This study explored the effects of spinach flour (SF) enrichment on pasta, focusing on chemical, nutritional and sensory properties, cooking performance, and microbiological stability. SF was added at 12.5% (PSP12) and 25% (PSP25). The enriched pasta had a lower pH than the control (CP), due to spinach-derived organic acids, with PSP25 showing the highest fiber content. Enrichment increased B vitamins and minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. PSP25 had a shorter cooking time, higher water absorption, and greater cooking loss. Enriched pasta showed lower starch hydrolysis index and predicted glycemic index, suggesting potential benefits for managing postprandial blood sugar levels. SF significantly altered the free amino acid (FAA) profile, with PSP25 showing the highest concentration of total FAAs. Antioxidant assays demonstrated that spinach-enriched pasta retained higher levels of phenols and flavonoids, after cooking also, compared to CP. Sensory analysis indicated that while PSP12 had higher overall acceptability, PSP25 exhibited stronger herbaceous flavors, which could affect consumer preference. Microbiologically, all samples were stable for 110 days. The findings suggest that SF enrichment enhances the nutritional value, antioxidant potential, and sensory qualities of pasta, with potential for commercial applications, although consumer acceptance could be influenced by its non-traditional taste and texture.

A very low calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) impacts host metabolism in people marked by an excess of visceral adiposity, and it affects the microbiota composition in terms of taxa presence and relative abundances. As a matter of fact, there is little available literature dealing with microbiota differences in obese patients marked by altered intestinal permeability. With the aim of inspecting consortium members and their related metabolic pathways, we inspected the microbial community profile, together with the set of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from untargeted fecal and urine metabolomics, in a cohort made of obese patients, stratified based on both normal and altered intestinal permeability, before and after VLCKD administration. Based on the taxa relative abundances, we predicted microbiota-derived metabolic pathways whose variations were explained in light of our cohort symptom picture. A totally different number of statistically significant pathways marked samples with altered permeability, reflecting an important shift in microbiota taxa. A combined analysis of taxa, metabolic pathways, and metabolomic compounds delineates a set of markers that is useful in describing obesity dysfunctions and comorbidities.

Table olives represent a fundamental food source in the Mediterranean diet owing to their nutritional and bioactive properties. After determining the optimal conditions for fermenting black table olives at the laboratory-scale, in this study, starter-driven and spontaneous fermentations of the Leccino cultivar were studied in an industrial facility. A single inoculum of lactic acid bacteria, LAB1 (Leuconostoc mesenteroides), LAB2 (Lactiplantibacillus plantarum), of yeast, YST1 (Debaryomyces hansenii) and YST2 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) strains, and a co-inoculum LAB1 + YST2 (Leuconostoc mesenteroides + Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were used as starters to conduct the fermentation process and to counteract the development of pathogens and undesired microorganisms. Chemical and biochemical parameters confirmed the good outcome of the process and the improvement of nutritional traits, especially in the case of the LAB1 and LAB1 + YST2 treatments. These two strategies enhanced the total phenolic content by approximately 1.3-1.6 and 2.0-2.4 times and the corresponding antioxidant activity increased by about 1.2-1.4 and 1.8-2 times, in comparison with spontaneous fermentation and the raw material, respectively. Moreover, the same treatments resulted in the most appreciated sensory attributes and low levels of defects and off-flavors in the final products. The VOCs analysis highlighted the prevalence of esters in the LAB1 + YST2 sample. After in vitro digestion, the total bio-accessibility of phenolic compounds was quite high, with percentages ranging between 57.22 % and 74.03 %, in olives fermented by the mixed starter culture LAB1 + YST2 and those fermented by the LAB1 strain, respectively. These outcomes were useful to validate table olive starter-driven fermentation strategies on a pilot-scale and inside an industrial environment.

This observational study aimed to investigate the occurrence and distribution of biogenic amines in a representative set of traditional cheeses, grouped by milk origin (bovine and non-bovine) and cheesemaking technology into hard cheeses, pasta filata cheeses, and soft cheeses. For each sample, a wide set of parameters was analyzed, including gross composition, microbial count (culture-dependent), free amino acids, and biogenic amines (BA). Overall, BA content showed a high variability among cheese categories, reflecting differences in milk origin, extension of ripening, and cheesemaking conditions. Non-bovine cheeses, particularly hard varieties produced from raw ewe milk, exhibited the highest levels of BA, whereas bovine cheeses appeared less affected by prolonged ripening. Univariate correlation analysis indicated that BA accumulation is influenced by multiple interacting factors, including physicochemical parameters, microbial dynamics, and metabolic traits, confirming that the simple availability of precursor amino acids is not sufficient to explain BA formation, thus supporting the role of environmentally modulated decarboxylase activity. Multivariate statistical analysis clarified the relationships among specific BA, microbial groups, and compositional features. Cadaverine, putrescine, and tyramine were associated with high enterococci counts and elevated sodium chloride content, predominantly characterizing non-bovine cheeses. Histamine was mainly linked to proteolysis and ripening-related variables and was characteristic of aged hard and pasta filata cheeses. Soft cheeses were differentiated by pH, moisture, nitrogen fractions, and overall microbial densities, highlighting how compositional and microbiological variability drive BA distribution across cheese types. The results underscore the complex interplay among biochemical, microbiological, and environmental factors in BA formation. A holistic, multi-parameter approach is needed to assess BA risk in cheeses, especially in traditional varieties, and future work should include multi-omics and culture-independent methods to better elucidate the drivers of BA biosynthesis.