Herbal Infusions as a Valuable Functional Food

Herbal infusions are an underestimated and easy to intake a source of biologically active natural compounds (polyphenols), which, in the dissolved form, are more easily absorbed. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the potential of herbal infusions as a functional food to reduce postprandial hyperglycemia (inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase) and to reduce the effects of increased blood glucose level (antioxidant effect-DPPH, CUPRAC, and Fe2+ chelating assays, as well as anti-inflammatory activity-inhibition of collagenase). We showed that polyphenols are present in the examined aqueous herbal infusions (including chlorogenic and gallic acids). Subsequently, our research has shown that herbal infusions containing cinnamon bark, mulberry leaves, and blackberry fruits most strongly inhibit glucose release from complex carbohydrates, and that all herbal infusions can, to different degrees, reduce the effects of elevated blood sugar. In conclusion, infusions prepared from herbal blends could be recommended to prevent type II diabetes.

Elemental Composition of Infusions of Herbs (Tisanes) of North Ossetia (the Caucasus)

Herbal infusions are consumed worldwide owing to their beneficial properties. Cultivated or obtained from the wild, herbal raw plant materials may contain trace elements at various levels. This study relates to the release of beneficial and potentially toxic trace elements from herbal preparations during infusion. The elemental contents of seven commercially available herbal tea products were determined prior to and following two modes of infusion. Teabags (of equal herb content) were infused in 200 mL of boiling bottled water “Holy Spirit” for 15 and 45 min, in glass beakers. The total content of 57 elements including heavy metals, rare earth elements, as well as Th and U, were determined by ICP-MS and ICP-AES. The metals present in the highest concentrations were K, Ca, P, and S. Potassium, Mg, Co, Ni, As, Rb, and Cs had the highest extractability, whereas Ga, Ge, Se, Zr, Nb, Te, Er, Yb, W, Tl, and U had the lowest extractability.

A Smartphone-Based Chemosensor to Evaluate Antioxidants in Agri-Food Matrices by In Situ AuNP Formation

In recent years, there has been a continuously growing interest in antioxidants by both customers and food industry. The beneficial health effects of antioxidants led to their widespread use in fortified functional foods, as dietary supplements and as preservatives. A variety of analytical methods are available to evaluate the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of food extracts and beverages. However, most of them are expensive, time-consuming, and require laboratory instrumentation. Therefore, simple, cheap, and fast portable sensors for point-of-need measurement of antioxidants in food samples are needed. Here, we describe a smartphone-based chemosensor for on-site assessment of TAC of aqueous matrices, relying on the antioxidant-induced formation of gold nanoparticles. The reaction takes place in ready-to-use analytical cartridges containing an hydrogel reaction medium preloaded with Au(III) and is monitored by using the smartphone’s CMOS camera. An analytical device including an LED-based lighting system was developed to ensure uniform and reproducible illumination of the analytical cartridge. The chemosensor permitted rapid TAC measurements of aqueous samples, including teas, herbal infusions, beverages, and extra virgin olive oil extracts, providing results that correlated with those of the reference methods for TAC assessment, e.g., oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC).

Grape Infusions: Between Nutraceutical and Green Chemistry

By tradition, herbal infusions have been mainly consumed for their pleasant taste, but, nowadays, the consumer, along with the pleasantness of drinking a savory beverage, also looks for their health benefits. Grapes and grape/wine by-products are a rich source of health-promoting compounds, presenting great potential for the development of new beverages. Moreover, grape-infusion preparation is no more than a sustainable or green way of extracting polyphenols and other nutraceutical compounds from grapes and grape leaves. In this review, we summarize the benefits of drinking grape infusions and discuss the sustainable processes of extracting potential nutraceutical compounds from grapes and grape by-products, which are often considered fermentation waste and are discarded to the environment without proper treatment.

Vine-Shoots as Enological Additives. A Study of Acute Toxicity and Cytotoxicity

Toasted vine-shoots have been recently proposed as enological additives that can be used to improve the sensorial profile of wines. However, the possible toxicity of this new winery practice has not been studied so far. The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of Tempranillo, Cencibel, and Cabernet Sauvignon toasted vine-shoots when used in winemaking. First, vine-shoots were characterized in terms of minerals and phenolic and furan compounds, and then their acute toxicity and cytotoxicity were studied using Microtox® and the metabolic reduction of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays. High EC50 values were obtained when the Microtox® assay was applied to vine-shoot aqueous extracts, similar to the case of herbal infusions. When the MTT assay was used, a cell viability above 70% was observed in all the wines made with those vine-shoots, and an even greater viability was observed in the case of Cabernet Sauvignon. Therefore, it was concluded that those vine-shoots have no cytotoxic potential.

Impact of Very Hot Drink Consumption Habits, Age, and Sex, on Taste Sensitivity

The temperature range for consuming hot drinks includes temperatures that can damage cells on the tongue. We hypothesized that the consumption of very hot drinks can lead to a decrease in the ability to perceive low concentrations of tastants. We evaluated the ability to perceive low concentrations of five prototypical sapid compounds in 42 women and 40 men aged 18–65. A questionnaire made it possible to collect the usual frequencies (number of unit/day) and consumption temperature levels (medium hot/very hot) for four very common hot drinks (coffee, tea, herbal infusions, and hot chocolate). Our results showed that subjects who consumed very hot drinks (versus medium hot) were less sensitive to sweet (p = 0.020) and salty (p = 0.046) tastes. An aggravating effect of high consumption frequencies was only shown for sweet taste (p = 0.036). Moreover, our data also showed that women were more sensitive than men to sour, bitter, and umami tastes (p values < 0.05), as well as that taste sensitivity decreases with age, especially after 50 years old (all tastes; p values < 0.05). These findings strengthen our knowledge about the influence of sex and age on taste sensitivity, and they provide knowledge on the influence of consumption habits related to hot drinks on taste sensitivity.

Insular Pharmacopoeias: Ethnobotanical Characteristics of Medicinal Plants Used on the Adriatic Islands

The Adriatic islands in Croatia, usually divided into two archipelagos – the Kvarner and Dalmatian islands – is one of the largest groups of islands in Europe. Over 40 islands are still inhabited. Unfortunately the traditional use of medicinal plants was never properly documented there. Our data comes from 343 interviews carried out in 36 islands, including the 15 largest islands of the archipelago. The medicinal plants are mainly used to make herbal infusions or decoctions, occasionally medicinal liqueurs, syrups, compresses, or juices squeezed out of raw plants. We recorded the use of 146 taxa, among them 131 with at least one medicinal purpose and 15 only for tea. The frequency curve of use is relatively steep – several plants are used very frequently and most are reported only by one or two informants, which can be explained both by the large geographical spread of the area, and even more so by the devolution of local knowledge and disappearance of gathering practices due to specialization in tourism, modernization and depopulation. Most of the gathered plants already occur in ancient and medieval herbals and are a part of the pan-Mediterranean pharmacopoeia.