Background The growing awareness of functional food products for imparting potential health benefits has focused on the co-encapsulation of probiotic bacteria with bioactive compounds in a single matrix. The co-encapsulation process with low cost and improved bioactivity is a novel approach for the development of therapeutic and nutraceutical food products. Scope and approach This review focuses primarily on the advantages of co-encapsulation of probiotic bacteria with bioactive compounds such as omega-3 fatty acids, green tea extracts, curcuminoids, antioxidants from fruit juice extracts, agroindustrial co-products, prebiotics in a single delivery format by employing different technologies. The health potentials of probiotics and bioactives have been emphasized as well as the desired characteristics of the produced co-microcapsules for incorporation in the food products has been briefly discussed. Key findings and conclusions This review emphasizes that co-encapsulation of bioactive compounds and probiotic bacteria in a single product provides synergistic health benefits and enhances the bioactivity of individual components thus improve the adherence of probiotic bacteria to the intestinal wall during digestion. This process has convenience and cost advantages over microencapsulation of individual ingredients. The co-encapsulation process has also improved the storability of food products with a long term stabilization of probiotic bacteria and bioactive compounds. A future scope is to be needed to explore the release mechanism of these ingredients in a simulated animal model system along with the incorporation of co-microcapsules in the formulation of cost-effective functional food products.

Novel approaches for co-encapsulation of probiotic bacteria with bioactive compounds, their health benefits and functional food product development: A review

A wealth of evidence supports the role of tumor immunotherapy as a vital therapeutic option in cancer. In recent decades, accumulated studies have revealed the anticancer activities of natural products and their derivatives. Increasing interest has been driven toward finding novel potential modulators of tumor immunotherapy from natural products, a hot research topic worldwide. These works of research mainly focused on natural products, including polyphenols (e.g., curcumin, resveratrol), cardiotonic steroids (e.g., bufalin and digoxin), terpenoids (e.g., paclitaxel and artemisinins), and polysaccharide extracts (e.g., lentinan). Compelling data highlight that natural products have a promising future in tumor immunotherapy. Considering the importance and significance of this topic, we initially discussed the integrated research progress of natural products and their derivatives, including target T cells, macrophages, B cells, NKs, regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, immunogenic cell death, and immune checkpoints. Furthermore, these natural compounds inactivate several key pathways, including NF-κB, PI3K/Akt, MAPK, and JAK/STAT pathways. Here, we performed a deep generalization, analysis, and summarization of the previous achievements, recent progress, and the bottlenecks in the development of natural products as tumor immunotherapy. We expect this review to provide some insight for guiding future research.

https://jlb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/JLB.3MR0320-444R

Natural products and their derivatives: Promising modulators of tumor immunotherapy.

Wine production is an ancient human activity that generates several by-products, which include some constituents known for their potential in health care and for their role in the food or cosmetic industries. Any variety of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) contains nutrients and bioactive compounds available from their juice or solid parts. Grape seed extract has demonstrated many activities in disease prevention, such as antioxidant effects, which make it a potential source of nutraceuticals. Grape seed is a remarkable winery industry by-product due to the bioactivity of its constituents. Methods for recovery of oil from grape seeds have evolved to improve both the quantity and quality of the yield. Both the lipophilic and hydrophilic chemicals present in the oil of V. vinifera L. make this wine by-product a source of natural nutraceuticals. Food and non-food industries are becoming novel targets of oil obtained from grape seeds given its various properties. This review focuses on the advantages of grape seed oil intake in our diet regarding its chemical composition in industries not related to wine production and the economic and environmental impact of oil production.

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Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) Seed Oil: A Functional Food from the Winemaking Industry

Resveratrol (Res) is a well-known natural product that can exhibit important pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, anti-diabetes, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory. An evaluation of its therapeutic effects demonstrates that this naturally occurring bioactive compound can target different molecular pathways to exert its pharmacological actions. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) is an important molecular pathway that is capable of regulating different cellular mechanisms such as proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. TGF-β has been reported to be involved in the development of disorders such as diabetes, cancer, inflammatory disorders, fibrosis, cardiovascular disorders, etc. In the present review, the relationship between Res and TGF-β has been investigated. It was noticed that Res can inhibit TGF-β to suppress the proliferation and migration of cancer cells. In addition, Res can improve fibrosis by reducing inflammation via promoting TGF-β down-regulation. Res has been reported to be also beneficial in the amelioration of diabetic complications via targeting the TGF-β signaling pathway. These topics are discussed in detail in this review to shed light on the protective effects of Res mediated via the modulation of TGF-β signaling.

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/8/8/261/pdf

Resveratrol Modulates Transforming Growth Factor-Beta (TGF-β) Signaling Pathway for Disease Therapy: A New Insight into Its Pharmacological Activities.

Secondary metabolites from plants and fungi are stimulating growing interest in consumers and, consequently, in the food and supplement industries. The beneficial effects of these natural compounds are being thoroughly studied and there are frequent updates about the biological activities of old and new molecules isolated from plants and fungi. In this article, we present a review of the most recent literature regarding the recent discovery of secondary metabolites through isolation and structural elucidation, as well as the in vitro and/or in vivo evaluation of their biological effects. In particular, the possibility of using these bioactive molecules in the prevention and/or treatment of widely spread pathologies such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases is discussed.

https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/1/29/pdf

Yan-xia Liu

Papers

Resveratrol: Review on its discovery, anti-leukemia effects and pharmacokinetics