In this study, a co-pigmentation complex formed by ionic complexation of blueberry anthocyanins (BA) with chondroitin sulfate (CS) was bound to pullulan (PU) to prepare a steady-state BA-CS-PU system by a combination of co-pigmentation and encapsulation technology. The co-pigmentation and stabilizing effects of CS on BA were evaluated by ultraviolet-visible (UV-visible) spectroscopy and color parameters. The structure of BA-CS-PU was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the mechanism of co-pigmentation and encapsulation was explained. The processing and digestive stability of the steady-state system were evaluated under simulated heat, acid-base strength, co-existence with vitamin C (VC) and in vitro digestion conditions. The results showed that the addition of CS caused a red shift in the UV spectrum and an increase in absorbance, and enhanced the redness, thereby resulting in co-pigmentation effect, which was related to the ionic complexation between the sulfate group of CS and the flavylium ion of BA. The encapsulation effect of PU could be achieved through hydrogen bonding. In addition, co-pigmentation with CS and encapsulation with PU significantly improved the retention rate and a value of BA under heat, acid-base strength and VC co-existence conditions, and also enhanced the gastrointestinal digestive stability, with an 8.63% increase in retention rate. The results of this study provide a basis for in-depth processing of anthocyanin-rich berries.

In this study, the optimal conditions for inducing the spore germination of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris were determined, and the effect of spore induction pretreatment on the quality of ultra-high pressure (UHP) treated ‘Hanfu’ apple juice was explored. Meanwhile, the changes of nutritional quality and volatile flavor during storage were investigated. The results showed that the optimal induction conditions were as follows: activation temperature of 41 ℃, activation time of 15 min, L-alanine concentration of 38 mmol/L, induction temperature of 40 ℃, and induction time of 20 min. Induced spore germination of A. acidoterrestris combined with UHP treatment reduced the microbial load of ‘Hanfu’ apple juice to less than 1 (lg(CFU/mL)), and improved the phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity compared with UHP treatment. Electronic tongue analysis showed that the taste of ‘Hanfu’ apple juice subjected to the combined UHP treatment was well preserved during refrigeration. Compared with UHP treatment, the combined treatment significantly increased the types and amount of aroma compounds as determined by solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). This study provides an important theoretical basis for the cold sterilization of ‘Hanfu’ apple juice and provides a new idea for the industrial application of ‘Hanfu’ apple deep processing.

A neutral polysaccharide (BPN1) was obtained from blueberry by citric acid-assisted extraction followed by purification through cellulose DEAE-52 and Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. The average weight molecular mass (m_w) of BPN1, as determined by high-performance size exclusion chromatography with multi-angle laser light scattering (HPSEC-MALLS) detection, was 2.991 × 10⁴ Da, the polydispersity index (PDI) was 1.163, and the molecular mass distribution ranged narrowly. Monosaccharide composition analysis performed using 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone derivatization followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that BPN1 was mainly composed of glucose, galactose, xylose and araban. The glycosidic bond configuration and linkage of BPN1 were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after methylation. Combining the obtained results with two-dimensional nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR) analysis, it was inferred that the polysaccharide was composed of a backbone chain of 1→4 linked dextran, some of which were substituted at position C6 by araban, xylose and galacto-oligosaccharide. The in vitro antioxidant assays showed that BPN1 had stronger scavenging capacity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) cation and hydroxyl radicals than hot water-soluble blueberry polysaccharide. The antibacterial test showed that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of BPN1 against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli was in the range of 2.5 to 5 mg/mL, and it exerted antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli by destroying the cell membrane. This study provides a basis for the structural analysis, development and utilization of blueberry polysaccharides.

The prevalence of high blood pressure is on the rise among younger individuals, and recent findings have linked exercise to changes in the diversity and configuration of gut microbiota. However, specific modifications to one's diet, such as incorporating blueberries while engaging in physical activity, can also influence this association. To explore the effects of exercise and blueberry consumption on gut bacteria, we conducted an 8-week study involving healthy and hypertensive college students. Our microbiome analysis revealed slight shifts in gut bacteria composition in response to increased physical activity, with significant changes in the diversity of the g_[Eubacterium]_eligens_group observed in hypertensive college students who regularly consumed blueberries. Although exercise and blueberry supplementation had a negligible impact on the gut microbiota diversity of healthy college students, it significantly boosted the production of butyric acid bacteria in hypertensive young adults. These results suggest that the changes in gut bacteria variety and abundance brought about by blueberries may be tied to alterations in the body composition of patients with hypertension. This study aims to reveal the impact of blueberry on the hypertensive students from a unique perspective, suggesting the impact of taking blueberry while taking exercises.

This study elucidated the effects of sucrose degradation products, 2-furaldehyde (2-F) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), on the stability and antioxidant activity of anthocyanins under different processing and storage conditions. The results showed that during processing, controlling the temperature not more than 85 ℃ and the pH at 3.0 provided the best protection and highest retention rate for anthocyanins, as well as the strongest antioxidant activity. In addition, when the concentration of malic acid was below 0.1 mol/L and the mass fraction of VC was in the range of 0.05%–0.5%, the stability of anthocyanins was obviously disrupted. Dark storage reduced the generation of 2-F and 5-HMF, which in turn improved the stability of anthocyanins. These results provide a reference and technical guidance for the preparation and storage of anthocyanin products containing sucrose in the future, and are of great significance for maintaining the stability of anthocyanins during processing.

The black chokeberry is rich in polyphenols, including flavonoids with anthocyanins, flavanols and f lavonols as the main components and a variety of phenolic acids represented by chlorogenic acid. Because of these polyphenols, black chokeberry has the effect of preventing and adjuvant therapy diseases. This study summarized the current research results on the types and contents of functional components in black chokeberry, and analyzed their digestion, absorption and metabolism in human body. On this basis, the disease control functions that have been proved effective in clinical research were reviewed and analyzed. These studies showed that black chokeberry have good prevention and adjuvant therapy effects on hyperlipidemia,hypertension, diabetes and inflammation. Because there are different functional components in black chokeberry, its prevention and treatment of the same disease can come from multiple pathways, which provides a more reliable effectiveness for the disease control of different populations.

Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) causes oxidative stress, induces apoptosis, and leads to damage to the vascular endothelium is the starting point of atherosclerosis. Pterostilbene (Pte) has been reported to have antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects under various pathological conditions. The purpose of this study was to explore whether Pte can inhibit the oxidative stress and apoptosis of vascular endothelium induced by homocysteine (Hcy) and to explain the possible mechanism by which it occurs. The results showed that 20 μmol/L Pte significantly reduced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde, and lipids in cells induced by Hcy and promoted the activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase. The Hoechst 33342/PI staining assay showed that Pte antagonized Hcy-induced apoptosis. Pte inhibited Hcy-induced Akt dephosphorylation, increased p53, and decreased the Bcl-2/Bax ratio and caspase-9/caspase-3 activation in a dose-dependent manner. LY294002 pretreatment partially reversed the protective effect of Pte by blocking the PI3K/Akt pathway. Moreover, Pte reduced lipid deposition in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). This study proposes that Pte can inhibit Hcy-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis of HUVECs, and the PI3K/Akt/p53 signaling pathway of apoptosis was revealed. These results suggest that Pte exhibits significant potential for dealing with HHcy-induced vascular endothelial injury, such as atherosclerosis.

Abundant polyphenols make chokeberry have beneficial antioxidant and antiproliferative activity. In order to explore the contribution of different polyphenols in chokeberry to these activities, this study was conducted to determine polyphenol composition from 7 chokeberry varieties produced in China. Totally, 11 kinds of main polyphenol monomers were identified and quantified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS and UPLC-PDA. HepG2 cells were used to evaluate their cellular antioxidant and antiproliferative activities. Partial least squares method was utilized to analyze multivariate correlations between proportion of different composition and monomers in total polyphenols with these activities. The results showed that the highest proportion in chokeberry polyphenols was proanthocyanidins. In comparing the bioactivities of 7 varieties of chokeberry, 'Viking' and purple chokeberry had the strongest antioxidant activity, while 'Fukangyuan 1^#' had the strongest antiproliferative activity. In terms of the contribution sources of these bioactivities, the total antioxidant activity of chokeberry mainly depended on the contribution of free polyphenols. As the main source of cellular antioxidant activity, anthocyanins and neochlorogenic acid can provide more contribution. The antiproliferative activity mainly depended on the proportion of free polyphenols and proanthocyanidins in total polyphenols. The results may provide some new possibilities for the comprehensive utilization of polyphenols from chokeberry.

HCC (Hepatocellular Carcinoma) is a critical health issue worldwide. Our previous animal experiment has confirmed that blueberry malvidin-3-galactoside (M3G) can regulate the progression of HCC. In this study, feces samples from the same batch of mice were collected to explore the regulatory mechanism of M3G on intestinal microbiota and microbial TCA cycle metabolism KEGG pathway in HCC mice based on 16S rRNA sequencing and metagenomics. Our results showed that blueberry M3G increased the microbial diversity and regulated the structure of intestinal microbiota in mice, such as increasing the abundance of Clostridia (butyric acid-producing bacteria), Oscillospira and Ruminococcus, and reducing the abundance of pathogenic Erysipelotrichi. Compared with the group of liver cancer and 5-fluorouracil, blueberry M3G significantly regulated microbial TCA cycle KEGG pathway via improving the expression of key proteins (porA, DLAT, aceE, PC and OGDH). Additionally, we found which the abundance of Muribaculum intestinale increased by blueberry M3G may be an important factor affecting the microbial TCA cycle KEGG pathway via the pearson correlation (R) analysis of protein and microbiota. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the blueberry M3G has the potential to be an intestinal microbiota regulator and an adjuvant to HCC therapy.