This study assessed the effects of diet supplementation with industrial processing by-products of acerola (Malpighia emarginata D.C.), cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) and guava (Psidium guajava L.) fruit on the intestinal health and lipid metabolism of female Wistar rats with diet-induced dyslipidaemia. Female rats were randomly divided into five groups: healthy control, dyslipidaemic control and dyslipidaemic experimental receiving acerola, cashew or guava processing by-products. Fruit processing by-products were administered (400 mg/kg body weight) via orogastric administration for 28 consecutive days. Acerola, cashew and guava by-products caused body weight reduction (3·42, 3·08 and 5·20 %, respectively) in dyslipidaemic female rats. Dyslipidaemic female rats receiving fruit by-products, especially from acerola, presented decreased faecal pH, visceral fat, liver fat and serum lipid levels, as well as increased faecal moisture, faecal fat excretion, faecal Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. counts and amounts of organic acids in faeces. Administration of the tested fruit processing by-products protected colon and liver from tissue damage (e.g. destruction of liver and colon cells and increased fat deposition in hepatocytes) induced by dyslipidaemic diet. Dietary fibres and phenolic compounds in tested fruit by-products may be associated with these positive effects. The industrial fruit processing by-products studied, mainly from acerola, exert functional properties that could enable their use to protect the harmful effects on intestinal health and lipid metabolism caused by dyslipidaemic diet.

This comprehensive review establishes the role of vitamin B12 as adjunct therapy for viral infections in the treatment and persistent symptoms of COVID-19, focusing on symptoms related to the muscle–gut–brain axis. Vitamin B12 can help balance immune responses to better fight viral infections. Furthermore, data from randomized clinical trials and meta-analysis indicate that vitamin B12 in the forms of methylcobalamin and cyanocobalamin may increase serum vitamin B12 levels, and resulted in decreased serum methylmalonic acid and homocysteine concentrations, and decreased pain intensity, memory loss, and impaired concentration. Among studies, there is much variation in vitamin B12 doses, chemical forms, supplementation time, and administration routes. Larger randomized clinical trials of vitamin B12 supplementation and analysis of markers such as total vitamin B12, holotranscobalamin, total homocysteine and methylmalonic acid, total folic acid, and, if possible, polymorphisms and methylation of genes need to be conducted with people with and without COVID-19 or who have had COVID-19 to facilitate the proper vitamin B12 form to be administered in individual treatment.

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Scientists are working to identify prevention/treatment methods and clinical outcomes of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Nutritional status and diet have a major impact on the COVID-19 health-disease process, mainly due to the bidirectional interaction between gut-lung axis. Individuals with inadequate nutritional status have a pre-existing imbalance in the gut microbiota and immunity as seen in obesity, diabetes, hypertension, or other chronic diseases. Communication between the gut microbiota and lungs or other organs and systems may trigger worse clinical outcomes in viral respiratory infections. Thus, this review addresses new insights into the use of probiotics and prebiotics as a preventive nutritional strategy in managing respiratory infections such as COVID-19 and highlighting their anti-inflammatory effects against the main signs and symptoms associated with COVID-19. The search for studies was performed through Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science databases; relevant clinical articles were included. Significant randomized clinical trials suggest that specific probiotics and/or prebiotics reduce diarrhoea, abdominal pain, vomiting, headache, cough, sore throat, fever, and viral infection complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome. These beneficial effects are linked with modulation of the microbiota, products of microbial metabolism with antiviral activity, and immune regulatory properties of specific probiotics and prebiotics through of Treg cell production and function. There is a need to conduct clinical and pre-clinical trials to assess the effect of consuming these components together with the current therapies in COVID-19.

Avocado seeds are discarded as by-products during pulp consumption or processing despite their high starch content. This study aimed to characterize the chemical, morphological, and functional properties of the native and acetylated starches extracted from avocado seeds. The granules of native avocado seed starch exhibited an oval shape and A-type crystallinity pattern, while the acetylated form obtained with 0.07 degree of substitution (DS) yielded granules with a rounded bell shape and C-type pattern. The solubility and swelling power (SP) of the native and acetylated forms of avocado seed starch increased with increasing temperature; however, at 55°C and 65°C the acetylated form exhibited a higher solubility index (SI). The acetylated avocado seed starch showed reduced breakdown and synergy during freezing, as well as greater oil absorption, compared to the native form. These results showed that acetylation improved the functional properties of avocado seed starch, thereby increasing its potential for use in food products. ARTICLE HISTORY

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The interest in studying the prebiotic effect of foods is increasing due to the way in which the consumption of these foods influences the gut microbiota and how the metabolic activity of the microbiota affects the health and well-being of the host. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have been developed to elucidate the prebiotic effect of foods, and particularly in in vivo studies, the physiological dynamics of this effect has been studied in healthy or diseased individuals. In this chapter, the main in vitro and in vivo models developed for the study of the prebiotic potential of foods will be approached, which can be used by those planning to advance in this field of research.

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