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Pitocchi R, Stanzione I, Illiano A, Amoresano A, Tarallo O, Cicatiello P, Piscitelli A, Giardina P. Evidence of Small Fungal Cysteine-Rich Proteins Acting as Biosurfactants and Self-Assembling into Large Fibers. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:13843. [PMID: 37762146 PMCID: PMC10531366 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241813843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Fungi produce surface-active proteins, among which hydrophobins are the most characterized and attractive also for their ability to form functional amyloids. Our most recent findings show that these abilities are shared with other classes of fungal proteins. Indeed, in this paper, we compared the characteristics of a class I hydrophobin (Vmh2 from Pleurotus ostreatus) and an unknown protein (named PAC3), extracted from the marine fungal strain Acremonium sclerotigenum, which does not belong to the same protein family based on its sequence features. They both proved to be good biosurfactants, stabilizing emulsions in several conditions (concentration, pH, and salinity) and decreasing surface tension to a comparable value to that of some synthetic surfactants. After that, we observed for both Vmh2 and PAC3 the formation of giant fibers without the need for harsh conditions or long incubation time, a remarkable ability herein reported for the first time.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Paola Cicatiello
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cintia, 80126 Naples, Italy; (R.P.); (I.S.); (A.I.); (A.A.); (O.T.); (A.P.); (P.G.)
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2
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Tartaglia M, Scarano P, Prigioniero A, Zuzolo D, Postiglione A, Falzarano A, Amoresano A, Illiano A, Pinto G, Schicchi R, Geraci A, Sciarrillo R, Guarino C. Multi-omic characterisation as a tool to improve knowledge, valorisation and conservation of wild fruit genetic resources: the case of Arbutus unedo L. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1195673. [PMID: 37745992 PMCID: PMC10514896 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1195673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
The valorisation and conservation of plant genetic resources (PGRs) and wild fruit PGRs are critical to ensure the maintenance of genetic and cultural heritage and to promote new perspectives on resource use. New strategies to characterize PGRs are needed, and the omics approach can provide information that is still largely unknown. The Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) is an underutilized, drought and fire-resistant species distributed in the Mediterranean area and its berries have large ethnobotanical use. Although their phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity are known, they are not well characterised, particularly from a proteomic perspective. The aim of this work is the characterisation of two ecotypes of A. unedo (Campania and Sicily) from a molecular viewpoint to valorise and encourage the preservation of this wild fruit. Samples were collected from two different geographical areas to assess whether different geographical conditions could influence the characteristics of leaves and fruits at the three stages of ripening (green, veraison, red). Proteomic analysis identified 904 proteins, of which 122 showed significance along the ripening. Some of these differentially abundant proteins, such as chalcone synthase, show a marked increase during ripening. The protein functional classes with the highest representation are involved in protein and amino acid metabolism, glycolysis and in secondary metabolism. From a proteomic perspective, there are no differences between the fruits from the two regions compared by the ripening stage. However, the pedoclimatic metabolic imprinting allowed the observation of good diversity in the metabolomic profiles between the two ecotypes, especially for anthocyanins, 4 times more abundant in the Sicilian veraisoned fruit than in the Campania one, and catechins, with double the abundance in the Campania ecotype compared to the Sicilian ecotype in the green phase, but more abundant (3x) in the Sicilian veraisoned fruit. Phenolic compounds show a 20% greater abundance in the Campania green arbutus fruit than in the Sicilian one, values that then equalise as ripening progresses. Multi-omic characterisation enhanced the knowledge on a wild fruit plant species which shows specific adaptations and responses to the environment to be considered when addressing the issue of local agrobiodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Tartaglia
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | - Pierpaolo Scarano
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | | | - Daniela Zuzolo
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | - Alessia Postiglione
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | | | - Angela Amoresano
- Department of Chemical Science, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- INBB - Consorzio Interuniversitario Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Rome, Italy
| | - Anna Illiano
- Department of Chemical Science, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- INBB - Consorzio Interuniversitario Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriella Pinto
- Department of Chemical Science, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- INBB - Consorzio Interuniversitario Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Rome, Italy
| | - Rosario Schicchi
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences (SAAF), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Anna Geraci
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Rosaria Sciarrillo
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | - Carmine Guarino
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
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3
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Sentellas S, Saurina J. Authentication of Cocoa Products Based on Profiling and Fingerprinting Approaches: Assessment of Geographical, Varietal, Agricultural and Processing Features. Foods 2023; 12:3120. [PMID: 37628119 PMCID: PMC10453789 DOI: 10.3390/foods12163120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Cocoa and its derivative products, especially chocolate, are highly appreciated by consumers for their exceptional organoleptic qualities, thus being often considered delicacies. They are also regarded as superfoods due to their nutritional and health properties. Cocoa is susceptible to adulteration to obtain illicit economic benefits, so strategies capable of authenticating its attributes are needed. Features such as cocoa variety, origin, fair trade, and organic production are increasingly important in our society, so they need to be guaranteed. Most of the methods dealing with food authentication rely on profiling and fingerprinting approaches. The compositional profiles of natural components -such as polyphenols, biogenic amines, amino acids, volatile organic compounds, and fatty acids- are the source of information to address these issues. As for fingerprinting, analytical techniques, such as chromatography, infrared, Raman, and mass spectrometry, generate rich fingerprints containing dozens of features to be used for discrimination purposes. In the two cases, the data generated are complex, so chemometric methods are usually applied to extract the underlying information. In this review, we present the state of the art of cocoa and chocolate authentication, highlighting the pros and cons of the different approaches. Besides, the relevance of the proposed methods in quality control and the novel trends for sample analysis are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Sentellas
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Chemistry, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1-11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;
- Research Institute in Food Nutrition and Food Safety, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Prat de la Riba 171, Edifici Recerca (Gaudí), 08921 Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain
- Serra Húnter Fellow Programme, Generalitat de Catalunya, Via Laietana 2, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Javier Saurina
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Chemistry, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1-11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;
- Research Institute in Food Nutrition and Food Safety, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Prat de la Riba 171, Edifici Recerca (Gaudí), 08921 Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain
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4
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Rodríguez EP, Li Y, Vaniya A, Shih PM, Fiehn O. Alternative Identification of Glycosides Using MS/MS Matching with an In Silico-Modified Aglycone Mass Spectra Library. Anal Chem 2023. [PMID: 37390485 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c00957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/02/2023]
Abstract
Glycosylation of metabolites serves multiple purposes. Adding sugars makes metabolites more water soluble and improves their biodistribution, stability, and detoxification. In plants, the increase in melting points enables storing otherwise volatile compounds that are released by hydrolysis when needed. Classically, glycosylated metabolites were identified by mass spectrometry (MS/MS) using [M-sugar] neutral losses. Herein, we studied 71 pairs of glycosides with their respective aglycones, including hexose, pentose, and glucuronide moieties. Using liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry, we detected the classic [M-sugar] product ions for only 68% of glycosides. Instead, we found that most aglycone MS/MS product ions were conserved in the MS/MS spectra of their corresponding glycosides, even when no [M-sugar] neutral losses were observed. We added pentose and hexose units to the precursor masses of an MS/MS library of 3057 aglycones to enable rapid identification of glycosylated natural products with standard MS/MS search algorithms. When searching unknown compounds in untargeted LC-MS/MS metabolomics data of chocolate and tea, we structurally annotated 108 novel glycosides in standard MS-DIAL data processing. We uploaded this new in silico-glycosylated product MS/MS library to GitHub to enable users to detect natural product glycosides without authentic chemical standards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elys P Rodríguez
- Department of Chemistry, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
- West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Yuanyue Li
- West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Arpana Vaniya
- West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Patrick M Shih
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 97420, United States
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Oliver Fiehn
- West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
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5
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Herrera-Rocha F, Fernández-Niño M, Cala MP, Duitama J, Barrios AFG. Omics approaches to understand cocoa processing and chocolate flavor development: A review. Food Res Int 2023; 165:112555. [PMID: 36869541 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
The global market of chocolate has increased worldwide during the last decade and is expected to reach a value of USD 200 billion by 2028. Chocolate is obtained from different varieties of Theobroma cacao L, a plant domesticated more than 4000 years ago in the Amazon rainforest. However, chocolate production is a complex process requiring extensive post-harvesting, mainly involving cocoa bean fermentation, drying, and roasting. These steps have a critical impact on chocolate quality. Standardizing and better understanding cocoa processing is, therefore, a current challenge to boost the global production of high-quality cocoa worldwide. This knowledge can also help cocoa producers improve cocoa processing management and obtain a better chocolate. Several recent studies have been conducted to dissect cocoa processing via omics analysis. A vast amount of data has been produced regarding omics studies of cocoa processing performed worldwide. This review systematically analyzes the current data on cocoa omics using data mining techniques and discusses opportunities and gaps for cocoa processing standardization from this data. First, we observed a recurrent report in metagenomics studies of species of the fungi genus Candida and Pichia as well as bacteria from the genus Lactobacillus, Acetobacter, and Bacillus. Second, our analyzes of the available metabolomics data showed clear differences in the identified metabolites in cocoa and chocolate from different geographical origin, cocoa type, and processing stage. Finally, our analysis of peptidomics data revealed characteristic patterns in the gathered data including higher diversity and lower size distribution of peptides in fine-flavor cocoa. In addition, we discuss the current challenges in cocoa omics research. More research is still required to fill gaps in central matter in chocolate production as starter cultures for cocoa fermentation, flavor evolution of cocoa, and the role of peptides in the development of specific flavor notes. We also offer the most comprehensive collection of multi-omics data in cocoa processing gathered from different research articles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Herrera-Rocha
- Grupo de Diseño de Productos y Procesos (GDPP), Department of Chemical and Food Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá 111711, Colombia
| | - Miguel Fernández-Niño
- Leibniz-Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Weinberg 3, D-06120 Halle, Germany.
| | - Mónica P Cala
- MetCore - Metabolomics Core Facility, Vice-Presidency for Research, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Jorge Duitama
- Systems and Computing Engineering Department, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá 111711, Colombia
| | - Andrés Fernando González Barrios
- Grupo de Diseño de Productos y Procesos (GDPP), Department of Chemical and Food Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá 111711, Colombia.
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6
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Balcázar-Zumaeta CR, Castro-Alayo EM, Cayo-Colca IS, Idrogo-Vásquez G, Muñoz-Astecker LD. Metabolomics during the spontaneous fermentation in cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.): An exploraty review. Food Res Int 2023; 163:112190. [PMID: 36596129 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2022.112190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Spontaneous fermentation is a process that depends on substrates' physical characteristics, crop variety, and postharvest practices; it induces variations in the metabolites that are responsible for the taste, aroma, and quality. Metabolomics makes it possible to detect key metabolites using chemometrics and makes it possible to establish patterns or identify biomarker behaviors under certain conditions at a given time. Therefore, sensitive and highly efficient analytical techniques allow for studying the metabolomic fingerprint changes during fermentation; which identify and quantify metabolites related to taste and aroma formation of an adequate processing time. This review shows that studying metabolomics in spontaneous fermentation permits the characterization of spontaneous fermentation in different stages. Also, it demonstrates the possibility of modulating the quality of cocoa by improving the spontaneous fermentation time (because of volatile aromatic compounds formation), thus standardizing the process to obtain attributes and quality that will later impact the chocolate quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- César R Balcázar-Zumaeta
- Instituto de Investigación, Innovación y Desarrollo para el Sector Agrario y Agroindustrial de la Región Amazonas (IIDAA), Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Calle Higos Urco 342-350-356, Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru.
| | - Efraín M Castro-Alayo
- Instituto de Investigación, Innovación y Desarrollo para el Sector Agrario y Agroindustrial de la Región Amazonas (IIDAA), Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Calle Higos Urco 342-350-356, Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru.
| | - Ilse S Cayo-Colca
- Facultad de Ingeniería Zootecnista, Agronegocios y Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Calle Higos Urco 342-350-356, Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru.
| | - Guillermo Idrogo-Vásquez
- Instituto de Investigación, Innovación y Desarrollo para el Sector Agrario y Agroindustrial de la Región Amazonas (IIDAA), Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Calle Higos Urco 342-350-356, Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru.
| | - Lucas D Muñoz-Astecker
- Instituto de Investigación, Innovación y Desarrollo para el Sector Agrario y Agroindustrial de la Región Amazonas (IIDAA), Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Calle Higos Urco 342-350-356, Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru.
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7
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Bortolami M, Di Matteo P, Rocco D, Feroci M, Petrucci R. Metabolic Profile of Agropyron repens (L.) P. Beauv. Rhizome Herbal Tea by HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS Analysis. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27154962. [PMID: 35956912 PMCID: PMC9370816 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27154962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Agropyron repens (L.) P. Beauv. (couch grass) is a world-wide infesting rhizomatous plant with pharmacological applications. Chemical research is focused on its allelopathic and anti-inflammatory components, which are mainly present in the essential oil. Conversely, the aqueous extracts have been sparingly investigated, although the herbal tea is by far the most used formulation. To fill the gap, the metabolic profile of Agropyron repens rhizome herbal tea was investigated by electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem–mass spectrometry (MS/MS); the phenolic profile was investigated by HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS. ESI-MS fingerprinting was provided, evidencing diagnostic ions for saccharides, organic acids and amino acids. The HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS/MS analysis evidenced at least 20 characteristic phenolic compounds, the most representative being caffeoyl and feruloyl quinic esters, followed by coumaric, caffeic and ferulic acids, and hesperidin among flavonoids. In addition, the essential amino acid tryptophan was identified for the first time. The results suggest new perspectives of applications for Agropyron repens rhizome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Bortolami
- Department of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 7, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Di Matteo
- Department of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 7, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Daniele Rocco
- Department of Ingegneria Meccanica ed Aerospaziale, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
| | - Marta Feroci
- Department of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 7, 00161 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence: (M.F.); (R.P.); Tel.: +39-649766736 (R.P.)
| | - Rita Petrucci
- Department of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 7, 00161 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence: (M.F.); (R.P.); Tel.: +39-649766736 (R.P.)
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8
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Scarano P, Guida R, Zuzolo D, Tartaglia M, Prigioniero A, Postiglione A, Pinto G, Illiano A, Amoresano A, Schicchi R, Geraci A, Sciarrillo R, Guarino C. An Endemic Plant of the Mediterranean Area: Phytochemical Characterization of Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo L.) Fruits Extracts at Different Ripening Stages. Front Nutr 2022; 9:915994. [PMID: 35782922 PMCID: PMC9249387 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.915994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
This work focused on the extraction, quantification, and characterization of bioactive compounds of Arbutus unedo L. fruits, comparing the results obtained from the different ripening states. Extractions were performed by different methods (such as maceration extraction and ultrasonic extraction) and food grade solvents (aqueous and hydroalcoholic solvents) in each of the all ripening states (four states considered, associated with four different colors, i.e., green, yellow, orange, and red). The presence of (poly)phenols was quantified and characterized, and scavenging activity was determined by the Folin–Ciocâlteu reagent and the DPPH method, respectively. The content of bioactive compounds was characterized by LC-MS/MS, such as multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry. The results showed that ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) performed better than maceration extraction; ethanol–water mixture extracts showed a more positive effect than the use of aqueous extracts regarding the content of total phenolic compounds. Overall, the total phenolic compounds in the EtOH:H2O mixture at a ratio of 7:3 (v:v) were higher than that of the other solvents for both extraction methods. Some bioactive molecules were characterized for the first time in the extracts of A. unedo. The chemical profile of the strawberry tree extracts depended on the degree of fruit ripeness. The results suggest that A. unedo fruits may be of great interest for food and nutraceutical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierpaolo Scarano
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | - Rosa Guida
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | - Daniela Zuzolo
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | - Maria Tartaglia
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | | | - Alessia Postiglione
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | - Gabriella Pinto
- Department of Chemical Science, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- INBB—Consorzio Interuniversitario Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Rome, Italy
| | - Anna Illiano
- Department of Chemical Science, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- INBB—Consorzio Interuniversitario Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Rome, Italy
| | - Angela Amoresano
- Department of Chemical Science, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- INBB—Consorzio Interuniversitario Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Rome, Italy
| | - Rosario Schicchi
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Anna Geraci
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Rosaria Sciarrillo
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
- *Correspondence: Rosaria Sciarrillo,
| | - Carmine Guarino
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
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9
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Illiano A, Pinto G, Carrera MA, Palmese A, Di Novella R, Casoria P, Amoresano A. LC-MS/MS-Based Quantification Method of Polyphenols for Valorization of Ancient Apple Cultivars from Cilento. ACS FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 2:647-654. [PMID: 35465209 PMCID: PMC9016709 DOI: 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.1c00439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Revised: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
Safeguarding the biodiversity of plant species is of fundamental importance for their defense against pests and diseases even through the maintenance and dissemination of ancient agricultural traditions rooted within the small rural environments. The investigation area of the current research covered some municipalities belonging to the "Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano" including the sub-mountainous part of "Comunità Montana del Vallo di Diano (Salerno, Campania)". Fifteen ancient apple varieties were collected from local communities to be analyzed and compared to some commercially available apples. To this aim, a Folin-Ciocâlteu assay was preliminarily used to measure the total polyphenol content in both ancient and commercial apple cultivars. Then, a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) ion mode was then implemented to detect and quantify specific polyphenols and to obtain a molecular comparison of a wide panel of polyphenols. The main finding of the present work pointed out that ancient apple cultivars are richer than commercial ones in anthocyanins, dihydrochalcones, and chlorogenic acid, whose beneficial effects on health are widely known. Thus, the safeguarding of these ancient varieties is greatly encouraged for the richness of polyphenols crucial both for the defense of plants from insects and for remarkable nutraceutical properties, in addition to the need for germplasm conservation as a source of genetic variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Illiano
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
- CEINGE
Advanced Biotechnologies, University of
Naples Federico II, 80145 Naples, Italy
- INBB,
Istituto Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Consorzio Interuniversitario, 00136 Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriella Pinto
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
- INBB,
Istituto Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Consorzio Interuniversitario, 00136 Rome, Italy
| | | | - Angelo Palmese
- Pharmaceutical
& Analytical Development Biotech Products, Merck Serono SpA, an affiliate of Merck
KgaA, Darmstadt, Germany, 00176 Roma, Italy
| | - Riccardo Di Novella
- Ecomuseo
della Valle delle Orchidee e delle Antiche Coltivazioni-Sassano (Sa)-PNCVDA, 84038 Sassano, Italy
| | - Paolo Casoria
- Department
of Sciences and Technology, University of
Naples Parthenope, 80143 Naples, Italy
| | - Angela Amoresano
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
- INBB,
Istituto Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Consorzio Interuniversitario, 00136 Rome, Italy
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10
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Barberis E, Amede E, Dondero F, Marengo E, Manfredi M. New Non-Invasive Method for the Authentication of Apple Cultivars. Foods 2021; 11:foods11010089. [PMID: 35010215 PMCID: PMC8750361 DOI: 10.3390/foods11010089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Revised: 12/27/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Food authentication is very important to protect consumers, sellers, and producers from fraud. Although several methods have been developed using a wide range of analytical techniques, most of them require sample destruction and do not allow in situ sampling or analysis, nor reliable quantification of hundreds of molecules at the same time. To overcome these limitations, we have developed and validated a new noninvasive analytical workflow for food authentication. The method uses a functionalized strip to adsorb small molecules from the surface of the food product, followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the desorbed analytes. We validated the method and applied it to the classification of five different apple varieties. Molecular concentrations obtained from the analysis of 44 apples were used to identify markers for apple cultivars or, in combination with machine learning techniques, to perform cultivar classification. The overall reproducibility of the method was very good, showing a good coefficient of variation for both targeted and untargeted analysis. The approach was able to correctly classify all samples. In addition, the method was also used to detect pesticides and the following molecules were found in almost all samples: chlorpyrifos-methyl, deltamethrin, and malathion. The proposed approach not only showed very good analytical performance, but also proved to be suitable for noninvasive food authentication and pesticide residue analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elettra Barberis
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy; (E.A.); (M.M.)
- Center for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy;
- Correspondence:
| | - Elia Amede
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy; (E.A.); (M.M.)
- Center for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy;
| | - Francesco Dondero
- Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy;
| | - Emilio Marengo
- Center for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy;
- Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy;
| | - Marcello Manfredi
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy; (E.A.); (M.M.)
- Center for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases, University of Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy;
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11
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Pinto G, Illiano A, Ferrucci V, Quarantelli F, Fontanarosa C, Siciliano R, Di Domenico C, Izzo B, Pucci P, Marino G, Zollo M, Amoresano A. Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Proteins from Nasopharyngeal Swabs Probed by Multiple Reaction Monitoring Tandem Mass Spectrometry. ACS OMEGA 2021; 6:34945-34953. [PMID: 34926968 PMCID: PMC8672425 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c05587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Numerous reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests have emerged over the past year as the gold standard for detecting millions of cases of SARS-CoV-2 reported daily worldwide. However, problems with critical shortages of key reagents such as PCR primers and RNA extraction kits and unpredictable test reliability related to high viral replication cycles have triggered the need for alternative methodologies to PCR to detect specific COVID-19 proteins. Several authors have developed methods based on liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to confirm the potential of the technique to detect two major proteins, the spike and the nucleoprotein, of COVID-19. In the present work, an S-Trap mini spin column digestion protocol was used for sample preparation prodromal to LC-MS/MS analysis in multiple reactions monitoring ion mode (MRM) to obtain a comprehensive method capable of detecting different viral proteins. The developed method was applied to n. 81 oro/nasopharyngeal swabs submitted in parallel to quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) assays to detect RdRP, the S and N genes specific for COVID-19, and the E gene for all Sarbecoviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 (with cycle negativity threshold set to 40). A total of 23 peptides representative of the six specific viral proteins were detected in the monitoring of 128 transitions found to have good ionic currents extracted in clinical samples that reacted differently to the PCR assay. The best instrumental response came from the FLPFQFGR sequence of spike [558-566] peptide used to test the analytical performance of the method that has good sensitivity with a low false-negative rate. Transition monitoring using a targeted MS approach has the great potential to detect the fragmentation reactions of any peptide molecularly defined by a specific amino acid sequence, offering the extensibility of the approach to any viral sequence including derived variants and thus providing insights into the development of new types of clinical diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriella Pinto
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi-Consorzio Interuniversitario, Viale delle Medaglie d’Oro,
305, 00136 Rome, Italy
| | - Anna Illiano
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, Italy
- CEINGE
Advanced Biotechnology, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, 80145 Naples, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi-Consorzio Interuniversitario, Viale delle Medaglie d’Oro,
305, 00136 Rome, Italy
| | - Veronica Ferrucci
- CEINGE
Advanced Biotechnology, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, 80145 Naples, Italy
- Department
of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Pansini 5, 80145 Naples, Italy
| | | | - Carolina Fontanarosa
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi-Consorzio Interuniversitario, Viale delle Medaglie d’Oro,
305, 00136 Rome, Italy
| | - Roberto Siciliano
- CEINGE
Advanced Biotechnology, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, 80145 Naples, Italy
| | - Carmela Di Domenico
- CEINGE
Advanced Biotechnology, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, 80145 Naples, Italy
| | - Barbara Izzo
- CEINGE
Advanced Biotechnology, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, 80145 Naples, Italy
- Department
of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Pansini 5, 80145 Naples, Italy
| | - Piero Pucci
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, Italy
- CEINGE
Advanced Biotechnology, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, 80145 Naples, Italy
| | - Gennaro Marino
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Massimo Zollo
- CEINGE
Advanced Biotechnology, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, 80145 Naples, Italy
- Department
of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Pansini 5, 80145 Naples, Italy
| | - Angela Amoresano
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi-Consorzio Interuniversitario, Viale delle Medaglie d’Oro,
305, 00136 Rome, Italy
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12
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MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Applications for Food Fraud Detection. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/app11083374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Chemical analysis of food products relating to the detection of the most common frauds is a complex task due to the complexity of the matrices and the unknown nature of most processes. Moreover, frauds are becoming more and more sophisticated, making the development of reliable, rapid, cost-effective new analytical methods for food control even more pressing. Over the years, MALDI-TOF MS has demonstrated the potential to meet this need, also due to a series of undeniable intrinsic advantages including ease of use, fast data collection, and capability to obtain valuable information even from complex samples subjected to simple pre-treatment procedures. These features have been conveniently exploited in the field of food frauds in several matrices, including milk and dairy products, oils, fish and seafood, meat, fruit, vegetables, and a few other categories. The present review provides a comprehensive overview of the existing MALDI-based applications for food quality assessment and detection of adulterations.
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13
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Phenolic Compounds from Leaves and Flowers of Hibiscus roseus: Potential Skin Cosmetic Applications of an Under-Investigated Species. PLANTS 2021; 10:plants10030522. [PMID: 33802222 PMCID: PMC8000889 DOI: 10.3390/plants10030522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 03/06/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The use of plant extracts in skin-care cosmetics is a modern trend due to their richness in polyphenols that act as anti-aging molecules. Hibiscus roseus is a perennial species naturalized in Italy, with beautiful soft pink flowers; its phenolic composition and biological activities have not been studied yet. The aim of this study was to characterize and quantify the phenolics and to evaluate the antioxidant, sun protection factor (SPF), and anti-collagenase activities of the ethanolic extracts of H. roseus leaves (HL) and flowers (HF). p-Coumaric, chlorogenic, and trans-ferulic acids derivatives as well as quercetin and kaempferol flavonoids were the main phenolic compounds detected. Catechin, epicatechin, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, kaempferol-7-O-glucoside, tiliroside, oenin, and peonidin-3-O-glucoside were detected only in HF, while phloridzin was exclusive from HL, which also showed greater amounts of hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives. HF was richer in flavonoids and total phenolics, also exhibiting greater antioxidant capacity. The SPF and anti-collagenase activity of both extracts were similar and comparable to those of synthetic standards. The overall results demonstrate that H. roseus extracts are promising sources of bioactive phenolic compounds that could be potentially applied as anti-aging agents in skin-care cosmetics.
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