Suchergebnisse

A great variety of functional foods, nutraceuticals, or foods with bioactive compounds are provided nowadays to consumers. Aware of the importance of the safety aspects, the food industry has to comply with different legal requirements around the world. In this review, the European regulatory framework for food-related bioactive compounds is summarized. The term 'bioactive compound' is not defined in the European regulations, however, since they can be part of food supplements, fortified foods, or novel food, they are included within the legal requirements of those corresponding types of foods or supplements. Lists of authorized compounds/foods appear in the correspondent regulations, however, when a new compound/food is going to be launched into the market, its safety assessment is essential. Although the responsibility for the safety of these compounds/foods lies with the food business operator placing the product on the market, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) carries out scientific evaluations to assess the risks for human health. To facilitate this procedure, different guidelines exist at the European level to explain the tier toxicity testing approach to be considered. This approach divides the evaluation into four areas: (a) toxicokinetics; (b) genotoxicity; (c) subchronic and chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity; and (d) reproductive and developmental toxicity.

In recent years, food ingredients rich in bioactive compounds have emerged as candidates to prevent excess adiposity and other metabolic complications characteristic of obesity, such as low-grade inflammation and oxidative status. Among them, fungi have gained popularity for their high polysaccharide content and other bioactive components with beneficial activities. Here, we use the C. elegans model to investigate the potential activities of a Grifola frondosa extract (GE), together with the underlying mechanisms of action. Our study revealed that GE represents an important source of polysaccharides and phenolic compounds with in vitro antioxidant activity. Treatment with our GE extract, which was found to be nongenotoxic through a SOS/umu test, significantly reduced the fat content of C. elegans, decreased the production of intracellular ROS and aging-lipofuscin pigment, and increased the lifespan of nematodes. Gene expression and mutant analyses demonstrated that the in vivo anti-obesity and antioxidant activities of GE were mediated through the daf-2/daf-16 and skn-1/nrf-2 signalling pathways, respectively. Taken together, our results suggest that our GE extract could be considered a potential functional ingredient for the prevention of obesity-related disturbances. ; This work was performed with the financial support of the CIEN project BIOPRO from "Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial" (CDTI), Ministry of Science and Innovation, Government of Spain. The authors thank ARGAL ALIMENTACIÓN S.A., ANECOOP, ELMUBAS IBÉRICA S.L.U., Bodega Matarromera S.L., Kimitec Group, Mahou San Miguel, UVESA, and Entomo AgroIndustrial for their support of this project. We also thank Bolet Ben Fet (TEB Verd SCCL., Barcelona). Finally, the authors thank LABORATORIOS CINFA, S.A. and VISCOFAN S.A for the financial support of the Center for Nutrition Research, and the CERCA Programme (Generalitat de Catalunya) for the financial support of IRTA. ; Peer reviewed

In this work, a bioactive persimmon extract was produced from discarded fruits. A central composite design was used to evaluate the effect of different extraction parameters and ripeness stages of persimmon fruits on the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the resulting extracts. Significantly greater phenolic contents were obtained from immature persimmon (IP) fruits. The optimum IP extract with the conditions set by the experimental design was industrially up-scaled and its composition and functional properties were evaluated and compared with those obtained under lab-scale conditions. Both extracts contained significant protein (>20%) and phenolic contents (∼11–27 mg GA/g dry extract) and displayed significant antiviral activity against murine norovirus and hepatitis A virus. Moreover, the extract showed no toxicity and significantly reduced the fat content and the cellular ageing of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) without affecting the worm development. These effects were mediated by down-regulation of fat-7, suggesting an anti-lipogenic activity of this extract. ; This work was financially supported by the grant RTI-2018-094268-B-C22 (MCI/AEI/FEDER, EU). Mendez D. A. is supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Minciencias) of the Colombian Government (783-2017). M. J. Fabra and A. Martinez-Abad are recipients of Ramon y Cajal (RYC-2014-158) and Juan de la Cierva (IJDC-2017-31255), respectively, from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. We also appreciate the funding of the CERCA program (Centres de Recerca de Catalunya) of the Generalitat de Catalunya and from the CIEN project "BIOPRO" from CDTI. ; Peer reviewed