Seeds from ancient food crops with the potential for antiobesity promotion.

Populations like to have a healthy diet without changing their fundamental dietary pattern. The importance of dietetic foods with health potential has increased the interest of consumers on crops with nutraceutical messages. Several plant food products from selected ancient crops like flax, chia, black cumin, sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds contain substances with high health benefits.

Capsicum annuum (hot pepper): An ancient Latin-American crop with outstanding bioactive compounds and nutraceutical potential. A review.

Hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) fruits, usually termed as chili, have been used since ancient times as food vegetables, flavoring ingredients, natural colorants, and in traditional medicines. Nowadays, a wide variation of sweet and pungent peppers are consumed worldwide in a large variety of forms. Interestingly, the most important hot pepper at the global level in commercial terms is C.

Nopal (Opuntia spp.) and its Effects on Metabolic Syndrome: New Insights for the Use of a Millenary Plant.

Background: Nopal (Opuntia spp.) is by excellence the most utilized cactus in human and animal nutrition. It is also a very noble plant; its main physicochemical, nutritional and nutraceutical characteristics allow the use of nopal in diverse food applications.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of cultivated and wild seeds of Salvia hispanica (chia).

Salvia hispanica (chia) constituted an important crop for pre-Columbian civilizations and is considered a superfood for its rich content of essential fatty acids and proteins. In this study, we performed the first comprehensive comparative transcriptome analysis between seeds from cultivated varieties and from accessions collected from native wild populations in Mexico. From the 69,873 annotated transcripts assembled de novo, enriched functional categories and pathways revealed that the lipid metabolism was one of the most activated processes.

Bioactive peptides from selected latin american food crops - A nutraceutical and molecular approach.

This review reported an updated survey on the molecular functional properties of bioactive peptides derived from different Latin American ancient grains such as Maize, common Bean, Amaranth, Quinoa and Chia seeds. Seed storage proteins ecrypt in their sequences diverse peptides associated with a wide range of beneficial effects on the human health and the most studied are antihypertensive, anti-cholesterolemic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. Additionally, in the last decades molecular properties have been also used for their characterization to understand their activities and it makes them highly attractive to be incorporated into food formulations and to complement or replace some conventional cereal grains.

Antioxidant and Antihypertensive Potential of Protein Fractions from Flour and Milk Substitutes from Canary Seeds (Phalaris canariensis L.).

Canary seed (Phalaris canariensis) is used to feed birds but it has been recently considered a promising cereal with nutraceutical potential for humans. The aim of this work was to analyze the protein fractions from canary seed flour and from milk substitutes (prepared by soaking the seeds in water 12 and 24 h), and to evaluate antioxidant and antihypertensive capacity of peptides obtained after in vitro digestion. Prolamins were the major protein fraction, followed by glutelins.

Phenolic Compounds, Antioxidant Activity and Lipid Profile of Huitlacoche Mushroom (Ustilago maydis) Produced in Several Maize Genotypes at Different Stages of Development.

Huitlacoche mushroom (composed by the fruiting bodies growing on the maize ears from the basidiomycete Ustilago maydis) is a culinary delicacy with a great economic and nutraceutical value. In this work, phenolic content, antioxidant activity, ergosterol and fatty acids profile from huitlacoche produced in 15 creole and in one hybrid maize genotypes, and harvested at different stages of development were determined. The hybrid crop was studied in raw and cooked samples.

Edible mushrooms: improving human health and promoting quality life.

Mushrooms have been consumed since earliest history; ancient Greeks believed that mushrooms provided strength for warriors in battle, and the Romans perceived them as the "Food of the Gods." For centuries, the Chinese culture has treasured mushrooms as a health food, an "elixir of life." They have been part of the human culture for thousands of years and have considerable interest in the most important civilizations in history because of their sensory characteristics; they have been recognized for their attractive culinary attributes.

Endoplasmic reticulum-retention C-terminal sequence enhances production of an 11S seed globulin from Amaranthus hypochondriacus in Pichia pastoris.

The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris was used to express an 11S seed globulin from Amaranthus hypochondriacus. Three different plasmids were tested for expression of amarantin. One of them, which included the untranslated regions (UTR) of the full cDNA, failed to express the amarantin under tested conditions, whereas the other plasmids, one without UTR and the other similar but including the endoplasmic reticulum-retention signal KDEL, were able to express the proamarantin in P.

Chemical and biochemical changes in prickly pears with different ripening behaviour.

Chemical and biochemical changes were studied in ripening prickly pears from three Opuntia morphospecies with different ripening behaviour: Naranjona (O. ficus-indica), Blanca Cristalina (Opuntia sp.), and Charola (O.