Department of Crop Plant Biology, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Br J Nutr. 2012 Jan;107(2):242-51. doi: 10.1017/S000711451100290X. Epub 2011 Jul 5.
Tomato fruit has assumed the status of 'functional food' due to the association between its consumption and a reduced likelihood of certain types of cancers and CVD. The nutraceutical value of tomatoes can be affected by the cultivation conditions, e.g. the phytochemical content of the fruits may increase with the establishment of beneficial mycorrhizal symbioses in the plants. A multidisciplinary study was carried out to gain knowledge on the antioxidant, oestrogenic/anti-oestrogenic and genotoxic activity of tomato fruits produced by mycorrhizal plants. The present results showed that the symbiosis positively affected the growth and mineral nutrient content of tomato plants and enhanced the nutritional and nutraceutical value of tomato fruits through modifications of plant secondary metabolism, which led to increased levels of lycopene in fruits obtained from mycorrhizal plants, compared with controls. Moreover, such changes did not result in the production of mutagenic compounds, since tomato extracts induced no in vitro genotoxic effects. Fruit extracts, both hydrophilic and the lipophilic fractions, originating from mycorrhizal plants strongly inhibited 17-β-oestradiol-human oestrogen receptor binding, showing significantly higher anti-oestrogenic power compared with controls. The present study shows that beneficial plant symbionts, such as mycorrhizal fungi, can lead to the production of safe and high-quality food, which is an important societal issue strongly demanded by both consumers and producers.
由于食用番茄与降低某些类型的癌症和心血管疾病风险之间的关联，番茄已被视为“功能性食品”。番茄的营养保健品价值可能会受到种植条件的影响，例如，随着植物中有益菌根共生关系的建立，果实中的植物化学物质含量可能会增加。本研究开展了一项多学科研究，旨在了解菌根植物生产的番茄果实的抗氧化、雌激素/抗雌激素和遗传毒性活性。目前的研究结果表明，共生关系可积极影响番茄植物的生长和矿物营养成分，并通过植物次生代谢的改变来提高番茄果实的营养价值和营养保健品价值，从而使来自菌根植物的番茄果实中的番茄红素水平增加，与对照相比。此外，这些变化并未导致产生诱变化合物，因为番茄提取物在体外没有引起遗传毒性作用。来自菌根植物的亲水和脂溶性部分的果实提取物强烈抑制了 17-β-雌二醇-人雌激素受体结合，与对照相比，显示出显著更高的抗雌激素活性。本研究表明，有益的植物共生体，如菌根真菌，可以生产安全且高质量的食品，这是消费者和生产者都强烈要求的重要社会问题。
