Current Nutrition & Food Science - Volume 10, Issue 4, 2014

Obesity is associated with many complicated health problems, especially insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and other metabolic disorders. Pharmacological treatments for obesity and T2DM with prolonged treatment duration have been losing their effectiveness. As a result, alternative treatments have gained momentum to treat such type of diseases. Now-a-days, research has been focused towards use of different herbs such as Aloe vera for the treatment of metabolic disorders as they have been used since time immemorial in therapies such as Ayruveda and others. Researchers have used various solvents such as water, alcohol, chloroform and methanol to extract the bioactive compounds from Aloe vera. In this paper, an attempt has been made to review the bioactive components of Aloe vera as influenced by extracting solvents and their application in the management of obesity and diabetes in animal and human studies.

The health promoting effects of probiotics have been well established. World Health Organization (WHO) advocates utilization of prophylactic and therapeutic potential of probiotics. Probiotics are live microorganisms (single/ mixed cultures) which impart multiple health benefits to the consumer animals or humans. Probiotics include different lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus sp.), Bifidobacterium, and the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii, among several others. Demand of probiotics has increased in recent years due to enhanced availability of evidences for health benefits. Isolation of novel strains of probiotics with proficient health benefitting characteristics has gained immense research impetus considering that health benefits of probiotics cannot be generalized i.e. health benefitting attributes earmarked in one strain or species may not be necessarily present in other members of genus/species or strains. Therefore, bioprospecting of novel probiotic strains from unexplored ecological niches could be advantageous for targeting novel strains with potential functional characteristics for future applications in food/pharmaceutical industries. In addition, this practice may help investigating taxonomic characteristics of microbial isolates/strains for potentially novel biotechnological applications. Sources for isolation of probiotics could be immensely diverse e.g. traditional fermented foods, plant, animal, human and marine sources. Proficient probiotics must possess certain desired characteristics like ability to survive in the gut environment, adhesion ability in intestine, antagonistic potential against pathogens, devoid of antibiotic resistance, exopolysaccharide producing ability, among others. Furthermore, should a single organism not possess all such desired features, a combination may be used as probiotics. Current article describes the recent developments in the area of bioprospecting of probiotics.

The adulteration of milk with melamine in China in 2008 caused worldwide alarm over the use of unwanted chemicals in food. The melamine waste polluted the soil and this further resulted in health hazards. This study investigated the hazards of melamine wastes which are used as fertilizers. A cultivation experiment was designed to determine the contents of melamine in the plants and soil where melamine had been used as a fertilizer. The results showed that melamine detected in the first round of the harvested plants was 22.3 ± 4.8 ppm and that in the second round of the harvested plants it was 41.1 ± 16.7 ppm. In both of these situations the U.S.A.’s Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) limit was exceeded. The soil residue contained a very high concentration of melamine, reaching a level of 235.1 ± 91.3 ppm. Melamine functions as a good fertilizer, comparable to urea. However, the plants absorbed the melamine, and the melamine content was higher than the level which is recommended as acceptable by the FDA. Our study supported the legitimate concern about melamine contamination in crops where melamine wastes have been used as a fertilizer. The toxic material remaining in the soil was a major concern.

The physicochemical characteristics of seed and oil of six varieties/lines of safflower cultivated in Iran and comparison of type and amount of oil and their classification to oleic (Saffola) or linoleic acid group were investigated. Varieties/lines of Iranian safflower including Goldasht (IL.III, a spring variety), Mahali Isfehan, Isfehan 14, Isfehan 28 (a spring line), Padide (LRV, a fall variety) and Sina (PI, a day land variety) were provided and characteristics of safflower seeds (oil, protein, ash, moisture and fiber contents) and their extracted oil (iodine, saponification and acid values, fatty acid profile, α-, β-, γ- and δ-tocopherol, tocotrienols and β-carotene) were studied. Results indicated that the studied samples were only linoleic safflower (not oleic safflower). Iranian safflower varieties/lines have the highest amount of omega; -6 (71.99 - 75.78) in comparison with other oil sources which is a valuable and essential fatty acid. Goldasht and Mahali Isfehan lines as a natural antioxidant (α-tocopherol: 346.25 – 376.83%; β-tocopherol: 54.29 – 52.89%; β-carotene: 8.53 – 8.1%, respectively) were mixed at two levels of 2 and 5% with soybean oil (without any antioxidant) and their shelf lives were determined by peroxide, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and Rancimat indices at 0, 5, 10 and 15 days and were compared with control. Statistical results did not show any antioxidant effect in shelf life of soybean oil at more days. This means that the safflower antioxidant compounds were not migrated completely to its oil.

Aspartame is rapidly and completely metabolized in humans and experimental animals to aspartic acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%) and methanol (10%). Methanol, a toxic metabolite is primarily metabolized by oxidation to formaldehyde and then to formate these processes are accompanied by the formation of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide. This study focuses on whether the oral administration of aspartame (40 mg/kg.bw/day) for 15-days and 30- days, has any effect on membrane bound ATPase, ‘Marker’ enzymes (ALP, ALT, ACP, AST &LDH) some selective liver and kidney function parameter and antioxidant status in liver and kidney of rats. To mimic human methanol metabolism, folate deficient rats were used. After 15-days of aspartame administration, there was no change observed in kidney, however liver showed a significant decrease in membrane bound ATPase enzyme (Na+/k+, Mg2+ & Ca2+), marker enzymes (ALP, ALT, AST & LDH) and significant increase in marker enzymes (ACP), antioxidant enzyme level. However, after aspartame administration for30-days, liver and kidney both showed a significant decrease in membrane bound ATPase enzyme( Na+k+, Mg2+ & Ca2+), marker enzymes (ALP, ALT, AST & LDH) and decrease of antioxidant enzyme level in liver and significant increase in marker enzymes (ACP) and antioxidant enzyme level in kidney. This study concludes that oral administration of aspartame (40mg/kg.bw/day) for longer duration may induce oxidative stress by aspartame metabolite methanol and can damage both liver and kidney. The liver was found to be more sensitive than kidney to oxidative stress, as also reflected by the histology of liver and kidney.

Leucine supplementation exerts a positive effect on mTOR pathway that is involved in the synthesis of skeletal muscle protein. In the present study, the capability of a 15-day dietary leucine supplementation (310 mg/kg) to improve the performance in acute high intensity effort and the inductive capacity on skeletal muscle protein anabolism in rats submitted to swimming exercise with a 10% bodyweight load attached to the tail, were studied. A 1.83-fold increase in mTOR gene expression in the treated group was found, while no changes in muscle protein content and rats body weight were observed. An increase in protein oxidation and a significant decrease in catalase were found in treated rats, while no changes in DNA damage, GSH and SOD levels were reported. We found an increase of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide/myeloperoxidase system in polymorphonuclear neutrophils obtained by treated group. These outcomes suggest slight enhancement in basal inflammation due to exercise activity via mTOR activation during treatment, without serious impairment of the antioxidant system and cell status. In conclusion, the 15-day leucine supplementation at the given dose, enhanced mTOR gene expression in the presence of acute effort which was also well tolerated by skeletal muscle, but probably too short to improve its anabolic activity.

Dietary deficiency of calcium is widespread, so supplements as therapeutics or prophylactics for skeletal development and osteoporosis are common. Supplements of iron, lower in the activity series, create oxidative stress (OS) in the gastrointestinal tract. Both elements interact, and Ca supplements inhibit short-term iron absorption. However, studies are lacking for longitudinal effect of short-term calcium supplementation on OS markers in healthy previously unsupplemented women, relative to their blood calcium and iron panels. Present study assessed effect of short-term (30 days), high-dose (1000 mg/day) calcium supplementation to 25 unsupplemented premenopausal women on Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and circulating iron and calcium panels. Circulating Phosphorus (P) (13.46%), hemoglobin (Hb) (7.32%), hematocrit (Hct) (8.02%), plasma iron (PI) (7.65%), transferrin saturation (TS) (9.65%) decreased consistently in majority of respondents and Ca (4.91%), Total-Iron-Binding-Capacity (TIBC) (2.26%), Unsaturated- Iron-Binding-Capacity (UIBC) (7.48%), MDA (30.1%) and SOD (58.59%) increased. Short-term, high-dose calcium supplementation perturbed the blood levels of Ca, P and Ca/P, without alteration beyond known homeostatic ranges. These changes were accompanied by effects on Hb, Hct and iron panels. Increased TIBC and decreased TS indicated reduced intestinal iron absorption, attributable to high local calcium. Rise in MDA indicated OS but antioxidant metallozyme SOD also increased, indicating an adaptive response to ameliorate OS related damage.

The present study investigates the effect of consumption of coconut oil (CO) mixed with erucic acid rich rapeseeds which induced a significant change of blood serum lipids in rats. After 6 weeks of feeding to Wistar rats, body weight gain, food efficiency ratio (FER) and serum lipid profile such as Total cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TG), High density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were determined. Rapeseed reduced the body weight and FER whereas TC, TG, and LDL were increased. But coconut oil causes significant increase in body weight gain, FER and decreased serum TC, TG and LDL activities. In addition, the mixture of both oil supplements decreased body weight gain, FER and serum TC, TG and LDL activities, the results demonstrated the effects of coconut oil in lowering lipids levels in serum and it also protects the toxic effect of rapeseed.

Cooked beans of two wild legumes (Canavalia cathartica and C. maritima) were subjected to solid-substrate fermentation by Rhizopus oligosporus and bioactive potential has been compared with raw and cooked beans. Flavonoids and canavanine in raw beans were significantly decreased on cooking, while they were significantly enhanced in fermented beans. Phytic acid content was signficantlty decreased from raw vs. cooked vs. fermented beans. Raw, cooked and fermented beans were devoid of trypsin inhibitors. Hemagglutinin activity of raw beans was completely eliminated on cooking, while SSF increased its activity about 50% of raw beans against A+ve and or B+ve blood groups. Solid-substrate fermentation of cooked beans with R. oligosporus resulted in better nutraceutical potential compared to raw and mearly cooked beans qualifying as important nutraceutical source to develop indigenous value-added products.

The Leaf Protein Concentrate (LPC) was isolated from the leaves of Girardinia heterophylla found in the Mussoorie hills of Uttarakhand (India). Results of proximate analysis for nitrogen, protein, fat, ash and carbohydrate in appreciable quantities revealed its possible use as non-conventional protein source. LPC is an important characteristic, which establishes the usefulness of leaves of this plant as animal fodder for better milk production and also as nutritionally rich source of protein for human consumption.