Ultra-high-pressure homogenization (UHPH) system for producing high-quality vegetable-based beverages: physicochemical, microbiological, nutritional and toxicological characteristics.

Background: A relatively new technology based on a continuous system of ultra-high-pressure homogenization (UHPH) was used for producing high-quality soy and almond beverages as an alternative to conventional heat treatments (pasteurization and UHT). The aim of this study was to compare those treatments by analyzing the most relevant quality parameters with a broad vision from the production to the potential toxicological changes, passing through the main nutritional characteristics.

Results: UHPH treatment at 200 MPa, 55 °C T(in) produced a higher reduction of microorganisms than pasteurization.

Embryotoxicity of cobalt ferrite and gold nanoparticles: a first in vitro approach.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are emerging as promising biomedical tools thanks to their peculiar characteristics. Our purpose was to investigate the embryotoxicity of cobalt ferrite and gold NPs through the Embryonic Stem Cell Test (EST). The EST is an in vitro standard assay, which permits to classify substances as strongly, weakly or non-embryotoxic.