The production and consumption of coffee are increasing despite the roadblocks to its agriculture and global trade. The unique, refreshing, and stimulating final cupping quality of coffee is the only reason for this rising production and consumption. Coffee quality is a multifaceted trait and is inevitably influenced by the way it is successively processed after harvesting. Reportedly, 60% of the quality attributes of coffee are governed by postharvest processing. The current review elaborates and establishes for the first time the relationship between different methods of postharvest processing of coffee and its varying organoleptic and sensory quality attributes. In view of the proven significance of each processing step, this review has been subdivided into three sections, secondary processing, primary processing, and postprocessing variables. Secondary processing addresses the immediate processing steps on the farm after harvest and storage before roasting. The primary processing section adheres specifically to roasting, grinding and brewing/extraction, topics which have been technically addressed more than any others in the literature and by industry. The postprocessing attribute section deals generally with interaction of the consumer with products of different visual appearance. Finally, there are still some bottlenecks which need to be addressed, not only to completely understand the relationship of varying postharvest processing methods with varying in-cup quality attributes, but also to devise the next generation of coffee processing technologies.

Consumption of dietary protein at recommended levels is considered a potential strategy to promote satiety and weight management, but how protein from different dietary sources effect the obesity development, lipid metabolism, and gut microbiota is not known. This study focused on the effects of beef, casein, and soy protein diet on lipid metabolism, triglycerides accumulation, and microbial diversity in colon of C57BL/6J mice, which were given either low-fat diets (LFD, 12% Kcal) or high-fat diets (HFD, 60% Kcal) for 12 weeks. Body and liver weight increased significantly in mice fed a beef protein HFD (HFB), whereas reduced cumulative energy intake was seen in a soy protein HFD (HFS) group. HFB-fed mice showed signs of impaired glucose metabolism and insulin resistance along with a significant elevation in the concentration of triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, IL1β, TNF-α, IL-6, and leptin in serum. HFB also enhanced lipid accumulation in liver with increased activity of genes important for lipogenesis and hepatic cholesterol metabolism. A 16S rRNA gene sequencing indicated that HFD, regardless of proteins, significantly enhanced the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes in colonic microbiota. However, HFB not only reduced the abundance of Akkermansia, compared with LFD independent of proteins, but also decreased the abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria such as Anaerotruncus, Butyricicoccus, and Lactobacillus (P < 0.05) compared with HFS and HFC. In conclusion, consumption of HFB does not only affect the gut microbiota composition but also increases the problems related to metabolic syndromes like dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, and triglycerides accumulation in liver, which lead to systemic inflammation and its associated comorbidities, for example, impaired glucose metabolism and insulin resistance.

Three important strains of Mucor circinelloides grown in complete and minimal media for specified period (72 h, 120 h and 168 h) under submerged fermentation conditions were investigated for their potential antioxidants/secondary metabolite production. All mycelial extracts demonstrated effective antioxidant activities in terms of β-carotene/linoleic acid bleaching, radical scavenging, reduction of metal ions and chelating abilities against ferrous ions. Different extraction methods and solvent systems affected the recovery yield and antioxidant activities of the extracts significantly (p ≤ 0.05). Ethanolic extracts were found to be rich source of antioxidant components and subsequently more effective in antioxidant properties. Fermentation period and media used also significantly affected (p ≤ 0.05) the antioxidant production and the resulting antioxidant properties. The (ethanolic) extracts of all the strains from late exponential growth phase (120 h) showed highest antioxidant production with topmost reducing, chelating and radical scavenging capabilities. Strain MC277.49 was found to be the highest producer of antioxidants followed by MC108.16 and WJ11. Phenolic compounds were detected significantly in higher (p ≤ 0.05) amount succeeded by the condensed tannins and flavonoids. Total phenol content of each extract was attributed to overall antioxidant capacity. Submerged fermentation with nutritional stress conditions were found to be excellent way of producing surplus amount of natural antioxidants/secondary metabolites with their vast potential commercial application in food and pharmaceutical industries.

Oxidative stress may play a critical role in the progression of liver disorders. Increasing interest has been given to the associations among diet, oxidative stress, gut-liver axis, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Here, we investigated the effects of processed meat proteins on biomarkers of lipid homeostasis, hepatic metabolism, antioxidant functions, and gut microbiota composition in glutaredoxin1 deficient (Glrx1 −/− ) mice. The wild-type (WT) and Glrx1 −/− mice were fed a soy protein diet (SPD), a dry-cured pork protein diet (DPD), a braised pork protein diet (BPD), and a cooked pork protein diet (CPD) at a dose of 20% of protein for 3 months. Serum and hepatic total cholesterol, serum endotoxin, hepatic liver droplet %, and antioxidant capacity were significantly increased in the CPD fed WT mice. In addition, CPD fed Glrx1 −/− mice significantly increased total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and pro-inflammatory cytokines which are accompanied by higher steatosis scores, intrahepatic lipid accumulation, and altered gene expression associated with lipid metabolism. Furthermore, hepatic gene expression of Nrf2/keap1 signaling pathway and its downstream signaling targets were determined using RT-qPCR. Glrx1 deficiency increased Nrf2 activity and expression of its target genes (GPx, catalase, SOD1, G6pd, and Bbc3), which was exacerbated by intake of CPD. Metagenomic analyses revealed that Glrx1 −/− mice fed meat protein diets had higher abundances of Mucispirillum, Oscillibacter, and Mollicutes but lower abundances of Bacteroidales S24-7 group_norank, Blautia, and Anaerotruncus than their wild-type counterparts. In summary, Glrx1 deficiency induced an increase in serum biomarkers for lipid homeostasis, gut microbiota imbalance, and upregulation of Nrf2/Keap1 and antioxidant defense genes, which was aggravated by cooked meat protein diet.

Protein diets are well known for body maintenance and weight loss.

The responses of gut microbiota to dietary proteins have been studied previously. However, the effects of dietary proteins supplemented with a high-fat diet (HFD) on the metabolite biomarkers associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are not well understood. To understand the underlying mechanisms, C57BL/6J mice were fed with either a low-fat diet with casein (LFC) or an HFD with casein (HFC), fish (HFF), or mutton proteins (HFM), and their cecal microbiota and liver metabolites were analyzed. At the phylum level, the HFD group had a relatively higher abundance of Firmicutes compared to the LFC-diet group. At the genus level, the HFF-diet group had the highest abundance of Lactobacillus and Akkermansia compared to the HFC- and HFM-diet groups. Furthermore, mice fed with the HFF diet had significantly reduced levels of hepatic metabolites involved in oxidative stress and bile acid metabolism. Thus, meat proteins in HFD interact in the host to create distinct responses in the gut microbiota and its metabolites.

Endocannabinoids modulate insulin and adipokine expression in adipocytes through cannabinoid receptors and their levels are elevated during hyperglycemia and obesity, but little is known about how diets affect them. We assessed the effects of dietary casein, chicken, beef, and pork proteins in a high-fat diet mode, on endocannabinoids, adipogenesis, and biomarkers associated with dyslipemdia. A high-fat beef or chicken diet upregulated cannabinoid 1 receptor, N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamineselective phospholipase-D and diacylglycerol lipase α in adipose tissue and reduced the immunoreactivity of mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 in brown adipose tissue. In addition, the high-fat diets with beef and chicken protein had a significant impact on adipocyte differentiation and mitochondrial biogenesis in obese mice. A 16S rRNA gene sequencing indicated that high-fat diets, regardless of the protein source, significantly enhanced the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes in colon. Meat proteins in a high-fat diet significantly decreased the relative abundances of Akkermansia and Bif idobacteria but enhanced the lipopolysaccharides level in the serum, which promoted the adipogenesis process by causing dysregulation in the endocannabinoid receptors. Consumption of meat protein with high-fat-induced adiposity, visceral obesity, and dyslipidemia reduced the thermogenesis and had a distinctive effect on the mitochondrial biogenesis compared with casein protein.

Flavonoid and phenolic acid profile of chrysanthemum morifolium flower extract (CME) was analyzed by using ultra‐performance liquid chromatography (Q‐TOF–MS, Xevo G2‐S; Milford, MA, USA, Waters) system in tandem with a quadruple time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer. The effect of CME on lipid and protein oxidation was investigated in goat patties during 9 days of refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C). Patties were prepared from freshly minced meat with the addition of 0.1% and 0.2% CME and compared with the butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) (0.01%) and control. High level of thiol and lower level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and carbonyl content were observed in CME‐treated samples compared to control during storage period. The incorporation of CME in patties reduced the pH and water activity values markedly, but no effect was found on color and sensory analyses. These results show that increased level of CME is more effective against lipid and protein oxidation and therefore can be used as a natural antioxidant in meat products without affecting product acceptability. Practical Application Chrysanthemum morifolium flower belongs to the family “Asteraceae” and is a novel natural antioxidant for meat processing industry. It possesses strong antioxidant activities having many phenolic compounds including gallocatechin, apigenin, rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid, rhamnetin, and quercetin, and can be used for development and production of functional food as a natural antioxidant agent.