Phytochemical Characterization and Effects on Cell Proliferation of Lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus) Berry Oil: a Revalued Source of Phenolics

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - The ethno-pharmaceutical use of the edible fixed oil produced from lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus) berries covers a long tradition in several Mediterranean regions....     

Differentiation of Vitis vinifera L. and hybrid red grapes by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry analysis of berry skin anthocyanins

Among the methods that have been developed for anthocyanin characterization, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) offers several analytical advantages in terms of speed, minimal sample handling, specificity, and reliability, without requiring any previous chromatographic separation. This study used MALDI-TOF MS to profile the anthocyanins from the berry skins of 23 red grape varieties clustered as (i) authentic Vitis vinifera grapes, (ii) American hybrid cultivars, and (iii) Casavecchia cultivars, previously characterized as functional crosses of V. vinifera with nondefined hybrid grapevines. Anthocyanin profiling demonstrated evidence of several varietal traits that enabled the differentiation of authentic V. vinifera from hybrid cultivars on a molecular basis. In particular, acyl 3,5-O-diglucoside anthocyanins were established as easily monitored molecular markers of the hybrid varieties. It was also demonstrated that MALDI-post source decay MS is a powerful tool to differentiate isobaric 3,5-O-diglucosides and their derivatives, which prevail in hybrid cultivars, from acylated 3-O-glucoside anthocyanins.     

Selection of sourdough lactobacilli with antifungal activity for use as biopreservatives in bakery products

Two hundred and sixteen LAB cultures from sourdoughs and dough for bread and panettone production were screened for in vitro antifungal properties against three indicator cultures ascribed to Aspergillus japonicus , Eurotium repens , and Penicillium roseopurpureum , isolated from bakery environment and moldy panettone. Nineteen preselected isolates were subjected to minimum inhibitory concentration determination against the indicator cultures. Sourdoughs prepared with the two most promising strains, identified as Lactobacillus rossiae LD108 and Lactobacillus paralimentarius PB127, were characterized. The sourdough extracts were subjected to HPLC analysis coupled with a microtiter plate bioassay against A. japonicus to identify the active fractions. MALDI-TOF MS analysis revealed the occurrence of a series of peptides corresponding to wheat α-gliadin proteolysis fragments in the active fraction from L. rossiae LD108 sourdough. The ability to prevent mold growth on bread was demonstrated for both strains, whereas L. rossiae LD108 also inhibited mold growth on panettone.