Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) lipophilic and polar extract dietary supplementation effects were evaluated according to diabetes management indices, using an in vivo model. A research pipeline was constructed, that ranged from extract preparation, partial chemical characterization and toxicity evaluation, to examining the elderberry extract dietary supplementation effects on biofluid and tissues. Extracts toxicity was screened using an Aliivibrio fischeri bioluminescence model. A concentration of up to 60 mg/L was selected, and rat doses for oral supplementation were computed applying the interspecies correlation between A. fischeri and rats. Wistar type 2 diabetic rats, induced by streptozotocin (STZ), were fed a high-fat diet and supplemented for 4 weeks at doses of 190 and 350 mg/kg body weight/day of lipophilic and polar extract, respectively. As far as we know, lipophilic elderberry extract supplementation was assessed for the first time, while polar extract was administrated at higher doses and for a shorter period compared to previous studies, aiming to evaluate subacute supplementation effects. The polar extract modulated glucose metabolism by correcting hyperglycemia, while the lipophilic extract lowered insulin secretion. Both extracts lowered insulin resistance, without remarkable alterations to hematological indices, sera lipids and sera and tissular trace element homeostasis. In conclusion, elderberries are a potential source of bioactive compounds for formulations to be used as co-adjuvants in diabetes management.

Kaolin protective effect was assessed in a white grapevine cultivar ‘Cerceal’ in ‘Alentejo’ Region (southeast Portugal) where plants face extreme conditions during the summer season. We addressed the hypothesis that kaolin effects lead to several changes in leaves, fruits, and wine characteristics on the primary and secondary metabolism. Results showed that kaolin reduces leaf temperature which provokes an improvement in physiological parameters such as net photosynthesis and water use efficiency. This protection interferes with berry color, leaving them more yellowish, and an increase in phenolic compounds were observed in all fruit tissues (skin, seed, and pulp). Additionally, both berry and wine characteristics were strongly affected, with an increase of tartaric and malic acid and consequently high total acidity, while the sugar concentration decreased 8.9% in berries provoking a low wine alcohol level. Results also showed that kaolin induces high potassium, magnesium, and iron, and low copper and aluminum concentrations. Moreover, the control wine showed higher content of esters related with hostile notes whereas wine from kaolin treated vines presented higher content of esters associated with fruity notes. Overall, the results strengthen the promising nature of kaolin application as a summer stress mitigation strategy protecting grapevine plants and improving fruit quality and creating more balanced wines.

An in-depth exploration of the headspace content of Aspergillus niger cultures was performed upon different growth conditions, using a methodology based on advanced multidimensional gas chromatography. This volatile fraction comprises 428 putatively identified compounds distributed over several chemical families, being the major ones hydrocarbons, alcohols, esters, ketones and aldehydes. These metabolites may be related with different metabolic pathways, such as amino acid metabolism, biosynthesis and metabolism of fatty acids, degradation of aromatic compounds, mono and sesquiterpenoid synthesis and carotenoid cleavage. The A. niger molecular biomarkers pattern was established, comprising the 44 metabolites present in all studied conditions. This pattern was successfully used to distinguish A. niger from other fungi (Candida albicans and Penicillium chrysogenum) with 3 days of growth by using Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA). In addition, PLS-DA-Variable Importance in Projection was applied to highlight the metabolites playing major roles in fungi distinction; decreasing the initial dataset to only 16 metabolites. The data pre-processing time was substantially reduced and an improvement of quality-of-fit value was achieved. This study goes a step further on A. niger metabolome construction and A. niger future detection may be proposed based on this molecular biomarkers pattern.

The human senses shape the life in several aspects, namely well-being, socialization, health status, and diet, among others. However, only recently, the understanding of this highly sophisticated sensory neuronal pathway has gained new advances. Also, it is known that each olfactory receptor cell expresses only one type of odorant receptor, and each receptor can detect a limited number of odorant substances. Odorant substances are typically volatile or semi-volatile in nature, exhibit low relative molecular weight, and represent a wide variety of chemical families. These molecules may be released from foods, constituting clouds surrounding them, and are responsible for their aroma properties. A single natural aroma may contain a huge number of volatile components, and some of them are present in trace amounts, which make their study especially difficult. Understanding the components of food aromas has become more important than ever with the transformation of food systems and the increased innovation in the food industry. Two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-ToFMS) seems to be a powerful technique for the analytical coverage of the food aromas. Thus, the main purpose of this review is to critically discuss the potential of the GC × GC–based methodologies, combined with a headspace solvent-free microextraction technique, in tandem with data processing and data analysis, as a useful tool to the analysis of the chemical aroma clouds of foods. Due to the broad and complex nature of the aroma chemistry subject, some concepts and challenges related to the characterization of volatile molecules and the perception of aromas will be presented in advance. All topics covered in this review will be elucidated, as much as possible, with examples reported in recent publications, to make the interpretation of the fascinating world of food aroma chemistry more attractive and perceptive.

Microbial metabolomics is a challenge strategy that allows a comprehensive analysis of metabolites within a microorganism and may support a new approach in microbial research, including the microbial diagnosis. Thus, the aim of this research was to in-depth explore a metabolomics strategy based on the use of an advanced multidimensional gas chromatography for the comprehensive mapping of cellular metabolites of C. albicans and non-C. albicans (C. glabrata and C. tropicalis) and therefore contributing for the development of a comprehensive platform for fungal detection management and for species distinction in early growth times (6 h). The volatile fraction comprises 126 putatively identified metabolites distributed over several chemical families: acids, alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, esters, ketones, monoterpenic and sesquiterpenic compounds, norisoprenoids, phenols and sulphur compounds. These metabolites may be related with different metabolic pathways, such as amino acid metabolism and biosynthesis, fatty acids metabolism, aromatic compounds degradation, mono and sesquiterpenoid synthesis and carotenoid cleavage. These results represent an enlargement of ca. 70% of metabolites not previously reported for C. albicans, 91% for C. glabrata and 90% for C. tropicalis. This study represents the most detailed study about Candida species exometabolome, allowing a metabolomic signature of each species, which signifies an improvement towards the construction of a Candida metabolomics platform whose application in clinical diagnostics can be crucial to guide therapeutic interventions.