The aim of this study was to examine the effects of extraction methods on antioxidant capacities of red dragon fruit peel and flesh. Antioxidant capacities were measured using ethylenebenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical cation assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP). Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent while quantitative determination of total flavonoid content (TFC) was conducted using aluminium trichloride colorimetric method. Betacyanin content (BC) was measured by spectrophotometer. Red dragon fruit was extracted using conventional (CV) and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UE) technique to determine the most efficient way of extracting its antioxidant components. Results indicated that UE increased TFC, reduced the extraction yield, BC, and TPC, but exhibited the strongest scavenging activity for the peel of red dragon fruit. In contrast, UE reduced BC, TFC, and scavenging activity but increased the yield for the flesh. Nonetheless, UE slightly increases TPC in flesh. Scavenging activity and reducing power were highly correlated with phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Conversely, the scavenging activity and reducing power were weakly correlated with betacyanin content. This work gives scientific evidences for the consideration of the type of extraction techniques for the peel and flesh of red dragon fruit in applied research and food industry.
The main goal of this study was to investigate the effect of extraction conditions on the enzymatic properties of thermoacidic amylase enzyme derived from dragon peel. The studied extraction variables were the buffer-to-sample (B/S) ratio (1:2 to 1:6, w/w), temperature (-18°C to 25°), mixing time (60 to 180 seconds), and the pH of the buffer (2.0 to 8.0). The results indicate that the enzyme extraction conditions exhibited the least significant (P < 0.05) effect on temperature stability. Conversely, the extraction conditions had the most significant (P < 0.05) effect on the specific activity and pH stability. The results also reveal that the main effect of the B/S ratio, followed by its interaction with the pH of the buffer, was significant (P < 0.05) among most of the response variables studied. The optimum extraction condition caused the amylase to achieve high enzyme activity (648.4 U), specific activity (14.2 U/mg), temperature stability (88.4%), pH stability (85.2%), surfactant agent stability (87.2%), and storage stability (90.3%).
Nine solvents, namely, n-hexane, ethanol, acetonitrile, chloroform, ethyl-ether, ethyl-acetate, petroleum ether, n-butyl alcohol, and methanol were used to extract natural dyes from Cordyline fruticosa, Pandannus amaryllifolius and Hylocereus polyrhizus. To improve the adsorption of dyes onto the TiO2 particles, betalain and chlorophyll dyes were mixed with methanol or ethanol and water at various ratios. The adsorption of the dyes mixed with titanium dioxide (TiO2) was also observed. The highest adsorption of the C.fruticosa dye mixed with TiO2 was achieved at ratio 3:1 of methanol: water. The highest adsorption of P.amaryllifolius dye mixed with TiO2 was observed at 2:1 of ethanol: water. H.polyrhizus dye extracted by water and mixed with TiO2 demonstrated the highest adsorption among the solvents. All extracted dye was adsorbed onto the surface of TiO2 based on Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The inhibition of crystallinity of TiO2 was likewise investigated by X-ray analysis. The morphological properties and composition of dyes were analyzed via SEM and EDX.
Current study employs mixture of chlorophyll-anthocyanin dye extracted from leaves of Cordyline fruticosa as new sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSCs), as well as betalains dye obtained from fruit of Hylocereus polyrhizus. Among ten pigments solvents, the ethanol and methanol extracts revealed higher absorption spectra of pigments extracted from C. fruticosa and H. polyrhizus respectively. A major effect of temperature increase was studied to increase the extraction yield. The results indicated that extraction temperature between 70 and 80°C exhibited a high dye concentration of each plant than other temperatures. The optimal temperature was around 80°C and there was a sharp decrease of dye concentration at temperatures higher than this temperature. According to experimental results, the conversion efficiency of DSSC fabricated by mixture of chlorophyll and anthocyanin dyes from C. fruticosa leaves is 0.5% with short-circuit current (Isc) of 1.3mA/cm-2, open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.62V and fill factor (FF) of 60.16%. The higher photoelectric conversion efficiency of the DSSC prepared from the extract of H. polyrhizus was 0.16%, with Voc of 0.5V, Isc of 0.4mA/cm-2 and FF of 79.16%. The DSSC based betalain dye extracted from fruit of H. polyrhizus shows higher maximum IPCE of 44% than that of the DSSCs sensitized with mixed chlorophyll-anthocyanin dye from C. fruticosa (42%).
Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) is a tropical and subtropical fruit that undergoes multiple ripening cycles throughout the year. Accurate monitoring of the flower and fruit quantities at various stages is crucial for growers to estimate yields, plan orders, and implement effective management strategies. However, traditional manual counting methods are labor-intensive and inefficient. Deep learning techniques have proven effective for object recognition tasks but limited research has been conducted on dragon fruit due to its unique stem morphology and the coexistence of flowers and fruits. Additionally, the challenge lies in developing a lightweight recognition and tracking model that can be seamlessly integrated into mobile platforms, enabling on-site quantity counting. In this study, a video stream inspection method was proposed to classify and count dragon fruit flowers, immature fruits (green fruits), and mature fruits (red fruits) in a dragon fruit plantation. The approach involves three key steps: (1) utilizing the YOLOv5 network for the identification of different dragon fruit categories, (2) employing the improved ByteTrack object tracking algorithm to assign unique IDs to each target and track their movement, and (3) defining a region of interest area for precise classification and counting of dragon fruit across categories. Experimental results demonstrate recognition accuracies of 94.1%, 94.8%, and 96.1% for dragon fruit flowers, green fruits, and red fruits, respectively, with an overall average recognition accuracy of 95.0%. Furthermore, the counting accuracy for each category is measured at 97.68%, 93.97%, and 91.89%, respectively. The proposed method achieves a counting speed of 56 frames per second on a 1080ti GPU. The findings establish the efficacy and practicality of this method for accurate counting of dragon fruit or other fruit varieties.
This study aimed to characterize the new fungal disease on the stem of red-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) in Malaysia, which is known as gray blight through morphological, molecular and pathogenicity analyses. Nine fungal isolates were isolated from nine blighted stems of H. polyrhizus. Based on morphological characteristics, DNA sequences and phylogeny (ITS, TEF1-α, and β-tubulin), the fungal isolates were identified as Diaporthe arecae, D. eugeniae, D. hongkongensis, D. phaseolorum, and D. tectonendophytica. Six isolates recovered from the Cameron Highlands, Pahang belonged to D. eugeniae (DF1 and DF3), D. hongkongensis (DF9), D. phaseolorum (DF2 and DF12), and D. tectonendophytica (DF7), whereas three isolates from Bukit Kor, Terengganu were recognized as D. arecae (DFP3), D. eugeniae (DFP4), and D. tectonendophytica (DFP2). Diaporthe eugeniae and D. tectonendophytica were found in both Pahang and Terengganu, D. phaseolorum and D. hongkongensis in Pahang, whereas D. arecae only in Terengganu. The role of the Diaporthe isolates in causing stem gray blight of H. polyrhizus was confirmed. To date, only D. phaseolorum has been previously reported on Hylocereus undatus. This is the first report on D. arecae, D. eugeniae, D. hongkongensis, D. phaseolorum, and D. tectonendophytica causing stem gray blight of H. polyrhizus worldwide.
The extraction of pectin from dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) peels under three different extraction conditions was identified as an alternative source of commercial pectin. In this work, dried alcohol-insoluble residues (AIR) of dragon fruit peels were treated separately with 0.25% ammonium oxalate/oxalic acid at a pH of 4.6 at 85oC; 0.03 M HCl at a pH of 1.5 at 85oC; and de-ionized water at 75oC. The pectin obtained from these methods was compared in terms of yield, physicochemical properties and chemical structure. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used in the identification of dragon fruit pectins. The results showed that the pectin yield (14.96-20.14% based on dry weight), moisture content (11.13-11.33%), ash content (6.88-11.55%), equivalent weight (475.64-713.99), methoxyl content (2.98-4.34%), anhydrouronic acid (45.25-52.45%) and the degree of esterification (31.05-46.96%) varied significantly (p < 0.05) with the various extraction conditions used. Pectin extracted with ammonium oxalate gave the highest yield of pectin, with high purity and low ash content. Based on the value of methoxyl content and the degree of esterification, dragon fruit pectin can be categorized as low-methoxyl pectin.
Hiperkolesterolemia merupakan suatu keadaan yang dikaitkan dengan perubahan aras lipid serum serta peningkatan aras peroksidaan lipid. Kajian ini dilakukan untuk melihat kesan ekstrak akues isi dan kulit buah Hylocereus polyrhizus (HP) terhadap jumlah kolesterol dan trigliserid (TG) serum serta aras malonaldehid (MDA-TBAR) hati tikus teraruh hiperkolesterolemia. Tikus Sprague dawley jantan diaruh menjadi hiperkolesterolemia dengan pemberian diet rat chow bersama 15% minyak sapi selama 8 minggu dan 0.02 g kolesterol secara suap paksa dua kali seminggu. Tikus-tikus diberi perlakuan ekstrak isi dan kulit buah HP, 300 mg/kg secara suap paksa selama 10 hari. Hasil menunjukkan aras kolesterol menurun secara signifikan (p<0.05) pada kedua-dua kumpulan hiperkolesterolemia yang diberi rawatan ekstrak isi dan kulit buah HP sebanyak 43.53% dan 51.36% berbanding tikus kawalan hiperkolesterolemia. Aras TG menunjukkan penurunan secara signifikan (p<0.05) sebanyak 38.0% bagi kumpulan tikus yang diberi rawatan ekstrak isi dan 42.98% bagi rawatan dengan ekstrak kulit buah HP. Peningkatan aras MDA-TBAR hati telah direncat dengan penurunan aras MDA-TBAR sebanyak 56.85% bagi kumpulan tikus yang diberi ekstrak kulit serta sedikit penurunan iaitu 10.27% bagi tikus yang diberi ekstrak isi berbanding tikus kawalan hiperkolesterolemia. Kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa kedua-dua ekstrak akues isi dan kulit buah HP merendahkan aras lipid serum serta aras MDA-TBAR hati pada tikus teraruh hiperkolesterolemia. Walau bagaimanapun, kesan ekstrak kulit lebih jelas berbanding ekstrak isi yang mungkin disebabkan oleh kandungan betasianin yang lebih tinggi dalam kulit berbanding isi buah HP.
Sisa puri pitaya merah bersama biji telah digunakan dalam penyediaan mufin yang dicampurkan dengan 10%, 15% dan 20% puri dalam formulasi bater. Ujian warna, kandungan jumlah polifenol, jumlah flavonoid, ujian antioksida; pemerangkapan radikal bebas 2,2-difenil-1-pikrilhidrazil (DPPH) dan ujian penurunan ferrik (FRAP) telah dijalankan. Warna bater 3 jenis mufin tersebut berwarna merah jambu violet. Warna merah jambu (nilai a) meningkat dengan signifikan (p<0.05) selaras peningkatan peratus kandungan puri manakala kecerahan (nilai L) menurun dengan peningkatan puri. Apabila dimasak, semua warna merah jambu daripada bater hilang. Permukaan mufin adalah lebih gelap (nilai L), dengan mufin 20% puri paling signifikan (p<0.05). Isi kesemua mufin berwarna kuning dan kecerahan (nilai L) didapati berkurang secara signifikan (p<0.05) dengan pertambahan peratus puri. Jumlah polifenol sampel mufin menunjukkan mufin 10% puri pitaya ekstrak air mengandungi jumlah polifenol yang paling tinggi (29.0 mg GAE/100 g sampel). Kandungan flavonoid menunjukkan mufin 20% puri pitaya mengandungi flavonoid yang paling signifikan (p<0.05) 15.3 mg katekin/100 g sampel berbanding mufin kawalan 11.0 mg katekin. Bagi ujian antioksida DPPH, semua mufin dengan puri pitaya menunjukkan peratus pemerangkapan yang lebih baik berbanding kawalan. Ujian FRAP menunjukkan pola yang serupa dengan keputusan mufin 10% (17.4), mufin 15% (15.4) dan mufin 20% (17.5 mg trolox/100 g sampel). Warna merah jambu bater mufin hilang semasa proses memasak namun nilai antioksida masih diperolehi dalam mufin masak.
Recently, the fruits of Hylocereus polyrhizus, known as red dragon fruit, have received much attention from growers worldwide. However, there is little toxicological information regarding the safety of repeated exposure to these fruits. The present study evaluated the potential toxicity of a methanol extract of H. polyrhizus fruit after acute and subchronic administration in rats. In the acute toxicity study, single doses of fruit extract (1250, 2500 and 5000 mg/kg) were administered to rats by oral gavage, and the rats were then monitored for 14 days. In the subchronic toxicity study, the fruit extract was administered orally to rats at doses of 1250, 2500 and 5000 mg/kg/day for 28 days. There was no mortality or signs of acute or subchronic toxicity. There was no significant difference in body weight, relative organ weight or hematological parameters in the subchronic toxicity study. Biochemical analysis showed some significant changes, including creatinine, globulin, total protein and urea levels. No abnormality of internal organs was observed between treatment and control groups. The lethal oral dose of the fruit extract is more than 5000 mg/kg and the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of the extract for both male and female rats is considered to be 5000 mg/kg per day for 28 days.
Betacyanins are reddish to violet pigments that can be found in red pitahaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) and red spinach (Amaranthus dubius). This study investigated the impact of sub-fractionation (solvent partitioning) on betacyanin content in both plants. Characterization of betacyanins and evaluation of their antimicrobial activities were also carried out. Betanin was found in both plants. In addition, isobetanin, phyllocactin and hylocerenin were found in red pitahaya whereas amaranthine and decarboxy-amaranthine were found in red spinach. Sub-fractionated red pitahaya and red spinach had 23.5 and 121.5 % more betacyanin content, respectively, than those without sub-fractionation. Sub-fractionation increased the betanin and decarboxy-amaranthine content in red pitahaya and red spinach, respectively. The betacyanin fraction from red spinach (minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] values: 0.78-3.13 mg/mL) demonstrated a better antimicrobial activity profile than that of red pitahaya (MIC values: 3.13-6.25 mg/mL) against nine Gram-positive bacterial strains. Similarly, the red spinach fraction (MIC values: 1.56-3.13 mg/mL) was more active than the red pitahaya fraction (MIC values: 3.13-6.25 mg/mL) against five Gram-negative bacterial strains. This could be because of a higher amount of betacyanin, particularly amaranthine in the red spinach.
Betacyanin-rich extract from red beet (Beta vulgaris) was recently reported to inhibit amyloid β (Aβ) aggregation, a main pathological event in Alzheimer's disease. However, the anti-Aβ aggregation effect of individual betacyanin isolates has not been reported before. This study investigated the anti-Aβ aggregation activity and cytotoxicity of betacyanins from red pitahaya or red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus). Betacyanin fraction (IC50 = 16.02 ± 1.15 µg/mL) and individual betacyanin isolates exhibited anti-Aβ aggregation activity in a concentration-dependent manner using a thioflavin T fluorescence assay. The highest to lowest IC50 was in the order of betanin (426.30 ± 29.55 µM), phyllocactin (175.22 ± 1.52 µM), and hylocerenin (131.73 ± 5.58 µM), following a trend of increase in functional groups of carboxyl, hydroxyl, and/or carbonyl. Further, the betacyanin fraction of 135.78 µg/mL and below, which were concentrations with an anti-Aβ aggregation effect, were validated as non-neurotoxic based on an in vitro cytotoxicity assay using human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells. These findings highlight the potential neuroprotective activity of betacyanins for Alzheimer's disease.
The peel of Hylocereus polyrhizus is often regarded as a waste hence this study was aimed at exploring the feasibility of using the peel as a natural colorant using simple water extraction method. Samples were subjected to a series of temperatures: Room temperature (RT), 50, 80 and 100 degrees C; varied length of heating time from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 min and a varied range of pH using 1 M of citric acid solution. The best condition to obtain highest betacyanin content was heating samples at 100 degrees C for 5 min in a pH 5 citric acid solution. The next part of this study involved the stability test of the pigments obtained through the best method determined earlier. The pigments were dried and resuspended in distilled water. The samples were then exposed to light to monitor pigment changes. Initial resuspension of the dried pigments yielded a comparable high content of betacyanins to its juice counterpart. The results showed that resuspended pigments had high pigment retention and were stable up to 7 days. These initial findings must be further studied in more controlled conditions to understand the stability of betacyanin. Nevertheless, the results show that betacyanin obtained from the peel of dragon fruit has a high potential to be used as a natural dye.
Introduction:Pereskia bleo is a leafy and edible plant, locally known as "Pokok Jarum Tujuh Bilah" which has anticancer properties. This study purposed to determine the cytotoxic effects of P. bleo leaves extracts on several well-known cancer cells and elucidate its underlying mechanism in inducing cell death.Methods: Cytotoxic activity on selected cell lines was determined using MTT assay. Mechanism of cell death was investigated through cell cycle and Annexin V assay. Expression of apoptotic proteins was measured by flow cytometry method.Results: Ethyl acetate extract of P. bleo leaves (PBEA) appeared to have the strongest IC50 value (14.37 ± 8.40 μg/ml) and most active against HeLa cells was further studied for apoptosis. The cell cycle investigation by flow cytometry evidenced the increment of PBEA treated HeLa cells in G0/G1 phase and apoptotic event was detected in Annexin V assay. Analysis of apoptotic protein showed pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax, p53 and caspase 3) were triggered where as anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was suppressed in treated HeLa cells.Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that PBEA treatment induced cell death in HeLa cells by p53-mediated mechanism through arresting cell cycle at G0/G1 phase and mitochondrial-mediated pathway with involvement of pro-apoptotic proteins, anti-apoptotic protein, and caspase 3.
The D-optimal mixture experimental design was employed to optimize the melting point of natural lipstick based on pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) seed oil. The influence of the main lipstick components-pitaya seed oil (10%-25% w/w), virgin coconut oil (25%-45% w/w), beeswax (5%-25% w/w), candelilla wax (1%-5% w/w) and carnauba wax (1%-5% w/w)-were investigated with respect to the melting point properties of the lipstick formulation. The D-optimal mixture experimental design was applied to optimize the properties of lipstick by focusing on the melting point with respect to the above influencing components. The D-optimal mixture design analysis showed that the variation in the response (melting point) could be depicted as a quadratic function of the main components of the lipstick. The best combination of each significant factor determined by the D-optimal mixture design was established to be pitaya seed oil (25% w/w), virgin coconut oil (37% w/w), beeswax (17% w/w), candelilla wax (2% w/w) and carnauba wax (2% w/w). With respect to these factors, the 46.0 °C melting point property was observed experimentally, similar to the theoretical prediction of 46.5 °C. Carnauba wax is the most influential factor on this response (melting point) with its function being with respect to heat endurance. The quadratic polynomial model sufficiently fit the experimental data.
The purification of thermo-acidic amylase enzyme from red pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) peel for the first time was investigated using a novel aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) consisting of a thermo-separating copolymer and an organic solvent. The effectiveness of different parameters such as molecular weight of the thermo-separating ethylene oxide-propylene oxide (EOPO) copolymer and type and concentration of organic solvent on the partitioning behavior of amylase was investigated. In addition, the effects of phase components, volume ratio (VR), pH and crude load of purification factor and yield of amylase were evaluated to achieve the optimum partition conditions of the enzyme. In the novel ATPS method, the enzyme was satisfactorily partitioned into the polymer-rich top phase in the system composed of 30% (w/w) EOPO 2500 and 15% (w/w) 2-propanol, at a volume ratio of 1.94 and with a crude load scale of 25% (w/w) at pH 5.0. Recovery and recycling of components was also measured in each successive step of the ATPS process. The enzyme was successfully recovered by the method with a high purification factor of 14.3 and yield of 96.6% and copolymer was also recovered and recycled at a rate above 97%, making the method was more economical than the traditional ATPS method.
Amylase is one of the most important enzymes in the world due to its wide application in various industries and biotechnological processes. In this study, amylase enzyme from Hylocereus polyrhizus was encapsulated for the first time in an Arabic gum-chitosan matrix using freeze drying. The encapsulated amylase retained complete biocatalytic activity and exhibited a shift in the optimum temperature and considerable increase in the pH and temperature stabilities compared to the free enzyme. Encapsulation of the enzyme protected the activity in the presence of ionic and non-ionic surfactants and oxidizing agents (H₂O₂) and enhanced the shelf life. The storage stability of amylase is found to markedly increase after immobilization and the freeze dried amylase exhibited maximum encapsulation efficiency value (96.2%) after the encapsulation process. Therefore, the present study demonstrated that the encapsulation of the enzyme in a coating agent using freeze drying is an efficient method to keep the enzyme active and stable until required in industry.
Plant peels could be a potential source of novel pectinases for use in various industrial applications due to their broad substrate specificity with high stability under extreme conditions. Therefore, the extraction conditions of a novel pectinase enzyme from pitaya peel was optimized in this study. The effect of extraction variables, namely buffer to sample ratio (2:1 to 8:1, X₁), extraction temperature (-15 to +25 °C, X₂) and buffer pH (4.0 to 12.0, X₃) on specific activity, temperature stability, storage stability and surfactant agent stability of pectinase from pitaya peel was investigated. The study demonstrated that the optimum conditions for the extraction of pectinase from pitaya sources could improve the enzymatic characteristics of the enzyme and protect its activity and stability during the extraction procedure. The optimum extraction conditions cause the pectinase to achieve high specific activity (15.31 U/mg), temperature stability (78%), storage stability (88%) and surfactant agent stability (83%). The most desirable conditions to achieve the highest activity and stability of pectinase enzyme from pitaya peel were the use of 5:1 buffer to sample ratio at 5 °C and pH 8.0.
Crystals isolated from Hylocereus polyrhizus were analyzed using four different approaches--X-ray Crystallography, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and identified as myo-inositol. The X-ray crystallography analysis showed that the unit-cell parameters were: a = 6.6226 (3) Å, b = 12.0462 (5) Å, c = 18.8942 (8) Å, α = 90.00, β = 93.98, δ = 90.00. The purity of the crystals were checked using HPLC, whereupon a clean single peak was obtained at 4.8 min with a peak area of 41232 μV*s. The LC-MS/MS technique, which is highly sensitive and selective, was used to provide a comparison of the isolated crystals with a myo-inositol standard where the results gave an identical match for both precursor and product ions. NMR was employed to confirm the molecular structure and conformation of the crystals, and the results were in agreement with the earlier results in this study. The discovery of myo-inositol crystals in substantial amount in H. polyrhizus has thus far not been reported and this is an important finding which will increase the marketability and importance of H. polyrhizus as a crop with a wide array of health properties.
Dihydroactinidiolide (1) and a mixture of sterols [campesterol (2), stigmasterol (3) and beta-sitosterol (4)], together with the previously isolated individual compounds beta-sitosterol (4), 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol (5), alpha-tocopherol (6), phytol (7) were isolated from the active ethyl acetate fraction of Pereskia bleo (Kunth) DC. (Cactaceae) leaves. Cytotoxic activities of the above mentioned compounds against five human carcinoma cell lines, namely the human nasopharyngeal epidermoid carcinoma cell line (KB), human cervical carcinoma cell line (CasKi), human colon carcinoma cell line (HCT 116), human hormone-dependent breast carcinoma cell line (MCF7) and human lung carcinoma cell line (A549); and non-cancer human fibroblast cell line (MRC-5) were investigated. Compound 5 possessed very remarkable cytotoxic activity against KB cells, with an IC(50 )value of 0.81microg/mL. This is the first report on the cytotoxic activities of the compounds isolated from Pereskia bleo.