Assessment of the Sustainable Level of Vending Machine Products in an Italian University

The aim of the analysis is to assess whether vending machines placed in a university context provide not only healthy but also environmentally and socially sustainable food products. Content analysis was performed to evaluate the sustainability of food products by examining the types of sustainability claims (both graphical and textual) found on food packaging. The analysis revealed a significant lack of sustainable food products sold from vending machines. This lack was confirmed by the low quantity of graphical and textual sustainability claims on packaging. Legislative, contractual, and economic issues were identified as the most plausible reasons for the lack of sustainable products. Demonstrating that vending machines do not provide sustainable food is useful for establishing a baseline for the development of subsequent legislative, environmental, behavioral, and product-related interventions in the university context

Financing for sustainable food systems: The role of the vending sector

The agribusiness sector needs substantial funding to initiate an ecological transition involving healthy diets and the creation of local circuits and linkages. One sector that has yet to be studied from this perspective is vending, whose importance is confirmed by its profits, especially in Italy. At present, the vending sector cannot be considered sustainable as it rarely contributes to the development of healthy diets and local economies with low environmental impact. There are cases of products with suitable characteristics that can push the sector towards more sustainable dynamics, but such products often do not achieve the success they deserve for various socioeconomic reasons. Access to financial investment or alternative modes of financing could help small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector overcome these difficulties

A Novel Method for the Quantification of White Wine Mannoproteins by a Competitive Indirect Enzyme-Linked Lectin Sorbent Assay (CI-ELLSA)

Mannoproteins (MPs) are cell wall proteoglycans released in wine by yeast during fermentation and ageing on lees, a procedure used for the production of several wines to enrich them in these components with consequences from both a technological and sensory point of view. Given the significance that wine MPs have for wine quality, winemakers would welcome a simple and accurate method for their quantification, as this would allow them to have a better control of this aspect at different winemaking stages. This study develops and validates a novel, simple and accurate method for MPs quantification in white wines based on a competitive indirect enzyme-linked lectin sorbent assay (CI-ELLSA), using the highly mannosylated yeast invertase as the standard. The method utilizes the lectin concanavalin A (ConA) as the immobilized ligand for MPs, and peroxidase, an enzyme rich in mannose, as the competitor for ConA. After addition of the peroxidase substrate, the intensity of the signal produced by the activity of this enzyme (absorbance at 450 nm) is inversely proportional to the amount of mannosylated proteins in the sample. Results have been validated on several wine styles including still, sparkling and sweet wines

What makes hot beverage vending machine cups eco-friendly? A research into consumer views and preferences

Purpose – This study aims to gain a first explorative view on what intrinsic/extrinsic attributes a generic cup for hot beverage should possess to be perceived as eco-friendly, and how some attributes of a hot beverage could influence consumers’ purchase decision and willingness to pay (WTP) for that beverage dispensed by vending machines (VMs). Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was developed in 2021 and sent to all students of an Italian university campus. For the first goal, students were asked to assign a score to some eco-friendly intrinsic/extrinsic attributes using a five-point Likert scale. For the second aim, a choice experiment with six scenarios was developed. Findings – Both intrinsic and extrinsic attributes play a key role in shaping students’ opinions and preferences. Results indicate that students are attracted by the idea of a cup that communicates its environmental properties through corresponding labels and information, and it is made by materials that guarantee biodegradability, recyclability or reusability. Originality/value – The research represents the first academic attempt to provide a first consumers’ viewpoint on the importance of eco-friendly attributes of cups for hot beverages able to influence consumers’ perceptions and consumption choices of hot beverages dispensed by VMs

Current and future strategies for wine yeast lees valorization

Wine lees is a sludge material mainly composed of dead yeast precipitated at the bottom of wine tanks. Along with grape pomace and grape stalks, it is one of the main by-products of the winemaking industry. Given that wine lees are considered a soil pollutant, their disposal represents a cost for wineries. Numerous wine lees recovery and valorization strategies have been proposed, with a particularly steep increase in published research in recent years. This attention is strictly linked to the concepts of circular economy and environmental sustainability that are attracting the interest of the scientific community. In this review, an overview on the available wine lees recovery and valorization strategies is reported. Additionally, the methods for the extraction and valorization of yeast's cell wall polysaccharides (\u3b2-glucans and mannoproteins) are discussed. Finally, current and future innovative applications in different sectors of yeast \u3b2-glucans and mannoproteins are described and critically discussed

Kinetic, Structural, and EPR Studies Reveal That Aldehyde Oxidoreductase from Desulfovibrio gigas Does Not Need a Sulfido Ligand for Catalysis and Give Evidence for a Direct Mo-C Interaction in a Biological System

J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2009, 131 (23), pp 7990–7998 DOI: 10.1021/ja809448rAldehyde oxidoreductase from Desulfovibrio gigas (DgAOR) is a member of the xanthine oxidase(XO) family of mononuclear Mo-enzymes that catalyzes the oxidation of aldehydes to carboxylic acids. The molybdenum site in the enzymes of the XO family shows a distorted square pyramidal geometry in which two ligands, a hydroxyl/water molecule (the catalytic labile site) and a sulfido ligand, have been shown to be essential for catalysis. We report here steady-state kinetic studies of DgAOR with the inhibitors cyanide, ethylene glycol, glycerol, and arsenite, together with crystallographic and EPR studies of the enzyme after reaction with the two alcohols. In contrast to what has been observed in other members of the XO family, cyanide, ethylene glycol, and glycerol are reversible inhibitors of DgAOR. Kinetic data with both cyanide and samples prepared from single crystals confirm that DgAOR does not need a sulfido ligand for catalysis and confirm the absence of this ligand in the coordination sphere of the molybdenum atom in the active enzyme. Addition of ethylene glycol and glycerol to dithionite-reduced DgAOR yields rhombic Mo(V)EPR signals, suggesting that the nearly square pyramidal coordination of the active enzyme is distorted upon alcohol inhibition. This is in agreement with the X-ray structure of the ethylene glycol and glycerolinhibited enzyme, where the catalytically labile OH/OH2 ligand is lost and both alcohols coordinate the Mo site in a η2 fashion. The two adducts present a direct interaction between the molybdenum and one of the carbon atoms of the alcohol moiety, which constitutes the first structural evidence for such a bond in a biological system

The macromolecular diversity of Italian monovarietal red wines

13openInternationalItalian coauthor/editorWhile red wine phenolics have been extensively studied, polysaccharides and proteins have not received the same level of attention, especially when considering Italian wines. In this study, for the first time, quantitative and qualitative data on the macromolecular (proteins and polysaccharides) and tannin composition of 110 monovarietal red wines from 11 of the most important Italian grape varieties are reported. The winemaking did not include any filtration, oak contact, fining treatments, or ageing on yeast lees. Results highlighted a great inter- and intra- varietal diversity. The protein content ranged between 0 and 159 mg/L, polysaccharides between 211 and 1081 mg/L and total tannins between 171 and 3746 mg/L, with averages of 41 mg/L, 497 mg/L and 1687 mg/L, respectively. Six varieties with protein content representative of the variability observed were selected and submitted to electrophoresis. Within each variety, the SDS-PAGE mobility of protein-tannin complexes was similar but showed two distinct patterns for wines of different varieties (higher mobility for Corvina, Teroldego and Raboso Piave, lower mobility for Nebbiolo, Aglianico, Cannonau), suggesting that the Italian monovarietal wines can be diverse also in their colloidal-forming structures. This can be explained by looking at the different percentages of protein-reactive tannins (TBSA) on the total tannin content (TMCP), which is a varietal characteristicopenMarangon, Matteo; De Iseppi, Alberto; Gerbi, Vincenzo; Mattivi, Fulvio; Moio, Luigi; Piombino, Paola; Parpinello, Giuseppina Paola; Rolle, Luca; Slaghenaufi, Davide; Versari, Andrea; Vrhovsek, Urska; Ugliano, Maurizio; Curioni, AndreaMarangon, M.; De Iseppi, A.; Gerbi, V.; Mattivi, F.; Moio, L.; Piombino, P.; Parpinello, G.P.; Rolle, L.; Slaghenaufi, D.; Versari, A.; Vrhovsek, U.; Ugliano, M.; Curioni, A

Covalent functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes with a gadolinium chelate for efficient T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

Given the promise of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for photothermal therapy, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and gene therapy, there is a need for non-invasive imaging methods to monitor CNT distribution and fate in the body. In this study, non-ionizing whole-body high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to follow the distribution of water-dispersible non-toxic functionalized CNTs administrated intravenously to mice. Oxidized CNTs are endowed with positive MRI contrast properties by covalent functionalization with the chelating ligand diethylenetriaminepentaacetic dianhydride (DTPA), followed by chelation to Gd. The structural and magnetic properties, MR relaxivities, cellular uptake, and application for MRI cell imaging of Gd-CNTs in comparison to the precursor oxidized CNTs are evaluated. Despite the intrinsic T contrast of oxidized CNTs internalized in macrophages, the anchoring of paramagnetic gadolinium onto the nanotube sidewall allows efficient T contrast and MR signal enhancement, which is preserved after CNT internalization by cells. Hence, due to their high dispersibility, Gd-CNTs have the potential to produce positive contrast in vivo following injection into the bloodstream. The uptake of Gd-CNTs in the liver and spleen is assessed using MRI, while rapid renal clearance of extracellular Gd-CNTs is observed, confirming the evidences of other studies using different imaging modalities

α-Synuclein is a Novel Microtubule Dynamase.

α-Synuclein is a presynaptic protein associated to Parkinson's disease, which is unstructured when free in the cytoplasm and adopts α helical conformation when bound to vesicles. After decades of intense studies, α-Synuclein physiology is still difficult to clear up due to its interaction with multiple partners and its involvement in a pletora of neuronal functions. Here, we looked at the remarkably neglected interplay between α-Synuclein and microtubules, which potentially impacts on synaptic functionality. In order to identify the mechanisms underlying these actions, we investigated the interaction between purified α-Synuclein and tubulin. We demonstrated that α-Synuclein binds to microtubules and tubulin α2β2 tetramer; the latter interaction inducing the formation of helical segment(s) in the α-Synuclein polypeptide. This structural change seems to enable α-Synuclein to promote microtubule nucleation and to enhance microtubule growth rate and catastrophe frequency, both in vitro and in cell. We also showed that Parkinson's disease-linked α-Synuclein variants do not undergo tubulin-induced folding and cause tubulin aggregation rather than polymerization. Our data enable us to propose α-Synuclein as a novel, foldable, microtubule-dynamase, which influences microtubule organisation through its binding to tubulin and its regulating effects on microtubule nucleation and dynamics