Ellagic acid (EA) is one of the plant phenolics associated with human health benefits. It derives from ellagitannins found in some nuts, seeds, and fruits, especially berries. Strawberries are considered a functional food and nutraceutical source, mainly because of their high concentration of EA and its precursors. This review presents the current state of knowledge regarding EA, focusing on its content in strawberry plants, stability during processing and storage of strawberry-based foods, production methods, and relevance to human health. As alternatives to acid-solvent extraction, fermentation-enzymatic bioprocesses hold great promises for more eco-efficient production of EA from plant materials. Strawberry fruits are generally rich in EA, with large variations depending on cultivar, growth conditions and maturity at harvest. High EA contents are also reported in strawberry achenes and leaves, and in wild strawberries. Strawberry postharvest storage, processing and subsequent storage can influence EA content. EA low concentration in strawberry juice and wine can be increased by incorporating pre-treated achenes. Widespread recognition of strawberries as functional foods is substantiated by evidence of EA biological effects, including antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antidiabetic, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, and prebiotic effects. The health benefits attributed to EA-rich foods are thought to involve various protective mechanisms at the cellular level. Dietary EA is converted by the intestinal microbiota to urolithins, which are better absorbed than EA and may contribute significantly to the health effects attributed to EA-rich foods. Based on the evidence available, strawberry EA shows strong promises for functional, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical applications. Future research should be directed at quantifying EA in different parts of the strawberry plant and in their byproducts; optimizing EA production from byproducts; understanding the biological actions of EA-derived metabolites in vivo, including the interactions between EA metabolites, other substances and food/biological matrices; characterizing the conditions and microorganisms involved in urolithin production; and developing delivery systems that enhance EA functionality and bioactivity.

This review is concerned with the mechanisms controlling fruit softening. Master genetic regulators switch on the ripening programme and the regulatory pathway branches downstream, with separate controls for distinct quality attributes such as colour, flavour, texture, and aroma. Ethylene plays a critical role as a ripening hormone and is implicated in controlling different facets of ripening, including texture change, acting through a range of transcriptional regulators, and this signalling can be blocked using 1-methylcyclopropene. A battery of at least seven cell-wall-modifying enzymes, most of which are synthesized de novo during ripening, cause major alterations in the structure and composition of the cell wall components and contribute to the softening process. Significant differences between fruits may be related to the precise structure and composition of their cell walls and the enzymes recruited to the ripening programme during evolution. Attempts to slow texture change and reduce fruit spoilage by delaying the entire ripening process can often affect negatively other aspects of quality, and low temperatures, in particular, can have deleterious effects on texture change. Gene silencing has been used to probe the function of individual genes involved in different aspects of ripening, including colour, flavour, ethylene synthesis, and particularly texture change. The picture that emerges is that softening is a multi-genic trait, with some genes making a more important contribution than others. In future, it may be possible to control texture genetically to produce fruits more suitable for our needs.

Aflatoxins and fumonisins are two mycotoxins that are prevalent in cereals. Both toxins have associated and causal health effects in humans and livestock. Once formed in the substrates, the toxins are not easily destroyed. The preferred mitigation is to prevent contamination of the cereals and animal source foods. In this paper we set out to examine the practices of the farmers in two counties (Nandi and Makueni) in Kenya which exacerbates aflatoxin contamination and the government steps to address the issue in the agriculture and livestock sectors. The practices identified in Nandi and Makueni, respectively, included seed varieties where 19.3% and 56% are using local varieties; use of soil amendments where 5.8% and 181 % are not using any amendments; crop rotation where 54.6% and 60.5% are not practicing crop rotation; 22.7% and 37.5% are using wrong drying methods; and 53% and 77.1% are using poor threshing methods. The Kenya government is subsidizing fertilizers, seeds, increasing areas under irrigation, and providing extension services to build capacity of farmers to mitigate aflatoxin contamination. The paper examines also the cultural practices in land preparation, tillage, crop rotation, drying, sorting at farm, and proper storage as better alternative practices for easy adoption that would, if adopted, lead to a decrease in aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination and therefore reduce household exposure. Good agricultural practices should be a prerequisite for the adoption of other aflatoxin control technologies.

Objectives: In this work the current policies and regulatory actions of the government agencies in Brazil for ensuring nutritional quality are discussed.

Material and methods:Information on the efforts of industry, academia and nongovernmental organizations to achieve the proposed goals, the results achieved and the challenges that must still be faced by the different sectors of the Brazilian society are presented and discussed.

Results: The joint action of regulatory agencies, the food production sector, non-governmental entities and academia resulted in the reduction of saturated and trans fats, salt and sugar in foods produced in Brazil.

Limitations: Most of the information related to the food industries in Brazil is made available by ABIA (Brazilian Association of Food Industries) which represents around 60% of the food market in Brazil. Information regarding the rest of the market is limited.

Conclusions: The reduction of saturated and ‘trans’ fats, sodium, and sugar in industrialized foods seems an effective strategy for reducing the intake of these compounds by the Brazilian population. In addition the adequate nutrition labeling and consumer education will allow healthier food choices by the population.

Fresh produce (processed fruit and vegetables) continues to be the main source of foodborne illness outbreaks implicating pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and human parasites (e.g. hepatitis A, Cyclospora). Previously, outbreaks were primarily limited to leafy greens, tomatoes, and cantaloupes, but more recently there has been a trend of more diverse produce types (e.g. cucumbers and papayas) being implicated. Although on-farm good agriculture practices (GAP) contribute to preventing pathogens entering the fresh produce chain, it cannot be relied upon completely due to the open nature of farming. As a consequence, there is an identified need for interventions that can remove field-acquired contamination, especially given fresh produce is eaten raw. In the following review, an overview of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to contaminated fresh produce will be described along with potential sources of contamination. Post-harvest washing that was once considered decontamination is now viewed as a high-risk cross-contamination point. The challenges in monitoring the post-harvest wash process will be discussed along with processing factors that need to be considered. A range of alternative, or supplemental, non-aqueous interventions will be described including irradiation, ultraviolet light, high hydrostatic pressure, gas phase (ozone and chlorine dioxide), and hydroxyl radicals generated through advanced oxidative process or gas plasma. All have been proved to be effective at pathogen control on the laboratory scale and are poised to enter commercial application. The current status of these alternative interventions along with challenges of integrating into commercial practice will be described.

Co-encapsulation of bioactive is an emerging field which shows promising approach to develop functionally active food products. Health-promoting components including antioxidants, vitamins, essential oils or flavors, and antimicrobials could be successfully delivered in functional foods by co-encapsulating in suitable wall matrix. Co-encapsulation is especially useful as this concept takes into account the synergistic effect of multiple bioactives in enhancing bioactivity to target specific health benefits. The review focuses on various factors governing the stability of the microencapsulated system such as drying methods and temperature, selection of wall material, surfactant, co-excipient, emulsion homogenizing speed, and appropriate combination of the bioactive for co-encapsulation to get synergistic effects. Effective results have been demonstrated by several researchers, but further studies would help in unravelling the full potential of this technique in food system.