Effects of Polyphenol Administration to European Farmed Sea Bass ( L.): Special Focus on Hepatopancreas Morphology.

Background And Objective: Hepatopancreas is an accessory organ associated with the liver in some fish, even including sea bass (Dicentrharcus labrax L.). Hepatopancreas contains an exocrine portion but until now its function has poorly been investigated.

Nanoparticle delivery of grape seed-derived proanthocyanidins to airway epithelial cells dampens oxidative stress and inflammation.

Background: Chronic respiratory diseases, whose one of the hallmarks is oxidative stress, are still incurable and need novel therapeutic tools and pharmaceutical agents. The phenolic compounds contained in grape are endowed with well-recognized anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-aging activities. Considering that natural anti-oxidants, such as proanthocyanidins, have poor water solubility and oral bioavailability, we have developed a drug delivery system based on solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), apt to encapsulate grape seed extract (GSE), containing proanthocyanidins.

Selection of focal earthworm species as non-target soil organisms for environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants.

By means of a literature survey, earthworm species of significant relevance for soil functions in different biogeographical regions of Europe (Atlantic, Boreal, Mediterranean) were identified. These focal earthworm species, defined here according to the EFSA Guidance Document on the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically modified plants, are typical for arable soils under crop rotations with maize and/or potatoes within the three regions represented by Ireland, Sweden and Spain, respectively. Focal earthworm species were selected following a matrix of four steps: Identification of functional groups, categorization of non-target species, ranking species on ecological criteria, and final selection of focal species.

A preliminary study of soft cheese degradation in different packaging conditions by 1H-NMR.

This preliminary work deals with the influence of packaging on the degradation of an Italian soft cheese studied by NMR. The NMR profiles of aqueous cheese extracts were acquired as a function of time during storage of cheese inside and outside the original package. From the NMR spectra 15 metabolites are quantified and used in a kinetic degradation model and in a multivariate algorithm in order to evaluate the changes in the metabolic composition of cheese stored under different conditions.