Nutritional assessment of fresh, salted and soaked European catfish

The European catfish (Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758) is an invasive fish species in Portugal and it is the largest-bodied European freshwater fish.CERNAS-IPCB [UIDB/00681/2020] funding by the Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characterization of the volatile fraction emitted by phloems of four pinus species by solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Pine forests constitute some of the most important renewable resources supplying timber, paper and chemical industries, among other functions. Characterization of the volatiles emitted by different Pinus species has proven to be an important tool to decode the process of host tree selection by herbivore insects, some of which cause serious economic damage to pines. Variations in the relative composition of the bouquet of semiochemicals are responsible for the outcome of different biological processes, such as mate finding, egg-laying site recognition and host selection. The volatiles present in phloem samples of four pine species, P. halepensis, P. sylvestris, P. pinaster and P. pinea, were identified and characterized with the aim of finding possible host-plant attractants for native pests, such as the bark beetle Tomicus piniperda. The volatile compounds emitted by phloem samples of pines were extracted by headspace solid-phase micro extraction, using a 2 cm 50/30 mm divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane table flex solid-phase microextraction fiber and its contents analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography, using flame ionization and a non polar and chiral column phases. The components of the volatile fraction emitted by the phloem samples were identified by mass spectrometry using time-of-flight and quadrupole mass analyzers. The estimated relative composition was used to perform a discriminant analysis among pine species, by means of cluster and principal component analysis. It can be concluded that it is possible to discriminate pine species based on the monoterpenes emissions of phloem samples

Nutritional characteristics and minerals of Lardosa cowpea landraces: a strategic legume species for the future

Cowpeas have been cultivated at least since the 8th century BC. [1; 2]. This grain legume (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.), one of Africa's natural food gifts to the world, is characterized by its high nutritional value, ability to fix nitrogen and great tolerance to drought. The tolerance of this legume to low fertility soils, high temperatures and scarce water regimes makes this one of the most resistant crops to adverse edaphoclimatic conditions. It is certainly a very important culture in southern European countries like Portugal.Cultivar-Rede de competências para o desenvolvimento sustentável e inovação no setor Agroalimentar (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nutritional characteristics and minerals of Lardosa cowpea landraces : a strategic legume species for the future

Cowpeas have been cultivated at least since the 8th century BC. [1; 2]. This grain legume (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.), one of Africa's natural food gifts to the world, is characterized by its high nutritional value, ability to fix nitrogen and great tolerance to drought. The tolerance of this legume to low fertility soils, high temperatures and scarce water regimes makes this one of the most resistant crops to adverse edaphoclimatic conditions. It is certainly a very important culture in southern European countries like Portugal.Cultivar-Rede de competências para o desenvolvimento sustentável e inovação no setor Agroalimentar (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Orange snacks as a solution for orange surplus in Portugal

In the summer of 2022, Portugal experienced a downfall of the price of oranges, mainly due to pressure of the agricultural commodity market and the change in trade dynamics in Europe due to the war in Ukraine. One way to add value to a product is to transform it into something new.CULTIVAR (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000020) e FUSILIinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Crispy orange: a multi-purpose ready-to-eat snack

Póster premiado no evento IMTFWith the war in Ukraine reshaping world trade, there is now a surplus of orange production in Europe, affecting the price in Portugal. Algarve is no exception, where producers are offering the fruit for lack of buyers. An innovative solution is on the agenda: transforming this Mediterranean diet fruit into a crispy ready-to-eat snack. The crispy orange snack is made exclusively from dehydrated oranges (and no other ingredients) and is not yet available in the market. Not only can this product be made from surplus orange production, but it can also be used in a variety of ways, including as a crunchy, ready-to-eat snack, as an edible cake topper, or even as an ingredient in beverages such as sparkling and tonic water, or gin. Following development, the product was fully characterized regarding nutritional value, water activity (aw), microbiology and sensory analysis with 66 consumers. Interestingly, unlike other orange products such as 100% orange juice, the crispy orange snack has a high fibre content (10% of the recommended daily dose). This is a major point as fibre is essential for regulating blood sugar levels. Furthermore, 95.5% of consumers who tested the product would buy it if it were available.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Validation of a method for cylindrospermopsin determination in vegetables: Application to real samples such as lettuce (lactuca sativa l.)

Reports on the occurrence of the cyanobacterial toxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN) have increased worldwide because of CYN toxic effects in humans and animals. If contaminated waters are used for plant irrigation, these could represent a possible CYN exposure route for humans. For the first time, a method employing solid phase extraction and quantification by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) of CYN was optimized in vegetables matrices such as lettuce (Lactuca sativa). The validated method showed a linear range, from 5 to 500 ng CYN g−1 of fresh weight (f.w.), and detection and quantitation limits (LOD and LOQ) of 0.22 and 0.42 ng CYN g−1 f.w., respectively. The mean recoveries ranged between 85 and 104%, and the intermediate precision from 12.7 to 14.7%. The method showed to be robust for the three different variables tested. Moreover, it was successfully applied to quantify CYN in edible lettuce leaves exposed to CYN-contaminated water (10 µg L−1), showing that the tolerable daily intake (TDI) in the case of CYN could be exceeded in elderly high consumers. The validated method showed good results in terms of sensitivity, precision, accuracy, and robustness for CYN determination in leaf vegetables such as lettuce. More studies are needed in order to prevent the risks associated with the consumption of CYN-contaminated vegetables. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Acknowledgments: The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (AGL2015-64558-R, MINECO/FEDER, UE) for its financial support and the FCT Project UID/Multi/04423/2013. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad for the grant FPI (BES-2016-078773) awarded to Leticia Díez-Quijada Jiménez. A. Campos work was supported by a postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/103683/2014) from FCT

Modulation of autophagy by a thioxanthone decreases the viability of melanoma cells

(1) Background: Our previous studies unveiled the hit thioxanthone TXA1 as an inhibitor of,P-glycoprotein (drug efflux pump) and of human tumor cells growth, namely of melanoma cells. SinceTXA1 is structurally similar to lucanthone (an autophagy inhibitor and apoptosis inducer) and to N10-substituted phenoxazines (isosteres of thioxanthones, and autophagy inducers), this study aimed at further assessing its cytotoxic mechanism and evaluating its potential as an autophagy modulator in A375-C5 melanoma cells; (2) Methods: Flow cytometry with propidium iodide (PI) for cell cycle profile analysis; Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, flow cytometry with Annexin V/PI labeling and Western blot for apoptosis analysis were conducted. A pharmacophore approach was used for mapping TXA1 onto pharmacophores for autophagy induction. Autophagy analyses included transmission electron microscopy for visualization of autophagic structures, fluorescence microscopy for observation of monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining, pattern of LC3 expression in the cells and acridine orange staining, and Western blot for autophagic proteins expression; (3) Results: TXA1 induced autophagy of melanoma cells at the GI50 concentration (3.6 μM) and apoptosis at twice that concentration. Following treatment with TXA1, autophagic structures were observed, together with the accumulation of autophagosomes and the formation of autophagolysosomes. An increase in LC3-II levels was also observed, which was reverted by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) (an early stage autophagy-inhibitor) but further increased by E-64d/pepstatin (late-stage autophagy inhibitors). Finally, 3-MA also reverted the effect of TXA1 in cellular viability; (4) Conclusion: TXA1 decreases the viability of melanoma cells by modulation of autophagy and may, therefore, serve as a lead compound for the development of autophagy modulators with antitumor activity.This work was financed by FEDER—Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020—Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/ Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274)”. The work was also funded by ERDF, COMPETE, and FCT under the projects PTDC/SAU-OSM/101437/2008, PTDC/MAR-BIO/4694/2014, and INNOVMAR—reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000035, Research Line NOVELMAR. The authors also thank: FCT for D. Sousa and R.T. Lima grants (PTDC/SAU-FCT/100930/2008 and SFRH/BPD/68787/2010, respectively), QREN for D. Sousa grant (NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000023)

Potential use of chemoprotectants against the toxic effects of cyanotoxins: A review

Cyanobacterial toxins, particularly microcystins (MCs) and cylindrospermopsin (CYN), are responsible for toxic effects in humans and wildlife. In order to counteract or prevent their toxicity, various strategies have been followed, such as the potential application of chemoprotectants. A review of the main substances evaluated for this aim, as well as the doses and their influence on cyanotoxin-induced toxicity, has been performed. A search of the literature shows that research on MCs is much more abundant than research on CYN. Among chemoprotectants, antioxidant compounds are the most extensively studied, probably because it is well known that oxidative stress is one of the toxic mechanisms common to both toxins. In this group, vitamin E seems to have the strongest protectant effect for both cyanotoxins. Transport inhibitors have also been studied in the case of MCs, as CYN cellular uptake is not yet fully elucidated. Further research is needed because systematic studies are lacking. Moreover, more realistic exposure scenarios, including cyanotoxin mixtures and the concomitant use of chemoprotectants, should be considered. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This work was supported by the the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (AGL2015-64558-R, MINECO/FEDER, UE), by the FCT Project—UID/Multi/04423/2013, and by the Structured Program of R&D&I INNOVMAR—Innovation and Sustainability in the Management and Exploitation of Marine Resources (reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000035, Research Line NOVELMAR), funded by the Northern Regional Operational Program (NORTE2020) through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Alexandre Campos work is supported by a post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/103683/2014) from Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Lisbon, Portugal)

New Method for Simultaneous Determination of Microcystins and Cylindrospermopsin in Vegetable Matrices by SPE-UPLC-MS/MS

Cyanotoxins are a large group of noxious metabolites with different chemical structure and mechanisms of action, with a worldwide distribution, producing effects in animals, humans, and crop plants. When cyanotoxin-contaminated waters are used for the irrigation of edible vegetables, humans can be in contact with these toxins through the food chain. In this work, a method for the simultaneous detection of Microcystin-LR (MC-LR), Microcystin-RR (MC-RR), Microcystin-YR (MC-YR), and Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) in lettuce has been optimized and validated, using a dual solid phase extraction (SPE) system for toxin extraction and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) for analysis. Results showed linear ranges (5⁻50 ng g-1 f.w.), low values for limit of detection (LOD) (0.06⁻0.42 ng g-1 f.w.), and limit of quantification (LOQ) (0.16⁻0.91 ng g-1 f.w.), acceptable recoveries (41⁻93%), and %RSDIP values for the four toxins. The method proved to be robust for the three variables tested. Finally, it was successfully applied to detect these cyanotoxins in edible vegetables exposed to cyanobacterial extracts under laboratory conditions, and it could be useful for monitoring these toxins in edible vegetables for better exposure estimation in terms of risk assessment.Funding: This research was funded by the SPANISH MINISTERIO DE ECONOMÍA Y COMPETITIVIDAD (AGL2015-64558-R, MINECO/FEDER, UE); by the FPI grant number BES-2016-078773 awarded to Leticia Díez-Quijada Jiménez; by the FCT project UID/Multi/04423/2013, and the post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/103683/2014) from FCT awarded to Alexandre Campos. Acknowledgments: Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for the project AGL2015-64558-R, MINECO/FEDER, UE, and for the grant FPI (BES-2016-078773) awarded to Leticia Díez-Quijada Jiménez. CIIMAR members acknowledge FCT project UID/Multi/04423/2013 and the post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/103683/2014) from FCT awarded to Alexandre Campos