Folate, primarily derived from plants, plays a crucial role in plant growth and metabolism, and is closely associated with human health, including the prevention of birth defects, maintenance of neurological and fetal health, and treatment of anemia. Owing to its diverse biological activities, folate has been widely applied in the fields of medicine and food. Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is currently recognized as the plant with the highest known folate content and is extensively utilized in folate-related research. 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) is the only folate derivative that can directly participate in the methylation cycle, addressing the unmet needs of populations for whom synthetic folate is ineffective. However, 5-MTHF is present in plants at low levels and is challenging to extract. Consequently, with advancements in synthetic biology, novel approaches have emerged to provide greener, more efficient, and stable production pathways for 5-MTHF. This article systematically reviews the classification, biological activities, and biosynthetic pathways of folate, with a focus on biological strategies to enhance 5-MTHF production, aiming to deepen the understanding of its functional value. The review seeks to offer innovative perspectives for food science, nutrition, and related industries, while also exploring solutions for populations with special needs.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic fatty liver disease whose core mechanism lies in obesity-induced insulin resistance, adipose tissue dysfunction, accumulation of free fatty acids in the liver, and concomitant dysbiosis of the intestinal flora. In recent years, some of the active ingredients of food and drug homologous plants have significantly improved NAFLD. This paper focuses on food and medicine homologous plants with the ability to improve NAFLD. The active substances of food and medicine homologous active substances to improve NAFLD are mainly classified into five categories: polysaccharides, polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids and others, and their sources and categories, active substances and extraction methods are summarized and analyzed for their mechanisms of action on NAFLD. It aims to provide meaningful data and references for the study and application of food and medicine homologous plants in the treatment of NAFLD.

The incidence of depressive disorders has steadily increased, with factors such as social stress, neuroinflammation, and gut dysbiosis contributing to the intricate pathogenesis of depression. Traditional antidepressants often exhibit limited efficacy and are accompanied by pharmacological side effects. Moringa isothiocyanate-1 (MITC-1), a food-medicinal active substance isolated from moringa seeds, has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. However, the potential effects and the mechanism of MITC-1 on neuroinflammation associated with depression remain unclear. In this study, we characterized aberrant activation of microglia induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and demonstrated that MITC-1 has a protective effect on gut dysbiosis and neuroinflammation. We found that in MITC-1 treated mice, neuroinflammation was attenuated, evidenced by increased interest in sucrose and food rewards, reduced ingestion latency, enhanced novel object recognition, and improved voluntary activity and social behaviors. Subsequently, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) models were also established in mice, primarily focusing on behavioral aspects and intestinal function evaluations. We found fecal microbiota transplantation from MITC-1 treated mice facilitated the reconstruction of gut microbiota in LPS-induced mice. Ultimately, integrative approaches utilizing gut microbiome and metabolomics technology analyses, coupled with neuroglial morphology assessments, were employed to uncover the preventive mechanisms of MITC-1 against inflammatory depression. Our results revealed that oral administration of MITC-1 significantly altered the fecal microbiota composition, up-regulated the tryptophan (Trp) metabolic pathway, and inhibited neuronal loss and microglial activation, thereby, ameliorating mood, cognition function, and behaviors. In summary, MITC-1 mediated the microbiota-gut-brain axis through the Trp metabolic pathway, restructuring gut microbes and reducing neuroinflammation.

Plant-based products represent promising alternatives to animal-derived foods, offering solutions to health and environmental challenges. This study evaluates the lipid-lowering effects of fermented walnut milk and elucidates its underlying mechanisms using a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity mouse model. Results demonstrated that fermented walnut milk significantly improved the physical (food intake, body weight, fat index) and biochemical indicators (blood lipid profiles, liver damage biomarkers) compared to animal-based fermented milk in HFD mice. It effectively alleviated pathological changes in the liver and adipose tissue, while enhancing intestinal mucosal integrity in the colon and ileum. Moreover, fermented walnut milk markedly reshaped gut microbiota by increasing the abundance of beneficial bacteria (Dubosiella, Romboutsia, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, etc.), negatively associated with obesity, and decreasing harmful bacteria (Faecalibaculum, Erysipelotrichaceae, Acetatifactor, etc.), positively correlated with obesity. Additionally, it significantly elevated short-chain fatty acid levels (acetic acid, isohexanoic acid, hexanoic acid). In conclusion, fermented walnut milk emerges as a promising functional plant-based product for mitigating obesity and gut microbiota dysbiosis induced by a high-fat diet, providing new insights for dietary intervention strategies.

Three walnut peptides with different molecular masses were prepared from walnut meal protein by sequential enzymatic hydrolysis and ultrafiltration, and separately glycosylated with five sugars (glucose, sucrose, lactose, maltodextrin and dextran). The reaction conditions were optimized based on emulsifying properties and anti-lipid oxidation capacity. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy were used to characterize the glycosylated peptides, their physicochemical properties were studied, and their emulsion stability was determined by laser confocal microscopy (LCM). The results showed that the optimal conditions for the glycosylation reaction between walnut peptide with molecular mass greater than 30 kDa and maltodextrin were as follows: ratio of walnut peptide to maltodextrin 1:2, reaction time 8 h, reaction temperature 80 ℃, and peptide concentration 15 mg/mL. SDS-PAGE confirmed the formation of a covalent complex between the walnut peptide and maltodextrin through glycosylation reaction. FTIR spectroscopy showed that sugar molecules were connected to walnut peptide molecules by covalent bonds. CD spectroscopy showed that the peptide’s structure changed. The proportion of α-helix increased from 4.85% to 6.43%, the proportion of antiparallelism increased from 30.16% to 35.91%, the proportion of parallelism increased from 3.28% to 4.33%, the proportion of β-turn decreased from 23.21% to 20.77%, and the proportion of random coil decreased from 33.59% to 31.22%. The glycosylation modification did not improve the Fe²⁺ chelating capacity, but increased the solubility, emulsifying capacity to (83.24 ± 1.64) m²/g, emulsion stability to (218.49 ± 3.55) min, water absorption capacity to (3.92 ± 0.36) g/g, oil absorption capacity to (3.17 ± 0.24) g/g, surface hydrophobicity to 251.05 ± 6.91, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging capacity to (86.74 ± 2.14)%, and anti-lipid oxidation capacity to (62.17 ± 3.51)%. The results of LCM showed that the encapsulation capacity of walnut peptides for walnut oil was enhanced after glycosylation, suggesting a potential application for improving the stability of emulsions. The glycosylation modification of walnut peptides provides a new idea for the processing and utilization of walnut meal by-products and provides a reference for the application of glycosylation modification in food development.

Walnut dreg is a high-quality protein resource rich in a variety of bioactive peptides. However, the research on pancreatic lipase inhibitory peptides from walnuts is limited. In this study, different molecular-weight fractions of alkaline protein hydrolysate from walnut dreg were found to exhibit inhibitory activities against pancreatic lipase, with the < 1 kDa fraction exhibiting the most prominent activity, followed by the 1–3, 5–10, and 3–5 kDa fractions, showing IC₅₀ values of 12.22, 13.60, 17.23, and 37.65 mg/mL, respectively. Within the < 1 kDa fraction, five peptides (VIAFP, LVAFP, IAFP, LTYP, and LFDP) with the strongest binding ability (−10.03 kcal/mol to −11 kcal/mol) to pancreatic lipase were screened by molecular docking technique. Among them, LFDP (IC₅₀ = 6.931 mmol/L) exhibited the strongest pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity and reversible competitive pancreatic lipase inhibition. LFDP induced fluorescence bursts and structural changes in pancreatic lipase and exhibited strong biological activity even under high temperatures, strong acidic and alkaline conditions, exposure to metal ions, and gastrointestinal digestion conditions. In addition, LFDP significantly inhibited lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In conclusion, these results suggest that the peptide LFDP from walnut dregs is a potential pancreatic lipase inhibitor.

Obesity has brought great challenges to global human health, and how to effectively prevent and control the occurrence and development of obesity has become an urgent problem. The role and mechanism of 4-[(α-L-rhamnosyloxy) benzyl] isothiocyanate (MITC), an active ingredient of Moringa oleifera Lam., in the regulation of lipid metabolism have not been comprehensively investigated. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of MITC in inhibiting lipid accumulation in mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) in terms of both lipolysis and central appetite regulation mediated by the gut microbe-gut-brain axis. MITC enhanced the characteristic indices associated with HFD mice and also promoted adipocytolysis and brown fat thermogenesis. Moreover, MITC was observed to improve leptin resistance, modulate the composition of gut microbiota such as Ruminococcaceae, Parasutterella, and Acetatifactor, promote 5-hydroxytryptamine secretion, further enhance the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide tyrosine-tyrosine (PYY) to activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling in the hypothalamus, and modulate feeding behavior to inhibit lipid accumulation in HFD mice. These data suggest that MITC supplementation can help to alleviate obesity or obesity-related diseases.

People living long-term in areas with UV will cause premature photoaging. An abnormal reduction in autophagy is a key feature of photoaging, and p38 MAPK has been regarded as a key regulator of autophagy. Isothiocyanate is one of the main active components of Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds. Studies have reported that M. oleifera Lam. seeds isothiocyanate (MITC) has anticancer, anti-inflammatory, cardiometabolic repair, nervous system protection, blood lipid regulation and diabetes prevention properties. However, the molecular mechanisms of MITC with protective effects against skin photoaging have not been studied thus far. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the antiphotoaging activity of MITC and to investigate the effect of p38 MAPK-dependent autophagy in vivo and in vitro models of photoaging. In this research we found that MITC can reverse the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) content and inhibit the activation of p38 MAPK to improve the autophagy level, reduce the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and finally protect against photoaging by UV. Our results will uncover the molecular mechanisms of MITC that play a role in the protective effects against skin photoaging, provide helpful information for developing MITC as an anti-photoaging plant material and improve the utilization of M. oleifera Lam. seeds.

Moringa oleifera Lam. is a Moringa genus in the Moringaceae family that is high in nutrients and has a wide range of applications. Phenolic compounds are widely found in plants and have various health benefits for the human body. With its high content and wide variety of phenolic compounds, M. oleifera Lam. has been widely studied for its health benefits. The phenolic compounds in M. oleifera Lam. (MOPCs) can be a potential source of functional food ingredients in pharmaceutical and industrial applications. Numerous studies have shown that MOPCs have antioxidant, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, and antibacterial effects. Although the research on MOPCs has been gradually increasing, the extraction, isolation, identification, biological activities, and comprehensive application of MOPCs need a more systematic summary and generalization. Therefore, this paper reviews the isolation and extraction methods, structure identification, biological activities, and comprehensive applications to provide a further reference for the research and application of MOPCs.

In this study, a mixture of ultrasound or microwave pretreated walnut meal protein peptides and CaCl₂ was used for the preparation of walnut peptide-calcium chelate. The effects of different pretreatments on the calcium chelating capacity, structural changes and stability of walnut meal protein peptides were analyzed. The results showed that compared with walnut meal protein peptide-calcium chelate (WPP-Ca), the chelation rates of ultrasound-pretreated walnut meal protein peptide-calcium chelate (UP-WPP-Ca) and microwave-pretreated walnut meal protein peptide-calcium chelate (MP-WPPCa) were enhanced, which indicated that ultrasound and microwave pretreatments improved the calcium-chelating capacity of the peptides effectively. Using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, it was found that ultrasound and microwave pretreatments mainly affected the calcium ion binding sites such as amino groups, carbonyl groups, carboxyl groups, amide bonds and carboxylate groups of walnut meal protein peptides. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that ultrasound and microwave treatments changed the molecular arrangement of walnut meal protein peptides, thereby making the structure of walnut peptide-calcium chelate more ordered. Fluorescence spectroscopy showed that ultrasonic and microwave treatments promoted the chelation between aromatic amino acids and calcium ions. In addition, UP-WPP-Ca and MP-WPP-Ca showed good stability toward different pH values, temperatures, and gastrointestinal digestion. In short, ultrasonic and microwave pretreatments can improve the calcium-chelating capacity and stability of walnut meal protein peptides, which is of guiding significance for the processing of walnut peptide-calcium chelate and the development of calcium supplements.