The world market for herbal medicines is around US$ 40 billion, whereas in Brazil it is estimated to be around US$ 1 billion. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that more than a half of the world population makes use of some type of medicinal herb searching for relief for painful or unpleasant symptoms. From that total at least 30% are provided by medical prescription (WHO,…
Functional foods defined as “similar in appearance to a conventional food, and is demonstrated to have physiological benefits or reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions.” The leading role in food industry plays ultimately by the functional food
Urinary tract infections (UTI) represent one of the most widespread infections, and frequent recurrent episodes, induced mostly by uropathogenic Escherichia coli, make them increasingly difficult to treat. Long-term antibiotic therapy is an effective approach to treat recurrent UTI but generates adverse effects, including the emergence of pathogenic strains resistant to the vast majority of …
Microorganisms have had a long and surprising history. They were “invisible” until invention of microscope in the 17th century. Until that date, although they were extensively (but inconsciously) employed in food preservation, beer and wine fermentation, cheese, vinegar, yogurt and bread making, as well as being the causative agents of infectious diseases, they were considered as “not-exi…
Two new coumarin derivatives, 4,4 -dimethoxy-5,5 -dimethyl-7,7 -oxydicoumarin (1), 7-(γ,γ-dimethylallyloxy)-5-methoxy-4-methylcoumarin (2), a new chromone derivative, (S)-5-hydroxy-2,6-dimethyl-4H-furo[3,4-g]benzopyran-4,8(6H)-dione (5), and a new sterone derivative, 24-hydroxylergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (6), along with two known bicoumarins, kotanin (3) and orlandin (4), were …
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common cause of chronic liver disease, encompassing a range of conditions caused by lipid deposition within liver cells, and is also associated with obesity and metabolic diseases. Here, we investigated the protective effects of diphlorethohydroxycarmalol (DPHC), which is a polyphenol isolated from an edible seaweed, Ishige okamurae, on palmita…
Fruit and vegetables are considered to be among the most important sources of bioactive compounds with proven beneficial effect on human diet. Tomato has been evolved as a model crop to study both fruit ripening pattern as well as for understanding how different environmental and agricultural factors can enhance the accumulation of bioactive compounds
A product such as hydrated carbons (carbohydrates), lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids play significant roles in plants metabolically. But there are other natural organic products manufactured by plants, some of the products are complex molecules, which are not primary metabolites
Active antimicrobial food packaging is a new generation of packaging. Antimicrobial food additives are incorporated in the food packaging systems to inhibit, retard, or inactivate microbial growth to extend the shelf life of foods. This book is composed of five chapters, and is aimed at introducing the reader to active antimicrobial food packaging, as well as concerns of the consumers on synthe…
Food Microbiology; Food Science; Human Physiology