Nutritional analysis and evaluation of the consumer acceptance of pork pâté enriched with cricket powder - preliminary study

The growing interest in insects as food ingredients on the one hand is controversial, on the other is in line with the recommendations of international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Crickets, as well as cricket powder (CP), are a source of high quality protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. This paper analyzes the impact of CP additive (2%, 6% and 10%) on the nutritional value and consumer acceptance of enriched pâtés. It was shown that the CP additive significantly increases the content of protein, fat and minerals. It also changes the color of the product, which is darker (lower L* value), and the color balance is shifted towards the blue. Consumer assessment showed that the 2% CP additive allows to obtain a product of high attractiveness for consumers

Effects of small-molecule amyloid modulators on a Drosophila model of Parkinson's disease

Alpha-synuclein (aS) amyloid formation is involved in Parkinson's disease (PD); therefore, small molecules that target aS and affect its aggregation are of interest as future drug candidates. We recently reported modified ring-fused 2-pyridones that modulate aS amyloid formation in vitro. Here, we describe the effects of such molecules on behavioral parameters of a Drosophila model of PD (i.e., flies expressing human aS), using a new approach (implemented in a commercially available FlyTracker system) to quantify fly mobility. FlyTracker allows for automated analysis of walking and climbing locomotor behavior, as it collects large sequences of data over time in an unbiased manner. We found that the molecules per se have no toxic or kinetic effects on normal flies. Feeding aS-expressing flies with the amyloid-promoting molecule FN075, remarkably, resulted in increased fly mobility at early time points; however, this effect switched to reduced mobility at later time points, and flies had shorter life spans than controls. In contrast, an amyloid inhibitor increased both fly kinetics and life span. In agreement with increased aS amyloid formation, the FN075-fed flies had less soluble aS, and in vitro aS-FN075 interactions stimulated aS amyloid formation. In addition to a new quantitative approach to probe mobility (available in FlyTracker), our results imply that aS regulates brain activity such that initial removal (here, by FN075-triggered assembly of aS) allows for increased fly mobility

Effects of 2-pyridones on level of soluble aS in fly brain extracts of 20 days old flies.

<p>Mean soluble aS levels were measured with antibody specific to human aS in ELISA test. Controls: vehicle-treated nsyb-Gal4 outcrossed with Oregon R flies (CTRL VEH) or aS expressing flies (AS VEH, white bars). Tested compounds were FN075 (AS FN075, magenta bars) or MS400 (AS MS400, green bars) or C10 (AS C10, blue bars) at 100μM concentration. Bars represent mean values (n = 2). Error bars indicate ± SD. * <i>P</i> < 0.05; ** <i>P</i> < 0.01; *** <i>P</i> <0.001. Multivariate GLM followed by Fisher's post hoc showed <i>P</i> = 0.084 for AS FN075 vs AS VEH, <i>P</i><0.001 for AS MS400 vs AS VEH and <i>P</i> = 0.002 for AS C10 vs AS VEH. For raw data see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0184117#pone.0184117.s012" target="_blank">S7 Table</a>.</p

Kinetic parameters for control non-expressing <i>UAS-aS</i> flies (<i>w</i>; +; <i>UAS-Hsap</i>/+; CTRL) vs. aS-expressing flies (<i>w</i>; +; <i>UAS-Hsap/nSyb-Gal4</i>; AS) measured at 1, 7, 16, 21, 30 and 42 days of fly lifetime.

<p>(A, B) Mean velocity (mm/s). (C, D) Maximum velocity (mm/s). (E, F) Total walking duration (s). (G, H) Total walking distance (mm). (I, J) Percentage of time that flies are in motion (%). (K, L) Mean trajectory length (mm). (M, N) Mean trajectory length per episode (mm). (O, P) Sample tracings of fly trajectories for 1 day-young and 30-day old control and aS flies. Scattered line and bar diagrams represent the mean values. Error bars = ± SE. * <i>P</i> < 0.05; ** <i>P</i> < 0.01; *** <i>P</i> <0.001.</p

ATR-FTIR spectra of amide-I region of recombinant human aS.

<p>Secondary structure analyses were performed for aS incubated at 37°C alone (A, C, E) or with FN075 (B, D, F). Spectra were collected at different points of incubation: 0h, 3h, 124h and 144h. Deconvolution and curve-fitting were used to determine the secondary structure composition.</p

Western blot analysis of fly head protein extracts probed with antibody to human aS.

<p>The protein extracts are divided in soluble and insoluble aS fractions prepared as described in SI. Tubulin (upper panel), aS (lower panel). Lanes: 1. Recombinant human aS (5 ng), 2. Molecular weight marker, 3. Soluble fraction of fly head extracted aS, 4. Insoluble fraction of fly head extracted aS.</p

Feeding effects of 2-pyridones on aS-expressing flies life span. Survival analysis is presented by Kaplan-Meier curves.

<p>(A) Cumulative survival of control flies (<i>w</i>⁺; +; +/<i>nSyb-GAL4</i>; CTRL VEH, dotted black line) and aS expressing flies (<i>w</i>; +; <i>UAS-Hsap/nSyb-Gal4</i>; AS) treated with either vehicle (AS VEH, black) or compounds: FN075 (AS FN075, magenta), MS400 (AS MS400, green line) or C10 (AS C10, blue line) at 100 μM concentration. Bar diagrams show (B) mean, (C) median and (D) maximum lifetime. Numbers in bars represent days of mean, median and maximum lifetime (n = 10). Error bars imply ± SE.</p