Biodiversity hotspots for conservation of Hancornia speciosa Gomes

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Hancornia speciosa is one target species for genetic diversity ethnobotanical and medicinal applications within the Brazilian Northeast Atlantic...     

Geno-phenotypic diversity in a natural population of Hancornia speciosa Gomes: implications for conservation and improvement

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Hancornia speciosa Gomes is native tree to South America, and its fruits are a source of income for communities and the food industry. The reduction of...     

Collection,ex situ conservation and characterization of mangaba (Hancornia speciose Gomes) germplasm in coastal lowland of Northeastern Brazil

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - This study aimed to evaluate the Mangaba Genebank of Embrapa Tabuleiros Costeiros, Brazil, since its implementation in 2006 and characterize the accessions in...     

Aroma potential of two bairrada white grape varieties: Maria Gomes and Bical

Maria Gomes and Bical are the main white grape varieties in Portuguese Bairrada Appellation, which represent 80% and 15%, respectively, of white vineyard. To estimate their aroma potentialities, free and potential volatile components from the musts were examined. The free volatile components were extracted using a liquid-liquid continuous method and were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The potential volatile compounds were determined after elimination of the free components by heat and enzymatic treatments. Principal component analysis was used to establish relations between the compounds and the varieties and also the form (free or in potential). Maria Gomes has 11.5 mg/L volatile compounds, of which 33% are in free form; Bical has 4.4 mg/L volatile compounds, of which 46% are in free form. A total of 59 compounds was identified and quantified. In Maria Gomes, the sum of the terpenoids is within the perception limits for hotrienol (0.21 mg/L) and linalool (0.20 mg/L). In Bical, benzyl alcohol and phenylethylethanol represent 20% of the volatile compounds. Considering that the volatile composition pattern of Maria Gomes and Bical varieties are different, wine-making technologies should be developed specifically for each variety.     

Soil,food security and human health: a review

Direct effects of soil or its constituents on human health are through its ingestion, inhalation or absorption. The soil contains many infectious organisms that may enter the human body through these pathways, but it also provides organisms on which our earliest antibiotics are based. Indirect effects of soil arise from the quantity and quality of food that humans consume. Trace elements can have both beneficial and toxic effects on humans, especially where the range for optimal intake is narrow. We focus on four trace elements (iodine, iron, selenium and zinc) whose deficiencies have substantial effects on human health. As the world's population increases issues of food security become more pressing, as does the need to sustain soil fertility and minimize its degradation. Lack of adequate food and food of poor nutritional quality lead to differing degrees of under‐nutrition, which in turn causes ill health. Soil and land are finite resources and agricultural land is under severe competition from other uses. Relationships between soil and health are often difficult to extricate because of the many confounding factors present. Nevertheless, recent scientific understanding of soil processes and factors that affect human health are enabling greater insight into the effects of soil on our health. Multidisciplinary research that includes soil science, agronomy, agricultural sustainability, toxicology, epidemiology and the medical sciences will facilitate the discovery of new antibiotics, a greater understanding of how materials added to soil used for food production affect health and deciphering of the complex relationships between soil and human health.     

A review of molecular data for the phylogeny of basal hexapods

Molecular data have been increasingly used to study the phylogenetic relationships among many animal taxa, including arthropods. Sometimes they have provided phylogenetic reconstructions that are in conflict with morphological data leading to a re-evaluation of long-standing evolutionary hypotheses. In this paper, we review the major contributions to the phylogeny of hexapods based on molecular data, with emphasis on the relationships of basal hexapod taxa. The placement and the monophyly of the five basal hexapod lineages (the “apterygotes”: Protura, Collembola, Diplura, Microcoryphia and Zygentoma) are one of the hottest issues in arthropod phylogeny. We discuss methods of data collection and analysis, and we describe the areas of conflict and agreement between molecular phylogenies and the evidence provided by morphological characters.     

Antibiotics in poultry manure and their associated health issues: a systematic review

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Antibiotics are growing environmental contaminants leading to public health concern. Antibiotics are commonly used as growth promoters and therapeutic agents in...     

Mycotoxins in pet food: a review on worldwide prevalence and preventative strategies

Mycotoxins contaminate cereal grains worldwide, and their presence in pet food has been a potential health threat to companion animals. Aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and Fusarium mycotoxins have been found in both raw ingredients and final products of pet food around the globe. Aflatoxin, a hepatotoxin and carcinogen, has caused several food poisoning outbreaks in dogs, and aflatoxin content is regulated in pet food in many countries. Ochratoxin A and Fusarium mycotoxins including trichothecenes, zearalenone, and fumonisins may have chronic effects on the health of companion animals. Grain processing, sampling error, analytical methods, conjugated mycotoxins, storage conditions, and synergistic interactions are common challenges faced by the pet food industry. Food-processing techniques such as sieving, washing, pearling, ozonation, and acid-based mold inhibition reduce the mycotoxin content of cereal grains. Dietary supplementation with large neutral amino acids, antioxidants, and omega-3 polysaturated fatty acids as well as inclusion of mycotoxin-sequestering agents and detoxifying microbes may ameliorate the harmful effects of mycotoxins in contaminated pet food.     

Reproducibility of systematic literature reviews on food, nutrition, physical activity and endometrial cancer

OBJECTIVE: Despite the increasing dependence on systematic reviews to summarise the literature and to issue public health recommendations, the formal assessment of the reliability of conclusions emerging from systematic reviews has received little attention. The main goal of the present study was to evaluate whether two independent centres, in two continents, draw similar conclusions regarding the association of food, nutrition and physical activity and endometrial cancer, when provided with the same general instructions and with similar resources. DESIGN: The assessment of reproducibility concentrated on four main areas: (1) paper search and selection; (2) assignment of study design; (3) inclusion of papers; and (4) individual studies selected for meta-analysis and the summary risk estimate obtained. RESULTS: In total 310 relevant papers were identified, 166 (54 %) were included by both centres. Of the remaining 144 papers, 72 (50 %) were retrieved in the searches of one centre and not the other (54 in centre A, 18 in centre B) and 72 were retrieved in both searches but regarded as relevant by only one of the centres (52 in centre A, 20 in centre B). Of papers included by both centres, 80 % were allocated the same study design. Agreement for inclusion of cohort-type and casekey' papers was 87 %. Summary risk estimates from meta-analyses were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Transparency of process and explicit detailed procedures are necessary parts of a systematic review and crucial for the reader to interpret its findings.     

Detecting potential IgE-reactive sites on food proteins using a sequence and structure database, SDAP-food

The high incidence of food allergies, including oral allergy syndrome, represent major considerations when introducing new crops and foods. A new structural database of allergenic proteins, SDAP-Food, http://fermi.utmb.edu/SDAP/, has been developed to aid in predicting the IgE-binding potential of novel food proteins and cross-reactivities among known allergens. The site is designed to facilitate the first steps of a decision tree approach to determine the allergenicity of a given protein, based on the sequence and structural similarity to known allergens and their IgE binding sites. Immunological tests can then be used to confirm the predictions. A hierarchical procedure for identifying potential allergens, using a physical property-based sequence similarity index, has been designed to identify regions that resemble known IgE binding sites. As an example, SDAP tools were used to find food allergen sequences similar to an IgE binding site of the Jun a 3 allergen from mountain cedar pollen. The SDAP sequence similarity search matched the Jun a 3 epitope to regions in several food allergens, including cherry (Pru av 2), apple (Mal d 2) and pepper (Cap a 1), which are, like Jun a 3, members of the plant pathogenesis-related (PR-5) protein family. Homology modeling, using our EXDIS/DIAMOD/FANTOM program suite, indicated a similar surface location and structure for the potential epitope region on all of these allergens. The quantitative approach presented here can be used as part of a screening process for potential allergenicity of recombinant food products.     

Isolation and structure determination of new antioxidative ferulic acid glucoside esters from the rhizome of Alpinia speciosa, a Zingiberaceae plant used in Okinawan food culture

An assay-guided isolation gave three antioxidants including two newly identified compounds from the rhizomes of Alpinia speciosa, which is used as an important plant in the food culture of the Okinawa area of Japan. Spectroscopic analysis of the two new compounds revealed them to be new glucoside esters of ferulic acid. The antioxidant activity of the esters was measured using two different methods. Both compounds showed greater activity than that of Trolox in the TLC method; however, one of the compounds showed weaker inhibitory activity than that of Trolox and epicatechin against AMVN-induced methyl linoleate oxidation.