Pomegranate Peel as Suitable Source of High-Added Value Bioactives: Tailored Functionalized Meat Products

Molecules 2020, 25(12), 2859

In the last few years, the consumer’s concern with the relationship between health and diet has led to the search of foods with functional properties beyond the nutritional. In this framework, the consumption of pomegranate has increased due to their sensorial attributes and remarkable amounts of bioactive compounds, which generate, at the same time, huge amounts of by-products. A search in the Scopus database for the last 10 years has revealed the rising interest in pomegranate peel (PP), the main residue from this fruit. The meat industry is a food sector that has had to search for new alternatives to substitute the use of synthetic preservatives by new natural additives, to extend the self-life and keep the quality attributes of their processed products. This review sets out the main bioactivities of PP extracts, and their incorporation in meat products is elaborated. PP is a good source of bioactive compounds, including phenolic acids, flavonoids and hydrolyzable tannins, which have beneficial health effects. It can be concluded that the reformulation of meat products with PP extracts is a suitable strategy for enhancing their technological characteristics, in addition to conferring functional properties that make them healthier and potentially more acceptable for the consumer.

Rapid liquid chromatographic method for the control of doxycycline and tiamulin residues and their metabolites in vivo assays with pigs: Treatment and depletion

 Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 2020, 190, 113428

DOI:10.1016/j.jpba.2020.113428

Results gained from in vivo metabolism could be more authentic to reflect the biotransformation of drugs than in vitro metabolism. This paper discusses the development and characterization of an analytical method for controlling tiamulin (TIA) and doxycycline (DOX) residues in pig plasma and urine, as well as their in vivo biotransformation during treatment and suppression steps at pig farms. For such a purpose, urine samples were taken daily (24-hr intervals) during treatment and until day 8 after last dose. Plasma samples were collected on the last treatment day and up to days 4 and 7 after the last dose. Only traces of TIA and their metabolites have been still detected 8 days after the last day of therapy, in agreement with the period of suppression of both antibiotics set by the manufacturers in 7 days. It was estimated that TIA and DOX half-lives were of two days and one day, respectively. TIA and DOX metabolites have been identified for the first time in plasma and urine pig samples during treatment and suppression steps.

AA1 & EcoChestnut

EcoChestnut project aims at enhancing the development opportunities and boost the growth potential of European chestnut farmers & chestnut products producers.

 

EcoChestnut main output is an online comprehensive and tailored training on organic chestnuts farming & chestnut products manufacturing. The course focuses also on enhancing the competences on marketing strategy, communication with customers, and diversification of the activities.

 

EcoChestnut project supports farmers and producers in development of their potential for production and promotion of organic chestnuts & chestnut products. EcoChestnut will also provide the vocational trainers with learning methods and material to encourage farmers in their initiative.

Objectives

The EU chestnuts market has been experiencing a strong growth in demand for organic chestnut products for the last 10 years. This demand is unsatisfied in volume, so it has to rely on non-EU imports to be satisfied. The Project aims at enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chestnut farmers and producers.

The main objectives are:

1. Develop specific knowledge on production and promotion of Organic Chestnuts & Chestnut Products through a tailor made training course for farmers & producers.
2. Support chestnut farmers & chestnut products producers to enter the market of Organic Chestnuts & Chestnut Products in order to enhance their development opportunities and their growth potential.
3. Raise awareness in chestnuts & chestnut groves as part of cultural, historical and landscape heritage of the countries that produce them.
4. Promote sustainable agricultural farming & encourage the application of organic farming among new and existing chestnut farmers and producers.

To answer this needs, EcoChestnut proposes

1. The EcoChestnut Learning Model
2. A Training Course on Organic Chestnuts & Chestnut Products
3. A Manual for Trainers
4. A Guidebook on Certification of Organic Chestnuts
5. A Handbook on “Utilize the potential of the chestnut groves”

 

The project is running from November 2019 to April 2022.

Project number

2019-1-FR01-KA202-062276

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This website and all its contents reflect the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

More information following this link

Scientific basis for the industrialization of traditionally used plants of the Rosaceae family

Food Chemistry, 2020, 330, 127197

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.127197

Plants have been traditionally used for the treatment of different types of illness, due to biomolecules with recognised benefits. Rosaceae family is used in traditional Galician medicine. The following plants Agrimonia eupatoria, Crataegus monogyna, Filipendula ulmaria, Geum urbanum, Potentilla erecta and Rosa canina are usually found in treatments. The aim of this study is to perform an ethnobotanical review about the bioactive compounds of these plants and their different bioactivities, both studied in vitro and in vivo. The nature of the bioactive compounds is varied, highlighting the presence of different phenolic compounds, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids or tannins. Understanding the beneficial effects of the administration of the whole plant or target tissues from A. eupatoria, C. monogyna, F. ulmaria, G. urbanum, P. erecta and R. canina as well as those from their individual compounds could lead to the development of new drugs based on the use of natural ingredients.

 

The effect of two antifungal commercial formulations on the metabolism of a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain and their repercussion on fermentation evolution and phenylalanine catabolism

 Food Microbiology, 2020, 92, 103554

DOI: 10.1016/j.fm.2020.103554

The effect of two commercial formulations (incorporating mepanipyrim and tetraconazole as active substances) on the metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Lalvin T73™, growing on a synthetic grape must, and their influence on the alcoholic fermentation course and the biosynthesis of volatiles derived from phenylalanine catabolism was studied. No relevant effects were observed for mepanipyrim except for glycerol production. On the contrary, in the presence of tetraconazole many genes and some proteins related to cell cycle progression and mitosis were repressed. This fact could explain the lower biomass concentration and the lower sugar consumption registered for tetraconazole at the end of the study. However, the biomass-to-ethanol yield was higher in connection with the overexpression of the ADH1 gene. The presence of tetraconazole residues seems to accelerate the Ehrlich pathway. These results agree with the overexpression of several genes (BAT1, PDC1, PDC5, ADH1, SFA1, ATF2, PFK1, PFK2 and ARO3) and a higher abundance of two proteins (Gap1p and Atf2p) involved in this metabolic pathway.

Plant-Food Guarantee and Improvement

WEBINAR SERIES 

The series includes 3 live Webinars that will take place between 5-19 June 2020, starting at 11:30 AM, on the remote campus of Vigo University (Link). They will be carried out by leading professors and postdoctoral researchers in this subject area.



 Date: June 5th, 2020

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Program:
11:30- Greetings and presentation

11:35- Pre and post-harvest factors determining fruit nutritional quality.
Presenter: Bruno Mezzetti, Prof.- Full Professor Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences – Università Politecnica delle Marche. Higlhy Cited Researcher 2019. (Visiting professor)

12:10- Circular Bio-Economy and the Case of Phenolic Compounds from Food By-Products.
Presenter: Jesús Simal Gándara, Prof.- Full Professor Department of Food and Analytical Chemistry– Vigo University. Higlhy Cited Researcher 2018.

12:30- Models for Quantification of Individual, Synergistic, and Antagonistic Anti- and Pro-Oxidant Responses.
Presenter: Miguel Angel Prieto Lage, PhD- Postdoctoral Researcher (Ramón y Cajal), Department of Food and Analytical Chemistry – Vigo University.

12:50- Discussion


 Date: June 12th, 2020

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Program:
11:30- Greetings and presentation

11:35- Breeding and biotechnology for improving nutritional quality.
Presenter: Bruno Mezzetti, Prof.- Full Professor Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences – Università Politecnica delle Marche. Higlhy Cited Researcher 2019. (Visiting professor)

12:10- Technological Application of Tannin-Based Extracts.
Presenter: María Fraga Corral, PhD- Postdoctoral Researcher (Xunta de Galicia), Department of Food and Analytical Chemistry – Vigo University.

12:30- Phenolic Compounds as Nutraceutical Tools for the Prevention of Metabolic diseases.
Presenter: Tamara Forbes Hernández, PhD- Postdoctoral Researcher (Juan de la Cierva), Department of Food and Analytical Chemistry – Vigo University.

12:50- Discussion


 Date: June 19th, 2020

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Program:
11:30- Greetings and presentation

11:35- RNAi technology for food security and safety.
Presenter: Bruno Mezzetti, Prof.- Full Professor Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences – Università Politecnica delle Marche. Higlhy Cited Researcher 2019. (Visiting professor)

12:10- Phenolic Compounds as Nutraceutical Tools for the Prevention of Cancer.
Presenter: Francesca Giampieri, PhD.- Distinguished Researcher, Department of Food and Analytical Chemistry – Vigo University. Higlhy Cited Researcher 2019.

12:30- Bioactive compounds recovery from winery industry by-products: vine shoots as study case.
Presenter: Particia Gullón Estévez, PhD- Researcher Laboratory of Microbiology and Technology of Marine Products, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM-CSIC).

12:50- Discussion