Platelet hyperactivity: a comparison of water-soluble, bioactive compound levels in commercial tomato products and water-soluble tomato concentrate, a supplement with an approved EFSA antiplatelet health effect.

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the concentration of water-soluble bioactive compounds in tomato products (polyphenols profile, water-soluble vitamins and nucleophilic substances) with the concentration of the same bioactive molecules existing in a water-soluble patented tomato extract, water-soluble tomato extract (WSTC), commercially available as FruitFlow®. This patented tomato extract has been recognised by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) in a specific Health Claim declaration as having an "Antiplatelet health effect". More than 100 commercial tomato samples, coming from 18 different processing tomato companies worldwide, were analysed and compared with the FruitFlow® supplement. According to the multivariate statistical analyses applied to the data matrix, it is possible to conclude that the commercial tomato products measured (pastes, purees, others) show a significantly higher concentration of water-soluble bioactive molecules (nucleosides/nucleotides and polyphenols) responsible for an anti-platelet aggregation effect than the FruitFlow® dietary supplement.

Some possible codes for encrypting data in DNA.

Three codes are reported for storing written information in DNA. We refer to these codes as the Huffman code, the comma code and the alternating code. The Huffman code was devised using Huffman's algorithm for constructing economical codes. The comma code uses a single base to punctuate the message, creating an automatic reading frame and DNA which is obviously artificial. The alternating code comprises an alternating sequence of purines and pyrimidines, again creating DNA that is clearly artificial. The Huffman code would be useful for routine, short-term storage purposes, supposing--not unrealistically--that very fast methods for assembling and sequencing large pieces of DNA can be developed. The other two codes would be better suited to archiving data over long periods of time (hundreds to thousands of years).