The New Face of Berries: A Review of Their Antiviral Proprieties

FoodAtlas: Automated knowledge extraction of food and chemicals from literature

Automated generation of knowledge graphs that accurately capture published information can help with knowledge organization and access, which have the potential to accelerate discovery and innovation. Here, we present an integrated pipeline to construct a large-scale knowledge graph using large language models in an active learning setting. We apply our pipeline to the association of raw food, ingredients, and chemicals, a domain that lacks such knowledge resources. By using an iterative active learning approach of 4120 manually curated premise-hypothesis pairs as training data for ten consecutive cycles, the entailment model extracted 230,848 food-chemical composition relationships from 155,260 scientific papers, with 106,082 (46.0 %) of them never been reported in any published database. To augment the knowledge incorporated in the knowledge graph, we further incorporated information from 5 external databases and ontology sources. We then applied a link prediction model to identify putative food-chemical relationships that were not part of the constructed knowledge graph. Validation of the 443 hypotheses generated by the link prediction model resulted in 355 new food-chemical relationships, while results show that the model score correlates well (R2 = 0.70) with the probability of a novel finding. This work demonstrates how automated learning from literature at scale can accelerate discovery and support practical applications through reproducible, evidence-based capture of latent interactions of diverse entities, such as food and chemicals.

Evaluation of inhibitory activity of essential oils and natural extracts on foodborne viruses

AIMS

Enteric viruses are recognized as a major concern in health care and in the food sector in Canada. Novel clean-label strategies for controlling enteric viruses are sought in the food industry. In this study, we examined the antiviral potential of plant extracts and essential oils on murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1), hepatitis A virus (HAV), and herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1).

METHODS AND RESULTS

Inactivation of the viruses by grape seed, blueberry, green tea, and cranberry extracts and by rosemary and thyme essential oils was measured using plaque formation assay. Concentrations ranging from 50 to 200 000 ppm with a contact time of 90 min were tested. Grape seed extract at 10 000 ppm was the most effective (P < 0.05) at reducing MNV-1 and HAV infectious titers, respectively, by 2.85 ± 0.44 log10 and 1.94 ± 0.17 log10. HSV-1 titer was reduced by 3.81 ± 0.40 log10 at 1000 ppm grape seed extract.

CONCLUSIONS

Among the plant products tested, grape seed extract was found the most effective at reducing the infectious titers of MNV-1, HAV, and HSV.

The Novel A-Type Proanthocyanidin-Rich Phytocomplex SP4™ Acts as a Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agent against Human Respiratory Viruses

The appearance of new respiratory virus infections in humans with epidemic or pandemic potential has underscored the urgent need for effective broad-spectrum antivirals (BSAs). Bioactive compounds derived from plants may provide a natural source of new BSA candidates. Here, we investigated the novel phytocomplex formulation SP4™ as a candidate direct-acting BSA against major current human respiratory viruses, including coronaviruses and influenza viruses. SP4™ inhibited the in vitro replication of SARS-CoV-2, hCoV-OC43, hCoV-229E, Influenza A and B viruses, and respiratory syncytial virus in the low-microgram range. Using hCoV-OC43 as a representative respiratory virus, most of the antiviral activity of SP4™ was observed to stem primarily from its dimeric A-type proanthocyanidin (PAC-A) component. Further investigations of the mechanistic mode of action showed SP4™ and its PAC-A-rich fraction to prevent hCoV-OC43 from attaching to target cells and exert virucidal activity. This occurred through their interaction with the spike protein of hCoV-OC43 and SARS-CoV-2, thereby interfering with spike functions and leading to the loss of virion infectivity. Overall, these findings support the further development of SP4™ as a candidate BSA of a natural origin for the prevention of human respiratory virus infections.

Rediscovering Portuguese White Crowberries (Corema album): Cultural Insights and Nutritional Significance

White crowberries (Corema album) are a fruit from an endemic shrub found in Southern European Atlantic costal dunes. Although this shrub and its fruits never became a formal commercial crop for a number of reasons, it has a long-lasting relevance and tradition, much associated with summer, beach and holidays. The main goal of this study was to conduct a thematic analysis of the words and small expressions people associate with white crowberries. For that, a questionnaire was used, and the participants were asked to indicate in an open-ended question which top-of-mind words/small expressions they associate with white crowberries. A total of 501 people participated in this study, of which only 394 knew about white crowberries, and from those, only 229 answered the open-ended question of interest to this purpose. The results showed that the words/small expressions given by the participants were distributed between five categories (1-Memories of places, people and times, 2-Emotions and experiences, 3-Sensorial perception, 4-Properties and uses, and 5-Natural resources' valuation). Additionally, 18 subcategories were also identified. The most representative of the categories was sensorial perception and the most relevant of the subcategories was habitats (a subcategory from category 1). The most frequent words mentioned by the participants were beach, berry and summer. In addition, the effect of sociodemographic groups was investigated and some variations were observed in the categories of the words mentioned by the participants according to sex, living environment or region. This work allowed for the identification of a high variability in the words or expressions that account for a rich patrimony of tacit knowledge, memories, emotions and perceptions of the population towards white crowberries, thus confirming their social as well as nutritional relevance.

Human Norovirus Surrogate Is Highly Stable in Berry Smoothies and under In Vitro Simulated Digestion

Human noroviruses are major causes of foodborne outbreaks linked to berries. The overall goal of this study was to investigate the persistence of a human norovirus surrogate, Tulane virus (TV), in berry smoothies and under simulated digestion through the gastrointestinal track. Two types of smoothies were prepared from blueberries and strawberries. Tulane virus was spiked into each smoothie and incubated either at 37 or 4 °C for 2, 60, and 120 min. Furthermore, the virus-spiked smoothies were subjected to sequential oral (2 min), gastric (10 and 60 min), and intestinal (15 and 120 min) digestion according to the standardized INFOGEST model. Quantification of infectious TV was carried out using the TCID50 assay. At 4 °C, in both berry smoothies, TV infectivity did not show significant changes throughout the 120 min period. At 37 °C, TV infectivity showed significant reduction (~0.5 log TCID50/mL) only in blueberry smoothies starting at 60 min. During the oral, gastric, and intestinal digestion phases, the mean log reduction in TV infectivity in blueberry did not exceed ~0.5 log, while infectious TV in strawberry smoothies under all phases was stable. Given the notable stability of infectious viruses in berry smoothies and the gastrointestinal tract, prevention of norovirus contamination of berries is paramount to reduce virus outbreaks linked to berries.

Berries vs. Disease: Revenge of the Phytochemicals

Secondary metabolites and phytochemicals in plant-based diets are known to possess properties that inhibit the development of several diseases including a variety of cancers of the aerodigestive tract. Berries are currently of high interest to researchers due to their high dietary source of phytochemicals. Black raspberries (BRB), Rubus occidentalis, are of special interest due to their rich and diverse composition of phytochemicals. In this review, we present the most up-to-date preclinical and clinical data involving berries and their phytochemicals in the chemoprevention of a variety of cancers and diseases. BRBs possess a variety of health benefits including anti-proliferative properties, anti-inflammatory activity, activation of pro-cell-death pathways, modulation of the immune response, microbiome modulation, reduction in oxidative stress, and many more. However, little has been done in both preclinical and clinical settings on the effects of BRB administration in combination with other cancer therapies currently available for patients. With the high potential for BRBs as chemopreventive agents, there is a need to investigate their potential in combination with other treatments to improve therapeutic efficacy.

Inactivation of foodborne viruses by novel organic peroxyacid-based disinfectants

Viruses are responsible for most enteric foodborne illnesses worldwide. The foods most frequently involved are fresh fruits and vegetables since they undergo little or no processing. Washing with a chemical disinfectant is a convenient way of inactivating viruses on foods. Peracetic acid, widely used as a disinfectant in the food industry, has the drawback of leaving a strong odor and is ineffective alone against some foodborne viruses. In this study, four disinfectants, namely per levulinic acid with or without sodium dodecyl sulfate, peracetic acid and a commercial peracetic acid-based disinfectant were tested on murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1), hepatitis A virus (HAV), and hepatitis E virus (HEV). Disinfectant concentrations were 50, 80, 250, 500, and 1000 mg l^-1 and contact times were 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 min. Under these conditions, per levulinic acid supplemented with 1% SDS reduced MNV-1 infectious titer by 3 log cycles vs. 2.24 log cycles by peracetic acid within 0.5 min. On stainless steel at 80 ppm, only peracetic acid produced 3-log reductions within 0.5 min. None of these peroxyacids was able to reduce infectious titers of HAV or HEV by even 2 log cycles at any concentration or time-tested. This study will guide the development of new chemical formulas that will be more effective against major foodborne viruses and will have less impact on food quality and the environment.

Tackling the Future Pandemics: Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agents (BSAAs) Based on A-Type Proanthocyanidins

A-type proanthocyanidins (PAC-As) are plant-derived natural polyphenols that occur as oligomers or polymers of flavan-3-ol monomers, such as (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin, connected through an unusual double A linkage. PAC-As are present in leaves, seeds, flowers, bark, and fruits of many plants, and are thought to exert protective natural roles against microbial pathogens, insects, and herbivores. Consequently, when tested in isolation, PAC-As have shown several biological effects, through antioxidant, antibacterial, immunomodulatory, and antiviral activities. PAC-As have been observed in fact to inhibit replication of many different human viruses, and both enveloped and non-enveloped DNA and RNA viruses proved sensible to their inhibitory effect. Mechanistic studies revealed that PAC-As cause reduction of infectivity of viral particles they come in contact with, as a result of their propensity to interact with virion surface capsid proteins or envelope glycoproteins essential for viral attachment and entry. As viral infections and new virus outbreaks are a major public health concern, development of effective Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agents (BSAAs) that can be rapidly deployable even against future emerging viruses is an urgent priority. This review summarizes the antiviral activities and mechanism of action of PAC-As, and their potential to be deployed as BSAAs against present and future viral infections.

A rational definition for functional foods: A perspective

Many foods are described as “functional foods”. However, the term is poorly defined. A commonly used definition is that they contain substances that have positive effects on health “beyond basic nutrition”. However, there are several problems with this definition. In many cases, healthy foods are included under the term functional foods. A new definition is proposed as follows. Functional foods are novel foods that have been formulated so that they contain substances or live microorganisms that have a possible health-enhancing or disease-preventing value, and at a concentration that is both safe and sufficiently high to achieve the intended benefit. The added ingredients may include nutrients, dietary fiber, phytochemicals, other substances, or probiotics.

Antiviral and Antibacterial Effect of Honey Enriched with Rubus spp. as a Functional Food with Enhanced Antioxidant Properties

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of blackberry and raspberry fruits (1 and 4%) and leaves (0.5 and 1%) on the biological activities of rape honey. Honey and plant material extracts were analyzed regarding total phenolic, flavonoid, anthocyanin contents, HPTLC and HPLC polyphenol profiles, as well as antioxidant activity. The antiviral potential was analyzed against bacteriophage phi 6-a coronavirus surrogate-whereas antimicrobial was tested against S. aureus and E. coli. Blackberry extracts were more abundant in antioxidants than raspberry extracts, with better properties found for leaves than fruits and for cultivated rather than commercial plants. The addition of both Rubus plant additives significantly increased the antioxidant potential of honey by four-fold (for 4% fruits additive) to five-fold (for 1% of leaves). Honey with the addition of fruits possessed higher antiviral potential compared with raw rape honey (the highest for 4% of raspberry fruit and 1% of blackberry leaf additive). Honey enriched with Rubus materials showed higher antibacterial potential against S. aureus than rape honey and effectively inhibited S. aureus biofilm formation. To summarize, honey enriched with Rubus fruit or leaves are characterized by increased pro-health value and can be recommended as a novel functional food.

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.