Prunes are dried plums, fruits of Prunus domestica L., cultivated and propagated since ancient times. Most dried prunes are produced from cultivar d'Agen, especially in California and France, where the cultivar originated. After harvest, prune-making plums are dehydrated in hot air at 85 to 90 degrees C for 18 h, then further processed into prune juice, puree, or other prune products. This extensive literature review summarizes the current knowledge of chemical composition of prunes and their biological effects on human health. Because of their sweet flavor and well-known mild laxative effect, prunes are considered to be an epitome of functional foods, but the understanding of their mode of action is still unclear. Dried prunes contain approximately 6.1 g of dietary fiber per 100 g, while prune juice is devoid of fiber due to filtration before bottling. The laxative action of both prune and prune juice could be explained by their high sorbitol content (14.7 and 6.1 g/100 g, respectively). Prunes are good source of energy in the form of simple sugars, but do not mediate a rapid rise in blood sugar concentration, possibly because of high fiber, fructose, and sorbitol content. Prunes contain large amounts of phenolic compounds (184 mg/100 g), mainly as neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acids, which may aid in the laxative action and delay glucose absorption. Phenolic compounds in prunes had been found to inhibit human LDL oxidation in vitro, and thus might serve as preventive agents against chronic diseases, such as heart disease and cancer. Additionally, high potassium content of prunes (745 mg/100 g) might be beneficial for cardiovascular health. Dried prunes are an important source of boron, which is postulated to play a role in prevention of osteoporosis. A serving of prunes (100 g) fulfills the daily requirement for boron (2 to 3 mg). More research is needed to assess the levels of carotenoids and other phytochemicals present in prunes to ensure correct labeling and accuracy of food composition tables in order to support dietary recommendations or health claims.

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is inversely associated with the accumulation of lutein + zeaxanthin in the macula, but higher lutein intakes are inconsistently related to reduced risk of ARMD in epidemiologic studies. Resolution of efficacy awaits clinical trials designed with knowledge of lutein supplement pharmacokinetics. Lutein bioavailability was determined for lutein diester and unesterified lutein formulations as they might be incorporated into dietary supplements. Healthy subjects (n = 18) consumed a single dose of each formulation (either 0.5 or 0.67 micro mol lutein/kg body, 10 and 8 subjects, respectively) in random order, and the appearance of free lutein + zeaxanthin was measured in serum from 0 to 408 h. Areas under the serum concentration x time curves (AUC), as a measure of bioavailability, were independent of gender, body mass index and lutein dose. The lutein diester formulation was 61.6% more bioavailable than the unesterified lutein formulation with higher mean AUC, maximum serum concentration and ascending slope (P < 0.05). The AUC was greater in 14 of 18 subjects when they consumed the lutein diester formulation. Comparison with data from previous studies suggested that dissolution was a greater limitation to bioavailability than lutein ester hydrolysis because an oil-solubilized unesterified lutein preparation, given at 0.5 micro mol/kg body, resulted in greater mean peak concentrations and AUC compared with either the unesterified or lutein diester formulations used in our study. In conclusion, the lutein diester formulation poses no impediment to lutein bioavailability at the doses tested, but formulation dissolution is an important factor in lutein bioavailability and should be evaluated before a supplement and dose are selected for use in clinical trials.

Results suggest that these Indian and Pakistani women are at higher CVD risk than their American counterparts, but that increasing their physical activity is likely to decrease overall and regional adiposity, thereby improving their serum lipid profiles.

Here we demonstrate a new strategy of boosting the photocatalytic activity of titania (P25) for photocatalytic H 2 production from the water splitting reaction by depositing palladium/strontium nanoparticles, forming Pd/Sr-NPs@P25. The Pd/Sr-NPs are in situ prepared on the surface of P25. The effects of Pd and Sr in the photocatalytic reactions are further revealed. Strontium in the form of strontium oxide promotes electron transfer from the semiconductor surface to palladium nanoparticles by increasing the Fermi level of the P25 support. The structural and morphological characterizations of the Pd/Sr-NPs nanocomposite are carried out using UV−vis DRS, XRD, TEM, and XPS techniques, based upon which the mechanistic insights are discussed.

Pd–Ag bimetallic and monometallic nanoparticles were decorated on g-C3N4 and evaluated for their ability to produce H2 through water splitting reactions.

Significant advances in the research on atomically precise gold nanoclusters have led to crystallographic determination of total structures (i.e. atomic arrangements in the metal core and surface ligands) of nanoclusters. A fundamental question is what types of structures would exist in gold nanoclusters. Research in this field first revealed icosahedral and decahedral structures in gold nanoclusters, which are novel structures since these are not observed in bulk gold. The emergence of such new structures in nanoclusters has gained much attention; on the other hand, a question arises naturally: can ultrasmall gold nanoclusters adopt the face-centered cubic (FCC) packing structure that is exclusive in bulk gold or even the hexagonal-close-packing (HCP) and body-centered-cubic (BCC) structures? This question has been addressed by the recent successes in controlling gold nanoclusters with all the three types of crystalline structures (or phases). The syntheses of these nanoclusters are based on the ligand strategies. The ligand effect on the structure, which was overlooked in earlier works, has now been recognized as an essential factor. In this highlight, we introduce the diverse structures of gold nanoclusters with 30 atoms or so, such as Au 38 (SR) 24 , Au 36 (SR) 24 , Au 30 (SR) 18 , and Au 38 S 2 (SR) 20 as examples of the icosahedron, FCC, HCP, and BCC structures, respectively. The driving force to form these structures is discussed from the perspective of the major roles of the protecting ligands.

In this work, villi-microstructured Au-loaded BiVO4 photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method.

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