דו״ח מאומת

<h4>Introduction</h4>A recent review of the evidence suggests that berry consumption may have an effect in reducing cardiovascular disease risk.<h4>Objective</h4>To assess the nutritional impact of replacing a serving of commonly consumed fruit with a serving of berries in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Patterns: Healthy US-Style (HUS), Healthy Mediterranean-Style (HMS), and Healthy Vegetarian (HV).<h4>Methods</h4>Using the USDA's food pattern modeling approach, three 7-day replacement menus were developed for the HUS, HMS, and HV patterns at the 2000-calorie level. The menus included one serving of mixed berries replacing one serving of commonly consumed fruits (apples, bananas, or grapes) while meeting recommendations for other food groups. A total of 2 servings of fruit per day were used in the menus. Nutrient and anthocyanin analyses were conducted on the 7-day menus using ESHA Food Processor: 11.14.x software and the USDA Database for Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods, Release 3.3.<h4>Results</h4>Replacing a serving of commonly consumed fruit with a serving of berries per day in the 2000 calorie USDA Dietary Patterns resulted in an increase of anthocyanins by 93.8%, with <i>a</i> ≤ 2.0% increase or decrease in calories, macronutrients, fatty acids, and cholesterol. Dietary fiber increased by 4.7% in the HUS and 5.1% in the HMS USDA Dietary Patterns with minimal increases (< 1.5%) in the HV USDA Dietary Patterns. Soluble fiber increased by 10.1%, 5.3%, and 10.2% in the HUS, HMS, and HV USDA Dietary Patterns, respectively. Vitamin C increased by 16% in the HUS, 13.9% in the HMS, and 11.9% in the HV USDA Dietary Patterns.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The addition of berries to the USDA Dietary Patterns increased beneficial dietary components and nutrients with minimal change in calories, macronutrients, fatty acids, and cholesterol.…

PMID: 40503619

The bilberry is a low-growing plant native to northern Europe. It belongs to the genus Vaccinium. Bilberry is essential in the local diets of some countries and is used as an herbal medicine to manage several ailments. Still, it is not used for commercial farming in many countries. It has recently been known as a great source of naturally available bioactive compounds and colorants. Bilberry is a therapeutic fruit acknowledged for its rich flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids, ascorbic acid, phenolic acid, tocopherols, and vitamin content. It is one of the richest sources of natural anthocyanins. The polyphenolic compounds in bilberry provide abundant antioxidant content, which are supposed to be the vital bioactive compounds accountable for various health benefits. Even though bilberry is mostly promoted for eye care or vision improvement. It is also stated to promote antioxidant defense and lower oxidative stress, having antiaging, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, antimicrobial effects, lowering blood glucose and other age-related diseases, etc. Reports suggest that apart from the fruit, the leaves of bilberry are equally rich in numerous bioactive compounds of medicinal importance. This current review offers valuable insights on bilberry fruits, leaves, and extracts, providing an inclusive assessment of their bioactive compound configuration, related biological prospects, and the extraction methodology of their major compounds. This review offers a summary of the existing information on the antiaging potential of bilberry fruits and leaves, and analytically reviews the outcome of clinical trials, with special attention towards its medicinal properties.…

PMID: 41599963

Magnetic field-assisted freezing is a novel freezing technology for improving food quality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of ultrasound pretreatment in combination with a static magnetic field on frozen blueberry bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity. Blueberries were subjected to ultrasound pretreatment and frozen by using a static magnetic field. Bioactive components, antioxidant properties, organic acids, and the flesh color of blueberry were analyzed. The results demonstrated that, compared with -20 °C control freezing (CF), the ultrasound pretreatment combined with static magnetic field freezing (U-MF) better maintained blueberry bioactive components. The anthocyanin and total phenolic and flavonoid contents of U-MF were 33.67%, 29.14%, and 18.65%, respectively, higher than the CF group (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging capacities of U-MF were 53.87% and 15.14%, respectively, higher than those of the CF group (<i>p</i> < 0.05). This article provides a theoretical basis for the application of magnetic fields in the frozen preservation of fruits and vegetables.…

PMID: 41375951

Wild edible plants, historically valued for their medicinal properties, can be a sustainable source of food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. The blue berries of <i>Prunus spinosa</i> L., known as blackthorns, have antioxidant, astringent, and antimicrobial benefits. To preserve these properties after harvesting, understanding the best storage methods is essential. In this study, blackthorns were preserved using different methods (air-drying, freezing, or freeze-drying) to determine the optimal procedure for preserving their antioxidant activity. The fruits were extracted using a 50:50 (<i>V</i>/<i>V</i>) mixture of ethanol and water. The different extracts were phytochemically characterized for their phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The Folin-Ciocalteu test revealed total phenolic contents of 7.97 ± 0.04, 13.99 ± 0.04, and 7.39 ± 0.08 (mg GAE/g raw material) for the three types of extracts, respectively. The total flavonoid contents were 2.42 ± 0.16, 3.14 ± 0.15, and 2.32 ± 0.03 (mg QE/g raw material), respectively. In line with the polyphenol analysis, the antioxidant activity as determined by DPPH method was higher for the frozen extract, with a value of 91.78 ± 0.80%, which was confirmed by the ROS test on keratinocytes. These results show that both air-drying and freeze-drying processes negatively impact the preservation of antioxidant activity in blackthorns, suggesting that freezing may be the best preservation method before bioactive compound extraction.…

PMID: 40805802

Temperate fruits, mostly comprising pome, stone fruits, and berries with immense nutritional benefits and a storehouse of various therapeutic phytochemicals, are prone to several physiological disorders immediately after harvest. The etiology, symptom progression, and decay incidence are influenced by pre-harvest and post-harvest factors, causing significant economic loss with respect to both the energy and economics invested. Respiratory end products, ethylene generation, and enzymatic activities interact to influence the metabolic response and associated biochemical variation. Advanced packaging technologies have emerged as innovative solutions to curtail these post-harvest problems. The design and development of novel packaging technologies need to critically understand the respiratory behavior of the fruits and their associated metabolic functions. A desirable polymer or packaging technology should exhibit enhanced barriers to the gases while providing adequate support to the fruit matrix. In addition, it should also fulfill the role of environmental sustainability and the circular economy. The outcome of this review will highlight the importance of proper post-harvest procedure, appropriate pretreatment, packaging matrix selection, and the storage conditions for effective and enhanced shelf-life storage. Therefore, this review was structured in two phases; the first phase discusses the biochemical understanding of the fruit during storage and transit in response to stress factors. The next phase highlights the various packaging interventions (polymers, biodegradable films, edible coatings, smart packaging, nano-packaging) taken to address these issues, with a key focus on shelf-life enhancement. Further, the key limitations of each technology are appraised.…

PMID: 41744712

<h4>Background</h4>Postharvest pepper fruits undergo quality deterioration including water loss, shrinkage and nutritional decline, which limits their commercial value. Notably, nano-silicon (SiNPs) improves postharvest vegetable quality, but its regulatory mechanism on pepper storage quality, especially metabolic changes, remains unclear. Therefore, this study explored SiNPs effects on P70 pepper phenotype, storage quality and metabolism to optimize postharvest preservation.<h4>Results</h4>SiNPs treatment significantly improved P70 pepper fruits storage quality. Under roomtemperature (RT) and low temperature (LT) storage conditions, SiNPs treatment (RT-NP, LT-NP) effectively alleviated shrinkage, water loss, and hardness decline. After 6 days of storage, LT-NP group had 1.09-fold higher hardness than LT group, while LT group weight loss was 1.46-fold that of LT-NP. For nutritional quality indicators, SiNPs treatment maintained higher contents of vitamin C, flavonoids, soluble solids and soluble sugar. In terms of antioxidant capacity, SiNPs treatment enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase; LT-NP had 1.11-fold higher SOD at 6 days and 1.54-fold higher POD at 4 days than LT. Metabolomic analysis detected1041 metabolites, mainly including flavonoids (22.1%) and phenolic acids (13.7%). Compared with LT group, LT-NP had 164 up- and 79 down-regulated differential metabolites, enriched in flavonoid biosynthesis, starch-sucrose and amino acid metabolism. LT-NP up-regulated flavonoids (Galangin, Apigenin), D-Sucrose and activated polyamine biosynthesis.<h4>Conclusions</h4>SiNPs improves P70 pepper postharvest quality by reducing water loss, maintaining hardness and nutrients. Collectively, the mechanism involves enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity and regulated key metabolites in flavonoid, sugar and amino acid pathways, supporting SiNPs application in pepper postharvest preservation.…

PMID: 41667972