Organic Winemaking and Its Subsets; Biodynamic, Natural, and Clean Wine in California

Determinants of Occupational Health and Safety Practices of Informal Waste Pickers

Waste pickers are crucial to waste management in developing countries like Ghana, yet face challenges due to their practices. This study explores the determinants of occupational health and safety (OHS) practices among these workers, an unexplored area. Using a cross-sectional survey and stratified sampling, data were collected from 240 waste pickers. Results identified factors such as daily earnings (χ2(2) = 31.7, p < 0.000), origin (χ2(2) = 33.9, p < 0.003) and ethnicity (χ2(2) = 6.7, p < 0.037) affecting OHS practices. Waste pickers lack personal protective equipment (PPE) due to cost constraints, risking their health. Ethnic diversity contributes to OHS attitudes, priorities and acceptable work conditions. To improve OHS practices, recommendations include providing PPE training and access, creating supplementary income sources and ensuring safety equipment affordability. These measures will enhance waste pickers' well-being and workplace safety, addressing the challenges they face in their role within the waste management system.

Diabesity and Dietary Interventions: Evaluating the Impact of Mediterranean Diet and Other Types of Diets on Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Management

BACKGROUND

Diabesity, the intersection of obesity and diabetes, presents a global health crisis with profound implications. Addressing diabesity requires multifaceted strategies, with diet playing a pivotal role. Over the last 15 years, clinical studies have intensified their exploration of various dietary approaches in diabesity management. This literature review aims to synthesize findings from clinical studies conducted in the last 15 years, shedding light on the efficacy, mechanisms, and nuances of different diet types in diabesity management with special focus on the Mediterranean diet (MD).

METHODS

Thorough research of academic databases yielded a collection of relevant clinical studies. These studies encompassed a range of dietary strategies, including the MD, low-carbohydrate diets, plant-based diets, high-protein diets, low-fat regimens, and intermittent fasting. Key findings, methodologies, and outcomes were thoroughly extracted and analyzed.

RESULTS

The last 15 years have witnessed considerable improvements in recognizing the role of human nutritional habits in diabesity management. The MD appears to be the most well-recognized diet, exerting favorable effects against both obesity and diabetes. Low-carbohydrate diets were found to enhance glycemic regulation and decrease insulin resistance. Plant-based diets demonstrated potential benefits in weight management and cardiometabolic health. High-protein, low-fat dietary models exhibited positive effects on satiety and body weight decline. Intermittent fasting regimens also exerted metabolic improvements and body weight decline. Personalization emerged as a crucial factor in dietary recommendations.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical studies from the last 15 years underscore the intricate relationship between diet types and diabesity management. The above results contribute to an increasing body of evidence, emphasizing the need for tailored dietary approaches and especially the MD. Healthcare providers can utilize this knowledge to offer personalized dietary recommendations for individuals with diabesity, potentially curbing the rise of these twin epidemics and improving the well-being of affected populations.

Zebrafish Model Insights into Mediterranean Diet Liquids: Olive Oil and Wine

In this review, we explored the potential of a zebrafish model to investigate the antioxidant effects of key components of the Mediterranean diet, namely, olive oil and wine, in the context of preventing age-related diseases, particularly cardiovascular conditions. This paper explores the spectrum of observational studies to preclinical investigations and ultimately converges toward potential translational insights derived from animal experimentation. This review highlights the potential and underutilization of zebrafish as an experimental model in this domain. We highlighted the genetic proximity of zebrafish to humans, offering a unique opportunity for translational insights into the health benefits of olive oil and wine. Indeed, we wanted to focus on the potential of zebrafish to elucidate the health benefits of olive oil and wine while calling for continued exploration to unlock its full potential to advance our knowledge of age-related disease prevention within the Mediterranean diet framework.

Inside Current Winemaking Challenges: Exploiting the Potential of Conventional and Unconventional Yeasts

Wine represents a complex matrix in which microbial interactions can strongly impact the quality of the final product. Numerous studies have focused on optimizing microbial approaches for addressing new challenges to enhance quality, typicity, and food safety. However, few studies have investigated yeasts of different genera as resources for obtaining wines with new, specific traits. Currently, based on the continuous changes in consumer demand, yeast selection within conventional Saccharomyces cerevisiae and unconventional non-Saccharomyces yeasts represents a suitable opportunity. Wine fermentation driven by indigenous yeasts, in the various stages, has achieved promising results in producing wines with desired characteristics, such as a reduced content of ethanol, SO₂, and toxins, as well as an increased aromatic complexity. Therefore, the increasing interest in organic, biodynamic, natural, or clean wine represents a new challenge for the wine sector. This review aims at exploring the main features of different oenological yeasts to obtain wines reflecting the needs of current consumers in a sustainability context, providing an overview, and pointing out the role of microorganisms as valuable sources and biological approaches to explore potential and future research opportunities.

Mediterranean Diet Adherence Is Associated with Favorable Health-Related Quality of Life, Physical Activity, and Sleep Quality in a Community-Dwelling Greek Older Population

BACKGROUND

The Mediterranean diet (MD) is a beneficial dietary pattern with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can promote mental and physical human health. This study aims to assess the impact of MD adherence on health-related quality of life, physical activity levels, and sleep quality in a representative Greek elderly population.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 3254 persons ≥65 years from 14 different Greek regions, urban, rural and islands participated in this study, of which 48.4% were female and 51.6% were male. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) was evaluated utilizing a short form healthy survey, physical activity was determined by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), sleep quality was assessed utilizing the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and MD adherence was assessed via the Mediterranean Diet Score (MedDietScore).

RESULTS

Moderate adherence to the MD and an increased prevalence of poor quality of life, low physical activity levels and inadequate sleep quality among the elderly population were recorded. High MD adherence was independently associated with better quality of life (OR: 2.31, 95% CI: 2.06-2.68, p = 0.0008), higher physical activity (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.47-2.35, p = 0.0141) and adequate sleep quality (OR: 2.11, 95%: 1.79-2.44, p = 0.0018), female sex (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.02-1.68, p = 0.0032) and living with others (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 0.81-1.76, p = 0.0375), after adjustment for potential confounding factors. In unadjusted analysis, participants' age (p < 0.0001), anthropometric characteristics (p < 0.005), educational (p = 0.0026) and financial status (p = 0.0005) and smoking habits (p = 0.0031) were also identified as indicators of MD adherence; however, their impact on MD adherence was considerably attenuated after adjusting for confounding factors (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

High MD adherence was correlated with favorable quality of life, higher levels of physical activity, and a more adequate sleep quality score. Strategies and public health policies that facilitate MD adherence and physical activity in older adults may improve sleep and quality of life, impacting overall wellbeing in this age group.

Fermentation of Sweet Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) Using Immobilized Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Entrapped in Calcium Alginate Beads

As the population grows, there is a need to address the continuous depletion of non-renewable energy sources and their negative effects on the environment. This led to a substantial assessment of possible innovations and raw materials to increase the volumetric productivity of alternative fuels to supply the energy needed worldwide. In addition to its environment-friendly properties, a biofuel derived from plant-based sources is also a sustainable material. For high ethanol production from plant-based biofuel, several techniques have been developed, including cell or enzyme immobilization. The key purposes of utilizing immobilized cells or enzymes are to improve bioreactor yield with upgraded enzyme establishment and to increase enzyme utilization. The fermentation of sweet sorghum extract to produce ethanol was conducted in this study, and it was found that the optimum sodium alginate concentration for immobilizing yeast is 3% w/v. It was also found that the free yeast has a shorter optimum fermentation period which is four days (96 h), in comparison with the immobilized yeast, which is five days (120 h). The immobilized yeast has a higher ethanol concentration produced and percent conversion compared to the free yeast. The immobilized yeast entrapped in calcium alginate beads permitted ten five-day (120 h) reuse cycles which are still in stable final ethanol concentration and percent conversion. Due to a lack of experimental support in the necessary condition (optimum level of the number of fermentation days and the concentration of sodium alginate) for the optimal ethanol yield from the extract of sweet sorghum, this study was conducted. This study also tried to address the global demand for ethanol by specifying the optimum conditions necessary for efficient fermentation, specifically for ethanol production using an extract from sweet sorghum. Furthermore, this experimental work serves as a basis for further investigations concerning ethanol production from Agri-based materials, such as sweet sorghum.

Natural and sustainable wine: a review

With the awakening of consumers' awareness of sustainable development issues and demand for terroir wines, natural wines provide opportunities for the future development of the wine industry. Microbiomes are integral to viticulture and winemaking, where various microorganisms can exert positive and negative effects on grape health and wine quality. Communities of microorganisms associated with the vineyard play an important role in soil productivity as well as disease resistance developed by the vine. Wine is a fermented natural product, and the vineyard serves as a key point of entry for quality-modulating microbiota, particularly in wine fermentations that are conducted without the addition of exogenous yeasts. Thus, the sources and persistence of wine-relevant microbiota in vineyards critically impact its quality. In this review, we first examined that mimicking natural ecological cultivation to improve microbial diversity can enhance vineyard ecological services and reduce external inputs; then we examined that grape berries naturally possess all the elements of winemaking, including the nutrients for microbial growth, driving forces for the microbiota succession, and the enzymatic system for biochemical reactions; finally, we examined food safety, stability, specific interventions, and sustainability of natural wine industry-scale practices.

Determination of home-made wine selected parameters and study of honey addition impact on pro-healthy components content

The chemical characteristic of home-made wine, based on the vinification process of Maréchal Foch grapes with minimal intervention, was discussed. The addition of honey in the vinification process has been studied to improve the parameters of the pro-health properties of wine. Assays of antioxidant capacity, pH, colour intensity, total acidity, histamine, tyramine, tryptamine and phenylethylamine contents were carried out during the fermentation, maturation and storage processes. Moreover, the discussed above and selected oenological and quality parameters (organic acids, metals, total and free sulphur dioxide, alcohol content) of obtained wines were compared with commercial wines. Obtained results of allergenic compounds (SO2 and histamine) showed a significantly lower level for home-made wines. The presence of honey during the fermentation process significantly improved the antioxidant parameters, titratable acidity, and influenced the final product colour intensity and colour brilliance. The obtained data show that home-produced wine seems to be a valuable alternative to traditional commercial production due to the lack of chemical additives and potentially allergenic substances in the presence of compounds that enhance human health. Moreover, minimal intervention during fermentation, no filtering step, no chemical additives, processing aids and clarifying substances suggest that home-made wine can be considered natural.

Social Media Use of Small Wineries in Alsace: Resources and Motivations Analysis

Social media (SM) plays an increasingly important role in small and medium businesses, including wineries. However, little is known about the managerial adoption and use of SM by wineries. This study aims to understand wineries’ SM usage by analysing their strategic objectives of SM usage and main differences in relation to their SM usage, as well as establishing factors contributing to SM usage. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) framework (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions) is discussed together with additional explanatory factors relevant in the studied context (attitude toward SM, self-efficacy, and anxiety). A quantitative survey of 78 wineries from the Alsace wine region of France was conducted. The results show that SM is currently used by a majority of wineries, but that strategic alignment is missing. There are significant differences in SM usage according to winery size, export orientation, and winemakers’ profiles. The results also confirm that wineries need resources and knowledge to use SM more extensively.

Histamine Intolerance Originates in the Gut

Histamine intolerance (HIT) is assumed to be due to a deficiency of the gastrointestinal (GI) enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO) and, therefore, the food component histamine not being degraded and/or absorbed properly within the GI tract. Involvement of the GI mucosa in various disorders and diseases, several with unknown origin, and the effects of some medications seem to reduce gastrointestinal DAO activity. HIT causes variable, functional, nonspecific, non-allergic GI and extra-intestinal complaints. Usually, evaluation for HIT is not included in differential diagnoses of patients with unexplained, functional GI complaints or in the here-listed disorders and diseases. The clinical diagnosis of HIT is challenging, and the thorough anamnesis of all HIT-linked complaints, using a standardized questionnaire, is the mainstay of HIT diagnosis. So far, DAO values in serum have not been established to correlate with DAO activity in the gut, but the diagnosis of HIT may be supported with determination of a low serum DAO value. A targeted dietary intervention, consisting of a histamine-reduced diet and/or supplementation with oral DAO capsules, is helpful to reduce HIT-related symptoms. This manuscript will present why histamine should also be taken into account in the differential diagnoses of patients with various diseases and disorders of unknown origin, but with association to functional gastrointestinal complaints. In this review, we discuss currently increasing evidence that HIT is primarily a gastrointestinal disorder and that it originates in the gut.