Alimenti funzionali e nutraceutici per la salute

Atti del Convegno su Alimenti funzionali e nutraceutici per la salute, organizzato a Camerino il 28-06-2016, a cura della Piattaforme Tematiche di Ateneo su “Alimenti e Nutrizione” e “Salute Umana e Animale”, in collaborazione con Ufficio Stampa e Comunicazione e ILO di UNICAM

The influence of different types of preparation (espresso and brew) on coffee aroma and main bioactive constituents

Coffee is one of the most popular hot drinks in the world; it may be prepared by several methods, but the most common forms are boiled (brew) and pressurized (espresso). Analytical studies on the substances responsible for the pleasant aroma of roasted coffee have been carried out for more than 100 years. Brew coffee and espresso coffee (EC) have a different and peculiar aroma profile, demonstrating the importance of the brewing process on the final product sensorial quality. Concerning bioactive compounds, the extraction mechanism plays a crucial role. The differences in the composition of coffee brew in chlorogenic acids and caffeine content is the result of the different procedures of coffee preparation. The aim of the present review is to detail how the brewing process affects coffee aroma and composition

Effect of Compost Added with Compostable Plastic Packaging on Wheat Health and its Rhizosphere Microbiome

Aim: Packaging waste is steadily increasing in Europe. Thus, compostable plastics (CPs) may represent an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based plastics for the development of innovative packaging solutions. However, the potential impact of CPs presence in compost on soil ecosystems and crop health, still needs to be assessed. The present investigation aims to evaluate and compare the effects produced by "standard" compost (C) obtained from urban organic waste (UOW) and UOW added with 3% compostable bioplastics (CV), on wheat health and its rhizosphere microbiome. Method: Field experiments were conducted at Agricultural Research Station, CERMIS, Italy. During 2021-2022, three treatments (C, CV, and B -no compost) with five replicates each, were tested. Soil chemical-physical properties were measured before and after composts distribution to evaluate changes in nutrient concentrations and presence of possible pollutants. At the flowering stage, ten plants and associated rhizospheric soils were collected in each plot. Morphological and productive wheat traits were measured. Rhizosphere bacterial communities were analysed by 16S rRNA metabarcoding. Results: No significant differences between treatments were detected by means of wheat traits. C and CV compost fertilization significantly changed the bacterial communities with respect to the untreated control. But no significant differences were found between the C and CV communities, which also showed similar composition. This demonstrates the equivalence of the two composts. Conclusions: Results showed that CPs addition do not negatively affect compost quality neither wheat nor microbiome health. Thus, CPs represent a sustainable alternative to conventional plastic that will be crucial in the green European transition

Cibo e nutraceutici: direzione salute

Atti congressuali del Convegno “Cibo e nutraceutici: direzione salute”, organizzato a Camerino il 10-07-2018, a cura della Piattaforme Tematiche di Ateneo su “Alimenti e Nutrizione” e “Salute Umana e Animale”

Cibo e Nutraceutici: direzione salute

Atti congressuali del Convegno “Cibo e nutraceutici: direzione salute”, organizzato a Camerino il 10-07-2018, a cura della Piattaforme Tematiche di Ateneo su “Alimenti e Nutrizione” e “Salute Umana e Animale”

Analysis in Dried Fruit by LC/MS/MS and a Modified QuEChERS Procedure

A sensitive and reliable multi-mycotoxin method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 16 toxicological important mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2; enniatins A, A1, B, and B1; beauvericin; ochratoxin A; fumonisin B1, B2, andB3; diacetoxyscirprenol; HT-2; and T-2 toxin in dried fruits using liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization-triple quadrupole tandem-mass spectrometry. Mycotoxins have been extracted from the samples using a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe procedure. The method was based on a single extraction with acidified acetonitrile, followed by partitioning with salts, avoiding any further clean-up step. Limits of detections ranged from 0.08 to 15 μg kg−1 and limits of quantification ranged from 0.2 to 45 μg kg−1, which were below the legal limit set by the European Union for the legislated mycotoxines. The recoveries in spiked samples ranged from 60 to 135 % except for beauvericin using matrix-matched calibration curves for quantification, with good inter- and intraday repeatability (respective relative standard deviation ≤20 and 9 %). The developed method was applied to 15 commercial dried fruits: raisins, figs, apricots, plums, and dates purchased in local markets from Spain. Among the mycotoxins studied, enniantins and aflatoxins were the most predominant mycotoxins

Anchovies: a healthy food and a good source of vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin).

Vitamins are crucial for maintaining good health in humans; lack of a sufficient amount of them can cause serious disease [1]. Essential for the calculation of dietary intake of nutrients from food is the use of reliable, accurate and precise analytical methods for nutrients in the foods. The water-soluble vitamins act mainly as coenzymes, while the fat-soluble ones act in different and more complex ways [2]. In foodstuffs, the vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin) may be present in free (riboflavin, nicotinamide and nicotinic acid) and binding forms (essentially riboflavin-5’-phosphate (FMN), riboflavin- 5’-adenosyldiphosphate (FAD), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP)). Furthermore, they may be bound tightly but non-covalently to proteins and polysaccharides [3]. Anchovies are a good source of those two vitamins, based on the various nutrition tables available. Thus, the aim of this paper was to evaluate the content of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin, i.e. nicotinic acid plus nicotinamide) in anchovies samples provided by “Dimar Sapore di Mare” and to evaluate the possibility to use the health claims related to the above vitamins reported in EU Regulation 432/2012. In order to use the claim, the levels of these two vitamins must be at least 15% of the recommended dose given in the Annex Regulation 2008/100/ EC, that is 1.4 mg/100 g for riboflavin and 16 mg/100 g for niacin. In the current study, we tested different extraction procedures such as acidic hydrolysis, acidic hydrolysis plus protein precipitation, acidic plus enzymatic hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis and we choose the best one for the extraction of riboflavin and niacin from anchovies. Additionally, a new analytical method to simultaneously determine these three compounds in anchovies by using HPLC-MS/MS triple quadrupole, has been developed. The analytical procedure is fast (2.5 minutes of chromatography run time), the method is sensitive (LOQ for all compounds is in the range 1-5 µg kg-1), accurate and robust as it is possible to apply the method to both normal and under-oil/canned anchovies. After method validation, the best method was then applied to the analysis of 23 anchovies samples, in order to understand the dietary intake of vitamins

Coffee Silverskin and Spent Coffee Suitable as Neuroprotectors against Cell Death by Beauvericin and α-Zearalenol: Evaluating Strategies of Treatment

Coffee silverskin and spent coffee have been evaluated in a neuroblastoma cell line (SHSY5Y cells) against beauvericin (BEA) and α-zearalenol (α-ZEL)-induced cytotoxicity with different strategies of treatment. First, the direct treatment of mycotoxins and coffee by-products extracts in SH-SY5Y cells was assayed. IC50 values for α-ZEL were 20.8 and 14.0 μM for 48 h and 72 h, respectively and, for BEA only at 72 h, it was 2.5 μM. Afterwards, the pre-treatment with spent coffee obtained by boiling water increased cell viability for α-ZEL at 24 h and 48 h from 10% to 16% and from 25% to 30%, respectively; while with silverskin coffee, a decrease was observed. Opposite effects were observed for BEA where an increase for silverskin coffee was observed at 24 h and 48 h, from 14% to 23% and from 25% to 44%, respectively; however, a decrease below 50% was observed for spent coffee. Finally, the simultaneous treatment strategy for the highest concentration assayed in SH-SY5Y cells provided higher cytoprotection for α-ZEL (from 44% to 56% for 24 h and 48 h, respectively) than BEA (30% for 24 h and 48 h). Considering the high viability of coffee silverskin extracts for SH-SY5Y cells, there is a forthcoming promising use of these unexploited residues in the near future against mycotoxins effects