Most foods are considered functional in terms of providing nutrients and energy to sustain daily life, but dietary systems that are capable of preventing or remediating a stressed or diseased state are classified as functional foods. Dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) contain high levels of chemically diverse components (phenols, resistance starch, vitamins, fructooligosaccharides) that have shown to protect against such conditions as oxidative stress, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and many types of cancer, thereby positioning this legume as an excellent functional food. Moreover, the United States has a rich dry bean history and is currently a top producer of dry beans in the world with pinto beans accounting for the vast majority. Despite these attributes, dry bean consumption in the US remains relatively low. Therefore, the objective of this manuscript is to review dry beans as an important US agricultural crop and as functional food for the present age with an emphasis on pinto beans

The aim of this review was to evaluate the potential human health benefits of the Black walnut by comparing its compositional similarities and differences with other nuts, particularly the English walnut. The Black walnut contains higher levels of monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants, such as the polyphenols and γ-tocopherol, compared to English walnut. These components have been correlated with the prevention and/or attenuation of several types of diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative conditions. Other nutrients that are also present in the Black walnut include dietary fiber, folate, phytosterols, protein, melatonin, etc., which have been linked with multiple human health promoting properties. Based primarily on its phytochemical composition, the Black walnut is a potentially potent, yet critically understudied, dietary system for promoting human health.

Novel treatments are needed to prevent candidiasis/candidemia infection due to the emergence of Candida species resistant to current antifungals. Considering the yeastto-hyphae switch is a critical factor to Candida albicans virulence, phenols common in plant sources have been reported to demonstrating their ability to prevent dimorphism. Therefore, phenols present in many agricultural waste stress (ferulic (FA) and gallic (GA) acid) were initially screened in isolation for their yeast-to-hyphae inhibitory properties at times 3, 6, and 24 hr. Both FA and GA inhibited 50% of hyphae formation inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) but at a concentration of 8.0 ± 0.09 and 90.6 ± 1.05 mM, respectively, at 24 hr. However, the inhibitory effect of FA increased by 1.9-2.6 fold when combined with different GA concentrations. GA and FA values decreased even lower when sinapic acid (SA) was added as a third component. As evidenced by concave isobolograms and combination indexes less than 1, both GA:F A and GA:FA:SA combinations acted synergistically to inhibit 50% hyphae formation at 24 hr. Lastly, acetylation of histone H3 lysine 56 acetylation (H3K56) was higher in response to the triple phenolic cocktail (using the IC 50 24 hr inhibitory concentration level) comparable with the nontreated samples, indicating that the phenols inhibited hyphal growth in part by targeting H3K56 acetylation.

The present work aimed to characterize the cashew nut bran during several stages of processing, with emphasis in the quantification of total extractable polyphenols and total antioxidant activity. The cashew nut bran was analyzed for the following parameters: water activity, total acidity, pH, moisture, ash, lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, total extractable polyphenols and total antioxidant activity by the methods ABTS•+ and DPPH•. There was a decrease in the water activity and moisture in cashew nut bran during processing. The highest values of total extractable polyphenols and antioxidant activity were observed in raw bran due to peel adhered in these nuts.

The first study that applies FTIR spectroscopy to monitor the biochemical modification of Candida albicans during the transition from a benign yeast to virulent hyphae using multiple spectral analyses.