Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) is a highly contagious bacteria that can cause significant harm in commercial poultry populations while not prevented. Rapid detection of its presence in a flock is crucial from the perspective of animals' health and economic income. Authors propose spectral measurements strongly backed up by the AI data processing algorithms for classifying egg origin: from healthy hens or MS-infected ones. The newest obtained classification factors are F-scores for white eggshells 99% and for brown eggshells 99%—all data used for classification were taken by the portable multispectral fibre-optics reflectometer.

Background: The dietary factors and nutrients contributing to the prevention of microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetic nephropathy is unclear, so we investigated dietary factors affecting urinary albumin excretion in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: 42 patients with type 2 diabetes were participated, the subjects were divided to a normal albuminuria group (urinary albumin / creatinine ratio of less than 30 mg / g Cr) and a microalbuminuria group of 30 mg / g to 299 mg / g Cr. We performed casual blood sampling and conducted a food frequency questionnaire survey. Results: There were no significant differences in age, BMI and other physiological and biochemical data, the average daily intake of energy and many of nutrients, while β-cryptoxanthin was significantly lower in the microalbuminuria group than in the normal group (506.4 ± 793.9 μg/day vs. 715.3 ± 500.3 μg/day, p <0.05). The intake of 17 food groups per day showed that the intakes of fruits were significantly lower in the microalbuminuria group than in the normal group (76.9 ± 134.1 g vs. 111.9 ± 84.5 g, p <0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that fruits and foods rich in β-cryptoxanthin would make it possible to prevent diabetic nephropathy progression.

Over the past few decades, synthetic polymer production has increased, and the production of plastics has surpassed all other man-made materials due to their versatility. Moreover, packaging plastic makes up around 40% of global plastic production. However, the excessive usage of synthetic packaging materials has led to severe environmental and health-related issues. Therefore, biobased packages are considered alternatives to substitute synthetic packaging on the market. Furthermore, the choice of packing material in the food industry is a perplexing process as it depends on various factors, such as the type of food product, its sustainability, and environmental conditions. Interestingly, due to proven gas barrier properties and biological activity, polysaccharide-based bioplastics show the potential to expand the trends in food packaging, including edible films and intelligent and active food packaging. This review discusses the structure, properties and recent developments in polysaccharide-based bioplastics as food packaging materials.

The negative impact of the modern-day lifestyle on the environment is aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic through the increased use of single-use plastics from food takeaways to medical supplies. Similarly, the closure of food outlets and disrupted supply chains have also resulted in significant food wastage. As the pandemic rages on, the aggravation of increased waste becomes an increasingly urgent problem that threatens the biodiversity, ecosystems, and human health worldwide through pollution. While there are existing methods to deal with the organic and plastic waste, many of the solutions also cause additional problems. Increasingly proposed as a natural solution to man-made unnatural problems, there are insect solutions for dealing with the artificial and organic waste products towards a circular economy, making the use of natural insect solutions commercially sustainable. This review discusses the findings and how some of these insects, particularly the Hermetia illucens, Tenebrio molitor, and Zophobas morio, can play an increasing important role in food and plastics, with a focus on the latter.

Food demand and food supply have been heavily affected by Covid-19 pandemic. To understand changes in households’ behavior related to the pandemic, we investigate the willingness to pay for local organic apples pre- and during Covid-19. Besides, we assess whether the changes occurred within the family, estimating also separate models for the two members of the couple. Our findings show that respondents show a positive price premium for local organic apples whose consumption helps reducing the environmental costs associated with food production. The median estimated values during the pandemic range from 34% to 250%. Overall, respondents show a positive mean willingness to pay which increase with the pandemic. The socio-economic variables are the most important in explaining the willingness to pay, while the behavioral variables have more heterogeneous results even if the lifestyle and the request for information through the label are important variables. The pandemic tends to narrow the gaps in preferences between members of the couple. In conclusion, the local and organic dimension is embodied in the short chain in which knowledge and trust in the producer are crucial elements in the consumer's choices.

RNA-viruses of the genera Ambivirus, Mitovirus, Sclerotimonavirus, and Partitivirus were found in a single isolate of Fusarium graminearum. The genomes of the mitovirus, sclerotimonavirus, and partitivirus were assigned to previously described viruses, whereas the ambivirus genome putatively represents a new species, named Fusarium graminearum ambivirus 1 (FgAV1). To investigate the effect of mycoviruses on the fungal phenotype, spontaneous loss of mycoviruses during meiosis and transmission of mycoviruses into a new strain by anastomosis were used to obtain isogenic F. graminearum strains with and without mycoviruses. Notable effects observed in mycovirus-harboring strains were (i) suppression of the synthesis of trichothecene mycotoxins and their precursor trichodiene, (ii) suppression of the synthesis of the defense compound aurofusarin, (iii) stimulation of the emission of 2-methyl-1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol, and (iv) increased attractiveness of fungal mycelia for fungivorous collembolans. Increased attractiveness of mycovirus-infected filamentous fungi to animal predators opens new perspectives on the ecological implications of infection of fungi with viruses.

Appetitive traits have been associated with eating behaviors and weight in youth. However, the relationships among adults have received less attention. In this study, we measured appetitive traits among 520 female college students from a University in eastern Chinese using the Chinese translated Adults Eating Behavior Questionnaire (C-AEBQ) and found that two food approach traits (food enjoyment and emotional over-eating) were positively while two food avoidance traits (slowness in eating and satiety responsiveness) were negatively associated with BMI. Individual trait was differentially associated with eating behaviors. Specifically, a positive correlation was found between food responsiveness and higher frequency of selecting delivery food, spicy food, and sugared beverage; conversely, satiety responsiveness was associated with higher frequency of skipping meals. Using latent profile analysis, participants were classified into four appetitive patterns: food approacher, food approacher with emotional under-eating, food avoider, and food avoider with emotional over-eating. Food avoiders had significant lower BMI and higher proportion of underweight than other three patterns. Compared to food approacher, food avoiders had higher frequency of skipping breakfast, and food avoiders with emotional over-eating had higher frequency of skipping both breakfast and lunch. No significant differences were observed in food choice and dieting behavior among four appetitive patterns. The findings suggested a correlation between an individual’s appetitive pattern and eating behaviors among female college students, those with food avoidance patterns are more likely to have irregular meals, which may contribute to their low BMI. The findings provide valuable insights for female college students to cultivate a healthy eating behavior and sustain a healthy body weight.

This study has investigated the effect of nutrition labeling on consumer guilt, in situations where consumers ingest products that have an unhealthy image. The first investigation has examined the effects of types of nutrition labeling (adding healthy ingredients/reducing unhealthy ingredients). The second investigation has examined the influence of two goal-activation types(utilitarian and hedonic) and nutrition labeling on consumer guilt. The findings reveal that the utilitarian-goal-activation group felt less guilty about consuming a product with a reduced unhealthy ingredient than they did about consuming a product with an added healthy ingredient. In addition, there were interactions between the two variables, since consumer goal activation had more effect on consumer guilt about products with reduced unhealthy ingredients than on products with added healthy ingredients. Based on these results, the academic and practical implications of the present study are discussed. and proposes several directions for future research.

The prevalence of food allergy has increased over the last decades and consequently the food labeling policies have improved over the time in different countries to regulate allergen presence in foods. In particular, Reg 1169 in EU mandates the labelling of 14 allergens whenever intentionally added to foods, but the inadvertent contamination by allergens still remains uncovered topic. In order to warn consumers on the risk of cross-contamination occurring in certain categories of foods, a precautionary allergen labelling system has been put in place by food industries on voluntary basis. In order to reduce the overuse of PAL, reference doses and action limits have been proposed by the VITAL project representing a guide in this jeopardize scenario. Development of sensitive and reliable mass spectrometry methods are therefore of paramount importance in this regard to check the contamination levels in foods. In this paper we describe the development of a managed time MRM method based on a triple quadrupole platform for milk and egg quantification in processed food. The method was in house validated and allowed to achieve levels of proteins lower than 0.2mg of total milk and egg proteins respectively in cookies, challenging the doses recommended by VITAL. The method was finally applied to cookies labeled as milk and egg-free. This method could represent in perspective a promising tool to be implemented along the food chain to detect even tiny amounts of allergens contaminating food commodities.

Satellite Crop Detection technologies are focused on detection of different types of crops on the field in the early stage before harvesting. Crop detection is usually done on a time series of satellite data by classification of the desired fields. Currently, data obtained from Remote Sensing (RS) are used to solve tasks related to the identification of the type of agricultural crops, also modern technologies using AI methods are desired in the postprocessing part. In this challenge Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time series data were used due to their periodic availability. Our focus was to develop methodology for classification of time series of Sentinel 2 and Sentinel 1 data and compare how accuracy of classification can be increased, but also how to guarantee availability of data. We analyse phenology of single crops and on the basis of this analysis we started to provide crop classification. Original crop classifications were made from Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) layers made from Sentinel-2 time-series data and then we added also . To increase accuracy we also integrate into the process parcel borders and provide classification of fields..

Crop plants should be resilient to climatic factors in order to feed ever-increasing populations. Plants have developed stress-responsive mechanisms by changing their metabolic pathways and switching the stress-responsive genes. The discovery of plant transcriptional factors (TFs) as key regulators of different biotic and abiotic stresses have opened up new horizons for plant scientists. TFs perceive the signal and switch certain stress-responsive genes on and off by binding to different cis-regulatory elements. The above 50 species of plant TFs have been reported in nature. DREB, bZIP, MYB, NAC, Zinc-finger, HSF, Dof, WRKY, and NF-Y are important with respect to biotic and abiotic stresses whereas the role of many TFs is yet to explore. In this review, we summarize the role of different stress-responsive TFs with respect to biotic and abiotic stresses. Further, challenges and future opportunities linked with TFs for developing climate-resilient crops are also elaborated.

World health is increasingly threatened by the growing number of spice-related food hazards. Further development of reliable methods for rapid, non-targeted identification of counterfeit ingredients within the supply chain is needed. ENEA has developed a portable, user-friendly photoacoustic laser system for food fraud detection, based on a quantum cascade laser and multivariate calibration. Following a study on the authenticity of saffron, the instrument was challenged with a more elusive adulterant, olive leaves in oregano. The results show that the reported method of laser sensing and chemometric analysis was able to detect adulterants at mass ratios of at least 20% in less than five minutes.

Food tourism, an increasingly vital sector within tourism, significantly impacts both the economic vitality and cultural enrichment of tourist destinations. It attracts a diverse range of visitors, both local and international, while enhancing appreciation for regional culinary traditions. This study employs scenario planning to uncover pivotal factors influencing food tourism in rural Iran. Methodologically, it combines objective-driven, descriptive-analytical approaches with future studies methodologies. Data sourced from literature reviews, field studies, and expert surveys, facilitated by MICMAC and ScenarioWizard software, identified six key drivers: promotional activities, pricing, food quality, infrastructure, government support, and investment. The study forecasts future scenarios based on these drivers, revealing optimistic, stagnant, and crisis condi-tions impacting food tourism development. To achieve favorable outcomes, prioritizing these drivers is essential, ensuring sustainable growth and seizing tourism opportunities in rural Iran. This research contributes by systematically analyzing critical factors driving food tourism using scenario-based insights, essential for sector longevity and prosperity.

Background: Before the COVID-19 outbreak, food microbiology was crucial in identifying and preventing foodborne pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli. The pandemic underscored the importance of this discipline, highlighting the need for enhanced surveillance and microbiological control in the food chain to prevent future global public health threats. This research aimed to advance knowledge management in Bioeconomy, focusing on Eco-Intensification and biotechnology applications that directly affect food microbiology, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Methodology: The study involved a comprehensive literature review grounded in the epistemological principles of Bioeconomy, utilizing the Bibliometric Scopus database. This approach facilitated the exploration of the development of eco-intensification and biotechnology applications within food safety and nutrition microbiology. Results: The findings emphasize the importance of understanding the social and economic impacts of microbiological activities in food intake through a Bioeconomy lens. The research highlights the need for integrating microbiological insights into broader bioeconomic frameworks to address food safety and sustainability challenges effectively. Conclusion: Recommendations are provided for decision-makers to enhance public health agendas from a bioeconomic perspective. These recommendations aim to strengthen the focus on Bioeconomy and improve the management of interactions between food microbiology and the challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research aims to propose a novel approach to evaluate and minimize the scrap rate in the industrial production of premium food cans with distortion printing. Beyond cost considerations, a critical aspect of modern food can manufacturing is the aesthetic quality of the graphical display. In addition to traditional formability requirements, a waving requirement is defined. Detailed real production conditions are provided and discussed. The material of interest is a double cold-reduced (DR) low-carbon steel sheet and chromium-coated tin-free steel with a thickness of 0.16 mm. These sheets are laminated on both sides with PET film before distortion printing on the exterior. A material parameter identification method is proposed and illustrated to address the challenges in characterizing such a thin sheet. The thickness profile and flange length are key criteria for this identification. Digital image correlation (DIC) and a microscope are used to measure the thickness distribution and flange length. Within the manufacturing system, uncertainties arising from material properties and forming processes can lead to scraps or defects. Finite element analysis (FEA) is adopted for process analysis and validated with experiment. Uncertainty propagation via metamodeling, employing radial basis function (RBF) neural networks, is adopted for the scrap rate evaluation. The study concludes with process optimization recommendations to reduce scrap.

Microbial foodborne pathogens can cause major risks to public health and the food industry. Rapid and accurate detection of these pathogens is crucial to prevent outbreaks and ensure food safety. Traditional single-mode biosensing approaches have their limitations in terms of specificity, sensitivity, and speed. Over the years, there has been an increasing research interest in developing multimodal biosensing strategies that integrate multiple sensing techniques to achieve enhanced accuracy, efficacy, and precision in foodborne pathogen detection. This article review paper explores the current state of multimodal biosensing technologies and their promising applications in the food industry. We discuss various integrated biosensing platforms, including optical, electrochemical, and nanomaterial-based systems, among others. The advantages, challenges, and future prospects of multimodal biosensing for foodborne pathogens are thoroughly examined, highlighting the potential impact of these advanced technologies on food safety and public health.

Nuts are a staple food consumed throughout the world, and their purity is essential to maintaining human health. However, fungal mycotoxins pose one of the real challenges in keeping nuts clean for human consumption. The high cost of equipment, reagents used, standard samples, as well as increased requirements for personnel qualifications limit the use of chromatographic methods in testing laboratories, both manufacturing enterprises and organizations monitoring food safety. The present study aimed to test a new method for extracting aflatoxin B1 using sodium chloride and citric acid instead of methanol present in imported nuts obtained from local markets in Astana (Kazakhstan). The proposed method for extracting aflatoxin B1 from nuts is chemically safe, since the substances used belong to hazard class 3 of the international classification and do not require separate premises in food safety laboratories of the Astana markets and special training of specialists. The technical objective of the method is to replace the reagent (methanol) during the sample preparation process when conducting cocuret enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Aflatoxin B1 levels varied depending on the type of nut. Aflatoxin contamination was observed in 35.8% of samples analyzed. These levels of mycotoxin contamination are alarming and raise serious questions about the purity of imported nuts to ensure food safety.

The physicochemical treatment/recovery techniques, including precipitation, membrane technology, solvent extraction, foam fractionation, adsorption, and aqueous two-phase systems, will be reviewed. The bio-treatment processes, based on microorganisms and/or enzymes consuming nutrients available in food-processing wastewater as low-cost substrates to produce valuable products, will be discussed in detail, including the production of microalga biomass in wastewater treatment systems. Finally, future research direction will be proposed to integrate the circular economy and develop integrated food processing wastewater management systems.

The accumulation of microplastics in the world oceans is one of the main global problems of the modern world. The Black Sea is the main source of seafood for people from several countries, including Bulgaria. The pollution of the Black sea is a result of various factors, especially anthropogenic. The present study demonstrated detailed MPs contamination of five fish species important for the commercial fishing (Garfish, Мullet, Knout goby, Pontic shad and Mediterranean horse mackerel) collected from the Sozopol area on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Within each microplastic morphological group, three size classes were recognized: 100-200 µm, 25-100 µm, and ≤ 25 µm. Microplastics were found in the soft tissues of all studied specimens but in a different ratio of pellets, fibers and fragments. Generally, the pellets were the most often registered particles, followed by irregularly-shaped fragments, whereas fibers were less numerous. The dominant part of the isolated plastics are made of polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Our results pointed out serious pollution with plastic particles in the Bulgarian Black Sea aquatory, which in the future may seriously affect the health of the fish population and also human health.

The popularity of online retail is followed by decreasing transactions at shopping centres. Leisure and companionship trips to restaurants and cafés are replacing the frequency of intra-urban shopping trips. Several studies demonstrated a notable trend in urban commercial areas, wherein functionality has shifted from shopping centres to primarily focused on restaurants and cafes. Leisure and companionship places in the urban south have greater diversity than formal restaurants and cafés. This article employs a comprehensive framework to examine the categorization of restaurants and cafés in the urban south, referred to as food services. This study aims to investigate the spatial pattern of food service in Surabaya and ascertain whether there is a concentration of all food service variants around existing shopping centres. This research employs the POI of food service units gathered through web scraping from Google Maps. Applying the k-means cluster analysis demonstrates that the spatial pattern of food services is categorized into several distinct clusters. This article discloses five types of urban spaces characterized by varying compositions of food service variants within them. These spaces include the city centre, sub-city centre, areas along main roads, residential neighbourhoods, and peri-urban areas.

Since 2017, a fishing moratorium has been enforced in Lake Honghu as part of Chang-Jiang’s biodiversity conservation strategy. However, given that the lake is a semi-closed aquatic ecosystem, and no longer serves as a habitat for certain fishes of the mid-lower Chang-Jiang basin, the efficacy of this moratorium remains uncertain. To address the question from a trophic ecology perspective, a stomach content analysis was performed on captured anchovies C. brachygnathus, a current predominant species in Lake Honghu, from November 2020 to October 2021. Results showed that copepods, shrimps, and macrophytes were the main components of this anchovy's diet, and had size-related shifts in diets. The dominance of C. brachygnathus, a pelagic-littoral omnivore in this lake, implies a lacustrine environment shift triggered by continued human disturbances. The utilization of macrophytes as the main food items by large-sized anchovies of Lake Honghu partially contributed to the rapid degradation of submerged vegetation. This highlights the need to remove large-sized individuals of C. brachygnathus and Carassius auratus, another benthic-omnivorous dominant fish, in order to effectively restore the aquatic vegetation and ecosystem of Lake Honghu. The current implementation of fishing moratoriums in subtropical shallow floodplain lakes such as Lake Honghu should be reviewed critically.

Thanks to its valuable assessment possibilities (subjective complaints and changes in nasal patency in the course of the examination), nasal provocation test may serve as an alternative tool for oral food challenges in the future. However, this test requires successive attempts to regulate its methodology in order to develop a standardized lyophilisate form and determine the threshold dose for a positive result. The study objective was to present the methodological foundation for nasal food allergen provocation tests induced by freeze-dried powdered chicken egg white. A control group of 25 individuals with no history of allergy to chicken eggs or any other allergy was included in the study. Optical rhinometry and visual analog scale were used to assess the response of nasal mucosa to local allergen challenge. Minor variations in nasal flows as measured by optical rhinometry were observed in the provocation tests. The mean optical density measurements (as measured regardless of the allergen dose used) varied from positive to negative values and vice versa; e.g., amounting to 0.018 OD (standard deviation 0,095) at 15 minutes and −0.011 OD (standard deviation 0,090) at 30 minutes. No significant differences were observed with regard to the perceived nasal discomfort using the visual analog scale. Due to the absence of nasal mucosal reactivity, nasal challenge is an excellent methodological tool for implementing food allergen tests.

Background: The level of food processing has gained interest for a potential determinant of human health. The aim of this study was to assess the relation between level of food processing and prostate cancer severity. Methods: A sample of 120 consecutive patients were examined for their dietary habits assessed through validated food frequency questionnaires, their dietary intake of food groups categorized according to the NOVA classification, and the severity of prostate cancer according to the European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines groups risk. Uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to test the association between the variables of interest. Results: Individuals reporting higher consumption of unprocessed/minimally processed foods were less likely to have worse prostate cancer severity than lower consumers in the energy-adjusted model [odds ratio (OR) = 0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.17-0.84, P = 0.017 and OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.12-0.91, P = 0.032 for medium/high vs. low grade and high vs. medium/low grade prostate cancers, respectively); however, after adjusted for potential confounding factors, the association was no more significant (Table 4). A borderline association was also found between higher consumption of UPF and worse prostate cancer severity in the energy-adjusted model (OR = 2.11, 95% CI: 0.998-4.44; P = 0.051), but again the association was no more significant after adjusting for the other covariates. Conclusions: The level of food processing seems not to be independently associated with prostate cancer severity, while potentially related to other factors that need further investigation.

In the food industry, Listeria is a standard control microorganism in ready-to-eat food since it may be pathogenic and cause a disease called listeriosis. The objective of the present study was to carry out a challenge test to verify the efficiency of different combinations of natural antimicrobial ingredients, against Listeria monocytogenes, to be used in ready-to-eat foods. Six different formulations of cooked ham were elaborated: a control, and five different formulations. An initial inoculation of 2 log cycles was used in the different products and the growth of Listeria was monitored at different temperatures and times (4° C for 17 w; 7ºC for 12 w). Control samples showed a progressive growth, reaching 5-6 log after 3 or 4 weeks. The rest of samples showed constant counts of Listeria during the all study. Only samples containing: 100 ppm nitrite + 250 PPM ascorbic acid+0,7% PRS DV-5 did not control the growth of Listeria at 7 ° C after 7 w of storage. The results obtained allowed to classified the cooked ham elaborated using any natural ingredients combinations as a “Ready-to-eat food unable to support the growth of L. monocytogenes other than those intended for infants and for special medical purposes”.

Vitamin K is a multifunctional micronutrient essential for human health, and deficiency has been linked to multiple pathological conditions. In this study we aimed to develop and validate a new food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to estimate total vitamin K intake, over the course of a 30-day interval, in a Portuguese, Mediterranean-based, population. We conducted a prospective study in a non-random sample of 38 healthy adult volunteers. The FFQ was designed based on a validated Portuguese FFQ used in nationally representative studies and on literature reviews, to include foods containing ≥ 5μg of vitamin K/100g and foods with a lower vitamin K content, yet commonly in-cluded in a Mediterranean diet. Vitamin K intake was estimated from 24h recalls and six days of food records. The final FFQ included 54 food items which, according to regression analyses, explains 90% of vitamin K intake. Mean differences in vitamin K intake based on food records (80±47.7 μg/day) and on FFQ (96.5±64.3 μg/day) were statistically non-significant. Further, we found a strong correlation between both methods (r= 0.7; p=0.003). Our results suggest that our new FFQ is a valid instrument to assess the last 30-days of vitamin K intake in the Portuguese Mediterranean population.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L) gradually becomes a stable food worldwide since it can be treated as practical nutritional supplement and antioxidant, as well as energy provider for human beings. Financially and nutritionally, cultivation and utility of potatoes is worthy enough attention of the world. To further explore functionality and maximize utilization of component parts, also to develop new products based on potato still be an ongoing issue. To maximize the benefits of potato and induce new high-value products while avoiding unfavorable properties of the crop has been a growing trend in food and medical areas. This review intends to summarize the factors that influence the changes in the key functional components of potatoes and discuss referred research focuses, then help further researchers to make efforts into. Afterwards, it summarizes the application of the latest commercial products and potential value of components existing in potato. Particularly, there are several main tasks for the next potato research: preparing starchy foods for special group of people and developing fiber-rich products to supply the dietary fiber intake as well as manufacturing bio-friendly and specific design films/coating in packaging industry; extracting bioactive proteins and potato protease inhibitors with high biological activity, and continue to build new commercial products based on potato protein and examine their health benefits. Noteworthy, the preservation methods play a key role in phytochemicals contents left in foods and potato performs superior to many common vegetables when meeting demand of mineral daily intake and alleviating mineral deficiencies.

A review of pesticide residues detected in shrimp species of the Mexican Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts is presented. Most studies focus on monitoring organochlorine (OC) and organophosphate (OP) pesticides. The evaluated areas are mainly located in the northwestern zone of Mexico. Studies analyzing pesticides levels in shrimp of Mexico correspond to commercially important species, such as: Penaeus vannamei, Penaeus stylirostris, Farfantepenaeus duorarum, and Trachypenaeus similis pacificus. Extraction methods (sample preparation, extraction technique, solvent, and clean-up procedures) are presented, as well as chromatography and detector type used to quantify the analytes in the shrimp samples from the different ecosystems evaluated. Given that there is an under-evaluation of pesticides residues presence, there was a greater contribution of studies directed to geographical areas in the northwest of the country, with a monitoring gap in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as in the southern zone, considering that there are states that are among the main shrimp-producing entities. Hence, it is necessary to carry out recent evaluations, since the most current information is 17 years out of date, so presented data may not be a reflection of the current situation in the country.

Liposomes have been used for several decades for the encapsulation of drugs and bioactives in cosmetics and cosmeceuticals. On the other hand, the use of these phospholipid vesicles in food applications is more recent and has been increasing significantly in the last ten years. Although in different stages of technological maturity - in the case of cosmetics, many products are on the market - processes to obtain liposomes suitable for the encapsulation and delivery of bioactives are highly expensive, especially aiming at scaling-up. Among the bioactives proposed for cosmetics and food applications, vitamins are the most frequently used. Despite the differences between the administration routes (oral for food and mainly dermal for cosmetics), some challenges are very similar (e.g., stability, bioactive load, average size, increase of drug bioaccessibility and bioavailability). In the present work, a systematic review of the technological advancements in the nanoencapsulation of vitamins using liposomes and related processes was performed; challenges and future perspectives were also discussed in order to underline the advantages of these drug loaded biocompatible nanocarriers for cosmetics and food applications.

Children under two years old are at risk for anemia because young children have an increased need for iron for their physical growth and brain development. The purpose of this study was designed to evaluate the effects of a caregiver potential support program on anemia prevention in children six months to two years old attending the subdistrict health-promoting hospital in Thasala District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. This study was quasi-experimental. The sample included children aged six months to two years old and their caregivers, who were selected by random sampling and allocated to either the experimental or control group, with 40 pairs per group. The experimental group received a potential support program, while the control group received regular care. Both groups were followed for 12 weeks. The instruments used were the potential caregiver assessment, children’s anemia assessment, and a program to support the potential of primary caregivers. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, and t-tests were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that 11.4% of the children had anemia, and a hematocrit count of less than 33% (range = 30-40, M = 34.89, SD = 1.97). The mean scores of knowledge about anemia and iron supplementation after using the program in the experimental group and control group were significantly different (p < 0.001). The mean scores of knowledge about anemia in the experimental and control group were 15.75, SD = 0.54, and 13.28, SD = 1.43 respectively. The mean scores of knowledge about iron supplementation in the experimental and control group were 10.75, SD = 0.49, and 8.15, SD = 1.54 respectively. It was found that the experimental group had a higher mean score on food care behaviors than the control group for 6-11 months and 1-2 years, with statistical significance. The experimental group also had a higher mean score of care behaviors concerning children’s consumption of medicine than the control group (M = 58.20, SD = 4.05; M = 45.78, SD = 9.66, respectively), (p < 0.001). The mean score of the hematocrit level for the experimental group was found to be higher than the control group after receiving the program (M = 35.80, SD = 1.55; M = 34.83, SD = 2.14, respectively), (p < 0.05). Therefore, healthcare providers should support caregivers' capacity to provide continued care for children to prevent anemia.

Benzaldehyde and its derivatives are used as food supplements, due to their properties as anti-oxidants and mainly as organoleptic substances. The degradation of these aldehydes produces benzoic acid and benzyl alcohol derivatives, both of which present high toxicity levels. On the other hand, peroxynitrite acts as an oxidizing agent, thus strategies for its production control during food processing could help to improve food quality parameters such as taste, colour and functional properties. Therefore, the control of these degradative oxidation processes is of great interest to the food industry. In order to know in depth this problem, the present article has fo-cused on the kinetic study of the oxidation of aldehydes by peroxynitrite. The proposed mecha-nism justifies all the experimental results, passing through three competitive pathways were per-oxynitrite acts as a radical, nucleophilic or oxidant species. The possible increase of toxic prod-ucts was analyzed.

Bangladesh is located in the alluvial floodplain of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna (GMB) river system and its numerous tributaries. In this country, the frequency, as well as severity, of riverbank erosion is high. To examine the impacts of riverbank erosion on rural food security, a baseline survey was conducted in Zajira, Bangladesh. The findings show that most people in the study area are affected by riverbank erosion. Moreover, agricultural production is gradually decreasing as a result of loss of farmland due to the catastrophe and its impacts. In some cases, people lose their entire homestead and are left with few income opportunities and low purchasing power. Consequently, they face the constant threat of a food crisis. The affected people follow some coping mechanisms to face these stressful situations, such as relying on less expensive or less preferred food items. While the local-government authorities have implemented some programmes to assist them, such as food aid and social-safety-net schemes, these are insufficient, due to the government's limited institutional resources and capacities. These findings suggest that for formulating effective rural-development plans, assessing the impact of riverbank erosion on the food security of people living in the affected areas is a prerequisite.

The role that Colombia will play in terms of food supply in the coming years has generated a discussion on the agricultural practices implemented, specifically in the use of pesticides. Therefore, this article aims to provide a comprehensive and complete review of the status of pesticide use in the agricultural sector, highlighting the agri-food industry in Colombia. Currently, the use of pesticides has intensified throughout the world, generating a call for attention by governmental entities in terms of regulation. Colombia for the year 2019 presented a rate of use of 7.8 kg/ha of pesticides, placing it among the twenty countries with the highest rate. On the other hand, the quantities and economic benefits of exports and imports are growing steadily. Several organizations have focused their efforts on determining the health consequences that people exposed to chronic and/or acute intoxication may suffer. This has led to cases of cytogenetic, neurocognitive and physical effects, prompting governmental organizations to regulate the use of pesticides. Finally, the need to design pesticide management and handling systems that respond to the needs of producers and the sector, integrating international food safety guidelines, is identified.

The incidence and prevalence of food allergy (FA) are increasing. While several studies have established the safety and efficacy of early introduction of single allergens in infants for the prevention of FA, the exact dose, frequency, and number of allergens that can be safely introduced to infants particularly in those at high or low risk of atopy are still unclear. This 1-year study evaluated the safety of early introduction of single foods (milk, egg, or peanut), vs. two foods (milk/egg, egg/peanut, milk/peanut), vs. multiple foods (milk/egg/peanut/cashew/almond/shrimp/walnut/wheat/fish/soy at low, medium, or high doses) vs no early introduction in infants between 4-6 months of age. At the end of the study, they were evaluated for plasma biomarkers associated with food reactivity with standardized blood tests. Two to four years after the start of the study, participants were evaluated by standardized food challenges. The serving sizes for the single, double, and low dose mixtures were 300 mg total protein per day. The serving sizes for the medium and high dose mixture was 900 mg and 3000 mg total protein, respectively. Equal parts of each protein were used for double or mixture foods. All infants were breastfed until at least 6 months of age. Results demonstrate that infants at either high or low risk for atopy were able to tolerate early introduction of multiple allergenic foods with no increases in any safety issues, including eczema, FA, or food protein induced enterocolitis. The mixtures of foods at either low, medium, or high doses demonstrated trends for improvement in food challenge reactivity and plasma biomarkers compared to single and double food introductions. The results of this study suggest that early introduction of foods, particularly simultaneous mixtures of many allergenic foods is efficacious for preventing FA and can occur safely.

The beer industry is a major producer of solid waste globally, primarily in the form of brewer’s spent grains (BSG), which due to its low value has historically been diverted to livestock as feed or to landfills as waste. Its high moisture content and chemical composition positions BSG as an ideal candidate for further processing with microbial fermentation, and recent research has focused on filamentous fungi and the ability of some species therein to degrade the predominant recalcitrant cellulolignin components of BSG to produce valuable compounds. Many species have been investigated to biovalorize this waste stream, including those in the genuses Aspergillus, Pennicillium, Rhyzopus, and Trichoderma, which have been used to produce a wide array of highly valuable enzymes and other functional compounds, and to increase the nutritional value of BSG as an animal feed. This review of recent developments in the application of filamentous fungi for the valorization of BSG will discuss the biochemical makeup of BSG, the biological mechanisms underlying fungi’s primacy to this application, and the current applications of fungi in this realm. As the majority of these studies are at lab-scale, the challenges to scale-up and more widespread application and will be discussed as well.

Food additives are used for a variety of technological or processing reasons, including to add or restore colour in a food. In European Union (EU) the safety of food additives was in history assessed by the Scientific Committee on Food, while the role of risk accessor is not in hands of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Only additives for which the proposed uses is considered safe are on the EU list of authorized additives. Very recently – in May 2020, a scientific opinion was published by the EFSA, concluding that TiO2 can no longer be considered as a safe food additive, and the European Commission is expected to remove it from list of authorized food additives in near future. Our aim was to investigate the trends in the use of TiO2 in the food supply. A case study was conducted in Slovenia, using two nationally representative cross-sectional datasets of branded foods. Original sample contained 49,919 pre-packed food items, while analyses was done on N=12.644 foods (6.012 and 6.632 in 2017 and 2020, respectively) from 15 food subcategories, where TiO2 was found as food additive. Overall, we observed significantly decrease in use of TiO2 (3.6% vs. 1.8%; p<0.01) in the course of these three years. The most TiO2-containing foods were in the Chewing gum category (36.3%) in 2017, and Chocolate and sweets (45.9%) in 2020. Meanwhile in 2017 the largest within-category share of TiO2-containing foods was Chewing gum category, namely 70.3%, and those products presented over 85% of the market-share. In 2020 only 24.6% chewing gums contained TiO2, and those were accounting only 3% of the market share. In con-clusion, we showed overall decrease of TiO2 use and considerable improvements in certain food categories (particularly in chewing gums) despite the fact, that this additive has not yet been of-ficially removed from the list of authorized additives. Specific food categories (i.e. Chocolate and sweets) were identified, where product-reformulation is needed, and where official controls by authorities will be most relevant.

The obligation to keep a distance from other people due to the pandemic has changed the pattern of human life, especially in shopping for their primary needs, namely food. The food marketplace's presence presents new hope in maintaining health and food availability without having to crowd with other people while shopping. The main problem that is often a concern for shopping online is the security of transactions and the ease of using this food marketplace application. This research is the intensity of using the Food Marketplace in terms of interest, transaction security, and ease of use of this application. Researchers analyzed the relationship between variables with the Structural equation model. Respondents who became this sample were 300 application users spread across various major cities in Indonesia. This study's results provide a view that the intensity of the use of the food marketplace has increased significantly during the new normal life. This paper's main value lies in providing a better understanding of consumer behavior in the Indonesian food marketplace that has not been previously researched. By investigating the factors that influence the intensity of use of the food marketplace, it is hoped that it will provide a basis for further research

The Oryzaephilus surinamensis L. (Coleoptera: Silvanidae), is widely distributed all over the world, this beetle causes serious damage to stored products. Much attention has been paid to use food attraction or food volatile as a non-pollution method to achieve pest management. However, in this study, six most attractive food to O. surinamensis were selected among thirty eight food. Furthermore, the food mixture M17 with the best attractiveness were selected among the eighteen food mixtures combined by these six foods at different ratio. Subsequently food mixture M17 were tested in actual barn and compared with commercial attractant. We collected the volatile from food mixture, the volatile compounds attractive to this beetle also. We identified six electrophysio-logically active compounds responsible for the attraction of O. surinamensis, among the six chemically identified compounds, nonanal, dodecane, tridecaneand β-caryophyllene significantly attracted O. surinamensis when tested individually in behavioral assays. Blend of six chemicals according to food volatile concentration was most attractive to the beetles. The findings of this study reveal that food mixture M17 and food volatile can be potentially used for development of effective attractants for management of O. surinamensis.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, despite poverty, chronic hunger and food insecurity, traditional eating has been related to positive health outcomes and sustainability. There is little health research on diet quality based on what African people consume. The defining characteristics of the traditional African cuisine are the richness in herbs and spices, fermented foods and beverages, and healthy and whole ingredients used. However, as countries in this region become more economically developed, there is a shift to “modern” occidental foods rich in saturated fats, sugar and sweeteners. As a result, there are increased incidences of previously unreported ailments due to unbalanced diet. The regular practice of infinite international aid to the region to curb food insecurity has been unsustainable, ineffective and with no end in sight. Local increase in production and productivity is imperative. Protein rich foods in dietary guidelines enhance only those of animal or plant sources while rich protein sources such of mushroom, has been absent in these charts. This article considers the valorisation of traditional African foods and the importance of establishing an African Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (AFBDGs), an unprecedented Food Pyramid, along with the added emphasis on the potential of African mushrooms, which may play a role in shielding Sub-Saharan Africans against the side-effects of a western stylish diet and promote health. It enhances the preventive role of mushrooms in viral diseases and other disorders.

: For decades the city has created food models by requiring the countryside to meet the growing demand with increasingly more homologated crop reconversions and increasingly vast and competitive farms. The current acceleration of the land concentration process and the dramatic experience of the COVID 19 pandemic have, however, forced us to redefine the city-country relationship, which has been called into question for some years now in various FAO and EU documents. Based on the GECOAGRI-LANDITALY survey itinerary, a proven tool for reading local peculiarities, the AAs show how easy it is to recognize which farmlands can best fulfil the role of guaranteeing food safety and protecting the quality and typicality of traditional foods. The final proposal is to start a new agri-food policy that no longer starts from the demand formulated by the city but, reversing the direction of the old relationship, it starts from the availability of products offered by the countryside to re-educate consumption and promote the sustainability of agricultural practices.

Social capital creates a synergy that brings many benefits to members of a community. Thus, the main objective of this article was to examine whether social capital can improve a society's food security. If yes, how? To answer these questions, a systematic literature review was conducted using the Prisma approach. The output of this method led to finding 39 related articles. Precise studying these articles illustrated that social capital improves food security through two mechanisms of knowledge sharing and product sharing (i.e., sharing food products). It revealed that social capital through improving the food security pillars (i.e., food availability, food accessibility, food utilization, and food system stability) affects food security. In other words, the interaction among the members of the community results in sharing food products and information among community members, and this facilitates food availability and access to food. There are many shreds of evidence in the literature that sharing food and food product among the community member decreases household food security and provides the healthy nutrition to the vulnerable families and improve the food utilization pillar of food security. In addition, it is disclosed that belonging to the social networks increases the resilience of the community members and decreases the vulnerability of the community that subsequently strengthens the stability of a food system. This study contributes to the common literature on food security and social capital by providing a conceptual model based on the literature. In addition to researchers, policymakers can use the finding of this study to provide solutions to address food insecurity problems.

The UK food industry faces significant challenges to remain sustainable. With major challenges such as Brexit on the horizon, companies can no longer rely on a low labour cost workforce to maintain low production costs and achieve economic sustainability. Smart Systems (SS) is being seen as an approach towards achieving significant improvements in both economic and environmental sustainability. However, there is little evidence to indicate whether UK food companies are prepared for the implementation of such systems. The purpose of this research is to explore the applicability of Smart Systems in UK food manufacturing companies and, to identify the key priority areas and improvement levers for the implementation of such systems. A triangulated primary research approach is adopted and includes a questionnaire, follow up interviews and visits to thirty-two food manufacturing companies in the UK. The questionnaire and interviews are guided by the development of a unique measuring instrument created by the authors that is focusses upon SS technologies and systems. This paper makes an original contribution in that it is one of few academic studies to explore the implementation of SS in the industry and, provides a new perspective on the key drivers and inhibitors around its implementation. Findings suggest that the current turbulence in the industry could be bringing food companies closer to the adoption of such systems, hence it is a good time to define and develop the optimum SS implementation strategy.

Food security (FS) during infancy is associated with lifelong outcomes. New Zealand is a developed economy that reports poor childhood nutrition-related health statistics, particularly among minority children, yet has no measure of FS applicable to infancy. The objective was to develop a FS index for New Zealand infants and examine its association with demographic covariates and health outcomes. Within a large (n=6853) nationally representative cohort, variables describing infant food consumption, breastfeeding, and maternal food-related coping methods were collected from mothers during late infancy. A FS index was derived using confirmatory factor analysis. Associations were assessed by logistic regressions and described using odds ratios (OR) and ≥95% confidence intervals (CI). 15% of the cohort was highly FS, 43% tenuously food insecure (FIS), and 16% highly food insecure (FIS). Infants from minority ethnic groups had lower odds of being food secure, as did those born to the youngest mothers, mothers who smoked, or lived in low-income households. FIS infants had higher odds of morbidity. Interventions to improve infant FS should focus on improving dietary quality, and give particular consideration to minority infants. We identified that FIS shows wide ethnic and socioeconomic inequity, and is associated with poorer health. The most important driving factors of FIS included poor quality weaning diets, and poverty and its proxies. Any interventions to improve infant FS should focus on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to recommended intake levels, and give particular consideration to minority infants.

A great improvement in food safety and quality controls worldwide has been achieved through the development of biosensing platforms. Foodborne pathogens continue to cause serious outbreaks due to the ingestion of contaminated food. The development of new, sensitive, portable, high-throughput, and automated platforms is a primary objective to allow detection of pathogens and their toxins in foods. Listeria monocytogenes is one common foodborne pathogen. Major outbreaks of listeriosis have been caused by a variety of foods, including milk, soft cheeses, meat, fermented sausages, poultry, seafood and vegetable products. Due to its high sensitivity and easy setup, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has been extensively applied for biosensor fabrication and in particular in the field of microbiology as a mean to detect and quantify foodborne bacteria. Here we describe a miniaturized, portable EIS platform consisting of a microfluidic device with EIS sensors for the detection of L. monocytogenes in milk samples, connected to a portable impedance analyzer for on-field application in clinical and food diagnostics but also for biosecurity purposes. To achieve this goal microelectrodes were functionalized with antibodies specific for L. monocytogenes. The binding and detection of L. monocytogenes was achieved in the range 2.2 x 103 cfu/ml to 1 x 102 with a Limit of Detection (LoD) of 5.5 cfu/ml.

The diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) is very destructive crucifers specialized pest that has resulted in significant crop losses worldwide. The pest is well attracted to glucosinolate-containing crucifers such as; Barbarea vulgaris (Brassicaceae), and generally to other plants in the genus Barbarea. B. vulgaris on their part, build up resistance against DBM and other herbivorous insects using glucosinolates; that are plant secondary metabolites used in plant defense–contained only in plants of the order Brassicales. Aside glucosinolates, plants in this genus Barbarea (Brassicaceae) also contain saponins; which is toxic to insects and act as feeding deterrents for plant herbivores, most importantly, DBM, as it was found to prevent the survival of DBM larvae on the plant. Saponins are plant secondary metabolites have been established in higher concentrations in younger in contrast to older leaves within the same plant. Previous studies have found a relationship between ontogenetical changes in the host plant’s saponin content and attraction/resistance to P. xylostella. The younger leaves recorded higher concentrations of glucosinolates and saponins, which naturally attracts the plant herbivores. DBM was reported to have evolved mechanisms to avoid the toxicity of the former. The plant-herbivore had adapted glucosinolates for host plant recognition, feeding and oviposition stimulants. Despite the adaptation for oviposition by P. xylostella adults, larvae of the insect cannot survive on the same plant. An example is in some varieties of B. vulgaris. The triterpenoid saponins which act as feeding deterrents in larvae are responsible for this direct defense mechanism against P. xylostella. In the future, trials by plant breeders could aim at transferring this insect resistance to other crops. The previous trials had limited because of lack of knowledge on the biosynthetic pathways and regulatory networks of saponins. Herein, we discussed exclusively; saponins mediated plant defense mechanisms against the DBM.

Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) is widely existed in the inner coating of canned foods. It migrates into food and generate various derivatives in the process of storage, such as Bisphenol A (2, 3-dihydroxypropyl) glycidyl ether (BADGE·H2O), Bisphenol A (3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) glycidyl ether (BADGE·HCl) and Bisphenol A (3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) (2, 3-dihydroxypropyl) glycidyl ether (BADGE·HCl·H2O), which have negative effects on human health. A gold nanoparticle-based immu-nochromatographic assay for simultaneous detection of BADGE and its derivatives was developed by using a broad-spectrum polyclonal antibody, and the detection can be finished in 15 min. The visuali-zation of results was processed by Adobe Photoshop CC software to achieve quantitative analysis and the detection limit (IC15) is 0.97ng/mL. The recoveries of BADGE and its derivatives at various spiking levels in canned food samples ranged from 79.86% to 93.81%. The detection results of the proposed immu-nochromatographic assay were also validated by HPLC analysis, and got good consistency (R2=0.9580).

The lexical-semantic issues in translating food taste adjectives into Chinese are examined in this article. Chinese food has a wide variety of colorful flavors. Correctly interpreting the adjectives that describe how food tastes is crucial. With tasty, simple-to-digest meals, it promotes and popu-larizes Chinese cuisine. Because, eating light, low-fat meals is crucial in today's world. Yet, due to poor translation and unclear menus, Chinese restaurants in CIS nations, particularly in Uzbeki-stan, are unpopular with customers. The biggest mistakes in Chinese restaurant menu are related to the incorrect translation of the taste adjectives of the food. This article aims to identify the most erroneously translated Chinese adjectives, analyze them linguistically, and determine the cause of translation errors. The translation ability of 60 Chinese language translators with HSK 4 level is analyzed on the basis of experiment. Recommendations for solving the problem studied in this ar-ticle have been developed.

Thrombosis has threatened human health in past decades. Bacillus nattokinase is a potential thrombolytic drug without side-effect and low cost and has been introduced into the consumer market as a functional food or dietary supplement. This review firstly summarizes the biodiversity sources and fermentation process of nattokinase, and systematically expounds the structure, cata-lytic mechanism and enzymatic properties of nattokinase; In view of the problems of low fermen-tation yield, insufficient activity and stability of nattokinase, this review discusses the heterologous expression of nattokinase in different microbial hosts, and summarizes the protein and genetic en-gineering progress of nattokinase-producing strains; Finally, this review summarizes the clinical application of nattokinase.

Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) intoxication can lead to the disease botulism, characterized by flaccid muscle paralysis that can cause respiratory failure and death. Due to the significant morbidity and mortality costs associated with BoNTs high toxicity, developing highly sensitive, rapid, and field-deployable assays are critically important to protect the nation’s food supply against either accidental or intentional contamination. We report here that the B-cell based biosensor assay (CANARY^® Zephyr) detects BoNT/A in buffer and various food matrices rapidly in ≤ 40 min, in small volumes ≈ 50 μL, with minimal processing of samples, and is extremely portable (suitcase-sized equipment). BoNT/A was detected at limits of detection (LOD) < 0.075 ng ± 0.02 in assay buffer while milk matrices (non-fat, 2 %, whole milk) increased the LOD to < 0.175 – 0.314 ng. Limits of detection for the assay in complex foods were < 1 ng ± 0.0 (neutralized acidic juices-carrot, orange and apple); < 16.7 ng ± 7.7 (liquid egg); and varied from < 0. 39 – 3.125 ng for solid complex foods (ground beef, green bean baby puree, smoked salmon). These results show that the CANARY^® Zephyr assay can be a highly useful tool in clinical, environmental, and food safety surveillance programs.

Sustainability is a concept which engages the weighted balance between economic, environmental and social domains for all life forms and man. Within the frame of sustainability, it is important to realize that coexistence is part of a single life equation. Damage to the environment, social spectrum, and economic sectors (through deviant practices) reap havoc upon all life forms. Sustainability insures the existence of all within the single equation of life. Unsustainable, colonial practices prevail upon the present and the future of life.Sustainability should advocate for healthy environs for all life forms (including, but not exclusive to humans) to sustain themselves. The neglect and/or omission of concern for this mandate will lead to the deuteriation and eventual expiration of any such life forms. Life cannot be sustained in an imposed, artificial domain which is suited solely for mercantile purposes. History has taught us that the cost of dismissing the errors of the past and forging on results in error. This article proposes to explore the impact of the exploitation of agricultural practices, food availability, deforestation, dislocation, and "voluntary tourism" upon "Others" stemming from colonial occupation.

Consumer preference not only dictates what food is consumed but how that food is produced. Ingredients in livestock feed that are not antibiotics, not genetically modified, not of animal origin, and that are nutrient-like, tend to be more acceptable to consumers, retailers, and producers. Mono- and diglycerides (MDG) fit these criteria, are commonly used in food, and are generally recognized as safe. But beyond being emulsifiers and a source of energy, MDG are also known to have antimicrobial, immune and microbiome modulation, and angiogenic activity. MDG in broiler diets have been shown to impact a variety of immune-related functions such as regulation of circulating antibodies, as well as decreased gene expression or protein concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IFN-γ. In addition, MDG can affect metabolic function and intestinal integrity. Results of this review show that MDG can serve as antimicrobial and growth-supporting alternatives for reducing poultry production losses, improving resource utilization, and meeting consumer demand for sustainably produced and safe animal protein.

Specific nutrients including n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), flavonoids, vitamin A, D and E are considered to possess protective properties on human health by impacting on immunological reactions. An ‘inflammation-suppressive’ effect appears to be the common denominator of the beneficial effects of most of these dietary components which may protect against the development of chronic immune disorders such as allergy. However, the majority of these promising data are from preclinical studies such as animal disease models, as the majority of clinical studies only indicate associations. PUFAs, especially n-3 LCPUFAs, have been shown to interact with both the sensitization as well as the effector phase in food allergy. However, it should be noted and realised that PUFAs are highly susceptible to lipid oxidation. Flavonoids and fat-soluble vitamins both contain anti-inflammatory properties and are able to act as anti-oxidants as well. Here, we explore the anti-allergic properties of PUFAs, flavonoids and fat-soluble vitamins in order to create an overview and, more importantly, suggest a strategy to target food allergies using these components and combinations thereof. Dietary n-3 LCPUFAs and the above mentioned micronutrients are promising anti‐allergy agents capable of influencing the allergic immune response through multiple and different biological pathways.

Japan is experiencing a super-aging society faster than is anywhere else worldwide. Consequently, extending healthy life expectancy is an urgent social issue. To understand diet that supports the extension of healthy life expectancy, we studied the relationships among quality of life (QOL: SF-36 questionnaire), physical activity (number of steps and activity calculated using an accelerometer), physical function (muscle strength, movement function, agility, static balance, dynamic balance, and walking function) and dietary intake among 469 older adults living in the Tokyo metropolitan area (65–75 years old, men/women = 166/303) from February 23, 2017, to March 31, 2018. There was a significant positive association between physical QOL and steps, moderate-intensity activity, and high-intensity activity (p &lt; 0.05), and a significant positive association (p &lt; 0.05) between physical activity and movement, static balance, and walking functions, but no association with muscle strength. These three body functions were significantly positively correlated with intake of vegetables, seeds, fruits, and milk, and with magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6, and the dietary fibre/carbohydrate ratio and composition ratios (p &lt; 0.05). Balancing food and nutrition may improve QOL in older adults through increased physical function and physical activity. Future verification of interventions is needed.

The rates of obesity and obesity-related diseases continue to increase worldwide, classifying obesity as a global epidemic. Endogenous opioids have been implicated in influencing feeding behavior; however, the role of each opioid peptide is still only partially characterized. Therefore, we assessed the role of the proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptide beta-endorphin (β-END) in long-term high-fat diet (HFD) feeding and glucose homeostasis and assessed if sex-related differences exist in these processes. Male and female mice lacking the ability to produce β-END and their respective controls were subjected to a 12-week HFD consumption to determine the role of the opioid peptide in food intake and glucose homeostasis. Body weight and food intake were measured weekly for twelve weeks. At weeks 6 and 12, plasma glucose levels were measured using an oral glucose tolerance test. Here, we report that male β-END deficient mice gained more weight and consumed more calories than their wildtype controls; however, this difference was not observed in the female mice. Regardless of genotype, female mice consumed more calories per body weight when compared to male mice despite their smaller body weights. Moreover, our findings suggest differences in glucose homeostasis between the wildtype and knockout mice and that these were only observed at week six but not at week 12. Overall, our study suggests that endogenous β-END may play a role in controlling body weight, feeding behavior, and glucose homeostasis and that sex-related differences may exist in this regard.

Acceptance of SNAP benefits has increased in farmers’ markets (FM) over the years. However, getting SNAP recipients to take up the opportunity of extra dollars for healthy food options remains a challenge. Thus, we tracked the use of the Double-up Food Buck (DUFB) program among SNAP recipients who visit participating FMs in Utah to understand the unique characteristics of the program users. Our results identified varying types of program users (multiple and single market shoppers, more frequent and less frequent shoppers). While our findings indicate a higher DUFB transaction in token value among frequent users, larger markets are more likely to have higher DUFB transactions with a higher number of market visits compared to smaller ones. In conclusion, while all types of users may add to the total revenue generated by participating FM, additional initiatives are required to encourage frequent visits and uptake of the program for better access to healthy foods.

Listerias of the phylogenetic lineage II (PLII) are common in the European environment, and are hypovirulent. Despite this, they caused more than a third of sporadic cases of listeriosis, and multi-country foodborne outbreaks. L. monocytogenes ST37 is one of them. During the COVID-19 pandemic ST37 appeared in the clinical cases and ranked second in occurrence among food isolates in the Moscow region. The aim of this study was to describe the genomic features of ST37 isolates from different sources. All clinical cases of ST37 were in the cohort of male patients (age, 48-81 years) with meningitis-septicemia manifestation, and COVID-19 or Influenza in the anamnesis. The core genomes of the fish isolates were closely related. The clinical and meat isolates revealed a large diversity. Prophages (2-4/genome) were the source of the unique genes. Two clinical isolates displayed the pseudolysogeny, and excided prophages were A006-like. Absence of the plasmids, the assortment of virulence factors and resistance determinants in chromosome corresponded to the hypovirulent characteristics. However, all clinical isolates caused severe disease with deaths in four cases. Thus, these studies allow us to speculate that a previous viral infection increases a human susceptibility to listeriosis.

Can investing in women’s agriculture increase productivity? This paper argues that it can. We assess climate impacts and gender bias on women’s production in the global South and North and challenge the male model of agricultural development to argue further that women’s farming approaches can be more sustainable. Level-based analysis (global, regional, local) draws on literature review, including authors’ published longitudinal field research in Ghana and the United States. Women farmers are shown to be undervalued and to work harder, with fewer resources, for less compensation; gender bias challenges are shared globally while economic disparities differentiate; breaches of distributive, gender, and intergenerational justices as well as compromise of food sovereignty affect women everywhere. We conclude that investing in women’s agriculture needs more than standard approaches of capital and technology investment. Effective ‘investment’ would include systemic interventions into agricultural policy, governance, education, and industry; be directed at men as well as women; and use gender metrics, e.g. quotas, budgets, vulnerability and impacts assessments, to generate assessment reports and track gender parity in agriculture. Increasing women’s access, capacity, and productivity cannot succeed without men’s awareness and proactivity. Systemic change can increase productivity and sustainability.

The review analyzes a possible role of autoimmune processes in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and evolution of concepts on this issue from its origin to present. Risks of autoimmune processes causing schizophrenia are associated with several factors: an impaired functioning of dopaminergic and glutamatergic systems in the brain, kynurenine pathway disorder with overproduction of quinolinic, anthranilic and kynurenic acids (possibly altering both neurons and T-regulators), increased intestinal permeability, as well as food antigens’ effects, stress and infections with various pathogens at different stages of ontogenesis. An increase in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines as well as a decrease in the levels of anti-inflammatory ones also may contribute to schizophrenia risks. Schizophrenia often occurs in those patients having various autoimmune diseases and their first-degree relatives. Cases of schizophrenia resulted from autoimmune pathogenesis (including autoimmune encephalitis caused by autoantibodies against various neuronal antigens) are characterized by quite severe cognitive and psychotic symptoms and less favorable prognosis. This severe course may result from the chronic immune damage of the neuronal receptors such as NMDA, GABA, and others and depend on hyperprolactinemia, induced by antipsychotics, but aggravating autoimmune processes [with 2 tables, 4 figures, bibliography: 99 references].

This study attempted to explain the definition, objectives, and key stages in mud crab nursery activities. The nursery stages of Scylla spp was started from megalopa stage to several crablet instar stages or started from earlier crablet stage to several crablet stages. Direct stocking of megalopa into ponds is not recommended due to their sensitivity. Instead, nursery rearing is needed to produce mud crab of larger size before stocking. Individual nursery rearing results in higher survival rate (up to 100%), but with reduced growth rate, and a more complicated maintenance process compared with communal rearing. Nursery of mud crab can be done indoors, or outdoors, with adequate shelter and feed required to obtain good survival and growth performance. Artemia nauplii are the main, established nursery feed, particularly at megalopa stage, while survival rate may be improved if combined with artificial feed, such as micro bound diet formulations. Water quality parameters, identical to those proposed in tiger shrimp culture, can followed. Crablets may be transported to the pond location with, or without water. The provision of monosex seeds from mud crab hatcheries is expected to become more common, increasing seed price, and thus improving income of farmers. Numerous aspects of mud crab nursery, including nutrition, feeding strategies, understanding of their behaviour, i.e., cannibalism, control of environmental factors, and practical rearing techniques, still need further improvement.

For centuries, crop plants have represented the basis of the daily human diet. Among them, cereals and legumes, accumulating oils, proteins and carbohydrates in their seeds, distinctly dominate modern agronomic practice. Indeed, these plants play an essential role in the food industry and fuel production. Therefore, the seeds of crop plants are intensively studied by food chemists, biologists, biochemists, and nutritional physiologists. Accordingly, not only seed development and germination, but also age- and stress-related alterations in seed vigor, longevity, nutritional value and safety can be addressed by a broad panel of analytical, biochemical and physiological methods. Currently, functional genomics is one of the most powerful tools, giving direct access to characteristic metabolic changes, accompanying plant development, senescence and response to biotic or environmental stress. Among individual methodological platforms, proteomics represents one of the most effective ones, giving access to cellular metabolism at the level of proteins. Here we discuss the main methodological approaches employed by seed proteomics in the context of physiological changes related to seed development, ageing and response to environmental stress.

This study aims at providing a systematic and critical review on the state-of-the-art of life cycle applications from the circular economy point of view. In particular, the main objective is to un-derstand how researchers adapt life cycle approaches for the measurement of the empirical cir-cular pathways of agri-food systems along the overall lifespan. To perform the literature review, PRISMA protocol was considered to conduct a review by qualitative synthesis. Specifically, an evaluation matrix has been set up to gather and synthesize research evidence, by classifying pa-pers according to several integrated criteria. The literature search was carried out employing scientific databases. Findings evidence that the most common circularity topics are about closed-loop production systems, i.e. nutrient recovery for agricultural purposes, production of renewable energy, valorization of residues and wastes as fertilizers, food waste, and agro-wastes recycling for agriculture. To evaluate the benefits/impacts of CE strategies, Life Cycle Assess-ment (LCA) proved to be the most common methodology applied by authors, as it can help to meet the main CE requirements slowing and closing resource loops.

BackgroundIt is unclear what underpins the large global variations in the prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance in gram-negative bacteria. We tested the hypothesis that different intensities in the use of quinolones for food-animals plays a role. MethodsWe used Spearman’s correlation to assess if the country-level prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance in human infections with Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was correlated with the use of quinolones for food producing animals. Linear regression was used to assess the relative contributions of country-level quinolone consumption for food-animals and humans on fluoroquinolone resistance in these 4 species. ResultsThe prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance in each species was positively associated with quinolone use for food-producing animals (E. coli [ρ=0.55; P<0.001], K. pneumoniae [ρ=0.58; P<0.001]; A. baumanii [ρ=0.54; P=0.004]; P. aeruginosa [ρ=0.48; P=0.008]). Linear regression revealed that both quinolone consumption in humans and food animals were independently associated with fluoroquinolone resistance in E. coli and A. baumanii. ConclusionsReducing quinolone use in food-producing animals may help retard the spread of fluoroquinolone resistance in various gram negative bacterial species.

Microorganisms have colonized all barrier tissues and are present on the skin and all mucous membranes since birth. Bacteria have many ways of influencing the host organism: activation of innate immunity receptors by PAMPs; synthesis of various chemical compounds, such as vitamins, short-chain fatty acids, bacteriocins, toxins. Bacteria, using extracellular vesicles, can introduce high-molecular compounds, such as proteins and nucleic acids, into the cell, regulating the metabolic pathways of the host cells. Epithelial cells and immune cells recognize bacterial bioregulators and, depending on the microenvironment and context, determine the direction and intensity of the immune response. A large number of factors influence the maintenance of symbiotic microflora, the diversity of which protects host against pathogen colonization. Reduced bacterial diversity is associated with pathogen dominance and allergic diseases of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, upper and lower respiratory tract, as seen in atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, food allergies, and asthma. Understanding the multifactorial influence of microflora on maintaining health and disease determines the effectiveness of therapy and disease prevention, changes our food preferences and lifestyle to maintain health and active longevity.

pH is the major factor that makes producers in aquaponics frustrated, since the main three organisms (aquatic animal, plant, and microbes) in the system with different preferences. Yet, amending the growing environment with additional C is a potential method to improve the growth of shrimp and plants as well as the establishment of microbe. A detailed study of the effects of pH and additional C on aquaponics under saline conditions has not been investigated. In this study, the effect of pH and additional C on the growth performance of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and five edible plants in marine aquaponic systems using the nutrient film technique (NFT) was evaluated. The results indicated that at both pH 6.5 treatments, plants grew better; nevertheless, the growth performance of plants in pH 7.5 with additional C was improved and showed a similar yield to lower pH treatments. On the other hand, shrimp growth was little affected by pH and additional C. A higher impact of imbalanced ionic composition on shrimp performance may have contributed to this trend. Hence, we suggest that only if the ionic composition is managed can make RO water a suitable source of water for shrimp-based aquaponic. In spite of this, more research is required.

Policies to require front-of-package labels (FOPLs) on foods may help Indian consumers better identify foods high in nutrients of concern including sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, and discourage their consumption, outcomes critical for preventing rises in diet-related non-communicable disease. The objective was to test whether FOPLs helped Indian consumers identify ‘high-in’ foods and reduce intentions to purchase them. We conducted an in-person randomized experiment (n=2,869 adults between ages 18 and 60 years old) in six states of India in 2022. Participants were randomized to one of five FOPLs: a control label (barcode), warning label (octagon with “High in [nutrient]”), Health Star Warning (HSR), Guideline Daily Amount (GDA), or traffic light label. Participants then viewed a series of foods high in sugar, saturated fat, or sodium with the assigned FOPL, and rated product perceptions and label reactions. Fewer than half of participants in the control group (39.1%) correctly identified all products high in nutrient(s) of concern. All FOPLs led to an increase in this outcome, with the biggest differences observed for the warning label (60.8%, p<0.001) followed by the traffic light label (54.8%, p<0.001), GDA (55.0%, p<0.001), and HSR (45.0%, p<0.01). Relative to the control, only the warning label led to a reduction in intentions to purchase the products. The results suggest that warning labels are the most effective FOPL to help Indian consumers identify and avoid unhealthy foods.

Nutritional limitations may shape populations and communities of organisms. This phenomenon is often studied by treating populations and communities as pools of homogenous individuals with average nutritional optima and experiencing average constraints and trade-offs that influence their fitness in a standardized way. However, populations and communities consist of individuals belonging to different sexes, each with specific nutritional demands and limitations. Taking this into account, we used the ecological stoichiometry framework to study sexual differences in the stoichiometric phenotypes, reflecting stoichiometric niches, of four spider taxa differing in hunting mode. The species and sexes differed fundamentally in their elemental phenotypes, including elements beyond those most commonly studied (C, N and P). Both species and sexes were distinguished by the C:N ratio and concentrations of Cu, K and Zn. Species additionally differed in concentrations of Na, Mg and Mn. Phosphorous was not involved in this differentiation. Sexual dimorphism in spiders’ elemental phenotypes, related to differences in their stoichiometric niches, suggests different nutritional optima and differences in nutritional limitation experienced by different sexes and species. This may influence the structure and functioning of spider populations and communities.

Limited observational studies have described the relationship between sleep duration and overall diet. The present study investigated the association between sleep duration at weekdays and empirically derived dietary patterns in a nationally representative sample of UK adults, aged 19-64 years old, participating in the 2008-2012 UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme. Survey members completed between three to four days of dietary records. Sleep duration at weekdays was categorised into tertiles to reflect short, normal and long sleep duration. Social jetlag was calculated as the difference between sleep duration at weekends and weekdays. The association between sleep duration/ social jetlag and dietary patterns, derived by principal components analysis, was assessed regressing diet on sleep whilst accounting for the complex survey design and adjusting for relevant confounders. Survey members in the highest tertile of sleep duration had on average 0.45 (95% CI -0.78, -0.12) lower healthy dietary pattern score compared to middle tertile (p =0.007). There was an inverted u-shaped association between social jetlag and a healthy dietary pattern, such that when sleep at weekends exceeded weekday sleep by 1h 45min, scores for indicating a healthy dietary pattern declined (p =0.005). In conclusion, long sleep duration at weekdays and an increased social jetlag are associated with a lower healthy dietary pattern score. Further research is required to address factors influencing dietary patterns in long sleepers.

Serious outbreaks of foodborne disease have been caused by Listeria monocytogenes found in retail delicatessens and the severity of disease is significant, with high hospitalization and mortality rates. Little is understood about the formidable public health threat of L. monocytogenesin all four niches, humans, animals, food and environment in Egypt. This study analyzed the presence of L. monocytogenes collected from the four environmental niches and bioinformatic analysis was implemented to analyze and compare the data. PCR was used to detect virulence genes encoded by pathogenicity island (LIPI-1). prfA amino acid substation that causes constitutive expression of virulence was common in 77.7% of isolates. BLAST analysis did not match other isolates in the NCBI database suggesting this may be a characteristic of the region associated with these isolates. A second group included the NH1 isolate originating in China, and BLAST analysis showed this prfA allele was shared with isolates from other global locations such as Europe and North America. Identification of possible links and transmission pathways between the four niches, helps to decrease the risk of disease in humans, to take more specific control measures in the context of disease prevention, to limit economic losses associated with food recalls and highlightens the need to treatment options.

The human polyamines spermine and spermidine are essential for cell function, and their properties have been extensively studied. However, research results of experiments conducted without understanding the properties of polyamines have been evaluated and published by reviewers who appear to have little knowledge of the properties of polyamines. It is sad that some studies repeat what was done more than half a century ago before polyamines were characterized. First, I explain the basic properties of polyamines that researchers need to know. Then, the relationship between changes in polyamine levels in the body and age- and lifestyle-related diseases is discussed. In addition, the epigenetic mechanism of action of polyamines in relation to healthy longevity and, conversely, age- and lifestyle-related diseases and the progression of senescence are discussed. Spermine, which increases with a polyamine-rich diet, acts to suppress aberrant gene methylation and proinflammatory status associated with aging. Meanwhile, chronic inflammation associated with aging induces the enzyme activity of spermine oxidase, which breaks down spermine and produces acrolein, resulting in reduced spermine levels. Acrolein, a toxic aldehyde that increases with age- and lifestyle-related diseases, is thought to accelerate these diseases.

Undernutrition is a significant public health issue in Colombia and globally, influenced by multiple factors. The relationship between food insecurity and acute undernutrition in children has been insufficiently explored. To address this, a descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted involving 70 children under the age of 5, who presented with moderate to severe acute malnutrition. The study assessed family and child food security using the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale (ELCSA). Analysis of the data revealed that when households face challenges in meeting their basic needs, children are generally the least affected. Caregivers tend to prioritize children's diets, opting to reduce food intake among adults over 18 years of age instead. The causes of malnutrition were explored through the perceptions of guardians, who reported that in 30.2% of cases, malnutrition is linked to inadequate feeding and parenting practices. Specific issues noted by parents included children being too lazy to chew, preferring ultra-processed foods, or refusing to eat altogether. The study found that not all children with acute malnutrition experience food insecurity; in fact, the proportion of children suffering from hunger was very low. The findings suggest that malnutrition in children under 5 years of age is not solely determined by food insecurity but also by other factors such as parenting practices and poor feeding habits. Further research is needed to evaluate food access and quality, particularly in terms of dietary diversity, to better understand the needs of each population. Such studies will be essential in guiding public health interventions aimed at preventing, managing, and addressing malnutrition in children.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of taking a daily supplement based on active compounds (AUDISTIM® Day Night: A D/N) in alleviating tinnitus-related disability, as suggested by previous real-life studies. This double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study was conducted in adult with mild to severe tinnitus receiving a 3 month-supplementation. Tinnitus-related handicap (THI), psychological stress (MSP-9) and sleep quality (PSQI) were assessed at baseline and during intervention, perceived impression of tinnitus improvement at the end of the follow-up. The full set analysis included 114 patients (59 A D/N, 55 placebo) aged 53.8±11.4 years, 58% women, with fluctuating (45%) or permanent (55%) tinnitus from 9.3±9.4 years. A D/N supplementation led to greater changes in THI (-13.2±16.0 vs -6.2±14.4, p=0.0158, Cohen’s d=0.44) at 3 months, especially with continuous tinnitus (-15.0±16.3 vs -4.6±12.8, p=0.0065), and, to a lesser extent, at 1 month (-9.8±13.1 for A vs -4.3±12.1, p=0.0213). PSQI significantly improved over time in both groups, MSP-9 only with A D/N. In lines with previous observational studies, both clinical (THI score &gt; 7 pts) and statistical (vs. placebo) improvement, more pronounced in permanent tinnitus, demonstrate the effectiveness of the combination of active compounds and support its use in the management of mild to severe tinnitus.

In food industry, there is a growing demand for cost-effective methods for inline inspection of food items able to non-invasively detect small foreign bodies which may have contaminated the product during the production process. Microwave imaging may be a valid alternative to the existing technologies, thanks to its inherently low-cost and its capability of sensing low-density contaminants. In this paper, a low-complexity microwave imaging system specifically designed to enable the inspection of a large variety of food products is presented. The system consists of two Circularly Loaded Antipodal Vivaldi Antennas, having a very large operative band, from 1 to 15 GHz, thus allowing a suitable spatial resolution for different food products from mostly fatty to high water-content ones. The antennas are arranged in such a way to collect the signal useful to exploit a recently proposed real-time microwave imaging strategy, leveraging the inherent symmetries usually characterizing food items. The system is experimentally characterized, and the achieved results compare favorably with the design specifications and the numerical simulations. Relying on these positive results, a first experimental proof of the effectiveness of the whole system is presented, which confirms its efficacy.

The main objective of this review is to determine the main risks that agricultural workers are exposed to during pesticide application, which may have a harmful effect on their health and on public health. This systematic review was based on the PRISMA guidelines. A search for articles was conducted in the Medline/PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science databases. Fifteen articles were selected considering their assessment of agricultural workers' knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, practices, and behaviours, identifying the main risks and risk factors for disease associated with the unsafe handling of pesticides. The main risk factors identified were age, education, pesticide safety training, farming experience, and contact with other farmers/intermediaries resulting in pesticide access. The most frequent risk behaviours were: application of pesticides without personal protective equipment (PPE), incorrect disposal of empty packaging and waste, and undervaluation of label information, as well as other unsafe practices. A multidisciplinary and more effective training must be delivered in order to enhance pesticide safe usage. This will empower workers to adopt more conscious and safer behaviours while using pesticides.

Abstract: Background: Cow’s milk allergy (CMA) is one of the most common and complex food allergies affecting children worldwide and with few exceptions, presents in the first few months of life. Baked milk containing diets are well tolerated in the majority of milk allergic children and allow dietary restrictions to be relaxed. In addition, the early introduction of tolerated forms of allergenic foods to the infant’s diet in small amounts may enhance the outgrowth of milk allergy through oral tolerance induction. The methods of milk introduction vary widely across the globe. Methods: We convened an expert group to develop a comprehensive milk ladder based on calculated milk protein content using Indian foods. To validate the milk ladder, foods chosen for the ladder were analyzed and the ladder was re-evaluated based on amount cooked milk protein content. Results: Combining expert consensus and validation of milk protein content, we created the world’s first milk ladder containing Indian foods. This is the first ladder that provides information on timing and temperature of cooking, with validated milk protein content. Conclusions: This is the first milk ladder based on unique features of Indian food habits built by consensus of Indian experts along with international collaboration with quantified of milk protein in each step. We believe the “The Indian Milk Ladder” will be a very helpful tool for pediatricians helping manage CMA in children as well as their parents and caregivers, not only in India but in countries world-wide where these foods are commonly consumed.

This research investigates the impact of oil price fluctuations on food prices in Saudi Arabia between 1979 and 2020 using Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lags (NARDL) methodology. The study employs Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillip Perron (PP) tests to determine the integration order of the variables and Bounds testing to confirm the existence of long-run cointegration relationships between each variable. The results indicate that oil shocks influence food prices through several mechanisms. Firstly, the cost of energy increases due to the rise in oil prices, affecting the agricultural commodity market, including farm equipment, food processing, packaging, and distribution costs. Secondly, the demand for agricultural commodities to produce biofuels affects food availability and, thus, food prices. Thirdly, as an oil-based economy, the oil price shock affects food prices through its impact on government spending, which affects aggregate demand and liquidity. Therefore, Saudi Arabia should adopt appropriate policies to mitigate the impact of oil price shocks on food prices, including investing in renewable energy sources, diversifying its economy, and improving food production and supply chain efficiency. Additionally, implementing appropriate fiscal policies to ensure sufficient budget allocation for food support programs is crucial. However, investing in groundwater exploration can contribute significantly to the development of Saudi agriculture and to gradually achieving food self-sufficiency.

In various countries of the global south, school feeding programs are implemented in order to alleviate short-time hunger in children, improved their nutrition and provide employment for food vendors. The impact of these programs is important not only in terms of pupils’ nutrition but also in improving farmers’ livelihoods. This study analyzes the impact of the school feeding program on smallholders' food security based on data collected in 2021 from 240 farmers surveyed in northeast Nigeria. Differently from other studies, several econometric methods are used to analyze the data, namely, binary probit regression, propensity score matching, inverse probability weighted adjusted regression and endogenous switching regression. The results show that about 40% of the beneficial smallholder farmers are food secure compared to 20% of the non-beneficiary households. Findings revealed that the Homegrown school feeding program (HGSF) positively improved smallholder farmers improve household food security status. Results provide evidence for the need to expand school feeding programs vis-a-vis interventions in facilitating farmers’ access to capital and capacity building for better integration in the supply chain.

: Border management serves as a crucial control checkpoint for governments to regulate the quality and safety of imported food. In 2020, the ensemble learning prediction model EL V.1 was introduced to Taiwan's border food management. This model primarily assesses the risk of imported food by combining five algorithms to determine whether quality sampling should be performed on imported food at the border. In this study, a second-generation ensemble learning prediction model, EL V.2, was developed based on seven algorithms to enhance the "detection rate of unqualified cases" and improve the robustness of the model. The chi-square test was employed to compare the efficacy of "pre-launch (2019) random sampling inspection" and "post-launch (2020–2022) model prediction sampling inspection". For cases recommended for inspection by the ensemble learning model and subsequently inspected, the unqualified rates were 5.10%, 6.36%, and 4.39% in 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively, which were significantly higher (p=0.000***) compared with the random sampling rate of 2.09% in 2019. The prediction indices established by the confusion matrix were used to further evaluate the prediction effects of EL V.1 and EL V.2, and the EL V.2 model exhibited superior predictive performance compared with EL V.1, and both models outperformed random sampling.

The prevalence of obesity in Korean adults was 56.1% in 2019. This study aimed to find obesity phenotypes from the KNHANES(2015–2019) and determine the risk factors associated with each type. In 15,179 participants, three obesity phenotypes, high BMI (short heavy obesity, n=1,685), high waist circumference (WC) (tall abdominal obesity, n=549), and BMI/WC combination (heavy abdominal obesity, n=3,538), were compared to non-OB (n=9,425). Marital status, lower income and education levels were highly associated with abdominal obesity. Insufficient exercise or skipping breakfast were associated with the WC or BMI/WC obesity type. The BMI/WC risk was 3.25 times higher in males with high TG and 4.6–4.8 times higher in females with high FAS or TG, and the risk increased to 7-8 times higher in three combinations (HYP+HDLc+FBS) compared to the control. The K-Score to test balanced diets was lower in BMI/WC than in others. Low intakes of FI-4(fruits) in men and FI-2(meat), FI-3 (vegetables), and FI-5 (milk/milk products) in women with BMI/WC and WC types, but BMI type was not associated with diets. Compared to BMI, the BMI/WC or WC obesity type was an indicator of metabolically unhealthy obesity associated with obesogenic environments including food/diets pattern and unhealthy behaviors.

Objective: Food security during public health emergencies relies on situational awareness of needs and resources. Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized situational awareness during crises, allowing the allocation of resources to needs through machine learning algorithms. Limited research exists monitoring Twitter for changes in the food security-related public discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to address that gap with AI by classifying food security topics on Twitter and showing topic frequency per day. Methods: Tweets were scraped from Twitter from January 2020 through December 2021 using food security keywords. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling was performed, followed by time-series analyses on topic frequency per day.Results: 237,107 tweets were scraped and classified into topics, including food needs and resources, emergency preparedness and response, and mental/physical health. After the WHO’s pandemic declaration, there were relative increases in topic density per day regarding food pantries, food banks, economic and food security crises, essential services, and emergency preparedness advice. Threats to food security in Tigray emerged in 2021.Conclusions: AI is a powerful yet underused tool to monitor food insecurity on social media. Machine learning tools to improve emergency response should be prioritized, along with measurement of impact. Further food insecurity word patterns testing, as generated by this research, with supervised machine learning models can accelerate the uptake of these tools by policymakers and aid organizations.

Here we propose the concept of an electro–microbial route to uncouple food production from photosynthesis, thereby enabling production of nutritious food in space without the need to grow plant-based crops. In the proposed process, carbon dioxide is fixed into ethanol using either chemical catalysis or microbial carbon fixation, and the ethanol created is used as a carbon source for yeast to synthesize food for human or animal consumption. The process depends upon technologies that can utilize electrical energy to fix carbon into ethanol and uses an optimized strain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce high quality, food grade single cell protein using only ethanol, urea, phosphate, and inorganic salts as inputs. Unlike crops using photosynthesis that require months to mature and are challenging to grow under the conditions found in space, the electro–microbial process could generate significant quantities of food on demand with potentially high yields and productivities. In this paper we explore the potential of the proposed process to provide food on demand in space, but it should be noted that this novel approach to food production has many valuable terrestrial applications too. For example, enabling food production in climatically challenged environments including turning deserts into food bowls, or utilizing surplus electricity generated from large-scale renewable power sources.

Despite the acknowledged relevance of renewable energy sources, biofuel production supported by food-related agriculture has faced severe criticism. One way to minimize the considered negative impacts is the use of sources of non-food biomass or wastes. Synthetic biology (SB) embraces a promising complex of technologies for biofuel production from non-edible and sustainable raw materials. Therefore, it is pertinent to identify the global evolution of investments, concepts, and techniques underlying the field in support of policy formulations for sustainable bioenergy production. We mapped the SB scientific knowledge related to biofuels using software that combines information visualization methods, bibliometrics, and data mining algorithms. The United States and China have been the leading countries in developing SB technologies. Technical University of Denmark and Tsinghua University are the institutions with higher centrality and have played prominent roles besides UC-Los Angeles and Delft University Technology. We identified six knowledge clusters under the terms: versatile sugar dehydrogenase, redox balance principle, sesquiterpene production, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, recombinant xylose-fermenting strain, and Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4. The emerging trends refer to specific microorganisms, processes, and products. Yarrowia lipolytica, Oleaginous yeast, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and Microalgae are the most prominent microorganisms, mainly from the year 2016 onwards. Anaerobic digestion, synthetic promoters, and genetic analysis appear as the most relevant platforms of new processes. Improved biofuels, bioethanol, and N-butanol are at the frontier of the development of SB-derived products. Synthetic biology is a dynamic interdisciplinary field in environmentally friendly bioenergy production pushed by growing social concerns and the emergent bioeconomy.

The propagation of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reshaped the relationship between income and food-away-from-home (FAFH) expenditure in Mexico during 2020. Although the number of households participating in this market fell across income deciles and regions due to the pandemic, the impact on their budget shares is not uniform. Using data from the Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares (ENIGH) 2020, we estimated an Engel curve of the Working-Lesser functional form for FAFH. Among the independent variables are the number of family members 65 years of age and older, and dummies to indicate whether the household experienced food insecurity or received remittances. The estimation was carried out following the Heckman two-step method, suitable for censored-response data. The results suggest that the budget share for FAFH drops as income increases. The number of older adults and food insecurity discourage the decision to participate in FAFH expenditure and increase its budget share, whereas remittances encourage participation and reduce its budget share. The corrected conditional elasticity is 0.4609; the sign and the magnitude indicate that FAFH is a necessity good.

Shiga toxigenic E. coli (STEC) are an important cause of foodborne disease globally with many outbreaks linked to the consumption of contaminated foods such as leafy greens. Existing methods for STEC detection and isolation are time-consuming. Rapid methods may assist in preventing contaminated products from reaching consumers. This proof-of-concept study aimed to determine if a metabolomics approach could be used to detect STEC contamination in spinach. Using untargeted metabolic profiling, the bacterial pellets and supernatants arising from bacterial and inoculated spinach enrichments were investigated for the presence of unique metabolites that enabled categorization of three E. coli risk groups. A total of 109 and 471 metabolite features were identified in bacterial and inoculated spinach enrichments, respectively. Supervised OPLS-DA analysis demonstrated clear dis-crimination between bacterial enrichments containing different risk groups. Further analysis of the spinach enrichments determined that pathogen risk groups 1 and 2 could be easily discriminated from the other groups, though some clustering of risk groups 1 and 2 was observed, likely representing their genomic similarity. Biomarker discovery identified metabolites that were significantly associated with risk groups and may be appropriate targets for potential biosensor development. This study has confirmed that metabolomics can be used to identify the presence of pathogenic E. coli likely to be implicated in human disease.

As a result of the influence of geographical environment and historical heritage, food preference has significant regional differentiation characteristics. However, the spatial structure of food culture represented by the cuisine culture at the regional level has not yet been explored from the perspective of geography. This study aims to explore such patterns by focusing on the restaurants of the eight most famous cuisines in Mainland China. Initially, the density based geospatial hotspot detector method is proposed to analyze and mapping the spatial quantitative characteristics of the eight major cuisines. A heuristic method for geographical regionalization based on machine learning was used to analyze spatial distribution patterns in accordance with the proportion of these cuisines in each prefecture-level city. Results show that some types of single-category cuisines have a stronger spatial concentration effect in the present, whereas others have a strong diffusion trend. In the comprehensive analysis of multicategory cuisines, the eight major cuisines formed a new structure of geographical regionalization of Chinese cuisine culture. This study is helpful to understand regional structure characteristics of food preference, and the density based hotspot detector proposed in this paper can also be used in the analysis of other type of POI data.

Stormwater drainage and urban flooding are the popular issues in policy agendas and academia. Although the research on these title increases steadily an integrated review on stormwater drainage and urban flood with a focus on pluvial flooding has yet to be produced. This paper presents a critical review on stormwater drainage and urban flood based on 78 selected journal papers published over the period of 1990 to 2018. The review focus on pluvial flooding to relate urban stormwater drainage management and urban flood disaster management and to show the links between the two. The methods taken to manage urban stormwater drainage and urban flooding as well as the complexity of achieving a comprehensive urban flood disaster management are evaluated and discussed. To better understand the concepts behind urban flood and improve the urban flood risk management strategies, recommendation of future research directions are also provided.

Microplastics have already been detected in various human foods, especially seafood. This problem should be especially pertinent to the Taiwanese public because a relatively high proportion of people‘s diet comes from seafood. We therefore present a pilot study of microplastic contamination of seafood products commonly consumed by Taiwanese people. We examined six batches of three seafood species for the presence of microplastics using FTIR spectroscopy. A total of 107 seafood individuals from three species (hard clam Meretrix lusoria, oyster Crassostrea gigas, Loligo squid Loliginidae spp.) weighing a total of 994 grams yielded a total of 100 microplastic particles consisting of nine different polymer types. 91% of microplastic particles were fragments which likely originated from fragmented plastic debris which was then consumed by the seafood species. The mean number of microplastics/kg was 87.9 microplastics/kg across the three examined species. Given that Taiwanese average about 10 kg of seafood consumption per year, we estimate that a few thousand microplastic particles are annually consumed on average. The methodology of this pilot study can now be used to conduct examinations of more seafood species and samples.

Food handlers’ medical examinations are mandated by most countries as a way of safeguarding the health and safety of consumers. Food-borne diseases are an important cause of morbidity and mortality. In Zimbabwe, the use of chest radiographs and throat and rectal swab tests are a requirement during food handlers’ medical examinations. This study aimed at exploring the patterns and outcomes of physical medical examinations, chest radiographs, and other tests of food handlers. A cross-sectional review of retrospective occupational health records was carried out. The mean age for the study population was 37 years with an age range of 21 to 56 years. Males accounted for 73% of the study participants. All of the 157 rectal swabs were normal and did not culture any organism. Fifteen percent (24) of the throat swabs cultured one or more organisms. Ninety-seven percent of chest radiographs were normal. Ninety-seven percent of employees were certified as fit. Thirty-six percent of the food handlers were in the overweight and obese categories. Hypertension and high blood pressure were common conditions in the study sample. It can be concluded that routine radiological and laboratory testing of the food handlers in this study was of little value.

Although food retailers have embraced organic certified food products as a way to reduce their environmental loading, organic sales only make up a small proportion of total sales worldwide. Most consumers have positive attitudes towards organic food, but attitudes are not reflected in behaviour. This article addresses consumers’ attitude-behaviour gap regarding their purchase organic food and reports on how visualization of personal shopping data may encourage them to buy more organic food. Through the design of the visualization tool, the EcoPanel, and through an empirical study of its use, we provide evidence on the potential of the tool to promote sustainable food shopping practices. Sixty-five users tested the EcoPanel for five months and interviews were made with ten of these. The test users increased their purchase of organic food with 23%. The informants used the EcoPanel to reflect on their shopping behaviour and to increase their organic shopping. We conclude that the visualization of food purchases stimulates critical reflection and the formation of new food shopping practices. This implies that food retailers may increase sales of organic food through using a visualization tool available for their customers. In this way these retailers may decrease their environmental impact.

Agriculture sector is the backbone of developing countries for their economy. Growing world’s population is putting more pressure on agriculture sector and there is a need to develop new technology to address the crises of food safety and food shortage. Today’s agriculture has been entered in a new era where nanotechnology works as a technological advancement regarding entire agriculture crops, and food sector revolution, even though, it has prodigious applications in food production, food processing, food packaging, food storage and economic growth of industries. Moreover, nanotechnology is the best solution to solve problems related to better food and agriculture. Likewise, biotechnology, nanotechnology also raised high concerns upon safety on biodiversity, health and environment. Nanotechnology is providing efficient alternatives to increase the crop production by managing the insect/pests in agriculture in an eco-friendly manner. It also promotes plant efficiency to absorb nutrients. However, the concerns are very high regarding regulation, safety and approval of nanotechnology products by risk assessment authorities. The suggested review includes stupendous applications of nanotechnology in food and agriculture sector along with its prospective merits and associated risks.

The prevalence of obesity and eating disorders varies by sex, but the extent to which sex influences eating behaviors, especially in childhood, has received less attention. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on sex differences in eating behavior in children and present new findings supporting the role of sex in child appetitive traits and neural responses to food cues. In children, the literature shows sex differences in basic taste response, food acceptance, eating self-regulation, and appetitive traits. New analyses demonstrate that sex interacts with child weight status to differentially influence appetitive traits and neural responses to food cues. Further, neuroimaging results suggest that obesity in female children is positively related to brain reactivity to higher-energy-dense food cues in regions involved with learning, memory, and object recognition, while the opposite was found in males. In addition to differences in how the brain processes information about food, other factors that may contribute to sex differences include parental feeding practices, societal emphasis on dieting, and peer influences. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings, as they may have implications for the development of effective intervention programs to improve dietary behaviors and prevent obesity.

A combination of physical-chemical analysis has been used to monitor the aging of red wines from D.O. Toro (Spain). The changes in the chemical composition of wines that occur along aging time can be permitted to discriminate wine samples collected after one, four, seven and ten months of aging. Different computational models were used to develop a good authenticity tool to certificate wines. In this research different models have developed: Artificial Neural Network models (ANNs), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) models. The results obtained for the ANN model developed with sigmoidal function in the output neuron and the RF model permit to determine the aging time, with an average absolute percentage deviation below 1% and it can conclude that these two models have demonstrated its capacity as a valid tool to predict the wine age.

As overeating, overweight and obesity remain public health concerns, it is crucial to design satiety-enhancing foods that suppress appetite and lower snack intake. Existing research identifies oro-sensory targets to promote satiation and satiety within the “satiety cascade” yet it remains unclear as to whether it is ‘chewing’ or ‘oral lubrication’ that might amplify satiation signals.Here we have combined techniques from experimental psychology, food material science and mechanical engineering to measure the role of chewing and lubrication using novel, model foods as preloads on subjective appetite and intake of a salty snack. Three mint flavoured hydrogels were engineered to vary in their texture (fracture stress) and lubrication (inverse of friction coefficient) properties, and a control group received a mint tea. Results showed that snack intake was suppressed by 32% after eating the low chewing/high lubricating preload as compared to the high chewing/low lubricating preload (p<0.05). No other significant effects were found for snack intake. Hunger ratings decreased from t1 to t3 (p<0.05), however differences between conditions were subtle and not significant. Thus, this proof-of-concept study demonstrates that manipulating oral lubrication is a promising new construct to reduce snack intake that merits future research in the oro-sensory satiety domain.

This study investigates the asymmetric impacts of oil price changes on inflation in Algeria, Angola, Libya and Nigeria. Three different oil price data were applied in this study; the specific spot oil price of individual countries, the OPEC reference basket oil price and an average of the Brent, WTI and Dubai oil price. The dynamic panels ARDL were used to estimate the short and the long-run impacts. Also, this study partitioned the oil price into positive and negative changes to capture asymmetric impacts and found both positive and negative oil price changes positively influenced inflation. However, the impact was found to be more significant when oil prices dropped. The results from the study also found that money supply, the exchange rate and GDP are positively related to inflation while food production is negatively related to inflation. Accordingly, policymakers should be cautious in formulating policies between the positive and negative changes in oil prices as it was shown that inflation increased when the oil price dropped. Additionally, the use of contractionary monetary policy would help to reduce the inflation rate, and lastly, it is proposed that the government should encourage domestic food production both in quantity and quality to reduce inflation.

Lactic acid bacteria are traditionally applied in a variety of fermented food products and have the capability to produce a wide range of bioactive ingredients during fermentation including vitamins, bacteriocins, bioactive peptides and bioactive compounds. The bioactivity and health benefits associated with these ingredients have gained interest in applications in the functional dairy market and have relevance both as components produced in situ and as functional additives. This review provides a brief description of the regulations regarding the functional food market in the European Union as well as an overview of some of the functional dairy products currently available in the Irish and European markets. A better understanding of the production of these ingredients excreted by lactic acid bacteria can further drive the development and innovation of the continuously growing functional food market.

This comprehensive review is devoted to an under-exploited family of phenolic compounds, the coumarins, and the most relevant strands in which they are involved in some spirit beverages – wine spirit, brandy, whiskey, sugar cane spirits (rum and cachaça) and grape marc spirit – with great importance worldwide in terms of production, trade and consumption. It gathers the key discoveries on the topic considering the production process of each spirit beverage, the related sources of coumarins (different kinds of wood used in the ageing stage) along with the factors that govern them and can influence the sensory properties of the aged beverages. An overview of the analytical methods available for their identification/quantification is also included, as well as the corresponding trends for the advancement of knowledge in this field. Moreover, the remarkable role of coumarins as nutraceuticals, their importance as chemical markers for authenticity purposes, and their relationship with food safety of these spirit beverages are also addressed, highlighting the current gaps and issues, and providing clues for future research.

Agricultural productivity is expected to decrease under changing climate conditions that correspond to the stability of West African food systems. Although numerous studies evaluated food production gaps or impacts of climate variability on crop yields, many uncertainties are associated with climate extremes, but also rapid population growth and the corresponding dietary lifestyle determine farming activities. Here, we present a food supply and demand analysis based on the relationship between climate change, crop production, as well as population growth in three experimental sites from southwestern Burkina Faso to southwestern Ghana. The method consists of a tiered approach that encompassed a statistical analysis of historical climate as well as agricultural time series using boxplots and a trend test by Mann-Kendall. Food balance sheets were calculated by estimating the demand using a population growth model linked to food supply with local consumption patterns. Results of the boxplot analysis revealed for the majority of climate time series light to strong right-skewed distributions with either a few heavy rainfall or hot temperature events. We found almost insignificant rainfall and temperature trends for both sites in the Sudano-Guinean savannah. The rainfall regime of southwestern Ghana indicated an insignificant upward or downward trend while the temperature significantly increased over time. Crop yield boxplots demonstrated mainly right-skewed distributions for cereals, legumes and tubers as well as cash crops such as cotton. Backed by the Mann-Kendall test, maize and sorghum significantly enhanced in both study areas of the Sudano-Guinean savannah. Southwestern Ghana depicted a different crop pattern where cassava and plantain showed a strong upward trend at a confidence level of 1%. The grouped food balances sheets across the regions illustrated a surplus for the Sudano-Guinean savannah ranging from 221.2 megatons (Mt) to 4,846.77 Mt while southwestern Ghana exhibited a deficit between -193.33 Mt and -16,188.82 Mt. Despite a growing yield of various crops, food demand outpaces the regional production. Hence, it is recommended to focus on a larger array of commodities, imports and marketing of farm products.

It is important for food recognition to separate each ingredient within a food image at the pixel level. In this paper, we propose a new approach to segment ingredients by utilizing a CNN-based Single-Ingredient Classification Model. In detail, we firstly introduce a standardized biological-based hierarchical ingredient structure and construct a single-ingredient image dataset based on this structure. Then, we build a single-ingredient classification model based on a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture that utilizes an attention mechanism. Afterwards, we propose a new framework for segmentation using the above single-ingredient classification model as the backbone. In this framework, two methods are involved in segmenting ingredients in the food images. We introduce five evaluation metrics (IoU, Dice, Purity, Entirety, Loss of GTs) to assess the performance of ingredient segmentation in terms of ingredient classification. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, achieving an maximal mIoU of 0.65, mDice of 0.77, mPurity of 0.83, mEntirety of 0.80, and mLoGTs of 0.06 on the FoodSeg103 dataset. The results confirm that our CNN-based architecture achieves higher segmentation performance compared to ResNet18 and EfficientNet-B0 when used as the backbone for ingredient segmentation. We believe that our ingredient segmentation approach lays the foundation for subsequent ingredient recognition.

Maternal milk, from well-nourished and healthy mothers, is a source of several bioactive compounds and balanced nutrients required for proper growth and development of the infant. Hence it is regarded as the optimal form of nourishment. Human milk fat from human milk is the most crucial component and is a necessity for the growing infant. However, in certain cases, the breast milk may fulfill the nutritional needs or the breast-feeding of the infant is not feasible; infant formulae are then considered as the best alternative as nutritional support. It becomes essential for the infant formula to behave and provide nutritive support in the same way as human milk. In order to achieve so, the most crucial components of all should also be prepared precisely, i.e., the analogue of human milk fat. This analogue, which mimics the actual human milk fat, can be then used as a prime ingredient while designing the infant formula. Significant research and several advances have been made in preparing the infant formula enriched with adequate fat content, and more studies are still being conducted in order to achieve a more sound product in the most economical and simplest way possible.

Coffee production generates significant amounts of by-products, posing challenges for waste management in the industry. Recent research has revealed that coffee by-products are rich in bioactive compounds suitable to produce functional food ingredients and nutraceuticals. In this review, we explore biorefinery strategies for extracting and utilizing bioactive compounds from coffee by-products, including the production of bio-based chemicals and materials, as well as the extraction of phenolic compounds, antioxidants, and dietary fiber for food applications. We propose a stepwise approach for the development of functional food ingredients and nutraceuticals from coffee by-products, covering the identification of needs, comprehensive characterization, in vitro and in vivo research, unraveling the mechanism of action, food and nutraceutical formulation, sensory analysis, shelf-life stability, scale-up, randomized control trials, and biostatistic and bioinformatic integration. Additionally, we discuss the market potential, regulatory issues, and technological innovation surrounding the commercialization of coffee by-product-based products. Emphasizing the importance of regulatory compliance and sustainability in the coffee industry, this review highlights the potential of coffee by-products to be transformed from waste into valuable functional food ingredients and nutraceuticals, offering a promising avenue for waste reduction and promoting sustainability in the coffee industry.

Evaluation of agronomic practices, genetic diversity and population structure of Moringa oleifera (Lam.) is crucial to its sustainable utilization to ensure food and nutritional security. Four agronomic practices of field preparation and soil analysis, regeneration, weeding and pruning, as well as harvesting, were adopted. Genetic diversity and population structure of 20 populations were evaluated using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer pairs (E-ACC/M-CAC and E-ACA/M-CAG). The effects of agronomic practices on leaf quantity production were evaluated using standard procedures. The physico-chemical and morphological data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while genetic diversity, population structure, dendrogram reconstruction, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were analyzed from the AFLP genetic data. Significant effects (P ≤ 0.05) of agronomic practices on the quantity of leaf production were recorded across the accessions. The two primer pairs generated a total of 80 alleles with a mean major allele frequency of 0.0250. Gene diversity and polymorphic information content (PIC) values were high with a mean of 0.98 and 0.974, respectively. The Gst value of 0.0490 indicated that 5 % of the total genetic divergence was among the population while 95 % within the population. Dendrogram reconstruction with genetic distance ranging from 0.87 to 0.96 segregated the accessions into eleven clusters while PCA generated six cluster groups. Field preparation and physico-chemical soil properties, regeneration, weeding and pruning, and stand development, as well as harvesting, influenced the leaf yield and genetic diversity observed in this study. The genetic data revealed that some accessions were clustered along eco-geographical lines while others grouped disparately. Identified potential parent genotypes with valuable and desirable genetic traits can be exploited for commercial, breeding and conservation purposes to ensure sustainable utilization of the species in Nigeria.

A large body of evidence has linked unhealthy eating patterns with an alarming increase in obesity and chronic disease worldwide. However, existing methods of assessing dietary intake in nutritional epidemiology rely on food frequency questionnaires or dietary records that are prone to bias and selective reporting. Herein, metabolic phenotyping was performed on 42 healthy participants from the Diet and Gene Intervention (DIGEST) pilot study, a parallel two-arm randomized clinical trial that provided complete diets to all participants. Matching urine and plasma specimens were collected at baseline and following 2 weeks of provision of either a Prudent or Western diet with a weight-maintaining menu plan designed by a dietician. Targeted and nontargeted metabolite profiling was conducted using three complementary analytical platforms, where 80 plasma metabolites and 84 creatinine-normalized urinary metabolites were reliably measured (CV < 30%) in the majority of participants (> 75%) after implementing a rigorous data workflow for metabolite authentication with stringent quality control. We classified a panel of metabolites with distinctive trajectories following 2 weeks of food provisions when using complementary univariate and multivariate statistical models. Unknown metabolites associated with contrasting dietary patterns were identified with high resolution MS/MS and/or co-elution after spiking with authentic standards. Overall, 3-methylhistidine and proline betaine concentrations increased consistently after participants were assigned a Prudent diet (q< 0.05) in both plasma and urine samples with a corresponding decrease in the Western diet group. Similarly, creatinine-normalized urinary imidazole propionate, hydroxypipecolic acid, dihydroxybenzoic acid, and enterolactone glucuronide, as well as plasma ketoleucine and ketovaline increased with a Prudent diet (p< 0.05) after adjustments for age, sex and BMI. In contrast, plasma myristic acid, linoelaidic acid, linoleic acid, a-linoleic acid, pentadecanoic acid, alanine, proline, carnitine and deoxycarnitine, as well as urinary acesulfame K increased among participants following a Western diet. Most metabolites were also correlated (r > ±0.30, p< 0.05) to changes in average intake of specific nutrients from self-reported diet records reflecting good adherence to assigned food provisions. Our study revealed robust biomarkers sensitive to short-term changes in habitual diet for accurate monitoring of healthy eating patterns in free-living populations, which is required for validating evidence-based public health policies for chronic disease prevention.