Berry derived constituents in suppressing viral infection: Potential avenues for viral pandemic management

'Superfoods': Reliability of the Information for Consumers Available on the Web

The term 'superfoods', used frequently with marketing purposes, is usually associated with foodstuffs with beneficial health properties. 'Superfoods' appears in many information sources, including digital media. The information they provide is easily accessible for consumers through Internet search engines. The objective of this work is to investigate the data that web pages offer to consumers and their accuracy according to current scientific knowledge. The two main search engines were utilized for English language websites search, introducing the term 'superfoods'. In total, 124 search results were found. After applying the selection criteria, 45 web pages were studied. A total of 136 foods were considered as 'superfoods' by sites; 10 of them (kale, spinach, salmon, blueberries, avocado, chia, walnuts, beans, fermented milks and garlic) were mentioned on at least 15 sites. Nutritional and healthy properties displayed on sites were compared to scientific information. In conclusion, websites present the information in a very simplified manner and it is generally not wrong. However, they should offer to consumers comprehensible information without raising false expectations regarding health benefits. In any case, 'superfoods' consumption can have salutary effects as part of a balanced diet.

An Organic Solvent-Free Method for the Extraction of Ellagic Acid Compounds from Raspberry Wine Pomace with Assistance of Sodium Bicarbonate

Industrial processing of raspberry juice and wine generates considerable byproducts of raspberry pomace. Ellagic acids/ellagitannins, being characterized by their antioxidant and antiproliferation properties, constitute the majority of polyphenolics in the pomace and are valuable for recovery. In the present study, we developed a novel procedure with sodium bicarbonate assisted extraction (SBAE) to recover ellagic acid from raspberry wine pomace. Key parameters in the procedure, i.e., sodium bicarbonate concentration, temperature, time and solid/liquid (S/L) ratio, were investigated by single factor analysis and optimized subsequently by Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Optimal parameters for the SBAE method here were found to be 1.2% (w/v) NaHCO3, 1:93 (w/v) S/L ratio, 22 min and 100 °C. Under these conditions, the ellagic acid yield was 6.30 ± 0.92 mg/g pomace with an antioxidant activity of 79.0 ± 0.96 μmol Trolox eq/g pomace (DPPH assay), which are 2.37 and 1.32 times the values obtained by extraction with methanol-acetone-water solvent, respectively. The considerable improvement in ellagic acid extraction efficiency could be highly attributed to the reactions of lipid saponification and ellagitannin hydrolysis resulted from sodium bicarbonates. The present study has established an organic solvent-free method for the extraction of ellagic acid from raspberry wine pomace, which is feasible and practical in nutraceutical applications.