Is It Really Organic?

Researchers at the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority in Oberschleissheim, Germany have found a way to use nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to answer the question "Is it really organic?"

The technique has previously been used to authenticate foods like honey and olive oil. The scientists analyzed tomatoes grown in greenhouses and outdoors, with conventional or organic fertilizers and their data showed a trend toward differentiation of organic and conventional produce.

The test is a good starting point for the authentication of organically produced tomatoes, they conclude, and its further refinement could help root out fraudulently labelled foods.

The global market for organic foods nearly tripled in value between 2002 and 2011, reaching $62.8 billion. But because organic food can fetch prices often twice as high as conventionally produced food, the risk for fraudulent labelling has grown just as fast.

Source:

American Chemical Society 

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The Okra in Your Ice Cream

While okra is widely used as a vegetable for soups and stews, a new study suggests that okra extracts can be used as a stabilizer in ice cream.

Ice cream quality is highly dependent on the size of ice crystals. As ice cream melts and refreezes during distribution and storage, the ice crystals grow in size causing ice cream to become courser in texture which limits shelf life. Stabilizers are used to maintain a smooth consistency, hinder melting, improve the handling properties, and make ice cream last longer.
   
The study found that water extracts of okra fiber can be prepared and used to maintain ice cream quality during storage. These naturally extracted stabilizers offer an alternative food ingredient for the ice cream industry as well as for other food products.

Sources:

Journal of Food Science

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Good Microbes Love Chocolate

Many of the health benefits of eating dark chocolate are a consequence of bacteria in the stomach that gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart.

Researchers at Louisiana State University have identified two kinds of microbes in the human gut: the 'good' ones and the 'bad' ones.

Good microbes, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate. When a person eats dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory. When these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the long-term risk of stroke.

The other bacteria in the gut are associated with inflammation and can cause gas, bloating, diarrhea and constipation. These include some Clostridia and some E. coli.

The study was the first to look at the effects of dark chocolate on the various types of bacteria in the stomach. Researchers tested three cocoa powders using a model digestive tract, comprised of a series of modified test tubes, to simulate normal digestion. They then subjected the non-digestible materials to anaerobic fermentation using human fecal bacteria.

Cocoa powder, an ingredient in chocolate, contains several polyphenolic, or antioxidant, compounds such as catechin and epicatechin, and a small amount of dietary fiber. Both components are poorly digested and absorbed, but when they reach the colon, the desirable microbes take over. The fiber is fermented and the large polyphenolic polymers are metabolized to smaller molecules, which are more easily absorbed. These smaller polymers exhibit anti-inflammatory activity.

Combining the fiber in cocoa with prebiotics is likely to improve a person’s overall health and help convert polyphenolics in the stomach into anti-inflammatory compounds. When you ingest prebiotics, the beneficial gut microbial population increases and outcompetes any undesirable microbes in the gut, like those that cause stomach problems.

Prebiotics are carbohydrates found in foods like raw garlic and cooked whole wheat flour that humans can’t digest but that good bacteria like to eat.

Sources:
American Chemical Society

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Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods

Spitting in the Face of Danger

A chemical compound in human saliva, along with the common proteins in the body's blood and muscle, protects cells from the powerful toxins found in tea, coffee and liquid smoke flavoring, according to a study led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

The findings, reported in Food and Chemical Toxicology, suggest that people naturally launch multiple defenses against plant chemicals called pyrogallol-like polyphenols or PLPs found in teas, coffees and liquid smoke flavoring. The presence of these defenses help explain why PLPs are not crippling cells and causing illness as would be expected from their toxic punch and widespread use.

Johns Hopkins investigator Scott Kern, M.D., and his colleagues previously demonstrated that PLPs found in everyday foods and flavorings could do 20 times the damage of chemotherapy drugs delivered to cancer patients. The researchers sought to find out why there wasn't more damage, and subsequently looked for ways that cells might be fighting back.

"If these chemicals are so widespread--they're in flavorings, tea, coffee -- and they damage DNA to such a high degree, we thought there must be defense mechanisms that protect us on a daily basis from plants we choose to eat," Kern said.

Sources:
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Office of Public Affairs
Food and Chemical Toxicology

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Can Red Wine Prevent Cavities?

A new study published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry suggests that red wine, as well as grape seed extract, could help prevent cavities.

In their study, researchers grew cultures of the bacteria responsible for dental diseases as a biofilm. Then they dipped the biofilms for a couple of minutes in different liquids, including red wine, red wine without the alcohol, red wine spiked with grape seed extract, and water and 12 percent ethanol for comparison.

Red wine, with or without alcohol, and wine with grape seed extract were the most effective at getting rid of the bacteria.

Sources: American Chemical Society

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Decaf Green Tea Promotes Weight Loss

Mice on high-fat diets while consuming decaffeinated green tea extract and exercising regularly experienced significant weight loss and improvements in overall health during a study at Penn State University.

Researchers believe people can expect similar benefits.

Following a 16-week regimine, high-fat-fed mice that exercised regularly and ingested green tea extract showed an average body mass reduction of 27.1 percent and an average abdominal fat mass reduction of 36.6 percent.

The mice on the green-tea-extract-and-exercise regimen also experienced a 17 percent reduction in fasting blood glucose level, a 65 percent decrease in plasma insulin level and reduction in insulin resistance of 65 percent -- all substantial improvements related to diabetic health.

Mice that ingested green tea extract but did not exercise or those that exercised but were not given green tea extract experienced less significant changes in weight and health measurements, noted lead researcher Joshua Lambert, associate professor of food science.

"What is significant about this research is that we report for the first time that voluntary exercise in combination with green tea extract reduced symptoms of metabolic syndrome and diet-induced obesity in high-fat-fed mice more significantly than either treatment alone," he said.  "The changes in body weight and body fat may result from increased fat metabolism and decreased fat synthesis. Green tea seems to modulate genes related to energy metabolism."

Sources:
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences.

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Edible Flowers Nip Disease in the Bud

Edible flowers, which have been used in the culinary arts in China for centuries, are receiving renewed interest.

A new study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists, found that common edible flowers in China are rich in phenolics and have excellent antioxidant capacity.

Flowers can be used as an essential ingredient in a recipe, provide seasoning to a dish, or simply be used as a garnish. Some of these flowers contain phenolics that have been correlated with anti-inflammatory activity and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.

The findings of this study show that common edible flowers have the potential to be used as an additive in food to prevent chronic disease, help health promotion and prevent food oxidization.

Source: Institute of Food Technologists

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