Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
ISSN: 2155-9600
Muscolo Adele
Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy
Keynote: J Nutr Food Sci
Lentil is a grain legume important in human diet for its richness in protein and bioactive compounds. Lentil is cultivated worldwide but salinity is limiting its productivity mainly in Mediterranean and Eastern Countries. Few studies evaluated changes in the edible part of lentil under salinity. Considering the importance of this legume from a nutritional point of view, we cultivated three lentil accessions native to south and central Italy in 100 mM NaCl conditioned soils to verify if salinity affected the productivity, the nutritive values and phytochemical contents of their edible part (grain). The growth and nutritive properties of each local variety (Castelluccio di Norcia, Ustica and Pantelleria) have been compared to lentil cultivated in unsalinized soil (own control) and to the same local variety sold to the market. Our results evidenced that NaCl increased total proteins in respect to all the commercial and control lentils. No differences in the carbohydrate content among the salinized, commercial and control lentils were instead detected. The antioxidant capacity, detected as ABTS (2,2�??-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid), DPPH ( 2,2-diphenyl- 1-picrylhydrazyl), FRAP (Ferric reducing antioxidant power) and Ferrozine activities increased in salt affected lentils. In addition, we observed an increase in total phenols, flavonoids and carotenoids that are considered potent antioxidants. The ethanolic extracts of the edible seeds of the different local varieties of lentils showed a higher number of compounds in all the NaCl grown lentils compared to the corresponding varieties grown in the same soil without salts or to the own commercial variety. In respect to the increase and appearance of antioxidant compounds in the edible part of lentils grown under salinity we can assume that NaCl, changing the ratio of nutrients availability, can cause nutritional alterations and/or osmotic stress that activate the secondary metabolism of plants causing an over production of phytochemicals with proven positive effects on human health. Recent Publications 1. Muscolo A et al. (2015) Phenotypic and metabolic responses to drought and salinity of four contrasting lentil accessions. Journal of Experimental Botany. 66(18):5467-5480. 2. Muscolo A et al. (2017) Anaerobic co-digestion of recalcitrant agricultural wastes: characterizing of biochemical parameters of digestate and its impacts on soil ecosystem. Science of the Total Environment. 586:746-752. 3. Ben Said I et al. (2016) Effects of irrigations with treated municipal wastewater on phenological parameters of tetraploid Cenchrus ciliaris L. Journal of Food Processing and Technology. 7(2):1000553. 4. Panuccio M R et al. (2016) Use of recalcitrant agriculture wastes to produce biogas and feasible biofertilizer. Waste and Biomass Valorization. 7(2):267-280.
Muscolo Adele pursued MSc in Biological Sciences and PhD in Food Science at the Policlinic Federico II University of Naples, Italy. In 1988 she started her professional career as a Researcher at Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria (Italy), where she is still working as Full Professor in Soil Chemistry and Ecology. Since 1990 she is a Reviewer for international scientific journals and since 2008 she is an Evaluator of projects for European Community, International Funding Research Agencies and Italian and Foreign Research Ministries. She is an Examiner of international PhD dissertation. She has over 180 papers in international journals with IF. Citations: 1597 H index: 21. She has been serving as an editorial board member of many international journals. She is Associate Editor for JFR.
E-mail: amuscolo@unirc.it