Search Results (8,191)

Antioxidants are essential bioactive compounds widely recognized for their health benefits in preventing oxidative stress-related diseases. However, many lipophilic antioxidants suffer from poor aqueous solubility, low chemical stability, and limited bioavailability, restricting their application in food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. Cyclodextrins (CDs), a class of cyclic oligosaccharides with a hydrophilic exterior and lipophilic interior, present an effective strategy to encapsulate and deliver these compounds by improving their solubility, stability, and therapeutic efficacy. This review critically examines the structural features and derivatives of cyclodextrins relevant for antioxidant encapsulation, mechanisms and thermodynamics of inclusion complex formation, and advanced characterization techniques. It evaluates the influence of CD encapsulation on the oral bioavailability and antioxidant activity of various lipophilic antioxidants supported by recent in vitro and in vivo studies. Moreover, sustainable preparation methods for CD complexes are discussed alongside safety and regulatory considerations. The comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge contributes to guiding the rational design and development of CD-based antioxidant nutraceuticals, addressing formulation challenges while promoting efficacy and consumer safety. Full article

Cold pressing is a sustainable oil extraction method that operates without chemical solvents, requires relatively low energy input, and preserves bioactive compounds, making it a recognized green technology in line with circular economy principles. By enabling full utilization of raw materials and valorization of by-products, it supports resource efficiency, waste reduction, and the development of bio-based products. This study provides the first comprehensive mapping of Serbia’s small-scale cold-pressed oil producers, based on data from the Central Register of Food Business Operators, local inspectorates, agricultural fairs, and social media, classified according to NUTS 2024 statistical regions. A total of 55 producers were identified, with over 60% operating as artisanal units (≤15 t/year), typically using screw presses of 20–50 kg/h capacity. Pumpkin seed was the most common raw material (30 producers), followed by sesame (21), hazelnut (20), sunflower (19), and flaxseed (19), while niche oils such as jojoba, argan, and rosehip were produced on a smaller scale. Medium and large facilities (>15 t/year) were concentrated in Vojvodina and central Serbia, focusing on high-volume seeds like sunflower and soybean. Integration of green screw press technologies, zero-kilometer supply chains, and press cake valorization positions this sector as a driver of rural development, biodiversity preservation, and environmental sustainability, providing a strong basis for targeted policy support and process optimization. Full article

Food gels were obtained using fish protein isolate recovered from Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) by-products using the isoelectric solubilisation/precipitation method. The use of low temperatures (not exceeding 10 °C) at the alkaline solubilisation stage resulted in the production of a fish protein isolate with high-molecular mass (FPI-1), while the use of high temperatures (24 °C) resulted in the production of a fish protein isolate with low-molecular mass (FPI-2). The isolates demonstrated excellent gelling and nutritional properties based on their amino acid profiles. The denaturation temperatures of FPI-1 and FPI-2 determined by DSC were 163.0 and 158.5 °C. The secondary structure of FPI-1 demonstrated a high α-helix content and a low random coil content compared to FPI-2. The high-molecular isolate formed stronger gels than the low-molecular isolate, which is explained by the formation of a dense gel network with small pores of about 250 nm. The recovered cod protein isolates can be successfully used as food ingredients or food additives in the production of gel-like/enriched products. Full article

Foodborne chemical exposure is a significant public health concern. Various chemical agents found in foods, including pesticide residues, heavy metals, natural toxins, compounds formed during food processing, and food additives, may result in carcinogenic or noncarcinogenic health effects in the long term. Along with discussing the main sources of dietary chemical exposure and its health impacts, this review article also covers the theoretical foundations and four main steps of chemical risk assessment. Furthermore, risk assessment approaches are investigated in the light of international organizations and guidelines, and the current debates and challenges within the field are underscored. Lastly, suggestions for safer food supply and potential future developments are presented. This comprehensive review may provide a current literature-based viewpoint on comprehending and addressing dietary chemical-associated public health issues. Full article

Alternaria mycotoxins represent a significant and emerging concern in the field of food safety due to their widespread occurrence in diverse food and feed commodities, including cereals, tomatoes, oilseeds, and dried fruits. Among these, alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), tenuazonic acid (TeA), and altertoxin-I (ATX-I) are the most frequently detected, often co-occurring at varying concentrations, thereby increasing the complexity of exposure and risk assessment. The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is a crucial target of these toxins, as well as the liver, particularly considering its detoxifying role. Nevertheless, despite being a source of possible gastrointestinal and hepatic toxicity, there is still scarce data on the toxicokinetics of Alternaria toxins, on their mode of action, and respective toxic effects. To date, in vitro studies have shown that different Alternaria mycotoxins exhibit diverse toxicological effects, which may be dependent on their chemical structure. AOH and ATX-I have shown genotoxicity and cytotoxicity, mainly through interaction with the DNA and apoptosis, respectively. Tentoxin (TEN) has displayed hepatotoxic potential via impairment of detoxification pathways, and altenuene (ALT) has revealed lower toxicity. In vivo, AME and ATX-II revealed genotoxicity, while AOH and ATX-I showed context-dependent variability in their effects. Altogether, this review emphasizes that there is still a great lack of knowledge on these mycotoxins and an urgent need for more comprehensive toxicological and occurrence data to support proper risk assessment and, ultimately, regulatory decision-making. Full article

Betaine (BET)-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have emerged as promising substitutes for traditional organic solvents owing to their eco-friendly properties and versatility in various applications. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current status and future perspectives of BET-based DESs, highlighting their definition, characteristics, and mechanisms of eutectic formation. The unique properties of BET, including its biodegradability and non-toxicity, make it an attractive hydrogen bond acceptor in the formulation of DESs. The review discusses common methods for preparing BET-based DESs and emphasizes their applications in extraction processes, catalysis, biocompatibility, and pharmaceutical applications. Additionally, challenges such as stability and fluidity limitations are addressed, along with regulatory and safety considerations. Future directions suggest an increasing industrial application of BET-based DESs in environmentally sustainable processes within the food and pharmaceutical sectors, underlining their potential as green solvents in next-generation chemical methodologies. Full article

Soil aggregate stability is a key indicator of soil health and is fundamental to soil processes such as water infiltration, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, erosion control, and ecosystem functionality. However, research concerning the impact of natural and anthropogenic factors on SAS across different climates, soil types, and management practices is lacking. This review synthesizes current understanding of physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms that govern the aggregate formation and stability and brings to light how the natural and anthropogenic drivers influence these processes. It highlights how clay mineralogy, root systems, microbial diversity, soil organic matter, and management practices shape the structure and turnover of aggregates essential for agricultural productivity. Key drivers of aggregate formation, categorized into natural (such as texture, clay mineral interaction, biota, and climate) and anthropogenic (such as tillage, land use changes, organic amendments) factors, have been critically evaluated. This review provides an insightful framework for soil management that may help enhance soil aggregation and promote sustainable agriculture and food security, especially under climate change. Full article

Molecular odor prediction represents a fundamental challenge in computational chemistry with significant applications in fragrance design, food science, and chemical safety assessment. While traditional Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship (QSAR) methods rely on hand-crafted molecular descriptors, recent advances in graph neural networks (GNNs) enable direct end-to-end learning from molecular graph structures. However, systematic comparison between these approaches for multi-label odor prediction remains limited. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of traditional QSAR methods compared with modern GNN approaches for multi-label molecular odor prediction. Using the GoodScent dataset containing 3304 molecules with six high-frequency odor types (fruity, green, sweet, floral, woody, herbal), we systematically evaluate 23 model configurations across traditional machine learning algorithms (Random Forest, SVM, GBDT, MLP, XGBoost, LightGBM) with three feature-processing strategies and three GNN architectures (GCN, GAT, NNConv). The results demonstrate that GNN models achieve significantly superior performance, with GCN achieving the highest macro F1-score of 0.5193 compared to 0.4766 for the best traditional method (MLP with basic preprocessing), representing a 24.1% relative improvement. Critically, we discover that threshold optimization is essential for multi-label chemical classification. These findings establish GNNs as the preferred approach for molecular property prediction tasks and provide crucial insights for handling class imbalance in chemical informatics applications. Full article

While pH possesses inherent chemical significance and potential forensic value in Scotch whisky authentication, it has previously lacked a statistically rigorous exclusionary standard. This study addressed this gap by performing statistical distribution fitting analysis on the pH of 32 authentic single malt and 33 authentic blended Scotch whiskies, utilizing the three-parameter lognormal distribution to establish the 99.7% authentic pH ranges for the first time: 3.47–4.46 for single malt and 3.73–4.67 for blended whisky. Validation using seized counterfeit samples confirmed that an abnormally elevated pH serves as critical evidence of adulteration. Consequently, this research proposes the chemically fundamental pH threshold as a rapid, non-destructive, and cost-effective forensic exclusionary criterion. Although the pH value feature alone is insufficient to confirm authenticity, its high operational applicability significantly enhances the efficiency of rapid field screening for counterfeit whisky, strongly supporting law enforcement and food safety efforts in Taiwan. Full article

Food safety and quality are paramount global concerns, with the complexities of the modern supply chain demanding advanced technologies for monitoring, preservation, and decontamination. Conventional methods often fall short due to limitations in speed, sensitivity, cost, and functionality. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of crystalline porous materials, have emerged as a highly universal platform to address these challenges, owing to their unprecedented structural tunability, ultrahigh surface areas, and tailorable chemical functionalities. This comprehensive review details the state-of-the-art applications of multifunctional MOFs across the entire spectrum of food safety and quality enhancement. First, the review details the application of MOFs in advanced food analysis, covering their transformative roles as sorbents in sample preparation (e.g., solid-phase extraction and microextraction), as novel stationary phases in chromatography, and as the core components of highly sensitive sensing platforms, including luminescent, colorimetric, electrochemical, and SERS-based sensors for contaminant detection. Subsequently, the role of MOFs in food preservation and packaging is explored, highlighting their use in active packaging systems for ethylene scavenging and controlled antimicrobial release, in intelligent packaging for visual spoilage indication, and as functional fillers for enhancing the barrier properties of packaging materials. Furthermore, the review examines the direct application of MOFs in food processing for the selective adsorptive removal of contaminants from complex food matrices (such as oils and beverages) and as robust, recyclable heterogeneous catalysts. Finally, a critical discussion is presented on the significant challenges that impede widespread adoption. These include concerns regarding biocompatibility and toxicology, issues of long-term stability in complex food matrices, and the hurdles of achieving cost-effective, scalable synthesis. This review not only summarizes recent progress but also provides a forward-looking perspective on the interdisciplinary efforts required to translate these promising nanomaterials from laboratory research into practical, real-world solutions for a safer and higher-quality global food supply. Full article

Esterases are ubiquitous enzymes found in all living organisms, including animals, plants, and microorganisms. They are involved in several biological processes, including the synthesis and breakdown of biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, lipids, and esters; phosphorus metabolism; detoxification of natural and artificial toxicants; polymer breakdown and synthesis; remodeling; and cell signaling. The present review focuses on the most industrially important esterases, namely lipases, phospholipases, cutinases, and polyethylene terephthalate hydrolases (PETases). Esterases are widely used in industrial and biotechnological applications. Notably, the biotechnological production of esters, including methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, vinyl acetate, polyvinyl acetate, and ethyl lactate, as an alternative to chemical production, represents a multi-billion-dollar industry. Currently, most enzymes (>75%) used in industrial processes are hydrolytic. Among them, lipases and phospholipases are primarily used for lipid modification. Lipases are the third most commercialized enzymes after proteases and carboxyhydrases, and their production is steadily increasing, currently representing over one-fifth of the global enzyme market. Esterases, particularly lipases, phospholipases, and cutinases, are employed in cosmetics, food, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, paints, detergents, paper, and biodiesel, among other industries. Overall, biotechnological production using enzymes is gaining global traction owing to its environmental benefits, high yields, and efficiency, aligning with green economy principles. Full article

Succinoglycan (SG), a rhizobial exopolysaccharide produced by Sinorhizobium meliloti, has attracted increasing attention as a sustainable biomaterial due to its unique molecular structure and versatile physicochemical properties. Over the past decade, an expanding number of studies have explored SG in biomedical, pharmaceutical, and materials-science contexts; however, a comprehensive understanding linking its biosynthetic mechanisms, structural features, chemical modifications, and functional performances has not yet been systematically summarized. This review therefore aims to bridge this gap by providing an integrated overview of recent advances in SG research from biosynthesis and molecular design to emerging multifunctional applications, while highlighting the structure, property, and function correlations that underpin its material performance. This review summarizes recent advances in SG biosynthesis, structural characterization, chemical modification, and multifunctional applications. Progress in oxidation, succinylation, and phenolic grafting has yielded derivatives with remarkably enhanced rheological stability, antioxidant capacity, antibacterial activity, and multi-stimuli responsiveness. These developments have supported the creation of biodegradable and bioactive smart films possessing superior barrier, mechanical, and optical properties, thereby extending their potential use in bio-medical and biotechnological applications such as food packaging and wound dressings. In parallel, SG-based hydrogels exhibit self-healing, adhesive, and injectable characteristics with tunable multi-stimuli responsiveness, offering innovative platforms for con-trolled drug delivery and tissue engineering. Despite these advances, industrial translation remains hindered by challenges including the need for scalable fermentation, reproducible quality control, and standardized modification protocols to ensure batch-to-batch consistency. Overall, the structural tunability and multifunctionality of SG highlight its promise as a next-generation platform for polysaccharide-based biomaterials. Full article

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) pollute the environment and food, adversely affecting living organisms. It is known that exposure to EDCs increases the risk of various diseases in humans, but in veterinary medicine, the pathogenic impact of these substances is usually marginalised. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine whether exposure to EDCs is associated with a higher risk of chronic degenerative valve disease (CDVD) in dogs. The study included hair samples collected from 60 male and female dogs of various breeds and ages ranging from 9 months to 15 years. Hair samples collected from healthy dogs and dogs with CDVD were analysed for the presence of 15 EDCs (including bisphenol A, parabens, benzophenones and polyfluoroalkyl substances) using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technique. Concentration levels of methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, perfluoroheptanoic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid in samples collected from dogs with CDVD were statistically significantly higher than those noted in healthy dogs. Differences in concentrations of other EDCs studied between ill and healthy dogs were not statistically significant. The results may suggest that greater exposure of dogs to certain EDCs (such as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, perfluoroheptanoic acid, and perfluorooctanoic acid) may increase the risk of CDVD, but further comprehensive clinical and toxicological research is necessary to fully clarify this issue. Full article

Virus diseases are among the major constraints in the production of food legumes in Africa, causing substantial crop losses. Common bean mosaic and black root, cowpea mosaic, chickpea stunt, faba bean necrotic yellows and stunt, groundnut rosette, and soybean mosaic are the six diseases considered economically significant in Africa. Past research enabled the description of the main characteristics of the causal viruses, including particle and genome properties, modes of transmission, host range, and virus–vector relationships. Such information in many cases assisted in developing effective diagnostics and disease management methods such as host resistance, chemical vector control, and cultural practices. Integrating two or more of these approaches is usually more effective. The major challenge, however, remains ensuring the adoption of such recommendations at a sufficiently large scale by many farmers to have an impact over wider geographical areas. Future work should focus on scaling up the adoption of available control technologies and generating new information, including epidemiological data, to support future management decisions. Furthermore, since the occurrence and significance of viruses on food legumes in many African countries are still not studied, large-scale surveys to identify viruses, establish their distribution and impact, and working out suitable control measures are required. Full article

High-throughput colourimetric assays are widely used to screen phenolic phytonutrients in foods and plants, supporting discovery, quality control, and preliminary nutraceutical assessment. This review summarises the historical development, operating principles, and limitations of phenolic-based benchtop methods, and reports practical guidance for defensible application. The following colourimetric approaches are critically evaluated: Folin–Ciocalteu for total phenolics; AlCl₃-based and alternative total flavonoid methods; the pH-differential procedure for total monomeric anthocyanins; and tannin assays including vanillin–HCl, butanol–HCl (Porter), DMACA, protein-precipitation, and hydrolysable-tannin (rhodanine/ellagic-acid) protocols. For each method, common biases are identified, matrix interferences, reagent cross-reactivity, oxidative artefacts, dependence on calibration standard, and the chemical meaning of the readout is clarified. A best-practice framework is proposed: define the analytical target; pair complementary assays; pre-clean extracts; justify standards and wavelengths; control oxidation; validate spike-recovery and conversion checks; and contextualise outcomes using functional measures. A consistent conclusion emerges: no single method quantifies “total tannins” or “total flavonoids” across diverse matrices, and transparent reporting with method triangulation is essential for comparability and credible nutraceutical interpretation. The guidance consolidated here aims to standardise practice, minimise over- and underestimation artefacts, and strengthen the evidentiary value of data in food and nutraceutical research. Full article