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BACKGROUND: The healthy diet is important to maintain immunity against infection. This study aimed to assess and compare the consumption of functional foods, some antioxidants, and dietary inflammatory index between Iranian COVID-19 patients and healthy persons. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted between 1000 (500 cases and 500 controls) adults aged 18–65years in Iran, that were sampling based on the snowball method and their information was collected electronically. The dietary intake was assessed using the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). RESULTS: There was a significant difference (p = 0.044) in vitamin D consumption between healthy people and COVID-19 patients. Vitamin E intake in healthy participants was significantly (p = 0.041) more than COVID-19 patients. There was a significant difference in Zinc (p = 0.011), selenium (p = 0.021), and vitamin C (p = 0.023) between healthy persons and COVID-19 patients. Healthy participants' consumption of onion (56.5±7.82 g/day), garlic (4.32±0.01 g/day) and oat (6.32±0.71 g/day) was significantly (p≤0.05) more than COVID-19 patients. With the increase of each unit in the score of the dietary inflammatory index, the risk of COVID-19 incidence increased 1.63 times (OR = 1.63 95% CI: 1.54–1.72). There was an inverse association between the consumption of antioxidants and functional foods with the risk of COVID-19 incidence in the study population (p≤0.05). CONCLUSION: Healthy people consumption of antioxidants and functional foods was more than COVID-19 patients and there was a significant inverse association between the risk of COVID- 19 incidence with the consumption of functional foods and antioxidants. Increasing the dietary inflammatory index score increased the risk of COVID- 19 incidence. There is a need for further clinical trials to confirm the effect of consuming functional foods and antioxidants on the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The strawberry is an important commercial crop, the improvement of its yield and quality is an imperative task. OBJECTIVE: The present research aimed to study the effect of colored netting and foliar application of amino acids on the physiological characteristics of strawberries subjected to different irrigation intervals. METHODS: The study was carried out as a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three factors including colored net at 4 levels (no netting, green, red, and yellow netting), organic acids at 4 levels (control, humic acid, glutamine, and arginine), and three levels of irrigation intervals (2, 4, and 6 days) in the greenhouse of Lahijan Agricultural Research Station, Iran. RESULTS: The results showed that the highest leaf number, shoot weight, chlorophyll and carotenoid content were related to yellow netting. The highest fruit yield, anthocyanins, and flavonoids were observed in the treatments of no-netting, green netting, and red netting, respectively. Data for the effect of organic acids showed that the glutamine-treated plants exhibited the highest yield, the humic acid-treated plants displayed the highest anthocyanin and carotenoid content, and the arginine-treated plants demonstrated the highest vitamin C content. The irrigation interval of 6 days caused to the lowest leaf number, flower and fruit number, shoot weight, fruit yield, and carotenoid content. Data for the trilateral effect of 'netting×organic acid×irrigation' showed that the highest flower number and fruit yield were obtained from 'green netting×glutamine×4 days', the highest anthocyanin content was obtained from 'green netting×humic acid×2 days', and the highest chlorophyll content was obtained from 'green netting×control×6 days'. The treatment of 'yellow netting×control×2 days' was related to the highest flavonoid content. CONCLUSIONS: The application of colored nets provides the strawberry with more optimal vegetative and reproductive growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]