In the recent years, the accelerating global demographic shift toward population aging has been accompanied by a marked increase in the prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders, notably Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. Among emerging approaches, dietary interventions targeting the gut–brain axis have garnered considerable attention, owing to their potential to modulate key pathogenic pathways underlying neurodegenerative processes. This review synthesizes current concepts in precision nutrition and elucidates neurohumoral, immune, and metabolic regulatory mechanisms mediated by the gut microbiota, including the roles of the vagus nerve, cytokines, short-chain fatty acids, vitamins, polyphenols, and microbial metabolites. Emerging evidence underscores that dysbiotic alterations contribute to compromised barrier integrity, the initiation and perpetuation of neuroinflammatory responses, pathological protein aggregations, and the progressive course of neurodegenerative diseases. Collectively, these insights highlight the gut microbiota as a pivotal target for the development of precision-based dietary strategies in the prevention and mitigation of neurodegenerative disorders. Particular attention is devoted to key bioactive components such as prebiotics, probiotics, psychobiotics, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and polyphenols that critically participate in regulating the gut–brain axis. Contemporary evidence on the contribution of the gut microbiota to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis is systematically summarized. The review further discusses the prospects of applying nutrigenomics, chrononutrition, and metagenomic analysis to the development of personalized dietary strategies. The presented findings underscore the potential of integrating precision nutrition with targeted modulation of the gut–brain axis as a multifaceted approach to reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases and preserving cognitive health.

Expanding the range of healthy food products is one of the most promising areas in the field of food science. In recent years, there has been an active development of the global trend of functional nutrition aimed at strengthening general health, as well as preventing common non-communicable diseases and metabolic disorders. Chocolate, occupying a leading position among confectionery products, continues to demonstrate a steady growth in consumption on a global scale, which is due to its unique taste and sensory and functional properties. Modern trends in the food industry are aimed at further improving the composition and properties of chocolate, which makes it a promising object for scientific research and innovative developments. This review is devoted to the systematization and study of modern research aimed at developing functional types of chocolate that meet the principles of healthy nutrition. The paper considers the potential of bioactive components, such as polyphenols, probiotics, prebiotic components, dietary fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and plant extracts, for use in the functionalization of chocolate. These compounds have pronounced antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and cardioprotective properties. Particular attention is paid to the role of bioactive components of cocoa and chocolate in the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases, strengthening the cardiovascular system, improving cognitive functions, and normalizing the composition of intestinal microbiota. In addition, promising areas in the field of production technologies and innovative solutions aimed at creating functional types of chocolate with improved consumer properties are considered. The relevance of these developments is due to the growing demand for food products that combine high taste qualities and functionality, which opens up new opportunities for health-oriented nutrition.

Currently, one of the global problems of world health is the widespread occurrence of chronic non-communicable diseases caused by individual psychological and social correlates of nutrition, as well as insufficient physical activity. One of the ways to solve this problem is to conduct an effective policy of rationalizing the population's nutrition by introducing new specialized food products for dietary and preventive nutrition into the diet. In this regard, it is relevant to develop new healthy food products from the range of confectionery products enriched with various natural biologically active compounds that have pronounced restorative and immunomodulatory properties, using modern biotechnological approaches. The purpose of this research was to study the technological features of the enrichment of chocolate products with sulfated polysaccharide – fucoidan, isolated from brown algae. The article presents data on the use of mare's milk powder and fucoidan in the design of chocolate products with desired properties. In the course of the study, the optimal doses of adding fucoidan powder to the composition of chocolate were studied, and the organoleptic and physicochemical properties of the developed products were evaluated. The applied doses of fucoidan powder were studied at concentrations of 0.001%, 0.005%, 0.01% and 0.05%. The results of the assessment of organoleptic and physico-chemical parameters of laboratory batches of chocolate products showed that the optimal dose of fucoidan powder, as a functional component, is a concentration of 0.01 g per 100 g of the product. Based on the results of the study, the composition and technology for the production of specialized chocolate products was developed.

This article presents the results of experimental research on the assessment of the antioxidant status of animals consuming specialized chocolate developed from mare’s milk, enriched with resveratrol and vitamin E. The study demonstrated that after 30 days of intragastric lead acetate administration, rats showed an activation of lipid peroxidation processes in their blood serum. This was accompanied by the accumulation of both primary and secondary products—malondialdehyde and diene conjugates—as well as a decrease in vitamin E content and total antioxidant activity in the blood. Excessive accumulation of peroxidation products was accompanied by increased catalase activity and decreased superoxide dismutase activity. It is noteworthy that all observed changes in the mentioned indicators were statistically significant. The reduction in antioxidant status highlighted the need to enrich the diet of animals under lead intoxication conditions with products containing high levels of antioxidants and antioxidant substances. In this study, the effect of specialized chocolate enriched with mare’s milk, resveratrol, and vitamin E on the antioxidant status of animals exposed to toxic lead acetate administration was evaluated. After 30 days of the experimental period, the consumption of 5 grams of specialized chocolate per day by the rats was found to improve their antioxidant status. This improvement was reflected by a reduction in lipid peroxidation products in the blood serum, increased superoxide dismutase activity, decreased catalase activity, and higher levels of vitamin E and total antioxidant activity in the serum. The obtained results indicate the beneficial effect of the chocolate on the processes of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant defense, supporting its potential use for preventive purposes in cases of lead salt poisoning.

Ensuring the extended shelf life of fruit- and vegetable-based products while preserving their functional and sensory value remains one of the key challenges in modern food technology. Conventional thermal processing effectively ensures microbiological safety; however, it may lead to the degradation of heat-labile vitamins, polyphenols, and natural pigments, as well as to alterations in the structure of the food matrix. This review summarizes current evidence on the application of non-thermal technologies, including high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric fields (PEF), high-pressure homogenization (HPH), ultrasound (US), cold plasma (CP), ultraviolet (UV) radiation, pulsed light (PL), and ionizing radiation (IOR), to the processing of liquid and semi-liquid fruit- and vegetable-based products. Particular attention is given not only to microbial inactivation and shelf-life extension but also to storage stability, residual endogenous enzyme activity, changes in color, rheological, and sensory properties, and modification of the plant matrix. The available evidence indicates that the efficacy of non-thermal processing is determined by the interplay of the mechanism of action, process intensity, product composition and structure, and storage conditions. Under optimized conditions (e.g., HPP at 400–600 MPa and near-ambient temperature; moderate-intensity PEF at 20–40 kV/cm; UV-C doses adjusted for product turbidity), combined with additional hurdles (mild heating to 40–60 °C, refrigerated storage, and low-oxygen-permeability packaging), these technologies can ensure microbiological stability, with vitamin C losses of approximately 5–10% for HPP and 2–10% for moderate-intensity PEF. In contrast, losses associated with US, CP, photochemical methods, and IOR are more variable and may be substantially higher. A comparative analysis of the reviewed studies shows that HPP yields the most consistent results across different matrix types, whereas surface and photochemical methods exhibit more pronounced matrix-dependent variability. Overall, a shift from assessing short-term chemical retention toward validating safety, stability, and functionality throughout the entire shelf life is a key prerequisite for the further development of non-thermally processed products for health-oriented nutrition.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiometabolic risk factors in which modifiable dietary factors play a substantial role. This structured narrative review summarizes evidence on biotechnological food reformulation, defined as the modification of the composition or functional properties of foods already present in the diet using enzymes, microorganisms, fermentation, and bioconversion. Approaches to reducing free sugar and sodium content, modifying lipid and protein components, and increasing micronutrient content and bioavailability are reviewed. The data were analyzed with a distinction between experimental systems (in vitro, animal, and human intervention and observational studies) and study populations (healthy individuals, individuals with risk factors, and patients with diagnosed metabolic diseases). Mechanistic and animal data support the biological plausibility of the effects of several reformulated products on individual cardiometabolic markers. However, human intervention studies are few and mostly short-term. They rely on surrogate markers and are often conducted in patients with established disorders; therefore, they do not allow conclusions to be drawn about preventive efficacy. Consumer acceptance, safety, regulatory status, and industrial scalability are discussed on the basis of limited and heterogeneous data and require separate assessment for each technology. Biotechnological reformulation may be considered a promising approach to improving the nutrient profile of mass-market foods. However, its impact on the risk of metabolic syndrome has not yet been established and should be evaluated in long-term randomized trials in individuals without diagnosed metabolic diseases.