In recent years, the increasing demand for anti-aging solutions has led to rapid advancements in the skincare industry. Natural nutricosmetics, offering significant benefits for skin aging, have become a popular trend due to their safety and convenience. Despite this growing interest, the key active ingredients in nutricosmetics and their potential benefits remain underexplored. Therefore, this review aims to identify and classify the primary bioactive compounds found in food-derived nutricosmetics that alleviate skin aging, along with their underlying mechanisms. Nutricosmetic ingredients are categorized into peptides, polysaccharides, lipids, vitamins and phytochemicals based on their chemical structures. These compounds have been shown to play a significant role in improving skin hydration, reducing wrinkle formation, and alleviating erythema, as demonstrated in both in vitro and in vivo models. Additionally, the digestive absorption routes of these ingredients are discussed, along with the clinical evidence supporting their efficacy. Challenges related to oral bioavailability, dosage, and market restrictions in the nutricosmetic field are also addressed.

In order to explore quality evaluation methods for Chinese coffee beans for freshly ground coffee and instant coffee and to select evaluation indicators, the major quality indicators were selected from the basic quality indicators through the Delphi evaluation method and sequence relationship analysis to construct a quality index system. Then the differences in the major quality indicators of 53 coffee bean samples from different production areas in Yunnan and Hainan provinces were determined, the characteristic quality indicators of coffee beans for different purposes were selected by correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis, and stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was conducted based on the comprehensive scores of the principal components of the samples. Finally, grain size, taste, aroma and carbohydrate content were selected as the characteristic quality indicators of instant coffee and grain size, taste, aroma and caffeine content as the characteristic quality indicators of freshly ground coffee. It is determined that the major varieties suitable for instant coffee are Catimor and Typica, and the major production area is Yunnan province. The major variety suitable for freshly ground coffee is Catimor, and the major production area is Yunnan province.

Meeting the evolving demands of the public for the nutrition and quality of agricultural products is the eternal driving force and direction for high-quality agricultural development. Science of agricultural product quality has emerged in response to this need, which plays a crucial role in guiding the development of the agricultural industry and supporting rural revitalization. Based on a review of domestic and international research on agricultural product quality, this paper outlined the development history of science of agricultural product quality and introduced the concept of modern science of agricultural product quality. This concept focused on agricultural products such as grains, vegetables, aquatic products, dairy, fruits, meat, poultry, tuber and root, and medicinal food plants. By employing modern detection methods and analytical techniques, the core of this discipline was the nutritional quality and intelligent characterization of agricultural products. It aimed to establish a quality evaluation system for agricultural products based on different uses, elucidate the material basis and influencing factors of product quality, uncover the mechanisms of quality composition (structure-function) and quality formation (deterioration), and establish comprehensive control measures, thus producing high-quality agricultural products to meet consumer demand, guide processing, and improve agricultural industrial efficiency. From the perspective of industrial high-quality development and public health, the paper also analyzed the necessity of modern science of agricultural product quality research. Additionally, it identified key challenges in current agricultural product quality research, including: (1) Unclear spatiotemporal variation patterns and undefined characteristic quality, lack of evaluation technologies, and low precision and portability of detection technologies; (2) The complexity of agricultural product components, unclear relationships between spatial structure and quality characteristics, excessive processing, resource waste, and difficulty in premium prices for high quality; (3) Unclear quality influence patterns, unidentified molecular targets for formation and deterioration, and difficulty in controlling and maintaining quality. Based on these challenges, the paper proposed three major research areas in modern science of agricultural product quality, including agricultural products characteristic quality exploration and evaluation detection technologies, mechanisms of quality composition (structure-function) and high-value utilization technologies, and mechanisms of quality formation (deterioration) and control technologies. Finally, the paper outlined key future research tasks, including: (1) Constructing a database of agricultural product quality based on IoT, big data, and artifical intelligence technologies to achieve precise individual nutritional needs; (2) Building sensor networks and data collection systems driven by AI-powered supply chain technologies to achieve intelligent characterization of agricultural product quality throughout the entire industry chain; (3) Developing a green circular model system based on quality gradients and comprehensive utilization technologies to realize high-value resource transformation in the entire agricultural production process; (4) Creating an agricultural product AI intelligent system based on multi-source knowledge integration technologies for full-process quality control of agricultural products. This review aimed to provide the guidance and support for agricultural research, production, and management practices, addressing current bottlenecks in improving agricultural product quality, and contributing to the high-quality development of the agricultural industry.

7-Ketophytosterols are the major oxidation products of phytosterols in foods, which have been associated with atherosclerosis. However, their absorption mechanism remains unclear. The aim of our work was to investigate the absorption mechanism of 7-ketophytosterols and their effects on the cholesterol transport using Caco-2 cell model. The absorption percentage of 7-ketositosterol and 7-ketocampesterol was 1.16 %−1.68 % and 1.18 %−2.23 % respectively in the Caco-2 model, which is higher than that of their parent phytosterols, but lower than cholesterol-d7. The apparent permeability of 7-ketositosterol and 7-ketocampesterol at 30 μmol/L in the basolateral (BL)-to-apical (AP) direction were 0.42- and 0.55-fold of that in the AP-to-BL direction, indicating an active intake in the permeation mechanism of 7-ketophytosterols. Ezetimibe could significantly inhibit the transport of 7-ketophytosterols (P < 0.05), which means that their transport depends on niemann-pick c1-like 1 (NPC1L1) protein. The transport of cholesterol-d7 was significantly inhibited by 7-ketophytosterols (P < 0.05). Taken together, this study deepened our understanding of the absorption mechanism of common food-born 7-ketophytosterols and provides useful information on the inhibition of 7-ketophytosterols absorption.