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1.
Environmental sustainability of fruit and vegetable production supply chains in the face of climate change: A review.
Parajuli, R, Thoma, G, Matlock, MD
The Science of the total environment. 2019;(Pt 2):2863-2879
Abstract
This study discusses importance of assessing environmental sustainability of fruits and vegetable (F&V) production sector in future climate change (CC) scenarios. For the current production scenario, life cycle environmental footprints of F&V supply chain are discussed considering the influences of: agro-climates, production systems, raw material inputs, post-harvest managements to the products' yield and quality. Potential risks of CC to the sector are discussed in the context of elevated global temperature and carbon dioxide level, ozone depletion and changes in precipitation patterns. Potential risks due to CC are on the productivity and the quality of F&V products, such as texture, color, maturity and nutrients. Increased risk of failure of the current crop protection strategies, e.g. due to pest infestations and different crop-water and nutrient stresses are among the short and long-term risks. It also discusses potential adaptation and mitigation measures to CC, and therefrom argues on the related environmental consequences in the supply chain. From the LCA studies, it was revealed that environmental impacts of F&V supply chain varied as per agro-ecological characteristics and farming systems, e.g. greenhouse vs open-field, organic vs conventional, and grown in different agro-climatic conditions. The nexus among the climatic stresses, potential adaptation and mitigation measures, hence were in the form of potential changes in the raw material inputs and resource flows depending on the preferred future agro-management strategies and farming practices. Adaptation and other management options, included are, changes in: crop calendar, nutrient and pest management strategies, post-harvest handling and improved preservation of F&V products. These are argued eventually being determining factors leading to different environmental footprints compared to the existing management scenarios. Prospective life cycle environmental evaluation of F&V supply chain considering the relationship among product yield and qualities, CC stresses and potential adaptation and mitigation measures is thus a new thrust and direction.
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2.
Twelve vegetables used for prevention and treatment of hemorrhoids in Persian Medicine.
Pouran, A, Mahmood, K, Mohammad, K, Ramin, T, Latif, G, Arman, Z
Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan. 2019;(4):466-473
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To review the role of vegetables to prevent and treat hemorrhoids in Persian Medicine (PM). METHODS We search main Persian Medicine manuscripts, including the books of Liber Continens, Canon of Medicine, Great Elixir, Akbarie's Medicine, Storehouse of Medicaments and Present for the faithful. Also, it was considered by searching in reference books and published papers with the help of PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar databases. RESULTS Twelve vegetables, relating to 8 plant families, have been found in PM that their effectiveness involved in laxative, anti- inflammation, antimicrobial, analgesic and wound healing. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that 12 Persian Medicine vegetables can be used to prevent and treat hemorrhoids.
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3.
Allium vegetables for possible future of cancer treatment.
Asemani, Y, Zamani, N, Bayat, M, Amirghofran, Z
Phytotherapy research : PTR. 2019;(12):3019-3039
Abstract
Natural resources such as plants are an upright curing option in treating cancers and reducing the side effects of current therapeutic modalities. Allium genus vegetables are of the most interesting herbs in restricting cancers that includes garlic, onions, leeks, chives, and shallots. These plants have been exploited in folk medicine because of their beneficial health effects in improving numerous diseases. The phytochemical analysis of various Allium genus members showed that, to date, 16 species have proved potential anticancer properties due to the accumulation of various sulfur and organic compounds like S-allyl mercaptocysteine, quercetin, flavonoids, and ajoene. These compounds with various mechanisms such as hindering cell cycle, inhibiting signaling pathways, inducing apoptosis, and antioxidant activity interfere with diverse stages of formation, growth, differentiation, and metastasis of cancer cells. Similar to garlic and onion, other species have exhibited anticancer activities, so that active natural molecules extracted from them might serve as possible anticancer agents. Therefore, evaluating the main ingredients and studying their anticancer mechanisms are of great importance. In this review, we aim to summarize the available data on anticancer mechanisms of 16 species of Allium genus and their major compounds to assist further researches on the treatment and prevention of cancers.
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4.
Hazardous heavy metals contamination of vegetables and food chain: Role of sustainable remediation approaches - A review.
Kumar, S, Prasad, S, Yadav, KK, Shrivastava, M, Gupta, N, Nagar, S, Bach, QV, Kamyab, H, Khan, SA, Yadav, S, et al
Environmental research. 2019;(Pt A):108792
Abstract
This review emphasizes the role of toxic metal remediation approaches due to their broad sustainability and applicability. The rapid developmental processes can incorporate a large quantity of hazardous and unseen heavy metals in all the segments of the environment, including soil, water, air and plants. The released hazardous heavy metals (HHMs) entered into the food chain and biomagnified into living beings via food and vegetable consumption and originate potentially health-threatening effects. The physical and chemical remediation approaches are restricted and localized and, mainly applied to wastewater and soils and not the plant. The nanotechnological, biotechnological and genetical approaches required to more rectification and sustainability. A cellular, molecular and nano-level understanding of the pathways and reactions are responsible for potentially toxic metals (TMs) accumulation. These approaches can enable the development of crop varieties with highly reduced concentrations of TMs in their consumable foods and vegetables. As a critical analysis by authors observed that nanoparticles could provide very high adaptability for both in-situ and ex-situ remediation of hazardous heavy metals (HHMs) in the environment. These methods could be used for the improvement of the inbuilt genetic potential and phytoremediation ability of plants by developing transgenic. These biological processes involve the transfer of gene of interest, which plays a role in hazardous metal uptake, transport, stabilization, inactivation and accumulation to increased host tolerance. This review identified that use of nanoremediation and combined biotechnological and, transgenic could help to enhance phytoremediation efficiency in a sustainable way.
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Sulforaphane from Cruciferous Vegetables: Recent Advances to Improve Glioblastoma Treatment.
Sita, G, Hrelia, P, Graziosi, A, Morroni, F
Nutrients. 2018;(11)
Abstract
Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate (ITC) derived from cruciferous vegetables, particularly broccoli and broccoli sprouts, has been widely investigated due to its promising health-promoting properties in disease, and low toxicity in normal tissue. Although not yet fully understood, many mechanisms of anticancer activity at each step of cancer development have been attributed to this ITC. Given the promising data available regarding SFN, this review aimed to provide an overview on the potential activities of SFN related to the cellular mechanisms involved in glioblastoma (GBM) progression. GBM is the most frequent malignant brain tumor among adults and is currently an incurable disease due mostly to its highly invasive phenotype, and the poor efficacy of the available therapies. Despite all efforts, the median overall survival of GBM patients remains approximately 1.5 years under therapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide support for translating the progress in understanding the molecular background of GBM into more complex, but promising therapeutic strategies, in which SFN may find a leading role.
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Persistence of Hepatitis A Virus in Fresh Produce and Production Environments, and the Effect of Disinfection Procedures: A Review.
Cook, N, Bertrand, I, Gantzer, C, Pinto, RM, Bosch, A
Food and environmental virology. 2018;(3):253-262
Abstract
Although information is limited, it is evident that prolonged persistence of infectious Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a factor in the transmission of the virus via fresh produce. Consequently, data on persistence of the virus on produce, and in environments relevant to production, such as soils, water and surfaces, are required to fully understand the dynamics of transmission of HAV via foods. Furthermore, information on effective disinfection procedures is necessary to implement effective post-harvest control measures. This review summarises current information on HAV persistence in fresh produce and on relevant disinfection procedures. On vegetables, HAV can remain infectious for several days; on frozen berries, it can persist for several months. HAV can remain infectious on surfaces for months, depending on temperature and relative humidity, and can survive desiccation. It can survive for several hours on hands. Washing hands can remove the virus, but further data are required on the appropriate procedure. Chlorination is effective in water, but not when HAV is associated with foodstuffs. Bleach and other sodium hypochlorite disinfectants at high concentrations can reduce HAV on surfaces, but are not suitable for use on fresh produce. There is only limited information on the effects of heating regimes used in the food industry on HAV. HAV is resistant to mild pasteurisation. Some food components, e.g. fats and sugars, can increase the virus' resistance to higher temperatures. HAV is completely eliminated by boiling. Quantitative prevalence data are needed to allow the setting of appropriate disinfection log reduction targets for fresh produce.
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7.
Vegetable-derived bioactive nitrate and cardiovascular health.
Bondonno, CP, Blekkenhorst, LC, Liu, AH, Bondonno, NP, Ward, NC, Croft, KD, Hodgson, JM
Molecular aspects of medicine. 2018;:83-91
Abstract
Vegetable derived nitrate is now recognised as an important bioactive phytochemical with cardioprotective properties. Nitrate, through the recently described enterosalivary nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide (NO) pathway, increases NO, a molecule pivotal for cardiovascular health. Clinical trials have observed that dietary nitrate has similar effects to NO when supplied exogenously. These effects include reduced blood pressure and improvements in other markers of vascular health such as endothelial function, arterial stiffness, ischemia reperfusion injury, blood flow, and platelet aggregation. Few observational studies, however, have examined dietary nitrate intake and long term cardiovascular health outcomes. This represents a significant gap in the literature. There is also a lingering concern about a possible carcinogenic effect of nitrate intake. Additionally, a number of potential factors that could impact nitrate to nitrite to NO reduction have been identified. This review will provide an overview of the evidence to date that nitrate, through its effects on endogenous NO and vascular health, is an important bioactive cardioprotective component of a diet rich in vegetables.
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8.
Sources and survival of Listeria monocytogenes on fresh, leafy produce.
Smith, A, Moorhouse, E, Monaghan, J, Taylor, C, Singleton, I
Journal of applied microbiology. 2018;(4):930-942
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Abstract
Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular human pathogen which enters the body through contaminated food stuffs and is known to contaminate fresh leafy produce such as spinach, lettuce and rocket. Routinely, fresh leafy produce is grown and processed on a large scale before reaching the consumer through various products such as sandwiches and prepared salads. From farm to fork, the fresh leafy produce supply chain (FLPSC) is complex and contains a diverse range of environments where L. monocytogenes is sporadically detected during routine sampling of produce and processing areas. This review describes sources of the bacteria in the FLPSC and outlines the physiological and molecular mechanisms behind its survival in the different environments associated with growing and processing fresh produce. Finally, current methods of source tracking the bacteria in the context of the food supply chain are discussed with emphasis on how these methods can provide additional, valuable information on the risk that L. monocytogenes isolates pose to the consumer.
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Increasing vegetable intake to obtain the health promoting and ergogenic effects of dietary nitrate.
Van der Avoort, CMT, Van Loon, LJC, Hopman, MTE, Verdijk, LB
European journal of clinical nutrition. 2018;(11):1485-1489
Abstract
Increased consumption of dietary nitrate increases plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations, and has been shown to elicit cardio-protective effects and improve exercise performance. Nitrate consumption in the habitual diet is mainly dependent on nitrate-rich vegetables, such as green leafy and root vegetables, with total vegetable consumption accounting for approximately 50-85% of our daily nitrate intake. Whereas 'supplementation' with dietary nitrate in research studies has mainly been accomplished through the use of (concentrated) nitrate-rich beetroot juice, dietary strategies focusing on increased intake of nitrate-rich vegetables may represent a similarly effective alternative for increasing dietary nitrate intake and, as such, obtaining the associated cardiovascular health and ergogenic benefits.
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Flavonoids in fruits and vegetables after thermal and nonthermal processing: A review.
Ahmed, M, Eun, JB
Critical reviews in food science and nutrition. 2018;(18):3159-3188
Abstract
Consumers currently demand more nutritious food, which is minimally processed and naturally produced. Flavonoids are one of the major plant metabolites found throughout the plant kingdom, especially in fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids exert tremendous positive effects on health and protect against various diseases. Fruits and vegetables are difficult to store for a long period, owing to their perishable nature even at low temperatures. Therefore, processing is necessary to prolong their shelf lives and increase nutritional values. Thermal processing has been used in the food sector since ancient times. However, nonthermal processing has become more attractive to consumers and product developers recently, owing to the retention of beneficial health properties after nonthermal processing. The present review will address the effects of thermal and nonthermal processing methods such as blanching, drying, high-pressure processing, ultrasound, pulsed electric field, and ultraviolet irradiation on total and individual flavonoid content in fruits and vegetables. In addition, this text will elucidate the stability characteristics as well as bioavailability, cytotoxicity, and transformations of flavonoids during thermal and nonthermal treatments.