Polymerase chain reaction and chemometrics detected several Pinus species including Pinus armandii involved in pine nut syndrome

NIR Sensing Technologies for the Detection of Fraud in Nuts and Nut Products: A Review

Food fraud is a major threat to the integrity of the nut supply chain. Strategies using a wide range of analytical techniques have been developed over the past few years to detect fraud and to assure the quality, safety, and authenticity of nut products. However, most of these techniques present the limitations of being slow and destructive and entailing a high cost per analysis. Nevertheless, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and NIR imaging techniques represent a suitable non-destructive alternative to prevent fraud in the nut industry with the advantages of a high throughput and low cost per analysis. This review collects and includes all major findings of all of the published studies focused on the application of NIR spectroscopy and NIR imaging technologies to detect fraud in the nut supply chain from 2018 onwards. The results suggest that NIR spectroscopy and NIR imaging are suitable technologies to detect the main types of fraud in nuts.

Stone Pine (Pinus pinea L.) High-Added-Value Genetics: An Overview

Stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) has received limited attention in terms of genetic research. However, genomic techniques hold promise for decoding the stone pine genome and contributing to developing a more resilient bioeconomy. Retrotransposon and specific genetic markers are effective tools for determining population-specific genomic diversity. Studies on the transcriptome and proteome have identified differentially expressed genes PAS1, CLV1, ATAF1, and ACBF involved in shoot bud formation. The stone pine proteome shows variation among populations and shows the industrial potential of the enzyme pinosylvin. Microsatellite studies have revealed low levels of polymorphism and a unique genetic diversity in stone pine, which may contribute to its environmental adaptation. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses uncover the genetic and molecular responses of stone pine to fungal infections and nematode infestations, elucidating the defense activation, gene regulation, and the potential role of terpenes in pathogen resistance. Transcriptomics associated with carbohydrate metabolism, dehydrins, and transcription factors show promise as targets for improving stone pine's drought stress response and water retention capabilities. Stone pine presents itself as an important model tree for studying climate change adaptation due to its characteristics. While knowledge gaps exist, stone pine's genetic resources hold significant potential, and ongoing advancements in techniques offer prospects for future exploration.

Metallic Sensation-Just an Off-Flavor or a Biologically Relevant Sensing Pathway?

Metallic off-flavors are a frequent theme in discussions of food product quality, with publications dating back over 90 years. The causes of this unpleasant perception are diverse, ranging from unfavorable concentrations of micronutrients, the use of artificial sweeteners, processing, packaging, and storage, to side effects of pharmaceutical or chemotherapeutic agents. However, the mechanisms behind metallic sensing and its contributions to taste, smell, and trigeminal nerve sensations are still poorly understood. Although even defining oral/nasal metallic sensation has proven difficult, thought should also be given to possible biological activities of food constituents eliciting a metallic sensation though activation of ectopically expressed chemoreceptors. This perspective seeks to summarize and connect research conducted on different food-borne stimuli of metallic sensation, their sensory evaluations up to more recent contributions addressing the mechanistic approaches to identify chemosensory-active food constituents, and their biological effects mediated by ectopically expressed chemosensory receptors. With this perspective, we hope to spark interest in fully characterizing the mostly unwanted metal off-flavor, thereby laying grounds for increased product quality on one hand and providing novel insights into chemosensory-associated biological functions of metallic sensation on the other hand, which might help to understand and combat these sensations experienced in various diseases and therapies, e.g., platinum-based chemotherapy.

Medicinal dietary plants of the Yi in Mile, Yunnan, China

BACKGROUND

The Yi is the largest ethnic group in Yunnan Province (China), with a population of five million. The Yi people tend to live in mountainous areas, and their culture includes a unique dietary system for treating and protecting people against illnesses. Medicinal plants occupy an essential place in the Yi diet because they play a key role in health and the prevention and treatment of diseases. However, few studies have addressed these medicinal dietary plants and their importance in the Yi's daily lives. The aim of this study was to (1) investigate the medicinal dietary plants used by the Yi in Mile City, (2) document the traditional knowledge held about these plants, (3) identify species with important cultural significance to the Yi in Mile City, and (4) analyze the special preparation methods and consumption habits of these plants.

METHODS

Field investigations were performed in six villages in Mile City, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, from July 2017 to May 2018. Information was collected using direct observation, semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews, individual discussions, and focus group discussions. The use value (UV) and frequency of utilization index (FUI) of these plants were analyzed. Plant samples and voucher specimens were collected for taxonomic identification.

RESULTS

This study documented 124 species belonging to 62 families and 102 genera. These plants included angiosperms (117 spp.), gymnosperms (3), pteridophytes (2), lichen (1), and fungus (1). The 20 species with the highest UV were noted as being particularly important to the Yi people's daily life in Mile City. The primary medicinal preparation method for plants recorded in the study was decoction. The most commonly used plant parts were fruits and roots. The most frequently used edible parts were fruits, and the most frequently used medicinal parts were roots. The medicinal parts were used to treat diseases such as rheumatism, edemas, kidney deficiency, spleen deficiency, gastritis, parasites, and so on.

CONCLUSION

A wide variety of medicinal dietary plants are used by the Yi people in Mile City. Those plants, which have both rich nutritional and medicinal value, occupy an essential part of the Yi dietary and medicine culture. Ethnobotanical surveys of medicinal dietary plants provide a theoretical reference for the conservation and sustainable use of the plant resources and could contribute to the protection of the Yi food culture and traditional medicine in Mile City. In addition, this information provides a sound basis for developing and using Yi ethnic medicine and health products.

High-resolution melting of multiple barcode amplicons for plant species authentication

In recent years, species identification in herbs has attracted considerable attention due to several cases of fraud; hence inexpensive high-throughput authentication methods are highly welcomed. Species authentication is often performed through DNA analysis and several specific regions (barcodes) are considered suitable. Each barcode (Bar) possesses different qualities in terms of universality and discrimination power. A multiplexed format where information can be extracted simultaneously from several barcode regions is seemingly appropriate to ensure the power of both universality and discrimination. In this approach, we amplified DNA from five different barcode regions in a multiplexed PCR format followed by high-resolution melting (HRM). This multiplexed Bar-HRM approach was first applied to plants spanning the plant kingdom and then gradually narrowing down the genetic variability within the Lamiaceae and the Solanaceae families to finally reach closely related cultivars. Universality was demonstrated through distinct melting profiles obtained for species originating from 29 different families spanning the angiosperms, gymnosperm, mosses, and liverwort (Marchantiophyta). Discrimination power was retained for species, sub-species, and a few cultivars through the application of multivariate statistics to the high-resolution melting profiles. This preliminary investigation has shown the potential to discriminate a vast amount of species within the whole plant kingdom. It requires no a priori knowledge of the species' DNA sequence and occurs in a closed system within 2.5 h at a reduced cost per sample compared to other DNA based approaches.

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A DNA profiling platform for species authentication throughout the plant kingdom.

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Distinct and reproducible melting profiles were obtained for all tested species.

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Universality was demonstrated across 29 families spanning the plant kingdom.

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Specificity was demonstrated for related species, sub-species, and cultivars.