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Special Issue "Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion"

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2022) | Viewed by 24247

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Prof. Dr. Wojciech Kolanowski

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Lublin, 20-400 Lublin, Poland
Interests: healthy diet; human nutrition; functional food; food hygiene
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A healthy diet is one of the basic conditions for a healthy lifestyle. However, to implement a healthy diet, it is necessary to have access to food with high nutritional value, containing significant amounts of health-promoting ingredients with a preventive effect against the rapidly spreading so-called life-style diseases. These include cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and hypertension, diabetes, cancer, as well as depression, or a generalized decline in immunity increasing susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections. Many natural food ingredients can lower the risk to one’s health, such as polyphelols, omega-3 LC PUFA, vitamins, minerals, and many other bioactive substances of plant and animal origin.

Science and technology go hand in hand in food enhancement, in terms of preserving and enhancing nutritional value and desirable health influence. The most urgent goal seems to be to work on confirming the effect of bioactive substances, which are or can become food ingredients, and which, alone or in synergy with the entire matrix (i.e., a food product), will be able to strengthen the human immune system in fighting diseases and have a positive effect on metabolism. It requires a lot of work and provides an opportunity for interesting and necessary research for scientists in the fields of biology, food technology, medicine, dietetics, animal husbandry, and agronomy. We expect that many interesting papers will be created in this area, the results of which will be disseminated and published in this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Wojciech Kolanowski
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Health-promoting ingredients
Bioactive substances
Disease prevention
Functional food.

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2162 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Bilberry Extract on Hepatic Cholesterol Metabolism in HepG2 Cells

Jimin Hong

Minkyung Bae

and

Bohkyung Kim

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 516; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010516 - 30 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1233

Abstract

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), rich in polyphenols, has been claimed to have lipid-lowering effects, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The effects of bilberry extract (BE) with antioxidant properties on hepatic lipid metabolism were investigated by measuring the genes for cholesterol biosynthesis and flux in HepG2 cells. The mRNA and protein levels of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis such as sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase were decreased in BE-treated cells. BE posttranscriptionally upregulated low-density lipoprotein receptor in HepG2 cells. There was a marked reduction in genes for very low-density lipoprotein assembly by BE treatment. Furthermore, the expression of canalicular transporter for cholesterol and bile acids, such as ABCG8 and ABCB11, was significantly elevated by BE treatment. Downregulation of lipogenic genes and upregulation of fatty acid oxidation-related genes were observed in BE-treated HepG2 cells. The expressions of sirtuins were altered by BE treatment. These results support that the effects of BE on hepatic cholesterol metabolism may be attributed to the regulation of genes for hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis, transport and efflux. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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12 pages, 1072 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dried and Powdered Leaves of Parsley as a Functional Additive to Wheat Bread

and

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(15), 7930; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12157930 - 08 Aug 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1696

Abstract

Parsley leaves (PL) are a rich source of many bioactive compounds and show many health-promoting properties. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of the addition of PL to wheat flour on the physical, antioxidant, and sensory properties of wheat bread. Wheat flour was partially substituted with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5% PL. Bread dough was prepared using the direct method. Bread loaves were cooled, and then their volume, texture, color, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity were evaluated. In addition, a sensory evaluation of bread was performed. Incorporation of PL into wheat decreased the bread volume and increased the crumb moisture but had little influence on the crumb texture. The crumb of the enriched bread was darker and greener compared with the control sample. PL addition increased the redness of the crumb as well. The total color difference for the enriched bread ranged from 9.3 to 21.4. According to the sensory evaluation, the amount of wheat flour added to PL should not exceed 3%. Such a kind of bread showed about a twofold higher level of phenolic compounds and enhanced antioxidant activity compared with the control bread. This study showed that powdered PL can be a valuable nutritional supplement to wheat bread. Future research should focus on the possibilities of fortifying various types of food with this additive. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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10 pages, 8669 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Porcine Whole-Blood Protein Hydrolysate on Exercise Function and Skeletal Muscle Differentiation

and

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010017 - 21 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2130

Abstract

A number of studies have utilized blood waste as a bioresource by enzymatic hydrolysis to obtain amino acids, such as branched-chain amino acids, which can increase muscle mass or prevent muscle loss during weight loss. Although a significantly high content of branched-chain amino acids has been reported in porcine whole-blood protein hydrolysate (PWBPH), the effects of PWBPH on skeletal muscle differentiation and exercise function remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of PWBPH on exercise endurance in ICR mice and muscle differentiation in C2C12 mouse myoblasts and gastrocnemius (Gas) muscle of mice. Supplementation with PWBPH (250 and 500 mg/kg for 5 weeks) increased the time to exhaustion on a treadmill. PWBPH also increased the Gas muscle weight to body weight ratio. In addition, PWBPH treatment increased skeletal muscle differentiation proteins and promoted the Akt/mTOR-dependent signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that PWBPH can be utilized as a bioresource to enhance exercise function and skeletal muscle differentiation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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19 pages, 5665 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Informatization Management as a Tool to Improve Internal School Control Systems in the Russian Federation (Using Catering as an Example)

Eteri V. Mindzaeva

and

Anna A. Arinushkina

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(20), 9471; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11209471 - 12 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1867

Abstract

This paper presents the results from monitoring the organization of catering for children in general education institutions. Monitoring was conducted in August–September 2020. We collected relevant databases for 85 Russian subjects: the total number of indicators—113, the total number of sub-indicators—347, and the total number of data—76,414. This paper investigates the problems surrounding resource provision in regard to organizing nutrition for schoolchildren in the Russian Federation. We analyzed the structure of the informatization in regard to the provision of hot meals for schoolchildren in Russian regions. Moreover, we present cases and best practices surrounding informatization management and personalization of children’s nutrition. The research results reveal that Russia possesses a unified regional information system for accounting/monitoring the organization of children’s nutrition, as an independent specialized information resource (in regard to catering). This paper identifies the levels of information technology used in school nutritional programs for each federal district. We present the results of the analysis, the availability of information resources, and the possibility of automated non-cash payments for meals in general education institutions. Moreover, we analyzed information resources and generated reporting documents on the organization of nutrition for schoolchildren in Russia. Finally, we analyzed the automated assessment of satisfaction, in regard to catering and food quality among children and their parents in Russian regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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11 pages, 1758 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Agastache rugosa Extract and Its Bioactive Compound Tilianin Suppress Adipogenesis and Lipogenesis on 3T3-L1 Cells

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Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(16), 7679; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11167679 - 20 Aug 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1679

Abstract

Agastache rugosa, or Korean mint, is an herb used as a spice, food additive and traditional medicinal ingredient. It has desirable effects, such as its antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties. A. rugosa contains many phenolic compounds studied for their various health benefits, with the primary components being tilianin. A. rugosa extract (ARE), which was extracted with ethanol and freeze-dried, contained 21.14 ± 0.15 mg/g of tilianin with a total polyphenol content of 38.11 ± 0.88 mg/g. Next, the antiadipogenic effect of A. rugosa and tilianin was clarified using 3T3-L1 cells, which differentiate into adipocytes and develop lipid droplets. 3T3-L1 cells were treated with ARE or tilianin and lipid accumulation (%) was calculated through oil red O staining. Tilianin elicited dose-dependent decrease in lipid accumulation (% of positive control) (30 μM 92.10 ± 1.19%; 50 μM 69.25 ± 1.78%; 70 μM 54.86 ± 1.76%; non-differentiation 18.10 ± 0.32%), assessed by oil-red-O staining, whereas ARE treatments caused consistent diminution in lipid accumulation regardless of dose (100 μM 86.90 ± 4.97%; 200 μM 87.25 ± 4.34%; 400 μM 88.54 ± 2.27%; non-differentiation 17.96 ± 1.30%), indicating that both compounds have anti-obesity effects on adipocytes. Treatment with ARE lowered the mRNA (PPARγ; C/EBPα; FABP4; SREBP1; ACC; FAS) and protein (PPARγ; C/EBPα; SREBP1) levels of adipogenesis and lipogenesis-related factors. Tilianin showed a greater effect on the mRNA levels compared with ARE. Thus, tilianin and ARE may have anti-adipogenic and anti-lipogenic effects on 3T3-L1 cells and be possible candidates of obesity-related supplements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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15 pages, 3836 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Dietary Supplementation of Flaxseed Meal on Intestinal Morphology, Specific Enzymatic Activity, and Cecal Microbiome in Broiler Chickens

Roua Gabriela Popescu

Sorina Nicoleta Voicu

Gratiela Gradisteanu Pircalabioru

Sami Gharbia

Anca Hermenean

Sergiu Emil Georgescu

Tatiana Dumitra Panaite

Raluca Paula Turcu

and

Anca Dinischiotu

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(15), 6714; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11156714 - 22 Jul 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1788

Abstract

The use of natural feed additives could be a beneficial approach to maintaining the health of chickens and a way to improve food digestion. Flaxseed is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acid, alpha linolenic acid, oleic acid, and fiber. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of 4% flaxseed on the intestinal morphology, specific enzymatic activity, and cecal microbiome in broiler chickens. The 4-week feeding trial was conducted on 100 Cobb 500 (14 days of age) unsexed broiler chickens divided into two groups: a control group (C) and an experimental group (E). The broilers were housed in boxes of size 3 m² (each group was housed in a single box with 10 replicates, 5 chickens per replicate) and reared on permanent wood shaves litter (10–12 cm thick). At the end of the experiment, chickens (n = 10) were sacrificed and tissue samples were harvested from the duodenum, jejunum, and cecum for histological, enzymatic, and microbiome analyses. In group E, histological analysis revealed a significant increase in villus height (p < 0.001) possibly leading to enhanced intestinal nutrient absorption. An increase in the specific activities of α-amylase (p < 0.05), invertase (p < 0.01), and endo-β-1,4-glucanase (p < 0.001) was noticed in the E group for the duodenum and jejunum compared to the control group. In contrast, maltase activity decreased in the duodenum and increased in the jejunum in the E group. The trypsin and lipase specific activities did not vary in a significant way. In addition, the cecal microbiome of the E group was characterized by an increase in Lactobacilli (p < 0.01) and Clostridium coccoides and a decrease in Bacteroides, Ruminoccocus, Enterobacteriaceae, and Clostridium leptum. In conclusion, our results suggest that dietary supplementation of flaxseed meal may boost intestinal health status in poultry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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18 pages, 1689 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thai Rice Vinegars: Production and Biological Properties

Samuch Taweekasemsombut

Jidapha Tinoi

Pitchaya Mungkornasawakul

and

Nopakarn Chandet

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(13), 5929; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11135929 - 25 Jun 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2358

Abstract

Four types of traditional Thai rice—polished, black fragrant, glutinous and black glutinous rice—were separately used as raw material for vinegar production. During alcohol fermentation, using enriched baker’s dried yeast (S. cerevisiae) as a starter culture gave the highest ethanol content over 7 days of fermentation. The conversion of ethanol to acetic acid for vinegar production by Acetobacter pasteurianus TISTR 102 was performed for 25 days. The highest amount of acetic acid was detected with glutinous rice fermentation (6.68% w/v). The biological properties of Thai rice vinegars were determined, including the total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity. Black glutinous rice vinegar exhibited the maximum total phenolic content of 133.68 mg GAE/100 mL. This result was related to the antioxidative activity findings, for which black glutinous rice vinegar exhibited the strongest activity against both ABTS^•+ and DPPH^• radicals. Cytotoxicity against the human colon cancer cell line (HT-29) provided an IC₅₀ value of 74.02 μg/mL and weak activity in a mouse fibroblast normal cell line (L929) with an IC₅₀ value of 171.06 μg/mL. Glutinous rice vinegar was the most effective vinegar for inhibiting pathogenic bacterial growth of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. These results suggested that the value of total phenolic content corresponded to the anticancer activity and antioxidant activity results, while antibacterial activity depended on the acidity of rice vinegar. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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12 pages, 3391 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fermented Antler Improves Endurance during Exercise Performance by Increasing Mitochondrial Biogenesis and Muscle Strength in Mice

and

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(12), 5386; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11125386 - 10 Jun 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2311

Abstract

In this study, we investigated whether antler fermented with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) increases mitochondrial biogenesis and muscle strength in vitro and in vivo. LAB from a strain library were grown in antler extract agar at the Yakult Central Research Institute of Korea. Isolated LAB, named Lactobacillus curvatus HY7602, were used to ferment antlers. Analysis of the effects of fermented antler (FA) revealed that it enhanced the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I), signaling pathway and mitochondrial metabolic activity in mouse skeletal myotube (C2C12) cells. Next, we evaluated the effect of non-fermented antler (NFA) and FA on exercise performance in C57BL/6J mice. The results showed that HY7602-FA increased treadmill exercise capacity and forced swimming endurance. Furthermore, blood markers associated with muscle fatigue, endurance, and energy supply (e.g., alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine, creatine kinase, and lactate) in the FA-intake group were lower than in the NFA-intake group. In addition, the expression index of genes associated with muscle protein synthesis, and with mitochondrial energy production and supply, in muscle tissue was remarkably higher in the FA group than in the control and NFA groups. Taken together, these results suggested that HY7602-FA may be an effective functional food and health supplement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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11 pages, 286 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Functional Properties of Chlorella vulgaris, Colostrum, and Bifidobacteria, and Their Potential for Application in Functional Foods

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Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(11), 5264; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11115264 - 06 Jun 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3159

Abstract

The market for new functional foods and food supplements is rapidly evolving, with a current emphasis on using natural sources. Algae, probiotics, and colostrum are rich sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds with positive effects on human and animal health. To determine the potential for developing new functional foods combining these components, we evaluated their synergistic effects. We assessed the growth of selected bifidobacteria in a medium supplemented with Chlorella vulgaris and its immunomodulatory and cytotoxic effects on the human peripheral mononuclear cells and colon cancer cell lines Caco-2 and HT29. The hypocholesterolemic effects of Chlorella powder and bovine colostrum fermented by Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB12^® on lipid metabolism in rats fed a high-fat diet were also determined. Chlorella addition promoted Bifidobacteria growth, with significantly increased inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α and IL-6) levels following 1.0% (w/v) Chlorella stimulation. Rats fed diets containing fermented colostrum with 0.5% (w/v) added Chlorella powder exhibited significantly decreased triglyceride, very low-density lipoprotein, and alanine and aspartate aminotransferase levels, compared to those of the control group. These results support that C. vulgaris is not cytotoxic in intestinal cell models and affords prebiotic and immunomodulatory effects, as well as synergistic triglyceride-lowering effects with bovine colostrum and B. animalis subsp. lactis BB-12. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

15 pages, 2678 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Functional Food Product Based on Nanoselenium-Enriched Lactobacillus casei against Cadmium Kidney Toxicity

and

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 4220; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11094220 - 06 May 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2294

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the ability of a functional food based on probiotics and selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) to annihilate the toxic effect of cadmium on the kidneys. SeNPs were obtained by eco-friendly method used Lactobacillus casei. The morphological features and size of SeNPS were characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). Two kind of SeNPs were used, purified and Lacto-SeNPs (LSeNPs), administered by gavage at three concentrations (0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mg/Kg b.w.) for 30 days in a mouse model of cadmium renal toxicity. The blood marker of renal injury (creatinine) significantly decreased in groups where the mice were treated with both form of SeNPs. The antioxidant capacity of plasma was evaluated by Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) assay and revealed that SeNPs in co-treatment with Cd, promotes maintaining antioxidant activity at the control level. Histopathological analysis of kidneys demonstrated morphological alteration in the group that received only cadmium and restored after administration of SeNPs or LSeNPs. In addition, immunohistochemical analysis revealed anti-apoptotic effects through reduction of pro-apoptotic bax and increasing of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein expressions. Moreover, co-administration of Cd with SeNPs significantly decreased gene expression of kidneys inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6, NF-ĸB) in a dose dependent manner, with the best results for LSeNPs at highest dose (0.4 mg/kg). Therefore, the L. casei strain is a potential SeNPs-enriched probiotic for application as functional food in the future to annihilate cadmium-induced kidneys toxicity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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8 pages, 641 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Salmonids as Natural Functional Food Rich in Omega-3 PUFA

Wojciech Kolanowski

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2409; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052409 - 09 Mar 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1861

Abstract

Salmonids are valuable fish in the human diet due to their high content of bioactive omega-3 very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (VLC PUFA). The aim of this study was to assess the omega-3 VLC PUFA content in selected salmonid fish present on the food market regarding whether they were farm-raised or wild. It was assumed that farm-raised fish, by eating well-balanced feed enriched with omega-3 PUFA, might contain omega-3 VLC PUFA in levels similar to that of wild fish. Fat content, fatty acid composition and omega-3 VLC PUFA content in fish fillets were measured. Farm-raised salmon from Norway, wild Baltic salmon, farm-raised rainbow trout and brown trout were bought from a food market whereas wild trout (rainbow and brown) were caught alive. The fat content in fish ranged from 3.3 to 8.0 g/100 g of fillet. It was confirmed that although wild salmonid fish contain 10–25% more omega-3 VLC PUFA in lipid fraction, the farm-raised ones, due to the 60–100% higher fat content, are an equally rich source of these desirable fatty acids in the human diet. One serving (130 g) of salmonid fish fillets might provide a significant dose of omega-3 VLC PUFA, from 1.2 to 2.5 g. Thus, due to very high content of bioactive fatty acids eicosapentaenoic (EPA), docosapentaenoic (DPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) in their meat, salmonid fish currently present on the food market, both sea and freshwater as well as wild and farm-raised, should be considered as natural functional food. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

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