Publications by authors named "Alice Gadea"

Mycotoxin contamination of staple foods represents a significant public health concern, particularly in countries lacking regulatory frameworks. This study aimed to assess mycotoxin contamination in maize, cowpeas and rice from local markets across Mauritania, using three detection methods (Charm II, ELISA and immunochromatographic tests). Samples were collected from 14 markets in six cities to analyse the presence of aflatoxins, ochratoxins, zearalenone and fumonisins.

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Fusarium verticillioides is a prevalent plant pathogenic fungus known to produce harmful mycotoxins, including fumonisins and emerging toxins. This study aimed to investigate the influence of substrate on the temporal patterns of mycotoxin biosynthesis by F. verticillioides, employing a combined OSMAC (One Strain-Many Compounds) strategy and metabolomics approach.

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High prevalence of parasitic or bacterial infectious diseases in some world areas is due to multiple reasons, including a lack of an appropriate health policy, challenging logistics and poverty. The support to research and development of new medicines to fight infectious diseases is one of the sustainable development goals promoted by World Health Organization (WHO). In this sense, the traditional medicinal knowledge substantiated by ethnopharmacology is a valuable starting point for drug discovery.

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Pseudocereals are best known for three crops derived from the Andes: quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), canihua (C. pallidicaule), and kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus). Their grains are recognized for their nutritional benefits; however, there is a higher level of polyphenism.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated how the concentration of plumericin, a bioactive metabolite from the plant Himatanthus tarapotensis, varied under different soil conditions and rainfall patterns, and its use in defending against insect herbivores.
  • Results showed that plumericin levels were significantly higher in plants on clay soil compared to white-sand soil, but were not influenced by precipitation, and interactions with herbivores like Isognathus leachii were complex.
  • Furthermore, the research indicated a significant connection between plumericin concentration and the abundance of Hymenoptera (ants), which was affected by soil nutrient parameters like carbon, clay, and phosphorus content.
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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: In the Peruvian Amazon as in the tropical countries of South America, the use of medicinal Piper species (cordoncillos) is common practice, particularly against symptoms of infection by protozoal parasites. However, there is few documented information about the practical aspects of their use and few scientific validation. The starting point of this work was a set of interviews of people living in six rural communities from the Peruvian Amazon (Alto Amazonas Province) about their uses of plants from Piper genus: one community of Amerindian native people (Shawi community) and five communities of mestizos.

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Lichens are slow-growing organisms supposed to synthetize specialized metabolites to protect themselves against diverse grazers. As predicted by the optimal defense theory (ODT), lichens are expected to invest specialized metabolites in higher levels in reproductive tissues compared to thallus. We investigated whether Laser Desorption Ionization coupled to Mass Spectrometry Imaging (LDI-MSI) could be a relevant tool for chemical ecology issues such as ODT.

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Specialised metabolites in lichens are generally considered repellent compounds by consumers. Nevertheless, if the only food available is lichens rich in specialised metabolites, lichenophages must implement strategies to overcome the toxicity of these metabolites. Thus, the balance between phagostimulant nutrients and deterrent metabolites could play a key role in feeding preferences.

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Lichen-gastropod interactions generally focus on the potential deterrent or toxic role of secondary metabolites. To better understand lichen-gastropod interactions, a controlled feeding experiment was designed to identify the parts of the lichen Argopsis friesiana consumed by the Subantarctic land snail Notodiscus hookeri. Besides profiling secondary metabolites in various lichen parts (apothecia, cephalodia, phyllocladia and fungal axis of the pseudopodetium), we investigated potentially beneficial resources that snails can utilize from the lichen (carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, polysaccharides and total nitrogen).

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is the only representative of terrestrial gastropods on Possession Island and exclusively feeds on lichens. The known toxicity of various lichen metabolites to plant-eating invertebrates led us to propose that evolved means to protect itself from their adverse effects. To validate this assumption, the current study focused on the consumption of two lichen species: and .

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One new phthalide (1) was isolated from aerial parts of Peperomia nivalis, along with known compounds (2 and 3), reported in this species for the first time. The structure of the new compound was characterised on the basis of 1D (H and C NMR), 2D (COSY, HMQC, HMBC and NOESY) NMR and high-resolution mass spectral (HRMS) data. Compound 2 was isolated from a natural source for the first time but previously synthesised.

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