Production of prebiotic enriched maple syrup through enzymatic conversion of sucrose into fructo-oligosaccharides

Maple syrup, a popular natural sweetener has a high content of sucrose, whose consumption is linked to different health issues such as obesity and diabetes. Hence, within this paper, the conversion of sucrose to prebiotics (fructo-oligosaccharides, FOS) was proposed as a promising approach to obtaining a healthier, value-added product. Enzymatic conversion was optimized with respect to key experimental factors, and thereafter derived immobilized preparation of fructosyltransferase (FTase) from Pectinex® Ultra SP-L (FTase-epoxy Purolite, 255 IU/g support) was successfully utilized to produce novel functional product in ten consecutive reaction cycles. The product, obtained under optimal conditions (60 °C, 7.65 IU/mL, 12 h), resulted in 56.0% FOS, 16.7% sucrose, and 27.3% monosaccharides of total carbohydrates, leading to a 1.6-fold reduction in caloric content. The obtained products` prebiotic potential toward the probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum 299v was demonstrated. The changes in physico-chemical and sensorial characteristics were esteemed as negligible.

Behavioral and Dietary Habits That Could Influence Both COVID-19 and Non-Communicable Civilization Disease Prevention-What Have We Learned Up to Now?

The massive expansion of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has urged countries to introduce lockdowns and set restrictive actions worldwide. The focus of the studies was to determine how COVID-19 induces damage to the lungs in order to find an alternative or adjuvant therapy that could lead to preventing COVID-19 or at least ameliorating it. This paper aims to survey the literature and provide new insights into behavioral and dietary habits that could influence the prevention of COVID-19. Maintaining an adequate mental health status, sleep, and taking moderate exercise are often disrupted in the conditions of lockdown and are followed by weakened immunity. Mediterranean and vegetarian diets are superior to other eating patterns in terms of immunity boosting and fighting COVID-19. Our study showed how adequate hydration, green tea intake, and supplementation with vitamins D, C, and E can increase our chances of avoiding the infection and even help us sleep better. Another focus of the research was on determining what level of hygiene really increases one's chances of not contracting SARS-CoV-2, but this seems a little counter-intuitive at first. Since an immunocompromised state is a familiar predisposing factor for all contagious diseases, maintaining healthy behavioral and dietary habits could be a crucial step in boosting immunity and preventing COVID-19.

The Occurrence of Acute Pancreatitis in Adult Patients during a Measles Outbreak from November 2017 to May 2018 in Southeastern Serbia

Background and Objectives: Although it is believed that measles infections are under control, there is a global reappearance, and their treatment has become more complex as the disease is followed by a relatively high incidence of complications. This study, conducted on patients during a measles outbreak from November 2017 to May 2018, aims to evaluate a rarely reported complication of measles, acute morbilous pancreatitis (AMP), which has been reported in several cases to date. Materials and Methods: A total of 207 patients admitted and treated at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Clinical Center Nis, for measles infection were included in the analysis. The data collected from the patient's medical records included the demographic characteristics, disease duration, full blood, serum, and urine biochemical analysis, general measles-associated symptoms, and disease outcome. Results: According to the serum and urine amylase activity, and some clinical symptoms AMP were diagnosed in 14% (29/207) of the studied patients. These patients had significantly higher levels of ALT and vomited more frequently than the patients without AMP. Only slight differences in measles duration, changes in RBC count, and CRP levels were found between the males and females with AMP. Conclusions: Acute morbillous pancreatitis should not be underestimated as a complication, even though according to the results of our survey, it was not associated with a fatal outcome or disease severity as the course of it can be frequently rapid and fatal.

Heterofunctional epoxy support development for immobilization of fructosyltransferase from Pectinex® Ultra SP-L: batch and continuous production of fructo-oligosaccharides

The FTase from Pectinex® Ultra SP-L was immobilized using a newly developed epoxy-Purolite support with amino and epoxy groups. Continuous production of FOS in the air-lift reactor was established for 7 days (52.47% FOS of total carbohydrates).

Enzymatic synthesis of fructo-oligosaccharides using Pectinex® Ultra SP-L: A study of experimental conditions

The obvious benefits of employing prebiotics as functional components in many foods and feed products have resulted in higher demand for their industrial production, necessitating the development of more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing procedures. As a result, the goal of this study was to synthesize confirmed prebiotics, namely fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), using sucrose as a substrate, since it allows the synthesis of oligosaccharides with lower polymerization degree, and consequently, a more pronounced prebiotic effect. Due to its availability, low market price, and high stability under industrial conditions, a commercial enzymatic mixture, Pectinex® Ultra SP-L, is used as a source of enzyme - fructosyltransferase (FTase). By varying key experimental conditions such as pH, temperature, enzyme and substrate concentrations, as well as the duration of the process, the composition of the FOS mixture can be adjusted to fit the potential applications. It was found that by performing the reaction in an aqueous medium (pH 7), at a temperature of 50 °C using an enzyme concentration of 1% (v/v) and any sucrose concentration in the range of 200-700 g/L, it was possible to achieve maximum FOS yield of 60% of total carbohydrates within a 24 h. The produced syrup with a high content of FOS can be further used as an adequate food additive, or else, developed processes should be used for the transformation of various food products (such as juices, jams, fillings, candies, cakes, etc.) in which sucrose dominates, creating products with lower caloric and higher functional value.

Green tea and bilberry protective effect against gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats

The aim of our study was to investigate if green tea and bilberry have protective effect on gentamicin-induced kidney damage, when applied together, and to make a connection between their effects. GM group of rats received only gentamicin, GT group received green tea only, B group received only bilberry, whereas control (C) group received saline only. GT+GM group received green tea together with gentamicin, and B+GM group received bilberry together with gentamicin. Biochemical analysis showed significantly increased urea and creatinine levels in GM group when compared to groups that also received bilberry or green tea. Histological analysis showed complete disruption of glomerular basal membrane as well as basal membranes of both proximal and distal tubules in GM group. These destructive effects were significantly milder and limited only to proximal tubules when bilberry or green tea was applied simultaneously with gentamicin. Both green tea and bilberry protective effect on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity is manifested because of their strong antioxidant activity. Since they are strong antioxidants, widely distributed in nature, they can offer available and inexpensive adjuvant therapy in Gram-negative infections, which can relieve gentamicin nephrotoxicity, but will not affect its bactericidal effect.

Influence of different wild-garlic (Allium ursinum) extracts on the gastrointestinal system: spasmolytic, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties

Objectives

As there are no previous studies of the European wild-garlic (Allium ursinum) effects on the gastrointestinal system, despite its traditional applications in gastrointestinal disorders' treatment and regular use in the human diet, we have quantified and compared spasmolytic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of its different leaf extracts.

Methods

Wild-garlic extracts were tested for spasmolytic activity on isolated rat ileum, antimicrobial activity on selected Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi by microdilution method and antioxidant capacity by DPPH radical-scavenging assay.

Key findings

Wild-garlic extracts were found to decrease ileal basal tone. As the relaxation of K+-induced contractions was similar to one caused by papaverin, the observed spasmolytic effect was most likely mediated through Ca2+-channel inhibition. Ethanolic extract (with the highest phenolic and high alk(en)yl cysteine sulphoxides’ levels) produced the strongest spasmolytic activity. In case of acetylcholine-induced contractions, only hydromethanolic extract showed no statistical difference in comparison with positive control. All samples exhibited certain antioxidant potential and strong antimicrobial activity against tested enteropathogenic strains (Salmonella enteritidis was the most sensitive, followed by Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Enterococcus faecalis).

Conclusion

Besides other already established health-promoting effects, wild garlic could be useful in treatment of mild gastrointestinal disturbances.

Acute Effects of Smoking on Heart Rate and Peripheral Resistance in Young Smokers

Smoking has many harmful effects on human body. It is well known that smoking is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Though the ingredients from cigarette smoke stimulate the release of vasoconstrictor and reduce the release of vasodilator substances, the goal of this study was to investigate the acute effects of smoking on arterial blood pressure, heart rate and blood vessel flow.

The investigation was conducted on forty healthy volunteers divided into two groups of twenty non-smokers (control group), and twenty smokers (experimental group). The group of smokers was examined before and after smoking four cigarettes during one hour. Blood pressure and electrocardiograph (ECG) were measured by common methods. Brecht’s and Boucke’s methods of plethysmography were used to evaluate the peripheral circulation.

There were no differences in measured systolic and diastolic blood pressure and recorded ECG between non-smokers and smokers, neither between smokers before and after smoking. However, heart rate was increased by 29.57% after smoking in comparison to the value before smoking.

Evaluation of plethysmographic parameters showed that amplitude was significantly decreased. Parameters of peripheral resistance were very increased: ductility was decreased by over 20%.

It can be concluded that acute smoking does not significantly affect the level of blood pressure, although it increases heart rate. The shape of plethysmograms showed decreased systolic filling and decreased diameters of blood vessels.