Search

There was an error in the original publication [...]

Xylo-oligosaccharides are sugar oligomers with 2~7 xylose units considered non-digestible fibers that can be produced from biodegradable and low-cost biomass like wheat straw. An integrated approach consisting of hydrothermal pretreatment, alkaline treatment, enzymatic treatment and the combinations thereof was applied to overcome the recalcitrance structure of the wheat straw and allow selective fractioning into fermentable sugars and xylo-oligosaccharides. The hydrolysates and processed solids were chemically characterized by High-performance liquid chromatography and Ion chromatography, and the results were expressed as function of the severity factor and statistically interpreted. The concentration of fermentable sugars (glucose, xylose, arabinose) was the highest after the combination of alkaline and enzymatic treatment with xylanase (18 g/L sugars), while xylo-oligosaccharides (xylotriose and xylotetraose) were released in lower amounts (1.33 g/L) after the same treatment. Refining experiments were carried out to obtain a purified fraction by using anion and cation exchange chromatography. The polymer adsorber resin MN-502 showed efficient removal of salts, phenols and furan derivatives. However, the xylo-oligosaccharides yields were also slightly reduced. Although still requiring further optimization of the treatments to obtain higher purified oligomer yields, the results provide information on the production of xylo-oligosaccharides and fermentable sugars from wheat straw for potential use in food applications.

The consumer awareness towards healthier diets and the impact of nutrition on health has triggered an increase in the production and commercialization of foods with health claims. The scientific literature classifies these food products as functional foods, with a role in promoting health and preventing diseases, and they had a market share of almost 200 million EUR in 2019. Prebiotics are considered functional foods, referring to substrates that are selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit, as defined by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics. Several health benefits are associated with the consumption of prebiotics; however, specific requirements must demonstrate the causality between the specific ingredient and the claimed effect. Health claims associated with food products are assessed in the European Union and need to be supported by rigorous scientific evidence before being authorized and permitted on the market. Consumers’ perception of this topic is influenced by the various stakeholders involved. The current work aimed to study the consumers’ perception and interest and to assess the knowledge on the prebiotic concept in Romania. The consumer interest level was quantified by using the web-based data tool Google Trends, and a questionnaire-based investigation was designed. The collected data were analyzed with the help of the SPSS program, and crosstabulation was used to identify the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on diet choice and awareness of prebiotics. A total of 303 persons answered the online applied questionnaire, grouped as young consumers (15–24 years old) and adults (25–64 years old). Even if most responders were familiar with the term of prebiotics (74% of total responders), some results were contradictory regarding their knowledge. The work emphasized the need to carry out educational campaigns and inform consumers on the relationship between certain food ingredients and health outcomes in a clear way and based on a rigorous assessment of the scientific evidence.

The book was inadvertently published with an incorrect affiliation. Ermolaos Ververis is affiliated to National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece and EFSA, Nutrition and Food Innovation Unit, Novel Foods Team, Parma, Italy.

In the European Union, insects and products thereof fall under Regulation (EU) 2283/2015 on Novel Foods, as they were not consumed to a significant degree within the EU before 15 May 1997. This chapter elucidates the risk assessment process performed by EFSA, highlighting the various elements considered when assessing the safety of insect-derived foodstuffs. The information discussed stems from EFSA outputs on the safety evaluation of such products, which have confirmed the safety of their consumption under the proposed conditions of use.

The gut microbiota has a profound impact on human health. Emerging data show that dietary patterns are associated with different communities of bacterial species within the gut. Prevotella species have been correlated with plant-rich diets, abundant in carbohydrates and fibres. Dysbiosis within the gut ecosystem has been associated with the development of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, the metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, colorectal cancer, type 1 diabetes, allergies and other diseases. The purpose of this comprehensive literature review was to evaluate the available data on the impact of diet on the Prevotella genus, as a dietary fibre fermenter in the gut as well as its implications as a potential biomarker for homeostasis or disease state through its metabolite signature. Studies were identified by conducting PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection and Google Scholar electronic searches. We found eighty-five publications reporting the impact of dietary patterns on gut microbial communities, including Prevotella or Prevotella/Bacteroides ratio in particular. Moreover, the role of Prevotella species on health status was also evaluated. Prevotella possess a high genetic diversity, representing one of the important groups found in the oral cavity and large intestine of man. The gut commensal Prevotella bacteria contribute to polysaccharide breakdown, being dominant colonisers of agrarian societies. However, studies also suggested a potential role of Prevotella species as intestinal pathobionts. Further metagenomic studies are needed in order to reveal health- or disease-modulating properties of Prevotella species in the gut.

Thermal processing methods used in the kitchen, like pasteurization, sterilization and blanching, are of crucial importance for food safety and the sensory quality of food. Pasteurization is a form of thermal processing that is widely used worldwide in order to reduce spoilage organisms and eliminate vegetative bacteria but not bacterial spores. The practice of pasteurization became popular in order to improve the quality and shelf-life of foods and ensure consumer safety. The goals of pasteurization, besides food decontamination, are also to extend the food shelf-life, promote food safety, and allow the reduction and elimination of chemical preservatives added to foods. Several types of pasteurization are used in the food industry, including low-temperature, short-time, high-temperature, short-time, higher-heat, shorter-time and steam pasteurization. Pasteurization has the objective of inactivating pathogenic vegetative microorganisms of public health significance. Listeria monocytogenes has become the target microorganism for pasteurization of meats, seafood and vegetables, instead of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which was the most feared in the past.

The consumer’s shift toward natural and superior foodstuffs for healthier lifestyles has become more popular, with a focus on whole-grain cereals, fruit, and vegetable consumption. According to FAO, the third part of the nourishment produced globally for human feeding is wasted, with 39% of wastage occurring in the food manufacturing industry. The resulted by-products still consist of various bioactive complexes postprocessing, such as macronutrients (e.g., proteins and carbohydrates) and phytochemicals (polyphenols and carotenoids); therefore their reutilization in gastronomy is very promising. In view of these considerations, one approach is to create new types of tasty and safe recipes that meet the demands of the modernist kitchen. The real challenge in obtaining food molecular recipes is the valorization of the by-products derived from the food processing industry, making use of specific molecular gastronomy techniques, a subject tackled in this chapter.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been involved in the risk assessment of novel foods since 2003. The implementation of the current novel food regulation in 2018 rendered EFSA the sole entity of the European Union responsible for such safety evaluations. The risk assessment is based on the data submitted by applicants in line with the scientific requirements described in the respective EFSA guidance document. The present work aims to elaborate on the rationale behind the scientific questions raised during the risk assessment of novel foods, with a focus on complex mixtures and whole foods. Novel foods received by EFSA in 2003-2019 were screened and clustered by nature and complexity. The requests for additional or supplementary information raised by EFSA during all risk assessments were analyzed for identifying reoccurring issues. In brief, it is shown that applications concern mainly novel foods derived from plants, microorganisms, fungi, algae, and animals. A plethora of requests relates to the production process, the compositional characterization of the novel food, and the evaluation of the product's toxicological profile. Recurring issues related to specific novel food categories were noted. The heterogeneous nature and the variable complexity of novel foods emphasize the challenge to tailor aspects of the evaluation approach to the characteristics of each individual product. Importantly, the scientific requirements for novel food applications set by EFSA are interrelated, and only a rigorous and cross-cutting approach adopted by the applicants when preparing the respective application dossiers can lead to scientifically sound dossiers. This is the first time that an in-depth analysis of the experience gained by EFSA in the risk assessment of novel foods and of the reasoning behind the most frequent scientific requests by EFSA to applicants is made.

Fruit and vegetable by-products are in general thrown away and can cause environmental problems, even though they are a valuable source of bioactive compounds, which may be used for innovative food production.The present work focused on achieving a new type of dessert, a “Sweetburger”, by restructuring its molecular components with the aid of molecular gastronomy techniques and using agro-industrial wastes (beetroot and sour cherry pulp and peels, melon pomace). The innovative dessert has been obtained and the bioactive compounds contained in the agro-industrial wastes have been characterized using the HPLC method, Folin-Ciocalteu and spectrophotometry. The total polyphenol content from sour cherries waste was significant, 508,9 mg gallic acid/100 g. The total anthocyanin content from beetroot pulp was 0,117 mg/ 100 g.

During biodiesel production, massive amounts of raw glycerol are created generating an environmental issue and the same time an increase of biodiesel production cost at the same time. This raw glycerol could be converted by specific strains into value-added products, like 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD), an important monomer used in the synthesis of biodegradable polyesters.The present work is based on recent scientific articles and experimental studies on the targeted topic, namely on the use of bacterial strains for bioconversion of biodiesel-derived glycerol into valuable products, like 1,3-PD. Concentrations, yields and productivity of 1,3-PD are presented for various bacterial strains. Important results as respects the microbial bioconversion of biodiesel-derived glycerol into 1,3-PD were registered for strains like Klebsiella pneumoniae, Citrobacter freundii, Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus diolivorans.From this study can be concluded that waste glycerol may be used as a nutrient source for microbial development and the production of 1,3-propanediol with high concentrations and yields.

The gut microbiota has a profound impact on human health. Emerging data show that dietary patterns are associated with different communities of bacterial species within the gut. Prevotella species have been correlated with plant-rich diets, abundant in carbohydrates and fibres. Dysbiosis within the gut ecosystem has been associated with the development of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, the metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, colorectal cancer, type 1 diabetes, allergies and other diseases. The purpose of this comprehensive literature review was to evaluate the available data on the impact of diet on the Prevotella genus, as a dietary fibre fermenter in the gut as well as its implications as a potential biomarker for homeostasis or disease state through its metabolite signature. Studies were identified by conducting PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection and Google Scholar electronic searches. We found eighty-five publications reporting the impact of dietary patterns on gut microbial communities, including Prevotella or Prevotella/Bacteroides ratio in particular. Moreover, the role of Prevotella species on health status was also evaluated. Prevotella possess a high genetic diversity, representing one of the important groups found in the oral cavity and large intestine of man. The gut commensal Prevotella bacteria contribute to polysaccharide breakdown, being dominant colonisers of agrarian societies. However, studies also suggested a potential role of Prevotella species as intestinal pathobionts. Further metagenomic studies are needed in order to reveal health- or disease-modulating properties of Prevotella species in the gut.

The present work aims to highlight the functional beverage sector as nowadays consumers are more health conscious and interested in the active role of food to prevent lifestyle diseases which are menacing the wellness of society. The development of new probiotic nondiary functional beverages with an inflated demand from the lactose-intolerant and vegetarian population is in vogue. Therefore, an emerging trend with respect of designing a probiotic beverage is fortification with selected strains having a positive impact on gastrointestinal health, targeting the irritable bowel syndrome. The presence of bioactive molecules, such as fatty acids and phenolic compounds, in agro-industrial waste makes fruit and vegetable leftovers more valuable for the food industry. Fruits and vegetables contain bioactive compounds that impart health benefits beyond basic nutrition. These wastes are rich in bioactive compounds and can thus be improved and incorporated into food supplements.

An alternative therapy to diarrhoeal episodes induced by E. coli is represented by probiotic strains (e.g Lactobacillus), which are able to maintain the gut micro-flora in optimal parameters. This work highlights the inhibitory potential of probiotics (L. plantarum ATCC 8014) over the enteropathogenic bacteria like E. coli ATCC 25922. For this study we co-incubated L. plantarum with E. coli in MRS broth at different concentrations (109, 108 CFU/mL – L. plantarum with 105, 104 CFU/mL – E. coli, 4 groups) for 24, 48 and 72h at 37oC. After co-incubation, E. coli colonies developed on Levine media were counted towards the control. E. coli colonies decreased after 48 and 72h of co-incubation with L. plantarum. Also, was noticed that L. plantarum (108 CFU/mL) completely inhibits E. coli (104 CFU/mL) after 72h of co-incubation. This work proves the inhibitory potential of probiotic strains (L. plantarum ATCC 8014) against enteropathogenic bacteria (E. coli ATCC 25922).

80% of the grape harvest is used in the winemaking industry, resulting in huge amounts of waste which are still rich in phenolic compounds, while the same percentage of polyphenols are found in apple peel, whose total antioxidant capacity is five-to-six-fold higher than that of apple flesh. The aim of this research is the characterization of grape and apple peels waste, before and after the thermal treatment (10 minutes, 80°C), with respect to its bioactive compounds to evaluate their potential enhancement with respect to bioavailability. Based on the obtained results, the highest antioxidant activity and phenolic content was exhibited by thermally processed red-grape waste. After the thermal treatment, the caffeic acid 4-O-glucoside increased with a 27% in apple waste. As a conclusion, the grape and apple peels waste can be exploited for their bioactive compounds after the thermal process, whose bioavailability increased and can be added in food formulations as health promoting products.