Estudio de la producción de ácido linoleico conjugado por cepas de lactobacillus y enterococcus de distintos orígenes

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a mixture of isomers of linoleic acid with conjugated double bonds. Several studies related the isoforms of CLA with beneficial effects such as anticarcenogenic activity, antiatherogenic activity, the ability to reduce body fat or to improve immune system function. Ruminal bacteria are the main responsible for CLA production. However other bacteria are also able to produce CLA from linoleic acid, such as Bifidobacterium, Enterococcus and Lactobacillus sp. The aim of this research was to evaluate the ability of several strains of Lactobacillus and Enterococcus isolated from different sources to produce CLA in order to use them for the production of functional foods. The results showed that the cis-9,trans-11 CLA isomer was the dominant one in all the strains studied. Lactobacillus gasseri LM21 was the main producer when incubated in anaerobiosis for 48 hours

Diet and Health in Middle Bronze Age Italy : a metaproteomic analysis of human dental calculus in two case-studies

Shotgun metaproteomics applied to dental calculus is a tool that is providing unprecedented insights in ancient diet and health reconstruction [1][2]. We apply a proteomic analysis of dental calculus deposits from individuals of two contemporaneous populations, Bovolone (Verona) and Sant’Abbondio (Pompeii), in order to provide more insight into the diet and health of individuals in middle Bronze Age Italy. Here we find that differences in protein preservation among individuals make comparing the two populations challenging. Nevertheless, we detect a number of dietary proteins, including wheats and eggs, which gains insight into food consumption practices during this period of social and economic change

Stable isotope evidence for dietary diversification in the pre-Columbian Amazon

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MArchaeological research is radically transforming the view that the Amazon basin and surrounding areas witnessed limited societal development before European contact. Nevertheless, uncertainty remains on the nature of the subsistence systems and the role that aquatic resources, terrestrial mammalian game, and plants had in supporting population growth, geographic dispersal, cultural adaptations and political complexity during the later stages of the pre-Columbian era. This is exacerbated by the general paucity of archaeological human remains enabling individual dietary reconstructions. Here we use stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen to reconstruct the diets of human individuals from São Luís Island (Brazilian Amazon coast) dated between ca. 1800 and 1000 cal BP and associated with distinct ceramic traditions. We expanded our analysis to include previously published data from Maracá and Marajó Island, in the eastern Amazon. Quantitative estimates of the caloric contributions from food groups and their relative nutrients using a Bayesian Mixing Model revealed distinct subsistence strategies, consisting predominantly of plants and terrestrial mammals and variably complemented with aquatic resources. This study offers novel quantitative information on the extent distinct food categories of polyculture agroforestry systems fulfilled the caloric and protein requirements of Late Holocene pre-Columbian populations in the Amazon basin

High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis.

The remains of those who perished at Herculaneum in 79 CE offer a unique opportunity to examine lifeways across an ancient community who lived and died together. Historical sources often allude to differential access to foodstuffs across Roman society but provide no direct or quantitative information. By determining the stable isotope values of amino acids from bone collagen and deploying Bayesian models that incorporate knowledge of protein synthesis, we were able to reconstruct the diets of 17 adults from Herculaneum with unprecedented resolution. Significant differences in the proportions of marine and terrestrial foods consumed were observed between males and females, implying that access to food was differentiated according to gender. The approach also provided dietary data of sufficient precision for comparison with assessments of food supply to modern populations, opening up the possibility of benchmarking ancient diets against contemporary settings where the consequences for health are better understood

A biocodicological analysis of the medieval library and archive from Orval Abbey, Belgium.

Biocodicological analysis of parchments from manuscript books and archives offers unprecedented insight into the materiality of medieval literacy. Using ZooMS for animal species identification, we explored almost the entire library and all the preserved single leaf charters of a single medieval Cistercian monastery (Orval Abbey, Belgium). Systematic non-invasive sampling of parchment collagen was performed on every charter and on the first bifolium from every quire of the 118 codicological units composing the books (1490 samples in total). Within the genuine production of the Orval scriptorium (26 units), a balanced use of calfskin (47.1%) and sheepskin (48.5%) was observed, whereas calfskin was less frequent (24.3%) in externally produced units acquired by the monastery (92 units). Calfskin was preferably used for higher quality manuscripts while sheepskin tends to be the standard choice for 'ordinary' manuscript book production. This finding is consistent with thirteenth-century parchment accounts from Beaulieu Abbey (England) where calfskin supply was more limited and its price higher. Our study reveals that the making of archival documents does not follow the same pattern as the production of library books. Although the five earliest preserved charters are made of calfskin, from the 1230s onwards, all charters from Orval are written on sheepskin

Diet at Herculaneum in AD 79. A high resolution approach through Compound Specific Stable Isotope Analysis of Amino Acids (CSIA-AA).

By the 1st century AD, the Roman Empire had almost reached its greatest expansion and the estimated population density was unprecedented in human history. To supply such a vast territory, the state relied on an elaborate system of production and distribution, in which the Bay of Naples had a central role until the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This thesis applies the carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of amino acids (CSIA-AA) to the bone collagen of the individuals who tragically perished at Herculaneum in AD 79. Indeed, this exceptional assemblage represents a unique opportunity to investigate the life of an ancient community who lived and died together in one of the central economic hubs of the Roman Empire. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis (SIA) of the bulk bone collagen has been extensively applied in archaeology allowing us to gain meaningful insights into ancient human dietary practices. However, several studies have now exposed the important limitations of SIA regarding how carbon and nitrogen from different food sources and macronutrients are registered in collagen, potentially resulting in misleading interpretations. On the contrary, CSIA-AA allows to distinguish between single signals -the amino acids- whose fractionation mechanisms are better understood. In this thesis, the results obtained by CSIA-AA were investigated using two innovative Bayesian models that incorporate knowledge of amino acid synthesis. Thanks to the joint application of CSIA-AA and Bayesian statistics, it was possible to observe that men at Herculaneum had easier access to C3 cereals and marine fish, while women were obtaining the majority of their proteins and calories from terrestrial animal products. The high-resolution gained thanks to this approach permitted to compare the estimates obtained with those from modern Mediterranean populations, showing a similar contribution of terrestrial animal products and a three times higher contribution of protein from marine fish at Herculaneum in AD 79

The Museum of Anthropology at the Sapienza University, Rome

"Man” is surely a fascinating matter to discuss and everything but easy to deal with. Suggested by the etymology of the word itself, anthropology is the science devoted to the study of humans as natural bio-cultural beings, were there is an implicit and pernicious correspondence between “narrator” and “narration” (Bruner, 2006). As a matter of fact, the history of anthropology met several controversies. In fact, past anthropologists were influenced by the general cultural background, manipulated by the social atmospheres and political parties of their time. This depended to the country in which this discipline developed, or vice versa the anthropologists themselves and their science influenced the common believes (Spedini, 2005). The museum of anthropology “Giuseppe Sergi” is witness of the complex history of physical anthropology in Italy, particularly in Rome, through the past two centuries. Today, this museum represents an ideal example when dealing with the study on the humankind