Breastfed infants are supplied with FAA, mainly glutamic acid and glutamine, compared to formula-fed counterparts. The different FAA intake might be the origin of some functional differences at the enteral level between breast- and formula-fed infants.

Breast-fed infants are supplied with progressively increasing amounts of glutamine and glutamic acid throughout lactation. The increasing intake of glutamic acid and glutamine could benefit breast-fed infants with molecules that are likely to protect the enteral mucosa and act as neurotransmitters and as a source of nitrogen.

Objective: The aims were to collect data on consumption of different food supplements in a sample of the adult Italian population and to characterize users by demographic, physical and health-related characteristics, lifestyle and behaviour. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: The study was conducted in 2008 in ten towns of Italy (two towns from each of the five macro-areas: Northwest, Northeast, Centre, South and Islands). Subjects: Adults (n 10 000) aged $18 years were randomly selected and asked to fill in a self-administered questionnaire regarding their use of food supplements and the above variables. The effect of these variables on food supplement use was evaluated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Of the 1723 individuals who returned the questionnaire, 49 % were users of food supplements. A large proportion (54 %) of users used more than one category of food supplement: vitamin and/or mineral supplements were the most used (61 %), followed by supplements with botanicals and botanical extracts (28 %). The results obtained by logistic regression showed that gender, town size, education level, sports practice, regular use of wholemeal cereal-based foods and presence of a low stress level were determinants for the use of food supplements in the examined population. However, these determinants were not shared by all categories of supplements. Conclusions:The results of this preliminary study highlight that associations between demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors and use of different categories of food supplements differ according to products, and cannot be accounted for simply by dichotomizing individuals as users or non-users.

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A capillary electrophoresis method was developed for the chiral separation of D‐L valine, isoleucine, and leucine. The separation of derivatized amino acids with 9‐fluorenylmethyl‐chloroformate was performed by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography. We optimized the method by varying β‐cyclodextrin and sodium dodecyl sulphate concentrations in the presence of 2‐propanol. The proposed method was applied to the determination of D‐forms of valine, Isoleucine, and leucine in the presence of an excess of relative L forms, in commercial supplements for sport nutrition. Results demonstrated that the separation of enantiomers was possible up to an enantiomeric ratio of 1:100. The analysis of selected products confirmed the enantiomeric purity of utilized amino acids.

This study shows that when protein requirements are met and there are no remarkable differences between intakes and requirements, there are no repercussions in nitrogen fractions.

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Numerous studies were carried out about aminoacidic composition of vegetable proteins, but information about the free amino acid pool and the role of these substances is very incomplete. The aim of this paper was to contribute to the scarce knowledge concerning the composition of free amino acids in botanicals and botanical preparations widely used as food, in dietary supplements, and in pharmaceutical products. This work studied the composition of free amino acids, identified the major components of 19 species of plants, and evaluated the influence of different types of extraction on the amino acid profile. Amino acids were determined using an automatic precolumn derivatization with fluorenylmethyl-chloroformate and reversed-phase liquid chromatography with fluorescence and ultraviolet detection. The amounts of total free amino acids varied widely between plants, from approximately 12 g in 100 g of Echinacea pallida extract to less than 60 mg in the same amount of Coleus forskohlii, Garcinia cambogia, and Glycine max. In 13 plants arginine, asparagine, glutamine, proline, and gamma-aminobutyric acid were the free amino acids found in preponderant quantities. The levels of free amino acids above the quantification limit in 36 assayed samples of botanicals, extracts, and supplements are shown.