Date palm counts among the oldest fruit crops of the world and is mainly cultivated for its highly nutritious fruits consumed as a staple food in many countries, especially in the Gulf region. Dates are enriched with numerous therapeutic bioactives and functional compounds such as phenolics, flavonols, carotenoids, minerals, and vitamins that not only provide an appreciable amount of energy required for the human body but also act as an effective therapeutic agent against several diseases. This review aimed to provide a deep insight into the nutritional as well as phytochemicals profile of date fruit and its seeds in order to explore their biological (anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, cardio-protective, anti-inflammatory properties), functional food, and nutra-pharmaceutical attributes. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: This review provides updated information regarding the date fruits and seeds phytochemicals composition together with highlighting dates potential as a natural therapeutic agent against several diseases. The study also urges the importance of consuming dates as a great package to live a healthy life due to the functional food and nutraceutical properties of this valuable fruit. The study also provides information first time as recommending dates to cope with the hidden hunger or micronutrient deficiency faced by the third world inhabitants. Hence, the review may further help the industry and researchers to explore the potential of dates for future medicinal and nutra-pharmaceutical applications.
Brown rice is unpolished rice with immeasurable benefits for human health. Brown rice (BR) and pre-germinated brown rice (PGBR) are known to contain various functional compounds such as gamma-oryzanol, dietary fibre and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In the present study, the experimental diets containing BR and PGBR (24, 48 h pre-germination) were used to investigate the influence of pre-germination time of brown rice on blood cholesterol in Sprague-Dawley male rats.
The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, with high fat diet (HFD) as one of the main contributing factors. Obesity increases the predisposition to other diseases such as diabetes through various metabolic pathways. Limited availability of antiobesity drugs and the popularity of complementary medicine have encouraged research in finding phytochemical strategies to this multifaceted disease. HFD induced obese Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with an extract of Morinda citrifolia L. leaves (MLE 60). After 9 weeks of treatment, positive effects were observed on adiposity, fecal fat content, plasma lipids, and insulin and leptin levels. The inducement of obesity and treatment with MLE 60 on metabolic alterations were then further elucidated using a (1)H NMR based metabolomics approach. Discriminating metabolites involved were products of various metabolic pathways, including glucose metabolism and TCA cycle (lactate, 2-oxoglutarate, citrate, succinate, pyruvate, and acetate), amino acid metabolism (alanine, 2-hydroxybutyrate), choline metabolism (betaine), creatinine metabolism (creatinine), and gut microbiome metabolism (hippurate, phenylacetylglycine, dimethylamine, and trigonelline). Treatment with MLE 60 resulted in significant improvement in the metabolic perturbations caused obesity as demonstrated by the proximity of the treated group to the normal group in the OPLS-DA score plot and the change in trajectory movement of the diseased group towards the healthy group upon treatment.
Obesity and obesity-related complications are on the increase both in the developed and developing world. Since existing pharmaceuticals fail to come up with long-term solutions to address this issue, there is an ever-pressing need to find and develop new drugs and alternatives. Natural products, particularly medicinal plants, are believed to harbor potential antiobesity agents that can act through various mechanisms either by preventing weight gain or promoting weight loss amongst others. The inhibition of key lipid and carbohydrate hydrolyzing and metabolizing enzymes, disruption of adipogenesis, and modulation of its factors or appetite suppression are some of the plethora of targeted approaches to probe the antiobesity potential of medicinal plants. A new technology such as metabolomics, which deals with the study of the whole metabolome, has been identified to be a promising technique to probe the progression of diseases, elucidate their pathologies, and assess the effects of natural health products on certain pathological conditions. This has been applied to drug research, bone health, and to a limited extent to obesity research. This paper thus endeavors to give an overview of those plants, which have been reported to have antiobesity effects and highlight the potential and relevance of metabolomics in obesity research.
The inactivation of antinutritional factors, protease inhibitors within winged bean protein was induced by two respective method treatments. The physical method based on steam vapor that was conducted using an autoclave and chemical method consisting on pH-gradients of buffer solutions prepared at respective acidic pH, neutral pH and alkaline pH ranges. The activity of remaining protease inhibitors of bowman birk inhibitor (BBI), and kunitz-trypsin inhibitor (KTI) after and before treatments was enzymatically confirmed using relevant antagonistic trypsin and combined trypsin-α-chymotrypsin digests. The resulting molecular assembly indicating an interval molecular relaxation range of °0.16 < °DA < °0.2 corresponding to reconformation in protein units with volume-mass changes of -2.17 < ∂v' < +2.17 and with denaturation/unfolding efficiency based on heat capacity ΔCp of 36.36 < DE/UF% < 54.67. These structural changes had a great benefit in determining and producing functional protein hydrolysates.
Therapeutic peptides derived proteins with alpha-reconformation states like antibody shape have shown potential effects in combating terrible diseases linked with earlier signs of angiogensis, mutagenesis and transgenesis. Alpha reconformation in material design refers to the folding of the peptide chains and their transitions under reversible chemical bonds of disulfide chemical bridges and further non-covalence lesions. Thus, the rational design of signal peptides into alpha-helix is intended in increasing the defending effects of peptides into cores like adjuvant antibiotic and/or vaccines. Thereby, the signal peptides are able in displaying multiple eradicating regions by changing crystal-depositions and deviation angles. These types of molecular structures could have multiple advantages in tracing disease syndromes and impurities by increasing the host defense against the fates of pathogens and viruses, eventually leading to the loss in signaling by increasing peptide susceptibility levels to folding and unfolding and therefore, formation of transgenic peptide models. Alpha reconformation peptides is aimed in triggering as well as other regulatory functions such as remodulating metabolic chain disorders of lipolysis and glucolysis by increasing the insulin and leptin resistance for best lipid storages and lipoprotein density distributions.
This study investigated the environmental factors associated with the presence of Vibrionaceae in economically important cage-cultured tropical marine fishes: the Asian Seabass Lates calcarifer, snapper Lutjanus sp., and hybrid grouper Epinephelus sp. Fish sampling was conducted at monthly intervals between December 2016 and August 2017. The body weight and length of individual fish were measured, and the skin, eye, liver, and kidney were sampled for bacterial isolation and identification. Water physicochemical parameters during the sampling activities were determined, and the enumeration of total Vibrionaceae count was also conducted from water and sediment samples. Nine species of Vibrio were identified, including V. alginolyticus, V. diabolicus, V. harveyi, V. campbellii, V. parahaemolyticus, V. rotiferianus, V. furnissii, V. fluvialis, and V. vulnificus. Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae was also identified. A total of 73% of the isolated Vibrio belonged to the Harveyi clade, followed by the Vulnificus clade (5.5%) and Cholera clade (0.6%). Highest occurrence of Vibrio spp. and P. damselae subsp. damselae was found in hybrid grouper (72%), followed by Asian Seabass (48%) and snapper (36%). The associations of Vibrio spp. and P. damselae subsp. damselae with the host fish were not species specific. However, fish mortality and fish size showed strong associations with the presence of some Vibrio spp. On average, 60% of the infected cultured fish exhibited at least one clinical sign. Nevertheless, inconsistent associations were observed between the pathogens and water quality. The yearlong occurrence and abundance of Vibrionaceae in the environmental components indicate that they might serve as reservoirs of these pathogens.
Skin abrasions often occur in farmed fish following handling by labourers, injury by farm facilities, cannibalism and ectoparasites. Vibrio spp. are opportunistic pathogens that can invade host fish through damaged tissues and cause outbreaks of vibriosis. This study describes the effect of skin abrasions on the infectivity of V. harveyi using Asian seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) fingerlings as a case example and compares bacterial load and fish survival following immersion challenge with different doses. In total, 315 fish (6.67 ± 1.8 g) were divided into 3 treatments: skin abrasion followed by immersion infection, immersion infection only and an uninfected, uninjured control. Fish in the infection treatments were divided into 3 subgroups and exposed in triplicate to a 7 d immersion challenge with 106, 107 and 108 CFU ml-1 of live V. harveyi. No mortalities were observed in the control and immersion infection groups. However, fish in the skin abrasion treatment group that were infected with 108 CFU ml-1 of live V. harveyi showed signs of progressing disease throughout the experiment, which resulted in mortalities. Significantly higher bacterial loads (p < 0.05) were recorded in the intestine, liver and gills of the fish in this group. Fish in the skin abrasion treatment that were exposed to 107 and 108 CFU ml-1 of V. harveyi showed 100% mortality by Days 5 and 4, respectively. These findings confirm that skin injuries increase the susceptibility of seabass fingerlings to V. harveyi infection.
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), a herbal plant, belonging to the family Apiceae, is valued for its culinary and medicinal uses. All parts of this herb are in use as flavoring agent and/or as traditional remedies for the treatment of different disorders in the folk medicine systems of different civilizations. The plant is a potential source of lipids (rich in petroselinic acid) and an essential oil (high in linalool) isolated from the seeds and the aerial parts. Due to the presence of a multitude of bioactives, a wide array of pharmacological activities have been ascribed to different parts of this herb, which include anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anxiolytic, anti-epileptic, anti-depressant, anti-mutagenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-dyslipidemic, anti-hypertensive, neuro-protective and diuretic. Interestingly, coriander also possessed lead-detoxifying potential. This review focuses on the medicinal uses, detailed phytochemistry, and the biological activities of this valuable herb to explore its potential uses as a functional food for the nutraceutical industry.
Glutens are potential proteins with multifunctional therapeutic effects. Their covalence network structures with and without protease inhibitors are expected to enhance or to serve further properties and further technological points such as increased bioactive surfaces, gelatinization, gelation and pasting properties. The depletion of the allergic peptide sequences of gluten proteins comprising sometimes protease inhibitors are valid via the enzymatic ingestion using proteolytic enzymes that might enhance these functional and technological processes by producing active peptides having osmoregulation and regular glass transitions, surface activity for coating and encapsulation properties. In addition to further therapeutic functions such as immunoregulatory, antithrombin and opioidal activities, particularly in eradicating most of the free radicals, suppressing diabetes Mellitus II complications and inhibiting angiotensin converting enzyme cardiovascular growth diseases.
Cell impurities are an emerging nucleating molecular barriers having the capability in disordering the metabolic chain reactions of proteolysis, glycolysis and lipolysis. Their massive effects induced by copolymer crystal growth in compaction with metal and mineral transients are extended as well as in damaging DNA and mRNA structure motif and other molecular assembly e.g. histones structure unites. Their polycrystalline packing modes, polydispersity and their tendency to surface and interface adhesion prompted us in structuring scaffold biomaterials enriched with biopeptides, layered by phospho-glycerides ester-forms. The interface tension of the formed map is flexible and dependent to the surface exposure and its collapse modes to the surrounding molecular ligands. Thus, the attempts in increasing surface exposure e.g. the viscoelastic of structured lipopeptides and types of formed network structures interplays an extra- conjugating biomolecules having a least cytotoxicity effects to cells constituents. Disulfides molecules are selected to be the key regulatory element in rejoining both lipidic and proteic moieties by disordering atoms status via chemical ionization using organic catalyst. The insertion of methionine based peptidic chain at the lateral surfaces of scaffold biomaterials enhances the electron-meta-static motions by raising a molecular disordering status at distinct regions of the map e.g. epimerization into a nonpolar side that helps the chemical conjunction of disulfide groups with the esterified phosphoglycerides mono-layers. These effects in turn are accomplished by the formation of meso-sphere nonpolar- vesicles. The oxidation of disulfide group would alter the ordering of initial molecules by raising a newly molecular disorders to the map with high polarity to surface regions. In the same time indicates a continuation in the crystallization growth factor via a low chemical lesions between the impurities and a supersaturation in the intra-atomic distances with maximum cross linking to the deformed ligand with scaffold biomaterials.
The attempt of this review article is to determine the impact of nuclear and mitochondrial damages on the propagation of cancer incidences. This review has advanced our understanding to altered genes and their relevant cancerous proteins. The progressive raising effects of free reactive oxygen species ROS and toxicogenic compounds contributed to significant mutation in nuclear and mitochondrial DNA where the incidence of gastric cancer is found to be linked with down regulation of some relevant genes and mutation in some important cellular proteins such as AMP-18 and CA-11. Thereby, the resulting changes in gene mutations induced the apparition of newly polymorphisms eventually leading to unusual cellular expression to mutant proteins. Reduction of these apoptotic growth factors and nuclear damages is increasingly accepted by cell reactivation effect, enhanced cellular signaling and DNA repairs. Acetylation, glycation, pegylation and phosphorylation are among the molecular techniques used in DNA repair for rectifying mutation incidences. In addition, the molecular labeling based fluorescent materials are currently used along with the bioconjugating of signal molecules in targeting disease translocation site, particularly cancers and tumors. These strategies would help in determining relevant compounds capable in overcoming problems of down regulating genes responsible for repair mechanisms. These issues of course need interplay of both proteomic and genomic studies often in combination of molecular engineering to cible the exact expressed gene relevant to these cancerous proteins.
Rice bran protein concentrates (RBPC) were extracted using mild alkaline solvents (pH: 8, 9, 10). The physicochemical, thermal, functional, and structural aspects of freeze-drying (FD) and spray-drying (SD) were compared. FD and SD of RBPC had porous and grooved surfaces, with FD having non-collapsed plates and SD being spherical. Alkaline extraction increases FD's protein concentration and browning, whereas SD inhibits browning. According to amino acid profiling, RBPC-FD9's extraction optimizes and preserves amino acids. A tremendous particle size difference was prominent in FD, thermally stable at a minimal maximum of 92 °C. Increased pH extraction gives FD greater exposal surface hydrophobicity and positively relates to denaturation enthalpy. Mild pH extraction and drying significantly impacted solubility, improved emulsion properties, and foaming properties of RBPC as observed in acidic, neutral, and alkaline environments. RBPC-FD9 and RBPC-SD10 extracts exhibit outstanding foaming and emulsion activity in all pH conditions, respectively. Appropriate drying selection, RBPC-FD or SD potentially employed as foaming/emulsifier agent or meat analog.
Actinopyga lecanora (A. lecanora) is classified among the edible species of sea cucumber, known to be rich in protein. Its hydrolysates were reported to contain relatively high antioxidant activity. Antioxidants are one of the essential properties in cosmeceutical products especially to alleviate skin aging. In the present study, pH, reaction temperature, reaction time and enzyme/substrate ratio (E/S) have been identified as the parameters in the papain enzymatic hydrolysis of A. lecanora. The degree of hydrolysis (DH) with antioxidant activities of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays were used as the responses in the optimization. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), normal plot of residuals and 3D contour plots were evaluated to study the effects and interactions between parameters. The best conditions selected from the optimization were at pH 5.00, 70 °C of reaction temperature, 9 h of hydrolysis time and 1.00% enzyme/substrate (E/S) ratio, with the hydrolysates having 51.90% of DH, 42.70% of DPPH activity and 109.90 Fe2+μg/mL of FRAP activity. The A. lecanora hydrolysates (ALH) showed a high amount of hydrophobic amino acids (286.40 mg/g sample) that might be responsible for antioxidant and antityrosinase activities. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of ALH shows smooth structures with pores. Antityrosinase activity of ALH exhibited inhibition of 31.50% for L-tyrosine substrate and 25.40% for L-DOPA substrate. This condition suggests that the optimized ALH acquired has the potential to be used as a bioactive ingredient for cosmeceutical applications.
Latent polyphenol oxidase (LPPO), an enzyme responsible for the browning reaction of sago starches during processing and storage, was investigated. The enzyme was effectively extracted and partially purified from the pith using combinations of nonionic detergents. With Triton X-114 and a temperature-induced phase partitioning method, the enzyme showed a recovery of 70% and purification of 4. 1-fold. Native PAGE analysis of the partially purified LPPO revealed three activity bands when stained with catechol and two bands with pyrogallol. The molecular masses of the enzymes were estimated by SDS-PAGE to be 37, 45, and 53 kDa. The enzyme showed optimum pH values of 4.5 with 4-methylcatechol as a substrate and 7.5 with pyrogallol. The LPPO was highly reactive toward diphenols and triphenols. The activity of the enzyme was greatly enhanced in the presence of trypsin, SDS, ethanol, and linoleic acid.
Malaysia is a surplus poultry producing country with well-established commercial slaughtering and processing plants. Immense quantity of heads, feet, viscera, blood and feathers are usually discarded and not optimally utilized. Chicken heads are rich in protein, and could be a potential source of gelatin. The aim of the present work was therefore to find a simpler, faster, cheaper and greener gelatin extraction technology as compared to current available methods of gelatin extraction from poultry heads. A comparison of three different gelatin extraction methods with alkaline-acid pretreatment (E1), single acid pretreatment (E2) and single alkaline pretreatment (E3) were studied to extract gelatin from chicken heads. E1 and E2 produced gelatins of Type A, while E3 produced gelatin of Type B. High bloom gelatin (>300 g) with
A laboratory-based experiment procedure of reception plate method for structure-borne sound source characterisation is reported in this paper. The method uses the assumption that the input power from the source installed on the plate is equal to the power dissipated by the plate. In this experiment, rectangular plates having high and low mobility relative to that of the source were used as the reception plates and a small electric fan motor was acting as the structure-borne source. The data representing the source characteristics, namely, the free velocity and the source mobility, were obtained and compared with those from direct measurement. Assumptions and constraints employing this method are discussed.
A study was carried out to investigate the effects of Centella asiatica leaf on lipid metabolism of oxidative stress rats. The rats were fed 0.1% hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) with either 0.3% (w/w) C. asiatica extract, 5%C. asiatica powder (w/w), or 0.3% (w/w) alpha-tocopherol for 25 wk. Results of the study showed that C. asiatica powder significantly (P < 0.05) lowered serum low-density lipoprotein compared to that of control rats (rats fed H(2)O(2) only). At the end of the study C. asiatica-fed rats were also found to have significantly (P < 0.05) higher high-density lipoprotein and lower triglyceride level compared to rats fed only normal diet. However, cholesterol level of rats fed both C. asiatica extract and powder was found to be significantly (P < 0.05) higher compared to that of control rats. It was interesting to note that consumption of C. asiatica significantly decreased body and liver weights of the rats. Histological examinations revealed no obvious changes in all rats studied. Quantitative analysis of C. asiatica leaf revealed high concentration of total phenolic compounds, in particular, catechin, quercetin, and rutin.
The growing momentum of several common life-style diseases such as myocardial infarction, cardiovascular disorders, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis has become a serious global concern. Recent developments in the field of proteomics offering promising solutions to solving such health problems stimulates the uses of biopeptides as one of the therapeutic agents to alleviate disease-related risk factors. Functional peptides are typically produced from protein via enzymatic hydrolysis under in vitro or in vivo conditions using different kinds of proteolytic enzymes. An array of biological activities, including antioxidative, antihypertensive, antidiabetic and immunomodulating has been ascribed to different types of biopeptides derived from various food sources. In fact, biopeptides are nutritionally and functionally important for regulating some physiological functions in the body; however, these are yet to be extensively addressed with regard to their production through advance strategies, mechanisms of action and multiple biological functionalities. This review mainly focuses on recent biotechnological advances that are being made in the field of production in addition to covering the mode of action and biological activities, medicinal health functions and therapeutic applications of biopeptides. State-of-the-art strategies that can ameliorate the efficacy, bioavailability, and functionality of biopeptides along with their future prospects are likewise discussed.
In the ongoing pursuit of novel and efficient NLO materials, the potential of alkali metal-doped {6}cycloparaphenylene ({6}CPP) and methylene bridged {6} cycloparaphenylene (MB{6}CPP) nanohoops as excellent NLO candidates has been explored. The geometric, electronic, linear, and nonlinear optical properties of designed systems have been investigated theoretically. All the nanohoops demonstrated thermodynamic stability, with remarkable interaction energies reaching up to -1.39 eV (-0.0511 au). Notably, the introduction of alkali metals led to a significant reduction in the HOMO-LUMO energy gaps, with values as low as 2.92 eV, compared to 6.80 eV and 6.06 eV for undoped {6}CPP and MB{6}CPP, respectively. Moreover, the alkali metal-doped nanohoops exhibited exceptional NLO response, with the K@r6-{6}CPP complex achieving the highest first hyperpolarizability of 56,221.7 × 10-30 esu. Additionally, the frequency-dependent first hyperpolarizability values are also computed at two commonly used wavelengths of 1550 nm and 1907 nm, respectively. These findings highlight the potential of designed nanohoops as promising candidates for advanced NLO materials with high-tech applications.