Only a few years ago, the poultry industry began to face a recent abnormality in breast meat, known as wooden breast, which frequently overlaps with white striping. This study aimed to assess the impact of wooden breast abnormality on quality traits of meat. For this purpose, 32 normal (NRM), 32 wooden (WB), and 32 wooden and white-striped (WB/WS) Pectoralis major muscles were selected from the same flock of heavy broilers (males, Ross 708, weighing around 3.7 kg) in the deboning area of a commercial processing plant at 3 h postmortem and used to assess histology, proximate (moisture, protein, fat, ash, and collagen) and mineral composition (Mg, K, P, Na and Ca), sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar protein patterns, and technological traits of breast meat. Compared to the normal group, WB/WS fillets showed more severe histological lesions characterized by fiber degeneration, fibrosis, and lipidosis, coupled with a significantly harder texture. With regard to proximate and mineral composition, abnormal samples exhibited significantly (P < 0.001) higher moisture, fat, and collagen contents coupled with lower (P < 0.001) amounts of protein and ash. Furthermore, increased calcium (131 vs. 84 mg kg(-1); P < 0.05) and sodium (741 vs. 393 mg kg(-1); P < 0.001) levels were found in WB/WS meat samples. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed a significantly lower amount of calcium-ATPase (SERCA, 114 kDa), responsible for the translocation of Ca ions across the membrane, in normal breasts compared to abnormal ones. As for meat quality traits, fillets affected by wooden abnormality exhibited significantly (P < 0.001) higher ultimate pH and lower water-holding/water-binding capacity. In particular, compared to normal, abnormal samples showed reduced marinade uptake coupled with increased drip loss and cooking losses as well. In conclusion, this study revealed that meat affected by wooden breast or both wooden breast and white striping abnormalities exhibit poorer nutritional value, harder texture, and impaired water-holding capacity.

Thirty-four strains of lactic acid bacteria (seven Bifidobacterium, 11 Lactobacillus, six Lactococcus, and 10 Streptococcus thermophilus) were assayed in vitro for antioxidant activity against ascorbic and linolenic acid oxidation (TAA(AA) and TAA(LA)), trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), intracellular glutathione (TGSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Wide dispersion of each of TAA(AA), TAA(LA), TEAC, TGSH, and SOD occurred within bacterial groups, indicating that antioxidative properties are strain specific. The strains Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis DSMZ 23032, Lactobacillus acidophilus DSMZ 23033, and Lactobacillus brevis DSMZ 23034 exhibited among the highest TAA(AA), TAA(LA), TEAC, and TGSH values within the lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. These strains were used to prepare a potentially antioxidative probiotic formulation, which was administered to rats at the dose of 10(7), 10(8), and 10(9) cfu/day for 18 days. The probiotic strains colonized the colon of the rats during the trial and promoted intestinal saccharolytic metabolism. The analysis of plasma antioxidant activity, reactive oxygen molecules level, and glutathione concentration, revealed that, when administered at doses of at least 10(8) cfu/day, the antioxidant mixture effectively reduced doxorubicin-induced oxidative stress. Probiotic strains which are capable to limit excessive amounts of reactive radicals in vivo may contribute to prevent and control several diseases associated with oxidative stress.

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The traditional Mediterranean diet has been shown to be a healthy eating pattern that protects against the development of many diseases in adults and children. Pregnancy is a critical period of plasticity during which foetal development may be significantly influenced by different environmental factors, including maternal nutrition. In this context, several studies have examined the potential benefits of adherence to a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy on birth outcomes, considering the Mediterranean diet as a whole rather than focusing on the effect of its individual components. In this review, we systematically summarized and discussed results of studies investigating the protective role of Mediterranean diet against foetal growth, prematurity, neural tube defects and other congenital pathologies, asthma and allergy, body weight and metabolic markers. Although current data are insufficient and randomized control trials are needed, growing evidence suggests the beneficial effect of the Mediterranean diet during pregnancy on children’s health. In this sense, strategies aiming to promote adherence to this dietary pattern might be of considerable importance to public health.

The use of olive pomace could represent an innovative and low-cost strategy to formulate healthier and value-added foods, and bakery products are good candidates for enrichment. In this work, we explored the prebiotic potential of bread enriched with Polyphenol Rich Fiber (PRF), a defatted olive pomace byproduct previously studied in the European Project H2020 EcoProlive. To this aim, after in vitro digestion, the PRF-enriched bread, its standard control, and fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) underwent distal colonic fermentation using the in vitro colon model MICODE (multi-unit colon gut model). Sampling was done prior, over and after 24 h of fermentation, then metabolomic analysis by Solid Phase Micro Extraction Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (SPME GCMS), 16S-rDNA genomic sequencing of colonic microbiota by MiSeq, and absolute quantification of main bacterial species by qPCR were performed. The results indicated that PRF-enriched bread generated positive effects on the host gut model: (i) surge in eubiosis; (ii) increased abundance of beneficial bacterial groups, such as Bifidobacteriaceae and Lactobacillales; (iii) production of certain bioactive metabolites, such as low organic fatty acids; (iv) reduction in detrimental compounds, such as skatole. Our study not only evidenced the prebiotic role of PRF-enriched bread, thereby paving the road for further use of olive by-products, but also highlighted the potential of the in vitro gut model MICODE in the critical evaluation of functionality of food prototypes as modulators of the gut microbiota.