Potentialities of Rapid Analytical Strategies for the Identification of the Botanical Species of Several "" or "" Oils.

A comprehensive data collection of authentic "specialty" or "gourmet" oils, namely cold-pressed industrial virgin oils, was performed. Eight different botanical species, i.e.

Use of an Animal Model to Evaluate Anxiolytic Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Moench Bud Extracts.

Anxiety disorders are common and complex psychiatric syndromes affecting a broad spectrum of patients. On top of that, we know that aging produces an increase in anxiety vulnerability and sedative consumption. Moreover, stress disorders frequently show a clear gender susceptibility.

Bud-Derivatives, a Novel Source of Polyphenols and How Different Extraction Processes Affect Their Composition.

The use of herbal food supplements, as a concentrate form of vegetable extracts, increased so much over the past years to count them among the relevant sources of dietetic polyphenols. Bud-derivatives are a category of botanicals perceived as a "new entry" in this sector since they are still poorly studied. Due to the lack of a manufacturing process specification, very different products can be found on the market in terms of their polyphenolic profile depending on the experimental conditions of manufacturing.

Neuroinflammation in Aged Brain: Impact of the Oral Administration of Ellagic Acid Microdispersion.

The immune system and the central nervous system message each other to preserving central homeostasis. Both systems undergo changes during aging that determine central age-related defects. Ellagic acid (EA) is a natural product which is beneficial in both peripheral and central diseases, including aging.

Pulsed Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction as an Alternative Method to Conventional Maceration for the Extraction of the Polyphenolic Fraction of Buds: A New Category of Food Supplements Proposed by The FINNOVER Project.

In this research, for the first time, an alternative method to produce bud derivatives is presented. Pulsed ultrasound-assisted extraction (PUAE), using a food-grade solvent according to green chemistry principles, has been employed and compared to the conventional extraction method. Traditionally, bud derivatives, a category of botanicals marketed as plant food supplements in the European Community, are produced by macerating meristematic tissues of trees and plants mainly spontaneously collected.

Ellagic acid a multi-target bioactive compound for drug discovery in CNS? A narrative review.

It is well-known that the health properties attributed to several fruits, herbs, seeds and their processed foods/beverages are due to an important group of natural polyphenols classified as hydrolysable tannins (HT) named ellagitannins (ETs), that encompass both one or more gallic acid (GA) units and one or more hexahydroxydiphenoic acid (HHDP) units, ester-connected with a sugar residue. In vivo, ETs are rather not absorbed and in gastrointestinal tract (GIT), they are hydrolysed providing mainly ellagic acid (EA). Due to its trivial water-solubility, first pass effect, metabolism in GIT, or irreversible binding to cellular DNA and proteins, EA has a very low bioavailability.

An innovative green extraction and re-use strategy to valorize food supplement by-products: Castanea sativa bud preparations as case study.

This research takes place in the context of an Alcotra Italy-France trans-frontier project called FINNOVER, which includes among its objectives the "green" innovation of agro-industrial chains. Bud-derivatives are a category of natural products produced macerating meristematic tissues of trees and plants. They are quite expensive compared to other botanicals, since the collection period of their raw materials is extremely limited over the time.

Optimization of the Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Phenolic Compounds from Oryza Sativa L. 'Violet Nori' and Determination of the Antioxidant Properties of its Caryopses and Leaves.

'Violet Nori' is a new spontaneous growing violet rice variety showing a peculiar violet color in its fresh leaves as well. In this paper, the antioxidant properties and the content of total phenols, radical scavengers, and anthocyanins in 'Violet Nori' caryopses, flour, and leaves are explored and compared. Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction (UAE) is employed for the extraction of phenolic compounds, improving the extraction conditions by Design of Experiments (DoE).

Feasibility of UV-VIS-Fluorescence spectroscopy combined with pattern recognition techniques to authenticate a new category of plant food supplements.

Bud extracts, named also "gemmoderivatives", are a new category of natural products, obtained macerating meristematic fresh tissues of trees and plants. In the European Community these botanical remedies are classified as plant food supplements. Nowadays these products are still poorly studied, even if they are widely used and commercialized.

Olive fruits and vacuum impregnation, an interesting combination for dietetic iron enrichment.

In this study vacuum impregnation (VI) was employed for the iron enrichment of olive fruits, which are very interesting as food vehicle for VI mineral supplementation for the porosity of their pulp. NaFeEDTA was chosen for olives fortification since it prevents iron from binding with compounds that could hinder it from being efficiently absorbed and since it causes few organoleptic problems. In order to improve the efficiency of the VI process, several parameters of the whole process were studied by design of experiment techniques.

Green Extraction from Pomegranate Marcs for the Production of Functional Foods and Cosmetics.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of retrieving polyphenolic antioxidants directly from wet pomegranate marcs: the fresh by-products obtained after pomegranate juice processing. These by-products mainly consist of internal membranes (endocarp) and aril residues. Even if they are still edible, they are usually discharged during juice production and, thus, they represent a great challenge in an eco-sustainable industrial context.

Total and "free" lipids in commercial infant formulas: fatty acid composition and their stability to oxidation.

The aim of this paper was to study the fatty acid composition of total and "free" lipids in powdered infant milks and to evaluate the fatty acid oxidation after package opening. In its first step the application of Principal Component Analysis and Design of Experiments has allowed to take a comprehensive picture of powdered infant formulas on sale in Italy on the basis of their labelled composition and to select a limited number of representative samples. Both total and "non encapsulated" or "free" lipids were considered and analysed and no significant differences were found between their fatty acids contents.

Direct GC-(EI)MS determination of fatty acid alkyl esters in olive oils.

A new analytical method for fatty acid alkyl esters (FAAEs) determination by GC-MS in virgin olive oils is proposed. No sample preparation is required and FAAEs are directly thermo-desorbed and cryo-focalised in the cooled injector of a GC-MS (EI) instrument. The analytical conditions were optimized by Design of Experiment (DoE) techniques (an exploratory Plackett-Burman design followed by a factorial design on three selected variables).

A screening method based on UV-Visible spectroscopy and multivariate analysis to assess addition of filler juices and water to pomegranate juices.

Consumer demand for pomegranate juice has considerably grown, during the last years, for its potential health benefits. Since it is an expensive functional food, cheaper fruit juices addition (i.e.

Application of headspace sorptive extraction and gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric and chemometric methods to the quantification of pine nuts and pecorino in Pesto Genovese.

Headspace sorptive extraction and GC/MS, coupled with chemometric tools, were used to predict the amounts of pine nuts and Pecorino in Pesto Genovese, a typical Italian basil-based pasta sauce. Two groups of samples were prepared at different times and with ingredients from different batches for building the predicting models and testing their performances. Principal component analysis and partial least-squares regression (PLS) were applied to the chromatographic data.

Sterol oxidation in meat- and fish-based homogenized baby foods containing vegetable oils.

Sterol oxidation was evaluated in commercial meat- and fish-based homogenized baby foods containing vegetable oil. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used for the analytical determination of 7-ketocholesterol and 7-ketositosterol, which were chosen as markers of sterol oxidation in lipids of animal origin and vegetable origin, respectively. Cholestanetriol was also quantified, because its negative effects on atherogenesis and other biological processes are well known.

Geographical traceability of West Liguria extravirgin olive oils by the analysis of volatile terpenoid hydrocarbons.

This study aimed at evaluating if the volatile terpenoid hydrocarbons of extravirgin olive oils from West Liguria, a North Italy region, could trace their geographical origin. If terpenoid hydrocarbons were individually considered, three compounds, i.e.

Cholesterol oxidation in intravenous lipid emulsions: safety of preparations before and after experimental hyperoxia.

The aim of this preliminary study was to assess the possible presence of cholesterol oxidation products in 2 i.v. lipidic emulsions with different fatty acid compositions (long-chain triglyceride, medium-chain triglyceride-long-chain triglyceride).

Cholesterol oxidation in meat-based baby foods.

Cholesterol oxidation in commercial meat-based homogenized and freeze-dried baby foods was examined. The 7 major products of this reaction were determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). As far as single cholesterol oxidation products (COP) are concerned, 7-ketocholesterol was the major product of direct cholesterol oxidation in the 2 groups of analyzed samples, and this study confirmed that it is a useful marker of the whole cholesterol oxidation process.

Direct thermal extraction and gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of volatile compounds of extra-virgin olive oils.

The instrumental performances of a Thermo Desorption-Cooled Injection System coupled with a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) were improved by a Plackett-Burman experimental design for the direct thermal extraction of volatile compounds from extra-virgin olive oils. The obtained experimental conditions were applied to the analysis of samples from West Liguria (cv. Taggiasca > or = 90%) and Spain (cv.

Classification and class-modeling of "Riviera Ligure" extra-virgin olive oil using chemical-physical parameters.

The Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) "Riviera Ligure" for extra-virgin olive oils from Liguria specifies three additional geographical mentions corresponding to three different geographical areas. To obtain a complete characterization of this typical Italian product, 217 samples of olive oils produced in this North Italian region during 1998/99 and 1999/2000 were analyzed. For each sample 31 variables were determined by chemical-physical analyses, and the data were subjected to a multivariate statistical analysis.