Temporal response to drought stress in several Prunus rootstocks and wild species

Prunus species are important crops in temperate regions. In these regions, drought periods are predicted to occur more frequently due to climate change. In this sense, to reduce the impact of climate warming, obtaining new tolerant/resistant cultivars and rootstocks is a mandatory goal in Prunus breeding. Therefore, the current study assembled three Prunus species including almond, (P. dulcis Mill D.A. Webb), apricot (P. armeniaca L.) and peach (P. persica L.) to model the temporal effects of drought. A hybrid peach × almond and a wild almond-relative species Prunus webbii were also included in the study. Physiological traits associated with photosynthetic activity, leaf water status, and chlorophyll content were assessed under three watering treatments. Results showed that effects of time, genotype, and treatment interact significantly in all traits. In addition, results confirmed that P. webbii have a greater tolerance to drought than commercial rootstocks. However, “Real Fino” apricot showed the fastest recovery after re-irrigation while being one of the most affected cultivars. In addition, from the better response to these watering treatments by the almond genotypes, two different trends were observed after re-irrigation treatment that clearly differentiate the response of the almond cultivar “Garrigue” from the rest of Prunus genotypes. A better characterization of the short-term drought response in Prunus, an accurate and more efficient evaluation of the genotype effect was obtained from the use of mixed models considering appropriate variance–covariance structures. Although the advantages of these approaches are rarely used in Prunus breeding, these methodologies should be undertaken in the future by breeders to increase efficiency in developing new breeding materials.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Wine grape pomace flour improves blood pressure, fasting glucose and protein damage in humans: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean diet is a healthy diet with positive scientific evidence of preventing chronic diseases. Bioactive components support the healthy properties of the Mediterranean diet. Antioxidants and fiber, two components of the Mediterranean diet, are key functional nutrients for healthy eating and nutrition. Wine grape pomace is a rich source of these dietary constituents and may be beneficial for human health. Our hypothesis was that the intake of red wine grape pomace flour (WGPF) prepared from red wine grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon variety) reduced the metabolic syndrome in humans. To evaluate the effect of WGPF on components of metabolic syndrome we design a 16-week longitudinal intervention study. Thirty-eight males, 30-65 years of age, with at least one component of metabolic syndrome, were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n = 25) or the control group (n = 13). At lunch, the intervention group was given 20 g of WGPF per day, which contained 10 g of dietary fiber, 822 mg of polyphenols and an antioxidant capacity of 7258 ORAC units. Both groups were asked to maintain their regular eating habits and lifestyles. Clinical evaluation, anthropometric measurements and biochemical blood analyses were done at the beginning and the end of the study. RESULTS: WGPF intake significantly decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as fasting glucose levels. Plasma γ-tocopherol and δ-tocopherol increased and carbonyl group in plasma protein decreased in WGPT group, significantly. No significant effect was observed for waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, total antioxidant capacity and vitamin C in and between groups. The group-dependent magnitude of the differences between the baseline and final postprandial insulin values and γ-tocopherol concentrations was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The consumption of WGPF-rich in fiber and polyphenol antioxidants, as a food supplement in a regular diet improves blood pressure, glycaemia and postprandial insulin. In addition, increased antioxidant defenses and decreased oxidative protein damage indicating attenuation of oxidative stress. WGPF might be a useful food ingredient for health promotion and chronic disease prevention

Elucidation of the amygdalin pathway reveals the metabolic basis of bitter and sweet almonds (Prunus dulcis)

Almond (Prunus dulcis) is the principal Prunus species in which the consumed and thus commercially important part of the fruit is the kernel. As a result of continued selection, the vast majority of almonds have a nonbitter kernel. However, in the field, there are trees carrying bitter kernels, which are toxic to humans and, consequently, need to be removed. The toxicity of bitter almonds is caused by the accumulation of the cyanogenic diglucoside amygdalin, which releases toxic hydrogen cyanide upon hydrolysis. In this study, we identified and characterized the enzymes involved in the amygdalin biosynthetic pathway: PdCYP79D16 and PdCYP71AN24 as the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes catalyzing phenylalanine-to-mandelonitrile conversion, PdUGT94AF3 as an additional monoglucosyl transferase (UGT) catalyzing prunasin formation, and PdUGT94AF1 and PdUGT94AF2 as the two enzymes catalyzing amygdalin formation from prunasin. This was accomplished by constructing a sequence database containing UGTs known, or predicted, to catalyze a β(1→6)-O-glycosylation reaction and a Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search of the draft version of the almond genome versus these sequences. Functional characterization of candidate genes was achieved by transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that the expression of PdCYP79D16 and PdCYP71AN24 was not detectable or only reached minute levels in the sweet almond genotype during fruit development, while it was high and consistent in the bitter genotype. Therefore, the basis for the sweet kernel phenotype is a lack of expression of the genes encoding the two CYPs catalyzing the first steps in amygdalin biosynthesis

Temporal response to drought stress in several prunus rootstocks and wild species

This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Genomics and Genetics of Fruit Trees.Prunus species are important crops in temperate regions. In these regions, drought periods are predicted to occur more frequently due to climate change. In this sense, to reduce the impact of climate warming, obtaining new tolerant/resistant cultivars and rootstocks is a mandatory goal in Prunus breeding. Therefore, the current study assembled three Prunus species including almond, (P. dulcis Mill D.A. Webb), apricot (P. armeniaca L.) and peach (P. persica L.) to model the temporal effects of drought. A hybrid peach × almond and a wild almond-relative species Prunus webbii were also included in the study. Physiological traits associated with photosynthetic activity, leaf water status, and chlorophyll content were assessed under three watering treatments. Results showed that effects of time, genotype, and treatment interact significantly in all traits. In addition, results confirmed that P. webbii have a greater tolerance to drought than commercial rootstocks. However, “Real Fino” apricot showed the fastest recovery after re-irrigation while being one of the most affected cultivars. In addition, from the better response to these watering treatments by the almond genotypes, two different trends were observed after re-irrigation treatment that clearly differentiate the response of the almond cultivar “Garrigue” from the rest of Prunus genotypes. A better characterization of the short-term drought response in Prunus, an accurate and more efficient evaluation of the genotype effect was obtained from the use of mixed models considering appropriate variance–covariance structures. Although the advantages of these approaches are rarely used in Prunus breeding, these methodologies should be undertaken in the future by breeders to increase efficiency in developing new breeding materials.Peer reviewedThis research was supported by the project “Selection and characterization of drought resistant almond cultivars from the Mediterranean basin with high nutraceutical values” (Nut4Drought) of the ARIMNET-2 European Program

Temporal response to drought stress in several Prunus Rootstocks and wild species

Prunus species are important crops in temperate regions. In these regions, drought periods are predicted to occur more frequently due to climate change. In this sense, to reduce the impact of climate warming, obtaining new tolerant/resistant cultivars and rootstocks is a mandatory goal in Prunus breeding. Therefore, the current study assembled three Prunus species including almond, (P. dulcis Mill D.A. Webb), apricot (P. armeniaca L.) and peach (P. persica L.) to model the temporal effects of drought. A hybrid peach × almond and a wild almond-relative species Prunus webbii were also included in the study. Physiological traits associated with photosynthetic activity, leaf water status, and chlorophyll content were assessed under three watering treatments. Results showed that effects of time, genotype, and treatment interact significantly in all traits. In addition, results confirmed that P. webbii have a greater tolerance to drought than commercial rootstocks. However, "Real Fino" apricot showed the fastest recovery after re-irrigation while being one of the most affected cultivars. In addition, from the better response to these watering treatments by the almond genotypes, two different trends were observed after re-irrigation treatment that clearly differentiate the response of the almond cultivar "Garrigue" from the rest of Prunus genotypes. A better characterization of the short-term drought response in Prunus, an accurate and more efficient evaluation of the genotype effect was obtained from the use of mixed models considering appropriate variance-covariance structures. Although the advantages of these approaches are rarely used in Prunus breeding, these methodologies should be undertaken in the future by breeders to increase efficiency in developing new breeding materials

The Consumption of Beef Burgers Prepared with Wine Grape Pomace Flour Improves Fasting Glucose, Plasma Antioxidant Levels, and Oxidative Damage Markers in Humans: A Controlled Trial

Wine grape pomace flour (WGPF) is a fruit byproduct that is high in fiber and antioxidants. We tested whether WGPF consumption could affect blood biochemical parameters, including oxidative stress biomarkers. In a three-month intervention study, 27 male volunteers, each with some components of metabolic syndrome, consumed a beef burger supplemented with 7% WGPF containing 3.5% of fiber and 1.2 mg gallic equivalents (GE)/g of polyphenols (WGPF-burger), daily, during the first month. The volunteers consumed no burgers in the second month, and one control-burger daily in the third month. At baseline and after these periods, we evaluated the metabolic syndrome components, plasma antioxidant status (i.e., 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging capacity (DPPH), vitamin E, vitamin C), and oxidative damage markers (i.e., advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDLs), malondialdehyde (MDA)). The WGPF-burger intake significantly reduced glycemia and homeostatic model assessment-based measurement of insulin resistance. Vitamin C increased and decreased during the consumption of the WGPF-burger and control-burger, respectively. The WGPF-burger intake significantly decreased AOPP and oxLDL levels. Vitamin E and MDA levels showed no significant changes. In conclusion, the consumption of beef burgers prepared with WGPF improved fasting glucose and insulin resistance, plasma antioxidant levels, and oxidative damage markers. Therefore, this functional ingredient has potential as a dietary supplement to manage chronic disease risk in humans

Red Wine Grape Pomace Attenuates Atherosclerosis and Myocardial Damage and Increases Survival in Association with Improved Plasma Antioxidant Activity in a Murine Model of Lethal Ischemic Heart Disease

A healthy dietary pattern and high quality nutrient intake reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. Red wine grape pomace (RWGP)—a rich natural source of dietary fiber and antioxidants—appears to be a potential functional food ingredient. The impact of a dietary supplementation with RWGP flour was evaluated in atherogenic diet-fed SR-B1 KO/ApoER61h/h mice, a model of lethal ischemic heart disease. SR-B1 KO/ApoER61h/h mice were fed with atherogenic (high fat, cholesterol, and cholic acid, HFC) diet supplemented with: (a) 20% chow (HFC-Control), (b) 20% RWGP flour (HFC-RWGP), or (c) 10% chow/10% oat fiber (HFC-Fiber); and survival time was evaluated. In addition, SR-B1 KO/ApoER61h/h mice were fed for 7 or 14 days with HFC-Control or HFC-RWGP diets and plasma lipid levels, inflammation, oxidative damage, and antioxidant activity were measured. Atherosclerosis and myocardial damage were assessed by histology and magnetic resonance imaging, respectively. Supplementation with RWGP reduced premature death, changed TNF-α and IL-10 levels, and increased plasma antioxidant activity. Moreover, decreased atheromatous aortic and brachiocephalic plaque sizes and attenuated myocardial infarction and dysfunction were also observed. These results suggest that RWGP flour intake may be used as a non-pharmacological therapeutic approach, contributing to decreased progression of atherosclerosis, reduced coronary heart disease, and improved cardiovascular outcomes