The current review highlights the nutritional values, phytochemical profile, and health-enhancing characteristics of figs (Ficus craica L., family Moraceae). Ficus craica is one of the oldest fruit trees. The fruit has been appreciated as food and for its biomedical properties since ancient times. Ficus craica contains essential bioactive compounds that enhance health. The plant is characterized by unique compounds in all parts (peel, pulp, leaves, seed, and latex) besides primary nutrients (fatty acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals). Ficus craica is rich in bioactive secondary products such as flavonoids, furanocoumarin, anthocyanin, pectin, and phytosterols, contributing to many health benefits. Bioactive phytonutrients found in fig are used as antioxidant and antidiabetic agents due to the presence of specific functional groups that control diabetes. The health-enhancing effects of fig, including antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and anti-osteoporosis, are related to high levels of minerals essential to bone health and their benefits on Alzheimer’s disease. All parts of Ficus craica have been used in cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, especially wound healing. In addition, Ficus craica has many uses in food items as a colorant and a preservative. To the best of knowledge, there is a lack of reports discussing the biochemistry, bioactivity, and medicinal traits of Ficus craica and the plant parts. This review gathered scientific information regarding the chemical profile, biological traits, and different uses of Ficus craica.
Wine, the fermented juice of the grape (Vitis vinifera), is a complex beverage composed primarily of water and ethanol. On the other hand, phenolic compounds are less abundant components that participate in taste and color formation. In addition to their major role in the sensory profile of wine, phenolic compounds (also referred as polyphenols) function through various mechanisms, exerting positive influence on health. According to recent research, consuming just one glass of red wine positively contributes to health protection, and it is connected to the maintenance of the redox endothelial balance, potential for reducing diabetes occurrence, preventing atherosclerosis, and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. What is more, a lower incidence of certain types of cancers has also been observed. The health promoting benefits of wine are explained by its wide spectrum of structurally diverse phenolic compounds whose content may depend on numerous factors. The most abundant compounds are anthocyanins with up to 400 mg/L, followed by phenolic acids, flavanols, flavonols, hydrolyzable tannins, flavanones, and stilbenes (up to 200, 120, 60, 50, 25, and 5 mg/L, respectively). This review paper outlines the structural variety, health advantages, and immunomodulatory capacity of wine polyphenols, drawing upon the latest and most pertinent scientific literature available in this domain.
Thermal food processing stands as the conventional and prevalent intervention utilized by food industries to uphold food safety standards. Some bacteria are known to withstand thermal treatments up to definite extents. This ability primarily stems from genetically determined traits that can be influenced by environmental conditions. This review focuses on the genetic determinants of thermal resistance in foodborne pathogens including the locus of heat resistance (LHR). Genes contributing to the expression of proteins that might indirectly contribute to thermal resistance have also been covered. The emergence of thermal tolerance in these pathogens raises significant food safety concerns, given global worries about bacterial resistance. The review consolidates existing research on genetic components and loci of heat resistance and highlights potential areas of gaps that warrant further research. Furthermore, acquired cross-protection leading to resistance across multiple interventions has also been highlighted as an emerging concern. Acquiring insights into the environmental conditions that promote the selection of the LHR will empower the adoption of more efficient strategies to obstruct the pathways by which these pathogens persist within processing chains.
Ensuring the highest standards of food quality and safety is crucial for maintaining human health. This requires the creation of sophisticated and highly sensitive techniques for detecting and identifying food pollutants. Raman spectroscopy, known for its rapidity, simplicity, sensitivity, and noninvasive characteristics, has become a prominent method in the field of food safety and quality analysis. This review discusses in detail the fundamental principles, instruments, methodology, and data processing techniques of Raman spectroscopy. It specifically emphasizes the practical applications of Raman spectroscopy in assessing foodborne pathogens, toxic gases in spoiled foods, and monitoring the translocation of pesticide in plants. Finally, we discussed the development trend and challenges of Raman spectroscopy in the field of food safety analysis, aiming to provide an accessible and practical guide. This review article equips readers with essential insights into conducting and understanding Raman spectroscopy experiments, thereby contributing to development in the field of food safety analysis.
For centuries, essential oils (EOs) have held a significant place in traditional medicinal practices worldwide and are commonly known for their aroma and taste. Among the 3000 recognized types, only 300 have commercial use in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. These potent natural extracts, derived from aromatic plants and herbs, have garnered attention not only in ancient healing traditions but also within modern health-care systems. Their rich history is marked by a diverse array of therapeutic properties that have made them indispensable tools for promoting health and well-being. Additionally, the utilization of EOs as food preservatives is an innovative and natural approach in extending the shelf life of various food products. In addition, EOs are beneficial in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Because of their outstanding biological activities and health benefits, research on EOs has exploded in recent years. In present work, an intensive review was done on published data on therapeutic potential of some major EOs and their utilization as a preservative in food industries. Meanwhile, an investigation of the methods specifically used for the separation of EOs and regulatory considerations are also reported. The article concludes with comments on future trends.
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common zoonotic foodborne pathogen that poses a serious threat to the microbial control of meat processing, especially the multidrug resistant (MDR) strain. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility, virulence genes, biofilm formation ability (BFA), and molecular types of S. aureus isolated from two beef-processing plants in China. The results revealed that the prevalence of S. aureus was 17.1% (60/350), including one methicillin-resistant strain. The chilled carcass showed the highest detection rate among the seven sampling points. The isolates exhibited high resistance to penicillin (88.3%) and lincomycin (80.0%), and 75.0% of the isolates showed multidrug resistance (MDR). All isolates carried hla and clfa and critical toxin genes (seb, pvl, and tst) were also detected. Additionally, 96.7% of isolates exhibited strong and moderate BFA. The isolates were typed by Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) and Staphylococcus Protein A (spa) typing methods, resulting in nine different types for each method. The predominant type was ST7-t091, accounting for 68.3% of the isolates. Our research suggests that there may be a critical control point in the chilling room, and the high MDR rate and strong BFA increase the difficulty of control and the risk of transmission.
Chaihu Guizhi decoction (CJY) is a classic formula with antidepressant effects; however, it remains unclear whether the antidepressant mechanism of CJY involves modulation of the gut microbiota and which specific bacterial genera are regulated. The present study investigated the effects of CJY on the gut microbiota in chronic restraint stress (CRS)-induced depressive rats. The results showed that CJY treatment attenuated depressive-like behavior, repaired hippocampal neuronal damage, and increased neurotransmitter levels in CRS-induced depressive rats. CJY reshaped the gut microbiota spectrum by increasing the level of the key bacterial genera that alleviate depression, such as Lactobacillus, while decreasing the level of the key bacterial genera that exacerbate depression, such as Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, and Lachnoclostridium. In addition, CJY restored the gut flora dysbiosis-derived changes in the production of short-chain fatty acids, such as acetic acid, propionic acid, and valeric acid. This study lays the foundation for identifying therapeutic targets for CJY and elucidating its underlying mechanisms from the perspective of the microbiota.
A novel, non-destructive, powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD) approach was developed and validated for the simultaneous detection of melamine (ME) and cyanuric acid (CA). Sample holders, and a range of P-XRD X-ray tube parameters (voltage: 25–45 kV; current: 25–45 mA), and scanning conditions (scan step size: 0.006–0.10°; step time: 50–150 s) were experimented at 2θ conditions. Based on the obtained diffraction patterns, the following conditions were optimized: sample holder: reflection-transmission spinner, tube voltage: 45 kV, tube current: 45 mA, scan step size: 0.006°, and scan step time: 150 s. The crystalline properties were assessed and phase quantification of both ME and CA was performed using Rietveld refinement, aligning to the International Center for Diffraction Data (ICDD) PDF4+ 2023 library. The approach was validated considering repeatability, precision, and linearity, and recovery and stability studies also support the findings. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 0.2 to 1 wt. % per phase of powder sample. Then, spiked and real food powder samples were screened for ME and CA. To date, there is no nondestructive technique available to simultaneously detect ME and CA in a single run. The developed P-XRD approach can find vast applications in quality testing facilities.
Myricetin shows great anti-inflammatory effect on colitis and supplementation with myricetin could improve gut microbiota dysbiosis. It is reported that the abnormal blood glucose condition of prediabetes could aggravate the progression of inflammation. However, there is no report on whether myricetin has the protective effect on inflammation comorbid prediabetes. This study aimed to explore the effect and potential mechanism of myricetin on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in prediabetic mice. Several indexes related to colitis were evaluated on DSS-induced prediabetic mice. Myricetin intervention improved body weight loss, disease activity index score in DSS-induced colitis in prediabetic mice. Myricetin alleviated inflammation by inhibiting proinflammatory cytokines and myeloperoxidase production in DSS-induced colitis in prediabetic mice. Furthermore, myricetin showed recovery of intestinal barrier integrity by increasing the expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, Occludin and Claudin-1). At the gut microbiota level, myricetin showed protective effects via modulating gut dysbiosis associated with DSS-induced colitis in prediabetic mice. In addition, myricetin could significantly increase the short chain fatty acids produced by gut microbiota. Myricetin may be serving as a novel therapeutic agent which could be used in the treatment of DSS-induced colitis in prediabetic patients in the future with its added value as well reported antidiabetic agent.