Investigation of the Potential Health Benefits as Lipase Inhibitor and Antioxidant of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leopoldia comosa</Emphasis> (L.) Parl.: Variability of Chemical Composition of Wild and Cultivated Bulbs

There is a great interest in the nutritional value of vegetables and fruits and how the habitat affects nutritive and biological properties. In vitro studies here reported were performed to evaluate the inhibitory activity of formulations from edible plant on pancreatic lipase. The aim of this study was also to evaluate the biovariability of L. comosa (L.) Parl. bulbs from Italy. The wild bulbs were compared with the same cultivated species that are commonly commercialized to identify samples with the best quality for a potential therapeutic application. Hydroalcoholic extract and polar fraction of wild bulbs showed a very important pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity, with IC₅₀ values of 0.166 ± 0.005 and 0.153 ± 0.005 mg/mL, respectively. In order to characterize the extracts, gas chromatography associated with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis was performed, revealing the predominance of palmitic acid. Phenolic and flavonoid composition was also evaluated. L. comosa extract obtained from wild bulbs demonstrated both antioxidant and anti-obesity activities that might be attributed to a wide range of present phenolic compounds.     

Effect of storage time and temperature on the total protein concentration and electrophoretic fractions in equine serum

Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) is a technique that could be considered one of the most useful diagnostic aids available to the clinician. The effect of storage time and temperature on the total proteins and electrophoretic fractions (albumin, α₁-, α₂-, β₁-, β₂-, and γ-globulins) was assessed in 24 healthy horses. All samples, collected by jugular vein puncture, were centrifuged and divided into 4 aliquots. The 1st aliquot was analyzed within 3 h from collection (time 0), the 2nd was refrigerated at +4°C for 24 h, the 3rd was refrigerated at +4°C for 48 h, and the last was frozen at −20°C for 48 h. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant effect (P < 0.05) of the different storage conditions on the concentrations of all the parameters studied and significant variations in the percentages of albumin, α₁-globulins, α₂-globulins, and γ-globulins. Compared with time 0 the total protein concentration increased significantly after 48 h at −20°C, the albumin percentage decreased after 48 h at −20°C, the α₁-globulin percentage increased after 24 h at +4°C, the α₂-globulin percentage increased after 48 h at +4°C and at −20°C, and the γ-globulin percentage increased after 48 h at −20°C. The results should help veterinary practitioners handle and store equine serum samples appropriately. Further investigations at different storage times and temperatures could be useful.     

Ecosystem services from coffee agroforestry in Central America: estimation using the CAF2021 model

The goal of sustainable coffee production requires multiple functions from agroforestry systems. Many are difficult to quantify and data are lacking, hampering the choice of shade tree species and agronomic management. Process-based modelling may help quantify ecosystem services and disservices. We introduce and apply coffee agroforestry model CAF2021 (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5862195). The model allows for complex systems with up to three shade tree species. It simulates coffee yield, timber and fruit production by shade trees, soil loss in erosion, C-sequestration, N-fixation, -emission and -leaching. To calibrate the model, we used multivariate data from 32 different treatments applied in two long-term coffee agroforestry experiments in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Without any further calibration, the model was then applied to agroforestry systems on 89 farms in Costa Rica and 79 in Guatemala where yields had been reported previously in farmer interviews. Despite wide variation in environmental and agronomic conditions, the model explained 36% of yield variation in Costa Rica but only 15% in Guatemala. Model analysis quantified trade-offs between yield and other ecosystem services as a function of fertilisation and shading.

     

Irrigation effects on quality, phenolic composition, and selected volatiles of virgin olive oils cv. Leccino

Field-grown olive trees (Olea europaea L. cv. Leccino) were used over two growing seasons to determine the effect of deficit irrigation regimes on virgin olive oil (VOO) quality. Drip irrigation was managed to maintain a predawn leaf water potential (PLWP): (a) higher than -1.1 MPa (full irrigation: FI); (b) between -1.0 and -3.3 MPa (deficit irrigation: DI); (c) higher than -4.2 MPa (severe deficit irrigation: SI). The fruit yield and oil yield of DI trees were over 90% of those of FI treatments in both years, respectively, whereas yields of SI trees ranged from 61 to 76%. The irrigation regime had minor effects on the free acidity, peroxide value, and fatty acid composition of VOO. The concentrations of phenols and o-diphenols in VOO were negatively correlated with PLWP. The concentrations of the dialdehydic form of decarboxymethyl elenolic acid linked to (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethanol (3,4-DHPEA-EDA), the isomer of the oleuropein aglycon (3,4-DHPEA-EA), and the dialdehydic form of decarboxymethyl elenolic acid linked to (p-hydroxyphenyl)ethanol (p-HPEA-EDA) were lower in FI than in SI treatments. The concentrations of lignans (+)-1-acetoxipinoresinol and (+)-1-pinoresinol were unaffected by the irrigation regime. The tree water status had a marked effect on the concentration of volatile compounds, such as the C(6)-saturated and unsaturated aldehydes, alcohols, and esters.     

In vitro and in vivo stability of caffeic acid phenethyl ester, a bioactive compound of propolis

The in vitro biochemical stability of caffeic acid phenethyl ester in rat and human plasma was investigated and compared with the stability of other caffeic acid esters (chlorogenic acid and rosmarinic acid). The incubation of the compounds in rat plasma for up to 6 h showed that caffeic acid phenethyl ester, but not the other compounds, was hydrolyzed, whereas human plasma did not affect the stability of all the assayed compounds. The products in rat plasma were caffeic acid and an unknown compound, which was identified by mass spectrometry as caffeic acid ethyl ester, produced by transesterification in the presence of ethanol used as vehicle for standard compounds. Specific inhibitors of different plasma esterases allowed the identification of a carboxylesterase as the enzyme involved in the metabolism of caffeic acid phenethyl ester. The oral administration in rats of caffeic acid phenethyl ester in the presence of both ethanol and 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethanol gave rise to a dramatic increase of caffeic acid, as well as low levels of caffeic acid phenethyl ester, caffeic acid ethyl ester, and caffeic acid 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl ester, in urine collected within 24 h after treatment. These results suggest that caffeic acid phenethyl ester is hydrolyzed also in vivo to caffeic acid as the major metabolite and that its biological activities should be more properly assayed and compared with those of caffeic acid, its bioactive hydrolysis product. Moreover, alcohols should be carefully used in vivo as solvents for caffeic acid phenethyl ester, since they can give rise to new bioactive caffeic acid esters.     

Administration of Probiotic Strain to Improve Sea Bream Wellness during Development

Two bacterial strains Lactobacillus fructivorans (AS17B), isolated from adult sea bream (Sparus aurata) gut, and Lactobacillus plantarum (906), isolated from human faeces, were administered contemporaneously, during sea bream development using Brachionus plicatilis and/or Artemia salina and dry feed as vectors. The probiotic treatment influenced gut colonization: at 35 days post-hatching (p.h.) L. fructivorans was not present in the gut, but the treatment induced colonization by L. plantarum. At 66 days p.h., L. fructivorans was evident also in the control; moreover, when suitable environmental conditions appeared in the post-metamorphosis gastro-intestinal tract, competition between L. plantarum and L. fructivorans occurred. At 90 days p.h., L. plantarum was displaced by L. fructivorans that became significantly higher with respect to the control. In treated groups, probiotic administration significantly decreased larvae and fry mortality.     

Evaluation of phenolic compounds in virgin olive oil by direct injection in high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection

Hydrophilic phenols are the most abundant natural antioxidants of virgin olive oil (VOO), in which tocopherols and carotenes are also present. The prevalent classes of hydrophilic phenols found in VOO are phenyl alcohols, phenolic acids, secoiridoids such as the dialdehydic form of decarboxymethyl elenolic acid linked to (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethanol or (p-hydroxypheny1)ethanol (3,4-DHPEA-EDA or p-HPEA-EDA) and an isomer of the oleuropein aglycon (3,4-DHPEA-EA), lignans such as (+)-1-acetoxypinoresinol and (+)-pinoresinol, and flavonoids. A new method for the analysis of VOO hydrophilic phenols by direct injection in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with the use of a fluorescence detector (FLD) has been proposed and compared with the traditional liquid-liquid extraction technique followed by the HPLC analysis utilizing a diode array detector (DAD) and a FLD. Results show that the most important classes of phenolic compounds occurring in VOO can be evaluated using HPLC direct injection. The efficiency of the new method, as compared to the liquid-liquid extraction, was higher to quantify phenyl alcohols, lignans, and 3,4-DHPEA-EA and lower for the evaluation of 3,4-DHPEA-EDA and p-HPEA-EDA.     

Selection environment and environmental sensitivity in barley

Summary Groups of 10 barley genotypes were selected for high grain yield under either high yielding (two groups) or low yielding conditions (two groups). The genotypes had a similar average grain yield across a wide range of yielding conditions, but differed in their linear response over environments (environmental sensitivity). The genotypes selected for high grain yield under low yielding conditions were less sensitive to changing environments than genotypes selected for high grain yield under high yielding conditions. The higher stability of genotypes selected under low yielding conditions was shown by both the linear regression analysis and the comparison of coefficients of variation. The use of a safety-first index showed that the probability of a crop failure of genotypes selected for high grain yield under high yielding conditions was between 1.8 and 2.7 times higher than for genotypes selected for high grain yield under low yielding conditions. The development of new cultivars for areas where a large proportion of the crop is grown by subsistence farmers should therefore be based on selection under low yielding conditions.     

Acylglycerol and fatty acid components of pulp,seed, and whole olive fruit oils. Their use to characterize fruit variety by chemometrics

The contents of triacylglycerols and diacylglycerols in three kinds of olive fruit oils (pulp, seed, and whole fruit) were determined. The fatty acid composition and the quality ratios 1,2-diacylglycerols/1,3-diacylglycerols and 1,2-diacylglycerols/total diacylglycerols were also assessed. Seven major Italian olive varieties were considered. Results of univariate statistical analyses indicated that the above analytical parameters (glyceridic ratios excepted) were effective in discriminating between pulp and seed oils. The seed oil fraction did not determine any change in the glyceridic indices and the acylglycerol or fatty acid composition concerning the whole fruit oil (mixture of pulp and seed oil fractions), the weight (%) of seed ( approximately 2%) being by far lower than the weight (%) of pulp ( approximately 85%) (fruit weight basis). Based on the data of triacylglycerol or fatty acid composition, and using appropriate parametric or nonparametric multivariate statistics, the genetic origins (olive variety) of the three fruit oil kinds were characterized.     

Uncommonly thorough hydrolysis of peptides during ripening of Ragusano cheese revealed by tandem mass spectrometry

Ragusano is a pasta filata cheese produced from raw milk in Sicily. The proteolysis was extensively analyzed after stretching (day 0), at 4 and 7 months of ripening through soluble nitrogen, urea-PAGE, and peptide identification by tandem mass spectrometry. After stretching, 123 peptides were identified: 72 arising from β-casein, 34 from α(s1)-casein, and 17 from α(s2)-casein. The main protein splitting corresponded to the action of plasmin, chymosin, cathepsin D, cell envelope proteinase, and peptidase activities of lactic acid bacteria. Unlike other types of cheeses, <10% residual β- and α(s)-caseins remained intact at 7 months, indicating original network organization based on large casein fragments. The number of identified soluble peptides also dramatically decreased after 4 and 7 months of ripening, to 47 and 25, respectively. Among them, bioactive peptides were found, that is, mineral carrier, antihypertensive, and immunomodulating peptides and phosphopeptides.