Current Nutrition & Food Science - Volume 9, Issue 3, 2013

Nowadays the application of cyclodextrin-assisted molecular encapsulation in foods offers many advantages. Cyclodextrins, their derivatives and their cross-linked polymers can all improve the quality of food in storage, remove specific components and stabilize and increase the presence of components that are important for a healthy diet. The application of cyclodextrins and their complexes in packaging materials can help not only transport of previously nontransportable foods, but may also prevent, or at least decelerate, the spread of microbial infections. The number of publications, particularly analytical papers, on this matter is constantly increasing. Although the application of modern analytical methods and equipment allows for the quantitation of previously subjectively characterized parameters, bio-sensory methods are still important. The application of cyclodextrins in the nutraceutical industry has many advantages; however, some side effects connected with the inclusion complexation ability of these carbohydrates should lead scientists to study cases on an individual basis. Recent developments in the major fields of cyclodextrin related food research are herein summarized.

The association between dietary fiber, health benefits and healthy food has been studied in recent years. The food industry, to accompany the strong interest shown by consumers, has placed at their disposal new products, rich in dietary fiber. This work intended to make a statistical analysis of the knowledge of the Portuguese population about fibres, and for that a survey was conducted of a sample of 182 individuals. Some topics covered included consumption habits, knowledge about fibres, means of dissemination and information, food labelling or the relationship between fibres and health, among others. The most relevant results indicate that only 13% of respondents eat two meals a day with vegetables and/or salads and 9% eat at least 3 pieces of fruit. Whole grains are never consumed by only 41% and 18% do so at least once a week. Around 35% of respondents know about the origin of fibres whereas 70% say there is a greater amount of fibre in legumes, fruit with skin and whole foods. The consultation of food labels is of interest to 80% of respondents, although the fibre content is not of interest for 43% of respondents. The vast majority (90%) of respondents have the notion that fibre intake contributes to the prevention and treatment of diseases. With this work it was concluded that the individuals in the survey reveal an insufficient level of knowledge about dietary fibre and that, although they give great importance to the role of fibres in treatment and prevention of diseases, the level of intake is too low.

Spirulina and its products can be applied as feed and food additives in agriculture, food industry, medicine, science and cosmetic. It has high contents of macro and micronutrients. Several pharmacological activities for Spirulina have been documented. This review article serves as an overview, introducing medical application within each usage, the basic description of the involved disease, the mechanism of action and application are given. Also stability, modified antioxidant rheological and anti-staling properties can be observed in Spirulina incorporated food. S. platensis revealed to be a good stable ingredient when the desired color is green. All possible usage of Spirulina platensis in human food including beverages, bakery products, candy, gel desserts, dairy and confectionary are introduced.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how beverages containing Lactobacillus casei Shirota (BLS) and soy isoflavone consumption since adolescence affected the incidence of breast cancer. In a population-based case-control study, three hundred and six cases with breast cancer and 662 controls aged 40 to 55 were matched for age and residential area and included in the analyses. Diet, lifestyle and other breast cancer risk factors were investigated using the selfadministered questionnaire and interview. Odds ratios (ORs) of BLS and soy isoflavone consumption for breast cancer incidence were independently and jointly estimated using a conditional logistic regression. The ORs of BLS consumption (≥ four times a week against < four times a week) was 0.65 and statistically significant (p = 0.048). The analysis of association between soy consumption and breast cancer incidence showed the more the isoflavone consumption is, the lower the odds of breast cancer becomes. Adjusted ORs for breast cancer in the second, the third and the fourth quartiles of soy consumption against the first quartile were 0.76, 0.53 and 0.48, respectively (trend test, p = 0.0002). The BLS-isoflavone interaction was not statistically significant; however, a biological interaction was suggested. Regular consumption of BLS and isoflavones since adolescence was inversely associated with the incidence of breast cancer in Japanese women.

We have previously examined the antimicrobial activity of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) extracts on a wide spectrum of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in addition to the fungus, Candida albicans. To further understand the effect of a variety of extracts of a related family of sour, tart cherries (Prunus cerasus L.) on bacterial and fungus growth, the antimicrobial activities of black sour cherry extracts (SCE) were measured in culture. SCEs were subdivided into variables: Whole juice extracts (WJE), methanol-extracted juice (MEJ), ddH2O-extracted pomace (dPOM), and methanol-extracted pomace (mPOM). Bacteria and fungus were culturally grown on Mueller-Hinton agar suitable for disk-diffusion method. WJE showed prominent inhibition of Enterococcus Group D (EGD), Staphylococcus aureus, Citrobacter koseri, Enterobacter cloacae, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, with minor attenuation of Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli ESBL, Proteus vulgaris, and C. albicans. By contrast, MEJ exhibited substantial inhibition of EGD, S. aureus, Streptococcus Group A (GAS), Streptococcus Group B (GBS), E. cloacae, E. coli, E. coli ESBL, and K. pneumoniae, with minor attenuation of B. subtilis, P. vulgaris, and C. albicans. Interestingly, prominent inhibitory/attenuation effect was reported with dPOM on EGD, S. aureus, GAS, C. koseri, K. pneumoniae, and P. vulgaris, with minor effect on E. cloacae, E. coli, E. coli ESBL, and C. albicans. Furthermore, mPOM exhibited substantial inhibition of EGD, S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and P. vulgaris, with attenuation of GAS, and E. coli ESBL. Of note, whilst WJE, MEJ, and dPOM had no tangible, measurable effect on P. aeruginosa, mPOM significantly inhibited this pathogen. These results confirm the attenuating effect of black sour P. cerasus extracts on the differential growth of gram-positive and gramnegative bacteria, and fungus. Since many of the aforementioned are pathogenic in their nature, sour cherry extracts are interestingly of value in regulating and attenuating the growth of microorganisms of medical importance.

Previously, we have examined the antimicrobial activity of sweet cheery (Prunus avium L.) extracts on a wide spectrum of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in addition to the fungus, Candida albicans. To further understand the effect of a variety of extracts of sour black and red cherries (Prunus cerasus L.) on bacterial/fungus growth, the antimicrobial activities of red sour cherry extracts (SCE) were measured in culture in this study. SCEs were subdivided into variables: whole juice extracts (WJE), methanol-extracted juice (MEJ), ddH2O-extracted pomace (dPOM), and methanolextracted pomace (mPOM). Bacteria and fungus were grown on Mueller-Hinton agar suitable for disk-diffusion method. WJE showed attenuating inhibition on Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus Group D, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus Group B (GBS), Citrobacter koseri, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, although inhibition of B. subtilis, C. koseri, and E. cloacae is less prominent, and there was no attenuation of C. albicans. By contrast, MEJ showed prominent inhibition on B. subtilis, Enterococcus Group D, S. aureus, Streptococcus Group A (GAS), GBS, C. koseri, E. cloacae, E. coli, E. coli ESBL, K. pneumoniae, P. vulgaris, and P. aeruginosa, although inhibition of B. subtilis, GAS, GBS, C. koseri, and P. aeruginosa is less attenuating, and there was strong inhibition of C. albicans. Furthermore, dPOM showed inhibition on B. subtilis, S. aureus, GAS, GBS, C. koseri, E. cloacae, E. coli, E. coli ESBL, K. pneumoniae, P. vulgaris, and P. aeruginosa, although inhibition of GAS, GBS, E. cloacae, and E. coli is less prominent, and there was no inhibition of C. albicans. Similarly, mPOM showed attenuating effect on B. subtilis, Enterococcus Group D, S. aureus, GAS, C. koseri, E. coli, E. coli ESBL, K. pneumoniae, P. vulgaris, and P. aeruginosa, although inhibition of gram-positive bacteria, C. koseri, and E. coli ESBL is less prominent, and there was no inhibition of C. albicans. These results confirm the attenuating effect of P. cerasus extracts on the differential growth of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Since many of the aforementioned are pathogenic in their nature, cherry extracts are interestingly of value in regulating/attenuating the growth of microorganisms of medical importance.

On a prior occasion, we have measured the antimicrobial activities of sweet cherry extracts (SCEs) on grampositive/ negative bacteria and C. albicans using disk diffusion method, in addition to the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) in broth cultures. In this study, the MICs of sour cherries were assessed @ 24 hrs. following bacterial/fungus inoculations. Extracts were subdivided into the following categories: Whole juice (WJE), methanol-extracted (MEJ), ddH2O-extracted pomace (dPOM) and methanol-extracted pomace (mPOM). Black sour cherries – WJE: MICs (1/16 – 1/32) for gram-positive and (1/2 – 1/32) for gram-negative bacteria; MIC for fungus was 1/32. MEJ: MICs (1/2 – 1/32) for gram-positive and (undiluted – 1/32) for gram-negative bacteria; MIC for fungus was 1/32. dPOM: MICs (undiluted – 1/16) for gram-positive and (1/2 – 1/16) for gram-negative bacteria; MIC for fungus was 1/4. mPOM: MICs (undiluted – 1/32) for gram-positive and (undiluted – 1/16) for gram-negative bacteria; MIC for fungus was 1/2. Red sour cherries – WJE: MICs (undiluted – 1/16) for gram-positive and (undiluted – 1/32) for gram-negative bacteria; MIC for fungus was 1/2. MEJ: MICs (undiluted – 1/4) for gram-positive and (1/4 – 1/16) for gram-negative bacteria; MIC for fungus was 1/2. dPOM: MICs (1/4 – 1/16) for gram-positive and (1/2 – 1/16) for gram-negative bacteria; MIC for fungus was 1/32. mPOM: MICs (1/8 – 1/32) for gram-positive and (1/4 – 1/16) for gram-negative bacteria; MIC for fungus was 1/8. These results confirm the measurable attenuating effect of P. cerasus extracts on the differential resistance/sensitivity of grampositive and gram-negative bacteria and C. albicans in broth cultures.

Antioxidant activities of two commercial spices, Myristica fragrans (HOUTT, nutmeg) and Pimenta dioica (L., allspice), were analyzed for the first time in a hemin-enhanced oxidation (HET) assay. Hemin is a potentially cytotoxic factor that can act as an efficient prooxidant. Relative activities of the two spices were compared in HET and other assays. When standardized for total phenolic content (mg gallic acid equivalents, GAE), ethanolic and aqueous Myristica extracts had 4- and 10-fold greater activity relative to Pimenta (p < 0.05). Myristica also had a 3-fold greater aqueous:ethanolic activity ratio compared to Pimenta. Our results (a) provide novel evidence for potent Myristica antioxidants, especially water- soluble ones, in HET assays, and (b) provide a basis for further testing of Myristica phytochemicals in heme-related pathological models. Most other reported protocols also indicate a higher Myristica potency relative to Pimenta, with standardized relative antioxidant activity variations up to 27-fold. Such variation, as well as the distinct reactive species implicated in some pathologies, emphasize the importance of comparing multiple assays to evaluate antioxidant activities.

This study aimed to measure the fluoride concentrations of successive infusions of tea steeped from the same tea bag, with relative risk of fluorosis in mind. 250 ml infusions of 37 different tea brands were steeped with deionized distilled water at an initial temperature 85°C. For each different tea brand, after 10 minutes the first infusion was emptied and 250 ml of fresh deionized distilled water at 85°C was added to the original tea bag; this step was repeated at the 30 minute mark as well, with the experiment ending at the 50 minute mark. All infusions were analyzed for fluoride concentration using a fluoride ion-specific electrode and millivolt meter. Caffeinated teas (n=19) had a mean fluoride concentration of 1.32 µg/ml (SD±0.81) for the first infusion, which reduced to 0.34 µg/ml (SD±0.18) for the second infusion and then 0.14 µg/ml (SD±0.06) for the third infusion. Decaffeinated teas (n=7) had a mean fluoride concentration of 3.10 µg/ml (SD±0.64) for the first infusion, which reduced to 0.64 µg/ml (SD±0.16) for the second infusion and then 0.21 µg/ml (SD±0.05) for the third infusion. Herbal teas (n=11) had a mean fluoride concentration of 0.03 µg/ml (SD±0.02) for the first infusion, which reduced to 0.03 µg/ml (SD±0.01) for the second infusion and then 0.02 µg/ml (SD±0.01) for the third infusion. Successive tea infusions from the same bag contain lower fluoride concentrations than the first. First infusions of tea, specially non-herbal, present a higher risk for fluorosis than successive infusions.