Anthocyanins are colored water-soluble pigments belonging to the phenolic group. The pigments are in glycosylated forms. Anthocyanins responsible for the colors, red, purple, and blue, are in fruits and vegetables. Berries, currants, grapes, and some tropical fruits have high anthocyanins content. Red to purplish blue-colored leafy vegetables, grains, roots, and tubers are the edible vegetables that contain a high level of anthocyanins. Among the anthocyanin pigments, cyanidin-3-glucoside is the major anthocyanin found in most of the plants. The colored anthocyanin pigments have been traditionally used as a natural food colorant. The color and stability of these pigments are influenced by pH, light, temperature, and structure. In acidic condition, anthocyanins appear as red but turn blue when the pH increases. Chromatography has been largely applied in extraction, separation, and quantification of anthocyanins. Besides the use of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins as natural dyes, these colored pigments are potential pharmaceutical ingredients that give various beneficial health effects. Scientific studies, such as cell culture studies, animal models, and human clinical trials, show that anthocyanidins and anthocyanins possess antioxidative and antimicrobial activities, improve visual and neurological health, and protect against various non-communicable diseases. These studies confer the health effects of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins, which are due to their potent antioxidant properties. Different mechanisms and pathways are involved in the protective effects, including free-radical scavenging pathway, cyclooxygenase pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, and inflammatory cytokines signaling. Therefore, this review focuses on the role of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins as natural food colorants and their nutraceutical properties for health. Abbreviations: CVD: Cardiovascular disease VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor.

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Anthocyanidins and anthocyanins: colored pigments as food, pharmaceutical ingredients, and the potential health benefits.

http://capridairyworld.org/files/pdf/RUMIN-physico-chem-published.pdf

Physico-chemical characteristics of goat and sheep milk

http://www2.kobe-u.ac.jp/~toyoda/beef/BEEF/Ref/beef%20production_fat.pdf

Innovations in beef production systems that enhance the nutritional and health value of beef lipids and their relationship with meat quality.

Significant controversy has emerged over the last decade concerning the effects of vitamin D on skeletal and nonskeletal tissues. The demonstration that the vitamin D receptor is expressed in virtually all cells of the body and the growing body of observational data supporting a relationship of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D to chronic metabolic, cardiovascular, and neoplastic diseases have led to widespread utilization of vitamin D supplementation for the prevention and treatment of numerous disorders. In this paper, we review both the basic and clinical aspects of vitamin D in relation to nonskeletal organ systems. We begin by focusing on the molecular aspects of vitamin D, primarily by examining the structure and function of the vitamin D receptor. This is followed by a systematic review according to tissue type of the inherent biological plausibility, the strength of the observational data, and the levels of evidence that support or refute an association between vitamin D levels or supplementation and maternal/child health as well as various disease states. Although observational studies support a strong case for an association between vitamin D and musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, neoplastic, and metabolic disorders, there remains a paucity of large-scale and long-term randomized clinical trials. Thus, at this time, more studies are needed to definitively conclude that vitamin D can offer preventive and therapeutic benefits across a wide range of physiological states and chronic nonskeletal disorders.

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The Nonskeletal Effects of Vitamin D: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement

The hormonal metabolite of vitamin D, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1,25D), initiates biological responses via binding to the vitamin D receptor (VDR) When occupied by 1,25D, VDR interacts with the retinoid X receptor (RXR) to form a heterodimer that binds to vitamin D responsive elements in the region of genes directly controlled by 1,25D By recruiting complexes of either coactivators or corepressors, ligand-activated VDR-RXR modulates the transcription of genes encoding proteins that promulgate the traditional functions of vitamin D, including signaling intestinal calcium and phosphate absorption to effect skeletal and calcium homeostasis Thus, vitamin D action in a particular cell depends upon the metabolic production or delivery of sufficient concentrations of the 1,25D ligand, expression of adequate VDR and RXR coreceptor proteins, and cell-specific programming of transcriptional responses to regulate select genes that encode proteins that function in mediating the effects of vitamin D For example, 1,25D induces RANKL, SPP1 (osteopontin), and BGP (osteocalcin) to govern bone mineral remodeling; TRPV6, CaBP(9k), and claudin 2 to promote intestinal calcium absorption; and TRPV5, klotho, and Npt2c to regulate renal calcium and phosphate reabsorption VDR appears to function unliganded by 1,25D in keratinocytes to drive mammalian hair cycling via regulation of genes such as CASP14, S100A8, SOSTDC1, and others affecting Wnt signaling Finally, alternative, low-affinity, non-vitamin D VDR ligands, eg, lithocholic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and curcumin, have been reported Combined alternative VDR ligand(s) and 1,25D/VDR control of gene expression may delay chronic disorders of aging such as osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer

Molecular Mechanisms of Vitamin D Action

Male C57BL/6J mice (25 days of age) were fed either a low-fat diet (10% kcal from fat) (LF) or a high-fat diet (45% kcal from fat) (HF45) for a period of 72 days. Blueberry juice or purified blueberry anthocyanins (0.2 or 1.0 mg/mL) in the drinking water were included in LF or HF45 treatments. Sucrose was added to the drinking water of one treatment to test if the sugars in blueberry juice would affect development of obesity. Total body weights (g) and body fat (%) were higher and body lean tissue (%) was lower in the HF45 fed mice compared to the LF fed mice after 72 days, but in mice fed HF45 diet plus blueberry juice or blueberry anthocyanins (0.2 mg/mL), body fat (%) was not different from those mice fed the LF diet. Anthocyanins (ACNs) decreased retroperitoneal and epididymal adipose tissue weights. Fasting serum glucose concentrations were higher in mice fed the HF45 diet. However, it was reduced to LF levels in mice fed the HF45 diet plus 0.2 mg of ACNs/mL in the drinking water, but not with bluebe...

Purified blueberry anthocyanins and blueberry juice alter development of obesity in mice fed an obesogenic high-fat diet.

An increasing interest in enhancing the conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) content in food products is attributed to its potential anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, anti-atherogenic, and immunomodulatory functions in experimental animal models. It is synthesized in the rumen from linoleic acid or from the endogenous conversion of t-11 C in the mammary gland by Δ desaturase. More than a dozen 18:1 -9 isomers of CLA have been detected in foods of ruminant origin, of which c-9, t-11 comprising 80 to 90%, and t-10, c-12 comprising 3-5% of total CLA are the isomers with known physiological importance. Although food products from ruminants are the richest source of CLA for humans, it is possible to enhance the CLA content of foods from non-ruminants by supplementing CLA in the diet. The CLA content in milk, meat, or egg varies greatly from a low 0.1% or less to a high 2% or more of the milk, tissue, or egg yolk lipids, with milk lipids from ruminants having the highest concentrations. A host of factors appear to affect the CLA content in milk, meat, and other food products from various species of animals, which could be broadly classified into diet, animal, and post-harvest related factors. Of all these factors, animal diet is the primary one and could be manipulated to a great extent for enhancing the concentration of CLA in food products, both from ruminants and non-ruminants. While animal-to-animal variation is also of great significance, post-harvest related factors appear to be of minor importance. In this context, the CLA content of milk, meat, and egg, and the factors affecting its concentration have been reviewed. Understanding the various factors affecting the CLA content in food products will have practical implications to the dairy, meat, or egg producers for its enrichment in food products so we can derive the potential health benefits associated with CLA.

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Factors Affecting Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) Content in Milk, Meat, and Egg: A Review

Effect of heating on the stability of grape and blueberry pomace procyanidins and total anthocyanins

Blueberry juice processing by-products are a rich source of procyanidins, which comprise a group of compounds shown to possess numerous health benefits, including protection against coronary heart disease, type II diabetes, and obesity. Most of the procyanidins present in blueberry pomace, however, are large molecular weight compounds that are poorly absorbed and show weak bioactivity compared to the smaller molecular weight monomers and dimers. The objective of our study was to identify optimal extrusion variables to enhance the contents of monomers and dimers at the expense of large molecular weight procyanidin oligomers and polymers. Extrusion variables temperature (160 and 180 degrees C) and screw speed (150 and 200 rpm) were tested using mixtures of blueberry pomace with decorticated white sorghum flour at a ratio of 30 : 70 and 45% moisture content. Extrudates were analyzed for procyanidin composition and total anthocyanin content. Extrusion of blueberry pomace increased the monomer, dimer, and trimer contents considerably at both temperature and screw speeds. The highest monomer content, obtained at 180 degrees C and 150 rpm screw speed, was 84% higher than the nonextruded control. Significantly higher levels of dimer and trimer contents were also obtained under these conditions. Increases in monomer, dimer, and trimer contents apparently were the result of reduced polymer contents, which was approximately 40% lower for samples extruded at 180 degrees C temperature and 150 rpm screw speed. Extrusion processing reduced total anthocyanin contents by 33% to 42% indicating that additional treatments are needed to retain the pigments. These results demonstrate that extrusion processing can be used to increase procyanidin monomer and dimers in blueberry pomace.

Influence of extrusion processing on procyanidin composition and total anthocyanin contents of blueberry pomace.

ERp57/GRp58 is a thiol-protein disulphide oxidoreductase and has been studied in many clinically relevant systems, both as a chaperone protein and as a membrane receptor for the steroid hormone, 1,25(OH)2D3. Our laboratory investigates phenomena associated with rapid, membrane-initiated signaling by steroid hormones synthesized from vitamin D (cholecalciferol). We have recently reported that the cell surface receptor for the metabolite 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3], which we have termed the 1,25D3-MARRS (Membrane Associated, Rapid Response Steroid binding) receptor, is in fact identical to ERp57/GRp58. Here we review the dynamic role ERp57/GRp58/1,25D3-MARRS receptor plays in a variety of cellular processes. Starting with its structure at the DNA and protein levels, we review the available literature about its role as a chaperone protein, in immune function through the assembly of MHC class I molecules, DNA binding, and its function as the 1,25D3-MARRS receptor. Finally, we present the role it may play in relation to important disease states. While ERp57/GR58/1,25D3-MARRS receptor is a pivotal protein in many cell functions, it has yet to be determined whether-and to what extent-these phenomena are regulated by the vitamin D endocrine system. However, 1,25(OH)2D3 is involved in differentiation of certain cancer cells and in muscle function, and ERp57/1,25D3-MARRS protein has been reported to be involved in such processes. Thus, medicinal chemistry aimed at the 1,25D3-MARRS receptor in lymphocytes, cancer cells, bone, intestinal epithelia, and kidney may add to the current therapeutic regimens for various disease states.

R. C. Khanal

Papers

Purified blueberry anthocyanins and blueberry juice alter development of obesity in mice fed an obesogenic high-fat diet.

Factors Affecting Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) Content in Milk, Meat, and Egg: A Review

Effect of heating on the stability of grape and blueberry pomace procyanidins and total anthocyanins

Influence of extrusion processing on procyanidin composition and total anthocyanin contents of blueberry pomace.

The ERp57/GRp58/1,25D3-MARRS Receptor: Multiple Functional Roles in Diverse Cell Systems