Recent Advances in Food Nutrition & Agriculture - Volume 14, Issue 3, 2023

Dietary patterns, nutrition, physical activity, air pollution, tobacco smoke, ethnicity and genetics affect heart disease. Vegetarian food diets are one of the important factors in its prevention and control. People living in the five blue zones, mostly consuming the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), have the highest longevity in the world and the least incidence of heart disease. There are several forms of heart pathology, e.g., the most common coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, heart valve disease and abnormal heart rhythms. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world and varies by race, where indigenous and people of color have a higher risk for its complications than the white population. The morbidity of cardiovascular pathology in the Afro-American community persists high and is a primary source of disparities in life expectancy between Afro-Americans and whites in the United States. Adherence to healthy diets higher in vegetable foods and lower in animal foods is correlated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, morbidity and mortality in the general population. A detailed literature review was performed of the Medline, EMBASE, and Ebsco databases to synthesize and compare evidence on this topic to produce a review of the importance of a Mediterranean diet in the prevention of heart disease. Consumption of a MedDiet consisting of fruits and vegetables (including berries due to their high fibre and antioxidant content), nuts, whole grains, leafy greens, beans like chickpeas, eggplants, Greek yogurt and extra virgin olive oil are associated with longer life and lower incidence of heart disease. The latter diet is superior to consuming large quantities of meat and refined carbohydrates, such as sucrose, high fructose corn syrup and grains that have had the fibrous and nutritious parts removed.

Humans and many other creatures depend on agriculture for survival, but it is impossible to cultivate without the use of pesticides. Different types of harmful organism or pest exists in every agricultural crop. Synthetic pesticides are widely utilised around the world as a solution to this problem, but there are drawbacks associated with their application, the most significant of which are the severe negative impacts on ecosystems and human health. Organically made pesticides should be used instead of synthetic pesticides to reduce their harmful effects. Unlike chemical pesticides, natural pesticides do not cause any harm to non-target creatures and are inexpensive. Most botanical pesticides degrade rapidly, usually in only a few days but sometimes may even take hour. One of the most promising approaches to reducing pesticide pollution and protecting crops, food, and the environment is to use botanical insecticides. Beneficial insects such as earthworms are much less likely to be killed by biopesticides. The source of herbal insecticides is herbal plants. Each plant has distinct effect since every plant have their own chemical constituent. This review explains about numerous herbs and shrubs that feature distinct insecticidal, pesticidal and repelling effect. Insecticidal activity is discovered in a broad variety of herbal plants, and this review analyses those plants in detail, defining the major active ingredient responsible for these effects.

Background: Beetroot is a remarkable source of nutrients needed for the improvement of human health. This paper presents a general overview of beetroot, its bioactive compounds, and its valorization.Objective: The study aimed to understand and review the various beetroot bioactive compounds and their utilization in value-added products.Methods: The findings and data provided in this review are based on the available research investigations and authorized articles.Result: Beetroot is a reliable source of a cluster of bioactive compounds, such as betalains, ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and nitrates, which have brought it into the spotlight for the preparation of various value-added products for daily consumption for better health. These beneficial compounds show a wide range of health benefits, such as antiinflammatory activity, anti-oxidant activity, anti-anemic activity, and cancer chemopreventive activity.Conclusion: This paper has reviewed the studies focused on the utilization of beetroot concerning its varied composition of nutraceutical components. This review briefly accounts for the different bioactive compound extraction methods that are immensely helpful in the food and health industries. The advantages and disadvantages of these extractions are also taken into consideration. There is a wide range of value-added products currently in the market that are generated from the addition of beetroot for the improvement of nutritional as well as sensory attributes of the final products.

Background: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a common antimalarial drug that has been used effectively in the treatment of various rheumatic and auto-immunity diseases. The major side effects and drawbacks associated with HCQ are cardiotoxicity, retinopathy, gastrointestinal upset, and neuromyopathy however, cardiotoxicity is an increasing concern and it is critical to avoid heart dysfunction induced by HCQ. The present work is focused on receptor and signaling molecules associated with pathways attributing to drug-induced cardiotoxicity. We analyzed the therapeutic efficacy of selected natural products in HCQ-induced cardiotoxicity through insilico. We selected Syzygium cumini polyphenols, quercetin, and p-coumaric acid. The motivation behind selecting quercetin, and p-coumaric acid is their wide applicability as an antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and cardioprotective.Methods: For predicting quercetin, p-coumaric acid, and HCQ toxicity and physicochemical properties, in silico studies were performed using ProTox II and Swiss ADME. We further performed molecular docking using Autodock Vina and Discovery Studio visualizer to find the affinity of selected polyphenols against signaling molecules and receptors. Then we performed network pharmacological studies of selected signaling molecules.Results: We analyzed that the computational method indicated quercetin (Δ G -9.3 kcal/mol) has greater binding affinity than p-Coumaric acid for prevention and restoration of the disease while hydroxychloroquine was taken as a control.Conclusion: It can be concluded that Syzygium cumini, polyphenols may aid in the future therapeutic potential against HCQ-induced cardiotoxicity.

Objective: The ongoing pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2019 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused an immense public health crisis worldwide. Emerging evidence has suggested that inflammatory response plays a critical role in the pathogenesis and prognosis of the disease. As vitamin D can modulate the immune system, this study has been designed to correlate vitamin D with inflammatory and prognostic markers in COVID-19 patients.Methods: The present study is a retrospective study examining the relationship between vitamin D levels and inflammatory markers in the COVID-19 disease. COVID-19 patients who were investigated for vitamin D, ferritin, D-dimer, C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) level were only included. The patients were divided into hypovitaminosis D, and normal vitamin D. Correlation and logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify the strength and association of hypovitaminosis D with inflammatory markers in COVID-19 disease.Results: The hypovitaminosis D group had significantly higher inflammatory markers compared to the normal vitamin D group. The correlation between hypovitaminosis D and procalcitonin was negative (r = -0.433), with a strong and significant association (p = 0.002). The correlation between hypovitaminosis D, CRP, and ferritin was weak and insignificant. The logistic regression between hypovitaminosis D and procalcitonin established a significant regression equation, leading to a significant linear model.Conclusion: This study concludes that patients with hypovitaminosis D should be treated with vitamin D therapy to reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease.