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

---

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

---

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

---

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

Advantages of techniques to fortify food products with the benefits of fish oil

 Food Research International, 2020, 137, 109353

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109353

Fish oil has been widely applied in fortified food products because of its special health benefits especially containing high unsaturated fatty acids mainly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Nowadays, there are various foods fortify with fish oil available in the market. The main challenge of fortification of food products with fish oil is its highly susceptible to oxidation and its influence on sensory attributes during storage. The fortification methods such as direct addition through bulk fish oil, emulsion or microencapsulation could effectively improve the oxidative stability of fish oil and mask unpleasant fishy flavour in fortified products. Therefore, this article provides a review of techniques, their advantages and limitations, together with the effects of incorporating fish oil in foods products.

Dietary polyphenols for managing cancers: What have we ignored?

 Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2020, 101, 150-164

DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2020.05.017

Although the chemoprevention and anti-cancer activities of dietary polyphenols have been evidenced through both in vitro and in vivo studies, most of the human clinical trials were unsuccessful or even harmful. Debates on the beneficial roles of dietary polyphenols in cancer therapy are increasing. Many dietary polyphenols studies are conducted by in vitro experiments, but the nature of these studies does not consider the complexity of metabolic processes that are present in vivo. These can often cause instability in the dietary polyphenols, thereby leading to unsuccessful extrapolation into animal or human studies. Dietary polyphenols often have low bioavailability, which is mainly due to poor bioaccessibility and significant metabolism mediated by both host enzymes and colon microbiota. Some metabolites or catabolites are more potent and absorb better than the parent component. It is recognised that the oral bioavailability of dietary polyphenols is underestimated when the bioactive metabolites or catabolites are not considered. Notably, dietary polyphenols and their metabolites undergo further cellular metabolism within the cancer cells, which confers “cellular bioavailability” as an additional step to influence the actions of dietary polyphenols. Moreover, there are growing controversies in using dietary polyphenols for both chemopreventive and anti-cancer applications. A clear therapeutic window for dietary polyphenols as specific chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic agents is required. This review, thus, aims to identify key issues that were ignored by most of the studies, or are critical for future investigation.

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.

Random Forest, Artificial Neural Network, and Support Vector Machine Models for Honey Classification

eFood, 2020, 1(1) 69-76

Different separated protein fractions by the electrophoretic method in polyacrylamide gel were used to classify two different types of honeys, Galician honeys and commercial honeys produced and packaged outside of Galicia. Random forest, artificial neural network, and support vector machine models were tested to differentiate Galician honeys and other commercial honeys produced and packaged outside of Galicia. The results obtained for the best random forest model allowed us to determine the origin of honeys with an accuracy of 95.2%. The random forest model, and the other developed models, could be improved with the inclusion of new data from different commercial honeys.

II Xornada de Riscos Emerxentes en Seguridade Alimentaria

A Rede Galega de Riscos Emerxentes en Seguridade Alimentaria (RISEGAL) celebrará a II Xornada de Riscos Emerxentes o próximo 16 de outubro no Edificio Miralles sito no Campus da Universidade de Vigo. A Xornada contatá coa participación de representantes doutras redes de coñecemento de España e Portugal e de expertos dalgúns dos perigos emerxentes de importancia en seguridade alimentaria.

O prazo para inscribirse xa está aberto. O aforo é limitado

Mais información

The Potential of Seaweeds as a Source of Functional Ingredients of Prebiotic and Antioxidant Value

 Antioxidants 2019, 8(9), 406

Two thirds of the world is covered by oceans, whose upper layer is inhabited by algae. This means that there is a large extension to obtain these photoautotrophic organisms. Algae have undergone a boom in recent years, with consequent discoveries and advances in this field. Algae are not only of high ecological value but also of great economic importance. Possible applications of algae are very diverse and include anti-biofilm activity, production of biofuels, bioremediation, as fertilizer, as fish feed, as food or food ingredients, in pharmacology (since they show antioxidant or contraceptive activities), in cosmeceutical formulation, and in such other applications as filters or for obtaining minerals. In this context, algae as food can be of help to maintain or even improve human health, and there is a growing interest in new products called functional foods, which can promote such a healthy state. Therefore, in this search, one of the main areas of research is the extraction and characterization of new natural ingredients with biological activity (e.g., prebiotic and antioxidant) that can contribute to consumers’ well-being. The present review shows the results of a bibliographic survey on the chemical composition of macroalgae, together with a critical discussion about their potential as natural sources of new functional ingredients.

AQUACIBUS en el Telediario de Ecuador

Aqua Technica

La Universidad Técnica de Manabí lanza la nueva revista AQUA TECHNICA, Revista Iberoamericana de Acuicultura. Dicha publicación cuenta con el apoyo de la Red AQUACIBUS a la que pertenece nuestro grupo de investigación y que está liderada por la Universidad de Vigo.

Desde aquí os invitamos a participar en la misma y darle la mayor difusión posible. Así mismo queremos expresar nuestros mejores deseos al Prof. Carlos Lodeiros, impulsor de esta importante iniciativa.

Interaction of Caffeic Acid with SDS Micellar Aggregates

Molecules 2019, 24(7), 1204

DOI: 10.3390/molecules24071204

Micellar systems consisting of a surfactant and an additive such as an organic salt or an acid usually self-organize as a series of worm-like micelles that ultimately form a micellar network. The nature of the additive influences micellar structure and properties such as aggregate lifetime. For ionic surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), CMC decreases with increasing temperature to a minimum in the low-temperature region beyond which it exhibits the opposite trend. The presence of additives in a surfactant micellar system also modifies monomer interactions in aggregates, thereby altering CMC and conductance. Because the standard deviation of β was always lower than 10%, its slight decrease with increasing temperature was not significant. However, the absolute value of Gibbs free enthalpy, a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum of reversible work, increased with increasing temperature and caffeic acid concentration. Micellization in the presence of caffeic acid was an endothermic process, which was entropically controlled. The enthalpy and enthropy positive values resulted from melting of “icebergs” or “flickering clusters” around the surfactant, leading to increased packing of hydrocarbon chains within the micellar core in a non-random manner. This can be possibly explained by caffeic acid governing the 3D matrix structure of water around the micellar aggregates. The fact that both enthalpy and entropy were positive testifies to the importance of hydrophobic interactions as a major driving force for micellization. Micellar systems allow the service life of some products to be extended without the need to increase the amounts of post-harvest storage preservatives used. If a surfactant is not an allowed ingredient or food additive, carefully washing it off before the product is consumed can avoid any associated risks. In this work, we examined the influence of temperature and SDS concentration on the properties of SDS–caffeic acid micellar systems. Micellar properties can be modified with various additives to develop new uses for micelles. This allows smaller amounts of additives to be used without detracting from their benefits.

Dissipation of Three Fungicides and Their Effects on Anthocyanins and Color of Monastrell Red Wines

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(6), 1447

DOI: 10.3390/ijms20061447

The effect of fungicides on fermentation is of paramount importance to control the quality and safety of wines. In this work, the quality (enological parameters, color, phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and fungicide residues) of wines from Monastrell grapes fortified with iprovalicarb, mepanipyrim, and tetraconazole fungicides was evaluated. Along the winemaking process, initial residues of mepanipyrim and tetraconazole were removed in more than 90% while the dissipation of iprovalicarb was around 73%. Significant statistical differences were found in the presence of iprovalicarb and mepanipyrim residues, especially at the highest concentration assayed. For both fungicides, increases in the volatile acidity (between 4 and 8.6 times), the lactic acid content (between 8.6 and 20.5 times), the percentage of polymeric anthocyanins (between 1.3 and 1.7 times), and also a slight increase of the total phenolic index and the total anthocyanin content determined by spectrophotometry were observed. On the contrary, the total monomeric anthocyanins content decreased about 16.3% and 28.6% in the presence of iprovalicarb and mepanipyrim, respectively. These results could be related to a higher development of acetic acid or lactic bacteria in the presence of these fungicides. The color of the final wines was also different in comparison with the control, with a higher yellow component, color intensity, tonality, and hue angle because of pH changes in the medium. Tetraconazole fermentations had a more similar trend to the control wine, probably due to the lower concentration of this fungicide in the grape must at the initial time. No effects on the antioxidant activity was observed for any of the target fungicides. A multivariate statistical analysis was done to view the interrelationships between different variables (color and anthocyanins profile). The obtained model allowed the wines to be separated according to the fungicide treatment applied.

Prediction Models to Control Aging Time in Red Wine

Molecules 2019, 24(5), 826

DOI: 10.3390/molecules24050826

A combination of physical-chemical analysis has been used to monitor the aging of red wines from D.O. Toro (Spain). The changes in the chemical composition of wines that occur over the aging time can be used to distinguish between wine samples collected after one, four, seven and ten months of aging. Different computational models were used to develop a good authenticity tool to certify wines. In this research, different models have been developed: Artificial Neural Network models (ANNs), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) models. The results obtained for the ANN model developed with sigmoidal function in the output neuron and the RF model permit us to determine the aging time, with an average absolute percentage deviation below 1%, so it can be concluded that these two models have demonstrated their capacity to predict the age of wine.

Optimization of the Extraction Process to Obtain a Colorant Ingredient from Leaves of Ocimum basilicum var. purpurascens

Molecules 2019, 24(4), 686

DOI: 10.3390/molecules24040686

Heat-Assisted Extraction (HAE) was used for the optimized production of an extract rich in anthocyanin compounds from Ocimum basilicum var. purpurascens leaves. The optimization was performed using the response surface methodology employing a central composite experimental design with five-levels for each of the assessed variables. The independent variables studied were the extraction time (t, 20–120 min), temperature (T, 25–85 °C), and solvent (S, 0–100% of ethanol, v/v). Anthocyanin compounds were analysed by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS and the extraction yields were used as response variables. Theoretical models were developed for the obtained experimental data, then the models were validated by a selected number of statistical tests, and finally, those models were used in the prediction and optimization steps. The optimal HAE conditions for the extraction of anthocyanin compounds were: t = 65.37 ± 3.62 min, T = 85.00 ± 1.17 °C and S = 62.50 ± 4.24%, and originated 114.74 ± 0.58 TA mg/g of extract. This study highlighted the red rubin basil leaves as a promising natural matrix to extract pigmented compounds, using green solvents and reduced extraction times. The extract rich in anthocyanins also showed antimicrobial and anti-proliferative properties against four human tumor cell lines, without any toxicity on a primary porcine liver cell line.

Fatty Acids-Based Quality Index to Differentiate Worldwide Commercial Pistachio Cultivars

Molecules 2019, 24(1), 58

DOI: 10.3390/molecules24010058

The fatty acid profiles of five main commercial pistachio cultivars, including Ahmad-Aghaei, Akbari, Chrok, Kalle-Ghouchi, and Ohadi, were determined by gas chromatography: palmitic (C16:0), palmitoleic (C16:1), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1), linoleic (C18:2), linolenic (C18:3), arachidic (C20:0), and gondoic (C20:1) acid. Based on the oleic to linoleic acid (O/L) ratio, a quality index was determined for these five cultivars: Ohadi (2.40) < Ahmad-Aghaei (2.60) < Kale-Ghouchi (2.94) < Chrok (3.05) < Akbari (3.66). Principal component analysis (PCA) of the fatty acid data yielded three significant PCs, which together account for 80.0% of the total variance in the dataset. A linear discriminant analysis (LDA) model that was evaluated with cross-validation correctly classified almost all of the samples: the average percent accuracy for the prediction set was 98.0%. The high predictive power for the prediction set shows the ability to indicate the cultivar of an unknown sample based on its fatty acid chromatographic fingerprint.