In a recent study, plant microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found in the sera and tissues of various animals including humans. These miRNAs are acquired orally by food intake and can pass through the mammalian gastrointestinal tract into sera and organs. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that these plant microRNAs in food can regulate the expression of target genes in mammals. Correct re...

Entrohemorrhagic Escherichia coli is a human pathogen that causes hemorrhagic colitis due to its verotoxin. It is an agent with food poisoning importance; a significant number of cases subsequntly develop hemolitic uremic syndrome (HUS) which is probably the most common cause of renal failure in childeren and occasionally resulting in death. Inhibition of bacterial growth in food is the most im...

Concerns about food allergy and its societal growth are intertwined with the growing advances in plant biotechnology. The knowledge of plant genes and protein structures provides the key foundation to understanding biochemical processes that produce food allergy. Biotechnology offers the prospect of producing low-allergen or allergen null plants that could mitigate the allergic response. Modifi...

The immature stages and natural history of Mygona irmina Doubleday (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Pronophilina) from northeastern Ecuadorian cloud forests are described based on 17 rearings. The dwarf bamboo, Chusquea c.f. scandens Kunth (Poaceae, Bambusoidea) is the larval food plant. Eggs are laid singly on the bottom side of mature host plant leaves. Larvae take 102-109 days to mature...

This paper describes the morphology and behavior of the immature stages of Oleria baizana (Haensch) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from northeastern Ecuador. Brugmansia aurea Lagerh. (Solanales: Solanaceae) is the larval food plant. Eggs are laid singly, off of the host plant in the leaf litter. During the night, larvae climb a food plant seedling and sever a leaf petiole, parachuting with the leaf...

The old Egyptians describe pollen as "a life-giving dust." Pollen and its nutritional value is still surrounded by mysteries. It is called the only perfectly complete food. The consumption of plant producing seed, the pollen, is praised in the Bible, Genesis 1:29: And God said, See, I have given you every plant producing seed, on the face of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit produci...

A plant-based paste fermented by lactic acid bacteria and yeast (fermented paste) was made from various plant materials. The paste was made of fermented food by applying traditional food-preservation techniques, that is, fermentation and sugaring. The fermented paste contained major nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids), 18 kinds of amino acids, and vitamins (vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, B1...

BACKGROUND Indispensible amino acids (IAAs) are used by the body in different proportions. Most animal-based foods provide these IAAs in roughly the needed proportions, but many plant-based foods provide different proportions of IAAs. To explore how these plant-based foods can be better used in human nutrition, we have created the computational tool vProtein to identify optimal food complements...

African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) is an underexploited legume with the potential of becoming an alternative food staple to alleviate the problem of food security. An assessment was carried out on the growth and yield of AYB affected by Telfairia mosaic virus (TeMV) Infection. Telfairia mosaic virus caused severe mosaic, leaf distortion and malformation on AYB. Analyses of results revea...