Advanced Therapeutic Dressings for Effective Wound Healing—A Review

Our manuscript shows that honey has a variety of positive nutritional and health effects. It contains at least 181 substances, is a supersaturated solution of sugars, and contains small amounts of proteins, enzymes, amino acids, minerals, trace elements, vitamins, aroma compounds and polyphones. This article reviews reports on the use of honey in the treatment of human disorders, which are supported by clinical tests and published in medical journals. First, the composition of honey is described, followed by its physiological and nutritional effects. Finally, the influence of honey on gastroenterology and cardiovascular effects is illustrated.

Contribution of honey in nutrition and human health: a review

Antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity of several monofloral Cuban honeys and their correlation with color, polyphenol content and other chemical compounds

Honey is a by-product of flower nectar and the upper aero-digestive tract of the honey bee, which is concentrated through a dehydration process inside the bee hive. Honey has a very complex chemical composition that varies depending on the botanical source. It has been used both as food and medicine since ancient times. Human use of honey is traced to some 8000 years ago as depicted by Stone Age paintings. In addition to important role of natural honey in the traditional medicine, during the past few decades, it was subjected to laboratory and clinical investigations by several research groups and it has found a place in modern medicine. Honey has been reported to have an inhibitory effect on around 60 species of bacteria, some species of fungi and viruses. Antioxidant capacity of honey is important in many disease conditions and is due to a wide range of compounds including phenolics, peptides, organic acids, enzymes, and Maillard reaction products. Honey has also been used in some gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, inflammatory and neoplastic states. This review covers the composition, physico-chemical properties and the most important uses of natural honey in human diseases.

Traditional and Modern Uses of Natural Honey in Human Diseases: A Review

An investigation of Turkish honeys: their physico-chemical properties, antioxidant capacities and phenolic profiles.

https://bibliotecadigital.ipb.pt/bitstream/10198/2942/5/4%20-%20NORTHEAST%20HONEY%20FoodChemToxy_2008.pdf

Antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of phenolic compounds extracts of Northeast Portugal honey

Influence of solvent on the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of walnut (Juglans regia L.) green husk extracts

Cover cropping is a major challenge in the sustainable management of rainfed olive orchards. From a 5 year study (2009–2014), the effect of a mixture of early-maturing and self-reseeding annual legumes (Legs) grown as a cover crop in a rainfed olive orchard was compared with a cover of natural vegetation fertilized with 60 kg nitrogen (N) ha−1 year−1 (NV +N), and a cover of natural vegetation not fertilized (NV −N). The study took place in NE Portugal. The following were assessed: (1) the performance of the covers by measuring ground cover percentages, dry matter yields and N content in aboveground biomass; (2) the soil fertility through chemical and microbiological assays and by growing plants in pot experiments; and (3) the nutritional status of olive trees and olive yields. Legumes gave higher ground-cover percentages, produced more biomass and accumulated more N in shoots in comparison to natural vegetation, whether fertilized or not. The results showed intense biological activity [microbial carbon (C) and N, CO2–C evolved in a laboratory incubation, metabolic quotient, total culturable fungi and bacteria, and acid phosphatase activity] in the 0–10 cm soil layer of the treatments producing more biomass (Legs and NV +N). However, soil available N was greater in soil samples from the Legs plot. N recoveries by turnip (Brassica rapa var. rapa L.) and rye (Secale cereale L.) grown in pot experiments were 84.4 and 60.2 mg pot−1 in soil samples from the Legs treatment and 29.4 and 27.1 mg pot−1 and 14.2 and 13.6 mg pot−1, respectively in NV +N and NV −N plots. Sown legumes appeared less effective in increasing organic C than natural vegetation. Nevertheless, in the Legs plot the increase of easily mineralizable C was proportionally higher than the increase of total organic C, which may mean that a more reactive pool of organic C is created, which may reduce the turnover of organic C and N in the soil. In the 10–20 cm soil layer, total organic C was significantly lower in Legs (14.0 g kg−1) than in NV −N (22.1 g kg−1) and N +NV (25.2 g kg−1) treatments, likely due to a priming effect caused by mineral N coming from the surface layer. Two years after the trial started, the N nutritional status of the olive trees was significantly higher in Legs than in natural vegetation plots even when 60 kg N ha−1 year−1 was applied. The cumulative olive yields in NV −N and NV +N plots were only 58.6 and 77.7 % in comparison to those found in the Legs plot, if only the last four harvests were considered, which were those influenced by the ground-cover treatments (2010–2013).

Early-maturing annual legumes: an option for cover cropping in rainfed olive orchards

The aim of this study was to evaluate the probiotic potential of 16 yeast strains previously isolated during the natural fermentation of table olives Negrinha de Freixo cultivar, in relation to enzymatic activities; ability to grow at 37 °C; antimicrobial activity; autoaggregation capacity; antioxidant activity and survival in gastrointestinal tract conditions. The highest antioxidant activity was observed for Saccharomyces cerevisiae, similar to the reference strain S. boulardii. Candida norvegica 7A and Galactomyces reessii 34A showed antifungal ability to the pathogenic microorganism Cryptococcus neoformans. Regarding the autoaggregation capacity, S. cerevisiae 15A, C. tropicalis 1A and C. norvegica 7A showed > 80% after 24 h. Pichia guilliermondii 25A and C. norvegica 7A were the most resistant to the simulated digestive conditions, similar to the reference strain (S. boulardii). Thus, these results suggest that some yeast strains involved in the fermentation of table olives have probiotic potential. Industrial relevance In this study, we highlight the probiotic potential of yeast microbiota usually found in green table olives. These yeast strains could be used as culture starters for the development of new functional products.

/pdf/probiotic-potential-of-indigenous-yeasts-isolated-during-the-4kbe23ei24.pdf

Ermelinda Pereira

Papers

Antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of phenolic compounds extracts of Northeast Portugal honey

Influence of solvent on the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of walnut (Juglans regia L.) green husk extracts

Early-maturing annual legumes: an option for cover cropping in rainfed olive orchards

Probiotic potential of indigenous yeasts isolated during the fermentation of table olives from Northeast of Portugal

YEAST dynamics during the natural fermentation process of table olives (Negrinha de Freixo cv.)