Norihisa Kato has completed his PhD (1980) from Nagoya University, Japan. Currently, he is a professor in Laboratory of Molecular Nutrition, Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University. His research interests are in elucidation of anti-disease food factors and the molecular mechanisms. He is a expert editor of Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, and has published more than 200 papers. He was given the Award for Excellence in Research Japan Society of Nutrition and Food Science (2012).

Traditionally, Aspergillus species have been widely used for the production of Japanese fermentation foods such as miso, soy sourse, sake, etc. However, there is limitted study on the application of Aspergillus for the functional foods production. Previously, we found the marked elevation in colon Bifidobacterium by feeding of Aspergillus fermented burdock when compared with durdock powder. Recent our study has found a marked elevation in colon Bifidobacterium of rats fed a high-fat (HF) diet supplemented with an Amano protease preparation (Protease A “Amano” SD, derived from Aspergillus oryzae, Amano Enzyme Inc.). The current study was conducted to examine if dietary supplementation with an acid protease (AcP) purified from A. oryzae also leads to the elevation of Bifidobacterium levels in the colon. Rats were fed a HF diet containing the AcP purified from the Amano protease preparation for 2 weeks. The abundance of Bifidobacterium in the cecum and feces of rats fed a HF diet with the addition of the 0.1% Amano protease preparation was markedly elevated by the addition of 0.1% Amano protease. However, the Bifidobacterium levels were unaffected by the addition of the purified AcP (0.0096%) at a level equivalent to the amount of AcP found in the 0.1% Amano protease. In contrast, the Bifidobacterium levels were significantly elevated (P < 0.05) when rats were fed a HF diet containing 0.0384% AcP (a four-fold higher content of AcP in the diet containing 0.1% Amano protease). The effect on cecum Bifidobacterium was not observed in the inactivated 0.0384% AcP group. These results suggest that the consumption of the Aspergillus-derived active AcP elevates the Bifidobacterium levels in the colon.

Prof. Franc isco García-Carmona is head of the group Enzyme Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Murcia (Spain). Main interests are enzymology of oxidases, production of metabolites and drugs and biotechnological applications of enzymes. He has coordinated tens of research projects and published more than 250 papers in reputed journals .

It is estimated that 25% of medicines, cosmetics, aromatic essences, flavorings and colorings used in developed countries come from secondary metabolites. This is the case of betalains, plant pigments of hydrophilic nature with demonstrated chemopreventive potential in cancer cell lines and animal models, which also have antioxidant, antiinflammatory and neuroprotective activity. Considered as nutraceuticals at very low concentrations it is also feasible their use as bioactive natural pigments in the food industry. Celosia argentea var. plumosa betalains were biosynthesized in vitro in this work. For the first time it is described the establishment of in vitro cell lines, generating callus and suspension of this plant of the Amaranthaceae from hypocotyls by using Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 6.66 µM BAP and 2,4-D 6.79 µM. Two stable and differentially colored callus cell lines, yellow and red were obtained. Aqueous extracts of these calli were encapsulated with maltodextrins achieving stable pink and yellow powders. Derived suspension cultures showed high contents of betalains with the compounds being accumulated and excreted to the medium with a maximum production after 8 days of culture. In addition, precursor molecules as betalamic acid and dopamine were produced, with dopamine levels as high as 42.08 mg/g dry weight. The production of bioactive betalains with dopamine and betalamic acid precursors show the capacity of C. argentea cell cultures to be a stable source for valuable phytochemicals with application as functional natural colorant in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. This work was supported by “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” (MEC, FEDER, Spain) (Project AGL2014-57431) and by “Programa de Ayudas a Grupos de Excelencia de la Región de Murcia, Fundación Séneca, Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia” (Project 19893/GERM/15).

Prof. M. Jiménez-Atiénzar has trained as a biochemist at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology A of the University of Murcia (Spain).She got her Ph.D. in 1983 and since then she has been working in plant biochemistry and has publications in national and international journals. Currently, her research project combines different approaches and multiple techniques to study the functional capacity of a family of bioactive plant compounds -the betalains .

The search for food ingredients that achieve the dual objective of providing optimal organoleptic characteristics and recognized health properties has become a priority for the food industry. A family of compounds that meets this duality is the betalains, water soluble pigments belonging to plants of the order Caryophyllales. They can be classified as either betacyanins or betaxanthins. Betacyanins contain cyclo-DOPA (usually glycosylated) and exhibit a violet coloration and betaxanthins contain different amino acid or amine side chains and exhibit yellow coloration. Betalains give color to flowers of a great variety of plant genera and they are also present in edible sources like beet root (Beta vulgaris) and cactus pear (Opuntia). Recently, strong bioactive properties have been described for betalains. These include a high antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities that support their chemopreventive potential against different types of cancer. Despite all these advantages, the use of betalains as food additives with high functional capacity has not been extensively considered by the food industry. This is in part due to their instability and to the limited number of studies dedicated to their purification. This work describes the extraction and purification of betanidin (betacyanin) from violet flowers of Lampranthus productus. The pigment exhibits high free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities. These bioactive properties were retained when betanidin was encapsulated in maltodextrin by using an appropriate spray drying procedure. Betanidin stability was followed by HPLC and it was highly promoted by encapsulation with limited pigment loss after six months’ storage.

Josefa Escribano-Cebrian was trained as a Biochemist at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology A of the University of Murcia, Spain. She has received her PhD in 1986 and since then she has been working in Plant Biochemistry. She has publications in national and international journals. Currently, her research project combines different approaches and multiple techniques to study the functional capacity of a family of bioactive plant compounds; the betalains

Betalains are pigments found in a variety of species and tissues, but red beet (Beta vulgaris) roots and fruits of cacti belonging to the genus Opuntia are the best known edible sources of betacyanins and betaxanthins. Color is primarily due to the betacyanin betanin in beet root and to the betaxanthin indicaxanthin in Opuntia fruits. Betanin containing beet root extracts are used to give a pink or violet color to foods and beverages as the additive 73.40 in the CFR section of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and under the E-162 code in the European Union. New colorants containing betaxanthins have also been proposed. Betalamic acid [4-(2-oxoethylidene)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid] is a naturally occurring compound that is normally found condensed with amino acids, amines and cyclo-DOPA derivatives to form the betalains. Betalamic acid is the structural feature common to all of these pigments and contains the electron resonance system responsible for the spectroscopic properties. Betalamic acid in its free form is also a phytochemicalnaturally found in the fruits of Opuntia ficusindica. In this work betalamic acid was purified by chromatography and characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometry and ESI mass spectrometry. The antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacities of betalamic acid were assessed using the FRAP and ABTS•+ radical assays. The purification process described for the structural unit of betalains might have application in the food and pharmaceutical industries to yield betalamic acid in its free form or as a starting material to obtain existing or novel betalains

Maria Angeles Pedreno Garcia has completed her degree in Chemistry in 1984 and PhD in Sciences, Section Chemistry in 1988. She did postdoctoral study from 1989-90 in the Plant Biotechnology Department of the Agricultural School of Toulouse (ENSAT). In 1993 she has obtained a permanent position as a Lecturer in Plant Physiology in the Department of Plant Biology, University of Murcia, Spain. She is full Professor of Plant Physiology at the same university since 2006 and has published more than 130 papers in reputed journals and her research lines have been developed in the field of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology

Broccoli is a good source of antioxidant compounds like glucosinolates, phenolic compounds, ascorbate and glutathione and redox proteins which are important in human nutrition because of their protective role against related-aging diseases. Due to the high value of these compounds, new strategies have been used in order to increase their production since their extraction from raw plant materials is often tedious, expensive and the extracts are often heterogeneus. In this way, we have developed a method of production of antioxidant compounds based on the elicitation of brocoli cell cultures with β-cyclodextrins, methyl jasmonate and NaCl which are able to act as inducers of the biosynthesis of these compounds in other plant cell cultures. As regards to the production of redox proteins, the spent medium of cell cultures provides a convenient, continuous and unique source of extracellular proteins, easily obtained without cell disruption and free of any cytosolic contamination, compared with other methods for isolating apoplastic proteins. In fact, the spent medium of cell cultures constitutes a useful model system of reduced complexity that contains all proteins involved in defense including antioxidant proteins. In this work, we have evaluated the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the levels of ascorbate and glutathione found in elicited broccoli cell cultures.

Juana Cabanes Cos was trained as a Biochemist at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology A of the University of Murcia, Spain. She has obtained her PhD in 1986 and since then she has been working in Plant Biochemistry and has publications in national and international journals. Currently, her research project combines different approaches and multiple techniques to study the functional capacity of a family of bioactive plant compounds; the betalains.

The role of dietary bioactive compounds in human nutrition is one of the most important areas of investigation with the findings having wide-ranging implications for consumers’ health. Betalains, water-soluble pigments belonging to plants of the order Caryophyllales posses’ high antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities that have been described for plant extracts and purified pigments. These activities support the chemopreventive potential of betalains against different types of cancer. Betalains are divided into two groups: The violet betacyanins and the yellow betaxanthins. Betalains give color to flowers of a great variety of plants and they are also present in edible sources like beet root (Beta vulgaris) and cactus pear (Opuntia). The former is used by the food industry, as a natural colorant in different foods and beverages. It has been described that the presence of hydroxyl groups in the molecule increases the antioxidant and antiradical capacity of the pigments in both betaxanthins and betacyanins. Despite their coloring capacity and superior antiradical activity, the dihydroxylated betalains have not been considered by the food industry as potential additives. This is in part due to their instability, which prevents long-term storage. This work describes the extraction and purification of dopamine-betaxanthin, a dihydroxylated betalain from yellow flowers of Portulaca oleracea. The pigment exhibits high free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities. These bioactive properties were retained when betaxanthin was encapsulated in maltodextrin by using an appropriate spray-drying procedure. Pigment stability was followed by HPLC and it was highly promoted by encapsulation up to six months’ storage

Lorena Almagro has completed her PhD from Murcia University and her Postdoctoral studies at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Porto, Portugal. In 2014 she had a Post-doctoral position in the University of Murcia, Spain. She has published 20 papers in reputed journals and her work has been focused on the production and identification of bioactive compounds derived from different plant cell cultures under elicitation

Brassica vegetables have received significant attention in recent years due to their health beneficial properties. In particular, broccoli florets contain a wide range of nutrients, dietary fibre and phytochemicals with health related properties. The healthy properties of broccoli have been associated with isothiocyanates, whose precursors are glucosinolates, a type of sulfur containing compounds found in brassicas. In particular, the isothiocyanate sulforaphane has beneficial effects on human health due to its anti-tumoral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. As a result of the beneficial properties of glucosinolates, the demand for these bioactive compounds has rapidly increased and as consequence, new biotechnological strategies to obtain them from natural sources have been developed. In this sense, several works have showed that cyclodextrins (CD) and methyl jasmonate (MJ) enhance the production of bioactive compounds in plant cell cultures. For these reasons, the aim of this study has been to characterize the total production (intra and extracellular) of bioactive compounds in broccoli cell cultures treated with CD and/or with MJ, NaCl, hexenol and β-glucan. The results have showed that the presence of these elicitors induced the production of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds, inside and outside the cells

Nicole Lisa Brooks has completed her PhD from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. She is the Head of Department of Wellness Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She has published 20 papers in reputed journals

Oxidative stress (OS) plays a major role in the pathogenesis of different conditions including male infertility. OS is caused by excessive Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production that overwhelms the antioxidant capacity of a system. The sperm membrane is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and is prone to damage by ROS. Sperm damage decreases motility, concentration and viability. Testicular OS impairs Leydig cell function and leads to decrease of androgen such as testosterone. Buriti oil has been shown to be rich in carotenoid a precursor of vitamin A. This study investigated the effects of Buriti oil on testicular and epididymal tissues as well as hormonal function in male Wistar rats. For 6 weeks the control group (n=30) received standard rat chow and water while the experimental group (n=30) received Buriti oil, rat chow and water daily. Both testicular and epididymal weights as well as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione activities were increased in rats fed with Buriti oil compared to the control. In addition testicular and epididymal MDA levels were decreased in rat fed with Buriti oil when compared to the control group. Testosterone concentration was significantly higher in the experimental group while no significance was found in estradiol content. In conclusion, our findings suggest that Buriti oil supplementation had protected the male reproductive system against OS damage

Chang Sun Kim has completed his PhD from Waseda University and research studies from Tokyo University School of Medicine in Japan. He is a Professor of Dongduk Women’s University. He has published more than 70 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry.

Soy isoflavone genistein has estrogenic activity and is used as a natural substitute for estrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal women. It was unclear that relationship between genistein administration and change of bone metabolism. The purpose of present study was to examine the effects of genistein administration on bone metabolism in elderly women. Fifteen elderly women (80.5±6.8 years) were randomly assigned to receive genistein (GEN group, n=8) or placebo (PL group, n=7) daily for 12 weeks. Treatment capsules contained 50 mg of genistein or flour (placebo). Fasting serum estradiol (E2) and calcium (Ca) and urinary Ca and deoxypyridinoline (D-Phy) at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment were measured. The bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by DXA (QDR-1000, Hologic, USA) and bone intensity was also measured by ultrasound method (Achilles express, Lunar, USA). Two-way (2 by 2) repeated measured ANOVA was used to find out the interaction between the group and time and the criterion for significance was set at an alpha level of 5%. There were non-significant increases from baseline for BMD of L1-4 and femur inter BMD and bone intensity such as C-BUA and C-SOS with GEN treatment. Also, differences in bone marker levels (serum E2 and Ca and urinary Ca and D-phy) were not significant between the two treatment groups. These results suggest that BMD and bone metabolic markers may not seem to differ after 12 weeks period with genistein administration in elderly women. And it is necessary for further research about genistein administration by increasing the supplemental volume

Yu-Ri Kang is currently a Doctoral student in Hannan University, South Korea. She had very balanced experiences on both study (Hannam University, Korea; Exchange program from Framingham State University, Framingham, USA, 2013 and 2015). Her major study field is bioactive polyphenols from natural plant foods inhabited in Jeju and US area is emerging issues in modern food science studies, especially in US

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the most widely used as food or medicinal plant due to their health benefits. It has been reported that onion and their extracts have antibacterial, antidiabetic and antioxidant activity. Those functionalities were enhanced by heat treatment due to the increase of quercetin content. Therefore, we investigated inhibitory activity of 5 selected onions, such as red, yellow, white, boiling onion (purchased from local market in United States), and jeju onion (purchased from local market in South Korea), against rat intestinal α-glucosidase and porcine pancreatic α-amylase before and after heat treatment (121 oC, 30 min). Among 5 onions red onion had the highest the rate of increase in inhibitory activity (68.15%), followed by yellow onion (36.1%) after heat treatment at a concentration of 2 mg/mL (freeze dried powder of onion liquid in distilled water). These results suggest that onion cultivars enhanced high α-glucosidase inhibitory activity by heat treatment have the potential to contribute as a useful dietary supplement for controlling postprandial hyperglycemia. Furthermore, it is an important finding that heat treatment may improve the functionality of onions, although we need to identify the changes in profile of bioactive compounds before and after heat process