Bio-Farms for Nutraceuticals

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxvii

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2. The NUTRA-SNACKS Project: Basic Research and Biotechnological Programs on Nutraceutics

   • Giuseppina Rea, Amina Antonacci, Maya Lambreva, Andrea Margonelli, Cecilia Ambrosi, Maria Teresa Giardi

   Pages 1-16

3. Overview of Diet-Gene Interactions and the Example of Xanthophylls

   • Barbara Demmig-Adams, William W. Adams III

   Pages 17-26

4. Therapeutic Potential of Dietary Polyphenols against Brain Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disorders

   • Giovanni Scapagnini, Calogero Caruso, Vittorio Calabrese

   Pages 27-35

5. Plant Phenolics in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer

   • Klaus W. J. Wahle, Iain Brown, Dino Rotondo, Steven D. Heys

   Pages 36-51

6. Endogenous Antioxidants and Radical Scavengers

   • Angela Maria Rizzo, Patrizia Berselli, Stefania Zava, Gigliola Montorfano, Manuela Negroni, Paola Corsetto et al.

   Pages 52-67

7. A Nutritional Strategy for Reducing Disease and Obesity Risks

   • Teresa Lavecchia, Paolo Petroni, Giuseppe Rodio, Riccardo Pina

   Pages 68-73

8. Dietary Phytochemicals and Human Health

   • Justyna Krzyzanowska, Anna Czubacka, Wieslaw Oleszek

   Pages 74-98

9. Bioactive Compounds from Northern Plants

   • Anja Hohtola

   Pages 99-109

10. Nutraceutical Use of Garlic Sulfur-Containing Compounds

    • Eleftherios Touloupakis, Demetrios F. Ghanotakis

    Pages 110-121

11. Genetic Engineering to Enhance Crop-Based Phytonutrients (Nutraceuticals) to Alleviate Diet-Related Diseases

    • Autar K. Mattoo, Vijaya Shukla, Tahira Fatima, Avtar K. Handa, Surender K. Yachha

    Pages 122-143

12. Perspective for the Use of Genetic Transformants in Order to Enhance the Synthesis of the Desired Metabolites: Engineering Chloroplasts of Microalgae for the Production of Bioactive Compounds

    • Udo Johanningmeier, Dirk Fischer

    Pages 144-151

13. Biological Elicitors of Plant Secondary Metabolites: Mode of Action and Use in the Production of Nutraceutics

    • Simone Ferrari

    Pages 152-166

14. Hairy Root Cultures for Secondary Metabolites Production

    • Laura Pistelli, Annalisa Giovannini, Barbara Ruffoni, Alessandra Bertoli, Luisa Pistelli

    Pages 167-184

15. Plant Tissue Culture—An Opportunity for the Production of Nutraceuticals

    • Mariella Lucchesini, Anna Mensuali-Sodi

    Pages 185-202

16. Plant Cell Cultures: Bioreactors for Industrial Production

    • Barbara Ruffoni, Laura Pistelli, Alessandra Bertoli, Luisa Pistelli

    Pages 203-221

17. Determination of the Antioxidants’ Ability to Scavenge Free Radicals Using Biosensors

    • Montserrat Cortina-Puig, Beatriz Prieto-Simón, Mónica Campàs, Carole Calas-Blanchard, Jean-Louis Marty

    Pages 222-233

18. Biosensors for the Determination of Phenolic Metabolites

    • Simona Carmen Litescu, Sandra Eremia, Gabriel Lucian Radu

    Pages 234-240

19. Methods for the Determination of Antioxidant Capacity in Food and Raw Materials

    • Simona Carmen Litescu, Sandra Eremia, Gabriel Lucian Radu

    Pages 241-249

20. Analytical Methods for the Extraction and Identification of Secondary Metabolite Production in ‘In Vitro’ Plant Cell Cultures

    • Alessandra Bertoli, Barbara Ruffoni, Laura Pistelli, Luisa Pistelli

    Pages 250-266

"Bio-Farms for Nutraceuticals" can be said to have been born of the NUTRA-SNACKS project within the Sixth Framework Programme Priority on Food Quality and Safety. One objective of NUTRA -SNACK S was to improve the nutritional and eating properties of ready-to-eat products and semi-prepared foodstuffs through better monitoring of the quality and safety of raw materials and the development of innovative processes along the production chain. Another main objective of the project was the production of ready-to-eat snacks with high nutraceutic activity. Seven research institutes and three companies in six European countries were involved in this effort. The co-operation resulted in the production of food having a high content of natural metabolites with the following beneficial health effects: anticancer, antilipidemic, anticholesterol, antimicrobial, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antihypertensive, anti-inflamatory and antioxidant activities.

• Berra
• Bio-Farms
• Carotenoids
• Functional Food
• Giardi
• Metabolite
• Nutraceuticals
• Nutrition
• Rea
• Vitamin C

• Institute of Crystallography, Department of Agrofood and Department of Molecular Design, National Council of Research, Area of Research of Rome, Monterotondo Scalo, Rome, Italy

  Maria Teresa Giardi, Giuseppina Rea

• Institute of General Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Molecular Sciences Applied to Biosystems, DISMAB, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

  Bruno Berra

MARIA TERESA GIARDI, PhD, is a Research Manager at the National Council of Research (CNR) in Rome, Italy. Her background is in organic-industrial chemistry, and she has extensive experience in molecular biology; modification of photosystem II to increase its resistance to high temperature and sensitivity to radiation; signal transduction in optical and electrochemical biosensors; protein stabilization and utilization in biosensor design, and analytical procedures in general. She is a referee for the US Department of Agriculture for industrial projects. She has worked in various research institutions and research and development companies both in Europe and the USA. She is a supervisor or coordinator of a number of national and international projects in the field of biosensors: European Agency Life V project, 20xx-2004; a European Space Agency project involving space flight in 2005; a NATO “linkage grant”, dedicated to sensors based on plant and microrganisms. GIUSEPPINA REA, PhD, is a molecular biologist and is on the permanent staff of CNR-IC. She is an expert in the molecular mechanisms involved in plant defense responses and has many years of experience in plant molecular biology, biochemistry, biotechnology and protein engineering techniques. She is project monitor of the CNR project Biotechnological Applications of Oxygenic Photosynthetic Organisms in the Agro-food Field and Space Environment, and the EU projects Multibioplat and Sensbiosyn, aimed at producing bacteria and algae with improved photosynthetic performance to exploit them in biological farms for nutraceutical applications and biosensing elements in biosensor development. Her research activities are mainly focused on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Rhodobacter sphaeroides. She is advisor to several PhD students in Plant Biotechnology working in the fields of exobiology, nutraceutics and biosensors. BRUNO BERRA, PhD, received his academic degree in Chemistry from the University of Pavia, Italy.He is Professor f.r. of Biochemistry at the University of Milan and works at the Department of Molecular Sciences Applied to Biosystems in the Faculty of Pharmacy. During his active teaching career he taught Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Nutrition Biochemistry and Cosmetology. His most important research areas include: isolation, fractionation, purification and analysis of glycolipids from brain, extranervous tissues and biological fluids; biochemical diagnosis of sphingolipidosis and follow-up of Gaucher’s patients receiving enzyme replacement therapy; nutritional biochemistry with reference to fats and antioxidants; membrane component studies in spontaneous or induced degenerative processes, with particular reference to solid and tumor cells; skin biochemistry and molecular biology of the skin; and space biology. He is a member of numerous national and international scientific organisations including the Italian Society of Biochemistry (1957-2004), the Italian Society for Fat Research, the International Conference of Biochemistry of Lipids (ICBL), the Euro Fed Lipid, the American Oil Chemist’s Society, and the American Society of Diabetes.

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