not. As this regulation is unfulfilled, a notified and marketed food supplement ingredient in one country may be forbidden in another. Even though food supplements shall not be placed on the market if unsafe, some products may still expose the consumers to risks. The risk is increased by easier access due to worldwide dissemination fostered by the internet and free movement of goods in the European Union. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed and the Emerging Risks Exchange Network are described. To date, the European Union legislation does not include a provision to establish a dedicated vigilance system for food supplements (Nutrivigilance). Six European Union countries have nevertheless set up national systems, which are presented. The present lack of European Union data collection harmonization, does not allow easy cooperation between countries. This article advocates for creating a coordinated European Nutrivigilance System to detect and scrutinize adverse effects of food supplements. This, to help in directing science-based risk assessments and reinforce the science-based decision of policy makers to improve public health safety.

Quality evaluation of commercial herbal products using chemical methods.

Herbal products comprise a wide spectrum of locally, nationally or internationally commercialized commodities. As these products have an increasingly important position in healthcare systems worldwide, a detailed product quality assessment is of crucial importance. For the quality evaluation of commercial herbal products, a wide range of methods were used, from simpler, quicker, and cost-effective HPTLC, to hyphenated methods with MS or NMR, where more precise quantification or specific structural information is required. Additionally, most of the methods have been coupled with chemometric tools, such as PCA, or PDA, for the multivariate analysis of the high amount of data generated by chromatograms, electropherograms or spectra. The chemical methods have revealed the widespread presence of low or variable quality herbal products in the marketplace. The majority of analytical investigations present major, qualitative and quantitative, inter-product variations of their chemical composition, ranging from missing ingredients, to strikingly and unnaturally high concentrations of some compounds. Moreover, the inter-batch quality variations were frequently reported, as well as the presence of some undesirable substances. The chemical analysis of herbal products is a vital component to raise the overall awareness of quality in the herbal market and generate a quality driven approach.

Dietary supplement use in Greece: methodology and findings from the National Health and Nutrition Survey - HYDRIA (2013-2014).

The use of dietary supplements (DS) is increasing worldwide. There is limited evidence of their intake level and mode of consumption in association with the Greek population's dietary and lifestyle habits. Adults (n 4011, 1873 males and 2138 females) aged > 18 years old living in Greece were included in the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Survey - HYDRIA. A dietary supplement user (DSU) was defined as anyone who reported one or more DS on either a Food Propensity Questionnaire, two 24-h dietary recalls, or a questionnaire completed during the blood sample collection examination. DS use was examined according to socio-economic, anthropometric and lifestyle characteristics and the participants' health and dietary status. DS use was reported by 31 % of the population (40 % women and 22 % men), and it was higher among individuals living in urban areas, men with good self-reported health status and women with a chronic medical condition and higher consumption of fruits. The types of DS more frequently reported were multivitamins with minerals (5·4 %), Ca (5·3 %), multivitamins (4·7 %) and Fe (4·6 %). MVM supplements were preferred by men, while Ca was more frequently reported by women and participants with low education levels. Plant- and oil-based supplement use was below 5 %. Whether DS intake benefits health must be explored. It should also be assessed if dietary supplement intake is as efficient as food intake.

Impact of TOTUM-63, a fibre and polyphenol rich plant-based composition, on gut and pancreatic hormone secretion in diet-induced obese mice.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: TOTUM-63, a fibre and polyphenol rich plant-based composition, has been demonstrated to significantly improve body weight and glucose homeostasis in animal models of obesity. Our study aimed at exploring whether the mechanisms include modulation of gut (glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP), glucagon-like petide-1 (GLP-1), cholecystokinin (CCK), peptide YY (PYY)) and pancreatic (insulin, glucagon) hormones, all important regulators of glucose control, appetite and body weight. METHODS AND RESULTS: Male C57BL/6JRJ mice were assigned to either standard chow (CON), high fat diet (HF, 60% energy from fat) or HF-TOTUM-63 (HF diet 60% supplemented with TOTUM-63 2.7%) for 10 weeks. In vivo glucose homeostasis (oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), intraperitoneal pyruvate tolerance test (ipPTT)), glucose-induced portal vein hormone concentration, gut hormone gene expression and protein content as well as enteroendocrine cell contents were assessed at the end of the dietary intervention. The present study evidenced that TOTUM-63 reduced food intake, limited weight gain and improved glucose and pyruvate tolerance of HF-fed animals. This was associated with an increase in PYY content in the colon, an altered pattern of PYY secretion between fasted and glucose-stimulated states, and with a significant improvement in the portal vein concentration of GLP-1, insulin and glucagon, but not GIP and CCK, in response to glucose stimulation. CONCLUSION: Overall, these data suggest that TOTUM-63 might have a specific impact on gut L-cells and on the expression and secretion of GLP-1 and PYY incretins, potentially contributing to the reduced food intake, body weight gain and improved glucose homeostasis.

Relationship between socioeconomic, demographic, health and social characteristics and ability to access reliable information on herbal and food supplements: analysis of Thai Health Literacy Survey 2019.

BACKGROUND: The consumption of herbal and food supplements attributing to health expenditures in Thailand has been increasing over the years. However, information on herbal and food supplement products can make it difficult for some people with limited health literacy to use. Evidence from previous studies outside Thailand shows that SES disadvantaged groups are more likely to have limited health literacy compared with their counterparts with advantaged SES. The present study adds to this body of knowledge through an exploration of health literacy competencies related to herbal and food supplement consumption to determine what competency would be most problematic among Thai people. The study also investigated the influences of demographic and socio-economic factors on the most problematic health literacy competency on herbal and food supplements. METHODS: The THL-S used a stratified three-stage-sampling to draw a sample of Thais aged 15 years and above. Participants were interviewed with a questionnaire of 34 items measuring health literacy and 8 items measuring behavioural practices. Responses to questions on accessing, understanding, communicating, and making decisions related to herbal and food supplement consumption were analysed. A logistic regression model was used to explore the association between having difficulties in accessing information and participant's socio-economic factors. RESULTS: Levels of difficulties the participants experienced varied among their health literacy competencies. Accessing reliable information was found to be the most problematic health literacy competency faced by respondents (48%), followed by asking healthcare providers about herbal products and food supplements (41%). Significant differences in the ability to access reliable information on herbal and food supplements were found to be based on differences in: education, income levels, occupation, insurance scheme coverage, age, sex, reading ability, writing ability, chronic diseases, wearing eyeglasses or lenses, hearing impairment, and having a community leading role. CONCLUSIONS: Accessing reliable information on herbal and food supplements has been found to be the most difficult health literacy competency among respondents to the survey, particularly vulnerable consumers in the society such as people with hearing impairment or having limited overall literacy competencies. Therefore, health literacy programs might be developed to build health literacy competencies and empower vulnerable consumers for reasonable use of herbal and food supplements.

The Activity of Ten Natural Extracts Combined in a Unique Blend to Maintain Cholesterol Homeostasis-In Vitro Model.

BACKGROUND: Hypercholesterolemia is a major cause of cardiovascular disease and statins, the HMGCoA inhibitors, are the most prescribed drugs. Statins reduce the production of hepatic cholesterol, leading to greater expression of the LDL receptor and greater absorption of circulating LDL, reducing peripheral LDL levels. Unfortunately, statins are believed to induce myopathy and other severe diseases. To overcome this problem, safe nutraceuticals with the same activity as statins could hold great promise in the prevention and treatment of hypercholesterolemia. In this study, the anti-cholesterol efficacy of a new nutraceutical, called Esterol10®, was evaluated. METHODS: HepG2 cells were used to study the biological mechanisms exerted by Esterol10® analyzing different processes involved in cholesterol metabolism, also comparing data with Atorvastatin. RESULTS: Our results indicate that Esterol10® leads to a reduction in total hepatocyte cholesterol and an improvement in the biosynthesis of free cholesterol and bile acids. Furthermore, the anti-cholesterol activity of Esterol10® was also confirmed by the modulation of the LDL receptor and by the accumulation of lipids, as well as by the main intracellular pathways involved in the metabolism of cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS: Esterol10® is safe and effective with anti-cholesterol activity, potentially providing an alternative therapy to those based on statins for hypercholesterolemia disease.

Development, Validation, and Use of 1H-NMR Spectroscopy for Evaluating the Quality of Acerola-Based Food Supplements and Quantifying Ascorbic Acid.

Acerola (Malpighia emarginata D.C.) is an exotic fruit with high agro-industrial potential due to its high content of ascorbic acid (AA), phenolic compounds, and carotenoid pigments. Acerola fruit is processed into concentrated juice or powder to be incorporated into food supplements. The ascorbic acid content of concentrated juice or powders must be controlled and well assessed. Therefore, the development of optimal methods and procedures for the rapid and accurate determination of the ascorbic acid content in juice concentrate and juice powder remains of considerable commercial interest. NMR spectroscopy is currently a powerful spectroscopic tool for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of molecules of all types and sizes. Firstly, this article presents the NMR-based metabolomic profiling of acerola juice and concentrate powder to describe and compare their composition. Thirty-six metabolites were identified. The AA over choline ratio and the NMR metabolomic profiles could be used for authentication in the future. Secondly, a rapid (8 min), reliable, and non-destructive method for the quantification of ascorbic acid by 1D 1H-NMR spectroscopy was developed and validated. The LOD and LOQ were 0.05 and 0.15 mg/mL, respectively. These two approaches could be combined to better characterize ingredients derived from acerola and incorporated into food supplements.

[Relationship between Yingyangbao consumption and anemia status among infants and young children in impoverish areas of Henan Province:a cross-sectional study based on latent class analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore latent classes of Yingyangbao(YYB) consumption among infants and young children in impoverished areas of Henan Province, and to analyze the relationship between these classes and anemia status. METHODS: We recruited 4433 children aged 6 to 24 months by multi-stage random sampling in 14 poverty-stricken counties of Henan Province between June and September 2018. We conducted hemoglobin concentration measurement among children and questionnaire survey among their caregivers. Then we used latent class analysis to classify the characteristics of YYB consumption among the children and two-level Logistic regression was used to explore relationship between YYB consumption and anemia status. RESULTS: The prevalence of anemia was 15.1% in poor areas of Henan Province in 2018. There were two latent classes of YYB consumption among children: the one was "effective consumption", latent class probability was 0.889; the other called "ineffective consumption", latent class probability was 0.111. Compared with effective consumption, children who never have consumed YYB(odds ratio(OR)=1.365, P<0.001) or were in "ineffective consumption" class(OR=1.265, P=0.034) were both positive related to anemia. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of anemia among children in impoverished areas has been significantly reduced since the launch of Program of Children's Nutrition Improvement in Impoverished Areas. Effective consumption is a key to ensuring YYB's anemia intervention effect.

A Locally-Produced Plant-Based Supplement Swathi Savi (SAVI) Enrichment Improves Body Growth, Bone Development, and Immune Functions in Protein Malnourished Mice: Implications for Strategies to Combat Child Malnutrition.

Child malnutrition is a critical global challenge. India alone is home to nearly 46 million stunted children, a third of the world's total. Supplementing locally-produced foods has been acknowledged as a sustainable strategy for combating child malnutrition. We used an established protein malnutrition (PM) model in young mice to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the SAVI-enriched diet as a food supplement to combat child malnutrition in India. Results indicate that feeding the SAVI-enriched diet improves body weight, lean muscle mass, bone, and immune health in PM young mice. Based on the results of our study in mice, we suggest future human trials to examine the supplement's potential benefits for humans.