In alignment with Hippocrates’ aphorisms “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food” and “All diseases begin in the gut”, recent studies have suggested that healthy diets should include fermented foods to temporally enhance live microorganisms in our gut. As a result, consumers are now demanding this type of food and fermented food has gained popularity. However, certain sectors of population, such as those allergic to milk proteins, lactose intolerant and strict vegetarians, cannot consume dairy products. Therefore, a need has arisen in order to offer consumers an alternative to fermented dairy products by exploring new non-dairy matrices as probiotics carriers. Accordingly, this review aims to explore the benefits of different fermented non-dairy beverages (legume, cereal, pseudocereal, fruit and vegetable), as potential carriers of bioactive compounds (generated during the fermentation process), prebiotics and different probiotic bacteria, providing protection to ensure that their viability is in the range of 10⁶–10⁷ CFU/mL at the consumption time, in order that they reach the intestine in high amounts and improve human health through modulation of the gut microbiome.

Citrus limon (L.) Burm is an important crop that grows between latitudes 30° North and 30° South, the main producers being China, the USA, Mexico, India, Brazil, and Spain. In Spain, lemon grows mainly in Mediterranean areas such as Murcia, Valencia, and Andalucía. The most cultivated varieties are “Fino” and “Verna”. In this study, five varieties of lemon, “Verna”, “Bétera”, “Eureka”, “Fino 49”, and “Fino 95” were evaluated on different rootstocks: three new Forner-Alcaide (“FA13”, “FA5”, “FA517”), Citrus macrophylla, Wester, and Citrus aurantium L. Hydrodistillation was used to obtain essential oil from fresh peels and then the volatile profile was studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 26 volatile compounds were identified, limonene being the main one followed by β-pinene, γ-terpinene, sabinene, and α-pinene. The results revealed that Forner-Alcaide rootstocks (“FA5” > “FA517” > “FA13”) proved to be the best rootstocks for the aroma quality as they led to high volatile contents, followed by C. aurantium and C. macrophylla. Among the other varieties, the most aromatic one was “Eureka”. The whole trend was as follows (in decreasing order): “Eureka” > “Bétera” > “Fino 95” > “Verna” > “Fino 49”.

The Spanish Mediterranean region concentrates the largest producers of lemons (Citrus limon Burm. f.) at the national level where the 98.4% of the cultivated area of lemons corresponds to the varieties “Verna” and “Fino”. In this study, the morphological and chemical variations of the fruits obtained in five variety/rootstock combinations were investigated in order to determine the influence and impact of the rootstock on the physicochemical properties of the fruits. The assay was carried out using three lemon varieties (“Fino 95”, “Fino 49” and “Verna”) grafted onto two different rootstocks (Citrus macrophylla and Citrus aurantium). The varieties were selected due to be consolidated commercial varieties, while the rootstocks are the most commonly used in the world. Both the morphological characteristics of the fruits (colour, weight, size) as well as their physicochemical characteristics (total soluble solids, titratable acidity, maturity index, antioxidant activity, sugars, and organic acids) were evaluated. Based on the results, the lemons with the best physicochemical and the best compositional characteristics were obtained in the “Fino 95” and “Fino 49” lemons grafted onto C. aurantium rootstock presented the highest quality fruits.

The current production system of saffron spice generates hundreds of tons of waste. Thus, the aim of this study was to value both saffron and its floral by-products as a source of natural bioactive extracts, studying the in vitro antioxidant capacity, the composition of the volatile fraction by GC-MS/MS, and the determination of crocetins esters by HPLC-PDA. Saffron stigmas and floral by-products showed a high content of polyphenols and different antioxidant properties. Floral bio-residues (tepals, stamens, and styles) presented a high concentration of anthocyanins, and stigmas had high levels of flavonoids, β-carotene, and total crocins. In stigmas, 25 different volatile components were found, with safranal the most relevant. Floral by-products volatile composition consisted of 55 compounds with varying amounts depending on the drying treatment; all the samples presented acetic acid, 2(5H)-furanone, and phenylethyl alcohol. Therefore, saffron stigmas and flower by-products represent a sustainable source of bioactive ingredients for innovative healthy food formulations.

Citrus fruits are one of the main crops produced in the world with oranges, tangerines, lemons and grapefruits being among the most important. Among them, lemons are beneficial for human health because of their antioxidant activity, phenols and vitamin C. This study evaluates three rootstocks obtained in a Spanish breeding program (Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (IVIA)): Forner-Alcaide 5 citrus rootstock (‘FA 5’), Forner-Alcaide 13 (‘FA 13’) and Forner-Alcaide 517 (‘FA 517’) grafted onto cultivars ‘Eureka´, ‘Verna´, ‘Fino 49’ and ‘Betera´. The results determined that rootstocks have influenced cultivars in terms of a decrease in the fruit size, weight, and thickness of the peel; but has increased the percentage of juice and soluble solids. With respect to phenol content and antioxidant activity, higher values were found with all cultivars studied on rootstocks ‘FA 13’, followed by ‘FA 517’. Cultivars that were most influenced by rootstocks were ’Bétera’ and ’Eureka’ in physical properties, while in chemical properties they were ’Verna’ followed by ’Fino 49’. This investigation demonstrated the interaction of rootstocks on different cultivars in morphological, biochemical and nutraceutical characteristics.

Gypsum-based interior coatings are used due to their excellent fire resistance and thermal and acoustic properties. In recent decades, the development of these calcium sulfate-based coatings has been linked with the use of new additives that allow the setting times and the water content of the mix to be controlled and offer the possibility of adding different aggregates to the mortar, which further improve its resistance properties. In this article, significant results are presented that compare the flexural strength of mortars formed using added construction plaster with different percentages of graphene powder.