Development of encapsulated olive leaf extracts as innovative natural and functional food ingredients

The increasing consumer concern and demand in the last decades for foods with natural ingredients and enhanced nutritional and health-promoting properties has pushed the research in the fields of nutrition and food technology in order to find, characterize, formulate and incorporate bioactive compounds into common foods or nutraceuticals. Some of the most used food bioactives are plant phytochemicals like polyphenols present in most plants as secondary metabolites. Olive biophenols, present in most parts of the plant and found in high concentrations in the leaves, are widely recognized for their bioactive properties. Thus, olive leaves, traditionally considered as a by-product, are an abundant source of olive phenolic compounds that can be recovered and further exploited as functional ingredients in food and nutraceuticals. However, the intrinsic chemical characteristics of these and other phytochemicals compounds makes its direct use in foods very challenging. In this context, food microencapsulation has been progressively implemented to partially or totally tackle these technological and sensorial issues associated to their incorporation into foods. The large variety of bioactives (pure compounds, phenolic-rich extracts) and carriers, the specific objective of the encapsulation and the large complexity of food matrices are the reasons for the wide research and development approaches in this field. Due to the different nature of the encapsulation techniques, specific investigations on their related critical parameters and optimization of the encapsulation process and performance are needed. The investigations carried out in this work aimed to better understand the use of phenolic extracts from olive leaves by studying its chemical stability and developing encapsulated ingredients with encapsulation techniques of different nature with the potential to be used in real food matrices. Firstly, a phenolic extract from olive leaves rich in oleuropein, a well defined compound with significant health-promoting properties, was characterised in terms of thermal stability at varying pH conditions of the phenolic content, profile and radical scavenging properties, by implementing a kinetic model and also structural characterization using flurescence spectroscopy.The thermal degradation of the major component, oleuropein, followed first-order kinetics and was high at lowest pH values (pH = 2), while verbascoside appeared to be more labile at pH 6. Oleuropein hydrolysis products resulted in an increasing hydroxytyrosol concentration, that followed zero-order kinetics. These changes were also detected by fluorescence spectroscopy. On the other hand, no remarkable changes in total phenolic content and radical scavenging activity were observed. Freeze-drying was studied as a method to encapsulate olive leaf bioactives in amorphous dry carbohydrate matrices. The effect of the carrier formulation and ratio bioactive:carrier on the encapsulation efficiency, the thermal, physical and structural properties of freeze-dried microencapsulated powders was assessed by using a response surface modellig approach. Also, the impact of these factors on the chemical stability of bioactive compounds was studied. Maltodextrin and trehalose were chosen as encapsulating materials as representatives of high and low molecular weight carbohydrates with good glass forming properties for encapsulation purposes. The increasing concentration of maltodextrin enhanced the encapsulation of both total phenolics and oleuropein up to an almost total retention when maltodextrin was used alone, which could be directly observed thanks to fluorescence imaging. Color and thermal properties of the microencapsulated powders depended on the maltodextrin-trehalose ratio and a plasticizing effect of olive leaf extract was also observed, especially in the glassy powders containing maltodextrin. The storage study of unencapsulated and microencapsulated olive leaf extract powders under different physical states revealed that at least for 7 weeks, the chemical stability and antioxidant properties of the bioactives were not affected. Liposomal encapsulation of olive bioactives was investigated, first in model phospholipid membranes by evaluating the effects of oleuropein on membrane thermotropic behavior (differential scanning calorimetry) and ordering and fluidity (fluorescence polarization) in systems with passively encapsulated oleuropein (i.e., added after formation of liposomes) compared to actively encapsulated oleuropein (i.e., encapsulated during formation of liposomes). Also, the antioxidant capacity of oleuropein to inhibit lipid peroxidation. was evaluated under two types of oxidation induction. A potential food ingredient was developed by encapsulating the olive leaf extract in commercial soy phosphatidylcholine, and characterized for its morphological, physical and functional properties in model and real systems (commercial soft drink). Oleuropein and verbascoside were encapsulated with a mean efficiency of 34% and 75%, which indicated that optimization this process can be further investigated to improve the encapsulation. However, liposome encapsulation was effective for a delay of oleuropein degradation at low pH (i.e., pH 2.0), and for the maintenance of oleuropein stability over long periods at refrigeration temperatures and at different pHs. This thus shows that this lipid encapsulation indeed provides a suitable carrier in food systems, such as beverages. Finally, the antioxidant performance of olive leaf extract and other standard and plant extracts was assessed in more challenging and real food processing conditions like those commonly employed during melt-extrusion processing/encapsulation, as opposed to classical liquid antioxidant assays. A simple and novel approach has been proposed to estimate the antioxidant performance under controlled conditions using a lab-scale extruder by implementing a solid-state adaption of the crocin-bleaching liquid assay, based on the bleaching of saffron crocins

Novel dry state co-milling encapsulation of olive leaf extract

Micro-encapsulation or nano-encapsulation is nowadays representing an interesting strategy to enhance the functionality of bioactives and other biomolecules, serving several purposes such as solubility enhancement, increased gastrointestinal absorption or targeted delivery of bioactive compounds (Li et al., 2015). High energy ball milling is used in the pharmaceutical industry to produce fine dispersions or “molecular alloys” of the active ingredient in a carrier/matrix to enhance solubility and bioavailability (Bandarkar and Vavia, 2011), to produce similar solid dispersion obtained with freeze-dying or spray drying (Willart et al., 2006). Modified starch by ball milling has been applied to encapsulate β-carotene (Roa et al., 2016), but no co-milling in the dry state to encapsulate food bioactives has been implemented yet. Olive leaves phenolic compounds have been widely studied for their health promoting properties (Martín-Peláez et al., 2013) In this work, olive leaf extract (OLE) was co-milled with maltodextrin/maltodextrin-trehalose as carrier, at different ratios and milling treatment time, using a planetary ball-mill. A milling time of 60 min resulted in maximized encapsulation efficiency (95-97%). When a higher ratio of OLE to matrix was applied, encapsulation efficiency was slightly lower compared to lower ratio up to 60 min treatment, but was maximized upon longer treatment. Microstructural analysis of the highly encapsulated OLE dispersions (60-180min) using CLSM microscopy showed fine and homogeneously distributed dispersion of OLE in the internal surface of the maltodextrin/maltodextrin-trehalose matrix. Also in these samples, OLE seemed to be protected from environmental moisture/solvent compared to low encapsulated samples (0-30min) as observed during microscopy analysis. Colour analysis of powder dispersions highlights that co-milling resulted in lighter yellowish homogeneous powders as compared to non-milled, thereby masking the brownish-yellowish colour of OLE. Further experiments are needed to confirm the encapsulation and stabilization of OLE by co-milling with a carrier in order to produce stable ingredients with nutritional and health promoting potential. References BANDARKAR, F. S. & VAVIA, P. R. 2011. An optimized commercially feasible milling technique for molecular encapsulation of meloxicam in beta-cyclodextrin. Drug Dev Ind Pharm, 37, 1318-28. MARTÍN-PELÁEZ, S., COVAS, M. I., FITÓ, M., KUŠAR, A. & PRAVST, I. 2013. Health effects of olive oil polyphenols: Recent advances and possibilities for the use of health claims. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 57, 760-771. ROA, D. F., BUERA, M. P., TOLABA, M. P. & SANTAGAPITA, P. R. 2016. Encapsulation and Stabilization of β-Carotene in Amaranth Matrices Obtained by Dry and Wet Assisted Ball Milling. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 10, 512-521. WILLART, J. F., DESCAMPS, N., CARON, V., CAPET, F., DANÈDE, F. & DESCAMPS, M. 2006. Formation of lactose-mannitol molecular alloys by solid state vitrification. Solid State Communications, 138, 194-199

Advances in scientific understanding of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes: a review of contributing factors

The Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes (CVZA) has been the focus of volcanological research for decades, becoming a very important site to understand a number of volcanic processes. Despite most of the research in the CVZA being carried out by foreign scientists, the last two decades have seen a significant increase in contributions by regional researchers. This surge has been facilitated by the creation of new volcanic observatories, improvement of the monitoring networks, creation of postgraduate programs where new local volcanologists are trained, creation of specialized research nuclei or groups, and increasing investment in research. This article presents a review of the evolution of the contributions of the regional volcanological community to the knowledge of the CVZA in the last 20 years (2000–2019), both from research and monitoring institutions in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. Based on updates made by the regional groups, a new list of active/potentially active volcanoes of the CVZA is presented, as is a complete database for article published on the CVZA. We find that a significant motivator has been regional volcanic unrest that has triggered new investment. Perú is the country with the highest investment in monitoring and research and is the best instrumented, Argentina is the country with the highest number of local participation in published papers in the domain of volcanology and magmatic systems, and Chilean volcanoes are the focus of the highest number of articles published. The current situation and general projections for the next decade (2020–2030) are also presented for each country, where we believe that the over the next 10 years, will be increased the monitoring and research capabilities, improved the scientific knowledge with more participation of regional institutions, and strengthen the collaboration and integrated work between CVZA countries, especially in border volcanoes

Gobiernos municipales: por un desarrollo local basado en la gobernanza democrática

El presente reporte da cuenta del proceso de intervención universitaria en el municipio de Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco, México, a través del PAP “Gobiernos Municipales: por un desarrollo local basado en la gobernanza democrática”, cuyo propósito general es: Contribuir a la promoción de la cultura de paz, la economía social y solidaria y la promoción de los DDHH en Tlajomulco, desde la Dirección General de Cultura de Paz y Gobernanza, a través de analizar, conocer, difundir documentar y evaluar situaciones relacionadas con la construcción de espacios de paz basados en la economía social y solidaria y la difusión de los DDHH, en la construcción de una ciudad en paz y segura, que, desde una perspectiva interdisciplinar, da continuidad a los proyectos emprendidos durante el periodo anterior, referidos al rescate y apropiación social de los espacios públicos desde la perspectiva de la paz positiva, impulso a las iniciativas de emprendimiento y formación en finanzas para los jóvenes del municipio. En el periodo de primavera 2022, se tuvieron los siguientes objetivos: • Elaborar el diseño de un espacio público, como respuesta a una demanda de los vecinos del fraccionamiento Sendero Real, a través de las mesas de paz, que implementa el gobierno municipal de Tlajomulco de Zúñiga. • Responder a la demanda de apoyo del sector juvenil de Tlajomulco y El Salto, expresada en los talleres de diagnóstico promovidos por el Instituto de la Juventud Tlajomulquense y del Instituto de la Juventud del Salto. • Diseñar y aplicar una evaluación de los programas públicos de mesas de paz y chamba para todos. La metodología aplicada implico la intervención de estudiantes de diferentes disciplinas a partir de grupos sociales específicos que presentan demandas de atención para la recuperación de sus espacios públicos y por tanto requieren de acompañamiento para el diseño de estos, el impulso al emprendimiento través de la realización de Podcast dirigidos a los jóvenes, la integración y aplicación de una propuesta de evaluación de los programas públicos “mesas de paz” y “”chamba para todos”.ITESO, A.C

The cadherin–catenin complex in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Abnormal Wnt signaling and impaired cell–cell adhesion due to abnormal E-cadherin and β-catenin function have been implicated in many cancers, but have not been fully explored in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. In this study, β-catenin cellular location and E-cadherin expression levels were analyzed in 16 laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (LSCCs) (9 glottic and 7 supraglottic) and 11 samples of non-tumoral inflammatory larynx tissue, using immunohistochemical methods. All non-tumoral tissues showed equally strong membranous expression of β-catenin, while cytoplasmic expression was found in only 3 of the 11 samples. By contrast, whereas 8/9 glottic LSCCs exhibited only membranous expression of β-catenin, 6/7 supraglottic LSCCs displayed both membranous and cytoplasmic expression (p = 0.003). Strong E-cadherin staining was observed in 9/11 non-tumoral tissues and 7/9 glottic LSCCs, whereas 4/7 supraglottic LSCCs exhibited weak expression. Reduced membrane expression of E-cadherin and cytoplasmic retention of β-catenin in supraglottic LSCC seems to be related with more aggressive biological behavior which has been described in clinical studies. Further research is required to clarify the involvement of β-catenin in the mechanism associated with malignant transformation in laryngeal tissues

Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons in Events with Multiple Bottom Quarks at the Tevatron

The combination of searches performed by the CDF and D0 collaborations at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider for neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with b quarks is reported. The data, corresponding to 2.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity at CDF and 5.2 fb-1 at D0, have been collected in final states containing three or more b jets. Upper limits are set on the cross section multiplied by the branching ratio varying between 44 pb and 0.7 pb in the Higgs boson mass range 90 to 300 GeV, assuming production of a narrow scalar boson. Significant enhancements to the production of Higgs bosons can be found in theories beyond the standard model, for example in supersymmetry. The results are interpreted as upper limits in the parameter space of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in a benchmark scenario favoring this decay mode.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Observation of the Baryonic Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-

We report the first observation of the baryonic flavor-changing neutral current decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- with 24 signal events and a statistical significance of 5.8 Gaussian standard deviations. This measurement uses ppbar collisions data sample corresponding to 6.8fb-1 at sqrt{s}=1.96TeV collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. The total and differential branching ratios for Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- are measured. We find B(Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-) = [1.73+-0.42(stat)+-0.55(syst)] x 10^{-6}. We also report the first measurement of the differential branching ratio of B_s -> phi mu+ mu- using 49 signal events. In addition, we report branching ratios for B+ -> K+ mu+ mu-, B0 -> K0 mu+ mu-, and B -> K*(892) mu+ mu- decays.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Impact of preemptive hospitalization on health outcomes at the temporary COVID-19 hospital in Mexico City: a prospective observational study.

INTRODUCTION: In response to the evolution of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the admission protocol for the temporary COVID-19 hospital in Mexico City has been updated to hospitalize patients preemptively with an oxygen saturation (SpO2) of >90%. METHODS: This prospective, observational, single-center study compared the progression and outcomes of patients who were preemptively hospitalized versus those who were hospitalized based on an SpO2 ⩽90%. We recorded patient demographics, clinical characteristics, COVID-19 symptoms, and oxygen requirement at admission. We calculated the risk of disease progression and the benefit of preemptive hospitalization, stratified by CALL Score: age, lymphocyte count, and lactate dehydrogenase (<8 and ⩾8) at admission. RESULTS: Preemptive hospitalization significantly reduced the requirement for oxygen therapy (odds ratio 0.45, 95% confidence interval 0.31-0.66), admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) (0.37, 0.23-0.60), requirement for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) (0.40, 0.25-0.64), and mortality (0.22, 0.10-0.50). Stratification by CALL score at admission showed that the benefit of preemptive hospitalization remained significant for patients requiring oxygen therapy (0.51, 0.31-0.83), admission to the ICU (0.48, 0.27-0.86), and IMV (0.51, 0.28-0.92). Mortality risk remained significantly reduced (0.19, 0.07-0.48). CONCLUSION: Preemptive hospitalization reduced the rate of disease progression and may be beneficial for improving COVID-19 patient outcomes