Black cumin seed oil (BCSO) was tested for its inhibitory effect against some pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Listeria monocytogenes Scott A and Salmonella enteritidis PT4) in Domiati cheese during cold storage. Physical, chemical and sensorial changes in cheese during storage were recorded. Pasteurized milk was inoculated before renneting with a mixed culture of bacteria at ca. 4 log CFU mL(-1). In vitro and in situ supplementation with BCSO showed antimicrobial impact on the growth of S. aureus, E. coli, L. monocytogenes and S. enteritidis inoculated into media and cheese samples. Supplementing of cheese with BCSO (0.1% or 0.2%, w/w) significantly reduced the counts of the inoculated pathogens by ca. 1.3 log and 1.5 log CFU g(-1) after 21 days of storage. In addition, BCSO controlled the development of titratable acidity, limited the changes in ripening indices, flavor components and kept considerable physicochemical and sensorial properties of cheese.

The mechanisms of obesity-induced breast carcinogenesis are not clear. One hypothesis is that high levels of adipokines could promote breast cancer (BC) development. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of resistin, visfatin, adiponectin, and leptin with BC risk in pre- and postmenopausal females. A total of 82 BC newly diagnosed and histologically confirmed patients and 68 age and BMI matched healthy controls were enrolled. Both groups were subdivided into post- and premenopausal subgroups. Resistin, visfatin, adiponectin, and leptin were measured by ELISA. There were significantly higher levels of leptin, resistin, and visfatin in postmenopausal BC patients than their respective controls. Only in postmenopausal subgroups, leptin, resistin, and visfatin levels were positively correlated with TNM staging, tumor size, lymph node (LN) metastasis, and histological grading. In postmenopausal females, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that adiponectin, leptin, visfatin, and resistin were risk factors for BC. Our results suggested that serum resistin, leptin, adiponectin, and visfatin levels as risk factors for postmenopausal BC may provide a potential link with clinicopathological features and are promising to be novel biomarkers for postmenopausal BC.

The food-processing industry generates substantial quantities of phenolic-rich by-products that could be valuable natural sources of antioxidants. In this study, the antioxidant properties and total phenolic and flavonoid contents of three industrial by-products (potato peels, sugar beet pulp, and sesame cake) extracted with different solvents were evaluated. Methanol exhibited the highest extraction ability for phenolic compounds, with total phenolics amounting to 2.91, 1.79, and 0.81 mg gallic acid equivalent g −1 dry weight in potato peels, sugar beet pulp, and sesame cake extracts, respectively. Methanolic extracts showed the strongest antioxidant capacity in the two performed assays. The bioactive components extracted with ethanol were further examined for their antioxidant activity in comparison with synthetic antioxidants under accelerated oxidation conditions using sunflower oil as oxidation substrates for 72 h at 70 • C. Inverse relationships were noted between peroxide values and oxidative stabilities and also between secondary oxidation products, measured by p-anisidine value and stabilities at termination of the storage. The high performance liquid chromatography analysis of potato peels, sugar beet pulp, and sesame cake extracts revealed the presence of phenolic compounds. On the basis of the obtained results, potato peels, sugar beet pulp, and sesame cake extracts could serve as natural antioxidants and might be explored to prevent oxidation of vegetable oils. Therefore, they could be used as preservative ingredients in the food and/or pharmaceutical industries.

CO possessed a protective effect against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats, mediated possibly by the antioxidant properties of the oil.

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