Search Results (5,509)

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune inflammatory enteropathy triggered by consuming gluten-containing cereals. A key role in its pathogenesis is played by type 2 transglutaminase, an enzyme that causes an increase in gluten immunogenicity. Celiac cells seem to present constitutive characteristics, even recognizable under a gluten-free diet, such as defects in vesicular trafficking and autophagy, protein hyperphosphorylation, and cytoskeleton rearrangement. In this work, by using an omics approach, we attempted to identify those proteins differentially expressed or differentially phosphorylated in a cell model suitable to study cell behavior in the absence of inflammation, i.e., primary cultures of dermal fibroblasts from control or CD subjects. By performing mass spectrometry analyses, we found several up- and-down expressed or phosphorylated proteins in CD samples, mainly involved in signaling, homeostatic responses, cytoskeleton organization, vesicular trafficking, and extracellular vesiculation. These proteins may represent a molecular signature of the celiac cellular phenotype and may contribute to adding new insight into the comprehension of the complex mechanisms of CD pathogenesis. Full article

Maize is one of the most widely grown and used crops in the world. Nowadays, weather anomalies such as drought and sudden heavy rains due to climate change bring up serious challenges to maize production. One environmentally conscious approach that contributes to climate change resilience is cover cropping. In the production technology of corn-legume cover crops, corn as the cash crop was examined in two ways in a field small-plot experiment in four repetitions in randomized block design plots. In one case, the legume cover crops were sown as an interseeding cover crop in a corn monoculture; in the other case, the crop rotation agrotechnique was applied to what CCs could be included in the cereal-maize crop rotation after winter cereals. The experiment was set up in Vertisol and Chernozem. In all cases control treatment was included. Our results showed that pea vine and cowpea contributed to increased corn yield on both soil types and agrotechniques. White sweet clover cannot be recommended as a cover crop because this seemed too competitive with the cash crop. Field pea is recommended for the crop rotation agrotechnique. Trifolium species like Persian clover, red clover, and crimson clover show good adaptability to Vertisol. Full article

Gluten-free cereals and pseudocereals such as oats, quinoa, and buckwheat are widely used as bases for functional foods due to their protein quality, minerals, fiber, and polyphenols. However, they contain relatively low levels of some vitamins. This study evaluated the enrichment of cereal porridges with a cell-free homogenate of the carotenogenic yeast Rhodotorula toruloides (RT) as a natural strategy to enhance their nutritional value. Model porridges prepared from gluten-free oats, quinoa, buckwheat, and their blends were supplemented with 0%, 5%, or 10% R. toruloides homogenate (RTh). Samples were analyzed for antioxidant capacity (ABTS), lipid-soluble vitamins and provitamins (HPLC), fatty acid composition (GC-FID), approximate prebiotic potential, and cytotoxicity using the MTT assay on Caco-2 cells. The addition of RTh significantly increased antioxidant properties, with the highest value observed in buckwheat porridge with 5% RTh (1.9 mg TE/g DW). Lipid-soluble metabolites were detected only in enriched samples, reaching up to 420 µg/g DW ergosterol and 300 µg/g DW total carotenoids, mainly torularhodin. Quinoa porridges showed the highest PUFA content, whereas RTh was rich in oleic acid. Enrichment increased MUFA levels and improved the fatty acid profile. Approximate prebiotic potential was strongest in oat–quinoa blends. Cytotoxicity remained low, with most IC₅₀ values above 2000 µg/mL. Supplementation with 5% R. toruloides homogenate effectively improves antioxidant and lipid composition of gluten-free porridges while maintaining low cytotoxicity. Full article

Natural resources play a fundamental role in ensuring global food security, while agricultural production itself strongly influences their demand, extraction, and availability. This article discusses natural strategies for increasing crop productivity within the framework of sustainable intensification, focusing on the integrated role of plant biostimulants and micronutrients. Both groups of substances are analyzed from a resource-oriented perspective, highlighting their potential to be derived from renewable sources, particularly agro-industrial by-products and plant biomass. Plant extracts obtained from fruit, vegetable, and cereal processing residues contain numerous bioactive compounds, including phenolics, amino acids, peptides, and organic acids, which can stimulate plant growth, improve nutrient uptake, and enhance tolerance to abiotic stress. Micronutrients such as Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, and B are also strategic resources in crop production because they regulate key metabolic processes and influence the efficiency of macronutrient utilization. Their effectiveness, however, depends strongly on chemical form and bioavailability in soil–plant systems. The novelty of this work lies in integrating perspectives from plant physiology, coordination chemistry, and resource management to propose a conceptual framework in which plant-derived extracts and micronutrient complexes act as complementary tools supporting circular and resource-efficient agricultural systems. Full article

The rapid demand for sustainable and efficient energy storage solutions has prompted the pursuit of eco-friendly electrode materials. Biomass-derived carbons from food waste offer a promising pathway to meet this need by combining waste valorization, environmental benefits, and high electrochemical performance. This review highlights that food waste biomass is an effective and inexpensive source of precursors for producing high-performance carbon materials for supercapacitors. Food waste, which includes fruit peels and vegetable residues, cereal husks, and oilseed residues, is a good source of lignocellulosic components, heteroatoms, and structural features that determine the electrochemical characteristics of the derived carbons. These wastes produce hierarchically porous carbons with high surface areas (>1500 m² g⁻¹) on pyrolysis and activation that provide superior ion transport, wettability and pseudocapacitive behaviour. Their electrochemical performance includes capacitances up to 520 F g⁻¹ and energy densities of 35–70 Wh kg⁻¹ in optimized systems, particularly under extended voltage windows or in hybrid supercapacitor configurations, and high cycling stability is equal to or even better than traditional carbons such as activated carbon and graphene. Additionally, biomass valorization contributes to a high level of greenhouse gas capture, decreases landfill, and correlates with the idea of a circular economy. The commercialization potential of biomass-based supercapacitors is supported by recent developments in AI-based optimization, combined with scalable synthesis methods, which would support ecologically, economically, and technologically sustainable energy storage on a large scale. Full article

Zearalenone (ZEA) is a mycotoxin widely present in cereals, feeds, and foods, posing a persistent threat to human and animal health. Hepatic fibrosis is a pathological process characterized by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. Chronic liver injury caused by sustained oxidative stress can initiate the development of early hepatic fibrosis. However, whether liver injury induced by ZEA can trigger hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and promote early profibrotic responses remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess whether ZEA-induced liver injury promotes HSC activation and early profibrotic responses. To address this, we established a BALB/c mouse exposure model and used the murine HSC line (JS-1) for in vitro validation. The results showed that ZEA exposure caused structural damage in hepatic tissue and produced an incomplete bridging pattern of collagen thickening suggestive of an early profibrotic tendency. ZEA shaped a proinflammatory microenvironment by activating the IκBα/NF-κB axis and induced the TGF-β1/Smad2/3 pathway, accompanied by Smad7 suppression, thereby promoting HSC activation and the expression of fibrosis-related genes. ZEA also altered autophagy-related markers in liver tissue and JS-1 cells. Pharmacological inhibition with chloroquine partially attenuated ZEA-induced upregulation of α-SMA and collagen I/III, suggesting that autophagy-related processes may be involved in ZEA-associated HSC activation and early ECM deposition. In summary, ZEA promotes HSC activation and early profibrotic changes in the liver and is associated with inflammatory activation, TGF-β1/Smad signaling, and altered autophagy-related activity. These findings provide a basis for further investigation into the mechanisms underlying ZEA-induced early profibrotic remodeling in the liver. Full article

Heavy metal contamination of foods remains a persistent global challenge for food safety and public health, driven by industrialization, mining activities, intensive agriculture, and ongoing environmental degradation. This scoping review synthesizes peer-reviewed literature on the occurrence of priority toxic metals—arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel—in food matrices, with emphasis on contamination pathways, analytical detection strategies, and documented human health effects. The reviewed studies reveal widespread accumulation of heavy metals in staple foods, including cereals, vegetables, seafood, and processed products, with concentrations frequently approaching or exceeding international regulatory limits, particularly in regions exposed to strong anthropogenic pressure. Conventional laboratory-based techniques, such as atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma methods, remain the reference standards for quantitative determination and regulatory compliance; however, their application to large-scale or continuous monitoring is often constrained by cost, infrastructure, and operational complexity. Consequently, increasing attention has been directed toward emerging detection approaches, including portable X-Ray fluorescence, Raman/SERS spectroscopy, electrochemical biosensors, electronic tongues, and in situ magnetic measurements, as complementary tools for rapid screening and field-based surveillance. Among these, environmental magnetism and in situ magnetic techniques stand out as non-destructive, low-cost proxies capable of identifying metal-associated particulate contamination linked to food production systems. Chronic dietary exposure to heavy metals is consistently associated with neurotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, carcinogenicity, and oxidative stress, underscoring the need for integrated, multi-tiered monitoring frameworks to support early detection, risk assessment, and prevention. Full article

Variations in the particle size of cereal flour could influence its techno-functional properties and affect the quality of the end products. In this study, common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) seeds were milled and then sieved into five fractions (≥200, 150–200, 100–150, 80–100, and 60–80 mesh). Proximate analysis showed that the protein and ash contents of buckwheat flour decreased with decreased particle size, whereas the starch content increased. Reducing the particle size did not change the A-type crystalline structure and the short-range ordered structure of buckwheat starch, whereas the buckwheat batter flowability, foaming properties and foam stability of the batter supernatant increased. The steamed buckwheat cakes made from ≥100-mesh flour showed a desirable appearance, cross-sectional structure, color, flavor, and texture. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the starch content and relative crystallinity of buckwheat flour were significantly positively correlated with its pasting parameters and the textural properties (springiness, cohesiveness, resilience) and overall acceptability of steamed buckwheat cake, whereas the protein, lipid, and β-sheet content of buckwheat flour showed the opposite trend. This study demonstrated that differential sieving caused a difference in particle size and chemical composition, which were key variables governing the processing performance of buckwheat flour and important to the quality of its end products. Full article

In this study, we aimed to examine the multiplicative interaction model as a tool to assess the impact of plant extracts and fermentation products on the growth of mycelium of selected fungi. The materials used in the study included a total of 16 products. Plant extracts were obtained by the processes of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) or supercritical CO₂ extraction, and the fermentation broths were produced by Enterobacter and Paenibacillus bacteria in a bioreactor. All these products were examined in vitro using 12 cultures of frequently occuring pathogenic fungi collected from cereals and oilseed rape cultivation. For mycelium diameter in all three examined concentrations, the Additive Main impacts and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) analyses showed substantial impacts of both the product and the pathogen as well as the product-by-pathogen interaction. It is advised that future plant protection techniques incorporate product E8, a plant extract (the CO₂ extract of a ginger plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family), since it demonstrated excellent stability and good average mycelium diameter values across all concentrations examined. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first time the AMMI model has been used to evaluate the impact of product–pathogen interactions on mycelium diameter. Full article

Lolium rigidum is among the most prevalent and noxious weeds in cereal and perennial cropping systems worldwide and has developed resistance to several herbicide modes of action. This study employed a sensor-based smart farming method for the early screening of herbicide resistance across three L. rigidum accessions in Greece, followed by dose–response experiments with clodinafop-propargyl, glyphosate, and mesosulfuron-methyl + iodosulfuron-methyl. In the preliminary screening, herbicides were applied at their highest recommended rates, whereas the dose–response experiments included five application rates (0, 1/4X, X, 2X, and 4X). The EM2 accession exhibited confirmed resistance to mesosulfuron-methyl + iodosulfuron-methyl, with a resistance index of 5.31 and a five-fold increase in the herbicide rate required compared to the susceptible EM1 accession. For clodinafop-propargyl, the GR50 value of the resistant EM3 accession (147.97 g a.i. ha⁻¹) was approximately 2.5-fold higher than that of the susceptible EM2 accession (60.28 g a.i. ha⁻¹). Glyphosate application provided only partial biomass reduction in resistant accessions, indicating reduced susceptibility. In parallel, TaqMan assays were developed and validated to detect target-site mutations linked to resistance against EPSPS-, ACCase-, and ALS-inhibiting herbicides, supporting the molecular interpretation of the observed resistance patterns. Overall, the results demonstrate that sensor-based smart farming approaches can provide a rapid and reliable tool for the early screening of herbicide resistance, enabling more informed crop protection strategies and supporting sustainable weed management. Further research across diverse soil types and climatic conditions is warranted to validate and extend the applicability of these approaches. Full article

Rising production costs have increased interest in lower-cost, non-inversion crop establishment systems in Ireland, yet uptake remains relatively limited. Growers’ perceptions of relative performance of innovations compared to current practice are key determinants of adoption. We surveyed 154 Irish arable growers (77 plough-based, 59 min-till, 18 direct drill) to assess perceived performance of min-till and direct drill across multiple parameters relative to ploughing to identify potential barriers to adoption. Respondents rated impacts on Likert scales; analyses summarized response distributions and between-system differences. For example: >30% of min-till growers believed min-till winter cereal yields exceed ploughing, compared with 0% of plough and <10% of direct drill growers. Growers generally favoured their own establishment system, consistent with adoption theory. Potential barriers to non-inversion adoption included perceived lower establishment reliability, crop performance concerns (especially spring crops), and anticipated increases in weed pressure, herbicide reliance, and herbicide resistance development risk. Several perceptions diverged from the Ireland-relevant literature, revealing both knowledge gaps (notably establishment stability and winter/spring crop performance of establishment systems) and misperceptions (including establishment system on soil structure). Targeted research to address knowledge gaps, combined with focused, grower-centred knowledge exchange, is required to support evidence-based evaluation and sustainable adoption of establishment systems in Ireland. Full article

Africa’s rainfed agricultural systems are highly exposed to climate change, making shifts in temperature and rainfall a major concern for staple-food crop production. Using a MaxENT ecological niche modelling approach with crop occurrence, elevation, soil and climatic predictors, this study assessed current and future suitability for rainfed maize, millet and sorghum under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. The projections show a notable expansion of 11.1–22.0% in areas suitable for maize cultivation, and a decline of 1.6–7.3% in areas suitable for production of millet and sorghum, indicating likelihood for increased food-security risks in regions dependent on drought-tolerant cereals. These differing shifts highlight the need for targeted adaptation measures, including crop diversification and region-specific planning to help sustain crop production under a changing climate. Full article

Seed germination is a critical initial stage of the plant life cycle, regulated by signaling pathways such as phytohormones and reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the low germination rate of immature grains is a key bottleneck limiting wheat speed breeding. This study used immature grains of the winter wheat cultivar Kenong 199 (KN199) collected 18 days post anthesis to establish an efficient germination protocol. By screening individual and combined treatments of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂, 1%), gibberellin (GA₃, 20 μM), and varying concentrations of abscisic acid (ABA) synthesis inhibitor sodium tungstate (Na₂WO₄), alongside transcriptome analysis, we identified the optimal reagent combination and gained preliminary insight into its molecular basis. The triple reagent combination of 0.5 mM Na₂WO₄ + 20 μM GA₃ + 1% H₂O₂ exhibited the highest germination rate of 80%, approximately sevenfold higher than single reagent treatments, with germination rate peaking after 4 days. Transcriptome profiling revealed that this combination modulated the expression of key genes related to dormancy release and germination, including upregulation of GA biosynthesis gene GA3ox2 and ABA catabolism gene TaCYP707A2, and downregulation of ABA biosynthesis and signaling genes (ABI5, TaNCED1, etc.). Additionally, genes associated with energy metabolism and transport pathways were enhanced. This optimized reagent combination significantly improves immature grain germination, shortens the breeding cycle, and provides a practical tool for achieving “five generations per year” speed breeding in winter wheat. Our findings contribute to seed biology by offering a chemical strategy to overcome dormancy in immature cereal grains. Full article

Alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) are major mycotoxins produced primarily by Alternaria alternata on cereal grains and fruits. A. alternata is a causative pathogen of strawberry black spot disease. However, little is known about the characteristics of A. alternata, which was isolated from strawberry products. In the present study, we evaluated the influence of temperature, pH, and relative humidity (RH) on the growth of A. alternata OM1 and its production of AOH and AME on different media including strawberry puree agar medium (SPAM) after its isolation from strawberry jam. The fungal strain showed the highest growth rate at 25 °C under pH 6.5 and RH 97%, while the highest amounts of AOH and AME were produced by the strain at 25 °C under pH 4.5 and RH 97%. Additionally, the strain did not produce AOH and AME on SPAM at 25 °C under RH 92% until 7 days. Moreover, RT-qPCR analysis exhibited that relative expression levels of 2 AOH or AME biosynthetic genes (pksI and omtI) in A. alternata OM1 were up-regulated in YES medium, while they were not in MEB medium. Our results demonstrated that the three key environmental parameters had a significant influence on the growth of A. alternata OM1 and its production of AOH and AME. These findings suggest that storage of strawberries below 25 °C under RH 92% could prevent the production of AOH and AME by A. alternata OM1 on them. Full article

Drought stress is one of the most critical abiotic stresses restricting global crop production, and sorghum plays an important role in arid and semi-arid areas due to its inherent drought tolerance compared to many other cereals. However, significant variation in drought tolerance exists among different sorghum genotypes, which provides an opportunity to dissect the underlying mechanisms. In this study, a drought-tolerant sorghum line (LNR-6) and a drought-sensitive line (LR-2381) were used for comparative analysis. Plants were grown under two water regimes: well-watered conditions (CK, soil water content maintained at 40%) and drought stress (soil water content reduced to 24%). Integrated transcriptomic and non-targeted metabolomic analyses were conducted to investigate the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying sorghum drought tolerance. Phenotypic analysis showed that drought stress significantly reduced plant height and chlorophyll content in the drought-sensitive genotype, whereas the drought-tolerant genotype showed only minor changes. Transcriptome analysis identified several enriched functional categories of differentially expressed genes between the two genotypes under drought stress. Among them, genes associated with limonene and pinene degradation, photosynthesis, and photosynthesis-antenna proteins were significantly enriched and may be involved in drought-response regulation. Metabolomic analysis revealed significant accumulation of flavonoids and phenylpropanoids under drought conditions. KEGG pathway enrichment further indicated that flavone and flavonol biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis were the most significantly enriched metabolic pathways. Overall, these findings enhance our understanding of the coordinated transcriptional and metabolic responses underlying drought tolerance in sorghum. Full article