Hasil untuk "Nutrition. Foods and food supply"

Zhenbin Liu, Min Zhang, B. Bhandari et al.

H. Belshaw

S. Coderoni, M. Perito

Abstract This study is aimed at evaluating the relative influence of socio-demographic and psychological features that rule the extent to which consumers engage in the circular economy, purchasing waste-to-value (WTV) food enriched with ingredients otherwise wasted in the supply chain. 477 Italian consumers replied to a web-based questionnaire administered through different social media networks. Two different consumers’ purchase intentions were analysed: consumers were asked both if they would be willing to buy WTV food and if they would buy WTV food if this would help to reduce the environmental impact of agricultural production. Binary logistic regressions are estimated to appraise the eventual drivers of consumers’ statements. Among these drivers, attention was given to aspects related to the generalised aversion to new foods, i.e. food neophobia (FN) and the aversion to food processed in new ways, i.e. food technology neophobia (FTN). Other relevant economic and demographic factors were investigated, together with aspects related to generalised trust, purchase behaviours and preferences. The main results indicate that 56% of respondents declared to be willing to buy WTV food, however, FN and FTN negatively influence the probability of stating a positive purchase intention. Consumers who give importance to reading food labels and think that food could have environmental or health benefits, are more likely to be willing to buy WTV food. In addition, a core of sustainable consumers seems to emerge who express a positive purchase intention for WTV food to reduce the environmental impact of production and give importance to the origin and nutritional values of products. In conclusion, policy implications are drawn.

S. K. Saha, S. Lee, Jihye Won et al.

Inadequate or excessive nutrient consumption leads to oxidative stress, which may disrupt oxidative homeostasis, activate a cascade of molecular pathways, and alter the metabolic status of various tissues. Several foods and consumption patterns have been associated with various cancers and approximately 30–35% of the cancer cases are correlated with overnutrition or malnutrition. However, several contradictory studies are available regarding the association between diet and cancer risk, which remains to be elucidated. Concurrently, oxidative stress is a crucial factor for cancer progression and therapy. Nutritional oxidative stress may be induced by an imbalance between antioxidant defense and pro-oxidant load due to inadequate or excess nutrient supply. Oxidative stress is a physiological state where high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and free radicals are generated. Several signaling pathways associated with carcinogenesis can additionally control ROS generation and regulate ROS downstream mechanisms, which could have potential implications in anticancer research. Cancer initiation may be modulated by the nutrition-mediated elevation in ROS levels, which can stimulate cancer initiation by triggering DNA mutations, damage, and pro-oncogenic signaling. Therefore, in this review, we have provided an overview of the relationship between nutrition, oxidative stress, and cancer initiation, and evaluated the impact of nutrient-mediated regulation of antioxidant capability against cancer therapy.

Eun J. Lee, Kyung Y. Yoon

This study investigated the bioactivities of maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) leaf extract fractions obtained using deep eutectic solvent (DES)-based ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) followed by macroporous resin chromatography. Four fractions (Fr. 1 – Fr. 4) were obtained by elution with ethanol of varying concentrations (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%, v/v ), and subsequently total phenolic content (TPC), total saponin content (TSC), and individual phenolic contents as well as their anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and antioxidant activity were determined. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that TSC and TPC were strongly associated with biological activities, including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) cation radical scavenging activities, as well as α-glucosidase and nitric oxide (NO) inhibitory activities. Fr. 4, characterized by a high TSC (260.95 mg oleanolic acid equivalents (OAE)/g dry weight, DW), exhibited notable anti-inflammatory activity, inhibiting NO production by 36.30% at 60 μg/mL. Fr. 3, with TSC of 219.37 mg OAE/g DW and TPC of 53.45 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g DW, showed strong antidiabetic activity with an IC50 value of 0.24 mg/mL for α-glucosidase inhibition. Fr. 2, enriched in phenolic compounds and with high TPC of 104.78 mg GAE/g DW, demonstrated potent antioxidant activity, with IC 50 values of 0.52 mg/mL and 0.38 mg/mL in DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. These results indicate that macroporous resin chromatography is effective in obtaining fractions enriched in phenolic compounds and saponins from maca leaf extracts prepared by DES-based UAE, highlighting their potential application as functional food ingredients.

Alex Eeman Aule, Aspasia Werner, Irmgard Jordan et al.

IntroductionAgroecological farming is increasingly promoted as a climate-smart strategy for drylands, yet evidence on its effectiveness, acceptability, and sustainability in pastoral and agropastoral contexts remains limited. This study examined constraints to vegetable production and assessed the feasibility of selected agroecological practices in Turkana County, Kenya.MethodsThe study combined 12 gender-disaggregated Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with Trials of Improved Practices (TIPs). FGDs identified locally relevant agroecological techniques, which were subsequently tested by 50 households. Two follow-up visits conducted two weeks apart assessed uptake, adaptations, and willingness to continue.ResultsKey constraints identified during FGDs included pest infestation (83%), water scarcity (75%), and poor soil health (67%). The most adopted practices during TIPs were animal manure (59%), intercropping (51%), and use of ash (45%). Bottle irrigation (2%) showed minimal adoption due to material and technical limitations. Adoption rates were higher among agropastoralists than pastoralists. By the third visit, 79% of farmers were willing to continue at least one practice.DiscussionThe findings highlight that adoption of agroecological practices in semi-arid drylands is shaped by practical feasibility, resource availability, and livelihood strategies. TIPs proved effective for identifying context-appropriate, low-cost practices aligned with farmers' needs and constraints. These results provide empirical support for participatory, farmer-led evaluation approaches in dryland agroecology.

Benedetta Ciarmoli, Sophie Marbach

Microbes constantly interact with their environment by depleting and transforming food sources. Theoretical studies have mainly focused on Lotka-Volterra models, which do not account for food source dynamics. In contrast, consumer-resource models, which consider food source dynamics, are less explored. In particular, it is still unclear what physical mechanisms control oscillatory dynamics at a single population level, a phenomenon which can only be captured by a consumer-resource model. Here, we present a minimalistic consumer-resource model of a single microbial population with growth and death dynamics, consuming a continuously replenishing substrate. Our model reveals that decaying oscillations can occur around steady state if and only if the timescale of microbial adaptation to food supply changes exceeds the death timescale. This interplay of timescales allows us to rationalize the emergence of oscillatory dynamics when adding various biophysical ingredients to the model. We find that microbial necromass recycling or complementary use of multiple food sources reduces the parameter range for oscillations and increases the decay rate of oscillations. Requiring multiple simultaneous food sources has the opposite effect. Essentially, facilitating growth reduces the likelihood of oscillations around a fixed point. We further demonstrate that such damped oscillatory behavior is correlated with persistent oscillatory behavior in a noisy environment. We hope our work will motivate further investigations of consumer-resource models to improve descriptions of environments where food source distributions vary in space and time.

Xiaoyan Zhang, Jiangpeng He

Visual food recognition in real-world dietary logging scenarios naturally exhibits severe data imbalance, where a small number of food categories appear frequently while many others occur rarely, resulting in long-tailed class distributions. In practice, food recognition systems often operate in a continual learning setting, where new categories are introduced sequentially over time. However, existing studies typically assume that each incremental step introduces a similar number of new food classes, which rarely happens in real world where the number of newly observed categories can vary significantly across steps, leading to highly uneven learning dynamics. As a result, continual food recognition exhibits a dual imbalance: imbalanced samples within each food class and imbalanced numbers of new food classes to learn at each incremental learning step. In this work, we introduce DIME, a Dual-Imbalance-aware Adapter Merging framework for continual food recognition. DIME learns lightweight adapters for each task using parameter-efficient fine-tuning and progressively integrates them through a class-count guided spectral merging strategy. A rank-wise threshold modulation mechanism further stabilizes the merging process by preserving dominant knowledge while allowing adaptive updates. The resulting model maintains a single merged adapter for inference, enabling efficient deployment without accumulating task-specific modules. Experiments on realistic long-tailed food benchmarks under our step-imbalanced setup show that the proposed method consistently improves by more than 3% over the strongest existing continual learning baselines. Code is available at https://github.com/xiaoyanzhang1/DIME.

Piyush Kaushik Bhattacharyya, Devansh Tomar, Shubham Mishra et al.

Conventional machine learning pipelines often struggle to recognize categories absent from the original trainingset. This gap typically reduces accuracy, as fixed datasets rarely capture the full diversity of a domain. To address this, we propose a continual learning framework for text-guided food classification. Unlike approaches that require retraining from scratch, our method enables incremental updates, allowing new categories to be integrated without degrading prior knowledge. For example, a model trained on Western cuisines could later learn to classify dishes such as dosa or kimchi. Although further refinements are needed, this design shows promise for adaptive food recognition, with applications in dietary monitoring and personalized nutrition planning.

Nataša Fidler Mis, C. Braegger, J. Bronský et al.

R. Short, S. Gelcich, D. Little et al.

Fabiana Cannella, Elisa Assunta Algaria, Kashi Brunetti et al.

ObjectivesMenopause marks the cessation of ovarian function, preceded by perimenopause, a transitional phase characterized by hormonal fluctuations and metabolic changes, including dyslipidemia. Therefore, a targeted nutritional approach is essential. In this retrospective, observational, pilot study, we evaluated the impact of a Mediterranean-based dietary regimen supplemented with specific natural compounds on lipid profiles and body composition in perimenopausal and menopausal women with hypercholesterolemia.MethodsAn individual dietary plan based on the Mediterranean diet, supplemented with a phytosterol-based formula containing bergamot, prickly pear extract, and vitamin B1, was recommended for each study participant. Additionally, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation was recommended due to its well-documented benefits in reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors, including elevated lipid levels. Lipid profile, body composition, and anthropometric values were recorded and carefully analyzed.ResultsOur findings indicated that this combined dietary approach significantly improved lipid profiles, as evidenced by reductions in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides and by an increment in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol values. Furthermore, the dietary plan positively impacted overall body composition and morphometric parameters.ConclusionThese preliminary findings suggest that a personalized, nutritionally targeted approach may be an effective non-pharmacological strategy for managing cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors during the menopausal transition and postmenopausal period. Further large-scale, controlled studies are warranted to confirm these results and explore long-term outcomes.

Aaisha Al-Saadi, Pankaj B. Pathare, Mohammed Al-Rizeiqi et al.

Abstract The drying process is a critical heat treatment widely used in the food industry due to the increasing global demand for dried foods. Anchovies, being highly perishable yet nutritionally valuable, require effective drying to extend their shelf life. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of three drying methods namely, open sun drying (OSD), solar greenhouse tunnel dryer (GTD), and forced convective solar dryer (FCD) on the drying kinetics and color changes of anchovies. A total of 20 kg of anchovies were dried using each method to compare drying rates, moisture content, and color kinetics. Results revealed that GTD achieved the highest drying rate and required the shortest drying time (6 h), compared to 9 h for OSD and FCD. The drying rate was dependent on moisture content, and the Henderson and Pabis model accurately described the moisture ratio of anchovies dried using OSD. In contrast, the Midilli et al. model best fitted the moisture ratio data for GTD and FCD. The lightness (L*) of dried anchovies exhibited the highest reduction in GTD, followed by FCD and OSD, with a first-order kinetic model effectively fitting the lightness data. Effective moisture diffusivity values were 6.43737 × 10–10, 7.44735 × 10–10, and 1.02148 × 10–09 m2/s for OSD, FCD, and GTD, respectively. This study highlights the advantages of solar drying methods, particularly GTD, in enhancing drying efficiency, reducing drying time, and preserving product quality.

Tugce Ozlu Karahan, Dila Cakmakci, Eylül Kurtoglu et al.

IntroductionDigitalization, through smartphones and online platforms, has become deeply embedded in daily life, beginning to exert significant effects on eating habits and psychological health. Online food delivery (OFD) applications (app) provide easy access to fast food and processed products, exposing individuals to a constant digital food environment. Examining the relationship of these applications with eating behaviors and conditions such as depression is particularly important in the context of increasing mental health problems among young adults. This study aims to examine the relationship between the frequency of use of OFD apps and user attitudes toward these apps, with depression level and eating behaviors in young adults.MethodsParticipants’ demographic information, frequency of use of OFD apps, and attitudes toward these apps were determined by questionnaire questions; depression status was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory; and eating behaviors were assessed using the Three-Factor Eating Scale (TFEQ-R21).ResultsA total of 383 young adults aged 18–35 years participated in our study. The group with the lowest frequency of OFD apps use (21.2 ± 0.4) had significantly lower uncontrolled eating scores than the other groups (23.4 ± 0.7 and 23.3 ± 0.6; p = 0.005). In addition, a significant decrease in cognitive restraint levels was observed as the frequency of OFD apps use increased (p = 0.031). In addition, depression scores of individuals with more OFD apps (4–6) on their phones (14.1 ± 1.3) were found to be higher than those of individuals who did not use any apps (8.8 ± 1.4; p = 0.025).DiscussionThe findings of our study suggest that the digital food environment can be a determinant not only of individuals’ physical health but also of their psychological health and behavioral eating habits.

Yinyin Yang, Xuhao Gu, Xuhao Gu et al.

BackgroundAcute radiation enteritis (ARE) is a common side effect experienced by patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy (RT). Probiotic supplementation is an emerging strategy for preventing ARE.MethodsThis phase II trial recruited patients with gynecologic or rectal cancers who received pelvic RT with curative or adjuvant intent. During RT, one packet of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum BL21 (BL21) powder was self-administered daily. ARE was assessed and classified according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) toxicity grading criteria. We assessed the safety and efficacy of BL21 to prevent ARE and investigate the changes in the intestinal microbiota.ResultsThis study enrolled 52 patients, 8 participants withdrew, and 44 patients being included in the final analysis. The safety profile of BL21 during RT was favorable, and we did not observe any serious adverse events associated with BL21. Compared with our historical control data, these patients exhibited lower levels of ≥ grade 2 ARE and required fewer antidiarrheal medications (n = 12). Most diarrhea cases were classified as grade 1 (n = 22). Analysis of the gut microbiota revealed that the severity of ARE correlates with the abundance of BL21 and the increase in BL21 was associated with greater alpha diversity, an increase in beneficial bacteria, and a decrease in harmful bacteria.ConclusionsThe favorable safety profile, exploratory clinical observations of reduced ARE severity vs. historical controls, and feasible administration support further investigation of Bifidobacterium longum BL21 as a prophylactic candidate for ARE, warranting validation in Phase III randomized controlled trials.Clinical Trial RegistrationChinese Clinical Study Registry (registry ID: ChiCTR2300069881).

Djihad Bencherit, Naila Charbi, Asma Saad et al.

Background Children are generally attracted to colorful foods. However, some food dyes are suspected of exacerbating the activity of children and inducing other health problems that can reach reprotoxicity and carcinogenicity. Objective This study aims to explore the presence of dyes such as E102, E104, E110, E121, E122, E123, E124, E127, E129, E132, E133, E143 and E171 in food products widely consumed by children in Algeria notably sweets and chocolates, beverages and ice creams, yogurts and biscuits. Material and Methods This work was carried out on 228 products including 57 biscuits, 47 drinks and ice creams, 20 yogurts and 104 sweets and chocolates. Information mentioned on the composition label of this products were recorded to determine the presence of studied dyes Results Here, we report the abundance of the yellow dyes E102 (24.1%) and E110 (18%) in the tested products. Also, apart from E121, all the other assessed dyes were found. Sweets and chocolates are the products containing the most studied dyes. The analysis of the presence of combinations of these dyes shows that 7% of analyzed foods contain 2 dyes in their composition while 20% of the products contain at least 3 dyes at the same time. Additionally, 37.5% of sweets and chocolates contain a combination of at least 3 dyes in their ingredient list. Conclusions In overall, except the E121, all assessed dyes were identified on the labels of food products widely consumed by children which encourage parents to be made aware of the risks associated with the ingestion of omnipresent dyes in children’s diets.

Voraprapa Nakavachara, Chanon Thongtai, Thanarat Chalidabhongse et al.

This study examines how consumer attitudes toward animal welfare influence food selection and pricing using real-world market data from a Swiss supermarket. Our findings indicate that higher animal welfare standards are consistently associated with higher prices, suggesting that ethical considerations play a significant role in generating price premiums based on consumer preferences. On average, a one-point increase in the animal welfare score (ranging from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest) corresponds to a 16.4% price increase, with the effect being most pronounced in Dairy & Eggs (25.3%), compared to Meat & Fish (14.3%). These results highlight the psychological and behavioral factors underlying consumer preferences for ethically produced foods. Additionally, we find limited evidence of a price premium for climate-friendly food products, observed only in Yogurts & Desserts, a subcategory within Dairy & Eggs. Our findings contribute to the understanding of how ethical food attributes influence consumer decision-making and pricing in retail settings.

Alessandro Casa, Thomas Brendan Murphy, Michael Fop

Recently, growing consumer awareness of food quality and sustainability has led to a rising demand for effective food authentication methods. Vibrational spectroscopy techniques have emerged as a promising tool for collecting large volumes of data to detect food adulteration. However, spectroscopic data pose significant challenges from a statistical viewpoint, highlighting the need for more sophisticated modeling strategies. To address these challenges, in this work we propose a latent variable model specifically tailored for food adulterant detection, while accommodating the features of spectral data. Our proposal offers greater granularity with respect to existing approaches, since it does not only identify adulterated samples but also estimates the level of adulteration, and detects the spectral regions most affected by the adulterant. Consequently, the methodology offers deeper insights, and could facilitate the development of portable and faster instruments for efficient data collection in food authenticity studies. The method is applied to both synthetic and real honey mid-infrared spectroscopy data, delivering precise estimates of the adulteration level and accurately identifying which portions of the spectra are most impacted by the adulterant.

Zi Hua, Mei-Jun Zhu

Food-contact surfaces showing signs of wear pose a substantial risk of Listeria monocytogenes contamination and may serve as persistent sources of cross-contamination in fresh produce packinghouses. This study offers a comprehensive exploration into the influence of surface defects on the efficacies of commonly used sanitizers against L. monocytogenes biofilms on major food-contact surfaces. The 7-day-old L. monocytogenes biofilms were cultivated on food-contact surfaces, including stainless steel, polyvinyl chloride, polyester, low-density polyethylene, and rubber, with and without defects and organic matter. Biofilms on those surfaces were subjected to treatments of 200 ppm chlorine, 400 ppm quaternary ammonium compound (QAC), or 160 ppm peroxyacetic acid (PAA). Results showed that surface defects significantly (P < 0.05) increased the population of L. monocytogenes in biofilms on non-stainless steel surfaces and compromised the efficacies of sanitizers against L. monocytogenes biofilms across various surface types. A 5-min treatment of 200 ppm chlorine caused 1.84–3.39 log10 CFU/coupon reductions of L. monocytogenes on worn surfaces, compared to 2.79–3.93 log10 CFU/coupon reduction observed on new surfaces. Similarly, a 5-min treatment with 400 ppm QAC caused 2.05–2.88 log10 CFU/coupon reductions on worn surfaces, compared to 2.51–3.66 log10 CFU/coupon reductions on new surfaces. Interestingly, PAA sanitization (160 ppm, 1 min) exhibited less susceptibility to surface defects, leading to 3.41–4.35 log10 CFU/coupon reductions on worn surfaces, in contrast to 3.68–4.64 log10 CFU/coupon reductions on new surfaces. Furthermore, apple juice soiling diminished the efficacy of sanitizers against L. monocytogenes biofilms on worn surfaces (P < 0.05). These findings underscore the critical importance of diligent equipment maintenance and thorough cleaning processes to effectively eliminate L. monocytogenes contamination on food-contact surfaces.

Kit-Leong Cheong, Keying Liu, Wenting Chen et al.

Porphyra haitanensis, a red seaweed species, represents a bountiful and sustainable marine resource. P. haitanensis polysaccharide (PHP), has garnered considerable attention for its numerous health benefits. However, the comprehensive utilization of PHP on an industrial scale has been limited by the lack of comprehensive information. In this review, we endeavor to discuss and summarize recent advancements in PHP extraction, purification, and characterization. We emphasize the multifaceted mechanisms through which PHP promotes gastrointestinal health. Furthermore, we present a summary of compelling evidence supporting PHP's protective role against oxidative stress. This includes its demonstrated potent antioxidant properties, its ability to neutralize free radicals, and its capacity to enhance the activity of antioxidant enzymes. The information presented here also lays the theoretical groundwork for future research into the structural and functional aspects of PHP, as well as its potential applications in functional foods.