Over the last decade, fruit juice consumption has increased. Their rise in popularity can be attributed to the belief that they are a quick way to consuming a dietary portion of fruit. Probiotics added to fruit juices produce various bioactive compounds, thus probiotic fruit juices can be considered as a new type of functional foods. Such combinations could improve nutritional properties and provide health benefits of fruit juices, due to delivering positive health attributes from both sources (fruit juices and probiotics). However, this review discusses the other side of the same coin, i.e., the one that challenges general beliefs that probiotics are undoubtedly safe. This topic deserves more acknowledgments from the medical and nutritional literature, as it is highly important for health care professionals and nutritionists who must be aware of potential probiotic issues. Still, clinical trials have not adequately questioned the safety of probiotics, as they are generally considered safe. Therefore, this reviews aims to give an evidence-based perspective of probiotic safety, focusing on probiotic fruit beverages and nutraceuticals, by providing documented clinical case reports and studies. Finally, the paper deals with some additional insights from the pharmacological and toxicological point of views, such as pharmacological repercussions of probiotics on health.

Functional nutrition, which includes the consumption of fruit juices, has become the field of interest for those seeking a healthy lifestyle. Functional nutrition is also of great interest to the food industry, with the aims of improving human health and providing economic prosperity in a sustainable manner. The functional food sector is the most profitable part of the food industry, with a fast-growing market resulting from new sociodemographic trends (e.g., longer life expectancy, higher standard of living, better health care), which often includes sustainable concepts of food production. Therefore, the demand for hurdle technology in the food industry is growing, along with the consumption of minimally processed foods, not only because this approach inactivates microorganisms in food, but because it can also prolong the shelf life of food products. To preserve food products such as fruit juices, the hurdle technology approach often uses non-thermal methods as alternatives to pasteurization, which can cause a decrease in the nutritional value and quality of the food. Non-thermal technologies are often combined with different hurdles, such as antimicrobial additives, thermal treatment, and ultraviolet or pulsed light, to achieve synergistic effects and overall quality improvements in (functional) juices. Hence, hurdle technology could be a promising approach for the preservation of fruit juices due to its efficiency and low impact on juice quality and characteristics, although all processing parameters still require optimization.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate high voltage electrical discharges (HVED) as a green technology, in order to establish the effectiveness of phenolic extraction from olive leaves against conventional extraction (CE). HVED parameters included different green solvents (water, ethanol), treatment times (3 and 9 min), gases (nitrogen, argon), and voltages (15, 20, 25 kV). Methods: Phenolic compounds were characterized by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS), while antioxidant potency (total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity) were monitored spectrophotometrically. Data for Near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) spectroscopy, colorimetry, zeta potential, particle size, and conductivity were also reported. Results: The highest yield of phenolic compounds was obtained for the sample treated with argon/9 min/20 kV/50% (3.2 times higher as compared to CE). Obtained results suggested the usage of HVED technology in simultaneous extraction and nanoformulation, and production of stable emulsion systems. Antioxidant capacity (AOC) of obtained extracts showed no significant difference upon the HVED treatment. Conclusions: Ethanol with HVED destroys the linkage between phenolic compounds and components of the plant material to which they are bound. All extracts were compliant with legal requirements regarding content of contaminants, pesticide residues and toxic metals. In conclusion, HVED presents an excellent potential for phenolic compounds extraction for further use in functional food manufacturing.

Fruit juices contain a large number of phytochemicals that, in combination with certain drugs, can cause food–drug interactions that can be clinically significant and lead to adverse events. The mechanisms behind such interactions are in most cases related to phytochemical interference with the activity of cytochrome P450 metabolizing enzymes (CYPs) or drug transporters. Moreover, alterations in their activity can have a clinical relevance if systemic exposure to the drug is decreased or increased, meaning that the pharmacological drug effects are suboptimal, or the drug will cause toxicity. In general, the common pharmacokinetic parameters found to be altered in food–drug interactions regarding fruit juices are the area under the concentration–time curve, bioavailability, and maximum plasma concentration. In most cases, the results from the drug interaction studies with fruit juices provide only limited information due to the small number of subjects, which are also healthy volunteers. Moreover, drug interactions with fruit juices are challenging to predict due to the unknown amounts of the specific phytochemicals responsible for the interaction, as well as due to the inter-individual variability of drug metabolism, among others. Therefore, this work aims to raise awareness about possible pharmacological interactions with fruit juices.

The beneficial health effects of cheese as a source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and analgesic effects are well known. The aim of this study is to determine the presence of pesticide residues and heavy metals in 79 cheese samples from small farms in Croatia. The samples were analyzed over a period of three years for the quality parameters of fat, protein, dry matter, salt, and pH to determine whether metrological conditions affect the quality of cheese and to test the correlation between the variables in different types of cheese. A total of 509 pesticide residues were analyzed using liquid and gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Piperonyl butoxide was found in two samples. Inductively coupled plasma with mass spectrometry was used for a metal content analysis, and Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Pb were found in the range of <0.005–0.012 mg kg⁻¹, <0.02–0.84 mg kg⁻¹, 0.031–1.128 mg kg⁻¹, <0.03–0.67 mg kg⁻¹, and <0.01–0.12 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. Cd was detected in just three samples. Mn was found in all analyzed samples. All tested samples complied with EU regulations and directives, and at the point of analysis, none posed a direct health risk for consumers. Sustainability on small farms could be ensured with the responsible use of pesticides and through a consistent and reliable supply of fresh, high-quality milk.

In this study, we investigated the role of glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We genotyped the GSTP1 polymorphisms in exon 5 (A313G) and exon 6 (C341T) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 56 Croatian patients with AD and 231 controls. Distributions and frequencies of GSTP1 genetic variants were not statistically different between AD patients and healthy controls. Higher frequencies of the mutant genotypes were observed in AD patients (13% for both A313G and C341T) when compared with control subjects (7% for A313G and 8% for C341T), but association of GSTP1 GG (OR 2.057, 95% CI 0.796–5.315, p=0.094) and TT (OR 1.691, 95% CI 0.669–4.270, p=0.514) genotypes with an increased risk of AD was not confirmed by statistical analysis. The frequencies of