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Alcohol is a globally well-established cause of fatty liver disease (FLD). Increased salt consumption is associated with an increased prevalence of adipocyte hypertrophy and liver injury. In this study, high dietary salt potentiated chronic alcohol-induced hepatic damage. We explored the physiological mechanism of alcoholic FLD in the gastrointestinal tract. Male C57BL/6J mice (8-week-old) were fed a high-salt diet (HSD; 4% NaCl) with or without chronic ethanol (CE) for 1 month. The fecal microbiota, serum biochemical indices, intestinal permeability, level of liver damage, and liver mitochondria were evaluated. The HSD, CE, and their combination (HSDE) significantly changed the gut microbiota's structure, and the HSDE mice contained more probiotic species (e.g., Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus). The serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase levels were increased, and the lipid was accumulated in the liver tissues in the CE, HSD, and HSDE groups, which indicated liver damage, especially in the HSDE group. The increased intestinal permeability and mitochondrial dysfunction in the liver cells caused greater injury in the HSDE group than in the other groups. Thus, consuming HSD with alcohol contributes to FLD development and progression.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of hydrothermal treatments (heat-moisture treatment (HMT) and annealing (ANN)) on the physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of yam starch and yam flour. Hydrothermal treatments decreased the pasting properties of yam starch and yam flour. Compared with yam starch, HMT significantly (p 0.05) reduced the pasting viscosities of yam flour. Both HMT and ANN caused an increase of the gelatinization temperatures (T

High-fat diets (HFDs) can induce health problems including gut microbiota dysbiosis and cardiac dysfunction. In this study, we modulated the gut microbiota in mice to investigate whether Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP), a potential prebiotic fiber, could alleviate HFD-induced myocardial injury. Mice fed a HFD were given LBP (HFPD group) by gavage once/day for 2 months. Left ventricular function and serum trimethylamine N-oxide were significantly improved in HFPD mice compared with HFD mice. HFD increased the abundances of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Romboutsia, while LBP increased the abundances of Gordonibacter, Parabacteroides, and Anaerostipes. Fecal metabolic profiling revealed significant increases in metabolites involved in nicotinate, nicotinamide and purine metabolism pathways, as well as indole derivatives of tryptophan metabolites in the HFPD group. LBP reduced intestinal permeability and inflammatory cytokine levels, maintained a healthy intestinal microenvironment, and alleviated myocardial injury. Modulating the gut microbiota is a potential treatment for cardiovascular diseases.

Potato flour is used in bakery products, extruded products and snacks. However, it displays weaker gel strengths and thus the wholesome utility is curtailed significantly. To improve viscoelastic properties and stability of potato gels, herein potato flour was treated with laccase and peroxidase to create a protein network structure leading to stable gels. The results revealed that the secondary structure of potato proteins altered upon the enzyme treatment. The gels of peroxidase-treated potato flour (PPF) and laccase-treated potato flour (LPF) displayed larger anti-shear ability, thermal stability and stronger three-dimensional network structure compared to the native potato gel. The PPF and LPF gels exhibited stronger viscoelastic properties and structural stability compared to peroxidase-treated potato protein and laccase-treated potato protein gels. The outcome serves as a theoretical basis to improve the properties of potato gels and to promote the designing and the development of novel potato flour based functional food.

The addition of sugar and polyols can enhance the structure of gels. To prevent the overconsumption of sugar, the polyol erythritol was used to investigate the gelation mechanism of curdlan gel, which is especially beneficial for diabetics. We found that with increased levels of erythritol, the textural characteristics of curdlan gels first increased and then decreased. The optimum level of erythritol was found to be 5% (w/w) using texture profile analysis (TPA). Additionally, the mixed curdlan and erythritol gel had increased freeze-thawing stability with high water holding capacity. The structures of curdlan/erythritol gels were further characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and molecular docking. FTIR displayed a peak of O–H vibration at 3268 cm−1 with red shifts for curdlan and blue shifts for erythritol, suggesting hydrogen bonding between curdlan and erythritol. XRD showed that the large crystal or crystalline region of the curdlan/erythritol gels near 2θ = 19°, which indicated that the good compatibility between curdlan and erythritol. SEM showed the addition of erythritol formed a skeleton structure with strengthened connection bonds. The molecular docking analysis confirmed the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between erythritol and β-1,3-D-glucan in single and triple helical structures. All results demonstrate erythritol is beneficial to improve the textural characteristics of curdlan gel by the formation of hydrogen bonds, creating a denser network.