Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. This pathology is directly associated with increased risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. MetS is also characterized by an increase of oxidative stress which contributes to impaired inflammation, vascular function, and atherosclerosis. Numerous studies establish that the best remedy to prevent the appearance and progression of this disease is the Mediterranean diet together with a healthy lifestyle. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the differences in biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in 90 adults between 40-60 years old with MetS based on their adherence to Mediterranean Diet Pattern (MDP). Glucose, glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and triglyceride levels were significantly higher in patients with lower adherence to MDP with respect to the group with greater adherence. Plasma levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-15, tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), xanthine oxidase (XOD) and ghrelin and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) were significantly higher in subjects with lower adherence to the MDP. ROS production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and neutrophils stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was significantly greater in the participants with an adherence to the MDP under the median value. In conclusion, the present study evidenced that people who suffer from MetS, if they have a high adherence to the Mediterranean diet, present a lower degree of oxidative stress and an inflammatory state in relation to those with less adherence.

Natural products have been used for their healing properties for many centuries and have been of great interest in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry. Physical inactivity and the modern sedentary lifestyle, in which processed food has taken an important place, play an important role in oxidative stress induction. However, medicinal plants with antioxidant properties have been used since ancient times for their ability to treat or prevent several human ailments in which oxidative stress appears to be a cause. The aim of this research is to discover the antioxidant potential of Lomatium dissectum, a species of carrot family (Apiaceae) commonly known as fernleaf biscuitroot. Lomatium roots has been used historically by Native Americans, mostly as a treatment for respiratory illness, bacterial and viral infections. This study was to find out phytochemical composition, to determine total phenolic and flavonoid content, reducing potential and free radical scavenging activity in ethanolic extract of Lomatium roots. Qualitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids, and steroids. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were found to be 20.80 ± 5.76mg GAE/g and 65.5 ± 15.8 mg QE/g dry weight respectively. Plant extract showed high reducing potential in a dose-dependent fashion, which indicated the ability of the plant to donate electrons to neutralize free radicals. Antioxidant activity was determined using DPPH, superoxide and hydroxyl free radical scavenging assays. Lomatium extract displayed a concentration dependent radical scavenging activity. At a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml, plant extract scavenged DPPH, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals by 53.09%, 50.4% and 33.84% respectively. These results show that Lomatium root extract possess free radical scavenging activity and reducing potential and is rich in phenols and flavonoids. This is the first attempt at researching the antioxidant potential of Lomatium root. The results support traditional claims and pave the path for the discovery of antioxidant-rich nutrients that may help prevent us from oxidative stress borne diseases.

Sulforaphane (1-isothiocyanato-4-(methylsulfinyl)-butane) and iberin (1-isothiocyanato-3-methylsulfinylpropane) have attracted greatest attention due to their anti-inflammatory and cancer-preventive properties. These isothiocyanates are products of the enzymatic hydrolysis of the glucosinolates glucoraphanin and glucoiberin, contained only in the plants of the order Brassicales. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, belong in the order Brassicales and specifically in the Brassicaceae family. Our aim was to develop an efficient and accurate method for the simultaneous determination of sulforaphane and iberin in cruciferous vegetables using Ultra-high Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-Q-ToF-MS). The method was applied for the quantitative determination of these compounds in a variety of cruciferous vegetables (green and purple broccoli, white and purple cabbage, radish, turnip, arugula, watercress, and cauliflower). The results showed that green and purple broccoli contained the highest levels of sulforaphane (660.14±34.29 to 210.11±9.76 μg g^-1 dry weight) while the highest concentration of iberin was detected in purple broccoli (144.98±3.56 μg g^-1 dry weight). The lowest concentrations of sulforaphane and iberin were measured in watercress and radish. The differences in the content of these compounds can be attributed to the variability among Brassicaceae species, geography, season, and various environmental factors.

Introduction: Fruits and vegetables are sources of numerous nutrients and bioactive compounds. One of them are carotenoids with antioxidant potential, particularly abundant in yellow-orange, red and dark green fruits and vegetables.

Aim: The aims of this study were: (1) to investigate if fruits and vegetables rich in carotenoids are offered as first solids; (2) to assess if early nutritional factors, such as exclusive breastfeeding duration (EBF), timing (CFI) and method (CFM) of complementary feeding introduction may be associated with offering them.

Methods: This internet-based study was conducted in 2016-2018 among 4104 mothers of children aged 12-36 months, recruited through social media in Poland. Mothers were asked about EBF, CFI, CFM as well as first 5-10 products that were given to their infants as first solids. Data on the consumption of the first products were collected using the qualitative method.

Results: The majority of children was introduced to complementary feeding at 4-6 months (60.6%). The most often offered vegetables/fruits were carrot (89.8%), broccoli (54.0%) and pumpkin (39.7%), whereas avocado (3.1%), pepper (0.9%) and kale (0.02%) were rarely used as first weaning products. EBF, CFI and CFM were associated with offering pumpkin (p<0.001; p<0.05; p<0.001), sweet potato (p<0.01; p<0.001; p<0.001), tomato (p<0.01; p<0.001; p<0.001), avocado (p<0.01; p<0.05; p<0.001) and broccoli (p<0.001) as first vegetables/fruits. In a group with CFI ≥7 months, sweet potato (13.7%), tomato (5.1%), avocado (4.0%) and broccoli (61.2%) were more often offered as first vegetables/fruits than in a group with CFI at 4-6 months (7.5%, 2.7%, 2.7%, 50.4%; respectively) or CFI <4 months (3.9%, p<0.001; 2.0%, p<0.001; 0.0%, p<0.05; 33.3%, p<0.001; respectively).

Conclusions: Early nutrition may be a factor associated with offering different foods during weaning. Carrot and broccoli were the most often offered solids. According to the literature ^[1,2,3] carrot is the richest source of carotenoids, whereas broccoli has the highest antioxidant capacity.

1. USDA National Nutrient Database
2. USDA Database for the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of Selected Foods, Release 2, 2010
3. Hamułka J., Wawrzyniak A.: Lycopene and lutein - pro-health properties and their content in products. SGGW Publ. Warsaw 2004.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020. As COVID-19 has spread afterward, lockdown has been declared all over the world, including the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South Korea. Consequently, it has changed daily life rapidly, including "social distancing". In particular, in terms of nutritional science, a representative change is the rapid increase in food delivery after the outbreak of COVID-19. The "COVID-19 Impact Report in KOREA" published in April 2020 revealed that food delivery accounted for 52% of all meals after the COVID-19 pandemic, which nearly doubled from 32% before the pandemic. The changes in nutritional intake, decrease in physical activity, and increase in depression and stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of food delivery culture have greatly affected weight gain. Particularly, the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2020) confirmed that the prevalence of obesity (≥19 years old) was 31.4% in 2011, 33.8% in 2019, and 38.3% in 2020, indicating a rapid increase after the outbreak of COVID-19. It is a critical issue in health science to identify the differences in potential factors for obesity before and after the COVID-19 pandemic particularly because many previous studies showed that obesity increased the infection risk of COVID-19 and, even after infection with COVID-19, people with obesity suffered from higher severity and mortality rates than people with normal-weight or underweight. This study conducted a web crawling targeting South Korean press media (e.g., news) using "obesity" as a keyword and analyzed keywords related to obesity before the COVID-19 pandemic (2019.2.28-2020.3.10) and after it (2020.3.11-2021.12.31) through topic modeling. The procedure of this study is as follows. First, this study calculated main topics using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) method. Then, the calculated LDA identified word networks between topics (words) using network analysis based on co-occurring words and words with high use frequency. Finally, this study discovered the ratio between positive words and negative words using sentiment analysis. The text-mining results will be used as fundamental data to effectively manage the problems associated with obesity and nutritional imbalance during the post-COVID-19 era.

Background: Over the past two years, a significant number of studies and statistical reports have appeared that prove the relationship between the level of vitamin D in the body and the severity of COVID-19. The main sources of vitamin D in the human body are food and sunlight. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intake of vitamin D in daily food rations by the students. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. Respondents included in the study were first year students of two universities in the city Kharkiv (Ukraine). Data collection was carried out by conducting three parallel questionnaires A, B and C. The frequency of consumption and food preferences in relation to 22 vitamin D-containing foods were assessed using questionnaires A. The questionnaire В allowed to evaluate the consumption of vitamin D-containing products in the daily food rations of students. Also, students were offered a questionnaire C, which was developed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health for the screening of allergic diseases. Before analysis of data the internal consistency and trait validity of the instrument was carried out. Results: The factors of influence on consumption by students of vitamin D using statistical analysis of data and chemometric techniques are evaluated. There was a lack of consumption of vitamin D-rich foods and a critical time spent in sunlight, regardless of the season. At the same time, a positive correlation between the presence of vitamin D deficiency in young people and a high percentage of respondents with symptoms of allergic diseases was obtained. Conclusion: The survey suggests that the rations of students are poor to consume products vitamin D-rich foods.

Rauwolfia serpentina is effectual in the treatment of hypertension as well as in psychotic diseases like anxiety, schizophrenia, insanity, insomnia etc. Roots of Rauwolfia serpentina plant have various biological activities due to isolation of different indole alkaloids and associated constituents from it. The principle alkaloid of Rauwolfia serpentina is reserpine. In this study neuroprotective effects of Rauwolfia serpentina plant extract following the exposure to acute immobilization (2h) stress in rats were investigated. The extract of the plant administered orally at non-sedative dose 30mg/kg before immobilization (2h) to observe stress induced behavioral deficits. Neuroprotective efficacy of extract was assessed in terms of alteration in activities of antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). We also monitored leptin, corticosterone and glucose levels in plasma to obtain an imminent role of Rauwolfia serpentina. Twenty four animals randomly assigned into two equal groups (12 in each group) i.e. test and control. Test animals were orally administered with Rauwolfia serpentina (30mg/kg) while controls receive saline (1ml/kg). Each group was subdivided into stressed and unstressed groups. Behavioral deficits were monitored in the open field and light dark activity box. Animals were decapitated; plasma samples were collected for CAT, SOD, corticosterone, leptin and glucose estimation. Orally administered Rauwolfia serpentina attenuates stress induced behavioral deficits and rise antioxidant enzymes levels. Plant extract also prevents the stress-induced increase in corticosterone but glucose levels do not manifest any significant change. Immobilization stress (2h) induced decrease of plasma leptin levels were reversed by Rauwolfia serpentina. Therefore, the present study suggests that Rauwolfia serpentina has potentiality to antagonize undesirable effects of immobilization stress (2h) by reducing stress perception and inhibitory effects of stress on the activity of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and animal behaviors. Despite an apparent role of Rauwolfia serpentina the mechanism of action at molecular level causing the acute anxiolytic effects of oral administration of plant extract remains to be determined.

Introduction: Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) is highly prevalent in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). An eradication of bacterial overgrowth with antibiotics is the first-line treatment. However, focusing only on the antimicrobial effect, without taking care to improve lifestyle factors, especially dietary patterns, may not yield satisfactory results and may even predispose to intestinal microbiota dysfunction. Aim: The objective of this study is to determine whether the current recommendations regarding nutrition in IBS are suitable for patients with SIBO. Methods: A narrative literature review was carried out using databases including PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar to investigate the current recommendations regarding the necessary elements of lifestyle and nutrition therapies in SIBO treatment. Results: Recent studies indicate that dietary manipulation may have a role in alleviating SIBO gastrointestinal symptoms. A low FODMAP-diet proposed for IBS may regulate symptoms of the digestive system, but there is no reliable data to determine whether this specific elimination diet will be effective in patients with SIBO. Long-term reduction of prebiotics (FODMAPs) may result in unfavorable changes in the composition of the gut microbiota, promoting dysbiosis. Supplementation with soluble fiber can alleviate the symptoms of diarrhea and constipation in IBS and SIBO. Targeted probiotic therapy with the use of well-characterized microbial strains may increase the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment, regulate bowel movements and improve the quality of life of patients with disturbed intestinal microbiota. In patients with SIBO a lower frequency of migrating motor complex (MMC) is acknowledged, which are responsible for cleansing the gastrointestinal tract from food debris and excess bacteria. Therefore optimal dietary patterns play a key role in the treatment of SIBO. Conclusions: Based on currently available literature, the potential efficacy of the IBS diet in SIBO is largely hypothetical. Future research is needed to characterize a specific diet for the treatment of SIBO.

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide. Consequently, many by-products are generated during coffee processing, including the pulp, a source of antioxidant phytochemicals such as phenolic compounds and caffeine, reducing oxidative stress. However, phenolics’ antioxidant properties are physiologically restricted to their bioaccessibility and bioavailability. This study aimed to investigate the gastrointestinal behavior of the coffee pulp’s phenolic compounds under simulated conditions. The coffee pulp, obtained from the Arabica variety by the wet processing method, was milled and subsequently digested following the in vitro INFOGEST method. Phenolic compounds were analyzed using colorimetric and UPLC-MS/MS methods. The in vitro antioxidant capacity was estimated by the ABTS method. The potential bioavailability was predicted using in silico tools. The coffee pulp showed a high content of phenolic acids, especially chlorogenic (1011 ± 28 µg/g), protocatechuic (1757 ± 7 µg/g), and gallic (469 ± 20 µg/g) acids, and flavonoids, particularly quercetin derivatives. The caffeine content (5060 ± 67 µg/g) stood out among all the phenolic compounds, 4.6-fold higher than total chlorogenic acids and 1.4-fold higher than total phenolic compounds. Although the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity significantly increased (p < 0.05) all over the digestive process, the bioaccessibility of the individual phenolic compounds decreased (p < 0.05) throughout the digestive process. Hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids showed high intestinal bioaccessibility (79.0 ± 12.6 and 82.3 ± 11.1%, respectively), while flavonols and flavones exhibited lower values (58.7 ± 8.9 and 41.9 ± 6.8%, respectively). Caffeine (83.1 ± 5.9%) also exhibited high intestinal bioaccessibility. The potential bioavailability, expressed as human intestinal absorption, was highest for caffeine (74.0 ± 5.3%), followed by hydroxybenzoic acids (48.6 ± 7.8%) and hydroxycinnamic acids (22.8 ± 3.1%), and finally, the lowest values were obtained for flavonols (13.6 ± 2.2%) and flavones (7.8 ± 3.1%). Then, although exhibiting similar bioaccessibilities, caffeine may reach the bloodstream and target organs in a higher proportion than phenolic compounds. These results provide new knowledge into the gastrointestinal behavior of antioxidant phenolic compounds and caffeine from the coffee pulp, supporting its use as a new antioxidant food ingredient.

The scarcity of natural resources and a higher incidence of diseases related to inappropriate eating habits have focused research on the search for food and nutraceutical products with functional properties that are respectful of the environment. Agro-industrial by-products are a profitable source for obtaining bioactive compounds, with various biological properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties, which contribute to immunity and reduce the negative effects of infections, inflammation, and oxidative stress. In the particular case of the walnut oil industry, various by-products are generated, among which we can mention pomace, green shell, shell, skin and leaves. Therefore, there is an opportunity for the recovery of waste, the recovery of target molecules and the formulation of new products, whether they are nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, or food additives, contributing to the circular economy and consumer health. The nut is commonly characterized by its high content of lipids (58 - 65%), mainly polyunsaturated fatty acids, tocopherols and phytosterols. In addition, the current literature states that its by-products are rich in phenolic compounds, mainly phenolic acids and flavonoids, for example total phenolic concentrations in the range 74 to 410 mg/g of GAE/FW are reported. In accordance, it is reported that the antioxidant potential of different extracts of nuts, shells and leaves was studied using different methods such as the reduction potency assay, scavenging effect of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and inhibition of lipid oxidation by β-carotene linoleate system, with EC₅₀ values less than 1 mg/mL. The results obtained showed that all walnut extracts have a strong antioxidant capacity against ROS species. For this reason, this work focuses on the bibliographic review of the bioactive compounds present in the by-products of the walnut (Juglans regia) industry, as well as mentioning their biological properties and possible applications in the food industry.