Effect of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption on Human Health: An Update of the Literature.

Several meta-analyses have consistently demonstrated that the consumption of an adequate level of fruit and vegetables (F&V), along with other food groups, is associated with a low risk of all-cause mortality, and, as such, represents one of the major modifiable risk factors related to the growing burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). The aim of the present narrative review was to provide an up-to-date analysis of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in the past five years, dealing with the effects of F&V consumption on human health, focusing on specific pathologies, such as total mortality, cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), type 2 diabetes, intestinal inflammation, and bone and respiratory illnesses. The results of our evaluation confirmed and consolidated the protective role of F&V consumption against the development of NCDs, especially CVDs.

Foodborne Microbial Communities as Potential Reservoirs of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes for Pathogens: A Critical Review of the Recent Literature.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global and increasing threat to human health. Several genetic determinants of AMR are found in environmental reservoirs, including bacteria naturally associated with widely consumed fermented foods. Through the food chain, these bacteria can reach the gut, where horizontal gene transfer (HGT) can occur within the complex and populated microbial environment.

FDF-DB: A Database of Traditional Fermented Dairy Foods and Their Associated Microbiota.

Background: Fermented foods are attracting increasing interest due to their nutritional and health benefits, including a positive impact on gut microbiota exerted by their associated microbes. However, information relative to traditional fermented dairy products, along with their autochthonous microbiota, is still fragmented and poorly standardized. Therefore, our aim was to collect and aggregate data useful for obtaining a comprehensive overview translated in a classical database interface that can be easily handled by users.

Semantics of Dairy Fermented Foods: A Microbiologist's Perspective.

Food ontologies are acquiring a central role in human nutrition, providing a standardized terminology for a proper description of intervention and observational trials. In addition to bioactive molecules, several fermented foods, particularly dairy products, provide the host with live microorganisms, thus carrying potential "genetic/functional" nutrients. To date, a proper ontology to structure and formalize the concepts used to describe fermented foods is lacking.

Colonization Ability and Impact on Human Gut Microbiota of Foodborne Microbes From Traditional or Probiotic-Added Fermented Foods: A Systematic Review.

A large subset of fermented foods act as vehicles of live environmental microbes, which often contribute food quality assets to the overall diet, such as health-associated microbial metabolites. Foodborne microorganisms also carry the potential to interact with the human gut microbiome the food chain. However, scientific results describing the microbial flow connecting such different microbiomes as well as their impact on human health, are still fragmented.

A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Impact of Bovine Milk Containing Different Beta-Casein Profiles on Gut Health of Ageing Mice.

Ageing is often characterised by nutritional deficiencies and functional alterations of the digestive and immune system. The aim of the present study was to analyse the impact of consumption of conventional milk with A1/A2 beta-casein, compared to milk containing only the A2 beta-casein variant, characterised by a protein profile favouring gut health. Twenty-four ageing Balb-c mice (20 months old) were fed for 4 weeks, with either a control diet (CTRL), a diet supplemented with bovine milk containing A1/A2 beta-casein (A1A2) or a diet containing A2/A2 beta-casein (A2A2).

and Probiotics Interactions from a Prolongevity Perspective.

Probiotics exert beneficial effects on host health through different mechanisms of action, such as production of antimicrobial substances, competition with pathogens, enhancement of host mucosal barrier integrity and immunomodulation. In the context of ageing, which is characterized by several physiological alterations leading to a low grade inflammatory status called inflammageing, evidences suggest a potential prolongevity role of probiotics. Unraveling the mechanisms underlying anti-ageing effects requires the use of simple model systems.

The Foodborne Strain MBC2 Triggers -Dependent Pro-Longevity Effects in .

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are involved in several food fermentations and many of them provide strain-specific health benefits. Herein, the probiotic potential of the foodborne strain MBC2 was investigated through in vitro and in vivo approaches. was used as an in vivo model to analyze pro-longevity and anti-aging effects.

Supplementation with dairy matrices impacts on homocysteine levels and gut microbiota composition of hyperhomocysteinemic mice.

Purpose: Several studies highlighted a correlation between folic acid deficiency and high plasma homocysteine concentration, considered a risk factor for multifactorial diseases. Natural folates represent an emerging alternative strategy to supplementation with synthetic folic acid, whose effects are controversial. The present work was, therefore, performed in hyperhomocysteinemic mice to study the impact of supplementation with dairy matrices containing natural folates on plasma homocysteine levels and faecal microbiota composition.

and Selection of Potentially Probiotic Lactobacilli From Nocellara del Belice Table Olives.

Table olives are increasingly recognized as a vehicle as well as a source of probiotic bacteria, especially those fermented with traditional procedures based on the activity of indigenous microbial consortia, originating from local environments. In the present study, we report characterization at the species level of 49 Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) strains deriving from Nocellara del Belice table olives fermented with the Spanish or Castelvetrano methods, recently isolated in our previous work. Ribosomal 16S DNA analysis allowed identification of 4 , 3 , 14 , 19 , 7 , and 2 .

Impact of supplementation with a food-derived microbial community on obesity-associated inflammation and gut microbiota composition.

Background: Obesity is a complex pathology associated with dysbiosis, metabolic alterations, and low-grade chronic inflammation promoted by immune cells, infiltrating and populating the adipose tissue. Probiotic supplementation was suggested to be capable of counteracting obesity-associated immune and microbial alterations, based on its proven immunomodulatory activity and positive effect on gut microbial balance. Traditional fermented foods represent a natural source of live microbes, including environmental strains with probiotic features, which could transiently colonise the gut.

Combination of Metabolomic and Proteomic Analysis Revealed Different Features among Subspecies and Strains While Testing in the Model Organism Highlighted Probiotic Properties.

represents a technologically relevant member of lactic acid bacteria, since the two subspecies and are widely associated with fermented dairy products. In the present work, we report the characterization of two commercial strains belonging to subspecies , and a novel strain previously isolated from a traditional fermented fresh cheese. A phenomic approach was performed by combining metabolomic and proteomic analysis of the three strains, which were subsequently supplemented as food source to the model organism , with the final aim to evaluate their possible probiotic effects.

Impact of NaCl reduction on lactic acid bacteria during fermentation of Nocellara del Belice table olives.

Table olives are widely consumed worldwide but, due to the presence of NaCl in fermenting brines, they contain high levels of sodium. A promising strategy to lower sodium content is the reduction or substitution of NaCl in brines with other chlorides. However, these procedures may impact safety, spoilage, as well as quality and technological properties, including the evolution and final composition of the fermenting microbiota.

Impact of a Complex Food Microbiota on Energy Metabolism in the Model Organism Caenorhabditis elegans.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is widely used as a model system for research on aging, development, and host-pathogen interactions. Little is currently known about the mechanisms underlying the effects exerted by foodborne microbes. We took advantage of C.

Functional screening of antibiotic resistance genes from a representative metagenomic library of food fermenting microbiota.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) represent the predominant microbiota in fermented foods. Foodborne LAB have received increasing attention as potential reservoir of antibiotic resistance (AR) determinants, which may be horizontally transferred to opportunistic pathogens. We have previously reported isolation of AR LAB from the raw ingredients of a fermented cheese, while AR genes could be detected in the final, marketed product only by PCR amplification, thus pointing at the need for more sensitive microbial isolation techniques.

Bacteriophage P22 to challenge Salmonella in foods.

In this study we considered the influence of phage addition on the fate of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in different foods. Phage P22 was applied to the following: liquid eggs, energy drinks, whole and skimmed milk, apple juice, chicken breast and chicken mince all spiked with its host, whose growth was monitored for 24 and 48 h at 4 °C. Appreciable host inactivation, generally in the order of 2 log cycles, was achieved compared to phage-free controls in all food matrices when 10(4) UFC/g host inoculum was used.

Molecular characterization of a novel mosaic tet(S/M) gene encoding tetracycline resistance in foodborne strains of Streptococcus bovis.

The presence of antibiotic-resistance (AR) genes in foodborne bacteria of enteric origin represents a relevant threat to human health in the case of opportunistic pathogens, which can reach the human gut through the food chain. Streptococcus bovis is a human opportunistic pathogen often associated with infections in immune-compromised or cancer patients, and it can also be detected in the environment, including fermented foods. We have focused on the molecular characterization of a tetracycline (Tet)-resistance gene present in 39 foodborne isolates of S.

Antibiotic resistance determinants in the interplay between food and gut microbiota.

A complex and heterogeneous microflora performs sugar and lactic acid fermentations in food products. Depending on the fermentable food matrix (dairy, meat, vegetable etc.) as well as on the species composition of the microbiota, specific combinations of molecules are produced that confer unique flavor, texture, and taste to each product.

Identification of tetracycline- and erythromycin-resistant Gram-positive cocci within the fermenting microflora of an Italian dairy food product.

Aims: Microbiological and molecular analysis of antibiotic resistance in Gram-positive cocci derived from the Italian PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) dairy food product Mozzarella di Bufala Campana.

Methods And Results: One hundred and seven coccal colonies were assigned to Enterococcus faecalis, Lactococcus lactis and Streptococcus bovis genera by ARDRA analysis (amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis). Among them, 16 Ent.

Susceptibility to tetracycline and erythromycin of Lactobacillus paracasei strains isolated from traditional Italian fermented foods.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of 197 isolates of Lactobacillus paracasei, isolated from Italian fermented products coming from different geographical areas, to tetracycline and erythromycin, two antimicrobials widely used in clinical and animal therapy. Isolation media were supplemented with antibiotics according to the microbiological breakpoints (BPs) defined by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Isolates were identified at the species level and were typed by rep-PCR using the (GTG)(5) primer.

Characterization of the Tn916 conjugative transposon in a food-borne strain of Lactobacillus paracasei.

Food-borne antibiotic-resistant lactic acid bacteria have received growing attention in the past few years. We have recently identified tetracycline-resistant Lactobacillus paracasei in samples of milk and natural whey starter cultures employed in the manufacturing process of a typical Italian fermented dairy product, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana. In the present study, we have characterized at the molecular level the genetic context of tetracycline resistance determinants in these natural strains, which we have identified as tet(M).

Diabetes-linked zinc transporter ZnT8 is a homodimeric protein expressed by distinct rodent endocrine cell types in the pancreas and other glands.

Background And Aims: Zinc is abundant in pancreas, being required by endocrine islet cells for hormone secretion and by exocrine acinar cells as pancreatic juice component. ZnT8 is a member of the SLC30A family of zinc transporters whose overexpression in cultured pancreatic beta cells leads to increased insulin secretion in response to glucose, suggesting a possible role in regulating glycemia. ZnT8 was therefore proposed as a therapeutic target for diabetes, and recent genome-wide association studies identified polymorphisms in the ZNT8 gene conferring increased type 2 diabetes risk.

Antibiotic resistance and microbial composition along the manufacturing process of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana.

The use of antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock, banned in all EU member states in January 2006, has led to selection of antibiotic resistant strains within environmental bacteria, including gram-positive, non pathogenic bacteria that colonize the GI tract of humans and animals. In Italy and in other Mediterranean countries, fermented foods employing environmental bacteria pre-existing in the raw substrates, rather than industrial starters of defined genotype, represent a significant proportion of cheese and meat products carrying the official PDO designation (Protected Designation of Origin). Our study focused on the microbiological and molecular analysis of lactobacilli and of other lactic acid bacteria (LABs) isolated from the Italian PDO product water buffalo Mozzarella cheese, with the aim of identifying genes responsible for tetracycline, erythromycin and kanamycin resistance.

Zinc fluxes and zinc transporter genes in chronic diseases.

The group IIb metal zinc (Zn) is an essential dietary component that can be found in protein rich foods such as meat, seafood and legumes. Thousands of genes encoding Zn binding proteins were identified, especially after the completion of genome projects, an indication that a great number of biological processes are Zn dependent. Imbalance in Zn homeostasis was found to be associated with several chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.