Microbial Phenolic Metabolites: Which Molecules Actually Have an Effect on Human Health?

The role of gut microbiota in human health has been investigated extensively in recent years. The association of dysbiosis, detrimental changes in the colonic population, with several health conditions has led to the development of pro-, pre- and symbiotic foods. If not absorbed in the small intestine or secreted in bile, polyphenols and other food components can reach the large intestine where they are susceptible to modification by the microbial population, resulting in molecules with potentially beneficial health effects. This review provides an overview of studies that have detected and/or quantified microbial phenolic metabolites using high-performance liquid chromatography as the separation technique, followed by detection through mass spectrometry. Both in vitro experimental studies and human clinical trials are covered. Although many of the microbial phenolic metabolites (MPM) reported in in vitro studies were identified in human samples, further research is needed to associate them with clinical health outcomes

A Response to Léa Drieu et al., 2020, "Is It Possible to Identify Ancient Wine Production Using Biomolecular Approaches?" (STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, DOI:10.1080/20548923.2020.1738728)

Comparable to Drieu et al.'s viewpoint, we argue that it is possible to identify ancient Eurasian grape wine by current biomolecular methods, but only in conjunction with the relevant archaeological, archaeobotanical, and other natural and social scientific data. Additionally, we advocate an inductive-deductive working hypothesis model, which is appropriate for the 'historical science' of archaeology. We focus on two key deficiencies of Drieu et al.'s argumentation: (1) the assumption that Guasch-Jané et al. (2004) extracted their ancient samples with potassium hydroxide before testing for tartaric acid/tartrate, and (2) the supposition that 5000-year-old yeast DNA would not be preserved in the hot climate of Egypt but rather represents modern contamination

Rice straw as a valuable source of cellulose and polyphenols: Applications in the food industry

Background: Rice plants generate a large amount of straw after harvesting, which is currently managed mainly by incineration or used as animal bedding, animal fodder or wrapping of materials during transport. Other technological uses, such as the production of energy and biofuels, pulp and paper production or construction materials have also been described. However, due to the current European Union (EU) restrictions, alternatives for waste management must be sought. Valorisation of rice straw is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals agenda set by the EU, since interesting biocompounds have been described in their composition and, after a successful extraction and purification, they can be used in various sectors. Scope and approach: This review gathers the most relevant works related to the valorisation of rice straw. It focuses on polyphenolic extracts and cellulose derivatives obtained by different extraction techniques, either conventional or innovative. In addition, the different applications that these compounds have in the field of food and nutrition sciences are summarized. Key findings and conclusions: Polyphenols and cellulose fractions have shown their viability to be extracted from rice straw, showing great potential as antioxidants in the food sector or as nutritional components in the development of new food or packaging materials, respectively. In conclusion, the valorisation of rice straw as a rich source of valuable compounds has been demonstrated, which currently generates serious environmental and human problems due to difficulties in its management and incineration, adding value to these underutilized residues and contributing to the circular bioeconomy concept

Exploring the Impact of In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion in the Bioaccessibility of Phenolic-Rich Chestnut Shells: A Preliminary Study

Chestnut shells (CS), the principal by-product of the chestnut processing industry, contain high concentrations of flavonoids and other polyphenols with huge interest for the nutraceuticals field. Nonetheless, the bioaccessibility and bioactivity of phytochemicals can be influenced by their digestibility, making it imperative to evaluate these activities prior to application of CS as a nutraceutical ingredient. This work aims to appraise the effects of in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion on the bioaccessibility, bioactivity, and metabolic profiling of CS. An increase in the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant/antiradical properties, radical scavenging capacity, and inhibition on acetylcholinesterase activity was evidenced during in vitro simulated digestion. Metabolomic profiling by LC-ESI-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS revealed changes during the simulated digestion, particularly in phenolic compounds (46% of total compounds annotated), lipids (22%), phenylpropanoids (9%), organic acids (7%), carbohydrates (5%), nucleosides (5%), amino acids (4%), and alcohols (1%). Phenolic acids (gallic acid, syringic acid, and hydroxyphenylacetic acid) and flavonoids (epicatechin) were the major polyphenolic classes identified. The heatmap-positive correlations highlighted that the bioactivity of CS is closely related to the phenolic compounds and their bioaccessibility. These findings suggest the reuse of CS as a potential nutraceutical ingredient with antioxidant and neuroprotective effects, encouraging the use of appropriate extraction and/or encapsulation techniques to enhance the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds. © 2023 by the authors.</p

Health Effects of Resveratrol: Results from Human Intervention Trials

The effect of resveratrol (RV) intake has been reviewed in several studies performed in humans with different health status. The purpose of this review is to summarize the results of clinical trials of the last decade, in which RV was determined in biological samples such as human plasma, urine, and feces. The topics covered include RV bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, effects on cardiovascular diseases, cognitive diseases, cancer, type 2 diabetes (T2D), oxidative stress, and inflammation states. The overview of the recent research reveals a clear tendency to identify RV in plasma, showing that its supplementation is safe. Furthermore, RV bioavailability depends on several factors such as dose, associated food matrix, or time of ingestion. Notably, enterohepatic recirculation of RV has been observed, and RV is largely excreted in the urine within the first four hours after consumption. Much of the research on RV in the last 10 years has focused on its effects on pathologies related to oxidative stress, inflammatory biomarkers, T2D, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological disease

Sweet Potato Is Not Simply an Abundant Food Crop: A Comprehensive Review of Its Phytochemical Constituents, Biological Activities, and the Effects of Processing

Nowadays, sweet potato (Ipomoea batata L.; Lam.) is considered a very interesting nutritive food because it is rich in complex carbohydrates, but as a tubercle, contains high amounts of healthpromoting secondary metabolites. The aim of this review is to summarize the most recently published information on this root vegetable, focusing on its bioactive phytochemical constituents, potential effects on health, and the impact of processing technologies. Sweet potato is considered an excellent source of dietary carotenoids, and polysaccharides, whose health benefits include antioxidant, antiinflammatory and hepatoprotective activity, cardiovascular protection, anticancer properties and improvement in neurological and memory capacity, metabolic disorders, and intestinal barrier function. Moreover, the purple sweet potato, due to its high anthocyanin content, represents a unique food option for consumers, as well as a potential source of functional ingredients for healthy food products. In this context, the effects of commercial processing and domestic cooking techniques on sweet potato bioactive compounds require further study to understand how to minimize their loss

Moderate Consumption of Beer (with and without Ethanol) and Menopausal Symptoms: Results from a Parallel Clinical Trial in Postmenopausal Women

The menopausal transition can be a challenging period for women's health and a trigger of uncomfortable symptoms. Beer is the main food source of isoxanthohumol, a precursor of 8-prenylnaringenin, the strongest phytoestrogen identified to date. As phytoestrogens are reported to reduce perimenopausal symptoms, we evaluated if a daily moderate consumption of beer with (AB) and without alcohol (NAB) could improve menopausal symptoms and modify cardiovascular risk factors. A total of 37 postmenopausal women were enrolled in a parallel controlled intervention trial and assigned to three study groups: 16 were administered AB (330 mL/day), 7 NAB (660 mL/day), and 14 were in the control group. After a 6-month follow-up of the 34 participants who finished the trial, both interventions (AB and NAB) significantly reduced the severity of the menopause-related symptoms (p-value AB vs. Control: 0.009; p-value NAB vs. Control: 0.033). Moreover, AB had a beneficial net effect on psychological menopausal discomforts compared to the control group. As the sex hormone profile did not differ significantly between the study groups, the effects of both types of beers (AB and NAB) are attributed to the non-alcoholic fraction of beer. Furthermore, moderate NAB consumption improved the lipid profile and decreased blood pressure in postmenopausal women. View Full-Text Keywords: phytoestrogens; prenylflavonoids; polyphenols; health; menopause; alcohol; cardiovascular risk factor

The Effects of Differentiated Organic Fertilization on Tomato Production and Phenolic Content in Traditional and High-Yielding Varieties

The challenge of sustainable agriculture is to increase yields and obtain higher quality products. Increased antioxidant compounds such as polyphenols in harvest products may be an added value for sustainable agriculture. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether three organic fertilization treatments with different levels of carbon and nitrogen, i.e., N-rich, N-rich+C, and N-poor+C, affected the phenolic content of different tomato varieties. The examined parameters were productivity, plant nutritional status, δ13C, and tomato phenolic content as an indication of the antioxidant capacity. The best production was obtained with 'Cornabel', a high-yielding Pebroter variety. The total phenolic content was highest in the traditional 'Cuban Pepper' variety regardless of treatment, while naringenin levels were high in all the Pebroter varieties. In N-poor+C fertilized plants, a lower N-NO3 content in leaves was correlated with higher levels of total polyphenols in the fruit. The high-water stress suffered by Montserrat varieties coincided with a low total phenolic content in the tomatoes. In conclusion, organic fertilization with reduced N did not influence the tomato yield but positively affected phenolic compound levels in varieties less sensitive to water stress

Contribución al conocimiento de la biodiversidad fúngica del Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido II

This paper continues the taxonomic revision of the species collected during the campaign of 2015 in the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido. 409 taxa are added to the previous inventory, some of them from alpine-subalpine ecology, of which 76% correspond to phylum Basidiomycota and 22.2% to Ascomycota. They are presented in the form of a check-list, followed by 20 selected taxonomic descriptions of interesting, infrequent species, and those though to be new in the peninsular territory. Among the species determined, six species were included in the proposals for the inventory of protected species of the Iberian Peninsula and/or Aragon. This paper presents a first approximation, as a platform for later evaluations, of the beech conservation degree in some forests from the Park through the occurrence of indicator species.En este trabajo se continúa con la revisión taxonómica de las especies recolectadas durante la campaña de 2015 en el Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido. Se añaden al catálogo previo 409 taxones, algunos de ellos de ecología alpina-subalpina, de los cuales el 76% corresponde al phylum Basidiomycota y el 22,2% al Ascomycota. Se presentan en forma de listado, y a continuación una selección de 20 descripciones taxonómicas completas, que corresponden con especies interesantes, poco frecuentes y posiblemente nuevas en el territorio peninsular. De las especies estudiadas se han encontrado seis que han sido propuestas para el inventario de especies protegidas de la península ibérica y/o Aragón. Se presenta en este trabajo una primera aproximación, a modo de punta de lanza para evaluaciones posteriores, del grado de conservación de algunos hayedos del Parque a través de la ocurrencia de especies indicadoras

Een 18de-eeuwse wraksite op de Buiten Ratel-zandbank (Belgische territoriale wateren): 1. Multidisciplinair onderzoek van het vondstenmateriaal

In 1996 werd op de Buiten Ratel-zandbank, op 9 mijl van de kust, ter hoogte van Koksijde, een houten scheepswrak gelokaliseerd. Het werd onderzocht door een groep sportduikers, met de naam NATA. Jarenlange verkenning van de wraksite leverde talrijke vondsten op. In 2003 zochten de duikers steun bij het toenmalige IAP (Instituut voor het Archeologisch Patrimonium), nu Vlaams Instituut voor het Onroerend Erfgoed (VIOE), om het onderzoek en de conservatie op wetenschappelijke basis verder te zetten. Het VIOE ontfermde zich over het onderzoek van de tot nu toe geborgen materiële resten van de wraksite. Het eerste hoofdstuk van het artikel geeft een overzicht van de observaties van de wraksite via duikonderzoek en via gespecialiseerde technieken vanop een onderzoeksschip. In hoofdstuk 2 worden de objecten beschreven, hun betekenis aan boord van het schip besproken, evenals hun datering en herkomst. Hoofdstuk 3 brengt alle informatie samen en geeft aan wat er in de toekomst nog aan onderzoek kan gebeuren