Macrophages play an important role during the inflammatory process. These cells can adopt either the pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotypes. While stingless bee honeys have demonstrated evidence of anti-inflammatory potential, their capacity to induce a shift from a pro-inflammatory state to an inflammation-resolution state has not been thoroughly investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of hydrophilic and lipophilic extracts from juçara fruits (Euterpe edulis Martius) through measurement of nitric oxide (NOx) and cytokines (IL-12p70, TNF-α, INF-γ, MCP-1, IL-6, and IL-10). J774 macrophages were stimulated with lipopolysaccharides (1 µg/mL) and treated with various concentrations (1-100 µg/mL) of juçara fruits extracts from crude extracts, and hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and butanol fractions. Potential relationships between the phenolic composition of the extracts determined by LC-ESI-MS/MS and their anti-inflammatory capacity were also evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Foods Hum Nutr
March 2024
Ripening and growing location are important factors that can impact fruit quality characteristics. In this study, the influence of these factors on physicochemical characteristics, carbohydrates, aliphatic organic acids, phenolic compounds, and antioxidant capacity of red guava (Psidium cattleianum Sabine) was evaluated. Fruit ripening increased fructose and glucose (up to 22.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, twenty free amino acids (FAA) were investigated in samples of bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella) honeydew honey (BHH) from Santa Catarina (n = 15) and Paraná (n = 13) states (Brazil), followed by chemometric analysis for geographic discrimination. The FAA determination was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after using a commercial EZ:faast™ kits for GC. Eight FAA were determined, being proline, asparagine, aspartic and glutamic acids found in all BHH, with significant differences (p < 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
May 2023
The juçara palm tree produces a small spherical and black-purple fruit similar to açaí. It is rich in phenolic compounds, especially anthocyanins. A clinical trial evaluated the absorption and excretion of the main bioactive compounds in urine and the antioxidant capacity in serum and erythrocytes of 10 healthy subjects after juçara juice intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to investigate for the first time fourteen aliphatic organic acids (AOA) in honeys produced by different species of Brazilian stingless bees (Melipona bicolor, Scaptotrigona bipunctata, Melipona quadrifasciata, and Melipona marginata) and characterize them regarding their physicochemical properties. Thirteen AOAwere quantified in the samples, in which five of them (malonic, fumaric, glycolic, glutaric, and propionic acids) were identified for the first time instingless bee honey (SBH). Acetic, gluconic, and lactic acids were predominant in all the samples analyzed varying from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrumixama (Eugenia brasiliensis Lamarck) is a native fruit of the Atlantic rain forest that belongs to Myrtaceae family. It presents economic potential due to the attractive sensory attributes and bioactive compounds. This study determined physicochemical characteristics, minerals (K, Na, Ca, Mg, Mn), sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose), total content of phenolics, proanthocyanidins, and anthocyanins, individual phenolic compounds, and antioxidant capacity at three ripening stages of grumixama from two growing locations (Florianópolis and São Ludgero, Santa Catarina state, Brazil).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe anti-inflammatory activity is mainly attributed to the phenolic compounds. Once the geographical location affects the phenolic content of honeys, a relationship between the collection spot and the anti-inflammatory effect of bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella Bentham) honeydew honeys was hypothesized. The inhibitory effect of 14 honey samples on NOx, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12p70, MCP-1, INF-γ, and IL-10 in RAW 264.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch Background: Sorbate and benzoate are important preservatives in food products, but these compounds can also have genotoxic effects, causing health risks to consumers. In this regard, this study aims to determine the mass fractions of sorbate and benzoate in Brazilian samples of mustard, ketchup and tomato sauce using an adequately validated sub-minute capillary electrophoresis method.
Experimental Approach: In this study, sorbate and benzoate were evaluated in sauce samples by capillary electrophoresis using a simple sample preparation procedure.
Bracatinga ( Bentham) honeydew honey (BHH) is a peculiar Brazilian honey. It is produced only every 2 years, which raises concerns about its quality since it can be submitted to different storage conditions until a new harvest is carried out. Therefore, this study investigated the changes in the visible spectrophotometric profile (VSP) of BHH during its storage at room temperature over 24 months and 40 °C for 4 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStingless bees are native to tropical and subtropical countries, such as Brazil. The wide variety of species, the sources of food collection (nectar and pollen), and the climate conditions strongly affect the chemical composition of the honey, making this a unique product with peculiar characteristics. Stingless bee honey presents higher water content, higher acidity, and a lower sugar concentration when compared to Apis mellifera honey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Bracatinga ( Bentham) honeydew honey is a Brazilian dark honey in increasing international appreciation. In this sense, the knowledge of its composition and potential biological properties becomes indispensable. In the present study, the physicochemical characteristics, including mineral and phenolic composition, and the scavenging, reducing, and antimicrobial proprieties of bracatinga honeydew honey (bhh) from five different geographical locations, were investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article presents the determination of eight pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) by LC-MS/MS in honeys, pollen, and (Asteraceae) samples, all from Santa Catarina state, Brazil. In addition, the Box-Behnken design was used to perform an optimized sample preparation on pollens and parts. Senecionine and its N-oxide, besides retrorsine N-oxide, were determined in six of the seven honeys samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCitrus honey is one of the most important monofloral honeys produced and consumed worldwide. This honey has pleasant sensorial characteristics, which include light color and typical aroma and flavor. Besides that, several constituents such as minerals, phenolic and volatile compounds, amino acids, sugars, enzymes, vitamins, methylglyoxal and organic acids are found in citrus honey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the past five years, more than 8000 scientific reports have been published on honey composition and its potential bioactivity as a source of pro-health components. However, the potential effectiveness of nutrients and other compounds in the human body is greatly influenced by the individual digestion conditions. Consequently, changes in the structure of honey components and their interactions with other constituents are expected and they may affect the bioaccessibility, the bioavailability, and further physiological functions of honey nutrients and bioactives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHoney is a natural ready-to-eat product rich in flavonoids, which is known by the wound healing properties due to both antibacterial and antioxidant activity. Flavonoids mitigate inflammatory processes, and thus it could currently support studies of anti-inflammatory potential of honeys. In this review, in vitro anti-inflammatory properties of flavonoids found in honey were prioritized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFood Res Int
March 2021
Honey traceability is an important topic, especially for honeydew honeys, due to the increased incidence of adulteration. This study aimed to establish specific markers to quantify proteins in honey. A proteomics strategy to identify marker peptides from bracatinga honeydew honey was therefore developed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmong the rich Brazilian biodiversity, a wide range of native and exotic fruit species are found. Many of these fruits have high nutritional and bioactive value, being important sources of minerals, phenolic compounds, vitamins, dietary fiber, among others. Also, the prevention of several diseases and disorders have being associated to the action of phytochemical compounds present in fruits with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative effects, for example.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) are secondary metabolites of plants, which are mostly found in the genus Senecio, Echium, Crotalaria, and Eupatorium. The presence of 1,2-unsaturated PA in foods is a concern to food regulators around the world because these compounds have been associated to acute and chronic toxicity, mainly in the liver. The intake foods with PA/PANO usually occur through accidental ingestion of plants and their derivatives, besides to products of vegetal-animal origin, such as honey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to differentiate bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella Bentham) honeydew honey (BHH) from blossom honeys and BHH intentionally adulterated, all of them from three harvests, associating data of aliphatic organic acids (AOA) determined by capillary electrophoresis and chemometric analyses. The profile and concentration of AOA in pure BHH were similar between harvests, but distinct from blossom honeys. Succinic, glycolic, glutaric, malic, acetic, gluconic, and lactic acids were responsible for the differentiation between these two types of honey since they were the dominant variables (r > 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHoneydew honeys, including bracatinga ( Bentham) honeydew honey, are highly appreciated due to its nutritional and sensory properties. Therefore, fast and inexpensive methods must be developed to differentiate this distinct class of honey. Although methods using the visible spectrophotometric fingerprint (VSF) have never been used to differentiate bracatinga honeydew honey and blossom honey, this technique appears to be a viable alternative, successfully used in the differentiation and fraud detection of various foods, including honeys from other botanical sources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Nutr
December 2020
Objective: To evaluate the effects of moderate-term açaí and juçara juice intake on fasting glucose, lipid profile, and oxidative stress biomarkers in healthy subjects.
Methods: A randomized cross-over study was performed with 30 healthy adults. The subjects were assigned to drink 200 mL/day of açaí or juçara juice for four weeks with a 4-week washout period.
The aim of the study was to identify, via headspace solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, volatile compounds in eight no processing L. honey samples produced in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, and monitor their stability over 540 days of storage at 20 ± 4 °C, searching for possible degradation indicators compounds. The result of the initial analysis showed the presence of 32 volatile compounds and 24 were selected for the evaluation of the behavior over the storage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to investigate and quantify the composition phenolic, reducing capacity, the free radical scavenging activity, as well as, the anti-inflammatory effect evaluated against lipopolysaccharides-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages through modulation of inflammatory mediators, in eight stingless bee honey types (Meliponinae) from southern Brazil. Stingless bee honey did not show to be cytotoxic at the tested concentrations (1-100 µM) and also reduced nitric oxide and the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine in the inflamed macrophages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dataset showed in this manuscript belongs to the investigation of the Southern-Brazilian geopropolis of stingless bees. Stingless bees are native species of insects from tropical areas; they produce honey, pollen and geopropolis that is composed of a mix of vegetal extracts, digestive enzymes, and mostly by soil. Used in folk medicine as antiseptic, antioxidant and antimicrobial agent, the composition is due to bee species, climate changes, local flora, and soil type.
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