Eliana Alves

Olive seeds have been considered as a new nutritionally healthy food supplement. They are rich in monounsaturated n-9 and essential polyunsaturated n-6 lipids. However, little is known about their polar lipids, potentially bioactive and chemical identity markers for olive pulp and oil. This work aimed to identify the polar lipidome of olive seeds t...

Tree nuts and oily fruits are used as a diet complement and are highly consumed worldwide. The production and consumption of these foods have been increasing, and an enormous global market value is forecasted for 2023. Besides their high nutritional value and lipid content, they provide health benefits to fat metabolism, heart, skin, and brain. The...

Increasing evidence regarding lipids’ beneficial effects on human health has changed the common perception of consumers and dietary officials about the role(s) of food lipids in a healthy diet. However, lipids are a wide group of molecules with specific nutritional and bioactive properties. To understand their true nutritional and functional value,...

Plants and algae play a crucial role in the earth's ecosystems. Through photosynthesis they convert light energy into chemical energy, capture CO2 and produce oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. Photosynthetic organisms are primary producers and synthesize the essential omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. They have also unique and highly diverse...

Edible oils are essential energy providers in human diets. However, these oils are also a natural source of bioactive compounds and phytonutrients. This chapter will provide an overview of the bioactive lipids from olive, palm, and fish oils. The nutritional and health benefits of these oils are well documented and frequently associated with their...

The growing resistance from pathogens against antibiotics has increased the research for new compounds and strategies with antibacterial potential. Lipids from algae are emerging as natural and potent bioactive molecules with interesting results regarding the inactivation of bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The combination of algae lipids with innovat...

Background Some plant seeds and berries have gained increased recognition due to their wide variety of bioactive compounds. Many of these foods are rich in lipids with high nutritional value, of which n-3 and n-6 essential fatty acids stand out. However, knowledge of these foodstuffs’ chemical composition and biological activity and their value as...

The olive (Olea europaea) fruit is an important source of healthy lipids and a staple food of the Mediterranean diet. However, its polar lipid fingerprint is practically unknown, even though plants’ polar lipids have acknowledged health benefits and bioactive properties. So, there is the need for their characterisation in the olive fruit. As such,...

The efforts made so far to assure the authenticity and traceability of olives and olive-derived products, as tighter trade regulations and scientific research, have not yet proved very effective. In that regard, relevant research has been recently carried out to characterise the polar lipid profile of olives and virgin olive oils by mass spectromet...

Frying allows cooking food while promoting their organoleptic properties, imparting crunchiness and flavor. The drawback is the oxidation of triacylglycerides (TAGs), leading to the formation of primary oxidized TAGs. Although they have been associated with chronic and degenerative diseases, they are precursors of pleasant flavors in fried foods. N...

Esta apresentação foi preparada a convite do Núcleo de Bolseiros do Centro de Investigação em Didática e Tecnologia do Departamento de Educação e Psicologia da Universidade de Aveiro e apresentada em Março 2021. O convite surgiu na sequência do meu prémio Elsevier de melhor póster científico no congresso internacional EuroFedLipid realizado em Sevi...

Xylella fastidiosa is an insect-borne Gram-negative bacterium that affects plant leaves, eventually resulting in their death. This bacterium has been responsible for the biggest phytosanitary crisis in Europe. [1] The spread of this pest in olive trees (Olea europaea) has been one of the most disturbing cases, favored by climate change, globalizati...

The world now lives the so-called “post-antibiotic era.” The current guidelines and recommendations from the WHO claim for an international multisectoral and sustained “One Health” approach. This is aimed to tackle antimicrobial resistance and achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 toward social-economic development, env...

In the actual post-antibiotic era, novel ways of rethinking antimicrobial research approaches are more urgent than ever. Natural compounds with antimicrobial activity such as fatty acids and monoacylglycerols have been investigated for decades. Additionally, the interest in other lipid classes as antimicrobial agents is rising. This review provides...

Thousands of tons of fruit seeds are discarded every year worldwide as agro-industrial byproducts. Fruit seeds have a high oil content, are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (FA) and in n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated essential FA. Sterols, phospholipids, glycolipids, carotenoids, tocopherols and polyphenols are other seed phytochemicals that make th...

The response to overfeeding is sex dependent, and metabolic syndrome is more likely associated to obesity in men or postmenopausal women than in young fertile women. We hypothesized that obesity-induced metabolic syndrome is sex dependent due to a sex-specific regulation of the fatty acid (FA) synthesis pathways in liver and white adipose depots. W...

Olive (Olea europaea L.) seeds have been regarded as a new functional food [1]. These seeds are olive oil-derived industrial by-products and are considered as waste or non-valuable derivatives. The olive kernels, which include the seeds, are typically discarded or used for combustion, however, these seeds are rich in lipids. Olive seed oil contains...

Olives (Olea europaea L.) are classic ingredients in the Mediterranean diet with well-known health benefits, but their lipid composition has not been fully addressed. In this work, we characterised triacylglycerol (TAG) and polar lipid profiles of the olive pulp while using a complementary methodological approach that was based on solid-phase extra...

Olives (Olea europaea L.) and olive oil have been used for millennia in the diet of Mediterranean populations, and their consumption is associated with several health benefits. At the Mass Spectrometry Centre, we have been developing lipidomic-based methodologies to solve the main problems faced by the olive and olive-derived products’ industries,...

Olives (Olea europaea L.) are a source of lipids with nutritional value and biological activity. Besides triacylglycerols (TAGs), they have minor, value-added, lipids that need to be exploited. The lipid composition of the olive pulp (Arbequina cv.) was studied herein by chromatography and mass spectrometry (MS), promoting its valorization within t...

Bacillus licheniformis I89 is a Gram‐positive bacterium, a producer of the lantibiotic lichenicidin. No information is available on its fatty acid (FA) composition. Bacillus species are rich in branched FA (BrFA), claimed to be beneficial to human health and to treat diseases. Herein, the FA profile of B. licheniformis I89 was evaluated under diffe...

Bacillus licheniformis I89 is a non-pathogenic, Gram-positive bacterium, frequently found in soil. It has several biotechnological applications as producer of valuable compounds such as proteases, amylases, surfactants, and lantibiotics. Herein, it is reported the identification of the polar lipidome of B. licheniformis I89 during the different gro...

AACLifeSci AACLifeSci Course companion manual This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Lipids play a central role in the metabolism of most organisms. These molecules are paramount during reproduction, when females transfer their internal lipid reserves to build-up oocytes' yolk. The aim of the present study was to understand neutral lipid (NL) dynamics during the embryogenesis of two commercially important crabs, Carcinus maenas (Li...

The molecular identity of olive oil (OO) remains an issue to be solved. Chemical markers have long been sought to ensure OO‘s authenticity and to monitor traceability. Fatty acids (FA) and triglycerides (TG) are able to distinguish different OO according to their geographical and botanical origin but their profile is subjected to edapho-climatic va...

Polar lipids are minor components of olives and olive oil and include a myriad of molecules such as phospholipids and glycolipids. Even though sensitive and high-resolution analytical approaches have been used to unveil the polar lipidome of these matrices, new insights on their composition are needed. In this review, we will describe the findings...

Production of bacterial lipid-based biofuels using inexpensive substrates, as wastes, is an emerging approach. In this work, a selective process using carbon feast-famine cycles was applied to obtain an indigenous microbial community of hydrocarbon-degrading and lipid-accumulating bacteria, using a real lubricant-based wastewater as carbon source....

The production of olive oil and pitted table olives generates high amounts of waste and by-products. Olive seeds are undervalued olive-derived industrial by-products with bioactive components. Olive seeds and their oil can be inserted in the circular economy of this agri-food industry to create new promising products to be used in the food, feed an...

Olive seeds are promising industrial by‐products whose study acquires relevance both for valuing their biotechnological potential and for discriminating the origin and/or the edaphoclimatic conditions of olives. Herein, the fatty acid (FA) and triacylglycerol (TAG) profiles of total lipid extracts and neutral lipid fractions from olive seeds ( Olea...

Cationic derivatives of 5,10,15-tris[4-(pyridin-4-ylsulphanyl)-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl]-corrolategallium(III)pyridine and 5,10,15-tris[4-(pyridin-2-ylsulfanyl)-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl]-correlategallium(III)pyridine were synthesized and their photosensitizing properties against the naturally bioluminescent Gram-negative bacterium Allivibrio fisc...

Cationic derivatives of 5,10,15-tris[4-(pyridin-4-ylsulphanyl)-2,3,5,6 tetrafluorophenyl]-corrolategallium(III)pyridine and 5,10,15-tris[4-(pyridin 2-ylsulfanyl)-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl]-correlategallium(III)pyridine were synthesized and their photosensitizing properties against the naturally bioluminescent Gram-negative bacterium Allivibrio fisc...

As indústrias de produção de azeite e de azeitona de mesa descaroçada geram resíduos com impacto ambiental negativo. É cada vez mais importante gerir e valorizar os seus subprodutos, num contexto de economia circular, nomeadamente a semente, contida no caroço e constituinte do bagaço de azeitona. Deste modo, importa conhecer a composição química da...

Olive oil (OO) is a key component of the Mediterranean diet with many claimed health benefits, due to its richness in monounsaturated fatty acids and in minor bioactive components, among which phenolic compounds have been the most researched. Other minor components, as polar lipids (PL), have been poorly studied. Since they are present in parts per...

Gangliosides are acidic glycosphingolipids that are present in cell membranes and lipid raft domains, being particularly abundant in central nervous systems. They participate in modulating cell membrane properties, cell–cell recognition, cell regulation, and signaling. Disturbance in ganglioside metabolism has been correlated with the development o...

Eggs are one of the main foods eaten worldwide. Nutritionally they are one of the main sources of dietary lipids, impacting human health. Egg yolk lipid composition changes depending on different conditions associated with hens raising. Therefore, the purpose of our work was to use a lipidomic approach as a tool to evaluate if different diets (vege...

As sementes de azeitona são um subproduto importante da indústria alimentar, fonte de compostos bioativos valiosos, cujo potencial está subexplorado. Armazenam uma grande quantidade de óleo, com diversos compostos lipídicos. Os mais abundantes incluem triacilgliceróis (TAG) e ácidos gordos (AG) livres. Para além destes, existem componentes minoritá...

Plant lipidomics has been used mostly to identify changes in the composition of lipids, associated with plant development and metabolic pathways involved in stress responses. It may also be useful to identify potential biomarkers of traceability. In olives, major lipids as fatty acids and triacylglycerols, known as compositional markers, are frequ...

Background: Photodynamic inactivation of micro-organisms is a promising nonantibiotic multitarget approach to treat localized and superficial infections through oxidative stress. Herein, the changes occurring on major cellular components of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus warneri, induced by photosensitization with cationic porphyrins (Tri-Py(...

Olive oil is a key ingredient of the Mediterranean diet with recognized health benefits that is frequently subjected to adulteration. In such a complex matrix, the identification and selection of appropriate chemical biomarkers addressing traceability and identity is a major task. Besides major lipid components (fatty acids and triacylglycerols, co...

Biotechnological applications of marine macroalgae have gained new interest due the added-value of their chemical constituents. This is the case of glycerolipids, phospholipids and glycolipids that display several commercial applications in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. This study is the first report on the isolation and characteriz...

Embryogenesis is an important stage of marine invertebrates with bi-phasic life cycles, as it conditions their larval and adult life. Throughout embryogenesis, phospholipids (PL) play a key role as an energy source, as well as constituents of biological membranes. However, the dynamics of PL during embryogenesis in marine invertebrates is still poo...

Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) of bacteria has been extensively studied in recent years, proving to be a viable alternative to conventional antimicrobial agents for the treatment of superficial and localized infections. The research in ”non-clinical PDI” also has had great development, particularly owing to the huge development in the area of mate...

The improvement in mass spectrometry and chromatography technologies with high sensitivity and capability of high throughput analysis has brought new insights on the role of lipids in plant biochemistry at molecular and cellular levels. Lipids are major components of plant membranes playing key roles in the regulation of metabolism. Besides their s...

Chalcogenide glass electrode was applied to the detection of mercury(II) activity in the saline bromide buffers and artificial seawater at the activity levels corresponding to the acute toxicity. Mercury(II) toxicity in artificial seawater buffers and estuarine water was assessed using bioassay based on the luminescence of the marine bacterium A. f...

Oxidative stress induced by photodynamic treatment of microbial cells causes irreversible damages on vital cellular components such as proteins. Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) of bacteria, a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of superficial and localized skin and oral infections, can be achieved by exciting a photosensitizing agent w...

In this work, biosurfactant production by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain was optimized using low-cost substrates. The highest biosurfactant production (3.2g/l) was obtained using a culture medium containing corn steep liquor (10% (v/v)) and molasses (10% (w/v)). The biosurfactant reduced the surface tension of water up to 30mN/m, and exhibited a h...

Although the discovery of light-activated antimicrobial agents was reported in the 1900s, only more recently research work has been developed towards the use of photodynamic process as an alternative to more conventional methods of inactivation of micro(organisms). The photoprocess causes cell death through irreversible oxidative damage by reactive...

The emergence of microbial resistance is becoming a global problem in clinical and environmental areas. As such, the development of drugs with novel modes of action will be vital to meet the threats created by the rise in microbial resistance. Microbial photodynamic inactivation is receiving considerable attention for its potentialities as a new an...

The irreversible oxidation of biological molecules, such as lipids, can be achieved with a photosensitizing agent and subsequent exposure to light, in the presence of molecular oxygen. Although lipid peroxidation is an important toxicity mechanism in bacteria, the alterations caused by the photodynamic therapy on bacterial phospholipids are still u...

Photodynamic therapy combines visible light and a photosensitizer (PS) in the presence of molecular oxygen to generate reactive oxygen species able to modify biological structures such as phospholipids. Phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs), being major phospholipid constituents of mammalian cells and membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, are potential ta...

Rationale: The photodynamic process involves the combined use of light and a photosensitizer, which, in the presence of oxygen, originates cytotoxic species capable of oxidizing biological molecules, such as lipids. However, the effect of the photodynamic process in the bacterial phospholipid profile by a photosensitizer has never been reported. A...

Light output from bioluminescent microorganisms is a highly sensitive reporter of their metabolic activity and therefore can be used to monitor in real time the effects of antimicrobials. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is receiving considerable attention for its potentialities as a new antimicrobial treatment modality. This therapy combi...

Photodynamic therapy is a very promising approach to inactivate pathogenic microorganisms. The photodamage of cells involves reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are generated in situ by two main mechanisms (type I and/or type II). The mechanism responsible for the photoinactivation (PI) of a bioluminescent recombinant Escherichia coli, induced by t...

Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) combines light, a light-absorbing molecule that initiates a photochemical or photophysical reaction, and oxygen. The combined action of these three components originates reactive oxygen species that lead to microorganisms' destruction. The aim was to evaluate the efficiency of PACT on Vibrio fischeri:...

Cationic nanomagnet-porphyrin hybrids were synthesized and their photodynamic therapy capabilities were investigated against the Gram (-) Escherichia coli bacteria, the Gram (+) Enterococcus faecalis bacteria and T4-like phage. The synthesis, structural characterization, photophysical properties, and antimicrobial activity of these new materials ar...

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Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) has emerged in the clinical field as a potential alternative to antibiotics to treat microbial infections. No cases of microbial viability recovery or any resistance mechanisms against it are yet known. 5,10,15-tris(1-Methylpyridinium-4-yl)-20-(pentafluorophenyl)-porphyrin triiodide (Tri-Py⁺-Me-PF) was used...

Owing to the increasing importance of aquaculture to compensate for the progressive worldwide reduction of natural fish and to the fact that several fish farming plants often suffer from heavy financial losses due to the development of infections caused by microbial pathogens, including multidrug resistant bacteria, more environmentally-friendly st...

In this highlight an overview of the advances performed by the Aveiro group on the design and synthesis of tetrapyrrolic photosensitizers with potential photodynamic antimicrobial activity is presented.

In recent times photodynamic antimicrobial therapy has been used to efficiently destroy Gram (+) and Gram (-) bacteria using cationic porphyrins as photosensitizers. There is an increasing interest in this approach, namely in the search of photosensitizers with adequate structural features for an efficient photoinactivation process. In this study w...

A faster and simpler method to monitor the photoinactivation process of Escherichia coli involving the use of recombinant bioluminescent bacteria is described here. Escherichia coli cells were transformed with luxCDABE genes from the marine bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the recombinant bioluminescent indicator strain was used to asse...

Photodynamic therapy has been used to inactivate microorganisms through the use of targeted photosensitizers. Recently the inactivation of bacteria in residual waters has been reported, but nothing is known about photoinactivation of environmental bacteriophages, which are often used as indicators of human enteric viruses. In this study we tested t...