Novel Wild-Type and Strains as Probiotic Candidates to Manage Obesity-Associated Insulin Resistance.

As the food and pharmaceutical industry is continuously seeking new probiotic strains with unique health properties, the aim of the present study was to determine the impact of short-term dietary intervention with novel wild-type strains, isolated from various sources, on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced insulin resistance. Initially, the strains were evaluated in vitro for their ability to survive in simulated gastrointestinal (GI) conditions, for adhesion to Caco-2 cells, for bile salt hydrolase secretion, for cholesterol-lowering and cellular cholesterol-binding ability, and for growth inhibition of food-borne pathogens. In addition, safety criteria were assessed, including hemolytic activity and susceptibility to antibiotics.

Tissue-specific transcriptional analysis outlines calcium-induced core metabolic changes in sweet cherry fruit.

The role of calcium in fruit ripening has been established, however knowledge regarding the molecular analysis at fruit tissue-level is still lacking. To address this, we examined the impact of foliar-applied calcium (0.5% CaCl) in the ripening metabolism in skin and flesh tissues of the sweet cherry 'Tragana Edessis' fruit at the harvest stage.