Emerging technology to develop novel red winemaking practices: An overview

Nowadays, making modifications to traditional practices and/or adopting novel processing technologies is of great interest in order to fulfill consumers expectations towards food products characterized by convenience, variety, adequate shelf-life and caloric content, healthy properties, reasonable cost, and environmental sustainability. In this perspective, the role of emerging technologies in winemaking is addressed towards reduced production time, optimized resources and spaces, extraction of high nutraceutic components through mechanical effects, high energy efficiency, extended shelf-life, lowering SO2 addition and its final concentration. This paper is the outcome of an extensive and comprehensive literature review describing, by an integrated approach, the main characteristics and applications of three emerging technologies (US, MW, and PEF) alternative to the traditional winemaking processes. Their advantages related to the safety aspects of wine, such as the ability to improve nutraceutic and sensorial features are also described. Industrial relevance The food industry is currently interested in a variety of novel production and emerging technologies that may result in economical and quality products. This review shows as numerous researches have strongly demonstrated the great benefits of new emerging technologies, such as PEF, US, and MW, into the oenological industry, either increasing compounds extraction during maceration of the must or accelerating stabilization stage in the wine. Emerging technologies could offer better products to consumers with added value in terms of nutritional or sensorial characteristics, and guarantee higher profit for the industry, even reducing process time and use of natural resources, such as energy, water, and chemicals

Wine Lees as Source of Antioxidant Molecules: Green Extraction Procedure and Biological Activity

An ultrasound-assisted extraction method, employing ethanol and water as solvents at low temperature (30 °C) and reduced time (15 min), was proposed to extract bioactive molecules from different cultivars (Magliocco Canino, Magliocco Rosato, Gaglioppo, and Nocera Rosso) of wine lees. All the extract yields were evaluated and their contents of phenolic acids, flavonoids, and total polyphenols were determined by means of colorimetric assays and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques. Radical scavenging assays were performed and the Magliocco Canino extracted with a hydroalcoholic mixture returned the best results both against ABTS (0.451 mg mL−1) and DPPH (0.395 mg mL−1) radicals. The chemometric algorithms principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square regression (PLS) were used to process the data obtained from all qualitative–quantitative sample determinations with the aim of highlighting data patterns and finding possible correlations between composition and antioxidant features of the different wine lees cultivars and the extraction procedures. Wine lees from Magliocco Canino and Magliocco Rosato were found to be the best vegetable matrices in terms of metabolite content and antioxidant properties. The components extracted with alcoholic or hydroalcoholic solvents, specifically (−)-epigallocatechin gallate, chlorogenic acid, and trans-caftaric acid, were found to be correlated with the antioxidant capacity of the extracts. Multivariate data processing was able to identify the compounds related to the antioxidant features. Two PLS models were optimized by using their concentration levels to predict the IC50 values of the extracts in terms of DPPH and ABTS with high values of correlation coefficient R2, 0.932 and 0.824, respectively, and a prediction error lower than 0.07. Finally, cellular (SH-SY5Y cells) antioxidant assays were performed on the best extract (the hydroalcoholic extract of Magliocco Canino cv) to confirm its biological performance against radical species. All these recorded data strongly outline the aptness of valorizing wine lees as a valuable source of antioxidants

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Extracts Modulate the Inflammatory Ability of Murine Dendritic Cells Based on Their Polyphenols Pattern: Correlation between Chemical Composition and Biological Function

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) represents one of the most important health-promoting foods whose antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities are mainly associated to its polyphenols content. To date, studies exploring the effect of EVOO polyphenols on dendritic cells (DCs), acting as a crosstalk between the innate and the adaptive immune response, are scanty. Therefore, we studied the ability of three EVOO extracts (cv. Coratina, Cima di Mola/Coratina, and Casaliva), characterized by different polyphenols amount, to regulate DCs maturation in resting conditions or after an inflammatory stimulus. Cima di Mola/Coratina and Casaliva extracts were demonstrated to be the most effective in modulating DCs toward an anti-inflammatory profile by reduction of TNF and IL-6 secretion and CD86 expression, along with a down-modulation of Il-1β and iNOS expression. From factorial analysis results, 9 polyphenols were tentatively established to play a synergistic role in modulating DCs inflammatory ability, thus reducing the risk of chronic inflammation

Scientific evidence supporting the newly developed one-health labeling tool "Med-Index": an umbrella systematic review on health benefits of mediterranean diet principles and adherence in a planeterranean perspective

Med-Index is a one-health front-of-pack (FOP) label, based on Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) principles, developed to summarize information about the nutritional properties and related-health benefits of any food as well as its sustainable production processes, and the associated food company's social responsibility parameters in a new "Planeterranean" perspective. Thus, Med-Index can be adopted in and by any European region and authority as well as worldwide; this is achieved by consumption and cooking of locally available and sourced foods that respect MedDiet principles, both in terms of healthy nutrition and sustainable production. The huge body of scientific evidence about the health benefits of the MedDiet model and principles requires a comprehensive framework to encompass the scientific reliability and robustness of this tool. A systematic review was carried out to examine the association between human health and adherence to MedDiet patterns upon which the "Med-Index" tool was subsequently developed

Effects of Sweet Cherry Polyphenols on Enhanced Osteoclastogenesis Associated With Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is associated with the development of severe comorbidities, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and increased risk of osteopenia/osteoporosis and fractures. The status of low-grade inflammation associated to obesity can be reversed through an enhanced physical activity and by consumption of food enrich of anti-inflammatory compounds, such as omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols. The aim of this study was to deepen the mechanisms of bone impairment in obese children and adolescents through the evaluation of the osteoclastogenic potential of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and the assessment of the serum levels of RANKL and osteoprotegerin (OPG). Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate the in vitro effects of polyphenol cherry extracts on osteoclastogenesis, as possible dietary treatment to improve bone health in obese subjects. High RANKL levels were measured in obese with respect to controls (115.48 ± 35.20 pg/ml vs. 87.18 ± 17.82 pg/ml; p < 0.01), while OPG levels were significantly reduced in obese than controls (378.02 ± 61.15 pg/ml vs. 436.75 ± 95.53 pg/ml, respectively, p < 0.01). Lower Ad-SoS- and BTT Z-scores were measured in obese compared to controls (p < 0.05). A significant elevated number of multinucleated TRAP+ osteoclasts (OCs) were observed in the un-stimulated cultures of obese subjects compared to the controls. Interestingly, obese subjects displayed a higher percentage of CD14+/CD16+ than controls. Furthermore, in the mRNA extracts of obese subjects we detected a 2.5- and 2-fold increase of TNFα and RANKL transcripts compared to controls, respectively. Each extract of sweet cherries determined a dose-dependent reduction in the formation of multinucleated TRAP+ OCs. Consistently, 24 h treatment of obese PBMCs with sweet cherry extracts from the three cultivars resulted in a significant reduction of the expression of TNFα. In conclusion, the bone impairment in obese children and adolescents is sustained by a spontaneous osteoclastogenesis that can be inhibited in vitro by the polyphenol content of sweet cherries. Thus, our study opens future perspectives for the use of sweet cherry extracts, appropriately formulated as nutraceutical food, as preventive in healthy children and therapeutic in obese ones

Carotenoids in Fresh and Processed Food: Between Biosynthesis and Degradation

Currently, there is a general trend in food science to link food and health in line with consumers’ concern about what is in their food and how what they eat can promote well-being [...

Anthocyanins: The Infinite Properties of These Incredible Compounds

Anthocyanins are acknowledged for their great heterogeneity of colors, from orange to blue hues in the visible spectrum [...

Optimization of a Green Extraction of Polyphenols from Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium L.) Pulp

This work focused on the optimization of the ultrasound (US) extraction of polyphenols from sweet cherry pulp by monitoring cyanidin-3O-rutinoside, quercetin-3O-rutinoside, and trans-3-O-coumaroylquinic acid, representing the main anthocyanin, flavonol, and hydroxycinnamate, respectively, identified in the extracts through chromatographic analyses (HPLC-DAD), as output variables. The optimization was performed following a two-level central composite design and the influence of the selected independent variables (i.e., extraction time and solid to solvent ratio) was checked through the response surface methodology. The maximum recovery of the phenolic compounds was obtained at 3 min and 0.25 g/mL in water/ethanol (1:1, v/v) at a set temperature (25 °C), sonication power (100 W), and sonication frequency (37 kHz). Subsequent validation experiments proved the effectiveness and reliability of the gathered mathematical models in defining the best ultrasound-assisted extraction conditions

Olive sound: A sustainable radical innovation

Olive Sound is the acronym of a Horizon 2020 European Project aimed at the development of a high-flow oil extraction plant, the Sono-Heat-Exchanger, which combines ultrasound and heat exchange in order to break, through a radical innovation model in the oil mill, the historical paradigm that sees as inversely correlated the oil yield and the content of bio-phenols. These compounds are biologically active molecules that transform the product, extra virgin olive oil, from a mere condiment into a functional food. The primary objective of the project, financially supported by the European Union through the “Fast Track to Innovation” program, is the development of a product “ready for the market” (TRL 9) capable of making the involved companies more competitive while increasing the competitiveness of European extra virgin olive oil in the international contex

A sub-1 v nanopower temperature-compensated sub-threshold CMOS voltage reference with 0.065%/V line sensitivity

We present the design of a nanopower sub-threshold CMOS voltage reference and the measurements performed over a set of more than 70 samples fabricated in 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The circuit provides a temperature-compensated reference voltage of 259 mV with an extremely low line sensitivity of only 0.065% at the price of a less effective temperature compensation. The voltage reference properly works with a supply voltage down to 0.6 V and with a power dissipation of only 22.3 nW. Very similar performance has been obtained with and without the inclusion of the start-up circuit