Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Lentil Wastes: Antioxidant Activity Evaluation and Metabolomic Characterization

The recovery of industrial by-products is part of the zero-waste circular economy. Lentil seed coats are generally considered to be a waste by-product. However, this low-value by-product is rich in bioactive compounds and may be considered an eco-friendly source of health-promoting phytochemicals. For the first time, a sustainable microwave-assisted extraction technique was applied, and a solvent screening was carried out to enhance the bioactive compound content and the antioxidant activity of green and red lentil hull extracts. With respect to green lentil hull extracts that were obtained with different solvents, the aqueous extract of the red lentil seed coats showed the highest total phenolic and total flavonoid content (TPC = 28.3 ± 0.1 mg GAE/g dry weight, TFC = 1.89 ± 0.01 mg CE/100 mg dry weight, respectively), as well as the highest antioxidant activity, both in terms of the free radical scavenging activity (ABTS, 39.06 ± 0.73 mg TE/g dry weight; DPPH, IC50 = 0.39 μg/mL) and the protection of the neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y, IC50 = 10.1 ± 0.6 μg/mL), the latter of which has never been investigated so far. Furthermore, a metabolite discovery analysis was for the first time performed on the aqueous extracts of both cultivars using an HPLC separation which was coupled with an Orbitrap-based high-Resolution Mass Spectrometry technique

Alternative Protein Sources and Novel Foods: Benefits, Food Applications and Safety Issues

The increasing size of the human population and the shortage of highly valuable proteinaceous ingredients has prompted the international community to scout for new, sustainable, and natural protein resources from invertebrates (e.g., insects) and underutilized legume crops, unexploited terrestrial and aquatic weeds, and fungi. Insect proteins are known for their nutritional value, being rich in proteins with a good balance of essential amino acids and being a valuable source of essential fatty acids and trace elements. Unconventional legume crops were found rich in nutritional, phytochemical, and therapeutic properties, showing excellent abilities to survive extreme environmental conditions. This review evaluates the recent state of underutilized legume crops, aquatic weeds, fungi, and insects intended as alternative protein sources, from ingredient production to their incorporation in food products, including their food formulations and the functional characteristics of alternative plant-based proteins and edible insect proteins as novel foods. Emphasis is also placed on safety issues due to the presence of anti-nutritional factors and allergenic proteins in insects and/or underutilized legumes. The functional and biological activities of protein hydrolysates from different protein sources are reviewed, along with bioactive peptides displaying antihypertensive, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and/or antimicrobial activity. Due to the healthy properties of these foods for the high abundance of bioactive peptides and phytochemicals, more consumers are expected to turn to vegetarianism or veganism in the future, and the increasing demand for such products will be a challenge for the future

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services