Antioxidant activity applying an improved ABTS radical cation decolorization assay.

Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain—3-Dimensional Proportional System: An Approach to Cerebral Imaging, J. Talairach, P. Tournoux. Georg Thieme Verlag, New York (1988), 122 pp., 130 figs. DM 268

The use of and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have accelerated in recent years. Ethnopharmacologists, botanists, microbiologists, and natural-products chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and “leads” which could be developed for treatment of infectious diseases. While 25 to 50% of current pharmaceuticals are derived from plants, none are used as antimicrobials. Traditional healers have long used plants to prevent or cure infectious conditions; Western medicine is trying to duplicate their successes. Plants are rich in a wide variety of secondary metabolites, such as tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, which have been found in vitro to have antimicrobial properties. This review attempts to summarize the current status of botanical screening efforts, as well as in vivo studies of their effectiveness and toxicity. The structure and antimicrobial properties of phytochemicals are also addressed. Since many of these compounds are currently available as unregulated botanical preparations and their use by the public is increasing rapidly, clinicians need to consider the consequences of patients self-medicating with these preparations.

Plant Products as Antimicrobial Agents

http://www.dietcan.net/docs/Polifenoles%20en%20alimentos%20y%20biodisponibilidad.pdf

Polyphenols: food sources and bioavailability

This review summarizes the multifaceted aspects of antioxidants and the basic kinetic models of inhibited autoxidation and analyzes the chemical principles of antioxidant capacity assays. Depending upon the reactions involved, these assays can roughly be classified into two types:  assays based on hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) reactions and assays based on electron transfer (ET). The majority of HAT-based assays apply a competitive reaction scheme, in which antioxidant and substrate compete for thermally generated peroxyl radicals through the decomposition of azo compounds. These assays include inhibition of induced low-density lipoprotein autoxidation, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), total radical trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP), and crocin bleaching assays. ET-based assays measure the capacity of an antioxidant in the reduction of an oxidant, which changes color when reduced. The degree of color change is correlated with the sample's antioxidant concentrations. ET-based assays include th...

The Chemistry behind Antioxidant Capacity Assays

In May 2020, the European Commission announced a proposal for a mandatory front-of-pack label (FoPL) for all European Union (EU) countries. Indeed, FoPLs have been recognized by several public institutions as a cost-effective measure to guide consumers toward nutritionally favorable food products. The aim of this study was to compare the performance and consumer preference of two FoPLs currently proposed or implemented in EU countries, the interpretive format Nutri-Score and the non-interpretive format NutrInform Battery, among Italian consumers. The experimental study was conducted in 2021 on a representative sample of 1064 Italian adults (mean age = 46.5 ± 14.1 years; 48% men). Participants were randomized to either Nutri-Score or NutrInform and had to fill out an online questionnaire testing their objective understanding of the FoPL on three food categories (breakfast products, breakfast cereals and added fats) as well as purchase intention, subjective understanding and perception. Multivariable logistic regressions and t-tests were used to analyze the answers. In terms of the capacity of participants to identify the most nutritionally favorable products, Nutri-Score outperformed NutrInform in all food categories, with the highest odds ratio being observed for added fats (OR = 21.7 [15.3–31.1], p < 0.0001). Overall, with Nutri-Score, Italian participants were more likely to intend to purchase nutritionally favorable products than with NutrInform (OR = 5.29 [4.02–6.97], p < 0.0001). Focusing on olive oil, participants of the Nutri-Score group had higher purchase intention of olive oil compared to those in the NutrInform group (OR = 1.92 [1.42–2.60], p < 0.0001) after manipulating the label. The interpretive format Nutri-Score appears to be a more efficient tool than NutrInform for orienting Italian consumers towards more nutritionally favorable food choices.

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Nutri-Score and NutrInform Battery: Effects on Performance and Preference in Italian Consumers

This review article reports for the first time phytochemistry, ethnobotanical uses and pharmacological activities of all Cupressus L. species other than Cupressus sempervirens L. Indeed, the literature survey showed how many other Cupressus species are rich of important phytochemical compounds, widely used in the ethnobotanical field for several purposes and endowed with interesting biological activities, even if they are somehow neglected by the scientific community. This review aims to continue the study of these other Cupressus species and promote more research on them.

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There Is Not Only Cupressus sempervirens L.: A Review on the Phytochemistry and Bioactivities of the Other Cupressus L. Species

From the legislative standpoint, foods do not necessarily have a nutritional role, in that they are defined as: any product or substance that is transformed (even partially) or not transformed and that is meant to be ingested by humans (or for which ingestion can be reasonably assumed), excluding such products as pharmaceuticals and tobacco products, among others. In accordance with EC Regulation 258/97 concerning novel foods, the safety of foods must be established by a history of consumption. For novel foods, safety must be proven through risk assessment. However, the authorization procedures for novel foods is complex.

Novel food: a new reality in food ingredient.

The human body, constantly exposed to free radicals, evolved a complex defence system, including compounds that prevent the formation of new radicals by removing peroxides, by dismutating superoxides, by chelating metal ions and compounds that inhibit the propagation of peroxidation (the so-called chain-breaking antioxidants) [4]. Dietary modulation of oxidative stress, however, involves mainly the chain-breaking antioxidants. Essential dietary antioxidants, including vitamin A, C and E are involved in oxidative stress control, as are carotene and carotenoids [1,2]. However, numerous non-essential dietary compounds such as phenolics are also considered antiatherosclerotic and anticarcinogenic and presumably play a role in controlling oxidative reactions in vivo [5]. While these antioxidants seem to be important physiologically, very little is known about the absorption, incorporation, metabolic fate and antioxidant action in humans. The concentration of each of these antioxidants and their relative antioxidant activity (that is the amount of free radicals trapped per mole), and their possible synergism contributes to the total antioxidant capacity. This parameter, therefore, represents a more integrated measure than the simple evaluation of the content of individual antioxidants, and includes all unmeasured or unmeasurable compounds. The methods available for this purpose take advantage of a constant peroxyl radical flow produced by thermal decomposition of an azocompound [8]. This flow leads to the oxidation of a target molecule, whose decay is a measure of the lipid peroxidation reaction and, indirectly, of the ability of plasma, body fluids or simple chemical solutions to break the reaction. Figure 1 resumes the method we used to assess the antioxidant capacity of plasma or antioxidant compounds [3]. A constant flow of peroxyl radicals is obtained by adding 4 mM AAPH to a reaction mixture consisting in 150 nM R-Phycoerythrin (R-PE) when plasma (or antioxidants) is added, a lag phase is produced. The plasma antioxidant capacity can be quantified, by standardizing the lag-phase induced by plasma with that induced by a known amount of an antioxidant compound (Trolox). The antioxidant potential produced by ascorbate, urate, tocopherol, and thiol groups accounted only for 67% of the total antioxidant capacity. The remaining 23% may be explained by other compounds present in plasma (carotenoids, retinol, bilirubin, creatinine, polyphenols) which could play an important antioxidant role. To evaluate whether dietary phenolics significantly contribute to systemic antioxidant defences we studied plasma antioxidant capacity in human beings before and after consumption of polyphenol-rich beverages (tea and wine). Black and green teas have a different phenolic pattern, as reported in Table 1. During black tea preparation, in fact, oxidation of polyphenols takes place, thus decreasing the levels of simple

Measurements of the antioxidant capacity in human plasma

/pdf/editorial-chocolate-and-health-friend-or-foe-1byilpuumw.pdf

Mauro Serafini

Papers

Nutri-Score and NutrInform Battery: Effects on Performance and Preference in Italian Consumers

There Is Not Only Cupressus sempervirens L.: A Review on the Phytochemistry and Bioactivities of the Other Cupressus L. Species

Novel food: a new reality in food ingredient.

Measurements of the antioxidant capacity in human plasma

Editorial: Chocolate and Health: Friend or Foe?