Molecular Nutrition and Food Research

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a ubiquitous mycotoxin produced by fungi of improperly stored food products. OTA is nephrotoxic and is suspected of being the main etiological agent responsible for human Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) and associated urinary tract tumours. Striking similarities between OTA‐induced porcine nephropathy in pigs and BEN in humans are observed. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified OTA as a possible human carcinogen (group 2B). Currently, the mode of carcinogenic action by OTA is unknown. OTA is genotoxic following oxidative metabolism. This activity is thought to play a central role in OTA‐mediated carcinogenesis and may be divided into direct (covalent DNA adduction) and indirect (oxidative DNA damage) mechanisms of action. Evidence for a direct mode of genotoxicity has been derived from the sensitive³²P‐postlabelling assay. OTA facilitates guanine‐specific DNA adductsin vitroand in rat and pig kidney orally dosed, one adduct comigrates with a synthetic carbon (C)‐bonded C8‐dG OTA adduct standard. In this paper, our current understanding of OTA toxicity and carcinogenicity are reviewed. The available evidence suggests that OTA is a genotoxic carcinogen by induction of oxidative DNA lesions coupled with direct DNA adductsviaquinone formation. This mechanism of action should be used to establish acceptable intake levels of OTA from human food sources.

Protein oxidation in living tissues is known to play an essential role in the pathogenesis of relevant degenerative diseases, whereas the occurrence and impact of protein oxidation (Pox) in food systems have been ignored for decades. Currently, the increasing interest among food scientists in this topic has led to highlight the influence that Pox may have on meat quality and human nutrition. Recent studies have contributed to solid scientific knowledge regarding basic oxidation mechanisms, and in advanced methodologies to accurately assess Pox in food systems. Some of these studies have provided insight into the reactions involved in the oxidative modifications undergone by muscle proteins. Moreover, a variety of products derived from oxidized muscle proteins, including cross‐links and carbonyls, have been identified. The impact of oxidation on protein functionality and on specific meat quality traits has also been addressed. Some other recent studies have shed light on the complex interaction mechanisms between myofibrillar proteins and certain redox‐active compounds such as tocopherols and phenolic compounds. This paper is devoted to review the most relevant findings on the occurrence and consequences of Pox in muscle foods. The efficiency of different anti‐oxidant strategies against the oxidation of muscle proteins is also reported.

Các loại quả mọng ăn được, nguồn cung cấp anthocyanin tự nhiên, đã thể hiện một loạt các chức năng sinh y học đa dạng. Những chức năng này bao gồm các rối loạn tim mạch, căng thẳng oxy hóa do tuổi tác, phản ứng viêm, và nhiều bệnh thoái hóa khác nhau. Anthocyanin từ quả mọng cũng cải thiện chức năng thần kinh và nhận thức của não, sức khỏe thị giác cũng như bảo vệ sự toàn vẹn của DNA. Chương này trình bày những lợi ích mang lại của việt quất dại, việt quất đen, mạn việt quất, quả cơm cháy, hạt mâm xôi và dâu tây trong việc bảo vệ sức khỏe con người và phòng ngừa bệnh tật. Hơn nữa, chương này sẽ thảo luận về các lợi ích dược học của sự kết hợp mới của các chiết xuất quả mọng được lựa chọn gọi là OptiBerry, một hỗn hợp của việt quất dại, việt quất đen, mạn việt quất, quả cơm cháy, hạt mâm xôi và dâu tây, và tiềm năng của nó so với từng loại quả mọng riêng lẻ. Các nghiên cứu gần đây tại phòng thí nghiệm của chúng tôi đã chứng minh rằng OptiBerry có hiệu quả chống oxy hóa cao, như thể hiện qua chỉ số năng lực hấp thụ gốc tự do oxy (ORAC) cao, hoạt tính mới chống tạo mạch máu và chống xơ vữa động mạch, cũng như tiềm năng độc tính đối với Helicobacter pylori, một vi sinh vật nguy hiểm gây ra các bệnh rối loạn tiêu hóa khác nhau bao gồm loét tá tràng và ung thư dạ dày, khi so sánh với từng chiết xuất quả mọng riêng lẻ. OptiBerry cũng ức chế đáng kể việc phiên mã MCP-1 nền và NF-κβ gây cảm ứng, cũng như biomarker viêm IL-8, và giảm đáng kể khả năng hình thành u máu và giảm rõ rệt sự phát triển khối u do tế bào EOMA gây ra trong mô hình in vivo. Nhìn chung, anthocyanin từ quả mọng kích hoạt tín hiệu gene trong việc tăng cường sức khỏe con người và phòng ngừa bệnh tật.

The article gives an overview of phytic acid in food and of its significance for human nutrition. It summarises phytate sources in foods and discusses problems of phytic acid/phytate contents of food tables. Data on phytic acid intake are evaluated and daily phytic acid intake depending on food habits is assessed. Degradation of phytate during gastro‐intestinal passage is summarised, the mechanism of phytate interacting with minerals and trace elements in the gastro‐intestinal chyme described and the pathway of inositol phosphate hydrolysis in the gut presented. The present knowledge of phytate absorption is summarised and discussed. Effects of phytate on mineral and trace element bioavailability are reported and phytate degradation during processing and storage is described. Beneficial activities of dietary phytate such as its effects on calcification and kidney stone formation and on lowering blood glucose and lipids are reported. The antioxidative property of phytic acid and its potentional anticancerogenic activities are briefly surveyed. Development of the analysis of phytic acid and other inositol phosphates is described, problems of inositol phosphate determination and detection discussed and the need for standardisation of phytic acid analysis in foods argued.

Tannins are a unique group of phenolic metabolites with molecular weights between 500 and 30 000 Da, which are widely distributed in almost all plant foods and beverages. Proanthocyanidins and hydrolysable tannins are the two major groups of these bioactive compounds, but complex tannins containing structural elements of both groups and specific tannins in marine brown algae have also been described. Most literature data on food tannins refer only to oligomeric compounds that are extracted with aqueous‐organic solvents, but a significant number of non‐extractable tannins are usually not mentioned in the literature. The biological effects of tannins usually depend on their grade of polymerisation and solubility. Highly polymerised tannins exhibit low bioaccessibility in the small intestine and low fermentability by colonic microflora. This review summarises a new approach to analysis of extractable and non‐extractable tannins, major food sources, and effects of storage and processing on tannin content and bioavailability. Biological properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiviral effects are also described. In addition, the role of tannins in diabetes mellitus has been discussed.

The aim of this review is to give a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on plant metabolites of mycotoxins, also called masked mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites, toxic to human and animals. Toxigenic fungi often grow on edible plants, thus contaminating food and feed. Plants, as living organisms, can alter the chemical structure of mycotoxins as part of their defence against xenobiotics. The extractable conjugated or non‐extractable bound mycotoxins formed remain present in the plant tissue but are currently neither routinely screened for in food nor regulated by legislation, thus they may be considered masked. Fusarium mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, fumonisins, nivalenol, fusarenon‐X, T‐2 toxin, HT‐2 toxin, fusaric acid) are prone to metabolisation or binding by plants, but transformation of other mycotoxins by plants (ochratoxin A, patulin, destruxins) has also been described. Toxicological data are scarce, but several studies highlight the potential threat to consumer safety from these substances. In particular, the possible hydrolysis of masked mycotoxins back to their toxic parents during mammalian digestion raises concerns. Dedicated chapters of this article address plant metabolism as well as the occurrence of masked mycotoxins in food, analytical aspects for their determination, toxicology and their impact on stakeholders.

Blue‐green algae are found in lakes, ponds, rivers and brackish waters throughout the world. In case of excessive growth such as bloom formation, these bacteria can produce inherent toxins in quantities causing toxicity in mammals, including humans. These cyanotoxins include cyclic peptides and alkaloids. Among the cyclic peptides are the microcystins and the nodularins. The alkaloids include anatoxin‐a, anatoxin‐a(S), cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxins (STXs), aplysiatoxins and lyngbyatoxin. Both biological and chemical methods are used to determine cyanotoxins. Bioassays and biochemical assays are nonspecific, so they can only be used as screening methods. HPLC has some good prospects. For the subsequent detection of these toxins different detectors may be used, ranging from simple UV‐spectrometry via fluorescence detection to various types of MS. The main problem in the determination of cyanobacterial toxins is the lack of reference materials of all relevant toxins. In general, toxicity data on cyanotoxins are rather scarce. A majority of toxicity data are known to be of microcystin‐LR. For nodularins, data from a few animal studies are available. For the alkaloids, limited toxicity data exist for anatoxin‐a, cylindrospermopsin and STX. Risk assessment for acute exposure could be relevant for some types of exposure. Nevertheless, no acute reference doses have formally been derived thus far. For STX(s), many countries have established tolerance levels in bivalves, but these limits were set in view of STX(s) as biotoxins, accumulating in marine shellfish. Official regulations for other cyanotoxins have not been established, although some (provisional) guideline values have been derived for microcystins in drinking water by WHO and several countries.

Tea leaves produce organic compounds that may be involved in the defense of the plants against invading pathogens including insects, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. These metabolites include polyphenolic compounds, the six so‐called catechins, and the methyl‐xanthine alkaloids caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline. Postharvest inactivation of phenol oxidases in green tea leaves prevents oxidation of the catechins, whereas postharvest enzyme‐catalyzed oxidation (fermentation) of catechins in tea leaves results in the formation of four theaflavins as well as polymeric thearubigins. These substances impart the black color to black teas. Black and partly fermented oolong teas contain both classes of phenolic compounds. A need exists to develop a better understanding of the roles of polyphenolic tea compounds in food and medical microbiology. This overview surveys and interprets our present knowledge of activities of tea flavonoids and teas against foodborne and other pathogenic bacteria, virulent protein toxins produced by some of the bacteria, virulent bacteriophages, pathogenic viruses and fungi. Also covered are synergistic, mechanistic, and bioavailability aspects of the antimicrobial effects. Further research is suggested for each of these categories. The herein described findings are not only of fundamental interest, but also have practical implications for nutrition, food safety, and animal and human health.