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The consumption of vegetables is essential for reducing the risk of noncommunicable diseases, yet global intake falls short of recommended levels. Enhancing the nutraceutical content of vegetables through postharvest abiotic stress, such as ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, offers a promising solution to increase health benefits. This study developed a user-friendly, at-home UVB device designed to increase the phytochemical content in common vegetables like carrots, lettuce, and broccoli. The device applies UVB radiation (305–315 nm) to fresh-cut vegetables, optimizing exposure time and intensity to maximize nutraceutical enrichment. The results demonstrated that UVB exposure increased the phenolic content by 44% in carrots, 58% in broccoli, and 10% in lettuce, with chlorogenic acid levels rising by 367% in lettuce, 547% in broccoli, and 43% in carrots after 48 h of storage. UVB treatment also enhanced antioxidant activity by up to 41% in broccoli and anti-inflammatory potential by 22% in carrots. In terms of gene expression, UVB treatment upregulated UCP-1 expression by 555% in carrots, enhanced thermogenesis, and increased SIRT-1 and ATGL expression by over 200%, promoting lipid metabolism. This process provides a convenient and efficient method for consumers to boost the health benefits of their vegetables. The study concludes that UVB-induced abiotic stress is an effective strategy to improve vegetable nutritional quality, offering a novel approach to increasing bioactive compound intake and aiding in the prevention of diet-related diseases.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) is an efficient and sustainable method for extracting bioactive compounds from agro-industrial by-products. Moreover, it has been reported that ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation can induce the biosynthesis and accumulation of bioactive phenolic compounds. This study optimized the efficiency of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) for recovering ultraviolet A (UVA)-induced phenolic compounds in strawberry by-products (RF-N). The impact of three factors (solid-liquid ratio, ethanol concentration, and ultrasound power) on total phenolic compound (TPC) kinetics using Peleg’s model was investigated. The developed model showed a suitable fit for both RF-N and strawberry by-products treated with UVA (RF-E). The optimal UAE conditions obtained were of a 1:30 ratio, 46% ethanol, and 100% ultrasound power, resulting in an average yield of 13 g total phenolics kg−1. The bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds during in-vitro digestion was 36.5%, with agrimoniin being the predominant compound. UAE combined with UVA treatment increased the bioactivity of RF extracts, displaying significant anti-proliferative effects on HT29 and Caco-2 cancer cell lines, as well as anti-inflammatory potential and cellular antioxidant activity. The ultrasound proved to be a sustainable and effective technique for extracting phenolic compounds from RF, contributing to the valorization of strawberry agro-industrial by-products, and maximizing their nutraceutical potential.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus was first identified at the end of December 2019, causing the disease known as COVID-19, which, due to the high degree of contagion, was declared a global pandemic as of 2020. The end of the isolation was in 2022, thanks to the global multidisciplinary work of the massive vaccination campaigns. Even with the current knowledge about this virus and the COVID-19 disease, there are many questions and challenges regarding diagnosis and therapy in the fight against this virus. One of the big problems is the so-called "long COVID", prolonged symptomatology characterized as a multiorgan disorder manifested as brain fog, fatigue, and shortness of breath, which persist chronically after the disease resolution. Therefore, this review proposes using extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a therapeutic or diagnostic option to confront the sequelae of the disease at the central nervous system level. Development: the review of updated knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 is generally addressed as well as the current classification of extracellular vesicles and their proposed use in therapy and diagnosis. Through an analysis of examples, extracellular vesicles are highlighted to learn what happens in the central nervous system during and after COVID-19 and as a therapeutic option. Conclusions: even though there are limitations in the knowledge of the neurological manifestations of COVID-19, it is possible to observe the potential use of extracellular vesicles in therapy or as a diagnostic method and even the importance of their study for the knowledge of the pathophysiology of the disease

Using wounding stress to increase the bioactive phenolic content in fruits and vegetables offers a promising strategy to enhance their health benefits. When wounded, such phenolics accumulate in plants and can provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-obesogenic properties. This study investigates the potential of using wounding stress-treated carrots biofortified with phenolic compounds as a raw material to extract carrot juice with increased nutraceutical properties. Fresh carrots were subjected to wounding stress via slicing and then stored at 15 °C for 48 h to allow phenolic accumulation. These phenolic-enriched slices were blanched, juiced, and blended with orange juice (75:25 ratio) and 15% (w/v) broccoli sprouts before pasteurization. The pasteurized juice was characterized by its physicochemical attributes and bioactive compound content over 28 days of storage at 4 °C. Additionally, its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-obesogenic potentials were assessed using in vitro assays, both pre- and post-storage. The results reveal that juice derived from stressed carrots (SJ) possessed 49%, 83%, and 168% elevated levels of total phenolics, chlorogenic acid, and glucosinolates, respectively, compared to the control juice (CJ) (p < 0.05). Both juices reduced lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells and nitric oxide production in Raw 264.7 cells, without significant differences between them. SJ further displayed a 26.4% increase in cellular antioxidant activity. The juice’s bioactive characteristics remained stable throughout storage time. In conclusion, the utilization of juice obtained from stressed carrots in a blend with orange juice and broccoli sprouts offers a promising method to produce a beverage enriched in bioactive compounds and antioxidant potential.

Current efforts to find novel treatments that counteract multiple sclerosis (MS) have pointed toward immunomodulation and remyelination. Currently, cell therapy has shown promising potential to achieve this purpose. However, disadvantages such as poor survival, differentiation, and integration into the target tissue have limited its application. A series of recent studies have focused on the cell secretome, showing it to provide the most benefits of cell therapy. Exosomes are a key component of the cell secretome, participating in the transfer of bioactive molecules. These nano-sized vesicles offer many therapeutical advantages, such as the capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier, an enrichable cargo, and a customizable membrane. Moreover, integrating of biomaterials into exosome therapy could lead to new tissue-specific therapeutic strategies. In this work, the use of exosomes and their integration with biomaterials is presented as a novel strategy in the treatment of MS.