In Canada, there has been an increasing presence of and interest in natural health products (NHPs). While some of these products are deeply immersed in cultural heritage and have been used for decades, questions have emerged regarding the effectiveness, safety, and quality of these and other non-traditional NHPs. Some NHPs can cause adverse reactions when taken with other NHPs, prescription drugs, and even food; while others have been adulterated with contaminants. At the same time, Canadians are interested in health and wellness and are taking an active role in choosing products that may have a direct impact on their health. The Canadian government responded on January 1, 2004 by legislating the Natural Health Products Regulations (NHPR), whose main goal is to maintain the safety, efficacy, and quality of NHPs while allowing consumers to make an informed choice. The NHPR govern the sale, manufacture, packaging, labeling, importation, distribution and storage of NHPs; and provide regulations concerning licensing, good manufacturing practices, clinical trials, adverse reactions and health claims. The introduction of the NHPR is an innovative approach to regulating NHPs, but numerous challenges have emerged since its promulgation: processing backlogs of product licenses; classification and/or clarification of NHPs in food formats, of naturally-sourced prescription drugs, and of human-use antiseptic drugs; and knowledge dissemination of the safety hazards associated with non-licensed NHPs and previously licensed NHPs. This review outlines the regulation of NHPs in Canada and highlights some of the challenges and subsequent measures implemented to handle these issues.

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The optimum solution of consumer preference for color tone of commercial fresh cod roe samples has been estimated by applying multivaridate-spline (Kaseda, 2004) and regret function (Takayama et al., 2000) to color parameters [lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), and chroma (C*)]. Sensory evaluation was performed for 18 commercial fresh cod roe samples. Free amino acids in the samples were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The samples were also measured for surface color, moisture content, and sodium chloride content. Sweetness, color tone, sodium chloride content, and two other textural parameters in sensory evaluation were significant among the samples at the five percent level or less. The optimum solution of the surface color was found to be 45.22 in L*-value, 8.68 in a*-value, and 9.15 in b*-value. Further challenge is to investigate additional factors that influence individual consumer preference for color tone of fish roe products.

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α-Tocopherol complexed with β-cyclodextrin was prepared, and its suppressive effect on the oxidation of methyl linoleate was kinetically examined using the Weibull model. The rate constant, k, of the Weibull equation, for α-tocopherol oxidation of methyl linoleate was nearly equal to that observed with a mixture of α-tocopherol and β-cyclodextrin. Doubling the amount of α-tocopherol further reduced the k value, but the extent of the reduction was not large. All k values with the inclusion complex were lower than those without it. As the amount of free α-tocopherol only slightly affected the suppressive activity, the inclusion complexing of α-tocopherol with β-cyclodextrin contributes to lowering the k value. The suppressive effect of α-tocopherol complexed with β-cyclodextrin on methyl linoleate oxidation is due to the protection of α-tocopherol by its inclusion in β-cyclodextrin and the gradual release of α-tocopherol from the inclusion complex to the lipid phase.

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In this paper, effect of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on ‘Akemizu’ pear fruit was investigated to evaluate fruit quality, respiration rate, ethylene release rate, membrane lipid peroxidation and superficial scald at room temperature (25±2°C) for 20 d and at low temperature (4±1°C) for 72 d. The results showed that at two temperatures, 1-MCP treatment inhibited obviously the declines of fruit quality during storage, suppressed strongly respiration rates and delayed the ethylene peaks. Furthermore, compared with the control, lipoxidase (LOX) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents of 1-MCP-treated fruits appeared lower at two temperatures. The development of fruit superficial scald was alleviated to a great extent by 1-MCP or low temperature, and superficial scald could be completely inhibited under 1-MCP plus cold condition. The contents of α-farnesene and conjugated trienols in 1-MCP-treated or cold-treated fruits were significantly lower than in untreated fruits.

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The taste, as well as odor, of hindered phenols which are commonly used as antioxidants for olefin polymers of cup-type vending machine for beverages was investigated to identify the cause of the increasing unpleasant taste of beverages with free chlorine added in the source water for sterilization. The threshold concentration of solutions of mono- and di-substituted hindered phenols were confirmed to decrease due to free chlorine, while that of tri-substituted hindered phenols with substituents at the 2, 4, and 6 positions were not affected by free chlorine. The magnitude of the decrease in the threshold concentration depended on the number of free 2, 4, and 6 positions on the aromatic ring. The products formed by chlorination, oxidation, ring opening and dimerization of the hindered phenols were identified by GC/MS in the model reaction with free chlorine. Based on the threshold concentrations of some identified products, their effects on the increasing unpleasant taste were estimated.

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Major flavonoids contained in petals of edible chrysanthemum flowers (Chrysanthemum×morifolium Ramat. forma esculentum Makino, c.v Kotobuki) were identified, and their chemical compounds in relation to their radical scavenging activities and preventive effects against liver injury were compared. Based on retention times and UV spectra, three peaks on the HPLC chromatogram of the polyphenol fraction of edible chrysanthemum flowers confirmed the presence of luteolin 7-O-glucoside, apigenin 7-O-glucoside, and luteolin. Spectroscopic analysis determined the chemical structure of the three newly isolated compounds to be luteolin 7-O-(6''-O-malonyl)-glucoside, apigenin 7-O-(6''-O-malonyl)-glucoside, and acacetin 7-O-(6''-O-malonyl)-glucoside. Increases in plasma aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities in mice (induced with liver injury by injection of carbon tetrachloride) were strongly suppressed by oral administration of luteolin and luteolin 7-O-(6''-O-malonyl)-glucoside, which have stronger radical scavenging activity than other compounds. Thus, it is suggested that compounds with chemical structures such as luteolin and luteoin 7-O-glucoside, which have maolonic acid on its glucosyl moiety, appear to readily available for mitigation of liver injury.

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Six Japonica and three Indica rice samples were considered in this study. Total amino acid composition and protein digestibility were studied in relation to protein component while, amylose content, resistant and damaged starch were considered to assess starch characteristics. Results showed a comparable amino acid pattern and carbohydrate but different protein and starch digestibility. Due to the different botanical origin of samples, the amylose content raged between 15.5 and 25.2 g/100 g d. b. to whom corresponded a wide range of pasting temperatures determined by means of Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Principal Component Analysis, used to perform an exploratory data analysis, evidenced the contribution of some amino acids in recognising samples and this evidence could be usefully employed in breeding programs.

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In order to compare the thermal performances to evaluate suitability for frying, hazelnut oil (HNO), olive pomace oil (OPO), grapeseed oil (GSO) and sunflower oil (SSO) were heated for 5 h / 5 consecutive days at 175 ± 5 °C, and sampled at the end of each day. Free acidity, peroxide value, conjugated dienes, total polar materials, viscosity, and CIE color values were measured. Highest values of free acidity, conjugated dienes, total polar materials and viscosity were observed in grapeseed oil sample. GSO has reached to a very viscous state during the earlier hours of the operation; hence it is not suitable for frying. Better thermal performances have found with HNO and OPO when compared to the control oil, SSO. Therefore, both oils can alternatively be used as new frying oils effectively.

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Diets containing either dehulled adlay seeds or young adlay leaves were administered to mice. The hapten 2,4,6-trinitro-1-chlorobenzene (TNCB) was applied to the right ear of mice daily for 28 days to generate a model of chronic dermatitis. The thickness of the right ear was measured to evaluate the pathology of allergy. The symptoms of mice fed diet containing adlay leaves were reduced. The serum IgE levels of mice belonging to both adlay groups were significantly lower than the control group. The IFN-γ level of mice belonging to the adlay leaf group was significantly higher in these groups and the IL-4 levels of both adlay samples were lower than the control. These results strongly suggest that adlay leaves have anti-allergic effects similar to that seen with dehulled adlay seeds.

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The Kjeldahl method using copper catalysts for digestion was established as an analytical method for the determination of crude protein in macaroni products in the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS). An interlaboratory study was performed to evaluate this Kjeldahl method. Eleven participating laboratories independently analyzed five test materials (five pairs of blind duplicates) of macaroni products. After removal of statistical outliers, the repeatability (RSD_r) and reproducibility (RSD_R) of the evaluated methods were 0.25-0.59 % and 1.2-1.5 %, respectively. The HorRat values (RSD_R (%)/predicted RSD_R (%)) of the total nitrogen content were calculated to be at 0.32 to 0.43. This method was shown to have acceptable precision in this study.

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The overproduction of pigmentary melanin in the skin causes an undesirable cosmetic appearance. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the inhibitory effect of α-lipoic acid (LA) on melanogenesis using a three-dimensional human skin model with ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. It is evident that melanin biosynthesis in human skin cells was decreased by the treatment with LA under the concentration range from 0.01 to 0.1% (w/v) in a concentration-dependent fashion, reflecting no effect on cell viability.

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The effect of the ACE inhibitor nicotianamine (NA), from soybean broth (SB), on blood pressure was investigated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) upon single and long-term administration. The IC₅₀ value of NA from SB was 0.69 μmol/L. Single oral dose of NA (0.9 mg, 4.5 mg and 9.0 mg/kg body weight) decreased blood pressure 1 h after administration, and blood pressure returned to the control level 3 h after administration. Long-term oral dose of NA (0.9 mg and 4.5 mg/kg body weight) decreased blood pressure for 4 weeks after administration, while that of NA (9.0 mg/kg body weight) was decreased for the full 8-weeks feeding period. At 8 weeks after administration, serum NA content in SHR was determined by amino acid analyzer and revealed that NA was not detected in the blood of SHR (0.9 mg and 4.5 mg/kg body weight group), while 32.6 ± 7.3 μg/dL NA was detected in the 9.0 mg/kg body weight group. It was suggested that NA absorbed from the intestine decreased the systolic blood pressure (SBP) in SHR, and an appropriate NA level (9.0 mg/kg body weight group) may provide long-term antihypertensive effects upon administration.

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This work studies the effect of four drying methods, microwave-, oven-, freeze-and sun-drying on the parameters of antioxidant properties for Shiitake (Lentinus edodes): total phenolic content, total antioxidant capacity and DPPH scavenging activity. Freeze-drying Shiitake showed the highest activities in above three parameters. In addition, the optimum extraction condition (90°C, 40% ethanol and 1 h) of Shiitake was determined with orthogonal array design matrix using the total phenolic content as an indication. The results may be an economically interesting phytochemical source for the nutraceutical and functional food market.

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Okinawa is an isolated island prefecture of Japan and is known for the longest life expectancy and low disability rate. We therefore focused on the effects of traditional Okinawan fruits Citrus depressa and Annona atemoya consumed by the Okinawan population. Repeated oral administration of ethanol extracts of C. depressa and A. atemoya potently lowered the plasma triglyceride (TG) concentrations of KKAy mice fed a moderately high fat diet for 4 weeks. Since diet intake and body weight were not reduced following administration of the C. depressa extract, TG absorption from the intestine is unlikely inhibited by this extract. Our previous study showed that the A. atemoya extract possesses a potent inhibitory effect on adipogenesis of 3T3 adipocytes. Thus, reduced fatty acid mobilization from the adipose tissue by the A. atemoya extract may result in the reduction in TG synthesis in the liver. This is the first report on the hypolipidemic effects of C. depressa and A. atemoya. Their extracts of these fruits are expected to be useful for the prevention of life style-related diseases.

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