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‘Abate Fétel’, a winter cultivar, is the most important pear cultivar in Italy; its fruits are appreciated by consumers for their aroma, texture and balanced sweet and sour taste. Maintaining high-quality characteristics to prolong the shelf-life of fruit and preserve the sensory and nutritional quality is a priority for the food industry. The aim of our study was to test the effectiveness of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and cold storage in prolonging the shelf-life of these fruits, which were harvested at maturity at two different times. This work focused on the effects of different storage treatments and two ripening times on (i) the chemical composition of Abate Fétel pulp fruits to preserve their sweet taste and aroma and (ii) the phenolic profile composition and antioxidant activity of the peel, which is naturally rich in phytochemicals and important for the fruit’s shelf-life and in the functional food industry for its high nutritional value. Abate Fétel fruits were harvested at the optimal commercial maturity stage, first on 15 September, having been treated with 1-MCP and stored for 2 months at cold temperatures; the other fruits were harvested at the end of September and stored in a cold cell for 2 months. The fruit pulp was tested for glucose and fructose, pH, acidity and organic acids (malic, citric, fumaric and shikimic), phenolic content and phenolic compounds (chlorogenic and caffeic acids, rutin, hyperoside, kaempferol-3-rutinoside and isoquercitrin), and the antioxidant activities in the fruit peels were measured. Treating the fruits with 1-MCP better preserved the phytochemical compounds compared to simple refrigeration, preserving the fruit’s quality and prolonging its shelf-life. All the treatments help to maintain the glucose and fructose content and the acidity, preserving the aroma and organoleptic characteristics.

Voghiera garlic is an Italian white garlic variety which obtained in 2010 the Protected Designation of Origin. It is widely used for culinary purposes or as an ingredient for supplement production due to its phytochemical compositions. The storage conditions seem to be crucial to retain the high quality of garlic bulbs and their by-products, taking into account the high importance of organosulfur and phenolic compounds for the bioactive potency of garlic and its shelf-life. This study aims to examine the effect of storage on the phytochemical composition, biological effects, and shelf-life of Voghiera garlic PDO. In detail, we considered (i) −4 °C (industrial storage) for 3, 6, and 9 months; (ii) +4 °C for 3 months (home conservation), and (iii) −4 °C for 3 months, plus +4 °C for another 3 months. We focused our attention on the organosulfur compounds, total condensed tannins, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and related antioxidant activity changes during the storage period. To evaluate the bioactive effects, the Voghiera garlic extracts at different storage conditions were administered to a breast cancer cell line, while antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity was detected using macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. We observed a decrease in sulfur compounds after 6 months which correlated to a decrease in bioactive effects, while the number of antioxidant compounds was stable during the storage period, showing the good effect of refrigerated temperature in maintaining garlic bulb shelf-life.

Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant molecule. In the human diet, its most important source is in Vitis vinifera grape peel and leaves. Resveratrol exists in two isoforms, cis- and trans. The diastereomeric forms of many drugs have been reported as affecting their activity. The aim of this study was to set up a cellular model to investigate how far resveratrol could counteract cytotoxicity in an oxidant agent. For this purpose, a keratinocyte cell line, which was genetically engineered with jelly fish green fluorescent protein, was treated with the free radical promoter Cumene hydroperoxide. The antioxidant activity of the trans-resveratrol and its diastereomeric mixture was evaluated indirectly in these treated fluorescent-engineered keratinocytes by analyzing the cell number and cell proliferation index. Our results demonstrate that cells, which were pre-incubated with resveratrol, reverted the oxidative damage progression induced by this free radical agent. In conclusion, fluorescent-engineered human keratinocytes represent a rapid and low-cost cellular model to determine cell numbers by studying emitted fluorescence. Comparative studies carried out with fluorescent keratinocytes indicate that trans-resveratrol is more efficient than diastereomeric mixtures in protecting cells from the oxidative stress.

The aim of the present research was to obtain antioxidant compounds through the fermentation of fish byproducts by bacteria isolated from sea bass viscera. To that purpose, bacteria from sea bass stomach, intestine, and colon were isolated. With the selected bacteria, growing research was undertaken, fermenting different broths prepared with sea bass meat or byproducts. After the fermentation, the antioxidant activity, phenolic acids, and some proteins were evaluated. The main phenolic acids obtained were DL-3-phenyl-lactic acid and benzoic acid at a maximum concentration of 466 and 314 ppb, respectively. The best antioxidant activity was found in the extracts obtained after the fermentation of fish byproducts broth by bacteria isolated from the colon (6502 μM TE) and stomach (4797 μM TE). Moreover, a positive correlation was found between phenolic acids obtained after the fermentation process and the antioxidant activity of the samples. It was also concluded that the lactic acid bacteria isolated from sea bass had an important proteolytic capacity and were able to synthesize phenolic acids with antioxidant capacity. This work has shown the relevance of fermentation as a useful tool to valorize fish byproducts, giving them an added economic value and reducing their environmental impact.