Milk has a complex highly variable nutritional composition based on the different species and animal breeds, together with the strategy and management of the animal feed. It is the first food consumed by children, exclusively for the initial months because it contains all the nutrients necessary for body growth and the development of cognitive functions. Considering the Mediterranean diet, cow and goat milk is consumed fresh or used for the production of dairy products, while sheep and buffalo milk is used exclusively for cheese production. In developing countries, sheep milk or milk from particular animal species such as the yak is also used for fresh consumption and is a low-cost food source for consumers. Milk is the only raw food with a complete profile of all nutrients, from proteins to fats, carbohydrates, water, minerals, and vitamins. Several bioactive compounds are present in milk or originate during protein digestion and fat fraction. Thus, milk can be defined as a functional food because it adapts to the definition "any food or food ingredient that can provide a health benefit over the traditional nutrients it contains".

Presently, there is growing interest to use agricultural wastes as by-products for further exploitation as food additives or supplements. The waste product which is typically thrown into the environment has been revealed to exhibit certain nutritional and pharmacological properties. Some functional compounds have been reported to exert significant nutritional and pharmacological properties such as antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, etc. Based on recent literature, many reports or studies focused on the utilization and pharmacological effects of some selected agro-industrial by-products. This trend could provide the theoretical basis for further rational development and utilization of the waste for the therapeutic and health purposes. Keywords: fruits by-products, fruits waste, nutritional value, pharmacological properties

The effect of the harvest season of polyphenol mixtures isolated from Seomae mugwort (SM, Korean Artemisia argyi H. Lé v. & Vaniot) plant was evaluated in terms of the content and antioxidant capacity. The results indicated a clear difference of total phenolic and individual polyphenolic contents in SM depending on harvesting time. The total polyphenol content was highest in SM collected in June (138.64 mg/kg) followed by that in May (125.34 mg/kg) and that in August (82.34 mg/kg). The antioxidant activity of the SM polyphenol mixture was measured in terms of assays like DPPH•, ABTS•+, superoxide anion radical-scavenging activities, and FRAP reducing power. The antioxidant activity order is roughly in accordance with the total polyphenol contents based on the harvest seasons. It was observed that the antioxidant activity depends mainly on the content of hydroxyl cinnamates and flavonoids, which are the major polyphenol compounds. Keywords: Seomae mugwort, Korean Artemisia argyi, · Antioxidant activity, · Polyphenol, · High performance liquid chromatography, Tandem mass spectroscopy,

Background: Nature provides us with all the necessary ingredients to lead a healthy life, while data from ancient civilizations and scientific discoveries support the fact that the use of aromatic plants and herbs due to their therapeutic properties is a neglected healthy habit. Methods: This study examines the antioxidant activity in domestic preparation of four herb beverages Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Sage (Salvia officinalis), Tilia (Tilia tomentosa) and Sideritis (Sideritis perfoliata) aiming to investigate the presence of antioxidants in the plants and to define which domestic preparation method of the beverage (decoction/infusion) ensures better antioxidant capacity. In the experimental procedure, herbal decoctions and infusions (boiling time 5 minutes) were extracted with 4 different solvents of increasing polarity (petroleum ether, diaithylether, ethyl acetate, butanol). This process resulted to 10 samples from each herb beverage. Each of them was examined for the TPC via the Folin - Ciocalteau method, the interaction with the cationic radical ABTS, the free stable radical DPPH for the determination of antioxidant capacity, the hydroxyl radical scavenging ability, the inhibition of lipid peroxidation of linoleic acid and finally the acceptability of each beverage with respect to the manner of preparation through sensory evaluation in a total number of 40 random volunteers. Results: ?he results exhibit the characteristics represented by each herb. Comparison and classification between them was also performed. The antioxidant characteristics of the herbs were affected both by the preparation method as well as the extraction solvent. Conclusions: All herbs exhibited high antioxidant capacity. However, not all were positively evaluated during the organoleptic evaluation which raises the question of whether these beneficial herbs would be included as beverages in every-day diet. Our research exhibited the capacity of these herbs as well as the need for organoleptic evaluation to be included in research. Abbreviations: TPC: Total Phenolic Content, TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine, TEAC: Trolox-Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity, OD: Optical Density, GAE: Gallic Acid Equivalent, HAT: Hydrogen Atom Transfer Key words: Beverages, Antioxidants, Lipid Peroxidation, Phenolic Content, Lipoxygenase

Personalized nutrition and precision healthcare require valid, reliable and clinically-applicable instruments including dietary assessment. Accurate assessment of essential nutrients including methyl donors associated with nutrigenomics one carbon metabolism for DNA methylation is critical for associated health outcomes. We examined nutrients between the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and 24-hour food record (FR) by accessing USDA Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR-FR) for social-ethnic diets with the differences <10% or >10% on the total calories. Overall, NDSR-FR presented lower estimates of most nutrients than FFQ. Correlation coefficients between the two measures were consistently high for all 25 essential nutrients (mean = 0.98) for cases with <10% of calories difference (n=81). Percent differences between NDSR-FR and FFQ were within 10% for all macronutrients; B vitamins including thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, folate and cobalamin; and other methyl donors including choline, glycine, and methionine. NDSR-FR underestimated (>10%) vitamin E and overestimated vitamin C compared to FFQ. Bland-Altman analyses demonstrated the average for all nutrients was with >95% limits of agreement (mean: 95%, range: 83%-99%), suggesting an acceptable level of agreement between the two measures. Outlier analyses revealed sources of disagreement for cases with >10% differences for total calorie, protein, and fat. Bland-Altman plots showed wide scatter of differences both for plant-based (folate, vitamins C and E) and protein-based nutrients (pyridoxine, cobalamin, methionine, glycine, and choline) for outliers. These results support the overall capacity of NDSR-FR in comparison to FFQ on estimating essential nutrients and methyl donors in relation to DNA methylation for various social-ethnic populations. Keywords: validation; methyl donors; 24-hour food record; food frequency questionnaire (FFQ); Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR); social ethnic diet