Nutritional Regimes Enriched with Antioxidants as an Efficient Adjuvant for IBD Patients under Infliximab Administration, a Pilot Study

Antioxidants are privileged candidates for the development of adjuvants able to improve the efficiency of pharmacological therapies, particularly for chronic inflammatory syndromes. During the last 20 years, anti-TNFα (tumor necrosis factor alpha) monoclonal antibodies infusion has been the biological therapy most frequently administered but there is still large space for improvement in disease remission rates and maintenance. In this context, nutritional bioactive compounds contained in dietary patterns or included as supplements, may act as adjuvants for the induction and maintenance of IBD (inflammatory bowel diseases) remission. To verify this possibility, a single-center preliminary study (SI-CURA, Soluzioni Innovative per la gestione del paziente e il follow up terapeutico della Colite UlceRosA) was designed and carried out to evaluate whether a daily administration of purple corn supplement could improve the response to Infliximab (IFX) infusion of IBD patients with both Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). A cohort of 47 patients was enrolled in the study. Biological samples were collected before the first and the third IFX infusion. All patients received nutritional guidelines, 27 of them received commercial red fruit tea with low anthocyanins content, while 20 received a purple corn supplement with a high anthocyanin content. Results show that the administration of an antioxidant-enriched purple corn supplement could improve IFX-mediated disease remission in terms of circulating inflammatory markers. Comparison between CD and UC patients revealed that, at this anthocyanin dosage, the purple corn extract administration improved the IFX response in CD but not in UC patients. Our results may pave the way for a new metacentric study of CD patients, recruiting a wider cohort and followed-up over a longer observational time.

The utilization of young-harvested purple corn for dodol processed to support functional food diversification

Young-harvested purple corn can be processed to some products, including traditional processed dodol in Indonesia, that very liked by all people until now. The superiority of purple corn dodol is it has component of anthocyanin that has antioxidant activities. The ingredient using young-harvested purple corn. The method using complete randomize design, factor I extractor water P (300ml, 400 ml, 500ml), factor II heating duration L (15 minutes, 25 minutes, 35 minutes), each intervention done by 3 times repeating, cooked in boiled temperature. The data analyze using Anova, and continue with DMRT test. The level of panelists’ acceptance using organoleptic test with display parameter of colour, smells, texture, and taste test. The result of this research showed that the intervention which very liked by panelists was P1L1 500g of corn extracted by 300 ml of water with heating duration about 15 minutes, with component of water 24.86%, ash 0.44%, protein 5.98%, and high relative anthocyanin 4.04 (μg/g). Dodol processed of purple corn can be developed to instant product, with proper packaging can support functional food product diversification that has high sale value.

Evaluation of anthocyanin corn under various agro-environment in Indonesia

In the last decade, purple corn gain more attention mainly due to its high nutritional value and attractive color appearance. Purple corn contain anthocyanin 350% higher than normal corn. Based on its excellence, the research was conducted to find out of high yield purple opv corn with good resistance to downy mildew. The experiment was conducted by using randomized block design with three replication. The variable observed including agronomic character like vegetative, generative and scored disease of downy meldows. The result showed that two opve candidate were PMU(S1).Synth.F.C1 and PMU(S1).Synth.D.C1 have the highest yield6,80-6,85 t/ha, higher 50% than PLU. C0 (check). PMU(S1).Synth.F.C1 showed moderate resistence to downy meldows (20%-35%) and PMU(S1).Synth.D.C1 susceptible (>60%).

Primary and Phenolic Metabolites Analyses, In Vitro Health-Relevant Bioactivity and Physical Characteristics of Purple Corn (Zea mays L.) Grown at Two Andean Geographical Locations

Purple corn (Zea mays L.) is native to the Andean region, but limited research has been performed about the potential metabolic variability when grown under Andean environmental conditions. This study was aimed at evaluating the phenolic and primary polar metabolites composition of purple corn (kernels and cobs) grown at two Peruvian Andean locations (lowland and highland) using targeted UHPLC (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography) and untargeted GC-MS (gas chromatography mass spectrometry) metabolomic platforms, respectively. Changes in the physical characteristics and the in vitro bioactivity were also determined. Purple corn from the highland zone showed higher contents of ash, crude fiber, total phenolic contents, DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) antioxidant capacity, and α-amylase inhibitory activity in kernels, whereas increased levels of flavonoids (anthocyanins and quercetin derivatives) and ABTS [2,2ʹ-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] antioxidant capacity were observed in cobs in comparison to lowland samples. No effect of the Andean location was found on the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity relevant for hyperglycemia management, while yield-linked physical characteristics were high in purple corn grown at the lowland zone. Polar primary metabolites related to the carbohydrate (monosaccharides, sucrose, and d-sorbitol), amino acid (valine and alanine), and tricarboxylic acid cycle (succinic, fumaric, and aconitic acid) metabolism were higher in highland purple corn (cob and kernel) likely due to abiotic stress factors from the highland environment. This study provides the foundation for further breeding improvements at Andean locations.

Assessment of combining ability in purple corn parents under line × tester mating design using GGE biplot

Mufidah N, Sugiharto AN, Waluyo B. 2021. Assessment of combining ability in purple corn parents under line × tester mating design using GGE biplot. Biodiversitas 22: 4545-4554. One strategy to increase corn quality is the development of new corn cultivars by incorporating the character of nutritional content. The study aims to obtain information on the combining ability of purple corn lines as well as determine the best parental lines for purple corn hybrid development using the GGE biplot approach. This study used 24 hybrids generated from crossings of 8 purple corn lines with 3 testers, which were crossed using a line × tester mating design. Plant performance was assessed using a randomized block design of three replications. The F-test was used to assess and test the experiment variance. The combining ability of purple corn lines was examined using the GGE biplot method. The result showed that the GGE biplot approach successfully identified the best combiner and combinations generated between purple corn lines and non-purple corn lines. Purple corn lines P1Y1 had the best general combining ability for fresh ear yield and total anthocyanin content, meanwhile, P1Y2 had the best general combining ability in most of the agronomic traits, namely ear diameter, shelled ear weight, number of grains row-1, and as well as total anthocyanin content. These 2 lines were also identified as the best parent chosen in the best combination in this study.

Effects of Purple Corn Anthocyanin on Blood Biochemical Indexes, Ruminal Fluid Fermentation, and Rumen Microbiota in Goats

The objective of this study was to observe the effects of anthocyanin from purple corn on blood biochemical indexes, ruminal fluid fermentation parameters, and the microbial population in goats. A total of 18 Qianbei Ma wether kids (body weight, 21.38 ± 1.61 kg; mean ± standard deviation) were randomly assigned to three groups using a completely randomized design. The group diets were: (1) control, basal diet, (2) treatment 1 (LA), basal diet with 0.5-g/d purple corn pigment (PCP), and (3) treatment 2 (HA), basal diet with 1-g/d PCP. The results showed that supplementation of PCP anthocyanin increased (P < 0.05) crude protein and gross energy digestibilities compared to the control. Compared to the control group, the inclusion of anthocyanin-rich PCP led to significantly increased (P < 0.05) plasma reduced glutathione and peroxidase concentrations. Goats receiving PCP had increased (P < 0.05) ruminal fluid acetic acid and a higher ratio of acetate to propionate, while the propionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, isobutyric acid, and isovaleric acid levels had decreased (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in ruminal fluid alpha bacterial diversity among the three groups. At the phylum level, the feeding of PCP had significant effect (P < 0.05) on the abundances of Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria, Elusimicrobiota, WPS-2, and Cyanobacteria. At the genus level, HA group had lower (P < 0.05) Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group abundance compared to the other groups. In addition, significant differences (P < 0.05) were also observed for the ruminal fluid Eubacterium_nodatum_group, Amnipila, Ruminiclostridium, U29-B03, unclassified_c_Clostridia, Pyramidobacter, Anaeroplasma, UCG-004, Atopobium, norank_f_norank_o_Bradymonadales, Elusimicrobium, norank_f_norank_o_norank_c_norank_p_WPS-2, norank_f_Bacteroidales_UCG-001, and norank_f_norank_o_Gastranaerophilales among all groups. Taken together, the inclusion of anthocyanin-rich PCP increased the antioxidant potential, improved rumen volatile fatty acids, and induced a shift in the structure and relative abundance of ruminal microbiota in growing goats.