Analysis of Nutritional Components in Three Wild Leeks from Mountain Emei

AbstractCorn (Zea mays L.) provides a major source of calories for human consumption and therefore, the nutritional components of corn have a large impact on human health. For example, corn kernels contain antioxidants, such as polyphenols (including anthocyanins and other flavonoids) and carotenoids. Such compounds represent useful targets for biofortification breeding. In this study, we used 34 corn inbred lines from three different regions (East Asia, Southern Asia, and subtropical regions) and 11 F1 hybrids derived from the inbreds to investigate antioxidant activity in yellow corn. We compared different methods for measuring antioxidant activity to test their consistency and to determine whether color could be used as an indicator of antioxidant activity. We also measured carotenoid levels in yellow corn. No difference in antioxidant activity was detected between inbred corn lines from temperate vs. tropical regions. We determined that carotenoid is a major contributor to antioxidant activity in yellow corn and that kernel color, especially yellowness, could be used as an indicator of antioxidant activity in yellow corn. These findings lay the foundation for the biofortification of yellow corn by providing information about the correlations among kernel color, carotenoid contents, and antioxidant activity and by identifying an easy method to assess antioxidant activity in yellow corn.

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Screening, Identification, and Quantification of Nutritional Components and Phytochemicals in Foodstuffs

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10010125 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 125

Author(s):

Dario Donno

Keyword(s):

Nutritional Components ◽

Health Promoting ◽

Identification And Quantification

Foods confer many health-promoting benefits to humans for the treatment/prevention of different diseases [...]

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Transcriptome Analysis Reveals a Promotion of Carotenoid Production by Copper Ions in Recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9020233 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 233

Author(s):

Buli Su ◽

Anzhang Li ◽

Ming-Rong Deng ◽

Honghui Zhu

Keyword(s):

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽

Transcriptome Analysis ◽

Gene Expression Analysis ◽

Target Genes ◽

Copper Ions ◽

Carotenoid Production ◽

Carotenoid Accumulation ◽

Nutritional Components ◽

Differential Gene ◽

First Time

We previously constructed a Saccharomyces cerevisiae carotenoid producer BL03-D-4 which produced much more carotenoid in YPM (modified YPD) media than YPD media. In this study, the impacts of nutritional components on carotenoid accumulation of BL03-D-4 were investigated. When using YPM media, the carotenoid yield was increased 10-fold compared to using the YPD media. To elucidate the hidden mechanism, a transcriptome analysis was performed and showed that 464 genes changed significantly in YPM media. Furthermore, inspired by the differential gene expression analysis which indicated that ADY2, HES1, and CUP1 showed the most remarkable changes, we found that the improvement of carotenoid accumulation in YPM media was mainly due to the copper ions, since supplementation of 0.08 mM CuSO4 in YPD media could increase carotenoid yield 9.2-fold. Reverse engineering of target genes was performed and carotenoid yield could be increased 6.4-fold in YPD media through overexpression of ACE1. The present study revealed for the first time the prominent promotion of carotenoid yield by copper ions in engineered S. cerevisiae and provided a new target ACE1 for genetic engineering of S. cerevisiae for the bioproduction of carotenoids.

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Nutritional Components in Western Diet Versus Mediterranean Diet at the Gut Microbiota–Immune System Interplay. Implications for Health and Disease

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13020699 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 699

Author(s):

Cielo García-Montero ◽

Oscar Fraile-Martínez ◽

Ana M. Gómez-Lahoz ◽

Leonel Pekarek ◽

Alejandro J. Castellanos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune System ◽

Gut Microbiota ◽

Mediterranean Diet ◽

Inflammatory Disorder ◽

Immune Functions ◽

Treatment And Prevention ◽

Nutritional Components ◽

Westernized Diet ◽

Prevention And Health Promotion ◽

Health And Disease

The most prevalent diseases of our time, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer) are rising worldwide. All of them share the condition of an “inflammatory disorder”, with impaired immune functions frequently caused or accompanied by alterations in gut microbiota. These multifactorial maladies also have in common malnutrition related to physiopathology. In this context, diet is the greatest modulator of immune system–microbiota crosstalk, and much interest, and new challenges, are arising in the area of precision nutrition as a way towards treatment and prevention. It is a fact that the westernized diet (WD) is partly responsible for the increased prevalence of NCDs, negatively affecting both gut microbiota and the immune system. Conversely, other nutritional approaches, such as Mediterranean diet (MD), positively influence immune system and gut microbiota, and is proposed not only as a potential tool in the clinical management of different disease conditions, but also for prevention and health promotion globally. Thus, the purpose of this review is to determine the regulatory role of nutritional components of WD and MD in the gut microbiota and immune system interplay, in order to understand, and create awareness of, the influence of diet over both key components.

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Effects of cadmium stress on physiological indexes and fruiting body nutritions of Agaricus brasiliensis

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-87349-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lingyun Liu ◽

Hua Chen ◽

Jing Yuan ◽

Yixiang Wang ◽

Boqi Weng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Agronomic Traits ◽

Cadmium Stress ◽

Total Amino Acid ◽

Fruiting Bodies ◽

Cd Stress ◽

Agaricus Brasiliensis ◽

Nutritional Components ◽

Physiological Indexes ◽

Total Amino Acids ◽

High Absorption

AbstractIn this study, 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 4, 6 and 8 mg·kg−1 of cadmium were added to the cultivation materials. In order to study the effects of different concentrations of Cd stress on J1 and J77, the contents of antioxidant enzymes, proline and malondialdehyde, Cd content, agronomic traits and yield of fruiting bodies of Agaricus brasiliensis were determined, and the nutritional components such as polysaccharide, triterpene, protein, total sugar and total amino acid were determined. The results showed that the physiological indexes of strain J1 and J77 changed regularly under different concentrations of Cd stress. J1 was a high absorption and low tolerance variety, while J77 was a low absorption and high tolerance variety. Low concentration of Cd promoted the growth of strain J1, and higher concentration of Cd promoted the growth of strain J77. The contents of protein and total amino acids in the two strains changed greatly, followed by polysaccharides, which indicated that Cd stress had the greatest impact on the three nutrients, and other nutrients were not sensitive to Cd stress.

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Quality of Watermelon Juice Concentrated by Forward Osmosis and Conventional Processes

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr8121568 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 1568

Author(s):

Rebecca R. Milczarek ◽

Carl W. Olsen ◽

Ivana Sedej

Keyword(s):

Antioxidant Activity ◽

Large Scale ◽

Citrullus Lanatus ◽

Forward Osmosis ◽

Soluble Phenolics ◽

Nutritional Components ◽

Watermelon Juice ◽

Juice Concentrate ◽

And Storage

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) juice is known for its refreshing flavor, but its high perishability limits its availability throughout the year. Watermelon juice concentrate has extended shelf-life and lower transportation and storage costs, but the conventional thermal evaporation process for concentrating juice degrades the nutritional components and sensory quality of the product. Thus, in this work, a large-scale, non-thermal forward osmosis (FO) process was used to concentrate fresh watermelon juice up to 65°Brix. The FO concentrate was compared to thermal concentrate and fresh juices, and to commercially available refrigerated watermelon juices, in terms of lycopene and citrulline content, total soluble phenolics, antioxidant activity, and sensory properties. The FO concentrate had statistically similar (p < 0.05) levels of all the nutrients of interest except antioxidant activity, when compared to the thermal concentrate. The reconstituted FO concentrate maintained the same antioxidant activity as the raw source juice, which was 45% higher than that of the reconstituted thermal concentrate. Sensory results showed that reconstituted FO concentrate resulted in highly liked juice, and it outperformed the reconstituted thermal concentrate in the sensory hedonic rating. This work demonstrates the possibility to produce a high-quality watermelon juice concentrate by forward osmosis.

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