Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research
2023 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. Antimicrobial effects of plant extracts against foodborne pathogens on melons. Melons are diverse group of desert fruits including orange fresh cantaloupe, green fresh cantaloupe, green fresh honeydew, and mixed hybrid varieties. Melon surfaces are easily contaminated by Salmonella, Listeria, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) during the growing process. These foodborne pathogens may be harbored in the outer rind of the melon and transferred to the edible portions during cutting and dividing processes. It is difficult to effectively wash, clean and sanitize melons. In the present study, olive extract applied to melon surfaces was shown by ARS researchers in Albany, California, to be effective against Salmonella, L. monocytogenes and E. coli. The antimicrobial activity of olive extract exceeded that of mushroom extracts, apple peels, or 50 parts-per-million (ppm) chlorine treatments. The honeydew melon showed greater reductions of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes than cantaloupe melon. This study demonstrates the potential of olive extract to inactivate foodborne pathogens on melon.
2. Commercial tomatine is a mixture of isomers. Interest in tomato compounds called glycoalkaloids arises from the fact that they seem to have important functions in host-plant interactions and have been reported to exhibit several beneficial health-promoting properties. Analytical high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectral analytical data in a recently published study show that the commercial tomato glycoalkaloid tomatine and tomatine extracted from green tomatoes actually consists of a mixture of four compounds, a-tomatine, dehydrotomatine, an a-tomatine isomer, and a dehydrotomatine isomer in an approximate ratio of 90:9:1:1, respectively. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies are in progress designed to elucidate the stereochemical structures of isomeric forms. The published studies by ARS researchers in Albany, California, show that the mixture known as tomatine has the potential to serve as a health-promoting functional food against several diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and trichomoniasis.
3. A new functional food has an anti-asthma effect. The results of a recently published study by ARS researchers in Albany, California, show that a new functional food created by bioprocessing (fermenting) black rice bran with shiitake mushroom mycelia inhibited pro-inflammatory effects and other biomarkers seen in ovalbumin-induced asthma cell and mice models. The histology of lung tissues revealed that the treatment also reversed the thickening of the airway wall, and the contraction and infiltration of bronchial and blood vessels. The novel food products may have useful therapeutic applications in humans, such as protection against allergic asthma, viral infections such as COVID-19, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, and peanut protein and other food allergies.
4. Edible fungi grown on waste almond hull extract have health benefits. Almond hulls are a byproduct of almond seed for food production. About 4.5 billion pounds of hulls are produced in California each year. The hulls have low value and diminishing use for feed or fuel. ARS researchers in Albany, California, grew Aspergillus oryzae, a fungus used in food production in Asia, on synthetic media or an aqueous extract of almond hulls. The fungi grown on the almond hulls reduced body weight gain and blood cholesterol in mice fed a high-fat diet. The results suggest that waste almond hulls may be used as a growth media for food fungi with beneficial nutritional properties.
5. IgE binding epitopes of peanut allergen Ara h 2 mapped with a new method. Peanut and tree nut allergies negatively impact the utilization of agricultural products. Linear IgE epitopes play essential roles in peanut and tree nut allergies. The overall expense of the approaches and the inherent challenges in available methods for epitope mapping necessitate a cost-effective way of mapping linear IgE binding epitopes. ARS researchers at Albany, California, developed a novel method for mapping linear epitopes and applied it to determine dominant IgE binding epitopes of peanut allergen Ara h 2. The new method with internal positive control offers another approach for obtaining information about IgE binding epitopes of food allergens, which can be used to better diagnose food allergies, predict the prognosis of allergies, better understand the allergenicity of food proteins, and positively impact the agricultural and food industry by reducing recalls and enhancing safe use of products.
Review Publications
Zhang, Y., Bhardwaj, S.R., Lyu, S., Chinthrajah, S., Nadeau, K., Li, C. 2022. Expression, purification, characterization, and patient IgE reactivity of new macadamia nut iso-allergen. Protein Expression and Purification. 203. Article 106211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pep.2022.106211.
Ding, N., Meng, H., Wu, C., Yokoyama, W.H., Hong, H., Luo, Y., Tan, Y. 2023. Whey protein hydrolysate renovates age-related and scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment. Nutrients. 15(5). Article 1288. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15051228.
Kozukue, N., Kim, D., Choi, S., Mizuno, M., Friedman, M. 2023. Isomers of the tomato glycoalkaloids a-Tomatine and dehydrotomatine: Relationship to health benefits. Molecules. 28(8). Article 3621. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28083621.
Zhang, Y., Che, H., Li, C., Jin, T. 2023. Food allergens of plant origin. Foods. 12(11). Article 2232. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12112232.
Seo, K., Lee, H., Eor, J., Jeon, H., Yokoyama, W.H., Kim, H. 2022. Effects of kefir lactic acid bacteria-derived postbiotic components on high fat diet-induced gut microbiota and obesity. Food Research International. 157. Article 111445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2022.111445.
Finley, J.W., Holliday, D., Kim, H., Alves Buongiorno, P.L., Shao, D., Bartley, G., Yokoyama, W.H. 2023. Substitution of cooked kidney beans or ground beef in hypercholesterolemic high fat diets reduces plasma and liver lipids in hamsters. Food Production, Processing, and Nutrition. 5. Article 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43014-023-00135-2.
Zhang, Y., Bhardwaj, S.R., Vilches, A.M., Breksa III, A.P., Lyu, S., Chinthrajah, S., Nadeau, K., Jin, T. 2022. IgE binding epitope mapping with TL1A tagged peptides. Molecular Immunology. 153:194-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molimm.2022.12.001.
Zou, X., Yokoyama, W.H., Liu, X., Wang, K., Hong, H., Lou, Y., Tan, Y. 2023. Milk fat globule membrane relieves fatigue via regulation of oxidative stress and gut microbiota in BALB/c mice. Antioxidants. 12(3). Article 712. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox12030712.
Hughes, A.C., Kirkland, M., Du, W.N., Rasooly, R., Hernlem, B.J., Tam, C.C., Zhang, Y., He, X. 2023. Development of thermally stable nanobodies for detection and neutralization of Staphylococcal enterotoxin B. Toxins. 15(6). Article 400. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15060400.
