In Vivo and In Vitro Studies Assessing the Safety of Monosodium Glutamate.

The controversial results of research on monosodium glutamate demand a new data corpus for the overall safety evaluation. Both animal and cellular model systems have been used to add a multilevel scope on its biological effects. The animal model has been used to test a wide range of concentrations for safety purposes: toxicity, genotoxicity, longevity and health span.

Butter from Different Species: Composition and Quality Parameters of Products Commercialized in the South of Spain.

Butter is an important product for the dairy industry due to its particular sensory attributes and nutritional value, while the variability of the composition of the fatty acids in the milk can alter the nutritional and physical properties of butter and its acceptance by consumers. Butter is highly appreciated for its distinctive flavor and aroma; however, one of its main drawbacks lies in the difficulty in spreading it at low temperatures. Several types of butter that are present in the market were used in this study.

Using Vis-NIR Spectroscopy for Predicting Quality Compounds in Foods.

Over the past four decades, near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) has become one of the most attractive and used technique for analysis as it allows for fast and simultaneous qualitative and quantitative characterization of a wide variety of food samples [...

Determination of Quality Parameters in Mangetout ( L. ssp. ) by Using Vis/Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy.

L. ssp. , is colloquially called or mangetout because it is eaten whole; its pods are recognized as a delicatessen in cooking due to its crunch on the palate and high sweetness.

In Vivo and In Vitro Assays Evaluating the Biological Activity of Taurine, Glucose and Energetic Beverages.

Taurine is one of the main ingredients used in energy drinks which are highly consumed in adolescents for their sugary taste and stimulating effect. With energy drinks becoming a worldwide phenomenon, the biological effects of these beverages must be evaluated in order to fully comprehend the potential impact of these products on the health due to the fact nutrition is closely related to science since the population consumes food to prevent certain diseases. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the biological effects of taurine, glucose, classic Red Bull and sugar-free Red Bull in order to check the food safety and the nutraceutical potential of these compounds, characterising different endpoints: (i) Toxicology, antitoxicology, genotoxicology and life expectancy assays were performed in the model organism; (ii) The in vitro chemopreventive activity of testing compounds was determined by assessing their cytotoxicity, the proapoptotic DNA-damage capability to induce internucleosomal fragmentation, the strand breaks activity and the modulator role on the methylation status of genomic repetitive sequences of HL-60 promyelocytic cells.

The Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables.

We edited this Special Issue with the objective of bringing forth new data on the phytochemicals from vegetables and fruits, which are recommended for their health-promoting properties. Epidemiological, toxicological and nutritional studies suggested an association between fruit and vegetable consumption and lower incidence of chronic diseases, such as coronary heart problems, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. In this Special Issue, the protective roles (antioxidant and others bioactivities), new sustainable approaches to determine the quality, and the processing techniques that can modify the initial nutritional and antioxidant content of fruits, vegetables and additives have been addressed.

Food Safety and Nutraceutical Potential of Caramel Colour Class IV Using In Vivo and In Vitro Assays.

Nutraceutical activity of food is analysed to promote the healthy characteristics of diet where additives are highly used. Caramel is one of the most worldwide consumed additives and it is produced by heating natural carbohydrates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the food safety and the possible nutraceutical potential of caramel colour class IV (CAR).

Toxicological Studies of Czech Beers and Their Constituents.

Background: Czech beers are unique because they are brewed using specific technology at a particular latitude and for being entirely produced in the area of the Czech Republic. The purpose of this work is the evaluation of toxicological effects of a variety of freeze-dried Czech beers, their raw materials (malts, hops and yeast) and processed-beer (wort, hopped wort and young beer).

Methods: In vivo assays to evaluate the safety and protective effects in the eukaryotic system, and the in vitro evaluations of chemopreventive and DNA damage activity using the HL-60 tumour human cell line were carried out.

Seed Oil Quality of and Germplasm from Northwestern Spain.

The seed oil content and the fatty acid composition of a germplasm collection of and currently grown in Galicia (northwestern Spain) were evaluated in order to identify potentially interesting genotypes and to assess their suitability as oilseed crops for either edible or industrial purposes. The seeds of the landraces had higher oil content (mean 47.3%) than those of (mean 42.

Nutraceutic Potential of Two Species and Their Distinctive Organosulfur Compounds: A Multi-Assay Evaluation.

This study aimed to evaluate the biological activities of two species (garlic and onion) as well as diallyl disulphide (DADS) and dipropyl disulphide (DPDS) as their representative bioactive compounds in a multi-assay experimental design. The genotoxic, antigenotoxic, and lifespan effects of garlic, onion, DADS, and DPDS were checked in and their cytotoxic, pro-apoptotic, and DNA-clastogenic activities were analyzed using HL60 tumoral cells. All compounds were non-genotoxic and antigenotoxic against HO-induced DNA damage with a positive dose-response effect and different inhibition percentages (the highest value: 95% for DADS) at all tested concentrations.

Physicochemical Characterization and Biological Activities of Black and White Garlic: In Vivo and In Vitro Assays.

White and three types of black garlic (13, 32, and 45 days of aging, named 0C1, 1C2, and 2C1, respectively) were selected to study possible differences in their nutraceutic potential. For this purpose, garlic were physicochemically characterized (Brix, pH, aW, L, polyphenol, and antioxidant capacity), and both in vivo and in vitro assays were carried out. Black garlic samples showed higher polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity than the white ones.

First RNA-seq approach to study fruit set and parthenocarpy in zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.).

Background: Zucchini fruit set can be limited due to unfavourable environmental conditions in off-seasons crops that caused ineffective pollination/fertilization. Parthenocarpy, the natural or artificial fruit development without fertilization, has been recognized as an important trait to avoid this problem, and is related to auxin signalling. Nevertheless, differences found in transcriptome analysis during early fruit development of zucchini suggest that other complementary pathways could regulate fruit formation in parthenocarpic cultivars of this species.

Prediction of Agro-Morphological and Nutritional Traits in Ethiopian Mustard Leaves ( A. Braun) by Visible-Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

The particular characteristics of some of the Ethiopian mustard accessions available from seed banks could be used to increase the production and the diversity of products available to consumers and to improve their general quality. The objectives of this study were to determine the genetic variability for agro-morphological (days to first flowering: DFF and leaf pubescence: LP) and nutritional traits (total phenolic content: TPC) among accessions, and to evaluate the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict these traits in Ethiopian mustard leaves. A great variation was found for the traits evaluated.

Quantification of Total Phenolic and Carotenoid Content in Blackberries ( L.) Using Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) and Multivariate Analysis.

A rapid method to quantify the total phenolic content (TPC) and total carotenoid content (TCC) in blackberries using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was carried out aiming to provide reductions in analysis time and cost for the food industry. A total of 106 samples were analysed using the Folin-Ciocalteu method for TPC and a method based on Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrometer for TCC. The average contents found for TPC and TCC were 24.

Characterisation and prediction of carbohydrate content in zucchini fruit using near infrared spectroscopy.

Background: Zucchini fruit plays an important part in healthy nutrition due to its high content of carbohydrates. Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of visible-NIRS to predict quality profile. However, this procedure has not been applied to determine carbohydrates.

Role of Zucchini and Its Distinctive Components in the Modulation of Degenerative Processes: Genotoxicity, Anti-Genotoxicity, Cytotoxicity and Apoptotic Effects.

Zucchini ( subsp. ) is a seasonal vegetable with high nutritional and medical values. Many useful properties of this fruit are attributed to bioactive compounds.

Rapid and Cost-Effective Quantification of Glucosinolates and Total Phenolic Content in Rocket Leaves by Visible/Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

The potential of visible-near infrared spectroscopy to predict glucosinolates and total phenolic content in rocket () leaves has been evaluated. Accessions of the species were scanned by NIRS as ground leaf, and their reference values regressed against different spectral transformations by modified partial least squares (MPLS) regression. The coefficients of determination in the external validation (R²VAL) for the different quality components analyzed in rocket ranged from 0.

Application of visible/near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy for predicting internal and external quality in pepper.

Background: The characterization of internal (°Brix, pH, malic acid, total phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid and total carotenoid content) and external (color, firmness and pericarp wall thickness) pepper quality is necessary to better understand its possible applications and increase consumer awareness of its benefits. The main aim of this work was to examine the feasibility of using visible/near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (VIS-NIRS) to predict quality parameters in different pepper types. Commercially available spectrophotometers were evaluated for this purpose: a Polychromix Phazir spectrometer for intact raw pepper, and a scanning monochromator for freeze-dried pepper.

First TILLING platform in Cucurbita pepo: a new mutant resource for gene function and crop improvement.

Although the availability of genetic and genomic resources for Cucurbita pepo has increased significantly, functional genomic resources are still limited for this crop. In this direction, we have developed a high throughput reverse genetic tool: the first TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) resource for this species. Additionally, we have used this resource to demonstrate that the previous EMS mutant population we developed has the highest mutation density compared with other cucurbits mutant populations.

Use of visible and near-infrared spectroscopy for predicting antioxidant compounds in summer squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp pepo).

The food industry and plant breeding programmes require fast, clean and low-cost screening techniques for nutritional compounds determination in food matrices. This is the first report on the study of the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the prediction of antioxidant compounds in summer squash tissues collected since 2009-2012. Modified partial least-squares (MPLS) regression was used to correlate spectral information and the different antioxidant compounds in the samples.

Determining the mineral composition in Cucurbita pepo fruit using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy.

Background: Efforts through conventional breeding to improve the mineral content in horticultural crops have not always been successful mainly due to the fact that standard analytical methods are both costly and time-consuming. We investigated the feasibility of applying near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to the estimation of essential mineral composition in the skin and flesh of summer squash fruits (Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo) using a 200-sample set from diverse morphotypes.

Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of metal(oid)s bioactivated in rocket leaves (Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa Miller).

Rocket is an important source of essential elements. However, it may also accumulate toxic elements such as metal(oids). The objectives of the present work were (i) to study the uptake of arsenic, lead, cadmium and zinc in rocket grown in contaminated soils, (ii) to establish the genotoxic and cytotoxic activities of this vegetable material, and (iii) to study the modulator role of the glucosinolate and metal contents in the genotoxic/cytotoxic activities.

An approach to the phytochemical profiling of rocket [Eruca sativa (Mill.) Thell].

Background: Eruca sativa (rocket) contains a wide range of compounds with nutraceutical and organoleptical properties. This research aimed to characterise the nutraceutical interest of four rocket accessions by analysis of glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, phenolics, carotenoids and carbohydrates. Different methods based on chromatographic separation with ultraviolet absorbance or mass spectrometry detection were used.

Carotenogenic gene expression and carotenoid accumulation in three varieties of Cucurbita pepo during fruit development.

The control of gene expression is a crucial regulatory mechanism in carotenoid accumulation of fruits and flowers. We investigated the role of transcriptional regulation of nine genes involved in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in three varieties of Cucurbita pepo with evident differences in fruit color. The transcriptional levels of the key genes involved in the carotenoid biosynthesis were higher in flower-, leaf-, and fruit skin tissues than flesh tissues.

Characterization and prediction by near-infrared reflectance of mineral composition of rocket (Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa and Eruca vesicaria subsp. vesicaria).

Background: Minerals are essential for human nutrition and must be obtained from our diet. Crucifer vegetables are a good source of these nutrients. Our objectives were to determine the genetic variability for mineral content and to evaluate the use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) for prediction of ashes and minerals among and within the rocket species Eruca vesicaria subsp.