Search Results (6,828)

Background/Objectives: Maternal nutrition and physical activity are modifiable behaviours relevant to pregnancy outcomes, but higher activity may coexist with both favourable and unfavourable dietary patterns. This study examined associations between pregnancy physical activity, individualised fruit–vegetable adequacy, energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) food and beverage intake, and preterm birth. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1048 postpartum women with singleton live births recruited consecutively at a tertiary maternity hospital in Romania. Physical activity during the last three months of pregnancy was assessed using the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire and categorised into quartiles of total MET-hours/week. Dietary intake was assessed using an adapted food frequency questionnaire. Fruit–vegetable adequacy was evaluated against individualised recommendations, and EDNP intake was summarised using a composite score derived from fast food, sweets, chocolate, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Preterm birth was defined as delivery before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Results: Preterm birth occurred in 118 cases (11.3%). Higher physical activity categories showed greater fruit–vegetable intake and adequacy, but also higher EDNP intake. After adjustment for maternal age, pregestational BMI, parity, education, and income, physical activity category remained associated with all modelled dietary outcomes. Category 4 had higher odds of fruit–vegetable adequacy than category 1 (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.55–3.24). In diet-informed models, category 3 had the lowest odds of preterm birth (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.21–0.68). Conclusions: Total physical activity during pregnancy was associated with a complex dietary profile rather than a uniformly favourable lifestyle pattern. The lowest odds of preterm birth were observed in the third activity category, suggesting a non-linear association. Full article

Background/Objectives: Diet and sleep are both important modifiable factors in healthy aging, yet little is known about whether attention to healthy eating behaviors is associated with objectively measured sleep. This study examined the association between self-reported attention to fruit and vegetable intake and actigraphy-measured sleep efficiency among women aged 45 years and older. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 143 women aged 45 years and older recruited from community centers. Participants wore a wrist-worn actigraphy device continuously for 7 days and completed daily sleep logs. Attention to fruit and vegetable intake was assessed using a single-item, four-category self-report measure. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to examine its independent association with sleep efficiency after adjustment for sociodemographic, health-related, and psychological covariates. Results: The mean age of the participants was 56.34 ± 7.67 years, and the mean sleep efficiency was 82.69 ± 8.60%. In the fully adjusted model, participants who reported “often” paying attention to fruit and vegetable intake had significantly higher sleep efficiency than those who reported doing so “almost every day” (β = 0.24, p = 0.013). Older age was independently associated with lower sleep efficiency (β = −0.31, p = 0.001). Conclusions: In this exploratory cross-sectional study, a single-item measure of self-reported attentiveness to fruit and vegetable intake showed a category-specific association with actigraphy-measured sleep efficiency. Longitudinal studies using more detailed dietary and behavioral measures are needed to clarify the direction and meaning of this association. Full article

Thirteen mandarin and hybrid cultivars grafted onto the commercial rootstocks Rangpur Lime and Swingle Citrumelo were comparatively assessed for vegetative growth, fruit physicochemical attributes, and field incidence and severity of Altenaria Brown Spot (ABS) and Huanglongbing (HLB). The experiment was conducted from January 2015 to December 2018 under a randomized block design, with ten replicates per scion–rootstock combination. Plant height, canopy volume, fruit mass, juice yield, acidity, soluble solids, and disease assessments were performed. RL induced greater vegetative growth but was associated with higher HLB severity, particularly in the Dekopon IAC 2009 and TM × LP 358 varieties. SC resulted in less vigorous trees but improved fruit quality, with higher acidity and soluble solids. Regarding ABS, the Loose Jacket IAC 515 and Muscia varieties showed high susceptibility, while Ortanique IAC 554 and Rainha BRS exhibited tolerance to both ABS and HLB. These findings suggest that although RL promotes vigorous growth, it may increase disease susceptibility, whereas SC is associated with reduced disease severity and improved fruit quality. Ortanique IAC 554 and Rainha BRS showed consistently low severity of ABS and HLB, combined with stable vegetative development and fruit quality, underscoring the importance of rootstock choice for guiding cultivar deployment in orchards under high disease pressure. Full article

The increasing consumption of fresh organic produce has given rise to concerns regarding the microbiological safety of minimally processed foods. Organic cultivation may be associated with increased exposure to environmental microorganisms due to soil-based inputs and reduced chemical interventions, including both beneficial taxa and potential foodborne pathogens. Fresh produce is known to harbour complex microbial ecosystems, which are shaped by farming practices, plant physiology, handling, packaging and storage, particularly in raw-consumed products such as leafy greens and strawberries. In this study, bacterial (16S rRNA) and eukaryotic (18S rRNA) communities were characterized by amplicon sequencing. In parallel, an amoeba-associated bacterial microbiome was analyzed and DVC-FISH was used to assess the viability and metabolic activity of pathogenic bacteria internalized within free-living amoebae (FLA). No significant differences in alpha or beta diversity were observed between organic and conventional products, suggesting microbiome convergence at the retail stage driven by post-harvest handling and processing. Potentially pathogenic genera, including Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Acinetobacter (bacterial), as well as Tilletiopsis, Candida, and Naegleria (eukaryotic), were identified in both organic and non-organic microbiomes. The viability of FLA-internalized Pseudomonas spp. was confirmed by DVC-FISH, demonstrating that FLA act as reservoirs, enhancing pathogen persistence in fresh produce. This integrated assessment of organic and conventional fruits and vegetables at the retail stage highlights the importance of post-harvest handling and retail conditions in shaping microbiological safety. The integration of microbiome profiling with targeted viability analyses demonstrates that downstream stages are critical control points for food safety and consumer exposure, beyond the influence of the production system alone. Full article

Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being) aims to ‘ensure healthy lives and promote well-being at all ages’. Therefore, in today’s world, shaping children’s sustainable and healthy eating choices is crucial in terms of directly impacting their long-term health, supporting environmental sustainability, and strengthening social and economic development. In this manner, the purpose of the present study was to examine whether greenhouse-based education improves students’ sustainable and healthy eating choices. An educational design-based research model was followed in the current study. The research was conducted with 20 third-grade students from a private school in Istanbul, Türkiye. Greenhouse-based education that includes activities focused on sustainable agriculture and healthy nutrition was implemented for 6 weeks. The data were collected with semi-structured interviews before and after instruction. In the data analysis, the content analysis was used. The findings revealed that greenhouse-based instruction developed students’ sustainable and healthy eating choices. After greenhouse-based education, the majority of students have started to adopt healthier eating habits like consuming environmentally friendly foods, such as more fresh/seasonal fruits and vegetables, whole grain products, local organic foods, nutrient-dense foods, foods that are good for their health, reusing food waste, etc. Therefore, the results showed that greenhouse-based instruction can have the potential to transform eating choices, instill lifelong healthy habits, and cultivate a generation that is both nutritionally conscious and environmentally responsible. Full article

Background: Pregnancy is a vital period during which maternal nutrition profoundly influences both maternal health and fetal development. Carotenoids, predominantly found in fruits and vegetables, are bioactive compounds that enhance antioxidant defenses and facilitate vitamin A metabolism throughout pregnancy. However, assessing carotenoids intake presents challenges due to the lack of dietary assessment tools capable of quantifying individual carotenoids, coupled with limited data from populations in Eastern Europe. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 621 pregnant women in Romania was conducted to estimate dietary carotenoids intake and investigate associations with dietary patterns and overall diet quality. Dietary data were obtained using the EPIC Food Frequency Questionnaire (EPIC-FFQ), adapted for Romanian populations. A dedicated carotenoid estimation model was developed utilizing the USDA Carotenoid Database. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to identify dietary patterns, and diet quality was evaluated using the Diet Quality Index during Pregnancy (DQI-P). Results: The findings revealed significant individual variability. The median intake was highest for β-carotene (2464 μg), and lycopene (1664 μg), followed by lutein and zeaxanthin (908 μg), α-carotene (615 μg), and β-cryptoxanthin (121 μg). The Vegetable-meal pattern exhibited the strongest positive correlation with carotenoids intake, whereas the Energy-dense pattern was primarily associated with vitamin E and tocopherols/tocotrienols, and the Mixed pattern with vitamins A and D. Higher DQI-P scores were consistently correlated with increased carotenoids consumption. Conclusions: Overall, maternal carotenoids intake during pregnancy was frequently insufficient and showed considerable variation among women. A diet rich in vegetables and higher overall diet quality were associated with elevated carotenoids intake levels. These findings enhance the understanding of dietary carotenoids intake among pregnant women in Eastern Europe. Full article

Proper handling during harvesting and subsequent postharvest management is essential to reduce losses in fruits and vegetables, particularly because these products remain metabolically active after harvest. Physiological processes such as respiration, transpiration, ethylene production, softening, physiological disorders, and postharvest diseases determine quality deterioration, shelf life, and marketability. However, these processes do not affect all commodities in the same way; for example, climacteric fruits are strongly influenced by ethylene during ripening, whereas non-climacteric fruits generally show lower ethylene production and different postharvest behavior. In Mexico, postharvest management is especially relevant because fruit and vegetable producers differ widely in terms of production scale, infrastructure, access to technology, financing capacity, and market destination. Producers with limited access to technology require practical and low-cost alternatives, while more technologically advanced producers may use specialized systems but still experience postharvest losses due to physiological deterioration, handling conditions, logistics, and market constraints. Therefore, this review summarizes the main postharvest physiological processes affecting fruits and vegetables and discusses their implications for knowledge transfer, technology adoption, and sustainability among local producers in Mexico. The review highlights that reducing postharvest losses requires commodity-specific management, continuous technical support, low-cost and locally adaptable technologies, and coordinated participation among researchers, extension personnel, producers, government institutions, industry, and market actors. Strengthening postharvest knowledge transfer to small and local producers is essential to reduce losses, improve marketability, and promote more sustainable fruit and vegetable systems in Mexico. Full article

Background/Objectives: Occupation shapes time use, physical demands, stress, and access to health resources, yet it remains an understudied axis of inequality among working women in low- and middle-income countries. This study assessed occupational-group disparities in lifestyle behaviors and adiposity levels among Peruvian working women. Methods: We conducted a pooled repeated cross-sectional analysis of ten Peruvian DHS/ENDES rounds from 2014–2019 and 2021–2024 among working women aged 18–49 years. The exposure was standardized occupational group, using professional/technical/managerial workers as the reference. Outcomes included five lifestyle behaviors and four adiposity indicators. Crude models estimated descriptive prevalence ratios (PRs) or beta coefficients; secondary adjusted models included age group, survey year, education, wealth, residence, natural region, and marital status. Results: A total of 40,726 women were included. Agricultural workers showed lower crude prevalences of almost-daily television viewing (PR 0.49; 95% CI 0.47–0.52), current smoking (PR 0.14; 95% CI 0.10–0.19), current alcohol use (PR 0.39; 95% CI 0.36–0.42), and heavy alcohol use (PR 0.17; 95% CI 0.12–0.27); these contrasts attenuated but generally persisted after adjustment. Insufficient fruit and vegetable intake exceeded 87% in all groups. Sales, domestic/household, services, and skilled manual workers had higher adjusted obesity than the reference group, with adjusted PRs ranging from 1.22 to 1.35. Conclusions: Occupation identifies relevant heterogeneity in lifestyle behaviors and adiposity levels among Peruvian working women. Lifestyle and adiposity profiles did not follow a simple social gradient, supporting occupation-specific strategies for noncommunicable disease prevention. Full article

Background/Objectives: This review aimed to provide an updated synthesis of the evidence on the effects(s) of grapes, blueberries, and their constituent bioactives on cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular disease remains one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases globally. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, Science Direct, and Semantic Scholar. Eligible publications were restricted to studies published since 2015 focusing on grapes, blueberries, and related bioactives. A total of 37 studies were included (17 meta-analyses/systematic reviews and 20 randomised controlled trials). Compositional data on polyphenols, anthocyanins, and stilbenes (including resveratrol) from a new hybrid variety of red-fleshed table grape were also discussed in context. Results: The evidence indicates that grape- and blueberry-derived bioactives, particularly polyphenols and resveratrol, produce modest but consistent improvements in cardiovascular risk markers, particularly endothelial function. Effects were more pronounced in higher-quality trials and in metabolically at-risk populations. Certain varieties, including red-fleshed table grapes (red berry grapes), may represent effective dietary sources of these bioactives. Conclusions: Cardiovascular disease remains a common public health challenge. Increasing attention is being given to dietary and lifestyle strategies for its prevention and management. Within this context, and alongside existing recommendations to increase fruit and vegetable intake, there is scope for more specific guidance emphasising the consumption of dark-pigmented grapes, berries, and red-fleshed table grapes abundant in bioactives such as polyphenols. Full article

Fruit and vegetable juices are ideal probiotic carriers and pectin supplementation is promising for probiotic survival. In this study, we investigated the effects of high- and low-methoxyl pectin on Lacticaseibacillus casei 37 and Lactobacillus helveticus 76 in fermented pear juice (PJ) regarding fermentation, viability, and functionality. Our results showed that pectin protected probiotic viability at 4 °C for 28 days, with viable cell counts reaching 8.39–8.63 log colony-forming units/mL. Furthermore, it promoted phenolic compound release (e.g., gallic acid and protocatechuic acid), raising total phenolic content by 8.3–21.9% and total flavonoid content by 79.6–140.3%. It significantly enhanced DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging activity, and FRAP antioxidant capacity. In vitro digestion revealed that pectin supplementation elevated the survival rate of probiotics in simulated gastric juice by 6.2–66.4%. Additionally, correlation analysis linked specific phenolics (p-coumaric acid, epicatechin, rutin) to antioxidant activity. An addition of 0.3% low-methoxyl and 0.2% high-methoxyl pectin was considered the optimal treatment, benefiting probiotic viability, phenolic accumulation and antioxidant stability of fermented PJ under cold storage and gastrointestinal environment. Thus, pectin is an effective carrier for high-viability, high-antioxidant probiotic fermented PJ beverages. Full article

Integrating semi-transparent photovoltaics (STPV) into greenhouse structures offers an effective approach to optimizing the Food–Energy Nexus and maximizing sustainable land-use efficiency. However, a knowledge gap remains regarding how specific STPV spectral signatures drive plant morpho-physiological acclimation across multiple cultivation cycles. This study presents a 19-month multi-cycle, proof-of-concept evaluation of the structural growth dynamics and physiological responses of generative (tomato) and vegetative (lettuce) crops under greenhouse prototypes with two distinct thin-film STPV technologies: Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and amorphous Silicon (a-Si), compared to an unshaded transparent control. Biometric monitoring revealed that morphological acclimation (Shade-Avoidance Syndrome) was highly plastic, driven by the interplay between spectral filtering and seasonal irradiance limits. While structural adaptations, such as foliar expansion and stem elongation under the a-Si spectrum, were pronounced during specific transitional seasons (e.g., early spring), these morphological differences largely homogenized across treatments during periods of extreme high or low natural irradiance. Despite the shading penalty, this morphological acclimation successfully sustained agronomic fresh mass. Systemic efficiency, quantified by the Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) as a relative biophysical synergy index, demonstrated notably crop-specific synergies. Under an extended single fruiting cycle, the CdTe prototype showed potential to improve yield, achieving a maximum LER of 1.66 for the high-light-demanding tomato (Y_crop = 1.40). Conversely, the a-Si module excelled with the shade-tolerant lettuce during early vegetative stages in high-radiation periods, achieving peak LERs up to 1.55. These findings provide a biophysical baseline to help guide future scalability assessments prior to full-scale commercial agrivoltaic (APV) implementation for sustainable food systems. Full article

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a globally important vegetable crop and a major dietary source of bioactive compounds, including lycopene, ascorbic acid, phenolics, and minerals. Modern tomato breeding has substantially improved yield, uniformity, and postharvest performance; however, these gains have often been accompanied by reduced flavor quality, lower nutritional value, and narrowing of the genetic base. This review synthesizes available evidence on Lithuanian tomato germplasm and evaluates its relevance for future breeding strategies aimed at enhancing genetic gain under Northern European conditions. The review integrates published data on genetic diversity, molecular characterization, morphological traits, fruit quality parameters, and yield performance of Lithuanian cultivars and hybrids developed in Lithuania. SSR-based studies indicate moderate genetic diversity, with mean expected heterozygosity of approximately 0.51 and mean PIC values of 0.47 in cultivars and 0.45 in hybrids, while also confirming a relatively narrow breeding pool. Lithuanian cultivars display substantial variation in fruit morphology, dry matter, soluble solids, firmness, lycopene, ascorbic acid, and yield. Traditional cultivars such as ‘Svara’, ‘Milžinai’, ‘Slapukai’, and ‘Balčiai’ show valuable nutritional and technological traits, whereas hybrids such as ‘Auksiai H’, ‘Adas H’, and ‘Ainiai H’ demonstrate improved productivity and firmness. The available evidence suggests persistent yield–quality trade-offs, particularly between productivity, soluble solids content, antioxidant accumulation, and postharvest performance. Although Lithuanian germplasm does not represent exceptionally broad genetic diversity, it contains regionally adapted material with stabilized trait combinations useful for breeding resilience, nutritional quality, and adaptation to temperate environments. Future progress will require broadening the genetic base and integrating traditional breeding with marker-assisted selection, genomic selection, GWAS, genome editing, multi-omics, and pangenomic approaches. Overall, Lithuanian tomato germplasm represents a locally adapted regional resource for translating genetic diversity into genetic gain in modern tomato breeding. Full article

Background: Depressive symptoms are a growing public health concern among aging populations. However, whether the association between vegetable and fruit intake and depressive symptoms varies by central adiposity and sex remains unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to examine whether vegetable and fruit intake categories are associated with depressive symptoms, and to evaluate whether the Weight-Adjusted Waist Index (WWI) and sex jointly modify these associations among older adults in Anhui Province, China. Methods: This cross-sectional study employed multistage stratified sampling across four cities in Anhui Province, China, from July to September 2019. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, WWI, weekly vegetable and fruit intake frequency, and depressive symptoms were collected from 5737 participants. Multivariable binary logistic regression models were employed to examine the associations, with analyses stratified by sex. Interaction analyses were conducted to evaluate the modifying roles of sex and WWI. Results: Among 5737 participants, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 32.46%. After full adjustment, the V+/F− category was associated with higher odds of depressive symptoms in women (AOR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.04–1.49). An interaction between vegetable and fruit intake categories and WWI levels was observed (p_interaction = 0.048). In stratified analyses, significant associations were observed among Q1 females with V+/F− and V−/F− categories and among Q3 males with the V−/F− category, whereas most other subgroup associations were not statistically significant after adjustment. Conclusions: The associations between vegetable and fruit intake and depressive symptoms may vary by metabolic status, as indexed by WWI, and by sex among older Chinese adults. Observed associations were more pronounced in females with low WWI and males with moderate WWI, and weaker among those with the highest WWI. These findings are exploratory and hypothesis-generating given the cross-sectional design and borderline interaction significance. Future longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to confirm these relationships and clarify the joint roles of dietary intake and central adiposity in late-life depressive symptoms. Full article

Rising global temperatures and recurrent heat waves increasingly threaten vegetable production, as vegetable crops are more thermosensitive than most field crops. Vegetable crops frequently experience severe reductions in pollen viability, fruit set, marketable yield, and quality under heat waves. Numerous reviews have substantially advanced our understanding of heat stress perception, signal transduction networks, transcriptional regulation, and thermotolerance mechanisms, primarily in model species and major field crops. However, comprehensive review articles of field-applied mitigation strategies specifically tailored to vegetable production remain limited. This review provides a critical analysis of the use of genetic resources (cultivars and grafting), field management approaches (optimized planting dates, crop rotation, canopy management, and intercropping), irrigation, nutrient optimization, biostimulants, microbial inoculants, and physical microclimate modification strategies. The research consolidates current applied and mechanistic evidence on heat-stress mitigation in vegetable crops and identifies targeted, actionable priorities for field adoption. Emphasis is placed on the integration of complementary mitigation strategies at the field scale where combined approaches may generate synergistic effects. Key research gaps include limited studies on combined heat–drought/salinity stress, lack of standardized field protocols for biostimulants, and insufficient farm-scale economic evaluations of mitigation strategies. Advancing interdisciplinary, field-validated, and climate-smart management frameworks will be essential to ensure sustainable vegetable productivity and quality stability in accelerating global warming. Full article

Background: The food environment plays a significant role in determining children’s nutritional status, especially in socially vulnerable settings, where the high availability of ultra-processed beverages can contribute to both overweight and nutritional deficiencies, such as anemia. Thus, this study aimed to assess the association between the availability of fruits, vegetables, and ultra-processed beverages in the food environment and the occurrence of overweight and anemia in children living in socially vulnerable areas. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with an ecological component, conducted between 2020 and 2021, involving 665 children residing in 40 favelas and urban communities in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil. Socioeconomic, anthropometric, and hematological data were collected, along with a characterization of the food environment in 624 establishments using the AUDITNOVA tool, focusing on the availability of fruits, vegetables, and ultra-processed beverages. The outcomes investigated were overweight (BMI-for-age z-score > +2) and anemia (hemoglobin < 11 g/dL). Multilevel models were used to assess the associations between the food environment and the outcomes of interest. Results: The prevalence of overweight was 19.7%, while anemia affected 50.4% of the children assessed. Greater availability of fruits and vegetables was associated with a lower chance of being overweight (OR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.79–0.98). In contrast, high availability of ultra-processed beverages was associated with a higher chance of being overweight (OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.07–1.84) and anemia (OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.04–2.29). Conclusion: Food environments characterized by widespread availability of ultra-processed beverages were associated with a higher prevalence of overweight and anemia among children. In comparison, greater availability of fresh or minimally processed foods was associated with a lower prevalence of overweight. These findings highlight the importance of public policies that promote healthier food environments in socially vulnerable areas. Full article