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The Role of Alternative and Innovative Food Ingredients and Products in Consumer Wellness Charis M. Galanakis

The Role of Alternative and Innovative Food Ingredients and Products in Consumer Wellness Charis M. Galanakis The Role of Alternative and Innovative Food Ingredients and Products in Consumer Wellness Charis M. Galanakis The Role of Alternative and Innovative Food Ingredients and Products in Consumer Wellness Charis M. Galanakis

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THE ROLE OF ALTERNATIVE AND INNOVATIVE FOOD INGREDIENTS AND PRODUCTS IN CONSUMER WELLNESS
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THE ROLE OF ALTERNATIVE AND INNOVATIVE FOOD INGREDIENTS AND PRODUCTS IN CONSUMER WELLNESS Edited by CHARIS M. GALANAKIS
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom 525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States 50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions. This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein). Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-12-816453-2 For information on all Academic Press publications visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals Publisher: Charlotte Cockle Acquisition Editor: Megan Ball Editorial Project Manager: Susan Ikeda Production Project Manager: Vignesh Tamil Cover Designer: Greg Harris Typeset by SPi Global, India
Contents Contributors ix Preface xiii 1. Wellness ingredients and functional foods 1 M.E. Romero, M.T. Toro, F. Noriega, M.D. Lopez 1. Introduction to relationship between bioactive components and health benefits 1 2. Functional foods and degenerative or chronic disease 6 3. Bioactive compounds from vegetable and animal sources 12 4. Scientific standards for evaluating functional food claims, regulation, preclinical and clinical studies 18 5. Conclusion 25 References 25 2. Fruit-based functional food 35 Ming Cai 1. Introduction 35 2. Active ingredients in fruits 36 3. Advanced techniques for active ingredients extraction 58 4. Current products of fruit-based functional food 62 5. Current understanding and future trends 63 References 64 3. The concept of superfoods in diet 73 Z. Tacer-Caba 1. Introduction 73 2. General health benefits related to superfoods 75 3. Superdiets 78 4. Some superfoods 80 5. Conclusion 94 References 94 4. Microalgae as healthy ingredients for functional foods 103 M.C. Pina-P erez, W.M. Br€ uck, T. Br€ uck, M. Beyrer 1. Introduction 103 2. Bioactives from microalgae 111 v
3. Functional foods for the future based in microalgae 127 4. Future trends 130 Acknowledgments 131 References 131 Further reading 137 5. Edible insects and related products 139 Mariana Petkova 1. Introduction 139 2. Alternative sources of protein as human food and animal feed 140 3. Insects as alternative food and feed 142 4. Terminology 148 5. Taxonomy—Species and related products 151 6. Nutritional aspects of insects as food and feed 153 References 157 Further reading 165 6. Low glycemic index ingredients and modified starches in food products 167 Adriana Skendi, Maria Papageorgiou 1. Glycemic index and starch 167 2. Cereal ingredients with low GI 170 3. Low GI raw materials of alternative botanical origin 173 4. Starch modification for the food industry 174 5. Food processing 182 6. Development of gluten-free products with low GI 186 7. Conclusions 187 References 187 Further reading 195 7. Products based on omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and health effects 197 İlknur Uçak, Mustafa € Oz, Sajid Maqsood 1. Introduction 197 2. Role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in human health 198 3. Guidelines for ω-3 fatty acid intake 201 4. Production of ω-3 fatty acids from fish 202 5. Conclusion 208 References 208 Further reading 212 vi Contents
8. Gluten-free products 213 Georgia Zoumpopoulou, Effie Tsakalidou 1. Introduction 213 2. Nutritional aspects of gluten-free products 220 3. Formulation aspects of gluten-free products 222 4. Ingredients and additives in gluten-free products 223 5. Recent developments in gluten-free food production 228 6. Conclusions 231 References 231 9. Food industry processing by-products in foods 239 I. Mateos-Aparicio, A. Matias 1. Food by-products 239 2. Valorization of by-products 243 3. Functional ingredients and bioactives from by-products 248 4. By-products for nutritional and functional improvement of foods 258 5. Concluding remarks 274 References 274 Further reading 280 10. Pro and prebiotics foods that modulate human health 283 Oana Lelia Pop, Sonia Ancuța Socaci, Ramona Suharoschi, Dan Cristian Vodnar 1. Introduction 283 2. Probiotics 284 3. Prebiotics 287 4. Symbiosis 289 5. Probiotics and prebiotics—Human health modulation 289 6. Therapeutic foods—Pro and prebiotics 293 7. Engineering probiotics for treatment of human metabolic and infectious diseases 302 8. Human health modulation 303 9. Perspectives 306 10. Conclusions 307 References 308 11. Production and recovery of bioaromas synthesized by microorganisms 315 Gilberto V. de Melo Pereira, Adriane B.P. Medeiros, Marcela C. Camara, Antonio I. Magalhães Júnior, Dão P. de Carvalho Neto, Mario C.J. Bier, Carlos R. Soccol 1. Introduction 315 2. Bioaromas 316 vii Contents
3. Economic aspects 316 4. Production of bioflavors by de novo synthesis 324 5. Sustainable developments 325 6. Production of flavors by biotransformation 326 7. Bioaroma recovery 328 8. Formulation and product development 330 9. Conclusion 331 References 331 Further reading 338 Index 339 viii Contents
Contributors M. Beyrer Institute of Life Technologies, HES-SO VALAIS-WALLIS, Sion, Switzerland Mario C.J. Bier Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil W.M. Br€ uck Institute of Life Technologies, HES-SO VALAIS-WALLIS, Sion, Switzerland T. Br€ uck Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany Ming Cai Department of Food Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China Marcela C. Camara Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil Dão P. de Carvalho Neto Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil Gilberto V. de Melo Pereira Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil M.D. Lopez Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Antonio I. Magalhães Júnior Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil Sajid Maqsood United Arab Emirate University, Food Science Department, College of Food and Agriculture, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates I. Mateos-Aparicio Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain ix
A. Matias iBET, Nutraceuticals and Bioactives Process Technology Lab., Oeiras, Portugal Adriane B.P. Medeiros Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil F. Noriega Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Mustafa € Oz Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkey Maria Papageorgiou Department of Food Technology, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Mariana Petkova Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, Institute of Animal Science, Kostinbrod, Bulgaria M.C. Pina-P erez Institute of Life Technologies, HES-SO VALAIS-WALLIS, Sion, Switzerland Oana Lelia Pop Department of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania M.E. Romero Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Adriana Skendi Department of Oenology and Beverage Technology, School of Agricultural Technology, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, Kavala; Department of Food Technology, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Sonia Ancuţa Socaci Department of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Carlos R. Soccol Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil x Contributors
Ramona Suharoschi Department of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Z. Tacer-Caba Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland M.T. Toro Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Effie Tsakalidou Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece İlknur Uçak Niğde € Omer Halisdemir University, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies, Niğde, Turkey Dan Cristian Vodnar Department of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Georgia Zoumpopoulou Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece xi Contributors
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Preface Incorporating new ingredients with traditional products is important to food industries who are always looking to attract consumers with healthier and value added foods. Indeed, the fortification of foods with components and ingredients owning technological and/or nutritional properties has attracted attention over recent years and is nowadays the new trend. Functional foods, superfoods, tailor-made foods, and other products are generated by manufacturing typical or traditional food products with ingredients that modify their properties (e.g., by binding, modifying structure or interface, etc.) or enable them to provide health benefits for consumers. However, with the recent advances in food processing (e.g., nonthermal technolo- gies, modern encapsulation techniques, food waste recovery, etc.) and the continuously higher demands of consumers for wellness, new developments and state-of-the-art advances have been made in the field. In line with this, modern food scientists, technol- ogists, and nutritionists are often involved with development of alternative products and functional foods, and thereby more integral information is needed in order to satisfy the urgent needs of consumers. Over the last 5 years, the Food Waste Recovery Group (www.foodwasterecovery. group) of ISEKI Food Association has organized a series of activities (webinars, work- shops, e-course, etc.) and published handbooks dealing with sustainable food systems, innovations in the food industry and traditional foods, food waste recovery, and nonther- mal processing, as well as targeting functional compounds such as polyphenols. Following these efforts, this book fills the existing gap in the literature by studying the incorporation of innovative food ingredients in new food products and revealing their role in consumer wellness. The ultimate goal is to support the scientific community, professionals, and businesses, as well as to promote innovative ideas in the food market. The book consists of 11 Chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of bioactive com- pounds, how they are related to health and how they work on chronic disorders, as well as in degenerative diseases, by reporting in vitro tests, experiments in animal models, and clinical studies. In addition, it highlights the crucial role of natural bioactives by present- ing claims and regulations about functional food worldwide. Fruit-based functional foods, which are very attractive for consumers’ health promotion and disease prevention, are discussed in Chapter 2. Phenolic compounds, dietary fiber, essential oils and terpe- noids, and vitamins are the main active ingredients in fruits, and these ingredients are popular as additives into some conventional foods like juices, drinks, smoothies, snacks, yoghurt, and bread. xiii
Chapter 3 aims to provide a better understanding of superfoods, with different perspectives and their relation with superdiets, in addition to summarizing the health benefits of some commonly studied superfoods such as goji, camu-camu, quinoa, chia seeds, flaxseeds, maqui, açaı́, pomegranate, mangosteen, cocoa, and spirulina on the basis of some recent scientific evidence. Chapter 4 provides a complete overview of the scientific knowledge compiled to date regarding microalgae production and composition, and looks at their important place in bioactives to be used as healthy ingredients and development of functional foods. Chapter 5 discusses the state-of-the-art on the usage of edible insects and related products as food and feed, their potential as alternative food, and different aspects of their utiliza- tion. It focuses on the recent (last 5 years) findings of insects’ benefits and properties for human and animal health, nutrition, and wellness. In Chapter 6, the effects of low glycemic index ingredients and modified starches on cereal-based food systems are reviewed, denoting their important role in preventing a wide range of health disorders. In Chapter 7, sources and benefits of ω-3 PUFAs on human health and the extraction methods of omega-3 fatty acids are discussed, whereas Chapter 8 introduces the concept of gluten-free food production in relation to the current gluten-free product market and labeling regulations, worldwide. The need to improve the quality of gluten-free products, highlighting both nutritional and formula- tions aspects is also examined. In this context, a comprehensive overview of various tech- niques applied in the production of gluten-free foods for combating the commonly encountered problems related to the elimination of gluten is provided. In another approach, by-products and wastes are considered as a possible source of functional compounds, such as dietary fiber, which can be used to develop dietary sup- plements, for addition into low-in-fiber food products and for designing new functional foods. The recovery of functional ingredients for incorporation into new food products to improve their nutritional composition and/or functionality is the subject of Chapter 9. Chapter 10 focuses on the evidence base regarding the effects pro- and prebiotics on human health and the bioavailability of these functional elements in functional food. Probiotics have numerous important and functional effects, such as the production of valuable nutrients for their host, preventing multiplication of pathogens, modulating the immune system, complementing the function of missed digestive enzymes, and so on. Finally, Chapter 11 provides an overview of biotechnological approaches for the production of aromatic compounds using microorganisms, describing how these biopro- cesses can contribute to a sustainable production of bioaromas in the food industry. This book addresses food scientists, food technologists, food chemists, and nutrition researchers working with food applications and food processing, as well as those product developers who are interested in the development of innovative products and functional foods. It could be used by university libraries and Institutes all around the world as a text- book and/or ancillary reading in undergraduate and postgraduate level multidiscipline xiv Preface
courses dealing with nutritional chemistry, and food science and technology. It specif- ically concerns new product development scientists and managers who want to know about the quality of new commercial foods and how new products can be developed. At this point, I would like to thank all the authors for their participation in this col- laborative project that brought together alternative food ingredients and food products and discussed their role in consumer wellness. The acceptance of my invitation, editorial guidelines, and timeline are highly appreciated. I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with so many experts from Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Finland, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. I would also like to thank the acquisition editors Megan Ball and Nina Bandeira, the book manager Susan Ikeda, as well as Elsevier’s production team for their help during the editing and publishing process. Last but not least, a message for all the readers. This kind of cooperative project of hundreds of thousands of words may always contain errors and gaps. Thereby, instructive comments or even criticism are, and always will be, welcome. In that case, please do not hesitate to contact me in order to discuss any issues regarding this book. Charis M. Galanakis Food Waste Recovery Group ISEKI Food Association Vienna, Austria Research Innovation Department Galanakis Laboratories Chania, Greece xv Preface
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CHAPTER 1 Wellness ingredients and functional foods M.E. Romero, M.T. Toro, F. Noriega, M.D. Lopez Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Contents 1. Introduction to relationship between bioactive components and health benefits 1 1.1 General considerations of bioactive compounds 1 1.2 The role of bioactive compounds in society 2 1.3 Diversity of bioactive compounds: general vision 3 1.4 Bioactive compounds present in food and their relation to the state of health and disease 5 2. Functional foods and degenerative or chronic disease 6 2.1 Importance of functional food in obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases 7 2.2 Functional food and neurodegenerative diseases 9 2.3 Functional food related to cancer 10 3. Bioactive compounds from vegetable and animal sources 12 3.1 Bioactive compounds from plant sources 13 3.2 Bioactive compounds from animal sources 17 4. Scientific standards for evaluating functional food claims, regulation, preclinical and clinical studies 18 4.1 Functional foods policy and regulations 20 5. Conclusion 25 References 25 1. Introduction to relationship between bioactive components and health benefits 1.1 General considerations of bioactive compounds During the last century, knowledge about food, nutrition, and health matters has seen important advances based on studies of composition, epidemiological studies (analytical, descriptive and ecological), analytical models, and experimental, statistical, and laboratory studies to determine biological activities. These advances have contributed to the iden- tification of certain components (bioactive: phytochemical or zoochemical, as well as synthetic products) of the diet as potential factors for the prevention of pathological pro- cesses and have encouraged intervention studies with isolated bioactive compounds in order to prove their effectiveness (Aguilera et al., 2010). 1 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness © 2019 Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816453-2.00001-2 All rights reserved.
A bioactive component of a food is one that provides a health benefit beyond basic nutrition. These components are generally found in small quantities in products of vegetable or animal origin, but differ from nutrients because the bioactive components are not essential and there is no precise information about daily intake values for these compounds yet (Gibney et al., 2009). It should be considered that new food or dietary supplement may differ significantly from an existing product by the presence or concentration of additional bioactive com- pounds. The biological activity of naturally derived bioactive compounds as synthetic products seems not to present any difference in their action, although there are a few examples where naturally derived nutraceuticals have a distinctly different biological activity from synthetic ones: vitamin E-D-α-tocopherol in natural form is around 1.36 whereas the synthetic one, DL-α-tocopherol, has a lower activity (around 1.0). The explanation for this difference is in transfer and transport within very LDL/LDL (Biesalski et al., 2009). Another compound, β-carotene, shows strong differences in the isomeric pattern when it is extracted from natural sources. In contrast, synthetic β-carotene has a clearer and constant pattern. The conclusion that the differences in isomeric patterns is of biological importance is still not confirmed (Biesalski et al., 2009); however, only natural products are discussed in this chapter, leaving the synthetic compounds out. 1.2 The role of bioactive compounds in society Plants or animal sources have been used in folklore traditions in different countries around the world for treating many diseases. However, with some exceptions, this infor- mation has not been properly studied or tested. Nutrition-related health concerns have focused attention on nutrients and beneficial compounds that can improve health conditions. On the other hand, lack or excess of nutrients and bioactive compounds can cause health problems. Social conditions such as poverty can lead to malnutrition, due to lack of food (energy or specific nutrients). However, lack of knowledge and availability of cheap foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt, are causing obesity, as well as specific deficiencies like insufficiency of vitamin D (Tulchinsky and Varavikova, 2000). The average intake of a micronutrient depends on its availability in dietary sources, which may differ due to specific traditions or access in different countries. Special considerations are required regarding phytochemicals, which are neither usually present in the traditional diet, nor do analyses or biomarkers exist (e.g., extracts from green tea, seaweed, etc.). In these special cases, an average intake range cal- culated from traditional diets could be useful. This is based on the assumption that human beings have adapted to a variable input range of nutrients in a long period. If the admis- sion range is not exceeded for any significant period, this adaptation ensures an adequate metabolism in healthy people. However, in instances where nutrients belong to a 2 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
traditional diet of a special group, in the short term, an adaptation may have occurred that is not present in other groups (Biesalski et al., 2009). Use of bioactive compounds in the diet to improve health status, or to reduce the risk of chronic diseases with a higher incidence in developed countries, are increasing. In fact, studies are mainly focused on the aging of the population and the budding prevalence of certain chronic diseases. Among the proposals to face these challenges are functional foods as one of the anchoring points in reducing the risk of pathologies and maintaining good health (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 2015). 1.3 Diversity of bioactive compounds: General vision The bioactive compounds in foods are numerous, chemically diverse, and occur naturally in small amounts in plants and fruits (Kris-Etherton et al., 2002) and also other organisms (either of land or marine origin). In fact, nature offers us a wide range of sources to search for bioactive compounds, whether in plants, terrestrial animals, marine sources, fungi, algae, or bacteria. Plants are still the favorite source in terms of finding new compounds, since they biosynthesize many secondary metabolites with functions not yet studied; nev- ertheless, the search is increasingly being extended into other, nonvegetable sources. Summarizing, the diversity of bioactive compounds of natural products can be classified, generally, with a prebiotic or microbial origin, as from plants or animal sources (Nakanishi, 1999). Plants and microorganisms, such as fungi and bacteria, have proven to be an excellent source of novel natural products, including peptide antibiotics, poly- ketides, and several other bioactive compounds (O’Keefe, 2001). Some of the microbial metabolites are used as antineoplastic agents, antimicrobial agents, and bioinsecticides (Demain, 1998). Likewise, the marine environment is a rich source of natural bioactive compounds, as more than 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by oceans (Faulkner, 1998; Wright et al., 2001). As indicated above, many of the bioactive compounds include structurally varied sec- ondary metabolites like mycotoxins, alkaloids, growth factors in plants, phenolic com- pounds, lignans, salicylates, stanols, sterols, and glycosinolates, among others. (Hooper and Cassidy, 2006; Singh et al., 2009). The phenolic compounds include flavonoids, phytoestrogens, sulfur compounds, monoterpenes, and bioactive peptides. Plants have a high content of phenolic compounds that are considered an excellent source for ther- apeutic, nutritional, and phytochemical applications. This is due to their allelopathic, antifungal, bactericidal (Pandey, 2009), antioxidant (Kim et al., 2004), and antiinflamma- tory properties (Vincent et al., 2010), ability to regulate lipid profile alterations (Wang et al., 2011), and antitumor, nutritional, antiaging (Nile and Park, 2014), and antiobesity effects (Herrera Chal e et al., 2014). In addition to the beneficial properties for human health, phytochemicals are responsible for color, taste, and smell (Miglio et al., 2008) (Fig. 1). 3 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
The content of bioactive compounds in plants is influenced by the type of crop, vari- ety, environmental conditions, location, phenology, ripeness, processing, and storage (Bj€ orkman et al., 2011), as well as cultural practices, the addition of nitrogen, and irri- gation (Pennington and Fisher, 2010). Compounds from other sources are also influ- enced by environmental conditions, location, or genetic factors. Fig. 1 Chemical structure of some phytochemicals from plants. 4 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
1.4 Bioactive compounds present in food and their relation to the state of health and disease Mechanisms of action in diverse compounds, especially those related to reducing the risk of disease in human beings, are not fully understood. Some act as antioxidants, while others stimulate defense mechanisms improving responses to oxidative stress, preventing widespread damage, or repairing DNA damage (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 2015). Epidemiological studies have observed a constant association between the consump- tion of diets rich in fruits and vegetables and a lower risk of chronic diseases such as CVD, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cataracts, and functional impairment related to age (Liu, 2013). Diets that contain a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and plant-based foods such as olive oil and wine, are rich in phytochemicals, fiber, and antioxidants. This provides different nutrients and a range of bioactive compounds that include vitamins (vitamin C, folic acid, and provitamin A), minerals (potassium, calcium, and magnesium), phytochemicals (flavonoids, phenolic acids, alkaloids, and carotenoids) and fibers (Rajaram, 2003). The additional benefits derived from increasing plant-based food consumption include better control of diabetes and a lower risk of obesity, due to the high fiber content and low calories provided by a balanced diet. Although fruits and vegetables represent only between 5% and 10% of the total calories consumed, they contribute significantly to overall health. Scientists have chosen groups of fruits and vegetables associated with specific health benefits. For example, cruciferous vegetables, alliums, and tomatoes are related to a lower risk of certain cancers (Steinmetz and Potter, 1996), while tea, onions, and apples are associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease (Hertog et al., 1993). Some examples for bioactive compounds and their involvement in nonmetabolic diseases are polyketides (e.g., Picromycin or sporostatin), secondary metabolites from bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. Similarly, chevalierin-A45, a cyclicpeptide isolated from Jatropha chevalieri, was found to possess antimalarial qualities whereas quinine, isolated from the Cinchona bark, is one of the earliest natural compounds against malaria (Faulkner, 1998) (Fig. 2). Fig. 2 Chemical structure of picromycin, sporostatin and quinine. 5 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
2. Functional foods and degenerative or chronic disease Neurodegenerative diseases are mostly age-related and irreversible diseases characterized by learning deficit, memory loss, cognitive decline, and behavioral disturbances (Auld et al., 2002). Likewise, chronic conditions are noninfectious, long duration, slow pro- gression disorders, like cardiovascular disease, dementia, osteoporosis, and diabetes (Asgary et al., 2018). Lifestyle factors, including nutrition, play an important role in prevention and treatment, since bioactive compounds can decrease the risk of many degenerative and chronic diseases and have some physiological advantages. The active components from plant or animal sources are capable of reducing the risk of heart disease, focusing mainly on the established risk factors such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, excessive weight or obesity, high level of lipoprotein A, lipoprotein choles- terol (LDL-C), and high levels of inflammatory markers (Asgary et al., 2018). Consumption of a healthy diet, enriched mainly by fruits and vegetables, is linked with abetterlifestyle.Thelackorlowconsumptionoffruitandvegetablesleadtoanimbalanced metabolism that is considered in the top 10 risk factors for mortality in the world (World Health Organization, 2014). Nevertheless, it should not require the mortality index to inspire people to have a good way of life and avoid chronic and degenerative diseases. In humans, the pathogenesis of many diseases has been associated with oxidative stress and, consequently, the use and consumption of antioxidants is studied intensively. The regular aerobic cellular metabolism generates free radicals as a normal process and the built-in antioxidant system of the human body has a crucial function in controlling these radicals (Cadet and Davies, 2017). An imbalanced diet leads to a serious problems, whether from an intrinsic regulation problem (overproduction) or incorporation of free radicals from external factors (environment). An imbalanced metabolism and the toxicity of free radicals cause DNA injury (Shafirovich and Geacintov, 2017), structural and functional alterations of proteins, inflammation, tissue damage, and subsequent cellular apoptosis. Thus, a range of disor- ders appears, such as chronic diseases (Lee et al., 2010), degeneration accompanied by an array of atherosclerotic processes (Reverri et al., 2014), and neurodegenerative diseases (Spagnuolo et al., 2018). In the early stages of adulthood, probably, people do not feel any fear of diseases, lead- ing to the neglect of health and the lack of prevention and education for awareness. Pre- paring our body to live healthy in 20 or 30years’ time is the new trend; thus, the drive to understand how functional food could assist with this. Some bioactive compounds with antioxidant capacity contribute to more than 90% of all processes by increasing and/or improving the speed of a reaction to stress stimuli that generate free radicals. They are now being looked upon as effective therapeutic to prevent cancer (Thibado et al., 2018), reduce diabetes (Tsuda, 2016), against solemn neuronal loss (Rocha-Parra et al., 2018). Hence, fruits are a major source of antioxidants, as are medicinal herbs, and both are receiving attention as a possible commercial source of antioxidants. 6 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
Thus, a balanced diet with a diversity of nutritive compounds (vitamins and minerals, along with nonnutritive, bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, anthocyanins, and phenolic acids) has received increasing attention worldwide. The idea is to foster the consumption either of foods with bioactive compounds or functional foods, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes (Keaney et al., 2003). These compounds exert a synergistic and cumulative effect on human health promotion and in disease prevention. 2.1 Importance of functional food in obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases For certain diseases, animal sources, mainly of marine origin, have long been associated with cardiovascular protection since they are rich in acids such as omega 3 or omega 6 and, historically, these two compounds have been administrated to vulnerable groups of older adults and children who are overweight or have functional disorders (Kiecolt- Glaser et al., 2012). In fact, it is not only marine derivatives that have been part of the diet for their functional contribution; others, such as fruit, perhaps prepared as compotes, have traditionally been recommended for their protein contribution especially for infants and the pregnant. A few years ago, phytochemicals were the focus of study, mainly due to compounds with antioxidant properties. Recent studies show that some bioactive compounds that are found in foods exert their cardioprotective effects mainly at the level of the blood lipid profile and improve the control of hypertension, endothelial function, platelet aggregation, and antioxidant actions (Reshef et al., 2017). Clinical and epidemiological observations indicate that vegetables, fruit fiber, nuts, seeds, along with seafood, coffee, tea, and dark chocolate have a cardioprotective potential in humans. Similarly, integral products that contain intact fiber-rich grains and nutrients have shown to be effective as regulators of blood pressure (Del Gobbo et al., 2015). All those mentioned above are nutritionally more important because they contain photoprotective substances that could work synergistically to reduce cardiovascular risk. There are numerous studies examining polyphenols activity that demonstrate the relationship between imbalanced diet and cardiovascular diseases or metabolic syndromes like obesity and diabetes. Obesity is a metabolic syndrome that also could be associated with insulin resistance and settled by a chronic inflammatory state established in adipose tissue (Olusi, 2002). Similarly, researchers have analyzed diabetes as a consequence of an imbalanced diet and how phenolic compounds could help to reduce risks and dysfunctionalities caused by this metabolic disease (Tsuda, 2016). Oxidative processes are involved with the pathogenesis, progression, complications, and poor prognosis of diabetes mellitus. The overproduction of reactive oxygen species produced by the increased activity of the electron transport chain, the autoxidation of glucose, the sorbitol pathway, the glycation of proteins, the advanced glycation products, the excessive expenditure of reduced cofactors, in addition to the reduction of antiox- idant defenses, the redox capacity of the cell and the antioxidant buffering capacity, all generate a pro-oxidant state that conditions the oxidative damage to proteins, lipids, 7 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
nucleic acids and carbohydrates. This can contribute in different ways to the develop- ment of the different manifestations of the diabetic patient’s disease (Salinas et al., 2013). The possible mechanisms of protection through a diet rich in phytochemicals include the decrease of cardiovascular disease precursors, the reduction of oxidative stress, inflam- mation (Sánchez-Moreno et al., 2000) and the preservation of vascular function (Esposito et al., 2004a; Esposito et al., 2004b), as well as a lower incidence of obesity. Obesity is considered a state of stress and chronic oxidative inflammation (Davı́ et al., 2002; Esposito et al., 2004a; Keaney et al., 2003; Olusi, 2002). Obese people consume fewer fruits, veg- etables and other nutrient-rich foods compared to their normal-weight counterparts. Low dietary patterns in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, and lean meats are asso- ciated with weight gain and larger waist circumferences (He et al., 2004; Ledikwe et al., 2004), as well as inflammation. The inflammation in obesity is reflected in the elevations of several interleukins in the blood (Davı́ et al., 2002). The low intake of phytochemicals or bioactive compounds is probably associated with weight gain and increased oxidative stress and inflammation. Berries present molecular mechanisms focused on prevention and treatment of chronical disorders. Scientists have been studying the use of berries as antiobesity and antidiabetes resources. The biological activity of compounds like quercetin associated with antiinflammatory benefits has achieved twice the reaction as that of traditional med- icine. This compound, present in onions, some berries, and seeds has been tested in cel- lular and animal models as well as in humans (Lesjak et al., 2018). The method, based on measurement of compounds derived from the biosynthesis of eicosanoids upon inflam- mation mediators (arachidonic acid-AA) showed, as a result, an efficient inhibition of AA metabolism on COX 1, 2, and LOX pathways and production of eicosanoids (mediators of inflammation). Observational and clinical studies suggest that flavonoids provide cardioprotective benefits through inhibition of platelet aggregation, decreased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and improvements in endothelial function and, likewise, bring favorable effects on blood lipids, decrease inflammation, and reduce blood pressure, supporting the rec- ommendation to incorporate flavonoid-rich products into a heart-healthy diet (Wightman and Heuberger, 2015). An additional choice for cardiometabolic problems comes from encapsulated bio- active ingredients (prebiotics and probiotics). In vitro and in vivo studies suggest that removing free radicals in the body, protection of DNA, regulation of cellular metab- olism, and apoptosis by the use of phenolic compounds into a matrix could ensure both the delivering of probiotics and health benefits (Gbassi and Vandamme, 2012). The new strategies to combat cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders highlight prevention being as important as treatment. Thus, ensuring the reliability and accuracy of the efficacy of functional food, together with the study of the physiological 8 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
function of these phytochemical compounds, need to be strengthened further (Yang et al., 2017). 2.2 Functional food and neurodegenerative diseases It has been reported that neuronal decline and brain deterioration are a consequence of bad sleep habits, inadequate nutrition, and lack of exercise, as well as oxidative stress caused by the consumption of cigarettes and alcohol. Aging is an extra cause of neuro- degenerative diseases and environmental contaminants can also lead to increase as much the oxidative stress in the brain as neurodegeneration (Spagnuolo et al., 2018). The most common mental disorders include Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ataxia, Huntington’s dis- ease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dementia, and spinal muscular atrophy, among others. Specialists are primarily concerned with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s because of the high incidence at present. Antioxidants have been studied for their effectiveness in reducing these deleterious effects and neuronal death in many in vitro and in vivo studies (Sabogal-Guáqueta et al., 2015). Oxidative stress can induce neuronal damage and modulate intracellular sig- naling, ultimately leading to neuronal death by apoptosis or necrosis. Studies reveal that other mechanisms than antioxidant activities could be involved in the neuroprotective effect of these phenolic compounds (Hwang et al., 2017). The importance of food consumption in relation to human health has increased consumer’s attention regarding nutraceutical components and functional food (Sarkar and Shetty, 2014). Nonetheless, compounds of plant origin have been tested more than those of animal origin as a potential for human health because of a wide vari- ety of bioactive compounds that plants produce. Flavonoids, phenolics, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, stilbenes, and tannins are examples of bioactive compounds produced by plants. Antioxidant, anticancer, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, and anti- neurodegenerative properties have been analyzed by both in vitro and in vivo assays (Nile and Park, 2014). The role of antioxidants in neurodegenerative diseases has a wide scope to sequester metal ions involved in neuronal plaque formation to prevent oxidative stress (Spagnuolo et al., 2018). In vitro assays in clinical trials have proven and documen- ted health benefits for the prevention, management, and treatment of chronic disease (Baptista et al., 2014). Due to the high percentage of adults suffering from degeneration on cognitive and communicative skills, considerable research has demonstrated the importance of func- tional food and some wellness ingredients on neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer’s. Antioxidant therapy is crucial in scavenging free radicals and ROS prevent- ing neuronal degeneration in a postoxidative stress situation (Rocha-Parra et al., 2018). 9 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
The evidence-based trials which have been properly reported in the literature as well as relating to intact species and not ex vivo as in cell culture. For elderly people, exploratory analyses have been supported in order to achieve a reduction in the inci- dence of Alzheimer’s (Chai et al., 2016). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are used to treat neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease (Meilán and Guti errez, 2017) and Parkinson’s (Khan, 2016), and it has been suggested that some plant-derived dietary agents like functional foods often seem to be a panacea for treating all ailments. Due to this, studies in preventive treatment have been considered a priority. Some examples for neurological problems report the use of Padina gymnospora (Balakhrisna—IF) with 150μg/mL. The effectiveness in reducing deleterious effects and neuronal death have been assayed in several in vitro and in vivo studies (Mathew and Subramanian, 2014). Several compounds have been tested against degenerative diseases: vitamins A, B, C, and E, carotenoids, some quinones, and nearly all polyphenols (Dixon and Pasinetti, 2010). Resveratrol, silymarin, and quercetin highlight between polyphenols. These three compounds have the capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier, which facilitates and improves their protective action at the neuronal, cognitive, and memory levels. Regard- ing resveratrol, some epidemiological studies suggest fruits rich in resveratrol are associ- ated with the reduction of risk of dementia (Pasinetti et al., 2015). Silymarin can be useful in the treatment and prevention of some neurodegenerative and neurotoxic processes (Kumar et al., 2015). This compound can increase the concentration of certain neuro- transmitters in the brain. The dose of 200mg/kg/day reduced the protein oxidation in the hippocampus and bark of rats in old age (Karimi et al., 2011). At the brain level, it has been shown that treatment with silymarin decreases lipid peroxidation, because it acti- vates and induces an increase in the levels of antioxidant defense systems (such as the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, ascorbic acid, and the enzyme superoxide dismutase) (Nencini et al., 2007). Finally, quercetin, one of the flavonoids with greater antioxidant activity, is able to inhibit lipid peroxidation (activating and increasing the levels of endog- enous antioxidants, such as the enzyme glutathione S-transferase). At the brain level, quercetin is capable of reversing aging and cognitive dysfunction that are produced by the action of certain molecules such as ethanol or the β-amiloide peptide (Aβ (1–42)) (associated with oxidative stress and neurotoxicity in the disease of Alzheimer’s) (Sabogal-Guáqueta et al., 2015). 2.3 Functional food related to Cancer The bioactivity of certain compounds has been widely studied. One of the most addressed areas is anticancer because cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. This overwhelming disease is the result of the interaction between a person’s genetic factors and external agents, including ultraviolet and ionizing radiation, chemical carcinogens 10 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
such as asbestos, components of tobacco smoke, aflatoxin (a food contaminant), arsenic in drinking water, and less common by biological carcinogens, etc. (World Health Organization, 2014). Research spans compounds of animal origin and plant origin; for example, propolis (bee glue) together with caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is a key anticancer compo- nent. CAPE activates DNA damage signaling in cancer cells (Ishida et al., 2018). Fish oil reduces the proliferation of cells cultured from human breast and colorectal tumors (Bonatto et al., 2015). Even oral administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from the wheat symbiotic bacteria Pantoea agglomerans can improve an individual’s immune condition, especially small intestinal immune competence and macrophage activity, to ameliorate the effects of malignant tumors’ (Morishima and Inagawa, 2016). The protective and preventive effects of functional food of plant origin related to cancer have been proven (Yang et al., 2016), and the bioactive components responsible for cancer chemopreventive effects of various edible plants have now been identified. The first chemical compounds studied were ascorbic acid and β carotene (Stan et al., 2008). Nevertheless, leading the list of metabolites are the polyphenols. The effects of these compounds are mainly preventive against tumor initiation, avoiding formation of genotoxic molecules, blocking the activity of the mutagens-transforming enzymes, and prevention of the formation of DNA adducts (Dammann et al., 2017). Scientific evidences suggests that the health benefits of the consumption of polyphe- nols in fruits and vegetables and are attributed to the additive and synergistic interactions of the phytochemicals by targeting multiple signal transduction pathways (Pelicano et al., 2014). Likewise, results from earlier studies have suggested a crosslink between diet and autophagy (a mechanism that disassembles unnecessary or dysfunctional components inside the cells). Some polyphenols of which this has been proven by in vitro and in vivo trials are: • Quercetin (3,30 ,40 ,5,7-pentahydroxyflavanone)—present in a wide range of fruits and vegetables, such as onions, apples, and berries; can inhibit tyrosine kinase and induce cytoprotective autophagy. • Resveratrol—mediates numerous mechanisms, such as apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, kinase signaling pathways, and autophagy. • Silibinin—derived from the milk thistle (Silybum marianum); possesses protective effects for the liver and neurons as well as lead the activation of the extrinsic (receptor-related) and intrinsic (mitochondria-related) apoptosis pathway and the acti- vation of the autophagic process (Abdal Dayem et al., 2016). The major governing factors in tumor progression and cancer drug sensitivity are the epigenetic changes in DNA methylation patterns at CpG sites (epimutations) or deregulated chromatin states of tumor-promoting genes and noncoding RNAs. Since epigenetic marks (epimutations) are reversible in contrast to genetic defects, chemopreventive nutritional polyphenols (resveratrol, catechin, and curcumin 11 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
among others) have been evaluated for their ability to reverse adverse marks in cancer (stem) cells to attenuate tumorigenesis-progression and prevent metastasis (Berghe, 2012). Berry-type fruits contain great quantities of polyphenols, especially anthocyanins. It has previously been demonstrated that anthocyanins upregulate tumor suppressor genes, induce apoptosis in cancer cells, repair and protect genomic DNA integrity (which is important in reducing age-associated oxidative stress), and improve neuronal and cogni- tive brain function (Santos et al., 2013). Although, anthocyanins present low stability under given environmental conditions and interaction with other compounds in a food matrix, through encapsulation, the stability and/or bioavailability can be improved. Simulated gastrointestinal models, as well as in vivo trials, are required to ensure the attributes of the anthocyanins (Thibado et al., 2018). In conclusion, it is important to increase antioxidants consumption, which could provide protection against possible adverse agents that can cause cell cancer. Further studies to know the properties of bioactive molecules as chemopreventive agents are required, as well as formulation assays for targeted therapy and increased bioavailability of these compounds related to cancer prevention and treatment. 3. Bioactive compounds from vegetable and animal sources Natural bioactive compounds include a broad diversity of structures and functionalities that provide an excellent mixture of molecules to produce nutraceuticals, functional foods, and food additives. Some of those compounds, such as polyphenols, can be found in nature at high concentration but others can only be found at very low levels. Mainly, plants and animals have been natural sources where a wide range of bioactive compounds have been found and incorporated into our food, but although it is not the purpose of this chapter, we could also highlight some bioactive compounds of microor- ganisms or algae that have functionality and could be future constituents of functional foods. The main reason for using microorganisms to produce compounds from plants and animals is the relative simplicity for environmental and genetic manipulation (Demain, 2000). As noted, plants have been an excellent source of bioactive natural products and their extracts have been used as medicines in the treatment of various diseases. Plant compounds are divided into primary (sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, and nucleic acids) and secon- dary metabolites (polyketides, isoprenoids, alkaloids, phenylpropanoids, and flavonoids) (Mykk€ anen et al., 2014; Oksman-Caldentey and Inz e, 2004; Wu and Chappell, 2008). Also, animal sources, such as marine organisms, synthesize several complex and chemicals that we absorb when we eat them, and which can be utilized to treat various ailments (Shahidi and Ambigaipalan, 2015). Mayer et al. (2010) studied almost 600 marine com- pounds that displayed antitumor and cytotoxic activity and 666 additional chemicals with 12 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
demonstrated pharmacological activities (i.e., antiinflammatory, anticoagulant, antiviral, and cardiovascular treatments, among others). Among microorganisms, fungi synthesize bioactive compounds such as antibiotics, enzymes, and organic acids (Silveira et al., 2008). These bioactive compounds can be incorporated into foods as nutritional supplements, flavor enhancers, texturizers, preservatives, emulsifiers, acidulants, surfactants, or thickeners (Gil-Chavez et al., 2012). Bacteria can produce some isoprenoids like carotenoids (such as β-carotene and lycopene) and phenylpropanoids like stilbene derivatives (resveratrol and others), among others (Donnez et al., 2009; Klein-Marcuschamer et al., 2007), but research on natural compounds from microorganisms remains unexploited since the low levels of bioactive compounds produced limit their potential use (Van Lanen and Shen, 2006). The importance of algae as a source of novel compounds is growing rapidly, since it contains compounds with antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiviral properties (Rodrı́guez-Meizoso et al., 2010). Microalgae have been described to secrete a wide range of compounds that are used, or could be potentially employed, as functional ingre- dients, including carotenoids, polyphenols, and other antioxidant pigments, flavonoids such as quercetin, catechin, and tiliroside, acid derivates, and dipeptides, among others (Lam, 2007). However, like bacteria, the low levels of bioactive compounds obtained by algae are its main limiting factor. Table 1 shows some bioactive compounds from different sources presenting functionality and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo of the different types of food and by-products. 3.1 Bioactive compounds from plant sources The major nutrients present in edible plants are mainly from primary metabolites such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils, minerals, vitamins, and organic acids. Secondary metabolism has a variety of functions during the life cycle of the plant (Balandrin et al., 1985). Therefore, due to the wide range of functions that secondary metabolites of plants have in plant cells, these compounds are of special interest to researchers, who focus their studies on their bioactivity for useful applications. The natural biosynthesis of these metabolites depends on the physiology and the stage of development of the plant, since they are synthesized in specialized cell types and only during a particular growth stage, or on seasonal/specific conditions, which makes their extraction and purification quite difficult (Verpoorte et al., 2002). The main phytonutrients such as vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, and polyphenols are present in different forms of foods, and could exert antioxidant properties (Adefegha and Oboh, 2013; Scalbert et al., 2005). Among antioxidants, anthocyanins are natural color- ants, characterized by their distinctive colors, typically in berries (such as the deep red color of cherries), whereas carotenoids produce the red color in peppers and tomatoes 13 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
Table 1 Bioactive compounds from different sources showing functionality and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo. Food Biocompounds identified Bioactivity in vitro Bioactivity in vivo Bee pollen, bee honey Polyphenolics, peptides and amino acids, vitamins, carotenoids (Ares et al., 2018) Antibacterial (Basim et al., 2006) Antifungal (Feás and Estevinho, 2011) Antioxidant (Morais et al., 2011) Antiinflammatory (Maruyama et al., 2010) Prevention diabetes (Yamaguchi et al., 2007) Antinociceptive (Abreu et al., 2016) Anticancer (Ishida et al., 2018) Fish, fish by-products Peptides and amino acids, ω-3 fatty acids (Liu et al., 2001) ACE inhibitory (Salampessy et al., 2017) Antioxidant ( Jang et al., 2016) Neuroprotective (Chai et al., 2016) Antihypertensive (Lee et al., 2010) Reduces oxidative stress in human (Pipingas et al., 2015) Metabolic syndrome reduction in human (De Camargo et al., 2015) Reduce the risk of CVDs in human (Rose and Holub, 2006) Milk products Protein, fat acids, minerals and vitamins (Haug et al., 2007) ACE inhibitory (Korhonen and Pihlanto, 2006) Antioxidant (Simos et al., 2011) Antithrombotic (Manso et al., 2002) Antimicrobial ( Jabbari et al., 2012) Inhibiting cholesterol absorption (Nagaoka et al., 2001) Anticarcinogenic (Marcone et al., 2017) Antihypertensive (Del Mar Contreras et al., 2009) Chicken meat and by-products Polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), peptides and minerals (Kralik et al., 2018) Antioxidant (Dong et al., 2010) Reduce the risk of diabetes (Te Morenga et al., 2013) Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (Li et al., 2015) Reduce the risk of cancer (Zhu et al., 2014) 14 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
Table 1 Bioactive compounds from different sources showing functionality and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo.—cont’d Food Biocompounds identified Bioactivity in vitro Bioactivity in vivo Marine macro- and micro- algae, seaweeds and by-products Proteins, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) including omega-3 fatty acids, minerals, polyphenols, pigments and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) (Charoensiddhi et al., 2017) Prebiotic (Charoensiddhi et al., 2016). Antioxidant and antiviral and ACE inhibitory (Olivares-Molina and Fernández, 2016) α-Glucosidase inhibitor (Chen et al., 2016) Antiinflammatory (Ha et al., 2017) Antiinflammatory (Fernando et al., 2018) Antihyperlipidemic (Murray et al., 2018) Antidiabetic (Ko et al., 2015) Reduce obesity (Eo et al., 2014) Anticancer (Centella et al., 2017) Nuts (walnuts, almond, hazelnut, pistachio, peanuts) and by-products (oils) Proteins, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, unsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, essential oils, terpenoids, phenolic compounds and phytates (Schl€ ormann et al., 2015) Prebiotic (Mandalari et al., 2013) Antioxidant (Rocchetti et al., 2018) Antibacterial (Cruz et al., 2017) Anticancer (Reboredo- Rodrı́guez et al., 2018) Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (Reverri et al., 2014) Lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (Del Gobbo et al., 2015) Reduce hyperglycemia (Parham et al., 2014) Citric fruits and juice (lemon, lime, orange, mandarin, grapefruit, tangelo, among others) Minerals, phenolics compounds (e.g., flavanone glycosides, hydroxycinnamic acids) (Fallico et al., 2017), vitamin C (Salama et al., Antimicrobial (Gyawali and Ibrahim, 2014) Antioxidant (Legua et al., 2014) Anticancer (Merola et al., 2017) Neuroprotection and cholesterol reducing (Hwang et al., 2017) Antihiperglycemic (Uddin et al., 2014) Prevention cancer (Cirmi et al., 2018) Continued 15 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
Table 1 Bioactive compounds from different sources showing functionality and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo.—cont’d Food Biocompounds identified Bioactivity in vitro Bioactivity in vivo 2015), and carotenoids (Craig, 2016) α-Glucosidaseinhibitor (Padilla-Camberos et al., 2014) Neuroprotective (Hwang et al., 2017) Antihypertension (Mahmoud et al., 2015) Antiosteoclastogenesis (Kimira et al., 2015) Berries (bearberry, blueberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, cranberry, cloudberry, strawberry, grape berries, and so on) Phenolics compounds (e.g., phenolic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins, tannins) and ascorbic acid (Lorenzo et al., 2018) Antioxidant (Margraf et al., 2016) Antimicrobial (Trošt et al., 2016) Anticancer (Abdal Dayem et al., 2016) Neuroprotective (Ma et al., 2018) Antioxidant (Nabavi et al., 2018) Prevention obesity (Mykk€ anen et al., 2014) Antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic (Yang et al., 2018) Antiinflammatory (Yu et al., 2016) Antihypertension ( Cuji c et al., 2018) Vegetables (Leafy green, e.g., lettuce, spinach, Cruciferous, e.g., cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and broccoli, Marrow, e.g., cucumber and zucchini, Roots like potato and yam, Edible plant stem and Allium genre) Minerals, proteins, dietary fiber, carbohydrates, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, phenols, alkaloids (Aydin et al., 2015) Antimicrobial and antioxidant (Dias et al., 2014) Antiinflammatory (Mesquita et al., 2018) Antiobesity (Bais et al., 2014) Antidiabetic (Abdellatief et al., 2017) Anticancer (Paz-Ares et al., 2017) Hepatoprotective (Kikuchi et al., 2015) 16 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
or the orange color in carrots. Other bioactive compounds from plants with antioxidant activity are vitamins A, C (mainly citrus fruits and their juices, berries, and dark green vegetables), and E (vegetable oils such as olive, soybean, corn, cottonseed, and safflower, nuts and nut butters, seeds, whole grains, wheat, wheat germ, brown rice, oatmeal, soy- beans, sweet potatoes, and legumes), beta carotene (broccoli, kale, spinach, sweet pota- toes, apples, carrots, and red and yellow peppers), and selenium (Suvetha and Shankar, 2014; Yang et al., 2017). Given the importance and broad biological activities of bioactive compounds from plants, and their bioactive properties, these compounds have come to play a crucial role in the development of new products (Wu and Chappell, 2008). In the last 25years, approximately 60%–70% of newly approved drugs for cancer and infectious diseases were derived from natural compounds from plants (Newman and Cragg, 2007). However, even though these compounds have been tried by the population and have obtained some beneficial effects for human health, more scientific evidence is needed to support their effectiveness and ensure their safety. 3.2 Bioactive compounds from animal sources Compounds from animal sources—with the focus on marine sources—have been reported to have bioactive properties with different activities such as antitumor, antican- cer, antimicrotubule, antiproliferative, antihypertensive, and cytotoxic, as well as antibi- otic properties (Freitas et al., 2012). These compounds that have been isolated from marine sources are of varying chemical nature, including phenols, alkaloids, terpenoids, polyesters, and other secondary metabolites, which are present in sponges, bacteria, dino- flagellate, and seaweed. Since biodiversity of the marine environment far exceeds that of the terrestrial environment, research on the use of marine natural products as pharmaceu- tical agents has been steadily increasing. Throughout evolution, marine organisms have developed into very refined physiological and biochemical systems; therefore, they have developed unique adaptation strategies that enable them to survive in dark, cold, and highly pressurized environments. Fatty acids such as ω3 have proven to be most effective in alleviating some health conditions; it is one of the well-known compounds that pro- vide benefits to our health. Also, food-derived bioactive peptides represent one source of health-enhancing com- ponents. These peptides may be released during gastrointestinal digestion or food pro- cessing from a multitude of plant and animal proteins, especially milk, soy, and fish proteins (Erdmann et al., 2008). Many bioactive peptides and depsipeptides with antican- cer potential have been extracted from various marine animals like tunicates, sponges, soft corals, sea hares, nudibranchs, bryozoans, sea slugs, and other marine organisms (Suarez- Jimenez et al., 2012). There is an extensive group of peptides and depsipeptides extracted from marine animals; however, this review focuses on the most studied that have 17 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
achieved clinical trials and furthermore some that are commercially available such as Aplidine (Suarez-Jimenez et al., 2012). Biologically active peptides obtained from marine animal species are considered to have diverse activities, including opioid agonistic, mineral binding, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antithrombotic, hypocholesterolemic, and antihypertensive actions (De Castro and Sato, 2015). By modulating and improving physiological functions, bioactive peptides may provide new therapeutic applications for the preven- tion and/or treatment of chronic diseases. As components of diverse marine species with certain health claims, bioactive peptides are of particular pharmaceutical interest (Ruiz-Ruiz et al., 2017). Marine resources provide rich bioactive compounds that could be used as functional food. 4. Scientific standards for evaluating functional food claims, regulation, preclinical and clinical studies Functional foods cover a wide range of products of both vegetable and animal origin as we have seen throughout the chapter. However, due to the importance and interest that polyphenol compound of vegetable origin has triggered in recent years, in this section examples of clinical trials carried out with these compounds to study their bioactivity will be given. The bioactivity and impact on health of bioactive compounds, especially as regards dietary polyphenols, have been extensively studied during the last decade (Rodriguez- Mateos et al., 2014). In fact, results from a cohort of studies have indicated many times that an increased intake of polyphenols may reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes (Adefegha and Oboh, 2013). Studies have also been conducted in animal models with physiologically realistic levels of isolated polyphenols (Del Rio et al., 2013) and in humans consuming flavonoid-rich foods (Dixon and Pasinetti, 2010). But among all the studies, it seems observable that certain foods provide more protection than others, with the best reults being shown in polyphenol-rich products, including tea, coffee, cocoa, and soy (Takemoto et al., 2017). Therefore, consumption of these polyphenol-rich foods has been shown to positively affect LDL-cholesterol, blood pressure (BP), and endothelial function (Dower et al., 2015), and reduce inflammation (Lesjak et al., 2018). Despite the documented beneficial effects, poor absorption, low systemic bioavail- ability, and short retention time of bioactive compounds and their metabolites may undermine their full chemopreventive potential, since some compounds do not enter the human body intact but are hydrolyzed in the intestinal tract and converted to other metabolites by colonic microbiota prior to absorption. It has been broadly accepted that disruption of the epigenome is a critical hallmark of human cancers and that certain changes such as diet can possibly reverse that condition 18 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
(Dammann et al., 2017). Evaluation and identification of the bioactive compounds involved in epigenome is crucial to develop epigenetically based preventions and more effective anticancer intervention strategies. Authors point out that all food compounds have the ability to act at the epigenetic level in cancer cells, in either positive or negative ways. Principally, plant derived compounds, such as polyphenols, have the capacity to reverse adverse epigenetic mutations in cancer cells, to inhibit tumorigenesis progression, to prevent the metastatic process, or to sensitize cancer cells to chemo and radiotherapy (Berghe, 2012). Natural food products have been shown to influence three crucial epi- genetic processes, i.e., DNA methylation, histone modification, and microRNA expression. As indicated, these interventions based on the foods we eat could be quite promising, however, there are still problems in moving this scientific research towards clinical or public health practices (Chen and Kitts, 2017). In recent decades, it has been discovered how embryonic and adult stem cells are characterized by a capacity of self-renewal and by the activation of a hyperglycolytic metabolism, defined as aerobic glycolysis or Warburg effect (López-Lázaro, 2008). This is combined with a decrease of mitochondrial respiration, compared to more differenti- ated and/or compromised cells within a tumor mass (Hensley et al., 2016; Pelicano et al., 2014). Almost all studies have been designed to treat these stem cells, for example, by inhibiting their renewal and chemoresistance (Bartucci et al., 2015; Paldino et al., 2014). Several phytochemicals and marine organisms are known to promote the down- regulation of several self-renewal pathways; therefore, the following years will be key to elucidate these aspects and develop preventive treatments from components of the diet. Functional foods can be considered as treatments where they deliver beneficial agents, and should become an integral part of public health programs aimed at reducing disease risk. The seven-step process to design and development of functional foods would be: (1) identify a potential new bioactive ingredient; (2) evaluate the ingredient’s efficacy; (3) evaluate the ingredient’s safety; (4) formulate or select an appropriate food vehicle for the bioactive substance; (5) carry out independent peer review and regulatory oversight to ensure the accuracy of health claims; (6) communicate properly to consumers; and (7) use in-market surveillance to confirm the findings of the premarket assessments. All these steps should be considered for each new bioactive substance, the specific requirements within each step varying depending upon the physical, chemical, and bio- logical characteristics of the functional component, the applicable regulatory require- ments, and the health claims to be made (Wong et al., 2015). 19 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
Currently there are no well-defined regulations for functional foods in the United States and other countries, except Japan. In fact, the first discussions regarding functional food and regulation related to this concept originated in Japan in the late 1980s (Westrate et al., 2007). Japan later continued to develop functional foods, particularly with regard to regulations related to the use of health claims on foods (Ashwell, 2002). In the USA, evidence-based health or disease prevention claims have been allowed since 1990, when the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was adopted (Arvanitoyannis and Houwelingen-Koukaliaroglou, 2005). Regulation (EC) N° 1924/2006 in the European Union (EU) was achieved in 2006, with focus on nutrition and health claims made on foods (NHCR) (EC, 2006). The requirements were on health claims to be authorized before market entry (Verhagen and van Loveren, 2016). There is sign of fundamental use of health claims in EU countries, particularly in certain food categories, as has been pointed out by several authors (Hieke et al., 2016; Lop ez-Galán and De-Magistris 2017; Pravst and Kušar, 2015). In a study carried out in EU countries in 2013, about 7–14% of prepacked foods in the selected EU countries were found to carry health claims (Hieke et al., 2016). With all this, we have to take into account that, while functional foods with health claims provide opportunity for fostering innovation in the food sector and improving public health, there are also potential risks associated with their use, for example the lack of beneficial health effects, or even health concerns, which may appear from the regular consumption of these foods. Consequently, many countries carefully regulate the use of health claims (De Boer and Bast, 2015; Pravst et al., 2018). The regulations mentioned in the following table relate to the labeling of conven- tional food and beverage products, which may apply to functional foods if, for instance, the labeling describes the health benefits of the product (Table 2). 4.1 Functional foods policy and regulations As noted above, the increasing public interest in dietary health benefits led to the devel- opment of different legislative texts on nutrition and health claims worldwide. Between the legislation of 28 jurisdictions, three clear differences can be found. The first one is concerning the labeling of different types of nutrition and health claims and their permis- sion. The second difference is the discrepancies arising in the (premarketing) authoriza- tion procedures, and the last one is concerning the use of the scientific minority opinion in substantiating claims. There are parts of legislation that present critical differences and, although various approaches have positive points, no optimal approach to regulate nutri- tion and health claims has been applied yet (De Boer and Bast, 2015). Food regulations worldwide are designed to ensure health and safety standards through clear labeling and nutritional contents charts. Quality and correct information regarding nutritional contents and, in some cases, specific facts related to some diseases are the priority of these regulations (MOH, 2008). The set of regulations applies to producers and food 20 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
Table 2 Technologies for detection of bioactive compounds and methods the bioactive compounds action. Bioactive compound Source Detection Mechanism of action method Strengths of method Phenolic compounds (flavonols, anthocyanidins, tanins) Berry fruits, tea, chocolate, citrus, vegetables HPLC-HR-ESI-ToF- MS SEC-TID (Granato et al., 2016) Real time assays Identify and quantify compounds Protein Soy LC/MS SEC-TID (Schirle and Jenkins, 2016) Western blot qPCR Identify direct targets Omega (ω3–6) fatty acids Fish and fish oils UHPLC Orbitrap (Simirgiotis et al., 2017) Spectrometry Separate, Identify and quantify Volatile and semivolatile components if Complex mixtures Carotenoids (α y β carotene, lycopene and lutein) Carrots fruits, vegetables LC/MS—CG UHPLC Vis-NIR (Cen and He, 2007) Profiling based method metabolomic Identify target compounds Aminoacids itemized Dietary fiber (soluble fiber and β glucan) Wheat bran, oats, barley Yeast 3-hybrid ATR- FTIR (Hell et al., 2016) Mode of action models Pre and probiotics Yogurt and dairy, powder-plant origin specially soy-based qPCR (Ye et al., 2013) sequencing Resistance selection Identifies bypass mechanisms 21 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
companies (transporters, importers, and exporters included) regarding obligations, prohibi- tions, and sanctions, as well as allowing the consumer to have access to outstanding infor- mation and improving people’s health. The information includes marked containers or labels indicating ingredients, including all their additives expressed in decreasing order of proportions, and their nutritional information, expressed in percentage composition, weight unit, or under the nomenclature indicated by the regulations. This information should be visible and easily understood by the population (Ministry of Health, 2012). In general terms, official controls are regulated by state agencies from food, health, or agricultural departments and these bureaus apply strict sampling methods. In the case of products of animal origin, special attention is given to microbial contamination, while for foods of vegetable origin it is more exhaustive in terms of metal contents or pesticides and, in some cases, mycotoxins. The Codex Committee on Food Labelling (2013) published “Guidelines for Use of NutritionandHealthClaims,”whichdefinedtwokindsofclaims:nutritionclaimsandhealth claims. Nutrition claims can be defined as any representation that states, suggests, or implies that a food has particular nutritional properties. These claims include three categories: (1) nutrient content claims describing the level of a nutrient contained in a food, (2) nutrient comparative claims, which compare the nutrient and/or energy levels of two or more foods, and (3) nonaddition claims describing that a specific ingredient has not been added to a food (Codex Committee on Food Labelling, 2013). On the other hand, for health claims, the Codex Committee define these claims as “any representation that states, suggests, or implies that a relationship exists between a food or a constituent of that food and health,” including three types of claims: (1) nutrient function claims, describing the physiological role of the nutrient in growth, development, and normal functions of the body; (2) other function claims, emphasizing specific beneficial effects of the consumption of foods or their constituents, relating to a positive contribution to health, or the improvement of a function, or to modifying or preserving health; and. (3) claims on reduction of disease risk, which relate the consumption of a food or food constituent, in the context of the total diet, to the reduced risk of developing a disease or health-related condition (Codex Committee on Food Labelling, 2013). These six categories can be used for virtually all claims, although not all jurisdictions agree to label them in the same way. Among the countries where this is occurring we can find India, Singapore, New Zealand, Brazil, most central American countries, the European Union, South Africa, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, China, Ecuador, the USA, Chile, and Japan. Although, we have to take into account that legislation in Chile, Japan, and Tai- wan does not specifically address the use of nutrient comparative claims (Malla et al., 2013). It is important to remember that Japan was the first jurisdiction to regulate func- tional foods and their commercial applications, by means of the FOSHU (Foods for 22 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
Specific Health Use), which was based on research initiated in 1984 on the effects of these foods (Lalor and Wall, 2011). The use of a list with permitted claims could increase the availability of claims on the market, because companies can easily use a claim from the permitted list on their product. This should be positive for consumers, since they are more exposed to health messages on products (De Boer and Bast, 2015). The growing scientific support for, and consumer and industry interest in, functional food, its role in the diet, health, and disease has prompted governments to review their policies on health claims for foods. Nevertheless, only developed countries have so far included bioactive compounds and functional food in their current procedures. Table 3 shows descriptions of food regulations that have come up in the last 10years. Table 3 Description of food regulations for different countries in the last 10 years. Country Organization Type of regulation Terms/claims United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Public Health Security Formal regulatory category—not established for FF specifically (Wong et al., 2015) Functional foods can be regulated as a conventional food, a dietary supplement, a food for special dietary use, a medical food, or a drug and often these distinctions are based depending on the intended use and nature of the claim(s) Australia and New Zealand Food Standard Code Not specific regulation Information on general labeling and requirements that are relevant to all foods Canada Food and Drugs Act 1985 Not specific for food Establishes regulatory authority over food. And provides assistance to companies interested in marketing functional foods China Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) Procedure (MOH, 2008) Basic principles and requirements for the nutrition labeling and claims on prepackaged foods directly offered to consumers Continued 23 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
Table 3 Description of food regulations for different countries in the last 10 years.—cont’d Country Organization Type of regulation Terms/claims European Union European Commission Food and functional food labeled Rules for the use of health or nutritional claims on food products based on nutrient profiles to ensure that any claim made on a food label in the EU is clear and substantiated by scientific evidence India Food Safety and Standards Authority (Packaging and labeling) Regulations (Keservani et al., 2014) Japan Consumer Affairs Agency Food for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) Food for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) Label standard Eligible foods must bear a seal The system of “Foods with function”: Guidance for industry developing and introducing legislation regarding food labeling standards Foods containing ingredient with functions for health and its physiological effects on the human body Malaysia Ministry of Health—Food Act and Food regulation Foods and beverages Health claims. Mexico GAIN Report by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service labeling Requirements for prepackaged food and beverage products commercialized. Philippines Rules and regulations— government Labeling standards for packaged food products distributed Singapore AgriFood and Veterinary Authority Food regulations labeling requirements Guide to food labeling and advertisements—helps food importers, manufacturers, and retailers better understand the labeling requirements of the Food Regulations 24 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
5. Conclusion As we have seen throughout the chapter, functional foods are of great interest within our society since they have been shown, in some cases, to be effective against certain diseases. In addition, these functional foods can come from various sources; although the most studied have been from plant or animal sources. However, it should be noted that there is still much research to be done in seeking new functional compounds. Regarding the legislative issue, we have already seen that there is not yet a clear consensus among all countries, but a certain tendency to regulate functional foods can be visualized, since Codex Alimentarius establishes international codes of conduct regarding food hygiene and other guidelines for correct production and handling; therefore, adopting ethical behaviors and offering guarantees of quality and safety. The labors of the Codex Alimen- tarius Committee to internationally standardize the supervision of nutrition and health claims should lead developments and improvements of legislation, to encourage work of the industry in the field of functional foods, and enhance the chance for consumers to use health-enhancing products. References Arvanitoyannis, I.S., Houwelingen-Koukaliaroglou, M., 2005. Functional foods: a survey of health claims, pros and cons, and current legislation. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 45, 385–404. Ashwell, M., 2002. Concepts of Functional Foods. ILSI—International Life Sciences Institute, Brussels. Abdal Dayem, A., Choi, H., Yang, G.M., Kim, K., Saha, S., Cho, S.G., 2016. The anti-cancer effect of polyphenols against breast cancer and cancer stem cells: molecular mechanisms. Nutrients 8 (9), 581. Abdellatief, S.A., Galal, A.A., Farouk, S.M., Abdel-Daim, M.M., 2017. Ameliorative effect of parsley oil on cisplatin-induced hepato-cardiotoxicity: a biochemical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical study. Biomed. Pharmacother. 86, 482–491. Abreu, T.M., Ribeiro, N.A., Chaves, H.V., Jorge, R.J.B., Bezerra, M.M., Monteiro, H.S.A., Benevides, N.M.B., 2016. Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the Lectin from marine red alga Solieriafiliformis. Planta Med. 82 (7), 596–605. Adefegha, S.A., Oboh, G., 2013. Phytochemistry and mode of action of some tropical spices in the man- agement of type-2 diabetes and hypertension. Afr. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 7, 332–346. Aguilera, G., Concepcion, M., Barbera, M., Dias, J., Duarte, A., Gil, A., Nova, E., 2010. Alimentos Fun- cionales: Aproximación a Una Nueva Alimentación. Retrieved from: http://www.revistavirtualpro. com/biblioteca. Ares, A.M., Valverde, S., Bernal, J.L., Nozal, M.J., Bernal, J., 2018. Extraction and determination of bio- active compounds from bee pollen. J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. 147, 110–124. Asgary, S., Rastqar, A., Keshvari, M., 2018. Functional food and cardiovascular disease prevention and treat- ment: a review. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 37 (5), 429–455. Auld, D.S., Kornecook, T.J., Bastianetto, S., Quirion, R., 2002. Alzheimer’s disease and the basal forebrain cholinergic system: relations to β-amyloid peptides, cognition, and treatment strategies. Prog. Neurobiol. 68 (3), 209–245. Aydin, S., G€ okcçe, Z., Yilmaz, O., 2015. The effects of Juglans regia L.(walnut) extract on certain biochem- ical paramaters and in the prevention of tissue damage in brain, kidney, and liver in CCl4 applied Wistar rats. Turk. J. Biochem. 40 (3), 241–250. Bais, S., Singh, G.S., Sharma, R., 2014. Antiobesity and hypolipidemic activity of Moringa oleifera leaves against high fat diet-induced obesity in rats. Adv. Biol. 1155–2014. 25 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
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THE SORCERESS. THE SORCERESS. A Novel. BY M R S. O L I P H A N T, AUTHOR OF “THE CHRONICLES OF CARLINGFORD,” “THE CUCKOO IN THE NEST,” ETC., ETC. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON: F. V. WHITE Co., 31, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C. 1893. (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED) PRINTED BY TILLOTSON AND SON, BOLTON, LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BERLIN. CONTENTS: I., II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII.
THE SORCERESS.
CHAPTER I. It was perhaps a very good thing for Bee at this distracting and distracted moment of her life, that her mother’s illness came in to fill up every thought. Her own little fabric of happiness crumbled down about her ears like a house of cards, only as it was far more deeply founded and strongly built, the downfall was with a rumbling that shook the earth and a dust that rose up to the skies. Heaven was blurred out to her by the rising clouds, and all the earth was full of the noise, like an earthquake, of the falling walls. She could not get that sound out of her ears even in Mrs. Kingsward’s sick room, where the quiet was preternatural, and everybody spoke in the lowest tone, and every step was hushed. Even then it went on roaring, the stones and the rafters flying, the storms of dust and ruin blackening the air, so that Bee could not but wonder that nobody saw them, that the atmosphere was not thick and stifling with those debris that were continually falling about her own ears. For everything was coming down; not only the idol and the shrine he abode in, but heaven and earth, in which she felt that no truth, no faith, could dwell any longer. Who was there to believe in? Not any man if not Aubrey; not any goodness, any truth, if not his—not anything! For it was without object, without warning, for nothing at all, that he had deserted her, as if it had been of no importance: with the ink not dry on his letter, with her name still upon his lips. A great infidelity, like a great faith, is always something. It is tragic, one of the awful events of life in which there is, or may be, fate; an evil destiny, a terrible chastisement prepared beforehand. In such a case one can at least feel one’s self only a great victim, injured by God himself and the laws of the universe, though that was not the common fashion of thought then, as it is now-a-days. But Bee’s downfall did not mean so much as that it was not intended by anyone—not even by the chief worker in it. He had meant to hold Bee fast with one hand while he amused himself with the other. Amused himself—oh, heaven! Bee’s heart seemed to contract with a speechless spasm of anguish and rage. That she should be of no more account than that! Played with as if she were nobody—the slight creature of a moment. She, Bee! She, Colonel Kingsward’s daughter!
At first the poor girl went on in a mist of self-absorption, through which everything else pierced but dully, wrapped up and hidden in it as in the storm which would have arisen had the house actually fallen about her ears, perceiving her mother through it, and the doctor, and all the accessories of the scene—but dimly, not as if they were real. When, however, there began to penetrate through this, strange words, with strange meanings in them: “Danger”—danger to whom?—“Strength failing”—but whose strength?—a dull wonder came in, bringing her back to other thoughts. By-and-by, Bee began to understand a little that it was of her mother of whom these things were being said. Her mother? But it was not her mother’s house that had fallen; what did it mean? The doctor talked apart with Moulsey, and Moulsey turned her back, and her shoulders heaved, and her apron seemed to be put to her eyes. Bee, in her dream said, half aloud, “Danger?” and both the doctor and Moulsey turned upon her as if they would have killed her. Then she was beckoned out of the room, and found herself standing face to face with that grave yet kindly countenance which she had known all her life, in which she believed as in the greatest authority. She heard his voice speaking to her through all the rumbling and downfall. “You must be very courageous,” it said, “You are the eldest, and till your father comes home——” What did it matter about her father coming home, or about her being the eldest? What had all these things to do with the earthquake, with the failure of truth, and meaning, and everything in life? She looked at him blankly, wondering if it were possible that he did not hear the sound of the great falling, the rending of the walls, and the tearing of the roof, and the choking dust that filled all earth and heaven. “My dear Beatrice,” he said, for he had known her all his life, “you don’t understand me, do you, my poor child?” Bee shook her head, looking at him wistfully. Could he know anything more about it, she wondered—anything that had still to be said? He took her hand, and her poor little hand was very cold with emotion and trouble. The good doctor, who knew nothing about any individual cause little Bee could have for agitation, thought he saw that her very being was arrested by a terror which as yet her intelligence had not grasped; something dreadful in the air which she did not understand. He drew her into the dining-room, the door of which stood open, and poured out a little
wine for her. “Now, Bee,” he said, “no fainting, no weakness. You must prove what is in you now. It is a dreadful trial for you, my dear, but you can do a great deal for your dear mother’s sake, as she would for yours.” “I have never said it was a trial,” cried Bee, with a gasp. “Why do you speak to me so? Has mamma told you? No one has anything to do with it but me.” He looked at her with great surprise, but the doctor was a man of too much experience not to see that here was something into which it was better not to inquire. He said, very quietly, “You, as the eldest, have no doubt the chief part to play; but the little ones will all depend upon your strength and courage. Your mother does not herself know. She is very ill. It will require all that we can do—to pull her through.” Bee repeated the last words after him with a scared look, but scarcely any understanding in her face—“To pull her—through?” “Don’t you understand me now? Your mother—has been ill for a long time. Your father is aware of it. I suppose he thought you were too young to be told. But now that he is absent, and your brother, I have no alternative. Your mother is in great danger. I have telegraphed for Colonel Kingsward, but in the meantime, Bee—child, don’t lose your head! Do you understand me? She may be dying, and you are the only one to stand by her, to give her courage.” Bee did not look as if she had courage for anyone at that dreadful moment. She fell a-trembling from head to foot and fell back against the wall where she was standing. Her eyes grew large, staring at him yet veiled as if they did not see—and she stammered forth at length, “Mother, mother!” with almost no meaning, in the excess of misery and surprise. “Yes, your mother; whatever else you may have to think of, she is the first consideration now.” He went on speaking, but Bee did not hear him; everything floated around her in a mist. The scenes at the Bath, the agitations, Mrs. Kingsward’s sudden pallors and flushings, her pretence, which they all laughed at, of not being able to walk; her laziness, lying on the sofa, the giddiness when she made that one turn with Charlie, she who had always been so fond of dancing; the hurry of bringing her to Kingswarden when Bee had felt they would have been so much better in London, and her strange, strange new fancy, mutely condemned by Bee, of finding the
children too much for her. Half of these things had been silently remarked and disapproved of by the daughters. Mamma getting so idle—self- indulgent almost, so unlike herself! Had they not been too busily engaged in their own affairs, Bee and Betty would both have been angry with mamma. All these things seem to float about Bee in a mist while she leaned against the wall and the doctor stood opposite to her talking. It was only perhaps about a minute after all, but she saw waving round her, passing before her eyes, one scene melting into another, or rather all visible at once, innumerable episodes—the whole course of the three months past which had contained so much. She came out of this strange whirl very miserable but very quiet. “I think it is chiefly my fault,” she said, faltering, interrupting the doctor who was talking, always talking; “but how could I know, for nobody told me? Doctor, tell me what to do now? You said we should—pull her through.” She gave him a faint, eager, conciliatory smile, appealing to him to do it. Of course he could do it! “Tell me—tell me only what to do.” He patted her kindly upon the shoulder. “That is right,” he said. “Now you understand me, and I know I can trust you. There is not much to do. Only to be quiet and steady—no crying or agitation. Moulsey knows everything. But you must be ready and steady, my dear. Sit by her and look happy and keep up her courage—that’s the chief thing. If she gives in it is all over. She must not see that you are frightened or miserable. Come, it’s a great thing to do for a little girl that has never known any trouble. But you are of a good sort, and you must rise to it for your mother’s sake.” Look happy! That was all she had to do. “Can’t I help Moulsey,” she asked. “I could fetch her what she wants. I could—go errands for her. Oh, doctor, something a little easier,” cried Bee, clasping her hands, “just at first!” “All that’s arranged,” he said, hastily, “Come, we must go back to our patient. She will be wondering what I am talking to you about. She will perhaps take fright. No, nothing easier, my poor child—if you can do that you may help me a great deal; if you can’t, go to bed, my dear, that will be best.” She gave him a look of great scorn, and moved towards her mother’s room, leading the way.
Mrs. Kingsward was lying with her face towards the door, watching, in a blaze of excitement and fever. Her eyes had never been so bright nor her colour so brilliant. She was breathing quickly, panting, with her heart very audible to herself, pumping in her ears, and almost audible in the room, so evident was it that every pulse was at fever speed. “What have you been telling Bee, doctor? What have you been telling Bee? What——” When she had begun this phrase it did not seem as if she could stop repeating it again and again. “I have been telling her that she may sit with you, my dear lady, on condition of being very quiet, very quiet,” said the doctor. “It’s a great promotion at her age. She has promised to sit very still, and talk very little, and hush her mamma to sleep. It is you who must be the baby to-night. If you can get a good long quiet sleep, it will do you all the good in the world. Yes, you may hold her hand if you like, my dear, and pat it, and smooth it— a little gentle mesmerism will do no harm. That, my dear lady, is what I have been telling Miss Bee.” “Oh, doctor,” said Mrs. Kingsward, “don’t you know she has had great trouble herself, poor child? Poor little Bee! At her age I was married and happy; and here is she, poor thing, plunged into trouble. Doctor, you know, there is a—gentleman——” Mrs. Kingsward had raised herself upon her elbow, and the panting of her breath filled all the room. “Another time—another time you shall tell me all about it. But I shall take Miss Bee away, and consign you to a dark room, and silence, if you say another word——” “Oh, don’t make my room dark! I like the light. I want my child. Let me keep her, let me keep her! Who should—comfort her—but her mother?” “Yes, so long as you keep quiet. If you talk I will take her away. Not a word—not a word—till to-morrow.” In spite of himself there was a change in the doctor’s voice as he said that word—or Bee thought so—as if there might never be any to-morrow. The girl felt as if she must cry out, shriek aloud, to relieve her bursting brain, but did not, overborne by his presence and by the new sense of duty and self-restraint. “Come now,” he went on, “I am very kind to let you have your little girl by you, holding your hand— don’t you think so? Go to sleep, both of you. If you’re quite, quite, quiet
you’ll both doze, and towards the morning I’ll look in upon you again. Now, not another word. Good-night, good-night.” Bee, whose heart was beating almost as strongly as her mother’s, heard his measured step withdraw on the soft carpets with a sense of wild despair, as if the last hope was going from her. Her inexperienced imagination had leaped from complete ignorance and calm to the last possibilities of calamity. She had never seen death, and what if that awful presence were to come while she was alone, incapable of any struggle, of giving any help. She listened to the steps getting fainter in the distance with anguish and terror unspeakable. She clasped her mother’s hand tightly without knowing it. That only aid, the only man who could do anything, was going away— deserting them—leaving her alone in her ignorance to stand between her mother and death. Death! Every pulse sprang up and fluttered in mortal terror. And she was put there to be quiet—ready and steady, he had said—to look happy! Bee kept silent; kept sitting upon her chair; kept down her shriek after him with a superhuman effort. She could do no more. “Listen—he’s talking to Moulsey now,” said Mrs. Kingsward, “about me; they’re always—whispering, about me—telling the symptoms—and how I am. That is the worst of nurses——” “Mamma! Oh, don’t talk, don’t talk!” cried Bee; though she was more comforted than words can tell by the sound of her mother’s voice. “Whispering: can’t you hear them? About temperature—and things. I can bear talking—but whispering. Bee—don’t you hear ’em—whis— whispering——” “Oh, mamma,” cried Bee, “I love to hear you speak! But don’t, don’t, don’t, or they’ll make me go away.” “My baby,” said the mother, diverted in her wandering and weakness to a new subject, “my little thing! He said we were to go to sleep. Put your head there—and I’ll sing you—I’ll sing you—to sleep—little Bee, little Bee, poor little Bee!”
CHAPTER II. This night was the strangest in Bee Kingsward’s life. She had never known what it was to remain silent and awake in the darkness and warmth of a sick room, which of itself is a strange experience for a girl, and shows the young spirit its own weakness, its craving for rest and comfort, the difficulty of overcoming the instincts of nature—with such a sense of humiliation as nothing else could give. Could you not watch with me one hour? She believed that she had lain awake crying all night when her dream of happiness had so suddenly been broken in upon at Cologne; but now, while she sat by her mother’s side, and the little soft crooning of the song, which Mrs. Kingsward supposed herself to be singing to put her child to sleep, sank into a soft murmur, and the poor lady succeeded in hushing herself into a doze by this characteristic method. Bee’s head dropped too, and her eyelids closed. Then she woke, with a little shiver, to see the large figure of Moulsey like a ghost by the bed, and struggled dumbly back to her senses, only remembering that she must not start nor cry to disturb Mrs. Kingsward, whose quick breathing filled the room with a sensation of danger and dismay to which the girl was sensible as soon as the film of sleep that had enveloped her was broken. Mrs. Kingsward’s head was thrown back on the pillow; now and then a faint note of the lullaby which she had been singing came from the parted lips, through which the hot, quick breath came so audibly. Now and then she stirred in her feverish sleep. Moulsey stood indistinguishable with her back to the light, a mass of solid shadow by the bedside. She shook her head. “Sleep’s best,” she said, in the whisper which the patient hated. “Sleep’s better than the best of physic.” Bee caught those solid skirts with a sensation of hope, to feel them so real and substantial in her hand. She did not care to speak, but lifted her face, pale with alarm and trouble, to the accustomed nurse. Moulsey shook her head again. It was all the communication that passed between them, and it crushed the hope that was beginning to rise in Bee’s mind. She had thought when she heard the doctor go away that death might be coming as soon as his back was turned. She had felt when her mother fell asleep as if the danger must be past. Now she sank into that second stage of hopelessness, when there is no longer any immediate panic, when the
unaccustomed intelligence dimly realises that the sufferer may be better, and may live through the night, or through many nights, and yet there may be no real change. Very dim as yet was this consciousness in Bee’s heart, and yet the first dawning of it bowed her down. In the middle of the night—after hours so long!—more like years, when Bee seemed to have sat there half her life, to have become used to it, to be uncertain about everything outside, but only that her mother lay there more ill than words could say—Mrs. Kingsward awoke. She opened her eyes without any change of position with the habit of a woman who has been long ill, without acknowledging her illness. It was Moulsey who saw a faint reflection of the faint light in the softly opening eyes, and detected that little change in the breathing which comes with returning consciousness. Bee, with her head leant back upon her chair and her eyes closed, was dozing again. “You must take your cordial, ma’am, now you’re awake. You’ve had such a nice sleep.” “Have I? I thought I was with the children and singing to baby. Who’s this that has my hand—Bee?” “Mamma,” cried the girl, with a little start, and then, “Oh! I have waked her, Moulsey, I have waked her!” “Is this her little hand? Poor little Bee! No, you have not waked me, love; but why, why is the child here?” “The doctor said she might stay—to send for him if you wanted anything —and—and to satisfy her.” “To satisfy her, why so, why so? Am I so bad? Did he think I would die —in the night?” “No, no, no,” said Moulsey, standing by her, patting her shoulder, as if she had been a fretful child. “What a thing to fancy! As if he’d have sent the child here for that!” “No,” said the poor lady, “he wouldn’t have sent the child, would he— not the child—for that—to frighten her! But Bee must go to bed. I’m so much better. Go to bed. Moulsey; poor Moulsey, never tires, she’s so good. But you must go to bed.” “Oh, mother, let me stay. When you sleep, I sleep too; and I’m so much happier here.”
“Happier, are you? Well—but there was something wrong. Something had happened. What was it that happened? And your father away! It never does for anything to happen when—my husband is away. I’ve grown so silly. I never know what to do. What was it that happened, Bee?” “There was—nothing,” said Bee, with a sudden chill of despair. She had forgotten everything but the dim bed-chamber, the faint light, the quick, quick breathing. And now there came a stab at her poor little heart. She scarcely knew what it was, but a cut like a knife going to the very centre of her being. Then there came the doctor’s words, as if they were written in light across the darkness of the room—“Ready, and steady.” She said in a stronger voice, “You have been dreaming. There was nothing, mamma.” Mrs. Kingsward, who had raised herself on her elbow, sank back again on her pillow. “Yes,” she said, “I must have been dreaming. I thought somebody came —and told us. Dreams are so strange. People say they’re things you’ve been —thinking of. But I was not thinking of that—the very last thing! Bee, it’s a pity—it’s a great pity—when a woman with so many children falls into this kind of silly, bad health.” “Oh, mamma,” was all that poor Bee could say. “Oh—let me alone, Moulsey—I want to talk a little. I’ve had such a good sleep, you said; sometimes—I want to talk, and Moulsey won’t let me —nor your father, and I have it all here,” she said, putting her hand to her heart, “or here,” laying it over her eyebrows, “and I never get it out. Let me talk, Moulsey—let me talk.” Bee, leaning forward, and Moulsey standing over her by the bedside, there was a pause. Their eyes, accustomed to the faint light, saw her eyes shining from the pillow, and the flush of her cheeks against the whiteness of the bed. Then, after a while, there came a little faint laugh, and, “What was I saying?” Mrs. Kingsward asked. “You look so big, Moulsey, like the shadows I used to throw on the wall to please the children. You always liked the rabbit best, Bee. Look!” She put up her hands as if to make that familiar play upon the wall. “But Moulsey,” she added, “is so big. She shuts out all the light, and what is Bee doing here at this hour of the night? Moulsey, send Miss Bee to bed.” “Oh, mother, let me stay. You were going to tell me something.” “Miss Bee, you must not make her talk.”
“How like Moulsey!” said the invalid. “Make me talk! when I have wanted so much to talk. Bee, it’s horrid to go on in this silly ill way, when —when one has children to think of. Your father’s always good—but a man often doesn’t understand. About you, now—if I had been a little stronger, it might have been different. What was it we heard? I don’t think it was true what we heard.” “Oh, mamma, don’t think of that, now.” “It is so silly, always being ill! And there’s nothing really the matter. Ask the doctor. They all say there’s nothing really the matter. Your father—but then he doesn’t know how a woman feels. I feel as if I were sinking, sinking down through the bed and the floor and everything, away, I don’t know where. So silly, for nothing hurts me—I’ve no pain—except that I always want more air. If you were to open the window, Moulsey; and Bee, give me your hand and hold me fast, that I mayn’t sink away. It’s all quite silly, you know, to think so,” she added, with again a faint laugh. Bee’s eyes sought those of Moulsey with a terrified question in them; the great shadow only slightly shook its head. “Do you remember, Bee, the picture—we saw it in Italy, and I’ve got a photograph—where there is a saint lying so sweetly in the air, with angels holding her up? They’re flying with her through the blue sky—two at her head, and other two—and her mantle so wrapped round her, and she lying, oh! so easy, resting, though there’s nothing but the air and the angels. Do you remember, Bee?” “Yes, mamma. Oh, mamma, mamma!” “That’s what I should like,” said Mrs. Kingsward; “it’s strange, isn’t it? The bed’s solid, and the house is solid, and Moulsey there, she’s very solid too, and air isn’t solid at all. But there never was anybody that lay so easy and looked so safe as that woman in the air. Their arms must be so soft under her, and yet so strong, you know; stronger than your father’s. He’s so kind, but he hurries me sometimes; and soft—you’re soft, Bee, but you’re not strong. You’ve got a soft little hand, hasn’t she, Moulsey? Poor little thing! And to think one doesn’t know what she may have to do with it before she is like me.” “She’ll have no more to do with it, ma’am, than a lady should, no more than you’ve had. But you must be quiet, dear lady, and try and go to sleep.”
“I might never have such a good chance of talking to her again. The middle of the night and nobody here—her father not even in the house. Bee, you must try never to begin being ill in any silly way, feeling not strong and that sort of foolish thing, and say out what you think. Don’t be frightened. It’s—it’s bad for him as well as for you. He gets to think you haven’t any opinion. And then all at once they find out—And, perhaps, it’s too late—.” “Mamma, you’re not very ill? Oh, no; you’re looking so beautiful, and you talk just as you always did.” “She says am I very ill, Moulsey? Poor little Bee! I feel a great deal better. I had surely a nice sleep. But why should the doctor be here, and you made to sit up, you poor little thing. Moulsey, why is the doctor here?” “I never said, ma’am, as he was here. He’s coming round first thing in the morning. He’s anxious—because the Colonel’s away.” “Ah! you think I don’t know. I’m not so very bad; but he thinks—he thinks—perhaps I might die, Bee.” “Mamma, mamma!” “Don’t be frightened,” said Mrs. Kingsward, drawing the girl close to her. “That’s a secret; he doesn’t think I know. It would be a curious, curious thing, when people think you are only ill to go and die. It would surprise them so. And so strange altogether—instead of worries, you know, every day, to be all by yourself, lying so easy and the angels carrying you. No trouble at all then to think whether he would be pleased—or anything; giving yourself to be carried like that, like a little child.” “But mamma,” cried Bee, “you could not, would not leave us—you wouldn’t, would you, mamma?—all the children, and me; and I with nobody else, no one to care for me. You couldn’t, mother, leave us; you wouldn’t! Say you wouldn’t! Oh! Moulsey! Moulsey! look how far away she is looking, as if she didn’t see you and me!” “You forget, Bee,” said Mrs. Kingsward, “How easy it looked for that saint in the picture. I always liked to watch the birds floating down on the wind, never moving their wings. That’s what seems no trouble, so easy; not too hot nor too cold, nor tiring, neither to the breath nor anything. I shouldn’t like to leave you. No—But then:” she added, with a smile, “I should not require to leave you. I’d—I’d—What was I saying? Moulsey, will you please give me some—more—”
She held out her hand again for the glass which Moulsey had just put down. “It makes me strong—it makes me speak. I’m—sinking away again, Bee. Hold me—hold me tight. If I was to slip away—down—down—down to the cellars or somewhere.” The feeble laugh was dreadful for the listeners to hear. “Run,” cried Moulsey, in Bee’s ear, “the doctor—the doctor! in the library.” And then there was a strange phantasmagoria that seemed to fill the night, one scene melting into another. The doctor rousing from his doze, his measured step coming back; the little struggle round the bed; Moulsey giving place to the still darker shadow; the glow of Mrs. Kingsward’s flushed and feverish countenance between; then the quiet, and then again sleep—sleep broken by feeble movements, by the quick panting of the breath. “She’ll be easier now,” the doctor said. “You must go to bed, my dear young lady. Moulsey can manage for the rest of the night.” “Doctor,” said Bee, with something in her throat that stopped the words, “doctor—will she—must she? Oh, doctor, say that is not what it means? One of us, it would not matter, but mother—mother!” “It is not in our hands,” the doctor said. “It is not much we can do. Don’t look at me as if I were God. It is little, little I can do.” “They say,” cried poor Bee, “that you can do anything. It is when there is no doctor, no nurse that people—— Oh, my mother—my mother! Doctor, don’t let it be.” “You are but a child,” said the doctor, patting her kindly on the shoulder, “you’ve not forgotten how to say your prayers. That’s the only thing for you to do. Those that say such things of doctors know very little. We stand and look on. Say your prayers, little girl—if they do her no good, they’ll do you good. And now she’ll have a little sleep.” Bee caught him by the arm. “Sleep,” she said, looking at him suspiciously. “Sleep?” “Yes, sleep—that may give her strength for another day. Oh, ask no more, child. Life is not mine to give.”
What a night! Out of doors it was moonlight as serene as heaven—the moon departing in the west, and another faint light that was day coming on the other side, and the first birds beginning to stir in the branches; but not even baby moving in the house. All fast asleep, safe as if trouble never was, as if death could not be. Bee went upstairs to her chill, white room, where the white bed, unoccupied, looked to her like death itself—all cold, dreadful, full of suggestion. Bee’s heart was more heavy than could be told. She had nothing to fall back upon, no secret strength to uphold her. She had forgotten how wretched she had been, but she felt it, nevertheless, behind the present anguish. Nevertheless, she was only nineteen, and when she flung herself down to cry upon her white pillow—only to cry, to get her passion out—beneficent nature took hold of the girl and made her sleep. She did not wake for hours. Was it beneficent? For when she was roused by the opening of the door and sat up in her bed, and found herself still dressed in her evening frock, with her little necklace round her throat, there pressed back upon Bee such a flood of misery and trouble as she thought did not exist in the world. “Miss Bee, Miss Bee! Master’s come home. He’s been travelling all night—and I dare not disturb Mrs. Moulsey in Missis’s room; and he wants to see you this minit, please. Oh, come, come, quick, and don’t keep the Colonel waiting,” the woman said. Half awakened, but wholly miserable, Bee sprang up and rushed downstairs to her father. He came forward to meet her at the door, frowning and pale. “What is this I hear?” he said. “What have you been doing to upset your mother? She was well enough when I went away. What have you been doing to your mother? You children are the plague of our lives!”
CHAPTER III. The week passed in the sombre hurry yet tedium of a house lying under the shadow of death—that period during which when it is night we long for morning, and when it is morning we long for night, hoping always for the hope that never comes, trembling to mark the progress which does go on silently towards the end. Colonel Kingsward was rough and angry with Bee that first morning, to her consternation and dismay. She had never been the object of her father’s anger before, and this hasty and imperious questioning seemed to take all power of reply out of her. “What had she been doing to her mother?” She! to her mother! Bee was too much frightened by his threatening look, the cloud on his face, the fire in his eyes, to say anything. Her mind ran hurriedly over all that had happened, and that last terrible visit, which had changed the whole aspect of the earth to herself. But it was to herself that this stroke of misfortune had come, and not to her mother. A gleam of answering anger came into Bee’s eyes, sombre with the unhappiness which had been pushed aside by more immediate suffering, yet was still there like a black background, to frame whatever other miseries might come after. As for Colonel Kingsward, it was to him, as to so many men, a relief to blame somebody for the trouble which was unbearable. The blow was approaching which he had never allowed himself to believe in. He had blamed his wife instinctively, involuntarily, at the first hearing of every inconvenience in life; and it had helped to accustom him to the annoyance to think that it was her fault. He had done so in what he called this unfortunate business of Bee’s, concluding that but for Mrs. Kingsward’s weakness, Mr. Aubrey Leigh and his affairs would never have become of any importance to the family. He had blamed her, too, and greatly, for that weakening of health which he had so persistently endeavoured to convince himself did not mean half so much as the doctors said. Women are so idiotic in these respects. They will insist on wearing muslin and lace when they ought to wear flannel. They will put on evening dresses when they ought to be clothed warmly to the throat, and shoes made of paper when they ought to be solidly and stoutly shod, quite indifferent to the trouble and anxiety they may cause to their family. And now that Mrs. Kingsward’s state had got
beyond the possibility of reproach, he turned upon his daughter. It must be her fault. Her mother had been better or he should not have left her. The quiet of the country was doing her good; if she had not been agitated all would have been well. But Bee, with all her declarations of devotion to her mother; Bee, the eldest, who ought to have had some sense; Bee had brought on this trumpery love business to overset the delicate equilibrium which he himself, a man with affairs so much more important in hand, had refrained from disturbing. It did him a little good, unhappy and anxious as he was, to pour out his wrath upon Bee. And she did not reply. She did not shed tears, as her mother had weakly done in similar circumstances, or attempt excuses. Even if he had been sufficiently at leisure to note it, an answering fire awoke in Bee’s eyes. He had not leisure to note, but he perceived it all the same. Presently, however, every faculty, every thought, became absorbed in that sick chamber; things had still to be thought of outside of it, but they seemed strange, artificial things, having no connection with life. Then Charlie was summoned from Oxford, and the younger boys from school, which increased the strange commotion of the house, adding that restless element of young life which had no place there, nothing to do with itself, and which roused an almost frenzied irritation in Colonel Kingsward when he saw any attempt on the part of the poor boys to amuse themselves, or resume their usual occupations. “Clods!” he said; “young brutes! They would play tennis if the world were falling to pieces.” And again that glance of fire came into Bee’s eyes, marked unconsciously, though he did not know he had seen it, by her father. The boys hung about her when she stole out for a little air, one at each arm. “How is mother, Bee? She’s no worse? Don’t you think we might go over to Hillside for that tournament? Don’t you think Fred might play in the parish match with Siddemore? They’re so badly off for bowlers. Don’t you think——” “Oh, I think it would be much better for you to be doing something, boys; but, then, papa might hear, and he would be angry. If we could but keep it from papa.” “We’re doing mother no good,” said Fred. “How could we do mother good? Why did the governor send for us, Bee, only to kick our heels here, and get into mischief? A fellow can’t help getting into mischief when he has nothing to do.”
“Yes,” repeated Fred, “what did he send for us for? I wish mother was better. I suppose as soon as she’s better we’ll be packed off again.” They were big boys, but they did not understand the possibility of their mother not getting better, and, indeed, neither did Bee. When morning followed morning and nothing happened, it seemed to her that getting better was the only conclusion to be looked for. If it had been Death that was coming, surely it must have come by this time. Her hopes rose with every new day. But Mrs. Kingsward had been greatly agitated by the sight of Charlie when he was allowed to see her. “Why has Charlie come home?” she said. “Was he sent for? Was it your father that brought him? Charlie, my dear, what are you doing here? Why have you come back? You should have been going on with—— Did your father send for you? Why—why did your father send for you, my boy?” “I thought,” said Charlie, quite unmanned by the sight of her, and by this unexpected question, and by all he had been told about her state, “I thought —you wanted to see me, mother.” “I always like to see you—but not to take you away from—— And why was he sent for, Moulsey? Does the doctor think?—does my husband think? ——” Her feverish colour grew brighter and brighter. Her eyes shone with a burning eagerness. She put her hot hand upon that of her son. “Was it to say good-bye to me?” she said, with a strange flutter of a smile. At the same time an argument on the same subject was going on between the doctor and the Colonel. “What can the children do in a sick room? Keep them away. I should never have sent for them if you had consulted me. It is bad enough to have let her see Charlie, summoned express—do you want to frighten your wife to death?” “There can be no question,” said the Colonel, “if what you tell me is true, of frightening her to death. I think, Benson, that a patient in such circumstances ought to know. She ought to be told——” “What?” the doctor said, sharply, with a harsh tone in his voice. “What? Do you need to ask? Of her state—of what is imminent—that she is going to——”
Colonel Kingsward loved his wife truly, and he could not say those last words. “Yes,” said the doctor, “going to——? Well, we hope it’s to One who has called her, that knows all about it, Kingsward. Doctors are not supposed to take that view much, but I do. I’d tell her nothing of the sort. I would not agitate her either with the sight of the children or those heathenish thoughts about dying. Well, I suppose you’ll take your own way, if you think she’s in danger of damnation; but you see I don’t. I think where she’s going she’ll find more consideration and more understanding than ever she got here.” “You are all infidels—every one of you,” said Colonel Kingsward; “you would let a soul rush unprepared into the presence of—” “Her Father,” said Doctor Benson. “So I would; if he’s her Father he’ll take care of that. And if he’s only a Judge, you know, a Judge is an extraordinarily considerate person. He leaves no means untried of coming to a right decision. I would rather trust my case in the hands of the Bench than make up my own little plea any day. And, anyhow you can put it, the Supreme Judge must be better than the best Bench that ever was. Leave her alone. She’s safer with Him than either with you or me.” “It’s an argument I never would pardon—in my own case. I shudder at the thought of being plunged into eternity without the time to—to think—to —to prepare——” “But if your preparations are all seen through from the beginning? If it’s just as well known then, or better, what you are thinking, or trying to think, to make yourself ready for that event? You knew yourself, more or less, didn’t you, when you were in active service, the excuses a wretched private would make when he was hauled up, and how he would try to make the worse appear the better cause. Were you moved by that, Colonel Kingsward? Didn’t you know the man, and judge him by what you knew?” “It seems to me a very undignified argument; there’s no analogy between a wretched private and my—and my—and one of us—at the Judgment Seat.” “No—it’s more like one of your boys making up the defence—when brought before you—and the poor boy would need it too,” Dr. Benson added within himself. But naturally he made no impression with his argument, whether it was good or bad, upon his hearer. Colonel Kingsward was in reality a very unhappy man. He had nobody to blame for the
dreadful misfortune which was threatening him except God, for whom he entertained only a great terror as of an overwhelming tyrannical Power ready to catch him at any moment when he neglected the observances or rites necessary to appease it. He was very particular in these observances— going to church, keeping up family prayers, contributing his proper and carefully calculated proportion to the charities, c. Nobody could say of him that he was careless or negligent. And now how badly was his devotion repaid!—by the tearing away from him of the companion of his life. But he felt that there was still much more that the awful Master of the Universe might inflict, perhaps upon her if she was not prepared to meet her God. He was wretched till he had told her, warned her, till she had fulfilled everything that was necessary, seen a clergyman, and got herself into the state of mind becoming a dying person. He had collected all the children that she might take leave of them in a becoming way. He had, so far as he knew, thought of everything to make her exit from the world a right one in all the forms—and now to be told that he was not to agitate her, that the God whom he wished to prepare her to meet knew more of her and understood her better than he did! Agitate her! When the alternative might be unspeakable miseries of punishment, instead of the acquittal which would have to be given to a soul properly prepared. These arguments did not in the least change his purpose, but they fretted and irritated him beyond measure. At the bottom of all, the idea that anybody should know better than he what was the right thing for his own wife was an intolerable thought. He went in and out of her room with that irritated, though self-controlled look, which she knew so well. He had never shown it to the world, and when he had demanded of her in his angry way why this was and that, and how on earth such and such things had happened, Mrs. Kingsward had till lately taken it so sweetly that he had not himself suspected how heavy it was upon her. And when she had begun to show signs of being unable to bear the responsibility of everything in earth and heaven, the Colonel had felt himself an injured man. There were signs that he might eventually throw that responsibility on Bee. But in the meantime he had nobody to blame, as has been said, and the burden of irritation and disturbance was heavy upon him. The next morning after his talk with Dr. Brown he came in with that clouded brow to find Charlie by her bedside. The Colonel came up and
stood looking at the face on the pillow, now wan in the reaction of the fever, and utterly weak, but still smiling at his approach. “I have been telling Charlie,” she said, in her faint voice, “that he must go back to his college. Why should he waste his time here?” “He will not go back yet,” said Colonel Kingsward; “are you feeling a little better this morning, my dear?” “Oh, not to call ill at all,” said the sufferer. “Weak—a sort of sinking, floating away. I take hold of somebody’s hand to keep me from falling through. Isn’t it ridiculous?” she said, after a little pause. “Your weakness is very great,” said the husband, almost sternly. “Oh, no, Edward. It’s more silly than anything—when I am not really ill, you know. I’ve got Charlie’s hand here under the counterpane,” she said again, with her faint little laugh. “You won’t always have Charlie’s hand, or anyone’s hand, Lucy.” She looked at him with a little anxiety. “No, no. I’ll get stronger, perhaps, Edward.” “Do you feel as if you were at all stronger, my dear?” She loosed her son’s hand, giving him a little troubled smile. “Go away now, Charlie dear. I don’t believe you’ve had your breakfast. I want to speak to—papa.” Then she waited, looking wistfully in her husband’s face till the door had closed. “You have something to say to me, Edward. Oh, what is it? Nothing has happened to anyone?” “No, nothing has happened,” he said. He turned away and walked to the window, then came back again, turning his head half-way from her as he spoke. “It is only that you are, my poor darling—weaker every day.” “Does the doctor think so?” she said, with a little eagerness, with a faint suffusion of colour in her face. He did not say anything—could not perhaps—but slightly moved his head. “Weaker every day, and that means, Edward!” She put out her thin, hot hands. “That means——” The man could not say anything. He could do his duty grimly, but when the moment came he could not put it into words. He sank down on the chair
Charlie had left, and put down his face on the pillow, his large frame shaken by sobs which he could not restrain. These sobs made Mrs. Kingsward forget the meaning of this communication altogether. She put her hands upon him trying to raise his head. “Edward! Oh, don’t cry, don’t cry! I have never seen you cry in all my life. Edward, for goodness’ sake! You will kill me if you go on sobbing like that. Oh, Edward, Edward, I never saw you cry before.” Moulsey had darted forward from some shadowy corner where she was and gripped him by the arm. “Stop, sir—stop it,” she cried, in an authoritative whisper, “or you’ll kill her.” He flung Moulsey off and raised his head a little from the pillow. “You have never seen me with any such occasion before,” he said, taking her hands into his and kissing them repeatedly. He was not a man of many caresses, and her heart was touched with a feeble sense of pleasure. “Dear!” she said softly, “dear!” feebly drawing a little nearer to him to put her cheek against his. Colonel Kingsward looked up as soon as he was able and saw her lying smiling at him, her hand in his, her eyes full of that wonderful liquid light which belongs to great weakness. The small worn face was all illuminated with smiles; it was like the face of a child—or perhaps an angel. He looked at first with awe, then with doubt and alarm. Had he failed after all in the commission which he had executed at so much cost to himself, and against the doctor’s orders? He had been afraid for the moment of the sight of her despair—and now he was frightened by her look of ease, the absence of all perturbations. Had she not understood him? Would it have to be told again, more severely, more distinctly, this dreadful news?
CHAPTER IV. Mrs. Kingsward said nothing of the communication her husband had made to her. Did she understand it? He went about heavily all day, pondering the matter, going and coming to her room, trying in vain to make out what was in her mind. But he could not divine what was in that mind, hidden from him in those veils of individual existence which never seemed to him to have been so baffling before. In the afternoon she had heard, somehow, the voices of the elder boys, and had asked if they were there, and had sent for them. The two big fellows, with the mud on their boots and the scent of the fresh air about them, stood huddled together, speechless with awe and grief, by the bedside, when their father came in. They did not know what to say to their mother in such circumstances. They had never talked to her about herself, but always about themselves; and now they were entirely at a loss after they had said, “How are you, mamma? Are you very bad, mamma? Oh, I’m so sorry;” and “Oh, I wish you were better.” What could boys of twelve and fourteen say? For the moment they felt as if their hearts were broken; but they did not want to stay there; they had nothing to say to her. Their pang of sudden trouble was confused with shyness and awkwardness, and their consciousness that she was altogether in another atmosphere and another world. Mrs. Kingsward was not a clever woman, but she understood miraculously what was in those inarticulate young souls. She kissed them both, drawing each close to her for a moment, and then bade them run away. “Were you having a good game?” she said, with that ineffable, feeble smile. “Go and finish it, my darlings.” And they stumbled out very awkwardly, startled to meet their father’s look as they turned round, and greatly disturbed and mystified altogether, though consoled somehow by their mother’s look. They said to each other after a while that she looked “jolly bad,” but that she was in such good spirits it must be all right. Their father was as much mystified as they; but he was troubled in conscience, as if he had not spoken plainly enough, had not made it clear enough what “her state” was. She had not asked for the clergyman—she had not asked for anything. Was it necessary that he should speak again? There was one thing she had near her, but that so fantastic a thing!—a
photograph—one of the quantities of such rubbish the girls and she had brought home—a woman wrapped in a mantle floating in the air. “Take that thing away,” he said to Moulsey. It irritated him to see a frivolous thing like that—a twopenny-halfpenny photograph—so near his wife’s bed. “Don’t take it away,” she said, in the whisper to which her voice had sunk; “it gives me such pleasure.” “Pleasure!” he cried; even to speak of pleasure was wrong at such a moment. And then he added, “Would you like me to read to you? Would you like to see—anyone?” “To see anyone? Whom should I wish to see but you, Edward, and the children?” “We haven’t been—so religious, my dear, as perhaps we ought,” stammered the anxious man. “If I sent for—Mr. Baldwin perhaps, to read the prayers for the sick and—and talk to you a little?” She looked at him with some wonder for a moment, and then she said, with a smile, “Yes, yes; by all means, Edward, if you like it.” “I shall certainly like it, my dearest; and it is right—it is what we should all wish to do at the——” He could not say at the last—he could not say when we are dying—it was too much for him; but certainly she must understand now. And he went away hurriedly to call the clergyman, that no more time might be lost. “Moulsey,” said Mrs. Kingsward, “have we come then quite—to the end now?” “Oh, ma’am! Oh, my dear lady!” Moulsey said. “My husband—seems to think so. It is a little hard—to leave them all. Where is Bee?” “I am here, mamma,” said a broken voice; and the mother’s hand was caught and held tight, as she liked it to be. “May Betty come too?” “Yes, let Betty come. It is you I want, not Mr. Baldwin.” “Mr. Baldwin is a good man, ma’am. He’ll be a comfort to them and to the Colonel.” “Yes, I suppose so; he will be a comfort to—your father. But I don’t want anyone. I haven’t done very much harm——”
“No! oh, no, ma’am, none!” said Moulsey, while Betty, thrown on her knees by the bedside, tried to smother her sobs; and Bee, worn out and feeling as if she felt nothing, sat and held her mother’s hand. “But, then,” she said, “I’ve never, never, done any good.” “Oh! my dear lady, my dear lady! And all the poor people, and all the children.” “Hush! Moulsey. I never gave anything—not a bit of bread, not a shilling—but because I liked to do it. Never! oh, never from any good motive. I always liked to do it. It was my pleasure. It never cost me anything. I have done no good in my life. I just liked the poor children, that was all, and thought if they were my own—— Oh, Bee and Betty, try to be better women—different from me.” Betty, who was so young, crept nearer and nearer on her knees, till she came to the head of the bed. She lifted up her tear-stained face, “Mother! oh, mother! are you frightened?” she cried. Mrs. Kingsward put forth her other arm and put it freely round the weeping girl. “Perhaps I ought to be, perhaps I ought to be!” she said, with a little thrill and quaver. “Mother,” said Betty, pushing closer and closer, almost pushing Bee away, “if I had been wicked, ever so wicked, I shouldn’t be frightened for you.” A heavenly smile came over the woman’s face. “I should think not, indeed.” And then Betty, in the silence of the room, put her hands together and said very softly, “Our Father, which art in Heaven—” “Oh, children, children,” cried Moulsey, “don’t break our hearts! She’s too weak to bear it. Leave her alone.” “Yes, go away, children dear—go away. I have to rest—to see Mr. Baldwin.” Then she smiled, and said in gasps, “To tell the truth—I’m—I’m not afraid; look—” She pointed to the picture by her bedside. “So easy—so easy! Just resting—and the Saviour will put out his hand and take me in.” Mr. Baldwin came soon after—the good Rector, who was a good man, but who believed he had the keys, and that what he bound on earth was bound in Heaven—or, at least, he thought he believed so—with Colonel Kingsward, who felt that he was thus fulfilling all righteousness, and that
this was the proper way in which to approach the everlasting doors. He put away the little picture in which Catherine of Siena lay in the hold of the angels, in the perfect peace of life accomplished, the rest that was so easy and so sweet—hastily with displeasure and contempt. He did not wish the Rector to see the childish thing in which his wife had taken pleasure, nor even that she had been taking pleasure at all at such a solemn moment; even that she should smile the same smile of welcome with which she would have greeted her kind neighbour had she been in her usual place in the drawing-room disturbed her husband. So near death and yet able to think of that! He watched her face as the Rector read the usual prayers. Did she enter into them—did she understand them? He could scarcely join in them himself in his anxiety to make sure that she felt and knew what was her “state,” and was preparing—preparing to meet her God. That God was awaiting severely the appearance of that soul before him, the Colonel could not but feel. He would not have said so in words, but the instinctive conviction in his heart was so. When she looked round for the little picture it hurt him like a sting. Oh, if she would but think of the things that concerned her peace—not of follies, childish distractions, amusements for the fancy. On her side, the poor lady was conscious more or less of all that was going on, understood here and there the prayers that were going over her head, prayers of others for her, rather than anything to be said by herself. In the midst of them, she felt herself already like St. Catherine, floating away into ineffable peace, then coming back again to hear the sacred words, to see the little circle round her on their knees, and to smile upon them in an utter calm of weakness without pain, feeling only that they were good to her, thinking of her, which was sweet, but knowing little more. It was the most serene and cloudless night after that terrible day. A little after Colonel Kingsward had left the room finally and shut himself up in his study, Moulsey took the two girls out into the garden, through a window which opened upon it. “Children, go and breathe the sweet air. I’ll not have you in a room to break your hearts. Look up yonder—yonder where she’s gone,” said the kind nurse who had done everything for their mother. And they stole out—the two little ghosts, overborne with the dreadful burden of humanity, the burden which none of us can shake off, and crept across the grass to the seat where she had been used to sit among the children. The night was peace itself—not a breath stirring, a young moon with something
wistful in her light looking down, making the garden bright as with a softened ethereal day. A line of white cloud dimly detached from the softness of the blue lay far off towards the west amid the radiance, a long faint line as of something in the far distance. Bee and Betty stood and gazed at it with eyes and hearts over-charged, each leaning upon the other. Their young souls were touched with awe and an awful quiet. They were too near the departure to have fallen down as yet into the vacancy and emptiness of re-awakening life. “Oh,” they said, “if that should be her!” And why should it not be? Unless perhaps there was a quicker way. They watched it with that sob in the throat which is of all sounds and sensations the most overwhelming. It seemed to them as if they were watching her a little further on her way, to the very horizon, till the soft distance closed over, and that speck like a sail upon the sea could be seen no more. And when it was gone they sank down together upon her seat, under the trees she loved, where the children had played and tumbled on the grass about her, and talked of her in broken words, a little phrase now and then, sometimes only “Mother,” or “Oh, mamma, mamma,” now from one, now from another—in that first extraordinary exaltation and anguish which is not yet grief. They did not know how long they had been there when something stirred in the bushes, and the two big boys, Arthur and Fred, came heavily into sight, holding each other by the arm. The boys were bewildered, heavy and miserable, not knowing what to do with themselves nor where to go. But they came up with a purpose, which was a little ease in the trouble. It cost them a little convulsion of reluctant crying before they could get out what they had to say. Then it came out in broken words from both together. “Bee, there’s someone wants to speak to you at the gate.” “Oh! who could want to speak to me—to-night? I cannot speak to anyone; you might have known.” “Bee,” said Arthur, the eldest, “it isn’t just—anyone; it’s—we thought you would perhaps—” “He told us,” said Fred, “who he was; and begged so hard—” Then there came back upon poor Bee all the other trouble that she had pushed away from her. Her heart seemed to grow hard and cold after all the softening and tenderness of this dreadful yet heavenly hour. “I will see no one—no one,” she said.
“Bee,” said the boys, “we shut the gate upon him; but he took hold of our hands, and—and cried, too.” They had to stop and swallow the sob before either could say any more. “He said she was his best friend. He said he couldn’t bear it no more than us. And if you would only speak to him.” Bee got up from her mother’s seat; her poor little heart swelled in her bosom as if it would burst. Oh! how was she to bear all this—to bear it all —to have no one to help her! “No, no, I will not. I will not!” she said. “Oh, Bee,” cried Betty, “if it is Aubrey—poor Aubrey! She was fond of him. She would not like him to be left out. Oh, Bee, come; come and speak to him. Suppose one of us were alone, with nobody to say mother’s name to!” “No, I will not,” said Bee. “Oh! Betty, mother knows why; she knows.” “What does she know?” cried Betty, pleading. “She was fond of him. I am fond of him, without thinking of you, for mother’s sake.” “Oh, let me go! I am going in; I am going to her. I wish, I wish she had taken me with her! No, no, no! I will never see him more.” “I think,” said Betty to the boys, pushing them away, “that she is not quite herself. Tell him she’s not herself. Say she’s not able to speak to anyone, and we can’t move her. And—and give poor Aubrey—oh, poor Aubrey!—my love.” The boys turned away on their mission, crossing the gravel path with a commotion of their heavy feet which seemed to fill the air with echoes. Colonel Kingsward heard it from his study, though that was closed up from any influence outside. He opened his window and came out, standing a black figure surrounded by the moonlight. “Who is there?” he said. “Are there any of you so lost to all feeling as to be out in the garden, of all nights in the world on this night?”
CHAPTER V. Aubrey Leigh had been living a troubled life during the time which had elapsed since the swallowing up in the country of the family in which he had become so suddenly interest, of which, for a short time, he had felt himself a member, and from which, as he felt, he could never be separated, whatever arbitrary laws might be made by hits head. When they disappeared from London, which was done so suddenly, he was much cast down for the moment, but, as he had the fullest faith in Bee, and was sustained by her independence of character and determined to stand by him whatever happened, he was, though anxious and full of agitation, neither despairing nor even in very low spirits. To be sure there were moments in which his heart sank, recalling the blank countenance of the father, and the too gentle and yielding disposition of the mother, and Bee’s extreme youth and habits of obedience to both. He felt how much there was to be said against himself—a man who had been forced into circumstances of danger which nobody but himself could fully understand, and against which his whole being had revolted, though he could say but little on the subject. And, indeed, who was to understand that a man might yield to a sudden temptation which he despised and hated, and that he could not even explain that this was so, laying the blackest blame upon another—to a man, and still less to a woman; which last was impossible, and not even to be thought of. He might tell it, perhaps, to his mother, and there was a possibility of help there; though even there a hundred difficulties existed. But he was not wound up to that last appeal, and he felt, at first, but little fear of the eventual result He was assured of Bee’s faithfulness, and how could any parent stand out against Bee? Not even, he tried to persuade himself, the stern Colonel, who had so crushed himself. And she had received his first letters, and had answered them, professing her determination never to be coerced in this respect. He was agitated, his life was full of excitement, and speculation, and trouble. But this is nothing dreadful in a young man’s life. It was perhaps better, more enlivening, more vivid, than the delights of an undisturbed love-making, followed by a triumphant marriage. It is well sometimes that the course of true love should not run smooth. He thought himself unhappy
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The Role of Alternative and Innovative Food Ingredients and Products in Consumer Wellness Charis M. Galanakis

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    Download the fullversion and explore a variety of ebooks or textbooks at https://ebookmass.com The Role of Alternative and Innovative Food Ingredients and Products in Consumer Wellness Charis M. Galanakis _____ Tap the link below to start your download _____ https://ebookmass.com/product/the-role-of-alternative-and- innovative-food-ingredients-and-products-in-consumer- wellness-charis-m-galanakis/ Find ebooks or textbooks at ebookmass.com today!
  • 2.
    We believe theseproducts will be a great fit for you. Click the link to download now, or visit ebookmass.com to discover even more! Food Quality and Shelf Life Charis M. Galanakis https://ebookmass.com/product/food-quality-and-shelf-life-charis-m- galanakis/ Valorization of fruit processing by-products Charis M. Galanakis https://ebookmass.com/product/valorization-of-fruit-processing-by- products-charis-m-galanakis/ Food Waste Recovery: Processing Technologies, Industrial Techniques, and Applications 2nd Edition Charis M. Galanakis https://ebookmass.com/product/food-waste-recovery-processing- technologies-industrial-techniques-and-applications-2nd-edition- charis-m-galanakis/ Dietary Fiber: Properties, Recovery and Applications Charis M. Galanakis https://ebookmass.com/product/dietary-fiber-properties-recovery-and- applications-charis-m-galanakis/
  • 3.
    Innovation Strategies inEnvironmental Science 1st Edition Charis M. Galanakis (Editor) https://ebookmass.com/product/innovation-strategies-in-environmental- science-1st-edition-charis-m-galanakis-editor/ Saving Food : Production, Supply Chain, Food Waste, and Food Consumption Galanakis https://ebookmass.com/product/saving-food-production-supply-chain- food-waste-and-food-consumption-galanakis/ Nanoencapsulation of Food Bioactive Ingredients: Principles and Applications 1st Edition Jafari https://ebookmass.com/product/nanoencapsulation-of-food-bioactive- ingredients-principles-and-applications-1st-edition-jafari/ Handbook of Food Bioengineering, Volume 5 : Microbial Production of Food Ingredients and Additives 1st Edition Alexandru Grumezescu https://ebookmass.com/product/handbook-of-food-bioengineering- volume-5-microbial-production-of-food-ingredients-and-additives-1st- edition-alexandru-grumezescu/ Functional Bakery Products: Novel Ingredients and Processing Technology for Personalized Nutrition Weibiao Zhou https://ebookmass.com/product/functional-bakery-products-novel- ingredients-and-processing-technology-for-personalized-nutrition- weibiao-zhou/
  • 6.
    THE ROLE OF ALTERNATIVEAND INNOVATIVE FOOD INGREDIENTS AND PRODUCTS IN CONSUMER WELLNESS
  • 7.
  • 8.
    THE ROLE OF ALTERNATIVEAND INNOVATIVE FOOD INGREDIENTS AND PRODUCTS IN CONSUMER WELLNESS Edited by CHARIS M. GALANAKIS
  • 9.
    Academic Press isan imprint of Elsevier 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom 525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States 50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions. This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein). Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-12-816453-2 For information on all Academic Press publications visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals Publisher: Charlotte Cockle Acquisition Editor: Megan Ball Editorial Project Manager: Susan Ikeda Production Project Manager: Vignesh Tamil Cover Designer: Greg Harris Typeset by SPi Global, India
  • 10.
    Contents Contributors ix Preface xiii 1.Wellness ingredients and functional foods 1 M.E. Romero, M.T. Toro, F. Noriega, M.D. Lopez 1. Introduction to relationship between bioactive components and health benefits 1 2. Functional foods and degenerative or chronic disease 6 3. Bioactive compounds from vegetable and animal sources 12 4. Scientific standards for evaluating functional food claims, regulation, preclinical and clinical studies 18 5. Conclusion 25 References 25 2. Fruit-based functional food 35 Ming Cai 1. Introduction 35 2. Active ingredients in fruits 36 3. Advanced techniques for active ingredients extraction 58 4. Current products of fruit-based functional food 62 5. Current understanding and future trends 63 References 64 3. The concept of superfoods in diet 73 Z. Tacer-Caba 1. Introduction 73 2. General health benefits related to superfoods 75 3. Superdiets 78 4. Some superfoods 80 5. Conclusion 94 References 94 4. Microalgae as healthy ingredients for functional foods 103 M.C. Pina-P erez, W.M. Br€ uck, T. Br€ uck, M. Beyrer 1. Introduction 103 2. Bioactives from microalgae 111 v
  • 11.
    3. Functional foodsfor the future based in microalgae 127 4. Future trends 130 Acknowledgments 131 References 131 Further reading 137 5. Edible insects and related products 139 Mariana Petkova 1. Introduction 139 2. Alternative sources of protein as human food and animal feed 140 3. Insects as alternative food and feed 142 4. Terminology 148 5. Taxonomy—Species and related products 151 6. Nutritional aspects of insects as food and feed 153 References 157 Further reading 165 6. Low glycemic index ingredients and modified starches in food products 167 Adriana Skendi, Maria Papageorgiou 1. Glycemic index and starch 167 2. Cereal ingredients with low GI 170 3. Low GI raw materials of alternative botanical origin 173 4. Starch modification for the food industry 174 5. Food processing 182 6. Development of gluten-free products with low GI 186 7. Conclusions 187 References 187 Further reading 195 7. Products based on omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and health effects 197 İlknur Uçak, Mustafa € Oz, Sajid Maqsood 1. Introduction 197 2. Role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in human health 198 3. Guidelines for ω-3 fatty acid intake 201 4. Production of ω-3 fatty acids from fish 202 5. Conclusion 208 References 208 Further reading 212 vi Contents
  • 12.
    8. Gluten-free products213 Georgia Zoumpopoulou, Effie Tsakalidou 1. Introduction 213 2. Nutritional aspects of gluten-free products 220 3. Formulation aspects of gluten-free products 222 4. Ingredients and additives in gluten-free products 223 5. Recent developments in gluten-free food production 228 6. Conclusions 231 References 231 9. Food industry processing by-products in foods 239 I. Mateos-Aparicio, A. Matias 1. Food by-products 239 2. Valorization of by-products 243 3. Functional ingredients and bioactives from by-products 248 4. By-products for nutritional and functional improvement of foods 258 5. Concluding remarks 274 References 274 Further reading 280 10. Pro and prebiotics foods that modulate human health 283 Oana Lelia Pop, Sonia Ancuța Socaci, Ramona Suharoschi, Dan Cristian Vodnar 1. Introduction 283 2. Probiotics 284 3. Prebiotics 287 4. Symbiosis 289 5. Probiotics and prebiotics—Human health modulation 289 6. Therapeutic foods—Pro and prebiotics 293 7. Engineering probiotics for treatment of human metabolic and infectious diseases 302 8. Human health modulation 303 9. Perspectives 306 10. Conclusions 307 References 308 11. Production and recovery of bioaromas synthesized by microorganisms 315 Gilberto V. de Melo Pereira, Adriane B.P. Medeiros, Marcela C. Camara, Antonio I. Magalhães Júnior, Dão P. de Carvalho Neto, Mario C.J. Bier, Carlos R. Soccol 1. Introduction 315 2. Bioaromas 316 vii Contents
  • 13.
    3. Economic aspects316 4. Production of bioflavors by de novo synthesis 324 5. Sustainable developments 325 6. Production of flavors by biotransformation 326 7. Bioaroma recovery 328 8. Formulation and product development 330 9. Conclusion 331 References 331 Further reading 338 Index 339 viii Contents
  • 14.
    Contributors M. Beyrer Institute ofLife Technologies, HES-SO VALAIS-WALLIS, Sion, Switzerland Mario C.J. Bier Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil W.M. Br€ uck Institute of Life Technologies, HES-SO VALAIS-WALLIS, Sion, Switzerland T. Br€ uck Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany Ming Cai Department of Food Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China Marcela C. Camara Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil Dão P. de Carvalho Neto Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil Gilberto V. de Melo Pereira Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil M.D. Lopez Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Antonio I. Magalhães Júnior Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil Sajid Maqsood United Arab Emirate University, Food Science Department, College of Food and Agriculture, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates I. Mateos-Aparicio Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain ix
  • 15.
    A. Matias iBET, Nutraceuticalsand Bioactives Process Technology Lab., Oeiras, Portugal Adriane B.P. Medeiros Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil F. Noriega Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Mustafa € Oz Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkey Maria Papageorgiou Department of Food Technology, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Mariana Petkova Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, Institute of Animal Science, Kostinbrod, Bulgaria M.C. Pina-P erez Institute of Life Technologies, HES-SO VALAIS-WALLIS, Sion, Switzerland Oana Lelia Pop Department of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania M.E. Romero Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Adriana Skendi Department of Oenology and Beverage Technology, School of Agricultural Technology, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, Kavala; Department of Food Technology, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Sonia Ancuţa Socaci Department of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Carlos R. Soccol Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil x Contributors
  • 16.
    Ramona Suharoschi Department ofFood Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Z. Tacer-Caba Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland M.T. Toro Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Effie Tsakalidou Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece İlknur Uçak Niğde € Omer Halisdemir University, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies, Niğde, Turkey Dan Cristian Vodnar Department of Food Science, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Georgia Zoumpopoulou Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece xi Contributors
  • 17.
  • 18.
    Preface Incorporating new ingredientswith traditional products is important to food industries who are always looking to attract consumers with healthier and value added foods. Indeed, the fortification of foods with components and ingredients owning technological and/or nutritional properties has attracted attention over recent years and is nowadays the new trend. Functional foods, superfoods, tailor-made foods, and other products are generated by manufacturing typical or traditional food products with ingredients that modify their properties (e.g., by binding, modifying structure or interface, etc.) or enable them to provide health benefits for consumers. However, with the recent advances in food processing (e.g., nonthermal technolo- gies, modern encapsulation techniques, food waste recovery, etc.) and the continuously higher demands of consumers for wellness, new developments and state-of-the-art advances have been made in the field. In line with this, modern food scientists, technol- ogists, and nutritionists are often involved with development of alternative products and functional foods, and thereby more integral information is needed in order to satisfy the urgent needs of consumers. Over the last 5 years, the Food Waste Recovery Group (www.foodwasterecovery. group) of ISEKI Food Association has organized a series of activities (webinars, work- shops, e-course, etc.) and published handbooks dealing with sustainable food systems, innovations in the food industry and traditional foods, food waste recovery, and nonther- mal processing, as well as targeting functional compounds such as polyphenols. Following these efforts, this book fills the existing gap in the literature by studying the incorporation of innovative food ingredients in new food products and revealing their role in consumer wellness. The ultimate goal is to support the scientific community, professionals, and businesses, as well as to promote innovative ideas in the food market. The book consists of 11 Chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of bioactive com- pounds, how they are related to health and how they work on chronic disorders, as well as in degenerative diseases, by reporting in vitro tests, experiments in animal models, and clinical studies. In addition, it highlights the crucial role of natural bioactives by present- ing claims and regulations about functional food worldwide. Fruit-based functional foods, which are very attractive for consumers’ health promotion and disease prevention, are discussed in Chapter 2. Phenolic compounds, dietary fiber, essential oils and terpe- noids, and vitamins are the main active ingredients in fruits, and these ingredients are popular as additives into some conventional foods like juices, drinks, smoothies, snacks, yoghurt, and bread. xiii
  • 19.
    Chapter 3 aimsto provide a better understanding of superfoods, with different perspectives and their relation with superdiets, in addition to summarizing the health benefits of some commonly studied superfoods such as goji, camu-camu, quinoa, chia seeds, flaxseeds, maqui, açaı́, pomegranate, mangosteen, cocoa, and spirulina on the basis of some recent scientific evidence. Chapter 4 provides a complete overview of the scientific knowledge compiled to date regarding microalgae production and composition, and looks at their important place in bioactives to be used as healthy ingredients and development of functional foods. Chapter 5 discusses the state-of-the-art on the usage of edible insects and related products as food and feed, their potential as alternative food, and different aspects of their utiliza- tion. It focuses on the recent (last 5 years) findings of insects’ benefits and properties for human and animal health, nutrition, and wellness. In Chapter 6, the effects of low glycemic index ingredients and modified starches on cereal-based food systems are reviewed, denoting their important role in preventing a wide range of health disorders. In Chapter 7, sources and benefits of ω-3 PUFAs on human health and the extraction methods of omega-3 fatty acids are discussed, whereas Chapter 8 introduces the concept of gluten-free food production in relation to the current gluten-free product market and labeling regulations, worldwide. The need to improve the quality of gluten-free products, highlighting both nutritional and formula- tions aspects is also examined. In this context, a comprehensive overview of various tech- niques applied in the production of gluten-free foods for combating the commonly encountered problems related to the elimination of gluten is provided. In another approach, by-products and wastes are considered as a possible source of functional compounds, such as dietary fiber, which can be used to develop dietary sup- plements, for addition into low-in-fiber food products and for designing new functional foods. The recovery of functional ingredients for incorporation into new food products to improve their nutritional composition and/or functionality is the subject of Chapter 9. Chapter 10 focuses on the evidence base regarding the effects pro- and prebiotics on human health and the bioavailability of these functional elements in functional food. Probiotics have numerous important and functional effects, such as the production of valuable nutrients for their host, preventing multiplication of pathogens, modulating the immune system, complementing the function of missed digestive enzymes, and so on. Finally, Chapter 11 provides an overview of biotechnological approaches for the production of aromatic compounds using microorganisms, describing how these biopro- cesses can contribute to a sustainable production of bioaromas in the food industry. This book addresses food scientists, food technologists, food chemists, and nutrition researchers working with food applications and food processing, as well as those product developers who are interested in the development of innovative products and functional foods. It could be used by university libraries and Institutes all around the world as a text- book and/or ancillary reading in undergraduate and postgraduate level multidiscipline xiv Preface
  • 20.
    courses dealing withnutritional chemistry, and food science and technology. It specif- ically concerns new product development scientists and managers who want to know about the quality of new commercial foods and how new products can be developed. At this point, I would like to thank all the authors for their participation in this col- laborative project that brought together alternative food ingredients and food products and discussed their role in consumer wellness. The acceptance of my invitation, editorial guidelines, and timeline are highly appreciated. I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with so many experts from Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Finland, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. I would also like to thank the acquisition editors Megan Ball and Nina Bandeira, the book manager Susan Ikeda, as well as Elsevier’s production team for their help during the editing and publishing process. Last but not least, a message for all the readers. This kind of cooperative project of hundreds of thousands of words may always contain errors and gaps. Thereby, instructive comments or even criticism are, and always will be, welcome. In that case, please do not hesitate to contact me in order to discuss any issues regarding this book. Charis M. Galanakis Food Waste Recovery Group ISEKI Food Association Vienna, Austria Research Innovation Department Galanakis Laboratories Chania, Greece xv Preface
  • 21.
  • 22.
    CHAPTER 1 Wellness ingredientsand functional foods M.E. Romero, M.T. Toro, F. Noriega, M.D. Lopez Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Contents 1. Introduction to relationship between bioactive components and health benefits 1 1.1 General considerations of bioactive compounds 1 1.2 The role of bioactive compounds in society 2 1.3 Diversity of bioactive compounds: general vision 3 1.4 Bioactive compounds present in food and their relation to the state of health and disease 5 2. Functional foods and degenerative or chronic disease 6 2.1 Importance of functional food in obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases 7 2.2 Functional food and neurodegenerative diseases 9 2.3 Functional food related to cancer 10 3. Bioactive compounds from vegetable and animal sources 12 3.1 Bioactive compounds from plant sources 13 3.2 Bioactive compounds from animal sources 17 4. Scientific standards for evaluating functional food claims, regulation, preclinical and clinical studies 18 4.1 Functional foods policy and regulations 20 5. Conclusion 25 References 25 1. Introduction to relationship between bioactive components and health benefits 1.1 General considerations of bioactive compounds During the last century, knowledge about food, nutrition, and health matters has seen important advances based on studies of composition, epidemiological studies (analytical, descriptive and ecological), analytical models, and experimental, statistical, and laboratory studies to determine biological activities. These advances have contributed to the iden- tification of certain components (bioactive: phytochemical or zoochemical, as well as synthetic products) of the diet as potential factors for the prevention of pathological pro- cesses and have encouraged intervention studies with isolated bioactive compounds in order to prove their effectiveness (Aguilera et al., 2010). 1 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness © 2019 Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816453-2.00001-2 All rights reserved.
  • 23.
    A bioactive componentof a food is one that provides a health benefit beyond basic nutrition. These components are generally found in small quantities in products of vegetable or animal origin, but differ from nutrients because the bioactive components are not essential and there is no precise information about daily intake values for these compounds yet (Gibney et al., 2009). It should be considered that new food or dietary supplement may differ significantly from an existing product by the presence or concentration of additional bioactive com- pounds. The biological activity of naturally derived bioactive compounds as synthetic products seems not to present any difference in their action, although there are a few examples where naturally derived nutraceuticals have a distinctly different biological activity from synthetic ones: vitamin E-D-α-tocopherol in natural form is around 1.36 whereas the synthetic one, DL-α-tocopherol, has a lower activity (around 1.0). The explanation for this difference is in transfer and transport within very LDL/LDL (Biesalski et al., 2009). Another compound, β-carotene, shows strong differences in the isomeric pattern when it is extracted from natural sources. In contrast, synthetic β-carotene has a clearer and constant pattern. The conclusion that the differences in isomeric patterns is of biological importance is still not confirmed (Biesalski et al., 2009); however, only natural products are discussed in this chapter, leaving the synthetic compounds out. 1.2 The role of bioactive compounds in society Plants or animal sources have been used in folklore traditions in different countries around the world for treating many diseases. However, with some exceptions, this infor- mation has not been properly studied or tested. Nutrition-related health concerns have focused attention on nutrients and beneficial compounds that can improve health conditions. On the other hand, lack or excess of nutrients and bioactive compounds can cause health problems. Social conditions such as poverty can lead to malnutrition, due to lack of food (energy or specific nutrients). However, lack of knowledge and availability of cheap foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt, are causing obesity, as well as specific deficiencies like insufficiency of vitamin D (Tulchinsky and Varavikova, 2000). The average intake of a micronutrient depends on its availability in dietary sources, which may differ due to specific traditions or access in different countries. Special considerations are required regarding phytochemicals, which are neither usually present in the traditional diet, nor do analyses or biomarkers exist (e.g., extracts from green tea, seaweed, etc.). In these special cases, an average intake range cal- culated from traditional diets could be useful. This is based on the assumption that human beings have adapted to a variable input range of nutrients in a long period. If the admis- sion range is not exceeded for any significant period, this adaptation ensures an adequate metabolism in healthy people. However, in instances where nutrients belong to a 2 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 24.
    traditional diet ofa special group, in the short term, an adaptation may have occurred that is not present in other groups (Biesalski et al., 2009). Use of bioactive compounds in the diet to improve health status, or to reduce the risk of chronic diseases with a higher incidence in developed countries, are increasing. In fact, studies are mainly focused on the aging of the population and the budding prevalence of certain chronic diseases. Among the proposals to face these challenges are functional foods as one of the anchoring points in reducing the risk of pathologies and maintaining good health (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 2015). 1.3 Diversity of bioactive compounds: General vision The bioactive compounds in foods are numerous, chemically diverse, and occur naturally in small amounts in plants and fruits (Kris-Etherton et al., 2002) and also other organisms (either of land or marine origin). In fact, nature offers us a wide range of sources to search for bioactive compounds, whether in plants, terrestrial animals, marine sources, fungi, algae, or bacteria. Plants are still the favorite source in terms of finding new compounds, since they biosynthesize many secondary metabolites with functions not yet studied; nev- ertheless, the search is increasingly being extended into other, nonvegetable sources. Summarizing, the diversity of bioactive compounds of natural products can be classified, generally, with a prebiotic or microbial origin, as from plants or animal sources (Nakanishi, 1999). Plants and microorganisms, such as fungi and bacteria, have proven to be an excellent source of novel natural products, including peptide antibiotics, poly- ketides, and several other bioactive compounds (O’Keefe, 2001). Some of the microbial metabolites are used as antineoplastic agents, antimicrobial agents, and bioinsecticides (Demain, 1998). Likewise, the marine environment is a rich source of natural bioactive compounds, as more than 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by oceans (Faulkner, 1998; Wright et al., 2001). As indicated above, many of the bioactive compounds include structurally varied sec- ondary metabolites like mycotoxins, alkaloids, growth factors in plants, phenolic com- pounds, lignans, salicylates, stanols, sterols, and glycosinolates, among others. (Hooper and Cassidy, 2006; Singh et al., 2009). The phenolic compounds include flavonoids, phytoestrogens, sulfur compounds, monoterpenes, and bioactive peptides. Plants have a high content of phenolic compounds that are considered an excellent source for ther- apeutic, nutritional, and phytochemical applications. This is due to their allelopathic, antifungal, bactericidal (Pandey, 2009), antioxidant (Kim et al., 2004), and antiinflamma- tory properties (Vincent et al., 2010), ability to regulate lipid profile alterations (Wang et al., 2011), and antitumor, nutritional, antiaging (Nile and Park, 2014), and antiobesity effects (Herrera Chal e et al., 2014). In addition to the beneficial properties for human health, phytochemicals are responsible for color, taste, and smell (Miglio et al., 2008) (Fig. 1). 3 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 25.
    The content ofbioactive compounds in plants is influenced by the type of crop, vari- ety, environmental conditions, location, phenology, ripeness, processing, and storage (Bj€ orkman et al., 2011), as well as cultural practices, the addition of nitrogen, and irri- gation (Pennington and Fisher, 2010). Compounds from other sources are also influ- enced by environmental conditions, location, or genetic factors. Fig. 1 Chemical structure of some phytochemicals from plants. 4 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 26.
    1.4 Bioactive compoundspresent in food and their relation to the state of health and disease Mechanisms of action in diverse compounds, especially those related to reducing the risk of disease in human beings, are not fully understood. Some act as antioxidants, while others stimulate defense mechanisms improving responses to oxidative stress, preventing widespread damage, or repairing DNA damage (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 2015). Epidemiological studies have observed a constant association between the consump- tion of diets rich in fruits and vegetables and a lower risk of chronic diseases such as CVD, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cataracts, and functional impairment related to age (Liu, 2013). Diets that contain a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and plant-based foods such as olive oil and wine, are rich in phytochemicals, fiber, and antioxidants. This provides different nutrients and a range of bioactive compounds that include vitamins (vitamin C, folic acid, and provitamin A), minerals (potassium, calcium, and magnesium), phytochemicals (flavonoids, phenolic acids, alkaloids, and carotenoids) and fibers (Rajaram, 2003). The additional benefits derived from increasing plant-based food consumption include better control of diabetes and a lower risk of obesity, due to the high fiber content and low calories provided by a balanced diet. Although fruits and vegetables represent only between 5% and 10% of the total calories consumed, they contribute significantly to overall health. Scientists have chosen groups of fruits and vegetables associated with specific health benefits. For example, cruciferous vegetables, alliums, and tomatoes are related to a lower risk of certain cancers (Steinmetz and Potter, 1996), while tea, onions, and apples are associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease (Hertog et al., 1993). Some examples for bioactive compounds and their involvement in nonmetabolic diseases are polyketides (e.g., Picromycin or sporostatin), secondary metabolites from bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. Similarly, chevalierin-A45, a cyclicpeptide isolated from Jatropha chevalieri, was found to possess antimalarial qualities whereas quinine, isolated from the Cinchona bark, is one of the earliest natural compounds against malaria (Faulkner, 1998) (Fig. 2). Fig. 2 Chemical structure of picromycin, sporostatin and quinine. 5 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 27.
    2. Functional foodsand degenerative or chronic disease Neurodegenerative diseases are mostly age-related and irreversible diseases characterized by learning deficit, memory loss, cognitive decline, and behavioral disturbances (Auld et al., 2002). Likewise, chronic conditions are noninfectious, long duration, slow pro- gression disorders, like cardiovascular disease, dementia, osteoporosis, and diabetes (Asgary et al., 2018). Lifestyle factors, including nutrition, play an important role in prevention and treatment, since bioactive compounds can decrease the risk of many degenerative and chronic diseases and have some physiological advantages. The active components from plant or animal sources are capable of reducing the risk of heart disease, focusing mainly on the established risk factors such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, excessive weight or obesity, high level of lipoprotein A, lipoprotein choles- terol (LDL-C), and high levels of inflammatory markers (Asgary et al., 2018). Consumption of a healthy diet, enriched mainly by fruits and vegetables, is linked with abetterlifestyle.Thelackorlowconsumptionoffruitandvegetablesleadtoanimbalanced metabolism that is considered in the top 10 risk factors for mortality in the world (World Health Organization, 2014). Nevertheless, it should not require the mortality index to inspire people to have a good way of life and avoid chronic and degenerative diseases. In humans, the pathogenesis of many diseases has been associated with oxidative stress and, consequently, the use and consumption of antioxidants is studied intensively. The regular aerobic cellular metabolism generates free radicals as a normal process and the built-in antioxidant system of the human body has a crucial function in controlling these radicals (Cadet and Davies, 2017). An imbalanced diet leads to a serious problems, whether from an intrinsic regulation problem (overproduction) or incorporation of free radicals from external factors (environment). An imbalanced metabolism and the toxicity of free radicals cause DNA injury (Shafirovich and Geacintov, 2017), structural and functional alterations of proteins, inflammation, tissue damage, and subsequent cellular apoptosis. Thus, a range of disor- ders appears, such as chronic diseases (Lee et al., 2010), degeneration accompanied by an array of atherosclerotic processes (Reverri et al., 2014), and neurodegenerative diseases (Spagnuolo et al., 2018). In the early stages of adulthood, probably, people do not feel any fear of diseases, lead- ing to the neglect of health and the lack of prevention and education for awareness. Pre- paring our body to live healthy in 20 or 30years’ time is the new trend; thus, the drive to understand how functional food could assist with this. Some bioactive compounds with antioxidant capacity contribute to more than 90% of all processes by increasing and/or improving the speed of a reaction to stress stimuli that generate free radicals. They are now being looked upon as effective therapeutic to prevent cancer (Thibado et al., 2018), reduce diabetes (Tsuda, 2016), against solemn neuronal loss (Rocha-Parra et al., 2018). Hence, fruits are a major source of antioxidants, as are medicinal herbs, and both are receiving attention as a possible commercial source of antioxidants. 6 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 28.
    Thus, a balanceddiet with a diversity of nutritive compounds (vitamins and minerals, along with nonnutritive, bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, anthocyanins, and phenolic acids) has received increasing attention worldwide. The idea is to foster the consumption either of foods with bioactive compounds or functional foods, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes (Keaney et al., 2003). These compounds exert a synergistic and cumulative effect on human health promotion and in disease prevention. 2.1 Importance of functional food in obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases For certain diseases, animal sources, mainly of marine origin, have long been associated with cardiovascular protection since they are rich in acids such as omega 3 or omega 6 and, historically, these two compounds have been administrated to vulnerable groups of older adults and children who are overweight or have functional disorders (Kiecolt- Glaser et al., 2012). In fact, it is not only marine derivatives that have been part of the diet for their functional contribution; others, such as fruit, perhaps prepared as compotes, have traditionally been recommended for their protein contribution especially for infants and the pregnant. A few years ago, phytochemicals were the focus of study, mainly due to compounds with antioxidant properties. Recent studies show that some bioactive compounds that are found in foods exert their cardioprotective effects mainly at the level of the blood lipid profile and improve the control of hypertension, endothelial function, platelet aggregation, and antioxidant actions (Reshef et al., 2017). Clinical and epidemiological observations indicate that vegetables, fruit fiber, nuts, seeds, along with seafood, coffee, tea, and dark chocolate have a cardioprotective potential in humans. Similarly, integral products that contain intact fiber-rich grains and nutrients have shown to be effective as regulators of blood pressure (Del Gobbo et al., 2015). All those mentioned above are nutritionally more important because they contain photoprotective substances that could work synergistically to reduce cardiovascular risk. There are numerous studies examining polyphenols activity that demonstrate the relationship between imbalanced diet and cardiovascular diseases or metabolic syndromes like obesity and diabetes. Obesity is a metabolic syndrome that also could be associated with insulin resistance and settled by a chronic inflammatory state established in adipose tissue (Olusi, 2002). Similarly, researchers have analyzed diabetes as a consequence of an imbalanced diet and how phenolic compounds could help to reduce risks and dysfunctionalities caused by this metabolic disease (Tsuda, 2016). Oxidative processes are involved with the pathogenesis, progression, complications, and poor prognosis of diabetes mellitus. The overproduction of reactive oxygen species produced by the increased activity of the electron transport chain, the autoxidation of glucose, the sorbitol pathway, the glycation of proteins, the advanced glycation products, the excessive expenditure of reduced cofactors, in addition to the reduction of antiox- idant defenses, the redox capacity of the cell and the antioxidant buffering capacity, all generate a pro-oxidant state that conditions the oxidative damage to proteins, lipids, 7 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 29.
    nucleic acids andcarbohydrates. This can contribute in different ways to the develop- ment of the different manifestations of the diabetic patient’s disease (Salinas et al., 2013). The possible mechanisms of protection through a diet rich in phytochemicals include the decrease of cardiovascular disease precursors, the reduction of oxidative stress, inflam- mation (Sánchez-Moreno et al., 2000) and the preservation of vascular function (Esposito et al., 2004a; Esposito et al., 2004b), as well as a lower incidence of obesity. Obesity is considered a state of stress and chronic oxidative inflammation (Davı́ et al., 2002; Esposito et al., 2004a; Keaney et al., 2003; Olusi, 2002). Obese people consume fewer fruits, veg- etables and other nutrient-rich foods compared to their normal-weight counterparts. Low dietary patterns in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, and lean meats are asso- ciated with weight gain and larger waist circumferences (He et al., 2004; Ledikwe et al., 2004), as well as inflammation. The inflammation in obesity is reflected in the elevations of several interleukins in the blood (Davı́ et al., 2002). The low intake of phytochemicals or bioactive compounds is probably associated with weight gain and increased oxidative stress and inflammation. Berries present molecular mechanisms focused on prevention and treatment of chronical disorders. Scientists have been studying the use of berries as antiobesity and antidiabetes resources. The biological activity of compounds like quercetin associated with antiinflammatory benefits has achieved twice the reaction as that of traditional med- icine. This compound, present in onions, some berries, and seeds has been tested in cel- lular and animal models as well as in humans (Lesjak et al., 2018). The method, based on measurement of compounds derived from the biosynthesis of eicosanoids upon inflam- mation mediators (arachidonic acid-AA) showed, as a result, an efficient inhibition of AA metabolism on COX 1, 2, and LOX pathways and production of eicosanoids (mediators of inflammation). Observational and clinical studies suggest that flavonoids provide cardioprotective benefits through inhibition of platelet aggregation, decreased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and improvements in endothelial function and, likewise, bring favorable effects on blood lipids, decrease inflammation, and reduce blood pressure, supporting the rec- ommendation to incorporate flavonoid-rich products into a heart-healthy diet (Wightman and Heuberger, 2015). An additional choice for cardiometabolic problems comes from encapsulated bio- active ingredients (prebiotics and probiotics). In vitro and in vivo studies suggest that removing free radicals in the body, protection of DNA, regulation of cellular metab- olism, and apoptosis by the use of phenolic compounds into a matrix could ensure both the delivering of probiotics and health benefits (Gbassi and Vandamme, 2012). The new strategies to combat cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders highlight prevention being as important as treatment. Thus, ensuring the reliability and accuracy of the efficacy of functional food, together with the study of the physiological 8 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 30.
    function of thesephytochemical compounds, need to be strengthened further (Yang et al., 2017). 2.2 Functional food and neurodegenerative diseases It has been reported that neuronal decline and brain deterioration are a consequence of bad sleep habits, inadequate nutrition, and lack of exercise, as well as oxidative stress caused by the consumption of cigarettes and alcohol. Aging is an extra cause of neuro- degenerative diseases and environmental contaminants can also lead to increase as much the oxidative stress in the brain as neurodegeneration (Spagnuolo et al., 2018). The most common mental disorders include Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ataxia, Huntington’s dis- ease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dementia, and spinal muscular atrophy, among others. Specialists are primarily concerned with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s because of the high incidence at present. Antioxidants have been studied for their effectiveness in reducing these deleterious effects and neuronal death in many in vitro and in vivo studies (Sabogal-Guáqueta et al., 2015). Oxidative stress can induce neuronal damage and modulate intracellular sig- naling, ultimately leading to neuronal death by apoptosis or necrosis. Studies reveal that other mechanisms than antioxidant activities could be involved in the neuroprotective effect of these phenolic compounds (Hwang et al., 2017). The importance of food consumption in relation to human health has increased consumer’s attention regarding nutraceutical components and functional food (Sarkar and Shetty, 2014). Nonetheless, compounds of plant origin have been tested more than those of animal origin as a potential for human health because of a wide vari- ety of bioactive compounds that plants produce. Flavonoids, phenolics, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, stilbenes, and tannins are examples of bioactive compounds produced by plants. Antioxidant, anticancer, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, and anti- neurodegenerative properties have been analyzed by both in vitro and in vivo assays (Nile and Park, 2014). The role of antioxidants in neurodegenerative diseases has a wide scope to sequester metal ions involved in neuronal plaque formation to prevent oxidative stress (Spagnuolo et al., 2018). In vitro assays in clinical trials have proven and documen- ted health benefits for the prevention, management, and treatment of chronic disease (Baptista et al., 2014). Due to the high percentage of adults suffering from degeneration on cognitive and communicative skills, considerable research has demonstrated the importance of func- tional food and some wellness ingredients on neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer’s. Antioxidant therapy is crucial in scavenging free radicals and ROS prevent- ing neuronal degeneration in a postoxidative stress situation (Rocha-Parra et al., 2018). 9 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 31.
    The evidence-based trialswhich have been properly reported in the literature as well as relating to intact species and not ex vivo as in cell culture. For elderly people, exploratory analyses have been supported in order to achieve a reduction in the inci- dence of Alzheimer’s (Chai et al., 2016). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are used to treat neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease (Meilán and Guti errez, 2017) and Parkinson’s (Khan, 2016), and it has been suggested that some plant-derived dietary agents like functional foods often seem to be a panacea for treating all ailments. Due to this, studies in preventive treatment have been considered a priority. Some examples for neurological problems report the use of Padina gymnospora (Balakhrisna—IF) with 150μg/mL. The effectiveness in reducing deleterious effects and neuronal death have been assayed in several in vitro and in vivo studies (Mathew and Subramanian, 2014). Several compounds have been tested against degenerative diseases: vitamins A, B, C, and E, carotenoids, some quinones, and nearly all polyphenols (Dixon and Pasinetti, 2010). Resveratrol, silymarin, and quercetin highlight between polyphenols. These three compounds have the capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier, which facilitates and improves their protective action at the neuronal, cognitive, and memory levels. Regard- ing resveratrol, some epidemiological studies suggest fruits rich in resveratrol are associ- ated with the reduction of risk of dementia (Pasinetti et al., 2015). Silymarin can be useful in the treatment and prevention of some neurodegenerative and neurotoxic processes (Kumar et al., 2015). This compound can increase the concentration of certain neuro- transmitters in the brain. The dose of 200mg/kg/day reduced the protein oxidation in the hippocampus and bark of rats in old age (Karimi et al., 2011). At the brain level, it has been shown that treatment with silymarin decreases lipid peroxidation, because it acti- vates and induces an increase in the levels of antioxidant defense systems (such as the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, ascorbic acid, and the enzyme superoxide dismutase) (Nencini et al., 2007). Finally, quercetin, one of the flavonoids with greater antioxidant activity, is able to inhibit lipid peroxidation (activating and increasing the levels of endog- enous antioxidants, such as the enzyme glutathione S-transferase). At the brain level, quercetin is capable of reversing aging and cognitive dysfunction that are produced by the action of certain molecules such as ethanol or the β-amiloide peptide (Aβ (1–42)) (associated with oxidative stress and neurotoxicity in the disease of Alzheimer’s) (Sabogal-Guáqueta et al., 2015). 2.3 Functional food related to Cancer The bioactivity of certain compounds has been widely studied. One of the most addressed areas is anticancer because cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. This overwhelming disease is the result of the interaction between a person’s genetic factors and external agents, including ultraviolet and ionizing radiation, chemical carcinogens 10 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 32.
    such as asbestos,components of tobacco smoke, aflatoxin (a food contaminant), arsenic in drinking water, and less common by biological carcinogens, etc. (World Health Organization, 2014). Research spans compounds of animal origin and plant origin; for example, propolis (bee glue) together with caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is a key anticancer compo- nent. CAPE activates DNA damage signaling in cancer cells (Ishida et al., 2018). Fish oil reduces the proliferation of cells cultured from human breast and colorectal tumors (Bonatto et al., 2015). Even oral administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from the wheat symbiotic bacteria Pantoea agglomerans can improve an individual’s immune condition, especially small intestinal immune competence and macrophage activity, to ameliorate the effects of malignant tumors’ (Morishima and Inagawa, 2016). The protective and preventive effects of functional food of plant origin related to cancer have been proven (Yang et al., 2016), and the bioactive components responsible for cancer chemopreventive effects of various edible plants have now been identified. The first chemical compounds studied were ascorbic acid and β carotene (Stan et al., 2008). Nevertheless, leading the list of metabolites are the polyphenols. The effects of these compounds are mainly preventive against tumor initiation, avoiding formation of genotoxic molecules, blocking the activity of the mutagens-transforming enzymes, and prevention of the formation of DNA adducts (Dammann et al., 2017). Scientific evidences suggests that the health benefits of the consumption of polyphe- nols in fruits and vegetables and are attributed to the additive and synergistic interactions of the phytochemicals by targeting multiple signal transduction pathways (Pelicano et al., 2014). Likewise, results from earlier studies have suggested a crosslink between diet and autophagy (a mechanism that disassembles unnecessary or dysfunctional components inside the cells). Some polyphenols of which this has been proven by in vitro and in vivo trials are: • Quercetin (3,30 ,40 ,5,7-pentahydroxyflavanone)—present in a wide range of fruits and vegetables, such as onions, apples, and berries; can inhibit tyrosine kinase and induce cytoprotective autophagy. • Resveratrol—mediates numerous mechanisms, such as apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, kinase signaling pathways, and autophagy. • Silibinin—derived from the milk thistle (Silybum marianum); possesses protective effects for the liver and neurons as well as lead the activation of the extrinsic (receptor-related) and intrinsic (mitochondria-related) apoptosis pathway and the acti- vation of the autophagic process (Abdal Dayem et al., 2016). The major governing factors in tumor progression and cancer drug sensitivity are the epigenetic changes in DNA methylation patterns at CpG sites (epimutations) or deregulated chromatin states of tumor-promoting genes and noncoding RNAs. Since epigenetic marks (epimutations) are reversible in contrast to genetic defects, chemopreventive nutritional polyphenols (resveratrol, catechin, and curcumin 11 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 33.
    among others) havebeen evaluated for their ability to reverse adverse marks in cancer (stem) cells to attenuate tumorigenesis-progression and prevent metastasis (Berghe, 2012). Berry-type fruits contain great quantities of polyphenols, especially anthocyanins. It has previously been demonstrated that anthocyanins upregulate tumor suppressor genes, induce apoptosis in cancer cells, repair and protect genomic DNA integrity (which is important in reducing age-associated oxidative stress), and improve neuronal and cogni- tive brain function (Santos et al., 2013). Although, anthocyanins present low stability under given environmental conditions and interaction with other compounds in a food matrix, through encapsulation, the stability and/or bioavailability can be improved. Simulated gastrointestinal models, as well as in vivo trials, are required to ensure the attributes of the anthocyanins (Thibado et al., 2018). In conclusion, it is important to increase antioxidants consumption, which could provide protection against possible adverse agents that can cause cell cancer. Further studies to know the properties of bioactive molecules as chemopreventive agents are required, as well as formulation assays for targeted therapy and increased bioavailability of these compounds related to cancer prevention and treatment. 3. Bioactive compounds from vegetable and animal sources Natural bioactive compounds include a broad diversity of structures and functionalities that provide an excellent mixture of molecules to produce nutraceuticals, functional foods, and food additives. Some of those compounds, such as polyphenols, can be found in nature at high concentration but others can only be found at very low levels. Mainly, plants and animals have been natural sources where a wide range of bioactive compounds have been found and incorporated into our food, but although it is not the purpose of this chapter, we could also highlight some bioactive compounds of microor- ganisms or algae that have functionality and could be future constituents of functional foods. The main reason for using microorganisms to produce compounds from plants and animals is the relative simplicity for environmental and genetic manipulation (Demain, 2000). As noted, plants have been an excellent source of bioactive natural products and their extracts have been used as medicines in the treatment of various diseases. Plant compounds are divided into primary (sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, and nucleic acids) and secon- dary metabolites (polyketides, isoprenoids, alkaloids, phenylpropanoids, and flavonoids) (Mykk€ anen et al., 2014; Oksman-Caldentey and Inz e, 2004; Wu and Chappell, 2008). Also, animal sources, such as marine organisms, synthesize several complex and chemicals that we absorb when we eat them, and which can be utilized to treat various ailments (Shahidi and Ambigaipalan, 2015). Mayer et al. (2010) studied almost 600 marine com- pounds that displayed antitumor and cytotoxic activity and 666 additional chemicals with 12 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 34.
    demonstrated pharmacological activities(i.e., antiinflammatory, anticoagulant, antiviral, and cardiovascular treatments, among others). Among microorganisms, fungi synthesize bioactive compounds such as antibiotics, enzymes, and organic acids (Silveira et al., 2008). These bioactive compounds can be incorporated into foods as nutritional supplements, flavor enhancers, texturizers, preservatives, emulsifiers, acidulants, surfactants, or thickeners (Gil-Chavez et al., 2012). Bacteria can produce some isoprenoids like carotenoids (such as β-carotene and lycopene) and phenylpropanoids like stilbene derivatives (resveratrol and others), among others (Donnez et al., 2009; Klein-Marcuschamer et al., 2007), but research on natural compounds from microorganisms remains unexploited since the low levels of bioactive compounds produced limit their potential use (Van Lanen and Shen, 2006). The importance of algae as a source of novel compounds is growing rapidly, since it contains compounds with antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiviral properties (Rodrı́guez-Meizoso et al., 2010). Microalgae have been described to secrete a wide range of compounds that are used, or could be potentially employed, as functional ingre- dients, including carotenoids, polyphenols, and other antioxidant pigments, flavonoids such as quercetin, catechin, and tiliroside, acid derivates, and dipeptides, among others (Lam, 2007). However, like bacteria, the low levels of bioactive compounds obtained by algae are its main limiting factor. Table 1 shows some bioactive compounds from different sources presenting functionality and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo of the different types of food and by-products. 3.1 Bioactive compounds from plant sources The major nutrients present in edible plants are mainly from primary metabolites such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils, minerals, vitamins, and organic acids. Secondary metabolism has a variety of functions during the life cycle of the plant (Balandrin et al., 1985). Therefore, due to the wide range of functions that secondary metabolites of plants have in plant cells, these compounds are of special interest to researchers, who focus their studies on their bioactivity for useful applications. The natural biosynthesis of these metabolites depends on the physiology and the stage of development of the plant, since they are synthesized in specialized cell types and only during a particular growth stage, or on seasonal/specific conditions, which makes their extraction and purification quite difficult (Verpoorte et al., 2002). The main phytonutrients such as vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, and polyphenols are present in different forms of foods, and could exert antioxidant properties (Adefegha and Oboh, 2013; Scalbert et al., 2005). Among antioxidants, anthocyanins are natural color- ants, characterized by their distinctive colors, typically in berries (such as the deep red color of cherries), whereas carotenoids produce the red color in peppers and tomatoes 13 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 35.
    Table 1 Bioactivecompounds from different sources showing functionality and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo. Food Biocompounds identified Bioactivity in vitro Bioactivity in vivo Bee pollen, bee honey Polyphenolics, peptides and amino acids, vitamins, carotenoids (Ares et al., 2018) Antibacterial (Basim et al., 2006) Antifungal (Feás and Estevinho, 2011) Antioxidant (Morais et al., 2011) Antiinflammatory (Maruyama et al., 2010) Prevention diabetes (Yamaguchi et al., 2007) Antinociceptive (Abreu et al., 2016) Anticancer (Ishida et al., 2018) Fish, fish by-products Peptides and amino acids, ω-3 fatty acids (Liu et al., 2001) ACE inhibitory (Salampessy et al., 2017) Antioxidant ( Jang et al., 2016) Neuroprotective (Chai et al., 2016) Antihypertensive (Lee et al., 2010) Reduces oxidative stress in human (Pipingas et al., 2015) Metabolic syndrome reduction in human (De Camargo et al., 2015) Reduce the risk of CVDs in human (Rose and Holub, 2006) Milk products Protein, fat acids, minerals and vitamins (Haug et al., 2007) ACE inhibitory (Korhonen and Pihlanto, 2006) Antioxidant (Simos et al., 2011) Antithrombotic (Manso et al., 2002) Antimicrobial ( Jabbari et al., 2012) Inhibiting cholesterol absorption (Nagaoka et al., 2001) Anticarcinogenic (Marcone et al., 2017) Antihypertensive (Del Mar Contreras et al., 2009) Chicken meat and by-products Polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), peptides and minerals (Kralik et al., 2018) Antioxidant (Dong et al., 2010) Reduce the risk of diabetes (Te Morenga et al., 2013) Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (Li et al., 2015) Reduce the risk of cancer (Zhu et al., 2014) 14 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 36.
    Table 1 Bioactivecompounds from different sources showing functionality and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo.—cont’d Food Biocompounds identified Bioactivity in vitro Bioactivity in vivo Marine macro- and micro- algae, seaweeds and by-products Proteins, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) including omega-3 fatty acids, minerals, polyphenols, pigments and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) (Charoensiddhi et al., 2017) Prebiotic (Charoensiddhi et al., 2016). Antioxidant and antiviral and ACE inhibitory (Olivares-Molina and Fernández, 2016) α-Glucosidase inhibitor (Chen et al., 2016) Antiinflammatory (Ha et al., 2017) Antiinflammatory (Fernando et al., 2018) Antihyperlipidemic (Murray et al., 2018) Antidiabetic (Ko et al., 2015) Reduce obesity (Eo et al., 2014) Anticancer (Centella et al., 2017) Nuts (walnuts, almond, hazelnut, pistachio, peanuts) and by-products (oils) Proteins, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, unsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, essential oils, terpenoids, phenolic compounds and phytates (Schl€ ormann et al., 2015) Prebiotic (Mandalari et al., 2013) Antioxidant (Rocchetti et al., 2018) Antibacterial (Cruz et al., 2017) Anticancer (Reboredo- Rodrı́guez et al., 2018) Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (Reverri et al., 2014) Lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (Del Gobbo et al., 2015) Reduce hyperglycemia (Parham et al., 2014) Citric fruits and juice (lemon, lime, orange, mandarin, grapefruit, tangelo, among others) Minerals, phenolics compounds (e.g., flavanone glycosides, hydroxycinnamic acids) (Fallico et al., 2017), vitamin C (Salama et al., Antimicrobial (Gyawali and Ibrahim, 2014) Antioxidant (Legua et al., 2014) Anticancer (Merola et al., 2017) Neuroprotection and cholesterol reducing (Hwang et al., 2017) Antihiperglycemic (Uddin et al., 2014) Prevention cancer (Cirmi et al., 2018) Continued 15 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 37.
    Table 1 Bioactivecompounds from different sources showing functionality and bioactivity in vitro and in vivo.—cont’d Food Biocompounds identified Bioactivity in vitro Bioactivity in vivo 2015), and carotenoids (Craig, 2016) α-Glucosidaseinhibitor (Padilla-Camberos et al., 2014) Neuroprotective (Hwang et al., 2017) Antihypertension (Mahmoud et al., 2015) Antiosteoclastogenesis (Kimira et al., 2015) Berries (bearberry, blueberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, cranberry, cloudberry, strawberry, grape berries, and so on) Phenolics compounds (e.g., phenolic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins, tannins) and ascorbic acid (Lorenzo et al., 2018) Antioxidant (Margraf et al., 2016) Antimicrobial (Trošt et al., 2016) Anticancer (Abdal Dayem et al., 2016) Neuroprotective (Ma et al., 2018) Antioxidant (Nabavi et al., 2018) Prevention obesity (Mykk€ anen et al., 2014) Antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic (Yang et al., 2018) Antiinflammatory (Yu et al., 2016) Antihypertension ( Cuji c et al., 2018) Vegetables (Leafy green, e.g., lettuce, spinach, Cruciferous, e.g., cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and broccoli, Marrow, e.g., cucumber and zucchini, Roots like potato and yam, Edible plant stem and Allium genre) Minerals, proteins, dietary fiber, carbohydrates, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, phenols, alkaloids (Aydin et al., 2015) Antimicrobial and antioxidant (Dias et al., 2014) Antiinflammatory (Mesquita et al., 2018) Antiobesity (Bais et al., 2014) Antidiabetic (Abdellatief et al., 2017) Anticancer (Paz-Ares et al., 2017) Hepatoprotective (Kikuchi et al., 2015) 16 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 38.
    or the orangecolor in carrots. Other bioactive compounds from plants with antioxidant activity are vitamins A, C (mainly citrus fruits and their juices, berries, and dark green vegetables), and E (vegetable oils such as olive, soybean, corn, cottonseed, and safflower, nuts and nut butters, seeds, whole grains, wheat, wheat germ, brown rice, oatmeal, soy- beans, sweet potatoes, and legumes), beta carotene (broccoli, kale, spinach, sweet pota- toes, apples, carrots, and red and yellow peppers), and selenium (Suvetha and Shankar, 2014; Yang et al., 2017). Given the importance and broad biological activities of bioactive compounds from plants, and their bioactive properties, these compounds have come to play a crucial role in the development of new products (Wu and Chappell, 2008). In the last 25years, approximately 60%–70% of newly approved drugs for cancer and infectious diseases were derived from natural compounds from plants (Newman and Cragg, 2007). However, even though these compounds have been tried by the population and have obtained some beneficial effects for human health, more scientific evidence is needed to support their effectiveness and ensure their safety. 3.2 Bioactive compounds from animal sources Compounds from animal sources—with the focus on marine sources—have been reported to have bioactive properties with different activities such as antitumor, antican- cer, antimicrotubule, antiproliferative, antihypertensive, and cytotoxic, as well as antibi- otic properties (Freitas et al., 2012). These compounds that have been isolated from marine sources are of varying chemical nature, including phenols, alkaloids, terpenoids, polyesters, and other secondary metabolites, which are present in sponges, bacteria, dino- flagellate, and seaweed. Since biodiversity of the marine environment far exceeds that of the terrestrial environment, research on the use of marine natural products as pharmaceu- tical agents has been steadily increasing. Throughout evolution, marine organisms have developed into very refined physiological and biochemical systems; therefore, they have developed unique adaptation strategies that enable them to survive in dark, cold, and highly pressurized environments. Fatty acids such as ω3 have proven to be most effective in alleviating some health conditions; it is one of the well-known compounds that pro- vide benefits to our health. Also, food-derived bioactive peptides represent one source of health-enhancing com- ponents. These peptides may be released during gastrointestinal digestion or food pro- cessing from a multitude of plant and animal proteins, especially milk, soy, and fish proteins (Erdmann et al., 2008). Many bioactive peptides and depsipeptides with antican- cer potential have been extracted from various marine animals like tunicates, sponges, soft corals, sea hares, nudibranchs, bryozoans, sea slugs, and other marine organisms (Suarez- Jimenez et al., 2012). There is an extensive group of peptides and depsipeptides extracted from marine animals; however, this review focuses on the most studied that have 17 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 39.
    achieved clinical trialsand furthermore some that are commercially available such as Aplidine (Suarez-Jimenez et al., 2012). Biologically active peptides obtained from marine animal species are considered to have diverse activities, including opioid agonistic, mineral binding, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antithrombotic, hypocholesterolemic, and antihypertensive actions (De Castro and Sato, 2015). By modulating and improving physiological functions, bioactive peptides may provide new therapeutic applications for the preven- tion and/or treatment of chronic diseases. As components of diverse marine species with certain health claims, bioactive peptides are of particular pharmaceutical interest (Ruiz-Ruiz et al., 2017). Marine resources provide rich bioactive compounds that could be used as functional food. 4. Scientific standards for evaluating functional food claims, regulation, preclinical and clinical studies Functional foods cover a wide range of products of both vegetable and animal origin as we have seen throughout the chapter. However, due to the importance and interest that polyphenol compound of vegetable origin has triggered in recent years, in this section examples of clinical trials carried out with these compounds to study their bioactivity will be given. The bioactivity and impact on health of bioactive compounds, especially as regards dietary polyphenols, have been extensively studied during the last decade (Rodriguez- Mateos et al., 2014). In fact, results from a cohort of studies have indicated many times that an increased intake of polyphenols may reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes (Adefegha and Oboh, 2013). Studies have also been conducted in animal models with physiologically realistic levels of isolated polyphenols (Del Rio et al., 2013) and in humans consuming flavonoid-rich foods (Dixon and Pasinetti, 2010). But among all the studies, it seems observable that certain foods provide more protection than others, with the best reults being shown in polyphenol-rich products, including tea, coffee, cocoa, and soy (Takemoto et al., 2017). Therefore, consumption of these polyphenol-rich foods has been shown to positively affect LDL-cholesterol, blood pressure (BP), and endothelial function (Dower et al., 2015), and reduce inflammation (Lesjak et al., 2018). Despite the documented beneficial effects, poor absorption, low systemic bioavail- ability, and short retention time of bioactive compounds and their metabolites may undermine their full chemopreventive potential, since some compounds do not enter the human body intact but are hydrolyzed in the intestinal tract and converted to other metabolites by colonic microbiota prior to absorption. It has been broadly accepted that disruption of the epigenome is a critical hallmark of human cancers and that certain changes such as diet can possibly reverse that condition 18 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 40.
    (Dammann et al.,2017). Evaluation and identification of the bioactive compounds involved in epigenome is crucial to develop epigenetically based preventions and more effective anticancer intervention strategies. Authors point out that all food compounds have the ability to act at the epigenetic level in cancer cells, in either positive or negative ways. Principally, plant derived compounds, such as polyphenols, have the capacity to reverse adverse epigenetic mutations in cancer cells, to inhibit tumorigenesis progression, to prevent the metastatic process, or to sensitize cancer cells to chemo and radiotherapy (Berghe, 2012). Natural food products have been shown to influence three crucial epi- genetic processes, i.e., DNA methylation, histone modification, and microRNA expression. As indicated, these interventions based on the foods we eat could be quite promising, however, there are still problems in moving this scientific research towards clinical or public health practices (Chen and Kitts, 2017). In recent decades, it has been discovered how embryonic and adult stem cells are characterized by a capacity of self-renewal and by the activation of a hyperglycolytic metabolism, defined as aerobic glycolysis or Warburg effect (López-Lázaro, 2008). This is combined with a decrease of mitochondrial respiration, compared to more differenti- ated and/or compromised cells within a tumor mass (Hensley et al., 2016; Pelicano et al., 2014). Almost all studies have been designed to treat these stem cells, for example, by inhibiting their renewal and chemoresistance (Bartucci et al., 2015; Paldino et al., 2014). Several phytochemicals and marine organisms are known to promote the down- regulation of several self-renewal pathways; therefore, the following years will be key to elucidate these aspects and develop preventive treatments from components of the diet. Functional foods can be considered as treatments where they deliver beneficial agents, and should become an integral part of public health programs aimed at reducing disease risk. The seven-step process to design and development of functional foods would be: (1) identify a potential new bioactive ingredient; (2) evaluate the ingredient’s efficacy; (3) evaluate the ingredient’s safety; (4) formulate or select an appropriate food vehicle for the bioactive substance; (5) carry out independent peer review and regulatory oversight to ensure the accuracy of health claims; (6) communicate properly to consumers; and (7) use in-market surveillance to confirm the findings of the premarket assessments. All these steps should be considered for each new bioactive substance, the specific requirements within each step varying depending upon the physical, chemical, and bio- logical characteristics of the functional component, the applicable regulatory require- ments, and the health claims to be made (Wong et al., 2015). 19 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 41.
    Currently there areno well-defined regulations for functional foods in the United States and other countries, except Japan. In fact, the first discussions regarding functional food and regulation related to this concept originated in Japan in the late 1980s (Westrate et al., 2007). Japan later continued to develop functional foods, particularly with regard to regulations related to the use of health claims on foods (Ashwell, 2002). In the USA, evidence-based health or disease prevention claims have been allowed since 1990, when the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was adopted (Arvanitoyannis and Houwelingen-Koukaliaroglou, 2005). Regulation (EC) N° 1924/2006 in the European Union (EU) was achieved in 2006, with focus on nutrition and health claims made on foods (NHCR) (EC, 2006). The requirements were on health claims to be authorized before market entry (Verhagen and van Loveren, 2016). There is sign of fundamental use of health claims in EU countries, particularly in certain food categories, as has been pointed out by several authors (Hieke et al., 2016; Lop ez-Galán and De-Magistris 2017; Pravst and Kušar, 2015). In a study carried out in EU countries in 2013, about 7–14% of prepacked foods in the selected EU countries were found to carry health claims (Hieke et al., 2016). With all this, we have to take into account that, while functional foods with health claims provide opportunity for fostering innovation in the food sector and improving public health, there are also potential risks associated with their use, for example the lack of beneficial health effects, or even health concerns, which may appear from the regular consumption of these foods. Consequently, many countries carefully regulate the use of health claims (De Boer and Bast, 2015; Pravst et al., 2018). The regulations mentioned in the following table relate to the labeling of conven- tional food and beverage products, which may apply to functional foods if, for instance, the labeling describes the health benefits of the product (Table 2). 4.1 Functional foods policy and regulations As noted above, the increasing public interest in dietary health benefits led to the devel- opment of different legislative texts on nutrition and health claims worldwide. Between the legislation of 28 jurisdictions, three clear differences can be found. The first one is concerning the labeling of different types of nutrition and health claims and their permis- sion. The second difference is the discrepancies arising in the (premarketing) authoriza- tion procedures, and the last one is concerning the use of the scientific minority opinion in substantiating claims. There are parts of legislation that present critical differences and, although various approaches have positive points, no optimal approach to regulate nutri- tion and health claims has been applied yet (De Boer and Bast, 2015). Food regulations worldwide are designed to ensure health and safety standards through clear labeling and nutritional contents charts. Quality and correct information regarding nutritional contents and, in some cases, specific facts related to some diseases are the priority of these regulations (MOH, 2008). The set of regulations applies to producers and food 20 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 42.
    Table 2 Technologiesfor detection of bioactive compounds and methods the bioactive compounds action. Bioactive compound Source Detection Mechanism of action method Strengths of method Phenolic compounds (flavonols, anthocyanidins, tanins) Berry fruits, tea, chocolate, citrus, vegetables HPLC-HR-ESI-ToF- MS SEC-TID (Granato et al., 2016) Real time assays Identify and quantify compounds Protein Soy LC/MS SEC-TID (Schirle and Jenkins, 2016) Western blot qPCR Identify direct targets Omega (ω3–6) fatty acids Fish and fish oils UHPLC Orbitrap (Simirgiotis et al., 2017) Spectrometry Separate, Identify and quantify Volatile and semivolatile components if Complex mixtures Carotenoids (α y β carotene, lycopene and lutein) Carrots fruits, vegetables LC/MS—CG UHPLC Vis-NIR (Cen and He, 2007) Profiling based method metabolomic Identify target compounds Aminoacids itemized Dietary fiber (soluble fiber and β glucan) Wheat bran, oats, barley Yeast 3-hybrid ATR- FTIR (Hell et al., 2016) Mode of action models Pre and probiotics Yogurt and dairy, powder-plant origin specially soy-based qPCR (Ye et al., 2013) sequencing Resistance selection Identifies bypass mechanisms 21 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 43.
    companies (transporters, importers,and exporters included) regarding obligations, prohibi- tions, and sanctions, as well as allowing the consumer to have access to outstanding infor- mation and improving people’s health. The information includes marked containers or labels indicating ingredients, including all their additives expressed in decreasing order of proportions, and their nutritional information, expressed in percentage composition, weight unit, or under the nomenclature indicated by the regulations. This information should be visible and easily understood by the population (Ministry of Health, 2012). In general terms, official controls are regulated by state agencies from food, health, or agricultural departments and these bureaus apply strict sampling methods. In the case of products of animal origin, special attention is given to microbial contamination, while for foods of vegetable origin it is more exhaustive in terms of metal contents or pesticides and, in some cases, mycotoxins. The Codex Committee on Food Labelling (2013) published “Guidelines for Use of NutritionandHealthClaims,”whichdefinedtwokindsofclaims:nutritionclaimsandhealth claims. Nutrition claims can be defined as any representation that states, suggests, or implies that a food has particular nutritional properties. These claims include three categories: (1) nutrient content claims describing the level of a nutrient contained in a food, (2) nutrient comparative claims, which compare the nutrient and/or energy levels of two or more foods, and (3) nonaddition claims describing that a specific ingredient has not been added to a food (Codex Committee on Food Labelling, 2013). On the other hand, for health claims, the Codex Committee define these claims as “any representation that states, suggests, or implies that a relationship exists between a food or a constituent of that food and health,” including three types of claims: (1) nutrient function claims, describing the physiological role of the nutrient in growth, development, and normal functions of the body; (2) other function claims, emphasizing specific beneficial effects of the consumption of foods or their constituents, relating to a positive contribution to health, or the improvement of a function, or to modifying or preserving health; and. (3) claims on reduction of disease risk, which relate the consumption of a food or food constituent, in the context of the total diet, to the reduced risk of developing a disease or health-related condition (Codex Committee on Food Labelling, 2013). These six categories can be used for virtually all claims, although not all jurisdictions agree to label them in the same way. Among the countries where this is occurring we can find India, Singapore, New Zealand, Brazil, most central American countries, the European Union, South Africa, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, China, Ecuador, the USA, Chile, and Japan. Although, we have to take into account that legislation in Chile, Japan, and Tai- wan does not specifically address the use of nutrient comparative claims (Malla et al., 2013). It is important to remember that Japan was the first jurisdiction to regulate func- tional foods and their commercial applications, by means of the FOSHU (Foods for 22 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 44.
    Specific Health Use),which was based on research initiated in 1984 on the effects of these foods (Lalor and Wall, 2011). The use of a list with permitted claims could increase the availability of claims on the market, because companies can easily use a claim from the permitted list on their product. This should be positive for consumers, since they are more exposed to health messages on products (De Boer and Bast, 2015). The growing scientific support for, and consumer and industry interest in, functional food, its role in the diet, health, and disease has prompted governments to review their policies on health claims for foods. Nevertheless, only developed countries have so far included bioactive compounds and functional food in their current procedures. Table 3 shows descriptions of food regulations that have come up in the last 10years. Table 3 Description of food regulations for different countries in the last 10 years. Country Organization Type of regulation Terms/claims United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Public Health Security Formal regulatory category—not established for FF specifically (Wong et al., 2015) Functional foods can be regulated as a conventional food, a dietary supplement, a food for special dietary use, a medical food, or a drug and often these distinctions are based depending on the intended use and nature of the claim(s) Australia and New Zealand Food Standard Code Not specific regulation Information on general labeling and requirements that are relevant to all foods Canada Food and Drugs Act 1985 Not specific for food Establishes regulatory authority over food. And provides assistance to companies interested in marketing functional foods China Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) Procedure (MOH, 2008) Basic principles and requirements for the nutrition labeling and claims on prepackaged foods directly offered to consumers Continued 23 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
  • 45.
    Table 3 Descriptionof food regulations for different countries in the last 10 years.—cont’d Country Organization Type of regulation Terms/claims European Union European Commission Food and functional food labeled Rules for the use of health or nutritional claims on food products based on nutrient profiles to ensure that any claim made on a food label in the EU is clear and substantiated by scientific evidence India Food Safety and Standards Authority (Packaging and labeling) Regulations (Keservani et al., 2014) Japan Consumer Affairs Agency Food for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) Food for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) Label standard Eligible foods must bear a seal The system of “Foods with function”: Guidance for industry developing and introducing legislation regarding food labeling standards Foods containing ingredient with functions for health and its physiological effects on the human body Malaysia Ministry of Health—Food Act and Food regulation Foods and beverages Health claims. Mexico GAIN Report by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service labeling Requirements for prepackaged food and beverage products commercialized. Philippines Rules and regulations— government Labeling standards for packaged food products distributed Singapore AgriFood and Veterinary Authority Food regulations labeling requirements Guide to food labeling and advertisements—helps food importers, manufacturers, and retailers better understand the labeling requirements of the Food Regulations 24 The role of alternative and innovative food ingredients and products in consumer wellness
  • 46.
    5. Conclusion As wehave seen throughout the chapter, functional foods are of great interest within our society since they have been shown, in some cases, to be effective against certain diseases. In addition, these functional foods can come from various sources; although the most studied have been from plant or animal sources. However, it should be noted that there is still much research to be done in seeking new functional compounds. Regarding the legislative issue, we have already seen that there is not yet a clear consensus among all countries, but a certain tendency to regulate functional foods can be visualized, since Codex Alimentarius establishes international codes of conduct regarding food hygiene and other guidelines for correct production and handling; therefore, adopting ethical behaviors and offering guarantees of quality and safety. The labors of the Codex Alimen- tarius Committee to internationally standardize the supervision of nutrition and health claims should lead developments and improvements of legislation, to encourage work of the industry in the field of functional foods, and enhance the chance for consumers to use health-enhancing products. References Arvanitoyannis, I.S., Houwelingen-Koukaliaroglou, M., 2005. Functional foods: a survey of health claims, pros and cons, and current legislation. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 45, 385–404. Ashwell, M., 2002. Concepts of Functional Foods. ILSI—International Life Sciences Institute, Brussels. Abdal Dayem, A., Choi, H., Yang, G.M., Kim, K., Saha, S., Cho, S.G., 2016. The anti-cancer effect of polyphenols against breast cancer and cancer stem cells: molecular mechanisms. Nutrients 8 (9), 581. Abdellatief, S.A., Galal, A.A., Farouk, S.M., Abdel-Daim, M.M., 2017. Ameliorative effect of parsley oil on cisplatin-induced hepato-cardiotoxicity: a biochemical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical study. Biomed. Pharmacother. 86, 482–491. Abreu, T.M., Ribeiro, N.A., Chaves, H.V., Jorge, R.J.B., Bezerra, M.M., Monteiro, H.S.A., Benevides, N.M.B., 2016. Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the Lectin from marine red alga Solieriafiliformis. Planta Med. 82 (7), 596–605. Adefegha, S.A., Oboh, G., 2013. Phytochemistry and mode of action of some tropical spices in the man- agement of type-2 diabetes and hypertension. Afr. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 7, 332–346. Aguilera, G., Concepcion, M., Barbera, M., Dias, J., Duarte, A., Gil, A., Nova, E., 2010. Alimentos Fun- cionales: Aproximación a Una Nueva Alimentación. Retrieved from: http://www.revistavirtualpro. com/biblioteca. Ares, A.M., Valverde, S., Bernal, J.L., Nozal, M.J., Bernal, J., 2018. Extraction and determination of bio- active compounds from bee pollen. J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. 147, 110–124. Asgary, S., Rastqar, A., Keshvari, M., 2018. Functional food and cardiovascular disease prevention and treat- ment: a review. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 37 (5), 429–455. Auld, D.S., Kornecook, T.J., Bastianetto, S., Quirion, R., 2002. Alzheimer’s disease and the basal forebrain cholinergic system: relations to β-amyloid peptides, cognition, and treatment strategies. Prog. Neurobiol. 68 (3), 209–245. Aydin, S., G€ okcçe, Z., Yilmaz, O., 2015. The effects of Juglans regia L.(walnut) extract on certain biochem- ical paramaters and in the prevention of tissue damage in brain, kidney, and liver in CCl4 applied Wistar rats. Turk. J. Biochem. 40 (3), 241–250. Bais, S., Singh, G.S., Sharma, R., 2014. Antiobesity and hypolipidemic activity of Moringa oleifera leaves against high fat diet-induced obesity in rats. Adv. Biol. 1155–2014. 25 Wellness ingredients and functional foods
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    Other documents randomlyhave different content
  • 54.
    The Project GutenbergeBook of The Sorceress, v. 2 of 3
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    This ebook isfor the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: The Sorceress, v. 2 of 3 Author: Mrs. Oliphant Release date: April 21, 2016 [eBook #51816] Most recently updated: October 23, 2024 Language: English Credits: Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive) *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SORCERESS, V. 2 OF 3 ***
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    THE SORCERESS. THE SORCERESS. ANovel. BY M R S. O L I P H A N T, AUTHOR OF “THE CHRONICLES OF CARLINGFORD,” “THE CUCKOO IN THE NEST,” ETC., ETC. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON: F. V. WHITE Co., 31, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C. 1893. (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED) PRINTED BY TILLOTSON AND SON, BOLTON, LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BERLIN. CONTENTS: I., II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII.
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  • 58.
    CHAPTER I. It wasperhaps a very good thing for Bee at this distracting and distracted moment of her life, that her mother’s illness came in to fill up every thought. Her own little fabric of happiness crumbled down about her ears like a house of cards, only as it was far more deeply founded and strongly built, the downfall was with a rumbling that shook the earth and a dust that rose up to the skies. Heaven was blurred out to her by the rising clouds, and all the earth was full of the noise, like an earthquake, of the falling walls. She could not get that sound out of her ears even in Mrs. Kingsward’s sick room, where the quiet was preternatural, and everybody spoke in the lowest tone, and every step was hushed. Even then it went on roaring, the stones and the rafters flying, the storms of dust and ruin blackening the air, so that Bee could not but wonder that nobody saw them, that the atmosphere was not thick and stifling with those debris that were continually falling about her own ears. For everything was coming down; not only the idol and the shrine he abode in, but heaven and earth, in which she felt that no truth, no faith, could dwell any longer. Who was there to believe in? Not any man if not Aubrey; not any goodness, any truth, if not his—not anything! For it was without object, without warning, for nothing at all, that he had deserted her, as if it had been of no importance: with the ink not dry on his letter, with her name still upon his lips. A great infidelity, like a great faith, is always something. It is tragic, one of the awful events of life in which there is, or may be, fate; an evil destiny, a terrible chastisement prepared beforehand. In such a case one can at least feel one’s self only a great victim, injured by God himself and the laws of the universe, though that was not the common fashion of thought then, as it is now-a-days. But Bee’s downfall did not mean so much as that it was not intended by anyone—not even by the chief worker in it. He had meant to hold Bee fast with one hand while he amused himself with the other. Amused himself—oh, heaven! Bee’s heart seemed to contract with a speechless spasm of anguish and rage. That she should be of no more account than that! Played with as if she were nobody—the slight creature of a moment. She, Bee! She, Colonel Kingsward’s daughter!
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    At first thepoor girl went on in a mist of self-absorption, through which everything else pierced but dully, wrapped up and hidden in it as in the storm which would have arisen had the house actually fallen about her ears, perceiving her mother through it, and the doctor, and all the accessories of the scene—but dimly, not as if they were real. When, however, there began to penetrate through this, strange words, with strange meanings in them: “Danger”—danger to whom?—“Strength failing”—but whose strength?—a dull wonder came in, bringing her back to other thoughts. By-and-by, Bee began to understand a little that it was of her mother of whom these things were being said. Her mother? But it was not her mother’s house that had fallen; what did it mean? The doctor talked apart with Moulsey, and Moulsey turned her back, and her shoulders heaved, and her apron seemed to be put to her eyes. Bee, in her dream said, half aloud, “Danger?” and both the doctor and Moulsey turned upon her as if they would have killed her. Then she was beckoned out of the room, and found herself standing face to face with that grave yet kindly countenance which she had known all her life, in which she believed as in the greatest authority. She heard his voice speaking to her through all the rumbling and downfall. “You must be very courageous,” it said, “You are the eldest, and till your father comes home——” What did it matter about her father coming home, or about her being the eldest? What had all these things to do with the earthquake, with the failure of truth, and meaning, and everything in life? She looked at him blankly, wondering if it were possible that he did not hear the sound of the great falling, the rending of the walls, and the tearing of the roof, and the choking dust that filled all earth and heaven. “My dear Beatrice,” he said, for he had known her all his life, “you don’t understand me, do you, my poor child?” Bee shook her head, looking at him wistfully. Could he know anything more about it, she wondered—anything that had still to be said? He took her hand, and her poor little hand was very cold with emotion and trouble. The good doctor, who knew nothing about any individual cause little Bee could have for agitation, thought he saw that her very being was arrested by a terror which as yet her intelligence had not grasped; something dreadful in the air which she did not understand. He drew her into the dining-room, the door of which stood open, and poured out a little
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    wine for her.“Now, Bee,” he said, “no fainting, no weakness. You must prove what is in you now. It is a dreadful trial for you, my dear, but you can do a great deal for your dear mother’s sake, as she would for yours.” “I have never said it was a trial,” cried Bee, with a gasp. “Why do you speak to me so? Has mamma told you? No one has anything to do with it but me.” He looked at her with great surprise, but the doctor was a man of too much experience not to see that here was something into which it was better not to inquire. He said, very quietly, “You, as the eldest, have no doubt the chief part to play; but the little ones will all depend upon your strength and courage. Your mother does not herself know. She is very ill. It will require all that we can do—to pull her through.” Bee repeated the last words after him with a scared look, but scarcely any understanding in her face—“To pull her—through?” “Don’t you understand me now? Your mother—has been ill for a long time. Your father is aware of it. I suppose he thought you were too young to be told. But now that he is absent, and your brother, I have no alternative. Your mother is in great danger. I have telegraphed for Colonel Kingsward, but in the meantime, Bee—child, don’t lose your head! Do you understand me? She may be dying, and you are the only one to stand by her, to give her courage.” Bee did not look as if she had courage for anyone at that dreadful moment. She fell a-trembling from head to foot and fell back against the wall where she was standing. Her eyes grew large, staring at him yet veiled as if they did not see—and she stammered forth at length, “Mother, mother!” with almost no meaning, in the excess of misery and surprise. “Yes, your mother; whatever else you may have to think of, she is the first consideration now.” He went on speaking, but Bee did not hear him; everything floated around her in a mist. The scenes at the Bath, the agitations, Mrs. Kingsward’s sudden pallors and flushings, her pretence, which they all laughed at, of not being able to walk; her laziness, lying on the sofa, the giddiness when she made that one turn with Charlie, she who had always been so fond of dancing; the hurry of bringing her to Kingswarden when Bee had felt they would have been so much better in London, and her strange, strange new fancy, mutely condemned by Bee, of finding the
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    children too muchfor her. Half of these things had been silently remarked and disapproved of by the daughters. Mamma getting so idle—self- indulgent almost, so unlike herself! Had they not been too busily engaged in their own affairs, Bee and Betty would both have been angry with mamma. All these things seem to float about Bee in a mist while she leaned against the wall and the doctor stood opposite to her talking. It was only perhaps about a minute after all, but she saw waving round her, passing before her eyes, one scene melting into another, or rather all visible at once, innumerable episodes—the whole course of the three months past which had contained so much. She came out of this strange whirl very miserable but very quiet. “I think it is chiefly my fault,” she said, faltering, interrupting the doctor who was talking, always talking; “but how could I know, for nobody told me? Doctor, tell me what to do now? You said we should—pull her through.” She gave him a faint, eager, conciliatory smile, appealing to him to do it. Of course he could do it! “Tell me—tell me only what to do.” He patted her kindly upon the shoulder. “That is right,” he said. “Now you understand me, and I know I can trust you. There is not much to do. Only to be quiet and steady—no crying or agitation. Moulsey knows everything. But you must be ready and steady, my dear. Sit by her and look happy and keep up her courage—that’s the chief thing. If she gives in it is all over. She must not see that you are frightened or miserable. Come, it’s a great thing to do for a little girl that has never known any trouble. But you are of a good sort, and you must rise to it for your mother’s sake.” Look happy! That was all she had to do. “Can’t I help Moulsey,” she asked. “I could fetch her what she wants. I could—go errands for her. Oh, doctor, something a little easier,” cried Bee, clasping her hands, “just at first!” “All that’s arranged,” he said, hastily, “Come, we must go back to our patient. She will be wondering what I am talking to you about. She will perhaps take fright. No, nothing easier, my poor child—if you can do that you may help me a great deal; if you can’t, go to bed, my dear, that will be best.” She gave him a look of great scorn, and moved towards her mother’s room, leading the way.
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    Mrs. Kingsward waslying with her face towards the door, watching, in a blaze of excitement and fever. Her eyes had never been so bright nor her colour so brilliant. She was breathing quickly, panting, with her heart very audible to herself, pumping in her ears, and almost audible in the room, so evident was it that every pulse was at fever speed. “What have you been telling Bee, doctor? What have you been telling Bee? What——” When she had begun this phrase it did not seem as if she could stop repeating it again and again. “I have been telling her that she may sit with you, my dear lady, on condition of being very quiet, very quiet,” said the doctor. “It’s a great promotion at her age. She has promised to sit very still, and talk very little, and hush her mamma to sleep. It is you who must be the baby to-night. If you can get a good long quiet sleep, it will do you all the good in the world. Yes, you may hold her hand if you like, my dear, and pat it, and smooth it— a little gentle mesmerism will do no harm. That, my dear lady, is what I have been telling Miss Bee.” “Oh, doctor,” said Mrs. Kingsward, “don’t you know she has had great trouble herself, poor child? Poor little Bee! At her age I was married and happy; and here is she, poor thing, plunged into trouble. Doctor, you know, there is a—gentleman——” Mrs. Kingsward had raised herself upon her elbow, and the panting of her breath filled all the room. “Another time—another time you shall tell me all about it. But I shall take Miss Bee away, and consign you to a dark room, and silence, if you say another word——” “Oh, don’t make my room dark! I like the light. I want my child. Let me keep her, let me keep her! Who should—comfort her—but her mother?” “Yes, so long as you keep quiet. If you talk I will take her away. Not a word—not a word—till to-morrow.” In spite of himself there was a change in the doctor’s voice as he said that word—or Bee thought so—as if there might never be any to-morrow. The girl felt as if she must cry out, shriek aloud, to relieve her bursting brain, but did not, overborne by his presence and by the new sense of duty and self-restraint. “Come now,” he went on, “I am very kind to let you have your little girl by you, holding your hand— don’t you think so? Go to sleep, both of you. If you’re quite, quite, quiet
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    you’ll both doze,and towards the morning I’ll look in upon you again. Now, not another word. Good-night, good-night.” Bee, whose heart was beating almost as strongly as her mother’s, heard his measured step withdraw on the soft carpets with a sense of wild despair, as if the last hope was going from her. Her inexperienced imagination had leaped from complete ignorance and calm to the last possibilities of calamity. She had never seen death, and what if that awful presence were to come while she was alone, incapable of any struggle, of giving any help. She listened to the steps getting fainter in the distance with anguish and terror unspeakable. She clasped her mother’s hand tightly without knowing it. That only aid, the only man who could do anything, was going away— deserting them—leaving her alone in her ignorance to stand between her mother and death. Death! Every pulse sprang up and fluttered in mortal terror. And she was put there to be quiet—ready and steady, he had said—to look happy! Bee kept silent; kept sitting upon her chair; kept down her shriek after him with a superhuman effort. She could do no more. “Listen—he’s talking to Moulsey now,” said Mrs. Kingsward, “about me; they’re always—whispering, about me—telling the symptoms—and how I am. That is the worst of nurses——” “Mamma! Oh, don’t talk, don’t talk!” cried Bee; though she was more comforted than words can tell by the sound of her mother’s voice. “Whispering: can’t you hear them? About temperature—and things. I can bear talking—but whispering. Bee—don’t you hear ’em—whis— whispering——” “Oh, mamma,” cried Bee, “I love to hear you speak! But don’t, don’t, don’t, or they’ll make me go away.” “My baby,” said the mother, diverted in her wandering and weakness to a new subject, “my little thing! He said we were to go to sleep. Put your head there—and I’ll sing you—I’ll sing you—to sleep—little Bee, little Bee, poor little Bee!”
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    CHAPTER II. This nightwas the strangest in Bee Kingsward’s life. She had never known what it was to remain silent and awake in the darkness and warmth of a sick room, which of itself is a strange experience for a girl, and shows the young spirit its own weakness, its craving for rest and comfort, the difficulty of overcoming the instincts of nature—with such a sense of humiliation as nothing else could give. Could you not watch with me one hour? She believed that she had lain awake crying all night when her dream of happiness had so suddenly been broken in upon at Cologne; but now, while she sat by her mother’s side, and the little soft crooning of the song, which Mrs. Kingsward supposed herself to be singing to put her child to sleep, sank into a soft murmur, and the poor lady succeeded in hushing herself into a doze by this characteristic method. Bee’s head dropped too, and her eyelids closed. Then she woke, with a little shiver, to see the large figure of Moulsey like a ghost by the bed, and struggled dumbly back to her senses, only remembering that she must not start nor cry to disturb Mrs. Kingsward, whose quick breathing filled the room with a sensation of danger and dismay to which the girl was sensible as soon as the film of sleep that had enveloped her was broken. Mrs. Kingsward’s head was thrown back on the pillow; now and then a faint note of the lullaby which she had been singing came from the parted lips, through which the hot, quick breath came so audibly. Now and then she stirred in her feverish sleep. Moulsey stood indistinguishable with her back to the light, a mass of solid shadow by the bedside. She shook her head. “Sleep’s best,” she said, in the whisper which the patient hated. “Sleep’s better than the best of physic.” Bee caught those solid skirts with a sensation of hope, to feel them so real and substantial in her hand. She did not care to speak, but lifted her face, pale with alarm and trouble, to the accustomed nurse. Moulsey shook her head again. It was all the communication that passed between them, and it crushed the hope that was beginning to rise in Bee’s mind. She had thought when she heard the doctor go away that death might be coming as soon as his back was turned. She had felt when her mother fell asleep as if the danger must be past. Now she sank into that second stage of hopelessness, when there is no longer any immediate panic, when the
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    unaccustomed intelligence dimlyrealises that the sufferer may be better, and may live through the night, or through many nights, and yet there may be no real change. Very dim as yet was this consciousness in Bee’s heart, and yet the first dawning of it bowed her down. In the middle of the night—after hours so long!—more like years, when Bee seemed to have sat there half her life, to have become used to it, to be uncertain about everything outside, but only that her mother lay there more ill than words could say—Mrs. Kingsward awoke. She opened her eyes without any change of position with the habit of a woman who has been long ill, without acknowledging her illness. It was Moulsey who saw a faint reflection of the faint light in the softly opening eyes, and detected that little change in the breathing which comes with returning consciousness. Bee, with her head leant back upon her chair and her eyes closed, was dozing again. “You must take your cordial, ma’am, now you’re awake. You’ve had such a nice sleep.” “Have I? I thought I was with the children and singing to baby. Who’s this that has my hand—Bee?” “Mamma,” cried the girl, with a little start, and then, “Oh! I have waked her, Moulsey, I have waked her!” “Is this her little hand? Poor little Bee! No, you have not waked me, love; but why, why is the child here?” “The doctor said she might stay—to send for him if you wanted anything —and—and to satisfy her.” “To satisfy her, why so, why so? Am I so bad? Did he think I would die —in the night?” “No, no, no,” said Moulsey, standing by her, patting her shoulder, as if she had been a fretful child. “What a thing to fancy! As if he’d have sent the child here for that!” “No,” said the poor lady, “he wouldn’t have sent the child, would he— not the child—for that—to frighten her! But Bee must go to bed. I’m so much better. Go to bed. Moulsey; poor Moulsey, never tires, she’s so good. But you must go to bed.” “Oh, mother, let me stay. When you sleep, I sleep too; and I’m so much happier here.”
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    “Happier, are you?Well—but there was something wrong. Something had happened. What was it that happened? And your father away! It never does for anything to happen when—my husband is away. I’ve grown so silly. I never know what to do. What was it that happened, Bee?” “There was—nothing,” said Bee, with a sudden chill of despair. She had forgotten everything but the dim bed-chamber, the faint light, the quick, quick breathing. And now there came a stab at her poor little heart. She scarcely knew what it was, but a cut like a knife going to the very centre of her being. Then there came the doctor’s words, as if they were written in light across the darkness of the room—“Ready, and steady.” She said in a stronger voice, “You have been dreaming. There was nothing, mamma.” Mrs. Kingsward, who had raised herself on her elbow, sank back again on her pillow. “Yes,” she said, “I must have been dreaming. I thought somebody came —and told us. Dreams are so strange. People say they’re things you’ve been —thinking of. But I was not thinking of that—the very last thing! Bee, it’s a pity—it’s a great pity—when a woman with so many children falls into this kind of silly, bad health.” “Oh, mamma,” was all that poor Bee could say. “Oh—let me alone, Moulsey—I want to talk a little. I’ve had such a good sleep, you said; sometimes—I want to talk, and Moulsey won’t let me —nor your father, and I have it all here,” she said, putting her hand to her heart, “or here,” laying it over her eyebrows, “and I never get it out. Let me talk, Moulsey—let me talk.” Bee, leaning forward, and Moulsey standing over her by the bedside, there was a pause. Their eyes, accustomed to the faint light, saw her eyes shining from the pillow, and the flush of her cheeks against the whiteness of the bed. Then, after a while, there came a little faint laugh, and, “What was I saying?” Mrs. Kingsward asked. “You look so big, Moulsey, like the shadows I used to throw on the wall to please the children. You always liked the rabbit best, Bee. Look!” She put up her hands as if to make that familiar play upon the wall. “But Moulsey,” she added, “is so big. She shuts out all the light, and what is Bee doing here at this hour of the night? Moulsey, send Miss Bee to bed.” “Oh, mother, let me stay. You were going to tell me something.” “Miss Bee, you must not make her talk.”
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    “How like Moulsey!”said the invalid. “Make me talk! when I have wanted so much to talk. Bee, it’s horrid to go on in this silly ill way, when —when one has children to think of. Your father’s always good—but a man often doesn’t understand. About you, now—if I had been a little stronger, it might have been different. What was it we heard? I don’t think it was true what we heard.” “Oh, mamma, don’t think of that, now.” “It is so silly, always being ill! And there’s nothing really the matter. Ask the doctor. They all say there’s nothing really the matter. Your father—but then he doesn’t know how a woman feels. I feel as if I were sinking, sinking down through the bed and the floor and everything, away, I don’t know where. So silly, for nothing hurts me—I’ve no pain—except that I always want more air. If you were to open the window, Moulsey; and Bee, give me your hand and hold me fast, that I mayn’t sink away. It’s all quite silly, you know, to think so,” she added, with again a faint laugh. Bee’s eyes sought those of Moulsey with a terrified question in them; the great shadow only slightly shook its head. “Do you remember, Bee, the picture—we saw it in Italy, and I’ve got a photograph—where there is a saint lying so sweetly in the air, with angels holding her up? They’re flying with her through the blue sky—two at her head, and other two—and her mantle so wrapped round her, and she lying, oh! so easy, resting, though there’s nothing but the air and the angels. Do you remember, Bee?” “Yes, mamma. Oh, mamma, mamma!” “That’s what I should like,” said Mrs. Kingsward; “it’s strange, isn’t it? The bed’s solid, and the house is solid, and Moulsey there, she’s very solid too, and air isn’t solid at all. But there never was anybody that lay so easy and looked so safe as that woman in the air. Their arms must be so soft under her, and yet so strong, you know; stronger than your father’s. He’s so kind, but he hurries me sometimes; and soft—you’re soft, Bee, but you’re not strong. You’ve got a soft little hand, hasn’t she, Moulsey? Poor little thing! And to think one doesn’t know what she may have to do with it before she is like me.” “She’ll have no more to do with it, ma’am, than a lady should, no more than you’ve had. But you must be quiet, dear lady, and try and go to sleep.”
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    “I might neverhave such a good chance of talking to her again. The middle of the night and nobody here—her father not even in the house. Bee, you must try never to begin being ill in any silly way, feeling not strong and that sort of foolish thing, and say out what you think. Don’t be frightened. It’s—it’s bad for him as well as for you. He gets to think you haven’t any opinion. And then all at once they find out—And, perhaps, it’s too late—.” “Mamma, you’re not very ill? Oh, no; you’re looking so beautiful, and you talk just as you always did.” “She says am I very ill, Moulsey? Poor little Bee! I feel a great deal better. I had surely a nice sleep. But why should the doctor be here, and you made to sit up, you poor little thing. Moulsey, why is the doctor here?” “I never said, ma’am, as he was here. He’s coming round first thing in the morning. He’s anxious—because the Colonel’s away.” “Ah! you think I don’t know. I’m not so very bad; but he thinks—he thinks—perhaps I might die, Bee.” “Mamma, mamma!” “Don’t be frightened,” said Mrs. Kingsward, drawing the girl close to her. “That’s a secret; he doesn’t think I know. It would be a curious, curious thing, when people think you are only ill to go and die. It would surprise them so. And so strange altogether—instead of worries, you know, every day, to be all by yourself, lying so easy and the angels carrying you. No trouble at all then to think whether he would be pleased—or anything; giving yourself to be carried like that, like a little child.” “But mamma,” cried Bee, “you could not, would not leave us—you wouldn’t, would you, mamma?—all the children, and me; and I with nobody else, no one to care for me. You couldn’t, mother, leave us; you wouldn’t! Say you wouldn’t! Oh! Moulsey! Moulsey! look how far away she is looking, as if she didn’t see you and me!” “You forget, Bee,” said Mrs. Kingsward, “How easy it looked for that saint in the picture. I always liked to watch the birds floating down on the wind, never moving their wings. That’s what seems no trouble, so easy; not too hot nor too cold, nor tiring, neither to the breath nor anything. I shouldn’t like to leave you. No—But then:” she added, with a smile, “I should not require to leave you. I’d—I’d—What was I saying? Moulsey, will you please give me some—more—”
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    She held outher hand again for the glass which Moulsey had just put down. “It makes me strong—it makes me speak. I’m—sinking away again, Bee. Hold me—hold me tight. If I was to slip away—down—down—down to the cellars or somewhere.” The feeble laugh was dreadful for the listeners to hear. “Run,” cried Moulsey, in Bee’s ear, “the doctor—the doctor! in the library.” And then there was a strange phantasmagoria that seemed to fill the night, one scene melting into another. The doctor rousing from his doze, his measured step coming back; the little struggle round the bed; Moulsey giving place to the still darker shadow; the glow of Mrs. Kingsward’s flushed and feverish countenance between; then the quiet, and then again sleep—sleep broken by feeble movements, by the quick panting of the breath. “She’ll be easier now,” the doctor said. “You must go to bed, my dear young lady. Moulsey can manage for the rest of the night.” “Doctor,” said Bee, with something in her throat that stopped the words, “doctor—will she—must she? Oh, doctor, say that is not what it means? One of us, it would not matter, but mother—mother!” “It is not in our hands,” the doctor said. “It is not much we can do. Don’t look at me as if I were God. It is little, little I can do.” “They say,” cried poor Bee, “that you can do anything. It is when there is no doctor, no nurse that people—— Oh, my mother—my mother! Doctor, don’t let it be.” “You are but a child,” said the doctor, patting her kindly on the shoulder, “you’ve not forgotten how to say your prayers. That’s the only thing for you to do. Those that say such things of doctors know very little. We stand and look on. Say your prayers, little girl—if they do her no good, they’ll do you good. And now she’ll have a little sleep.” Bee caught him by the arm. “Sleep,” she said, looking at him suspiciously. “Sleep?” “Yes, sleep—that may give her strength for another day. Oh, ask no more, child. Life is not mine to give.”
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    What a night!Out of doors it was moonlight as serene as heaven—the moon departing in the west, and another faint light that was day coming on the other side, and the first birds beginning to stir in the branches; but not even baby moving in the house. All fast asleep, safe as if trouble never was, as if death could not be. Bee went upstairs to her chill, white room, where the white bed, unoccupied, looked to her like death itself—all cold, dreadful, full of suggestion. Bee’s heart was more heavy than could be told. She had nothing to fall back upon, no secret strength to uphold her. She had forgotten how wretched she had been, but she felt it, nevertheless, behind the present anguish. Nevertheless, she was only nineteen, and when she flung herself down to cry upon her white pillow—only to cry, to get her passion out—beneficent nature took hold of the girl and made her sleep. She did not wake for hours. Was it beneficent? For when she was roused by the opening of the door and sat up in her bed, and found herself still dressed in her evening frock, with her little necklace round her throat, there pressed back upon Bee such a flood of misery and trouble as she thought did not exist in the world. “Miss Bee, Miss Bee! Master’s come home. He’s been travelling all night—and I dare not disturb Mrs. Moulsey in Missis’s room; and he wants to see you this minit, please. Oh, come, come, quick, and don’t keep the Colonel waiting,” the woman said. Half awakened, but wholly miserable, Bee sprang up and rushed downstairs to her father. He came forward to meet her at the door, frowning and pale. “What is this I hear?” he said. “What have you been doing to upset your mother? She was well enough when I went away. What have you been doing to your mother? You children are the plague of our lives!”
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    CHAPTER III. The weekpassed in the sombre hurry yet tedium of a house lying under the shadow of death—that period during which when it is night we long for morning, and when it is morning we long for night, hoping always for the hope that never comes, trembling to mark the progress which does go on silently towards the end. Colonel Kingsward was rough and angry with Bee that first morning, to her consternation and dismay. She had never been the object of her father’s anger before, and this hasty and imperious questioning seemed to take all power of reply out of her. “What had she been doing to her mother?” She! to her mother! Bee was too much frightened by his threatening look, the cloud on his face, the fire in his eyes, to say anything. Her mind ran hurriedly over all that had happened, and that last terrible visit, which had changed the whole aspect of the earth to herself. But it was to herself that this stroke of misfortune had come, and not to her mother. A gleam of answering anger came into Bee’s eyes, sombre with the unhappiness which had been pushed aside by more immediate suffering, yet was still there like a black background, to frame whatever other miseries might come after. As for Colonel Kingsward, it was to him, as to so many men, a relief to blame somebody for the trouble which was unbearable. The blow was approaching which he had never allowed himself to believe in. He had blamed his wife instinctively, involuntarily, at the first hearing of every inconvenience in life; and it had helped to accustom him to the annoyance to think that it was her fault. He had done so in what he called this unfortunate business of Bee’s, concluding that but for Mrs. Kingsward’s weakness, Mr. Aubrey Leigh and his affairs would never have become of any importance to the family. He had blamed her, too, and greatly, for that weakening of health which he had so persistently endeavoured to convince himself did not mean half so much as the doctors said. Women are so idiotic in these respects. They will insist on wearing muslin and lace when they ought to wear flannel. They will put on evening dresses when they ought to be clothed warmly to the throat, and shoes made of paper when they ought to be solidly and stoutly shod, quite indifferent to the trouble and anxiety they may cause to their family. And now that Mrs. Kingsward’s state had got
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    beyond the possibilityof reproach, he turned upon his daughter. It must be her fault. Her mother had been better or he should not have left her. The quiet of the country was doing her good; if she had not been agitated all would have been well. But Bee, with all her declarations of devotion to her mother; Bee, the eldest, who ought to have had some sense; Bee had brought on this trumpery love business to overset the delicate equilibrium which he himself, a man with affairs so much more important in hand, had refrained from disturbing. It did him a little good, unhappy and anxious as he was, to pour out his wrath upon Bee. And she did not reply. She did not shed tears, as her mother had weakly done in similar circumstances, or attempt excuses. Even if he had been sufficiently at leisure to note it, an answering fire awoke in Bee’s eyes. He had not leisure to note, but he perceived it all the same. Presently, however, every faculty, every thought, became absorbed in that sick chamber; things had still to be thought of outside of it, but they seemed strange, artificial things, having no connection with life. Then Charlie was summoned from Oxford, and the younger boys from school, which increased the strange commotion of the house, adding that restless element of young life which had no place there, nothing to do with itself, and which roused an almost frenzied irritation in Colonel Kingsward when he saw any attempt on the part of the poor boys to amuse themselves, or resume their usual occupations. “Clods!” he said; “young brutes! They would play tennis if the world were falling to pieces.” And again that glance of fire came into Bee’s eyes, marked unconsciously, though he did not know he had seen it, by her father. The boys hung about her when she stole out for a little air, one at each arm. “How is mother, Bee? She’s no worse? Don’t you think we might go over to Hillside for that tournament? Don’t you think Fred might play in the parish match with Siddemore? They’re so badly off for bowlers. Don’t you think——” “Oh, I think it would be much better for you to be doing something, boys; but, then, papa might hear, and he would be angry. If we could but keep it from papa.” “We’re doing mother no good,” said Fred. “How could we do mother good? Why did the governor send for us, Bee, only to kick our heels here, and get into mischief? A fellow can’t help getting into mischief when he has nothing to do.”
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    “Yes,” repeated Fred,“what did he send for us for? I wish mother was better. I suppose as soon as she’s better we’ll be packed off again.” They were big boys, but they did not understand the possibility of their mother not getting better, and, indeed, neither did Bee. When morning followed morning and nothing happened, it seemed to her that getting better was the only conclusion to be looked for. If it had been Death that was coming, surely it must have come by this time. Her hopes rose with every new day. But Mrs. Kingsward had been greatly agitated by the sight of Charlie when he was allowed to see her. “Why has Charlie come home?” she said. “Was he sent for? Was it your father that brought him? Charlie, my dear, what are you doing here? Why have you come back? You should have been going on with—— Did your father send for you? Why—why did your father send for you, my boy?” “I thought,” said Charlie, quite unmanned by the sight of her, and by this unexpected question, and by all he had been told about her state, “I thought —you wanted to see me, mother.” “I always like to see you—but not to take you away from—— And why was he sent for, Moulsey? Does the doctor think?—does my husband think? ——” Her feverish colour grew brighter and brighter. Her eyes shone with a burning eagerness. She put her hot hand upon that of her son. “Was it to say good-bye to me?” she said, with a strange flutter of a smile. At the same time an argument on the same subject was going on between the doctor and the Colonel. “What can the children do in a sick room? Keep them away. I should never have sent for them if you had consulted me. It is bad enough to have let her see Charlie, summoned express—do you want to frighten your wife to death?” “There can be no question,” said the Colonel, “if what you tell me is true, of frightening her to death. I think, Benson, that a patient in such circumstances ought to know. She ought to be told——” “What?” the doctor said, sharply, with a harsh tone in his voice. “What? Do you need to ask? Of her state—of what is imminent—that she is going to——”
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    Colonel Kingsward lovedhis wife truly, and he could not say those last words. “Yes,” said the doctor, “going to——? Well, we hope it’s to One who has called her, that knows all about it, Kingsward. Doctors are not supposed to take that view much, but I do. I’d tell her nothing of the sort. I would not agitate her either with the sight of the children or those heathenish thoughts about dying. Well, I suppose you’ll take your own way, if you think she’s in danger of damnation; but you see I don’t. I think where she’s going she’ll find more consideration and more understanding than ever she got here.” “You are all infidels—every one of you,” said Colonel Kingsward; “you would let a soul rush unprepared into the presence of—” “Her Father,” said Doctor Benson. “So I would; if he’s her Father he’ll take care of that. And if he’s only a Judge, you know, a Judge is an extraordinarily considerate person. He leaves no means untried of coming to a right decision. I would rather trust my case in the hands of the Bench than make up my own little plea any day. And, anyhow you can put it, the Supreme Judge must be better than the best Bench that ever was. Leave her alone. She’s safer with Him than either with you or me.” “It’s an argument I never would pardon—in my own case. I shudder at the thought of being plunged into eternity without the time to—to think—to —to prepare——” “But if your preparations are all seen through from the beginning? If it’s just as well known then, or better, what you are thinking, or trying to think, to make yourself ready for that event? You knew yourself, more or less, didn’t you, when you were in active service, the excuses a wretched private would make when he was hauled up, and how he would try to make the worse appear the better cause. Were you moved by that, Colonel Kingsward? Didn’t you know the man, and judge him by what you knew?” “It seems to me a very undignified argument; there’s no analogy between a wretched private and my—and my—and one of us—at the Judgment Seat.” “No—it’s more like one of your boys making up the defence—when brought before you—and the poor boy would need it too,” Dr. Benson added within himself. But naturally he made no impression with his argument, whether it was good or bad, upon his hearer. Colonel Kingsward was in reality a very unhappy man. He had nobody to blame for the
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    dreadful misfortune whichwas threatening him except God, for whom he entertained only a great terror as of an overwhelming tyrannical Power ready to catch him at any moment when he neglected the observances or rites necessary to appease it. He was very particular in these observances— going to church, keeping up family prayers, contributing his proper and carefully calculated proportion to the charities, c. Nobody could say of him that he was careless or negligent. And now how badly was his devotion repaid!—by the tearing away from him of the companion of his life. But he felt that there was still much more that the awful Master of the Universe might inflict, perhaps upon her if she was not prepared to meet her God. He was wretched till he had told her, warned her, till she had fulfilled everything that was necessary, seen a clergyman, and got herself into the state of mind becoming a dying person. He had collected all the children that she might take leave of them in a becoming way. He had, so far as he knew, thought of everything to make her exit from the world a right one in all the forms—and now to be told that he was not to agitate her, that the God whom he wished to prepare her to meet knew more of her and understood her better than he did! Agitate her! When the alternative might be unspeakable miseries of punishment, instead of the acquittal which would have to be given to a soul properly prepared. These arguments did not in the least change his purpose, but they fretted and irritated him beyond measure. At the bottom of all, the idea that anybody should know better than he what was the right thing for his own wife was an intolerable thought. He went in and out of her room with that irritated, though self-controlled look, which she knew so well. He had never shown it to the world, and when he had demanded of her in his angry way why this was and that, and how on earth such and such things had happened, Mrs. Kingsward had till lately taken it so sweetly that he had not himself suspected how heavy it was upon her. And when she had begun to show signs of being unable to bear the responsibility of everything in earth and heaven, the Colonel had felt himself an injured man. There were signs that he might eventually throw that responsibility on Bee. But in the meantime he had nobody to blame, as has been said, and the burden of irritation and disturbance was heavy upon him. The next morning after his talk with Dr. Brown he came in with that clouded brow to find Charlie by her bedside. The Colonel came up and
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    stood looking atthe face on the pillow, now wan in the reaction of the fever, and utterly weak, but still smiling at his approach. “I have been telling Charlie,” she said, in her faint voice, “that he must go back to his college. Why should he waste his time here?” “He will not go back yet,” said Colonel Kingsward; “are you feeling a little better this morning, my dear?” “Oh, not to call ill at all,” said the sufferer. “Weak—a sort of sinking, floating away. I take hold of somebody’s hand to keep me from falling through. Isn’t it ridiculous?” she said, after a little pause. “Your weakness is very great,” said the husband, almost sternly. “Oh, no, Edward. It’s more silly than anything—when I am not really ill, you know. I’ve got Charlie’s hand here under the counterpane,” she said again, with her faint little laugh. “You won’t always have Charlie’s hand, or anyone’s hand, Lucy.” She looked at him with a little anxiety. “No, no. I’ll get stronger, perhaps, Edward.” “Do you feel as if you were at all stronger, my dear?” She loosed her son’s hand, giving him a little troubled smile. “Go away now, Charlie dear. I don’t believe you’ve had your breakfast. I want to speak to—papa.” Then she waited, looking wistfully in her husband’s face till the door had closed. “You have something to say to me, Edward. Oh, what is it? Nothing has happened to anyone?” “No, nothing has happened,” he said. He turned away and walked to the window, then came back again, turning his head half-way from her as he spoke. “It is only that you are, my poor darling—weaker every day.” “Does the doctor think so?” she said, with a little eagerness, with a faint suffusion of colour in her face. He did not say anything—could not perhaps—but slightly moved his head. “Weaker every day, and that means, Edward!” She put out her thin, hot hands. “That means——” The man could not say anything. He could do his duty grimly, but when the moment came he could not put it into words. He sank down on the chair
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    Charlie had left,and put down his face on the pillow, his large frame shaken by sobs which he could not restrain. These sobs made Mrs. Kingsward forget the meaning of this communication altogether. She put her hands upon him trying to raise his head. “Edward! Oh, don’t cry, don’t cry! I have never seen you cry in all my life. Edward, for goodness’ sake! You will kill me if you go on sobbing like that. Oh, Edward, Edward, I never saw you cry before.” Moulsey had darted forward from some shadowy corner where she was and gripped him by the arm. “Stop, sir—stop it,” she cried, in an authoritative whisper, “or you’ll kill her.” He flung Moulsey off and raised his head a little from the pillow. “You have never seen me with any such occasion before,” he said, taking her hands into his and kissing them repeatedly. He was not a man of many caresses, and her heart was touched with a feeble sense of pleasure. “Dear!” she said softly, “dear!” feebly drawing a little nearer to him to put her cheek against his. Colonel Kingsward looked up as soon as he was able and saw her lying smiling at him, her hand in his, her eyes full of that wonderful liquid light which belongs to great weakness. The small worn face was all illuminated with smiles; it was like the face of a child—or perhaps an angel. He looked at first with awe, then with doubt and alarm. Had he failed after all in the commission which he had executed at so much cost to himself, and against the doctor’s orders? He had been afraid for the moment of the sight of her despair—and now he was frightened by her look of ease, the absence of all perturbations. Had she not understood him? Would it have to be told again, more severely, more distinctly, this dreadful news?
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    CHAPTER IV. Mrs. Kingswardsaid nothing of the communication her husband had made to her. Did she understand it? He went about heavily all day, pondering the matter, going and coming to her room, trying in vain to make out what was in her mind. But he could not divine what was in that mind, hidden from him in those veils of individual existence which never seemed to him to have been so baffling before. In the afternoon she had heard, somehow, the voices of the elder boys, and had asked if they were there, and had sent for them. The two big fellows, with the mud on their boots and the scent of the fresh air about them, stood huddled together, speechless with awe and grief, by the bedside, when their father came in. They did not know what to say to their mother in such circumstances. They had never talked to her about herself, but always about themselves; and now they were entirely at a loss after they had said, “How are you, mamma? Are you very bad, mamma? Oh, I’m so sorry;” and “Oh, I wish you were better.” What could boys of twelve and fourteen say? For the moment they felt as if their hearts were broken; but they did not want to stay there; they had nothing to say to her. Their pang of sudden trouble was confused with shyness and awkwardness, and their consciousness that she was altogether in another atmosphere and another world. Mrs. Kingsward was not a clever woman, but she understood miraculously what was in those inarticulate young souls. She kissed them both, drawing each close to her for a moment, and then bade them run away. “Were you having a good game?” she said, with that ineffable, feeble smile. “Go and finish it, my darlings.” And they stumbled out very awkwardly, startled to meet their father’s look as they turned round, and greatly disturbed and mystified altogether, though consoled somehow by their mother’s look. They said to each other after a while that she looked “jolly bad,” but that she was in such good spirits it must be all right. Their father was as much mystified as they; but he was troubled in conscience, as if he had not spoken plainly enough, had not made it clear enough what “her state” was. She had not asked for the clergyman—she had not asked for anything. Was it necessary that he should speak again? There was one thing she had near her, but that so fantastic a thing!—a
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    photograph—one of thequantities of such rubbish the girls and she had brought home—a woman wrapped in a mantle floating in the air. “Take that thing away,” he said to Moulsey. It irritated him to see a frivolous thing like that—a twopenny-halfpenny photograph—so near his wife’s bed. “Don’t take it away,” she said, in the whisper to which her voice had sunk; “it gives me such pleasure.” “Pleasure!” he cried; even to speak of pleasure was wrong at such a moment. And then he added, “Would you like me to read to you? Would you like to see—anyone?” “To see anyone? Whom should I wish to see but you, Edward, and the children?” “We haven’t been—so religious, my dear, as perhaps we ought,” stammered the anxious man. “If I sent for—Mr. Baldwin perhaps, to read the prayers for the sick and—and talk to you a little?” She looked at him with some wonder for a moment, and then she said, with a smile, “Yes, yes; by all means, Edward, if you like it.” “I shall certainly like it, my dearest; and it is right—it is what we should all wish to do at the——” He could not say at the last—he could not say when we are dying—it was too much for him; but certainly she must understand now. And he went away hurriedly to call the clergyman, that no more time might be lost. “Moulsey,” said Mrs. Kingsward, “have we come then quite—to the end now?” “Oh, ma’am! Oh, my dear lady!” Moulsey said. “My husband—seems to think so. It is a little hard—to leave them all. Where is Bee?” “I am here, mamma,” said a broken voice; and the mother’s hand was caught and held tight, as she liked it to be. “May Betty come too?” “Yes, let Betty come. It is you I want, not Mr. Baldwin.” “Mr. Baldwin is a good man, ma’am. He’ll be a comfort to them and to the Colonel.” “Yes, I suppose so; he will be a comfort to—your father. But I don’t want anyone. I haven’t done very much harm——”
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    “No! oh, no,ma’am, none!” said Moulsey, while Betty, thrown on her knees by the bedside, tried to smother her sobs; and Bee, worn out and feeling as if she felt nothing, sat and held her mother’s hand. “But, then,” she said, “I’ve never, never, done any good.” “Oh! my dear lady, my dear lady! And all the poor people, and all the children.” “Hush! Moulsey. I never gave anything—not a bit of bread, not a shilling—but because I liked to do it. Never! oh, never from any good motive. I always liked to do it. It was my pleasure. It never cost me anything. I have done no good in my life. I just liked the poor children, that was all, and thought if they were my own—— Oh, Bee and Betty, try to be better women—different from me.” Betty, who was so young, crept nearer and nearer on her knees, till she came to the head of the bed. She lifted up her tear-stained face, “Mother! oh, mother! are you frightened?” she cried. Mrs. Kingsward put forth her other arm and put it freely round the weeping girl. “Perhaps I ought to be, perhaps I ought to be!” she said, with a little thrill and quaver. “Mother,” said Betty, pushing closer and closer, almost pushing Bee away, “if I had been wicked, ever so wicked, I shouldn’t be frightened for you.” A heavenly smile came over the woman’s face. “I should think not, indeed.” And then Betty, in the silence of the room, put her hands together and said very softly, “Our Father, which art in Heaven—” “Oh, children, children,” cried Moulsey, “don’t break our hearts! She’s too weak to bear it. Leave her alone.” “Yes, go away, children dear—go away. I have to rest—to see Mr. Baldwin.” Then she smiled, and said in gasps, “To tell the truth—I’m—I’m not afraid; look—” She pointed to the picture by her bedside. “So easy—so easy! Just resting—and the Saviour will put out his hand and take me in.” Mr. Baldwin came soon after—the good Rector, who was a good man, but who believed he had the keys, and that what he bound on earth was bound in Heaven—or, at least, he thought he believed so—with Colonel Kingsward, who felt that he was thus fulfilling all righteousness, and that
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    this was theproper way in which to approach the everlasting doors. He put away the little picture in which Catherine of Siena lay in the hold of the angels, in the perfect peace of life accomplished, the rest that was so easy and so sweet—hastily with displeasure and contempt. He did not wish the Rector to see the childish thing in which his wife had taken pleasure, nor even that she had been taking pleasure at all at such a solemn moment; even that she should smile the same smile of welcome with which she would have greeted her kind neighbour had she been in her usual place in the drawing-room disturbed her husband. So near death and yet able to think of that! He watched her face as the Rector read the usual prayers. Did she enter into them—did she understand them? He could scarcely join in them himself in his anxiety to make sure that she felt and knew what was her “state,” and was preparing—preparing to meet her God. That God was awaiting severely the appearance of that soul before him, the Colonel could not but feel. He would not have said so in words, but the instinctive conviction in his heart was so. When she looked round for the little picture it hurt him like a sting. Oh, if she would but think of the things that concerned her peace—not of follies, childish distractions, amusements for the fancy. On her side, the poor lady was conscious more or less of all that was going on, understood here and there the prayers that were going over her head, prayers of others for her, rather than anything to be said by herself. In the midst of them, she felt herself already like St. Catherine, floating away into ineffable peace, then coming back again to hear the sacred words, to see the little circle round her on their knees, and to smile upon them in an utter calm of weakness without pain, feeling only that they were good to her, thinking of her, which was sweet, but knowing little more. It was the most serene and cloudless night after that terrible day. A little after Colonel Kingsward had left the room finally and shut himself up in his study, Moulsey took the two girls out into the garden, through a window which opened upon it. “Children, go and breathe the sweet air. I’ll not have you in a room to break your hearts. Look up yonder—yonder where she’s gone,” said the kind nurse who had done everything for their mother. And they stole out—the two little ghosts, overborne with the dreadful burden of humanity, the burden which none of us can shake off, and crept across the grass to the seat where she had been used to sit among the children. The night was peace itself—not a breath stirring, a young moon with something
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    wistful in herlight looking down, making the garden bright as with a softened ethereal day. A line of white cloud dimly detached from the softness of the blue lay far off towards the west amid the radiance, a long faint line as of something in the far distance. Bee and Betty stood and gazed at it with eyes and hearts over-charged, each leaning upon the other. Their young souls were touched with awe and an awful quiet. They were too near the departure to have fallen down as yet into the vacancy and emptiness of re-awakening life. “Oh,” they said, “if that should be her!” And why should it not be? Unless perhaps there was a quicker way. They watched it with that sob in the throat which is of all sounds and sensations the most overwhelming. It seemed to them as if they were watching her a little further on her way, to the very horizon, till the soft distance closed over, and that speck like a sail upon the sea could be seen no more. And when it was gone they sank down together upon her seat, under the trees she loved, where the children had played and tumbled on the grass about her, and talked of her in broken words, a little phrase now and then, sometimes only “Mother,” or “Oh, mamma, mamma,” now from one, now from another—in that first extraordinary exaltation and anguish which is not yet grief. They did not know how long they had been there when something stirred in the bushes, and the two big boys, Arthur and Fred, came heavily into sight, holding each other by the arm. The boys were bewildered, heavy and miserable, not knowing what to do with themselves nor where to go. But they came up with a purpose, which was a little ease in the trouble. It cost them a little convulsion of reluctant crying before they could get out what they had to say. Then it came out in broken words from both together. “Bee, there’s someone wants to speak to you at the gate.” “Oh! who could want to speak to me—to-night? I cannot speak to anyone; you might have known.” “Bee,” said Arthur, the eldest, “it isn’t just—anyone; it’s—we thought you would perhaps—” “He told us,” said Fred, “who he was; and begged so hard—” Then there came back upon poor Bee all the other trouble that she had pushed away from her. Her heart seemed to grow hard and cold after all the softening and tenderness of this dreadful yet heavenly hour. “I will see no one—no one,” she said.
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    “Bee,” said theboys, “we shut the gate upon him; but he took hold of our hands, and—and cried, too.” They had to stop and swallow the sob before either could say any more. “He said she was his best friend. He said he couldn’t bear it no more than us. And if you would only speak to him.” Bee got up from her mother’s seat; her poor little heart swelled in her bosom as if it would burst. Oh! how was she to bear all this—to bear it all —to have no one to help her! “No, no, I will not. I will not!” she said. “Oh, Bee,” cried Betty, “if it is Aubrey—poor Aubrey! She was fond of him. She would not like him to be left out. Oh, Bee, come; come and speak to him. Suppose one of us were alone, with nobody to say mother’s name to!” “No, I will not,” said Bee. “Oh! Betty, mother knows why; she knows.” “What does she know?” cried Betty, pleading. “She was fond of him. I am fond of him, without thinking of you, for mother’s sake.” “Oh, let me go! I am going in; I am going to her. I wish, I wish she had taken me with her! No, no, no! I will never see him more.” “I think,” said Betty to the boys, pushing them away, “that she is not quite herself. Tell him she’s not herself. Say she’s not able to speak to anyone, and we can’t move her. And—and give poor Aubrey—oh, poor Aubrey!—my love.” The boys turned away on their mission, crossing the gravel path with a commotion of their heavy feet which seemed to fill the air with echoes. Colonel Kingsward heard it from his study, though that was closed up from any influence outside. He opened his window and came out, standing a black figure surrounded by the moonlight. “Who is there?” he said. “Are there any of you so lost to all feeling as to be out in the garden, of all nights in the world on this night?”
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    CHAPTER V. Aubrey Leighhad been living a troubled life during the time which had elapsed since the swallowing up in the country of the family in which he had become so suddenly interest, of which, for a short time, he had felt himself a member, and from which, as he felt, he could never be separated, whatever arbitrary laws might be made by hits head. When they disappeared from London, which was done so suddenly, he was much cast down for the moment, but, as he had the fullest faith in Bee, and was sustained by her independence of character and determined to stand by him whatever happened, he was, though anxious and full of agitation, neither despairing nor even in very low spirits. To be sure there were moments in which his heart sank, recalling the blank countenance of the father, and the too gentle and yielding disposition of the mother, and Bee’s extreme youth and habits of obedience to both. He felt how much there was to be said against himself—a man who had been forced into circumstances of danger which nobody but himself could fully understand, and against which his whole being had revolted, though he could say but little on the subject. And, indeed, who was to understand that a man might yield to a sudden temptation which he despised and hated, and that he could not even explain that this was so, laying the blackest blame upon another—to a man, and still less to a woman; which last was impossible, and not even to be thought of. He might tell it, perhaps, to his mother, and there was a possibility of help there; though even there a hundred difficulties existed. But he was not wound up to that last appeal, and he felt, at first, but little fear of the eventual result He was assured of Bee’s faithfulness, and how could any parent stand out against Bee? Not even, he tried to persuade himself, the stern Colonel, who had so crushed himself. And she had received his first letters, and had answered them, professing her determination never to be coerced in this respect. He was agitated, his life was full of excitement, and speculation, and trouble. But this is nothing dreadful in a young man’s life. It was perhaps better, more enlivening, more vivid, than the delights of an undisturbed love-making, followed by a triumphant marriage. It is well sometimes that the course of true love should not run smooth. He thought himself unhappy
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