Current Nutrition & Food Science - Volume 5, Issue 3, 2009

Food refusal can have the potential to lead to nutritional deficiencies, which increases the risk of a variety of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Deciding when food refusal requires professional intervention is complicated by the fact that there is a natural and appropriate stage in a child’s development that is characterised by increased levels of rejection of both previously accepted and novel food items. Therefore, choosing to intervene is difficult, which if handled badly can lead to further food refusal and an even more limited diet. Food refusal is often based on individual preferences; however, it can also be defined through pathological behaviours that require psychological intervention. This paper presents and discusses several different types of food refusal behaviours; these are learningdependent, those that are related to a medical complication, selective food refusal, fear-based food refusal and appetiteawareness- autonomy-based food refusal. This paper describes the behaviours and characteristics that are often associated with each; however, emphasis is placed on the possibility that these different types of food refusal can often be co-morbid. The decision to offer professional intervention to the child and their family should be a holistic process based on the level of medical or psychological distress resulting from the food refusal.

There are four basic tastes, including sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Any other taste is merely combination of these four. Red berries of Synsepalum dulcificum, which is an evergreen shrub native of tropical West Africa, have a property in modifying taste by switching sour into a sweet taste remarkably, so the berry has been called miracle fruit. Among all taste proteins, there is one in particular - miraculin - which lacks taste completely when absorbed on its own but has the power of modifying a disagreeable taste into a pleasant one. The active miraculin causes citric acid, ascorbic acid, acetic acid and hydrochloric acid which are normally sour to be perceived as sweet after being held in the mouth. In this review, we demonstrated the miracle fruit development and miraculin identification, including glycosylation and protein structure. We also extracted the fruit of S. dulcificum with methanol (MeOH), and the pulp with chloroform (CHCl3), respectively. All obtained extracts were evaluated for their tyrosinase inhibition and free radical scavenging. The anti-tyrosinase effects were to calculate the hydroxylation of L-tyrosine to L-dopa according to in vitro mushroom tyrosinase assay. The antioxidant potential was evaluated using the following in vitro method: scavenging of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. This was the first time to reveal these bioactivities from this species plant to date.

The intestine harbors a complex and dynamic microbial ecosystem which plays a primary role in human physiology. Major functions of the gut flora include metabolic activities, gut trophic and protective effects and interactions between the immune system and the host. In some pathological disorders (pancreatic and liver disease, H.pylori infection, inflammatory bowel diseases, etc.), gut flora may also play an essential causal role. Finally, Artificial Nutrition induces dramatic changes in the intestinal flora which may contribute to the possible complications linked to this type of treatment. This review provides an update on the role of gut flora in some pathological conditions, and its changes during Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition.

A balanced diet is fundamental to bone homeostasis, although this is also influenced by degree of maturity, hormonal behaviour and other intrinsic factors such as race and sex, which substantially determine bone mineral density (BMD). Calcium has been shown to have a beneficial effect on bone health at all ages, individual nutritional intake of calcium is below the recommended levels in all countries and at all ages. A low intake of calcium during adolescence, a crucial period for the rapid deposit of mineral in the bone, has repercussions on the attainment of the optimum level of bone mass in adulthood, and could certainly compromise its final value. We will review, throughout this chapter, the influence of diet, the recommended intakes and alimentary models in relation to bone health at different stages of life, such as pregnancy, the menopause and old age and the well known role of nutritional insufficiency in production of bone growth changes and promotion of osteoporosis in the elderly.

After fermentation followed by distillation, whiskey is stored in oak barrels for several years to some tens of years, a process known as aging. During the aging process in oak barrels, colorless distillates turn to amber distillates and the sharp or raw odor typical of fresh whiskey distillates is modified to a rounded, soft, and mellow aroma. Various compounds such as fragrances and polyphenols in the oak are extracted by the whiskey, while water or unpleasant odors pass out of the barrels through the boards. Aging of whiskey increases the potentiation of the response of GABAA receptor, a main inhibitory neurotransmitter receptor and the target of mood-defining drugs such as tranquilizers, sleeping drugs and anesthetics. Aging of whiskey also increased 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity, i.e., antioxidative activity. The increase of acidic and phenolic components in whiskey, which is gained in oak wood barrels during aging, shifted OH-proton chemical shift values toward the lower field proportionally, suggesting that these compounds strengthened the hydrogen-bonding structure of water-ethanol in whiskey and may make the whiskey taste good. These changes of minor components in whiskey during aging might improve the flavor and taste and make aged whiskey highly valued.

Functional dairy products are usually fortified or enriched with unsaturated lipids of known positive health effects, mainly in prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The main lipids used are omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid and phytosterols. Lipid oxidation can occur during processing and storage of functional dairy products enriched with such unsaturated lipids and results in formation of undesirable offflavours and unhealthy compounds. This review highlights the importance of studying oxidative stability of functional dairy products in order to ensure the integrity of the original lipids and hence guarantee the quality and safety of functional dairy products. A survey of the recent literature shows that there is still scarce information on lipid oxidation in functional dairy products, in part due to its complexity in these multiphase food systems. Experimental protocols of most of the studies found start from enrichment of plain milk or dairy products with functional lipids, and examine oxidation along storage. Particular emphasis is placed in this review on discussion of the methods used for evaluation of oxidation. Among them, sensory evaluation is essential to ensure consumer acceptance, while quantitative analysis of non-volatile lipid oxidation compounds and antioxidants stand out as the most adequate methods to determine the lipid oxidation state in functional dairy products.

The azuki bean (Vigna angularis) has been one of the most important and traditional crops of East Asia, where it has long been cultivated. In Japan, the azuki bean is the second-most important legume after soybeans, and it is commonly used as an essential ingredient, e.g., seki-han, a festive rice dish and an, a sweetened bean paste. Azuki beans (V. angularis) have been known to contain proanthocyanidins, a group of polyphenolic bioflavonoids with remarkable radical-scavenging activities. However, little research has provided detailed discussion of the beneficial effects and physiological functions of azuki beans involved in human body. Based on our findings, the authors provide here evidence that azuki bean (V. angularis) extract—including the molecules therein, such as proanthocyanidins and/or dietary fibers— may play a role in suppressing increases of oxidative stress and macrophage infiltration in the kidneys of animal models with hypertension and hyperglycemia. Moreover, azuki bean (V. angularis) extract may affect the vascular and renal expressions of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, which contribute to nitric oxide production. This review aims to summarize findings concerning the beneficial and interesting effects of azuki beans, especially the physiological functions of azuki bean (V. angularis) extract in treating inflammation, hypertension, and diabetic nephropathy.

INTRODUCTION It's probably true that unless you keep up with subject matter in your field of expertise you are no longer in the cutting edge of the science. In my case, I seem to cringe in what one can read or hear about nutrition or health as fraud in the market place. Retirement allows me to broaden my interest in food science, related fields, marketing and ethics, thus with these guidelines I offer the following comments. FOOD SCIENCE It was not unusual for me to ask in student examinations the question: What is the title of the textbook used in this course? Provide the name of the author or authors and what credentials are offered. Many students thought such questions were unfair and many failed to answer them. It seems to me that if you use a textbook or read a scientific article shouldn’t one want to know if the authors are qualified to discuss the subject matter? When a food scientist with expertise in processing technology or food sanitation starts offering advice in the practice of medicine without a license, I question these actions, as should the consumer of such information. The editor-chief of Public Health Nutrition, Barrie Margetts, wrote in a 2006 editorial 9(2),169-173 that “scientists are privileged and our reputations depend upon trust”. Whenever we find wrongdoing in science, we have a responsibility to speak out.