Assessment of plant usability for alternative cultivation using typical technological systems

Dotychczasowe doświadczenia z wprowadzania do uprawy roślin, które nie były dobrze sprawdzone w kontrolnych uprawach o różnej skali i różnych sposobach rozmnażania okazały się niewystarczające. Podjęto próbę wstępnego typowania roślin do uprawy i zbioru typowymi maszynami rolniczymi, stosowanymi aktualnie w rolnictwie. Ze względu na specyfikę regionu interesowano się roślinami o zróżnicowanym zastosowaniu ich plonów, zmniejszonym zapotrzebowaniu na wodę oraz przydatnością do zakładania ekotonów między uprawami rolniczymi i leśnymi. Podano wyniki przeprowadzonych analiz, dla roślin o najkorzystniejszych ocenach wstępnych, zebrano dane z uprawy doświadczalnej.Experience gained to date as regards introducing cultivation of plants, which weren't sufficiently tested in various scale check cultivations characterised by different reproduction methods, proved to be insufficient. The researchers made an attempt to carry out preliminary selection of plants for cultivation and harvesting with typical farm machines currently in use in agriculture. Due to specific character of the region, they were interested in plants with diversified crop applications, reduced water demand and usability for establishing ecotones between farming and forest growing. The paper specifies results of completed analyses for plants with most favourable preliminary rating, and compares data from experimental cultivation

Bioactive properties of blueberry extracts obtained by different drying techniques against Helicobacter pylori

Trabajo presentado al 3rd International Electronic Conference on Foods: Food, Microbiome, and Health, celebrado on-line del 1 al 15 de octubre de 2022.This research was funded by MINECO (Spain), Project HELIFOOD (AGL2017-89566-R).Peer reviewe

Bioactive properties of blueberry extracts obtained by different drying techniques against Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is widely recognised as one of the most prevalent human pathogens, which infects more than 50% of the population worldwide. Chronic inflammation of the gastric mucosa is one of the main consequences of this infection and is related to the risk of developing gastric cancer. Currently, due to the high association between H. pylori infection and the progression of gastric cancer, most therapeutic treatments aim to eradicate the bacteria using different antibiotics in combination with a proton pump inhibitor in triple or quadruple therapy. However, resistant strains have increased significantly, requiring new therapeutic tools. Blueberries are rich in different bioactive compounds with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that could contribute to reducing the problems associated with H. pylori infection. The aim of this research was to analyse the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of different blueberry extracts (from Bluejay, Berkley, and Bluecrop varieties) obtained by different drying methods (freeze-drying (FD), vacuum drying at 50 °C, 70 °C and 90 °C (VD), and spray drying (SD)) against H. pylori infection. The results showed that all blueberry extracts exhibited antibacterial effects against H. pylori, with some of these extracts being bactericidal, while the rest reduced bacterial growth by more than 5 log CFU/mL. The Bluecrop extracts were the most active because all the extracts obtained by the different drying methods were bactericidal. The extracts obtained by vacuum drying (VD) at 50ºC were the most effective since the extracts of the three varieties were bactericidal. Regarding anti-inflammatory activity, all blueberry extracts reduced IL-8 secretion in the H. pylori-infected gastric cells. The Bluecrop extracts obtained by VD at 70 °C and 90 °C reduced IL-8 production by 30% and 32%, respectively. These results suggest that the blueberry extracts used in the present work and obtained by different drying methods could constitute a useful alternative for controlling H. pylori growth and in the modulation of the gastric inflammatory process induced in H. pylori infection.This research was funded by MINECO (Spain), Project HELIFOOD (AGL2017-89566-R).Peer reviewe

Matrix changes driven by cultivar diversity, inulin addition and drying techniques - shaping the antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of blueberry powders

Quality of fruit powders is ambiguously shaped by processing parameters depending on matrix composition. Thus, the objective was to evaluate influence of drying techniques and inulin application on physico-chemical, antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of sugar-free juice extract powders prepared from three blueberry cultivars. Drying significantly affected physical attributes, pointed vacuum drying as preferred. The highest phenolics content was ensured by spray- and freeze-drying (9.32–30.36 and 9.25–30.94 mg · 100 g−1 dry matter, respectively). Inulin lowered bioactives by 48% and alleviated cultivar-driven differences in powders. Phenolic profile affected antibacterial activity towards Campylobacter jejuni stronger than phenolic content. Ten out of fifteen carrier-free powders showed bactericidal effect against Helicobacter pylori, while one among inulin-added. Vacuum drying improved anti-inflammatory properties in gastric cell cultures infected with Helicobacter pylori of selected blueberry products compared to spray- and freeze-drying. The study provides comprehensive insight into blueberry powders manufacturing with high scientific and practical significance.This work was supported by “UPWR 2.0: international and interdisciplinary programme of development of Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences”, co-financed by the European Social Fund under the Operational Program Knowledge Education Development, under contract No. POWR.03.05.00–00-Z062/18 of June 4, 2019. The study was conducted under Grant NCN Sonata 12 [2016/23/D/NZ9/02671] and Grant AGL2017–89566-R (HELIFOOD) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by ‘ERDF A Way of Making Europe’.Peer reviewe