Lycopene-rich cream obtained via high-pressure homogenisation of tomato processing residues in a water–oil mixture

Tomato processing residues are still rich in bioactive compounds that may be recovered and reused, with environmental and economic benefits. This short communication discloses for the first time that the high-pressure homogenisation (HPH) treatment of tomato residues in the presence of water and sunflower oil is able to promote the extraction of bioactive compounds concurrently to the formation of an oil-in-water emulsion stabilised by the micronized residues. The mechanical disruption effect of HPH improved the mass transfer of lycopene into the oil phase, and formed fine fibrous debris, improving stabilisation and visual appearance of the emulsion. Results showed a progressive increase of lycopene concentration in the cream phase up to 5 HPH passes and a concurrent reduction of its content in the pellet. Total polyphenols content and antioxidant activity in the aqueous phase gradually decreased when increasing the number of passes, suggesting their progressive transfer in the cream phase. The proposed process that relies on a purely physical treatment and uses only water/sunflower oil as extraction media resulted in the production of a lycopene-rich cream of potential use as a functional food ingredient.     

Strategies to Modulate Specialized Metabolism in Mediterranean Crops: From Molecular Aspects to Field

Plant specialized metabolites (SMs) play an important role in the interaction with the environment and are part of the plant defense response. These natural products are volatile, semi-volatile and non-volatile compounds produced from common building blocks deriving from primary metabolic pathways and rapidly evolved to allow a better adaptation of plants to environmental cues. Specialized metabolites include terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, glucosinolates, tannins, resins, etc. that can be used as phytochemicals, food additives, flavoring agents and pharmaceutical compounds. This review will be focused on Mediterranean crop plants as a source of SMs, with a special attention on the strategies that can be used to modulate their production, including abiotic stresses, interaction with beneficial soil microorganisms and novel genetic approaches.     

Efficiency of ITS Sequences for DNA Barcoding in Passiflora (Passifloraceae)

DNA barcoding is a technique for discriminating and identifying species using short, variable, and standardized DNA regions. Here, we tested for the first time the performance of plastid and nuclear regions as DNA barcodes in Passiflora. This genus is a largely variable, with more than 900 species of high ecological, commercial, and ornamental importance. We analyzed 1034 accessions of 222 species representing the four subgenera of Passiflora and evaluated the effectiveness of five plastid regions and three nuclear datasets currently employed as DNA barcodes in plants using barcoding gap, applied similarity-, and tree-based methods. The plastid regions were able to identify less than 45% of species, whereas the nuclear datasets were efficient for more than 50% using “best match” and “best close match” methods of TaxonDNA software. All subgenera presented higher interspecific pairwise distances and did not fully overlap with the intraspecific distance, and similarity-based methods showed better results than tree-based methods. The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region presented a higher discrimination power than the other datasets and also showed other desirable characteristics as a DNA barcode for this genus. Therefore, we suggest that this region should be used as a starting point to identify Passiflora species.     

Current technologies and new insights for the recovery of high valuable compounds from fruits by-products

The recovery of high valuable compounds from food waste is becoming a tighten issue in food processing. The large amount of non-edible residues produced by food industries causes pollution, difficulties in the management, and economic loss. The waste produced during the transformation of fruits includes a huge amount of materials such as peels, seeds, and bagasse, whose disposal usually represents a problem. Research over the past 20 years revealed that many food wastes could serve as a source of potentially valuable bioactive compounds, such as antioxidants and vitamins with increasing scientific interest thanks to their beneficial effects on human health. The challenge for the recovery of these compounds is to find the most appropriate and environment friendly extraction technique able to achieve the maximum extraction yield without compromising the stability of the extracted products. Based on this scenario, the aim of the current review is twofold. The first is to give a brief overview of the most important bioactive compounds occurring in fruit wastes. The second is to describe the pro and cons of the most up-to-dated innovative and environment friendly extraction technologies that can be an alternative to the classical solvent extraction procedures for the recovery of valuable compounds from fruit processing. Furthermore, a final section will take into account published findings on the combination of some of these technologies to increase the extracts yields of bioactives.     

SGLT2is and Renal Protection: From Biological Mechanisms to Real-World Clinical Benefits

In recent years, following the publication of results from several RCTs, first on cardiovascular and more recently on renal outcomes, SGLT2is have become the standard of care to prevent diabetic kidney disease and slow its progression. This narrative review focuses on biological mechanisms, both renal and extrarenal, underlying kidney protection with SGLT2is. Furthermore, data from cardiovascular as well as renal outcome trials, mostly conducted in diabetic patients, are presented and discussed to provide an overview of current uses as well as the future therapeutic potential of these drugs.     

A Deep Learning Approach to Clustering Visual Arts

International Journal of Computer Vision - Clustering artworks is difficult for several reasons. On the one hand, recognizing meaningful patterns based on domain knowledge and visual perception is...     

Hydrogen photocatalytic production from the self-assembled films of PAH/PAA/TiO2 supported on bacterial cellulose membranes

The issues related to renewable energy sources is a matter of great worldwide appeal due to the increasing energy demand, instability in oil prices and environmental problems. In this context, the purpose of this study was to prepare self-assembled films of polyallylamine hydrochloride and poly (acrylic acid) supported onto bacterial cellulose membranes by a layer-by-layer approach with titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles and different concentrations of gold for application in hydrogen gas (H₂) production by photocatalysis. The influence of the gold concentration and the presence and size of the gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), as well as the surface and thickness of the films on H₂ production was investigated. The results showed that the film, prepared with a lower concentration of gold, presented the smallest Au NPs and, therefore, greater contact with the TiO₂ nanoparticle surfaces, producing more H₂. By analyzing the variation in all the experimental parameters used in the preparation of the films, it can be concluded that the best H₂ production achieved was 29.12 μmol h^?1 cm².     

Derivation of imperfect interface models coupling damage and temperature

In this paper we introduce a model describing a layered structure composed by two thermoelastic adherents and a thin adhesive subject to a degradation process. By an asymptotic expansion method, we derive a model of imperfect interface coupling damage and temperature evolution. Moreover, assuming that the behaviour of the adhesive is ruled by two different regimes, one in traction and one in compression, we derive a second limit model where unilateral contact conditions on the interface are also included.