Botanicals in Functional Foods and Food Supplements: Tradition, Efficacy and Regulatory Aspects

In recent decades, the interest in products containing botanicals and claiming \u201cfunctional\u201d properties has increased exponentially. Functional foods, novel foods and food supplements have a special impact on the consumers, who show significant expectation for their well-being. Food supplements with botanical ingredients are the food area that has witnessed the greatest development, in terms of the number of available products, budget, and consumer acceptability. This review refers to and discusses some open points, such as: 1) the definitions and regulation of products containing botanicals; 2) the difficulty in obtaining nutritional and functional claims (botanical ingredients obtaining claims in the EU are listed and summarized); 3) the safety aspects of these products; and 4) the poor harmonization between international legislations. The availability of these "new" products can positively influence the well-being of the population, but it is essential to provide the consumers with the necessary recommendations to guide them in their purchase and use

The PlantLIBRA project: how we intend to innovate the science of botanicals

The main aim of the EC-financed R&D project PlantLIBRA (PLANT food supplements: Levels of Intake, Benefit and Risk Assessment) is to foster the safe use of food supplements containing plants or botanical preparations, by enabling science-based decision making by regulators and stakeholders. To make informed decisions, competent authorities and industry need more accessible and quality-assured information, as well as better tools (e.g., databases) and procedures for safety and benefit assessments, supported by broadly accepted methodologies. Consequently, PlantLIBRA is working to develop, validate and disseminate data and methodologies for risk and benefit assessment of plant food supplements, and to implement sustainable international cooperation. International cooperation will help ensure the quality of botanicals imported in the EU. Moreover, the project will provide data on intake by conducting a harmonized consumption survey. Existing composition and safety data will be collated into a meta-database. New analytical data and methods will be investigated and validated. The consortium is working closely with competent authorities and stakeholders

Review of existing experimental methods for assessing the outcome of plant food supplementation on immune function

Plant food supplements (PFS) have become increasingly popular with respect to their consumption for improving human immune function. Despite this popularity, critical review is lacking regarding the analytical methods used to assess PFS outcome. The suitability of such methods for clinical-based studies remains particularly unclear.We undertook a literature-based review of the methods used to assess PFS outcome in immune function, to identify and assess the relevance of different technologies. Most methods described in this review adequately measured the functions of innate and adaptive immunity, were applicable to both healthy and diseased subjects, and were appropriate for assessing the benefit claims of PFS on immune function. However, the design and reporting quality of studies varied widely across trials, in some cases potentially impacting negatively on the outcomes and interpretations. Several strategies to enhance study robustness and quality were outlined, to improve the validity of the data generated in the field

Simple surface functionalization strategy for immunosensing detection of aflatoxin B1

This paper describes the strategy of functionalization of gold electrodes surfaces in aim to obtain a new impedimetric immunosensor for the detection of aflatoxin B1, a common toxic food contaminant. The immunosensor elaboration is based on immobilization of anti-aflatoxin antibody on gold electrodes modified with a cross-linked film of bovine serum albumin, by a four-step protocol. The immunosensor is based on a simple design and requires small volumes of toxic aflatoxin solution. All the steps of the immunosensor elaboration and the immunochemical reaction between aflatoxin and antibody were followed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The resistance to charge transfer (Rct) was the most sensitive parameter to changes induced to the interfacial properties of the immunosensor by the incubation with aflatoxin and varied linearly with aflatoxin concentration in the range 1-20 ng/mL. The immunosensor was applied for the detection of aflatoxin in spiked plant extracts with good recovery factors

Diversity of oat varieties in eliciting the early inflammatory events in celiac disease

Purpose Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy, triggered by dietary gluten. The only treatment is a strict gluten-free diet. Oats are included in the list of gluten-free ingredients by European Regulation, but the safety of oats in CD is still a matter of debate. The present study examined the capability of different oat cultivars of activating the gliadin-induced transglutaminase-2 (TG2)-dependent events in some in vitro models of CD. In addition, we compared this capability with the electrophoresis pattern of peptic\u2013tryptic digests of the proteins of the oat cultivars. Methods K562(S) cells agglutination, transepithelial electrical resistance of T84-cell monolayers, intracellular levels of TG2 and phosphorylated form of protein 42\u201344 in T84 cells were the early gliadin-dependent events studied. Results The results showed that the Nave oat cultivar elicited these events, whereas Irina and Potenza varieties did not. The ability of a cultivar to activate the above-described events was associated with the electrophoretic pattern of oat proteins and their reactivity to anti-gliadin antibodies. Conclusion We found significant differences among oat cultivars in eliciting the TG2-mediated events of CD inflammation. Therefore, the safety of an oat cultivar in CD might be screened in vitro by means of biochemical and biological assays, before starting a clinical trial to definitely assess its safety

Ochratoxin A Detection on Antibody- Immobilized on BSA-Functionalized Gold Electrodes

Ochratoxin A (OTA)-a toxin produced by Aspergillus carbonarius, Aspergillus ochraceus, and Penicillium verrucosum-is one of the most-abundant food-contaminating mycotoxins. To avoid the risk of OTA consumption for humans and animals, the rapid detection and quantitation of OTA level in different commodities are of great importance. In this work, an impedimetric immunosensor for ochratoxin A (OTA) detection, a common toxic botanical contaminant, was developed via the immobilization of anti-OTA antibody on bovine serum albumin modified gold electrodes. A four-step reaction protocol was tested to modify the gold electrode and obtain the sensing substrate. All the steps of the immunosensor elaboration and also the immunochemical reaction between surface-bound antibody and ochratoxin A were analyzed using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Modification of the impedance due to the specific antigen-antibody reaction at immunosensor surface, was used in order to detect ochratoxin A. Linear proportionality of the charge transfer resistance to the concentration of OTA allows ochratoxin A detection in the range of 2.5-100 ng/mL

Development of an in vitro model to simulate the gastrointestinal digestion and absorption of stabilizing agents

Each step in the winemaking process must be carefully planned and controlled to optimize the quality of wine. Among others, tartaric stabilization is a critical step in enology, and although effective, the usual practices to solve it show some qualitative limitations, and important economical and environmental impacts. For the reasons reported above, the wine producers are searching for alternative practices, with particular interest in the area of organic products. Biopolymers are possible alternatives in this field. The selection, the characterization and the safety aspects of new biopolymers are the objectives of the European project STABIWINE (Use of biopolymers for sustainable stabilization of quality wines). The first group of biopolymers analyzed includes polyaminoacids and, in particular, polymers of L-aspartic acid (PAA), which can be used as enological additives for tartaric stabilization. In order to contribute in drafting the toxicological dossier, the metabolic fate of PAAs has been assessed by in vitro models, mimicking gastrointestinal digestion and absorption