Recent advances in extracting phenolic compounds from food and their use in disease prevention and as cosmetics

 Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition

Phenolic compounds in plants are essential components of human nutrition, which provide various health benefits. However, some missing links became the research in phenolic compounds structures and potential applications in a challenging work. Despite universal extraction methods with mixtures of different organic solvents are generally adopted in the analysis of phenolic compounds, a need for establish a specific procedure is still open. The great heterogeneity in food and food by-products matrices and the lack of standardized methods which combine chromatographic with spectrophotometric techniques to calculate the amount of phenolic compounds joined with the absence of specific standards hamper to accurate know the real amount of phenolic compounds. Indeed, the high complexity in nature and chemistry of phenolic compounds clearly difficult to establish a daily intake to obtain certain healthy outcomes. Hence, despite the potential of phenolic compounds to use them in cosmetic and healthy applications have been widely analyzed, some concerns must be considered. The chemical complexity, the interactions between phenolic compounds and other food components and the structural changes induced by food processing joined with the lack in the understanding of phenolic compounds metabolism and bioavailability undergo the need to conduct a comprehensive review of each factors influencing the final activity of phenolic compounds. This paper summarizes the potential of phenolic compounds for disease prevention and cosmetics production, as well as their many other uses derived from their antioxidant activity. This paper illustrates the potential of phenolic compounds for disease prevention and cosmetics production, as well as their many other uses derived from their antioxidant activity.

Mitigation of emerging implications of climate change on food production systems

 Food Research International

Crops, livestock and seafood are major contributors to global economy. Agriculture and fisheries are especially dependent on climate. Thus, elevated temperatures and carbon dioxide levels can have large impacts on appropriate nutrient levels, soil moisture, water availability and various other critical performance conditions. Changes in drought and flood frequency and severity can pose severe challenges to farmers and threaten food safety. In addition, increasingly warmer water temperatures are likely to shift the habitat ranges of many fish and shellfish species, ultimately disrupting ecosystems. In general, climate change will probably have negative implications for farming, animal husbandry and fishing. The effects of climate change must be taken into account as a key aspect along with other evolving factors with a potential impact on agricultural production, such as changes in agricultural practices and technology; all of them with a serious impact on food availability and price. This review is intended to provide critical and timely information on climate change and its implications in the food production/consumption system, paying special attention to the available mitigation strategies.

Food production link to underground waters quality in A Limia river basin

 Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2020, 297, 106969

DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2020.106969

Water pollution is a global challenge, undermining economic growth as well as the physical and environmental health of billions of people. With the exception of polar caps, the world's largest freshwater reserve is found underground, but human activities such as agricultural, livestock, urban or industrial can affect its quality. 

The aim of this work was to carry out a study on the chemical quality of groundwater in the region of A Limia (NW Spain) and to evaluate its possible degradation by anthropogenic influence. Water samples were taken from 76 private wells and 26 natural sources in the region. The presence and levels of anions were analyzed by ion chromatography, whereas trace metals were measured by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). More than half of the wells analyzed and three natural sources showed nitrate contamination and some samples exceeded the limit allowed by legislation for other elements and compounds. It could be inferred that this surface aquifer contamination could be attributed to intensive agriculture and livestock farming.

Toward a sustainable metric and indicators for the goal of sustainability in agricultural and food production

 Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition

This paper reviews the state of the art in agricultural and food sustainability with special emphasis on metrics for monitoring progress toward their accomplishment, and with a view to assisting stakeholders in facing the challenges involved. Priorities, bottlenecks, alternatives, conclusions and recommendations are considered. Finding long-lasting solutions in this scenario will inevitably require revising rural development and smallholder agriculture, and bringing about structural changes for the benefit of the poorer stakeholders. Better farming systems, new technologies, quality education and effective business models can be useful toward creating decent jobs, solving resource constraints, expanding market participation, and alleviating physical hardship in the agricultural sector —particularly among women and young people. Agriculture in industrialized countries will additionally require restructuring with new policies aimed at favoring low- and medium-income countries. On the other hand, high-income countries will have to face pressing challenges including unhealthy diets, food waste generation, balancing food and biofuel production, and developing fair agricultural policies. In addition, the richer should lead the way to higher levels of productivity, resource efficiency, food safety and traceability, and environmental friendliness in order to provide useful lessons for technological development and policing in developing countries. This is why, after presenting the actual world status of food sustainability and how its global governance is linked to environmental, economic and social dimensions, some measures and indicators for monitoring progress are reviewed with the final aim of providing solutions and recommendations for the sustainability of the food production and consumption system.

#QuedaNaCasa

Latest developments in the application of cyclodextrin host-guest complexes in beverage technology processes

 Food Hydrocolloids

The use of cyclodextrins (CDs) in beverages has increased in the last decades, and they are widely used in food processing and technology. Cyclodextrins have an important capacity for use in the technology industry due to their capacity to form an inclusion complex with a large number of compounds. This complex can improve the food characteristics, such as stabilize volatile compounds, preserve the physical and chemical stability, improve the shelf-life, mask and reduce unwanted flavours, odours or bitterness, protect compounds against heat treatments, etc. This review deals with applications of cyclodextrins in industrial beverage products using different scientific databases and patenting authorities around the world.