跳至主要内容

Nutrient Analysis Critical Control Point (NACCP): Hazelnut as a Prototype of Nutrigenomic Study

The globalization of trade has increased the chances that the food produced in one place can affect the health and diet of people living in another. And the rapid increase of knowledge on nutrition, medicine and plant biotechnology has dramatically changed the concepts about food.

The NACCP process involves a sequence of analysis and controls that depart from raw material production to the evaluation of the effect of nutrition on health. It is articulated through the following points: 1) identification of nutrient level in the food; 2) identification of critical control points (environmental, genetic data, chemical and physical data, production technology, distribution and administration); 3) establishing critical limits that can impoverish and damage the nutrient; 4) establishing measures to monitor; 5) establishing corrective actions.

The aim of this study was to apply the Nutrient Analysis Critical Control Point (NACCP) process to ensure that the highest nutrient levels in food can determine a beneficial effect on the health of the consumer. The authors selected as biomarkers the total phenolic content (TPC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of genotyped Italian hazelnut cultivars (Corylus e avellana L.). They performed a clinical study evaluating: a) nutritional status; b) clinical-biochemical parameters; c) low density lipoprotein oxidation (LDL-ox); d) the expression level changes of oxidative stress pathway genes in the blood cell at baseline and after 40 g/die of hazelnut consumption.

In the study, the authors found a significant lowering (p ≤ 0.005) of LDL oxidized proteins, in association with the consumption of 40 g/d of hazelnuts. Also, they found a significant variation (p ≤ 0.005) of gene expression of antioxidant and pro-oxidant genes, between the intake of dietary with and without hazelnuts.

In short, the nutritional quality of hazelnuts, identified by TPC and TAC, is in a certain way transferred to the consumer, as demonstrated by the results of gene expression and LDL oxidation, giving to diet the health qualities. And the results support the hypothesis that the NACCP process could be applied to obtain significant benefits in terms of primary prevention and for contributing to the amelioration of food management at the consumer level.

Article by Laura Di Renzo, et al, from Italy.

Full access: http://mrw.so/faRdc
Image by Ina Tsitovich, from Flickr-cc.

评论

此博客中的热门博文

Incorporation of High-Altitude Balloon Experiment in High School Science Classrooms

High-altitude balloon is a balloon, filled usually with helium or hydrogen that ascends into an area called “near space” or stratosphere. The most common type of high-altitude balloons are weather balloons. Other purposes include use as a platform for experiments in the upper atmosphere. Modern balloons generally contain electronic equipment such as radio transmitters, cameras, or satellite navigation systems, such as GPS receivers. The mission of the High-Altitude Balloon Experiment (HABE) is to acquire supporting data, validate enabling technologies, and resolve critical acquisition, tracking, and pointing (ATP) and fire control issues in support of future space-based precision pointing experiments. The use of high-altitude balloons offers a relatively low-cost, low-vibration test platform, a recoverable and reusable payload, worldwide launch capability, and a 'near- space' emulation of the future space systems operational scenarios. More recently, several university...

Electron Spin and Proton Spin in the Hydrogen and Hydrogen-Like Atomic Systems

Read full paper at: http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=52202#.VIj7tMnQrzE Author(s) Stanisław Olszewski * Affiliation(s) Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland . ABSTRACT The mechanical angular momentum and magnetic moment of the electron and proton spin have been calculated semiclassically with the aid of the uncertainty principle for energy and time. The spin effects of both kinds of the elementary particles can be expressed in terms of similar formulae. The quantization of the spin motion has been done on the basis of the old quantum theory. It gives a quantum number n = 1/2 as the index of the spin state acceptable for both the electron and proton ...

Location Optimization of a Coal Power Plant to Balance Costs against Plant’s Emission Exposure

Fuel and its delivery cost comprise the biggest expense in coal power plant operations. Delivery of electricity from generation to consumers requires investment in power lines and transmission grids. Placing a coal power plant or multiple power plants near dense population centers can lower transmission costs. If a coalmine is nearby, transportation costs can also be reduced. However, emissions from coal plants play a key role in worsening health crises in many countries. And coal upon combustion produces CO 2 , SO 2 , NO x , CO, Metallic and Particle Matter (PM10 & PM2.5). The presence of these chemical compounds in the atmosphere in close vicinity to humans, livestock, and agriculture carries detrimental health consequences. The goal of the research was to develop a methodology to minimize the public’s exposure to harmful emissions from coal power plants while maintaining minimal operational costs related to electric distribution losses and coal logistics. The objective was...