Project description:The consumption of vegetables in Mexico includes a wide variety of plants that grow naturally as weeds in the fields. The intake of these vegetables is very important in the Mexican diet because these plants supply an important input of nutrients and compounds such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Thus, the plants may be universally promoted as healthy. However, there is little information about these vegetables of popular consumption, especially in terms of the nutritional changes caused by boiling. To determine the influence of boiling on five plants of popular consumption in Mexico, the nutritional composition (proximal analysis, dietary fiber, and oxalates), antioxidant compounds (ascorbic acid, phenolics), antioxidant activity (measured by ABTS and DPPH assays), and physicochemical characteristics (water retention capacity, viscosity, color, and SEM) were evaluated. The boiling affected the nutritional composition of plants, mainly soluble compounds as carbohydrates (sugars and soluble fiber), ash, ascorbic acid, and phenolic compounds and caused changes in food hydration and color. Therefore, it is recommended that these plants be consumed raw or with short boiling times and included the cooking water in other preparations to take advantage of the nutrients released in the food matrix. In the future, to complete studies, 3 to 5 min of cooking should be considered to minimize undesirable modifications in terms of the vegetables' composition.
Project description:IntroductionIndia's north-eastern hill region (NEH) is one of the biodiversity hotspots, inhabited by several tribal communities still maintaining their traditional food habits. Much of their food resources are drawn from wild sources.Materials and methodsFourteen species of wild edible plants of high ethnic importance were collected from remote localities of Nagaland and Meghalaya states of the NEH region of India for nutritional profiling. Nutritional profiling of leaves of six species comprising Gynura cusimbua, Garcinia cowa, Herpetospermum operculatum, Plukenetia corniculata, Trichodesma khasianum, and Elatostemma sessile is conducted first time under present study. Samples were analyzed as per the Official Method of Analysis (AOAC) and standard methods.Results and discussionThe range of variation in proximate composition was observed for moisture (72-92%), protein (1.71-6.66%), fat (0.22-1.36%), dietary fibre (5.16-14.58%), sugar (0.30-3.41%), and starch (0.07-2.14%). The highest protein content (6.66%) was recorded in Herpetospermum operculatum, followed by Trichodesma khasianum (5.89%) and Plukenetia corniculata (5.27%). Incidentally, two of these also have high iron (>7.0 mg/100 g) and high zinc (>2.0 mg/100 g) contents, except Trichodesma khasianum, which has low zinc content. High antioxidant activities in terms of gallic acid equivalent (GAE) by the cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) method ranged from 1.10 to 8.40 mg/100 g, and by the Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) method ranged from 0.10 to 1.9 mg/100 g, while phenol content ranged between 0.30 and 6.00 mg/100 g. These wild vegetables have high potential because of their nutritional properties and are fully capable of enhancing sustainability and improving ecosystem services. Efforts were also initiated to mainstream these resources, mainly for widening the food basket of native peoples.
Project description:Edible insects have great potential to be human food; among them, aquatic insects have unique characteristics and deserve special attention. Before consuming these insects, the nutrition and food safety should always be considered. In this review, we summarized the species diversity, nutrition composition, and food safety of edible aquatic insects, and also compared their distinguished characteristics with those of terrestrial insects. Generally, in contrast with the role of plant feeders that most terrestrial edible insect species play, most aquatic edible insects are carnivorous animals. Besides the differences in physiology and metabolism, there are differences in fat, fatty acid, limiting/flavor amino acid, and mineral element contents between terrestrial and aquatic insects. Furthermore, heavy metal, pesticide residue, and uric acid composition, concerning food safety, are also discussed. Combined with the nutritional characteristics of aquatic insects, it is not recommended to eat the wild resources on a large scale. For the aquatic insects with large consumption, it is better to realize the standardized cultivation before they can be safely eaten.
Project description:Wild plants are considered the richest source of essential nutrients and other beneficial phytochemicals. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional composition, antioxidant- and ?-amylase inhibition activities of leaves and roots of selected Bangladeshi wild plants. These wild plants were found to have high fiber (13.78-22.26 g/100 g), protein (7.08-21.56 g/100 g) and ash (8.21-21.43 g/100 g) contents. The total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were significantly higher in the leaves than the roots. Additionally, antioxidant activity was evaluated using ferric-reducing antioxidant power, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assays and was strongly correlated with phenolic compounds. The leaf extracts of the selected plants also exhibited potent ?-amylase inhibition (~71%) and were significantly higher than their root counterparts. Thus, the study findings concluded that the investigated plants were good sources of fiber, protein, mineral, natural antioxidant compounds and ?-amylase inhibitors, and their increased intake could provide health benefits. The principal component analysis (PCA) of analyzed variables divided the samples into three clear groups, and the first two principal components accounted for 86.05% of the total data set variance.
Project description:BackgroundThe present study was designed to investigate the antibacterial activities of the methanol extracts of four Cameroonian edible plants, locally used to treat microbial infections, and their synergistic effects with antibiotics against a panel of twenty nine Gram-negative bacteria including Multi-drug resistant (MDR) phenotypes expressing active efflux pumps.MethodsThe broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the extracts [alone and in the presence of the efflux pumps inhibitor (EPI) Phenylalanine-Arginine β-Naphtylamide (PAβN)], and those of antibiotics in association with the two of the most active ones, Piper nigrum and Telfairia occidentalis. The preliminary phytochemical screening of the extracts was conducted according to the standard phytochemical methods.ResultsPhytochemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloids and flavonoids in all studied extracts. Other chemical classes of secondary metabolites were selectively present in the extracts. The results of the MIC determination indicated that the crude extracts from P. nigrum and V. amygdalina were able to inhibit the growth of all the twenty nine studied bacteria within a concentration range of 32 to 1024 μg/mL. At a similar concentration range (32 to 1024 μg/mL) the extract from T. occidentalis inhibited the growth of 93.1% of the tested microorganisms. At MIC/2 and MIC/5, synergistic effects were noted between the extracts from P. nigrum and T. occidentalis and seven of the tested antibiotics on more than 70% of the tested bacteria.ConclusionThe overall results of the present study provide information for the possible use of the studied edible plants extracts in the control of bacterial infections including MDR phenotypes.
Project description:Cocoa bean shells (CBS) are one of the main by-products from the transformation of cocoa beans, representing 10%?17% of the total cocoa bean weight. Hence, their disposal could lead to environmental and economic issues. As CBS could be a source of nutrients and interesting compounds, such as fiber (around 50% w/w), cocoa volatile compounds, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and a large spectrum of polyphenols, CBS may be a valuable ingredient/additive for innovative and functional foods. In fact, the valorization of food by-products within the frame of a circular economy is becoming crucial due to economic and environmental reasons. The aim of this review is to look over the chemical and nutritional composition of CBS and to revise the several uses that have been proposed in order to valorize this by-product for food, livestock feed, or industrial usages, but also for different medical applications. A special focus will be directed to studies that have reported the biofunctional potential of CBS for human health, such as antibacterial, antiviral, anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, or neuroprotective activities, benefits for the cardiovascular system, or an anti-inflammatory capacity.
Project description:Duckweeds are small, fast growing, and starch- and protein-rich aquatic plants expected to be a next generation energy crop and an excellent biomaterial for phytoremediation. Despite such an importance, very little is known about duckweed-microbe interactions that would be a key biological factor for efficient industrial utilization of duckweeds. Here we first report the duckweed growth promoting ability of bacterial strains belonging to the phylum Acidobacteria, the members of which are known to inhabit soils and terrestrial plants, but their ecological roles and plant-microbe interactions remain largely unclear. Two novel Acidobacteria strains, F-183 and TBR-22, were successfully isolated from wild duckweeds and phylogenetically affiliated with subdivision 3 and 6 of the phylum, respectively, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. In the co-culture experiments with aseptic host plants, the F-183 and TBR-22 strains visibly enhanced growth (frond number) of six duckweed species (subfamily Lemnoideae) up to 1.8-5.1 times and 1.6-3.9 times, respectively, compared with uninoculated controls. Intriguingly, both strains also increased the chlorophyll content of the duckweed (Lemna aequinoctialis) up to 2.4-2.5 times. Under SEM observation, the F-183 and TBR-22 strains were epiphytic and attached to the surface of duckweed. Taken together, our findings suggest that indigenous plant associated Acidobacteria contribute to a healthy growth of their host aquatic plants.
Project description:The microalga Chlorella vulgaris is a popular food ingredient widely used in the industry, with an increasing market size and value. Currently, several edible strains of C. vulgaris with different organoleptic characteristics are commercialized to meet consumer needs. This study aimed to compare the fatty acid (FA) and lipid profile of four commercialized strains of C. vulgaris (C-Auto, C-Hetero, C-Honey, and C-White) using gas- and liquid-chromatography coupled to mass-spectrometry approaches, and to evaluate their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Results showed that C-Auto had a higher lipid content compared to the other strains and higher levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs). However, the C-Hetero, C-Honey, and C-White strains had higher levels of omega-6 PUFAs. The lipidome signature was also different between strains, as C-Auto had a higher content of polar lipids esterified to omega-3 PUFAs, while C-White had a higher content of phospholipids with omega-6 PUFAs. C-Hetero and C-Honey showed a higher content of triacylglycerols. All extracts showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, highlighting C-Auto with greater potential. Overall, the four strains of C. vulgaris can be selectively chosen as a source of added-value lipids to be used as ingredients in food and nutraceutical applications for different market needs and nutritional requirements.