Plant and Fungal Food Components with Potential Activity on the Development of Microbial Oral Diseases

This paper reports the content in macronutrients, free sugars, polyphenols, and inorganic ions, known to exert any positive or negative action on microbial oral disease such as caries and gingivitis, of seven food/beverages (red chicory, mushroom, raspberry, green and black tea, cranberry juice, dark beer). Tea leaves resulted the richest material in all the detected ions, anyway tea beverages resulted the richest just in fluoride. The highest content in zinc was in chicory, raspberry and mushroom. Raspberry is the richest food in strontium and boron, beer in selenium, raspberry and mushroom in copper. Beer, cranberry juice and, especially green and black tea are very rich in polyphenols, confirming these beverages as important sources of such healthy substances. The fractionation, carried out on the basis of the molecular mass (MM), of the water soluble components occurring in raspberry, chicory, and mushroom extracts (which in microbiological assays revealed the highest potential action against oral pathogens), showed that both the high and low MM fractions are active, with the low MM fractions displaying the highest potential action for all the fractionated extracts. Our findings show that more compounds that can play a different active role occur in these foods

Free alpha-dicarbonyl compounds in coffee, barley coffee and soy sauce and effects of in vitro digestion

alpha-dDicarbonyl (alpha-DC) compounds were characterised in roasted (coffee, barley coffee) and in fermented (soy sauce) food matrices. Glyoxal (GO), methylglyoxal (MGO), diacetyl (DA) and 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG) were found in all samples, and hydroxypyruvaldehyde and 5-hydroxypentane-2,3-dione in barley and soy. Cis and trans 3,4-dideoxyglucosone-3-ene (3,4-DGE) isomers and 4-glucosyl-5,6-dihydroxy-2-oxohexanal (4-G,3-DG) were found only in barley, and 3,4-DGE only in soy sauce with molasses. GO, MGO, and DA were quantified. Findings indicate that i) alpha-DC profiles depend on the food matrix and any technological treatments applied; ii) alpha-DC quantitation by HPLC requires matrix-specific, validated methods; iii) GO and MGO were the most abundant alpha-DCs; and iv) barley coffee was the matrix richest in alpha-DCs both qualitatively and quantitatively. In vitro simulated digestion reduced (coffee) or strongly increased (barley, soy sauce) free alpha-DC content. These findings suggest that alpha-DC bioavailability could actually depend not on food content but rather on reactions occurring during digestion

Identification of phenolic constituents in red chicory salads (Cichorium intybus) by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry

Phenolic acids and flavonoids extracted from several types of Cichorium intybus var. silvestre salads (‘‘Chioggia’’, ‘‘Treviso’’, ‘‘Treviso tardivo’’, and ‘‘Verona’’) were characterised by high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionisation/mass spectrometry. Among the 64 compounds detected, several hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives including 8 mono- and dicaffeoylquinic acids, 3 tartaric acid derivatives, 31 flavonol and 2 flavone glycosides, as well as 10 anthocyanins were characterised based on UV spectra and MSn fragmentation patterns. Furthermore, several isomers of caffeic acid derivatives were distinguished for the first time by their specific mass spectral data. This is the first study reporting the glycosylation type and position of mono- and diglycosylated flavonoids in red salads

Phenolic compounds in Cichorium endivia vegetables

Polyphenols are biologically active compounds widely distributed in the plant kingdom and so present in plant-derived foods and intrinsic components of human diets. They have been shown to possess a range of biological activities that are consistent with them contributing to the protection afforded by a diet rich in fruit and vegetables against degenerative diseases1-2. In particular, caffeic acid derivatives act as anti-inflammatory3, skin photo damage protectors and recently chicoric acid showed anti HIV-1 activity4-5. The levels and chemical forms of these compounds vary markedly depending on the plant source. It is known that endive is a rich source of hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonols6-8, in particular kaempferol derivatives, but until now, the qualitative evaluation of flavonoids and phenolic acids in different commercial endive samples, commonly used as food, is far to be complete. In this work we analyzed the methanolic extract of different commercial endive varieties largely consumed in Italian diet. The investigation was carried out using HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn. The obtained results indicated the presence of different mono- and di-caffeoylquinic acid isomers, of cis-caftaric acid, and of different flavonol conjugates (kaempferol and quercetin derivatives)

Effect of in vitro digestion on free α-dicarbonyl compounds in balsamic vinegars

We investigated the influence of an in vitro simulated digestion process on the content of the free α-dicarbonyl compounds most frequently found in food. A Glyoxal (GO), methylglyoxal (MGO), and diacetyl (DA) aqueous standard mixture and 2 brands of balsamic vinegar were analyzed before and after exposure to digestive enzymes. A strong matrix effect required adoption of validated RP-HPLC-DAD standard addition methods. The results showed that the digestive enzymes markedly alter the concentrations of the exogenous free α-dicarbonyl compounds ingested with food; the extent of such changes varied with the α-dicarbonyl compound itself and the diet components, which determined important but different food matrix effects also during digestion. The data also indicate that digestion can reduce the bioavailability of the toxic α-dicarbonyl compounds ingested with food. However, no firm conclusions can be drawn about a putative positive influence of digestion on the toxic potential of dietary α-dicarbonyl compounds, because their reaction in the presence of digestive enzymes likely gives rise to advanced glycation end products, which are involved in the development of chronic diseases

Isolation and identification of alfa-dicarbonyl compounds by RP-HPLC-ESI/MS in roasted barley

Today barley is considered to be a minor cereal and is largely used as fodder. However, it is still important for human nutrition. In germinated form, it is the main ingredient in beer brewing. In recent years, due to its high content in beta-glucans, tocols, and polyphenols, it has been used in the preparation of functional foods. Furthermore, the secular custom in China of drinking barley or malt coffee instead of traditional coffee as a tasty beverage has greatly spread in Western regions, because the children and adults alike are highly susceptible to the negative effects of caffeine. Such beverages use roasted barley. During roasting treatment, caramelization and the Maillard reaction occur and dicarbonyl compounds are formed as reactive intermediates. The most extensively studied alfa-dicarbonyl compounds are methylglyoxal and glyoxal, which have attracted considerable attention as lipid peroxidation product. Glyoxal can also derive from sugar fragmentation and has been isolated in many foodstuffs such as roasted coffee and cocoa. The toxicological profile of these compounds is not completely clear. In recent years, the interest has focused on the implications of the glycation process and the role of dietary glycation products is debated. Various methods have been developed to determine alfa-dicarbonyl compounds. The best current assays involve derivatization of these substances with 1,2-diaminobenzene followed by quantification of the resulting quinoxaline by GC or by HPLC. The aim of this study was to devise a method allowing simultaneous and accurate determination of alfa-dicarbonyl compounds by RP-HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS. Eight different beverages prepared using commercial roasted conventional and organic barley samples, were tested. The applied method involved the elimination of interfering compounds by solid phase extraction (SPE), the derivatization of alfa-dicarbonyl compounds with 1,2-diaminobenzene to give quinoxaline derivatives, the purification and concentration of quinoxaline fractions by SPE, and finally RP-HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS analysis. The obtained results indicated the presence in different amounts of glyoxal, methylglyoxal, and diacetyl in all the tested samples

Determination of alpha-dicarbonyl compounds in foods with a high content of free sugars

aplha-Dicarbonyl compounds are highly reactive substances found in foods and beverages. They are formed during processing, cooking and prolonged storage as end products of lipid peroxidation, microorganism metabolites, and caramelization or Maillard reaction products. Precise and accurate determination of their content in foods is important, because they exert both positive and negative effects on human health, even at low doses. The method most frequently applied to determine alpha-dicarbonyl compounds in foods and beverages involves their derivatization with 1,2- diaminobenzene, to obtain specific quinoxaline derivatives that can be detected by HPLC or GC. In the literature derivatization conditions vary widely, particularly the pH of the medium and temperature, without considering that alpha-dicarbonyl compounds can form as glucose and fructose fragmentation products. Our data demonstrate that derivatization conditions critically affect the fragmentation process in sugar-rich matrices. In this work we tested a range of derivatization conditions to find the combination that would allow accurate and precise determination of alpha-dicarbonyl compounds sugar-rich matrices. Formation of alpha-dicarbonyl compounds due to glucose and fructose fragmentation was found to be avoided by using an acidic medium (pH 3.0) at low temperature (25 °C) while allowing a derivatization yield close to 100% for the alpha-dicarbonyl compounds considered (methylglyoxal and diacetyl). Analysis of four types of red wine having different sugar contents (two table wines and two dessert wines) confirmed that these conditions prevent alpha-dicarbonyl compound overestimation as well as false positive results

Derivati dell’acido idrossicinnamico nel radicchio variegate di Castelfranco

Tra i derivati dell’acido idrossicinnamico molto diffusi in natura sono gli esteri che si formano da uno o più residui di acidi trans-cinnamici (ad esempio acido p-cumarico, acido ferulico o acido caffeico) con l’acido chinico, composti oggetto di numerosi studi volti a definire le loro caratteristiche chimiche [1-3] e la loro attività biologica [4-7]. La loro caratterizzazione chimica negli estratti di origine vegetale risulta solitamente molto difficile sia per la presenza, in quantità spesso molto basse, di numerosi isomeri di posizione nella stessa matrice vegetale, sia per il fatto che in commercio sono disponili pochi derivati da utilizzare come standards. Questa ricerca ha permesso di caratterizzare i derivati dell’acido idrossicinnamico presenti nel radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco, noto anche come “fiore d’inverno”, vegetale ottenuto per incrocio del Cichorium intybus var. silvestre cultivar tipica di Treviso (radicchio rosso di Treviso) e del Cichorium endivia var. latifolium (scarola). Grazie ai caratteristici patterns di frammentazione, ottenuti utilizzando la cromatografia liquida accoppiata alla spettrometria di massa (HPLC-MSn), è stato possibile mettere in evidenza la presenza nel vegetale dei diversi isomeri di posizione dei mono-acil e dei di-acil derivati dell’acido clorogenico (acidi dicaffeoilchinici, acidi caffeoil-feruloilchinici, acidi p-cumaroil-caffeoilchinici