The primary product of the oenological sector is wine. Nonetheless, the grape processing produces large amounts of by-products and wastes, e.g., the grape seeds. In the context of a sustainable production, there is a strong push towards reutilizing these by-products and waste for making useful derivatives since they are rich of bioactive substances with high additional value. As it is true for the wine itself, bringing these by-products derivatives to the market calls for quality measures and analytical tools to assess quality itself. One of the main objectives is to collect analytical data regarding bioactive compounds using potentially green techniques. In the present work, the profile of fatty acids and the main phenolic compounds were investigated by conventional methods. The qualitative analysis of the main functional groups was carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Moreover, the successful use of FTIR technique in combination with chemometric data analysis is shown to be a suitable analytical tool for discriminating the grape seeds. Grape seeds of different origin have different content of bioactive substances, making this technique useful when planning to recover a certain substance with specific potential application in health area as food supplement or nutraceutical. For example, Cesanese d’Affile seeds were found to have a rather high fat content with a significant fraction of unsaturated fatty acids. On the other hand, the seeds of Nero d’Avola exhibit the highest amount of phenolic compounds.

These findings suggest that promoting MVPA may be have a beneficial effect on attention capacity, an important component of cognition, in adolescents.

Two rate-limiting enzymes in PUFA biosynthesis, Δ5- and Δ6-desaturases, are encoded by the FADS1 and FADS2 genes, respectively. Genetic variants in the FADS1-FADS2 gene cluster are associated with changes in plasma concentrations of PUFA, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, and TG. However, little is known about whether dietary PUFA intake modulates these associations, especially in adolescents. We assessed whether dietary linoleic acid (LA) or α-linolenic acid (ALA) modulate the association between the FADS1 rs174546 polymorphism and concentrations of PUFA, other lipids, and lipoproteins in adolescents. Dietary intakes of LA and ALA, FADS1 rs174546 genotypes, PUFA levels in serum phospholipids, and serum concentrations of TG, cholesterol, and lipoproteins were determined in 573 European adolescents from the HELENA study. The sample was stratified according to the median dietary LA (≤9.4 and >9.4 g/d) and ALA (≤1.4 and >1.4 g/d) intakes. The associations between FADS1 rs174546 and concentrations of PUFA, TG, cholesterol, and lipoproteins were not affected by dietary LA intake (all P-interaction > 0.05). Similarly, the association between the FADS1 rs174546 polymorphism and serum phospholipid concentrations of ALA or EPA was not modified by dietary ALA intake (all P-interaction > 0.05). In contrast, the rs174546 minor allele was associated with lower total cholesterol concentrations (P = 0.01 under the dominant model) and non-HDL-cholesterol concentrations (P = 0.02 under the dominant model) in the high-ALA-intake group but not in the low-ALA-intake group (P-interaction = 0.01). These results suggest that dietary ALA intake modulates the association between FADS1 rs174546 and serum total and non-HDL-cholesterol concentrations at a young age.

Results from this study suggest that a better ICHI is associated with a lower inflammatory profile already in adolescence. Improving these health behaviors, and health factors included in the ICHI, could play an important role in CVD prevention.

OBJECTIVEThe peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-γ2 (PPARG2) Pro12Ala polymorphism has been associated with a higher BMI and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. The association between adiposity and PPARG variants can be influenced by environmental factors such as early growth, dietary fat, and (as recently shown) breast-feeding. The objectives of this study were to assess 1) the influence of the PPARG2 Pro12Ala polymorphism on adiposity markers in adolescents and 2) a possible modulating effect of breast-feeding on these associations.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSData on breast-feeding duration, BMI, and genotypes for the Pro12Ala polymorphism were available for 945 adolescents (mean age 14.7 years). The breast-feeding duration was obtained from parental records. We measured weight, height, waist circumference, and six skinfold thicknesses.RESULTSNo significant associations between the Pro12Ala polymorphism and any of the above-mentioned anthropometric parameters were found. There were significant interactions between the PPARG2 Pro12Ala polymorphism and breast-feeding with regard to adiposity measurements (all adjusted P < 0.05). Indeed, in children who had not been breast-fed, Ala12 allele carriers had higher adiposity parameters (e.g., Δ BMI +1.88 kg/m2, adjusted for age, sex, and center, P = 0.007) than Pro12Pro adolescents. In contrast, in breast-fed subjects, there was no significant difference between Ala12 allele carriers and Pro12Pro children in terms of adiposity measurements, whatever the duration of breast-feeding.CONCLUSIONSBreast-feeding appears to counter the deleterious effect of the PPARG2 Pro12Ala polymorphism on anthropometric parameters in adolescents.