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Abstract
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a dietary strategy that involves alternating periods of abstention from calorie consumption with periods of ad libitum food intake and has been shown to have beneficial effects in many ways. Recent studies have shown that IF attenuates neurodegeneration and improves cognitive decline, enhances functional recovery after stroke as well as attenuates the pathological and clinical features of epilepsy in animal models. Furthermore, IF induced several molecular and cellular adaptations in neurons that overall enhanced cellular stress resistance, synaptic plasticity, and neurogenesis. In this review, the beneficial effects of IF on central neurological disorders are discussed. The information summarised in this review can be used to help contextualise existing research and better guide the development of future IF interventions.
Abstract
Nattokinase (NK) is effective in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Cucumber is rich in nutrients with low sugar content and is safe for consumption. The aim of this study was to construct a therapeutic cucumber that can express NK, which can prevent and alleviate cardiovascular diseases by consumption. Because the Bitter fruit (Bt) gene contributes to bitter taste but has no obvious effect on the growth and development of cucumber, so the NK-producing cucumber was constructed by replacing the Bt gene with NK by using CRISPR/Cas9. The pZHY988-Cas9-sgRNA and pX6-LHA-U6-NK-T-RHA vectors were constructed and transformed into Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105, which was transformed into cucumber by floral dip method. The crude extract of NK-producing cucumber had significant thrombolytic activity in vitro. In addition, treatment with the crude extract significantly delayed thrombus tail appearance, and the thrombin time of mice was much longer than that of normal mice. The degrees of coagulation and blood viscosity as well as hemorheological properties improved significantly after crude extract treatment. These findings show that NK-producing cucumber can effectively alleviate thrombosis and improve blood biochemical parameters, providing a new direction for diet therapy against cardiovascular diseases.
Abstract
In this paper, fresh Muzao (Zizyphus jujuba cv. Muzao) at full-red and white-ripe periods were used as raw materials to brew low-alcohol jujube wines directly without cooking or extraction. The results showed that the contents of total acid, total phenolics, and total tannin of white-ripe jujube wines (WRJW) were significantly higher than that of full-red jujube wines (FRJW) under the same ratio of jujube fruit/water (P < 0.05). When the ratio of jujube fruit to water increased from 1:1 to 1:5, the total esters contents of WRJW increased from 2261.56 μg L−1 to 3671.51 μg L−1, but decreased in FRJW. Especially, the contents of ethyl octanoate, ethyl decanoate, and isoamyl caprylate in WRJW (1:5) were significantly higher than in other wine samples (P < 0.05). These three esters with a variety of aroma description characteristics can give jujube wine a more complex flavour. The sensory evaluation also showed that the WRJW (1:5) had the highest score. This wine had the following characteristics: clear and transparent, light yellow, pure elegant fruit and wine aroma, pleasant fragrance, harmonious wine body, fresh taste, sweet and sour, with typical characteristics of jujube wine. The research results can provide a theoretical basis and technical reference for the industrial production of high-quality jujube wine.
Abstract
Proper gluten quantitation is essential for providing safe gluten-free food for patients living with celiac disease (CD). However, gluten quantitation faces several challenges: the lack of a reference method and certified reference materials, the variability of methods and the effects of genetic and environmental factors on gluten. Among all these challenges our research group focuses on gluten reference material development. Gluten content is determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods to obtain comparable data for the selection of cultivars used in our reference material development efforts. As ELISA methods are developed for determining low gluten concentrations, application for these special research purposes requires a 10,000-fold dilution. The formerly performed process was a post-extraction liquid dilution that proved to be sufficient for wheat samples. However, gluten contents of rye and barley samples were found to be overestimated by ELISA methods. One of the suggested reasons is the structural and solubility changes of gluten proteins during the dilution process. Therefore, our present study focuses on the comparison of the original dilution method and a revised version using solid-phase dilution in a gluten-free matrix.
Abstract
Jerusalem artichoke tuber extracts (JAE) bioactivity including anticancer, antimicrobial, and digestion-inhibiting properties were investigated. The findings showed that the extracts were able to inhibit cancer growth in the HT-29 colon cancer cell line (HT-29 cc cell line) in a dose-dependent form. The suppression of cell proliferation rose to about 78.05 ± 3.9 percent at a dose of 250 μg mL−1. The Annexin V assay showed dose-dependent DNA fragmentation and detected late apoptotic induction in the HT-29 cc cell line. Depending on the concentration, the extract was able to stop the cell cycle in the HT-29 cc cell line at the G1 phase. Also, JAE prevented the HT-29 cc cell line growth, which resulted in programmed cell death. Additionally, the extracts are potential antibacterial agents and may inhibit lipase and α-amylase.
Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) production is growing worldwide so the treatment and utilization of Rambutan by-products has become a concern of manufacturers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential application of rhizobacteria to decompose Rambutan peel for organic fertilizer production. After the rhizospheric soil samples were selectively proliferated and preadded on agar medium containing only Rambutan peel, the rhizobacterial colony isolates were screened based on their ability to grow on this agar medium and then to degrade cellulose in Rambutan peel. The LD7.3 isolate from the Rambutan rhizosphere showed the highest efficiency in degrading Rambutan peel with 5.6% degraded cellulose content and was identified by the MALDI-TOF technique as belonging to Klebsiella. Klebsiella sp. LD7.3 grew well and maintained the same degrading activity after three times of subculturing in liquid medium. Notably, the supplementation of grinded Rambutan fruit peel to the liquid medium had a positive effect on the growth and the degrading activity of Klebsiella sp. LD7.3. This was the primary report on the application of rhizobacteria to degrade Rambutan peel and the results showed that this was a potential approach to reuse this waste source.
The experiment was conducted within a framework of a two-factor long-term trial at the Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation, in Szarvas, Hungary. This was a special field experiment, in which lysimeters have been installed in the middle of 32 m2 field plots. The main factor was the water supply with 4 levels: i1: non-irrigated control; i2: irrigated with one third of the optimal water supply; i3: irrigated with two thirds of the optimal water supply; i4: optimum irrigated plot, according to the requirement of sweet corn test plant. The amount of released irrigation water was 0, 54, 106 and 158 mm per year on average over 5 years. Within every water supply treatment there were 4 nutrient supply rates (N): N1, N2, N3, N4 = 100, 200, 300 and 400 kg ha−1 NPK fertiliser substance in ratio 2:1:1. The number of replications was 4, and the experiment was arranged in split-plot design. In the studied years, the amount of precipitation varied between 92 and 264 mm from sowing to harvesting.
The effect of fertiliser was less in the non-irrigated treatments compared to that of the irrigated ones, and the yield was increased only up to 200 kg ha−1 NPK treatment level. The NPK dose of 300 kg ha−1 proved to be optimal in the irrigated treatments in which the utilization of fertilizer doses increased parallel to the improving water supply. In addition, the ratio of first class products (cobs longer than 20 cm) increased to a greater extent than the yield as a result of irrigation and fertilization. Water requirement of sweet corn proved to be between 400–450 mm resulting in an average yield of 20–24 t ha−1, of which 18–20 t ha−1 came from marketable cobs. The amount of evapotranspiration fluctuated between 270–440 mm during the five years, depending on the quantity of water supply, but it changed to a lesser extent than the amount of the yield. Increasing the fertilizer dose practically did not affect ET in non-irrigated plants, but increased it by 20–30 mm in irrigated ones. The change was not significant.
The productivity of ET was only 30–45 kg ha−1 mm−1 in the non-irrigated treatment, while it was 50–55 kg ha−1 mm−1 in the irrigated treatments, with higher values at the higher fertiliser rates. The productivity of irrigation water exceeded far over the productivity of ET at adequate nutrient supply. The yield increase per 1 mm of irrigation water was on average 60 kg ha−1 mm−1, which was considerably higher than the productivity of ET of non-irrigated plants (39 kg ha−1 mm−1). There was a positive correlation between the yield and ET, and a negative correlation between the yield and specific water consumption. Irrigation and fertilization increased the average yield to a greater extent than evapotranspiration, so as the average yield increased, the ET per unit of yield decreased, i.e. the productivity of evapotranspirated water increased.
Abstract
It is necessary to estimate the number of animals slaughtered outside slaughterhouses in countries like Türkiye, where slaughterings in non-slaughterhouses are relatively high. This paper presents the estimation of red meat production including all slaughterings both in slaughterhouses and in non-slaughterhouses by using a re-established model based on change in the inventory of animals including imported and exported animals, slaughtering rate for the slaughtered animals raised domestically in Türkiye, and total red meat consumption per capita per year in Türkiye. Total red meat production in Türkiye was estimated as 1 million 952 thousand 38 tonnes, bovine meat production was estimated as 1 million 471 thousand 550 tonnes, sheep and goats meat production was estimated as 480 thousand 488 tonnes in 2021. Total red meat human consumption per capita in Türkiye was estimated as 23 kg carcass weight per capita per year and 17 kg retail weight per capita per year. 17 kg of total red meat human consumption came from bovine meat, and 6 kg came from sheep and goats meat. According to the result of cluster analysis of European countries, Türkiye was clustered in the group of lowest total red meat consumption with Albania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Moldova, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, and Serbia.
Abstract
The research aim was to evaluate the Portuguese honey consumers’ profile, their attitudes, perceptions, and trends towards the product, production, and consumption, to allow the development of marketing strategies. With this purpose, a questionnaire was developed in accordance with the Ajzen's Planned Behaviour Theory and was then completed by 784 interviewees to retrieve quantitative and qualitative data. These included demographic, consumption pattern, and behavioural pattern variables collected in a Likert scale. Spearman correlations were performed between ordinal and continuous variables, and chi-squared tests of independency applied to contingency tables between nominal variables. A positive correlation was found between age and frequency of purchasing. Men consume honey more frequently than women. Portuguese honey has a good reputation, and it is preferred in relation to imported honey. The Portuguese consumer is not completely aware of the different floral characteristics of honey, other hive products, and positive externalities associated with beekeeping. By filling the marketing gap identified, production and consumption of honey could be increased in Portugal. Marketing campaigns promoting the health benefits of honey and other hive products, as well as the externalities of beekeeping may be advantageous.
