The Mediterranean dietary patterns comply better with recommended nutrient and micronutrient intakes. The Mediterranean diet (MD) was associated with reduced mortality and lower risk for metabolic chronic diseases. It has also low ecological, carbon and water footprints due to its high share of plant-based foods. In fact, the share of plant-based dietary energy is higher in the Mediterranean than in Northern Europe. The Mediterranean hotspot is a major centre of plant and crop diversity. Mediterranean people gather and consume about 2300 plant species. This review paper aims at highlighting the nutrition-health benefits of the MD and analysing the main environmental impacts of the Mediterranean food consumption patterns. There is a growing body of scientific evidence that the MD has significant health-nutrition benefits and low environmental footprints, so there is urgent need to reverse the ongoing erosion of the MD heritage and to promote it as a sustainable diets model.

Context: The beneficial effects of natural polyphenolic compounds are increasingly emerging as powerful antioxidants and digestive boosters. Phoenix dactylifera seeds are recently identified as a healthy functional food with rich amounts of phenolic compounds. Aims: To analyzing the phenolic profile obtained from Moroccan variety of date seeds and evaluating the inhibitory capacity against digestive enzymes and the antioxidant potential of phenolic fraction concentrate (PFC) of date seeds as a promising antihyperglycemic agent. Methods: Lineweaver–Burk plot analysis was performed to evaluate PFC inhibitory effect against digestive enzyme activity in the presence of different doses of a substrate. Wistar rats were recruited to determine the acute and sub-acute oral toxicity of PFC. Finally, the optimal dose of PFC was selected and its effects on metabolic, hematological and biochemical parameters were determined. Results: High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed that PFC contains abundant amounts of phenolic acid: Caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and 3-hydroxybenzoic acid. PFC showed powerful antioxidant activity as determined by scavenging and reducing assays. PFC significantly inhibited alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes by 87.3% and 78.7%, respectively, via mixed manipulation of Km and Vmax. Acute toxicity examinations revealed PFC to be practically non-toxic with LD50 > 5000mg PFC/kg for both sexes of rats. The no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) and lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) for oral administration of PFC were 1000 and 2500 mg/kg for both sexes. Finally, the sub-acute study showed that a PFC dose of 50 mg/kg did not cause any changes in metabolic, biochemical and hematological parameters and was considered to be the optimal healthy dose for rats. Consequently, it induces improvement in glucose concentration in rats. Conclusions: The rational use of phenolic date seeds fraction presents powerful antioxidant and blood glucose regulating nutraceutical that could aid in diabetes mellitus management.

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Iron deficiency anaemia is an important health problem in Morocco. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of anaemia among school children in Kenitra. The sample represents school children of all educational levels and age ranged between 6-15 years. The level of hemoglobin, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration was measured in a group of 271 school children. The seric iron was assessed and anaemia was defined when hemoglobin < 11.5 g dL(-1). A questionnaire was developed to obtain information about the daily food consumption and socio-economic conditions. The prevalence of anaemia was 16.2%. The mean hemoglobin concentration was 12.53 g dL(-1) in boys and 12.52 g dL(-1) in girls. The results suggest that iron deficiency is an important determinant of anaemia in this population. There was a significant relationship between education of the mother and anaemia in children (p = 0.004) but not with the family income. It is concluded that improving the economic status of the family, women education and health education about balanced animal and plant food consumption are recommended strategies to reduce the burden of anaemia.

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