Extracts of Digested Berries Increase the Survival of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during H2O2 Induced Oxidative Stress

Protective effect of Aronia melanocarpa juice against acrylamide-induced cellular toxicity

Acrylamide (AA) a widely used industrial chemical is also formed during food processing by the Maillard reaction, which makes its exposure to humans almost unavoidable. In this study, we used Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a model organism to investigate AA toxicity (10 or 20 mM concentration) in eukaryotes. In S. pombe, AA delays cell growth causes oxidative stress by enhancement of ROS production and triggers excitement of the antioxidant defence system resulting in the division arrest. Aronia fruit contains a variety of health-promoting substances with considerable antioxidant potential. Therefore, Aronia juice supplementation was tested to evaluate its protective effect against AA-derived perturbations of the organism. Cell treatment with several Aronia juice concentrations ranging from 0 to 2% revealed the best protective effect of 1 or 2% Aronia juice solutions. Both chosen Aronia juice concentrations alleviated AA toxicity through the improvement of the antioxidant cell capacity and metabolic activity by their strong ROS scavenging property. Efficiency of Aronia juice cell protection is dose dependent as the 2% solution led to significantly higher cellular defence compared with 1%. Due to the high similarity of biological processes of S. pombe with higher eukaryotes, the protective effect of Aronia juice against AA toxicity might also apply to higher organisms.

Joint Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analysis Reveals Differential Flavonoid Biosynthesis in a High-Flavonoid Strawberry Mutant

The enriched phenolic content attributes to the promising health benefit of strawberry fruits. On behalf of screening and seeking the breeding material with high phytochemical composition, a mutant (MT) of strawberry 'Benihoppe' (WT) with high total flavonoid content (TFC), especially anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins (PAs), was identified in this study. To investigate the possible reason for these disparities during strawberry fruit development, an integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis was conducted using these two specific materials. As a result, a total of 113 flavonoid compounds were detected, a specific anthocyanin, namely, petunidin 3-O-rutinoside was detected for the first time in strawberry. By comparing with the WT fruits, a significant reduction of petunidin 3-O-rutinoside while around 24 times higher of cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside in MT fruits were observed. However, the cyanidin 3-glucoside content did not show obvious changes between MT and WT fruits, the pelargonidin and its derivatives were up-regulated only in partial red (PR) stage, but not in large green (LG) and fully red (FR) stages. Notably, the PAs such as procyanidin B2, procyanidin A1, catechin, gallocatechin gallate, epigallacatechin, and theaflavin were markedly up-regulated in MT. These results revealed a differential flavonoid biosynthesis between the two detected strawberry genotypes. A joint analysis with transcriptome data explained the up-regulation of cyanidin-based anthocyanins and PAs were caused by the down-regulation of F3'5'H, and up-regulation of F3'H and LAR expression, which might be regulated by the upregulation of potential TFs such as C3H, MADS, and AP2/ERF TFs. Metabolite correlation analysis suggested that it was PAs but not anthocyanins strongly correlated with the total phenolic content (TPC), indicated that PAs might contribute more to TPC than anthocyanins in our detected strawberry samples. This study not only potentially provided a new mutant for further breeding program to obtain high flavonoid content strawberry but also gave insights into strawberry flavonoid metabolic regulatory network, laid the foundation for identifying new flavonoid regulators in strawberry.

Application of Metabolomics in the Study of Starvation-Induced Autophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: A Scoping Review

This scoping review is aimed at the application of the metabolomics platform to dissect key metabolites and their intermediates to observe the regulatory mechanisms of starvation-induced autophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Four research papers were shortlisted in this review following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. We observed a commonly shared pathway undertaken by S. cerevisiae under nutritional stress. Targeted and untargeted metabolomics was applied in either of these studies using varying platforms resulting in the annotation of several different observable metabolites. We saw a commonly shared pathway undertaken by S. cerevisiae under nutritional stress. Following nitrogen starvation, the concentration of cellular nucleosides was altered as a result of autophagic RNA degradation. Additionally, it is also found that autophagy replenishes amino acid pools to sustain macromolecule synthesis. Furthermore, in glucose starvation, nucleosides were broken down into carbonaceous metabolites that are being funneled into the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. The ribose salvage allows for the survival of starved yeast. Moreover, acute glucose starvation showed autophagy to be involved in maintaining ATP/energy levels. We highlighted the practicality of metabolomics as a tool to better understand the underlying mechanisms involved to maintain homeostasis by recycling degradative products to ensure the survival of S. cerevisiae under starvation. The application of metabolomics has extended the scope of autophagy and provided newer intervention targets against cancer as well as neurodegenerative diseases in which autophagy is implicated.

Sensory and Physicochemical Quality, Residual Fungicide Levels and Microbial Load in 'Florida Radiance' Strawberries from Different Disease Control Treatments Exposed to Simulated Supply Chain Conditions

Strawberries are greatly appreciated for their flavor and health-promoting properties. However, current agricultural and postharvest handling practices may result in decreased fruit quality. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of conventional or reduced fungicide applications on the quality of 'Florida Radiance' strawberries exposed to supply chain conditions. Strawberries held under steady temperature had better sensory and physicochemical quality than fruit exposed to supply chain conditions, regardless of the disease control treatment. Strawberries from the reduced fungicide treatment were firmer, lost less moisture, had higher sugar and higher or similar bioactive contents than fruit from the conventional treatment. Sensory scores were better for reduced fungicide fruit held under steady temperature conditions than other treatments at the consumer level. Microbial load increased during the supply chain but results strongly suggest that washing the fruit significantly reduces the microbial load and residual fungicide levels (fludioxonil, cyprodinil, pyraclostrobin, and captan) on the fruit. Overall, the use of reduced fungicide applications to control strawberry disease constitutes a promising alternative to conventional practices. It will help reduce costs by reducing labor and the amount of fungicides used while maintaining overall strawberry quality. Moreover, avoiding abusive and fluctuating temperature conditions during the supply chain will extend shelf-life and reduce strawberry waste.