Mung bean has been traditionally used to alleviate heat stress. This effect may be contributed by the presence of flavonoids and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). On the other hand, fermentation and germination have been practised to enhance the nutritional and antioxidant properties of certain food products. The main focus of current study was to compare the antistress effect of none-process, fermented and germinated mung bean extracts. Acute and chronic restraint stresses were observed to promote the elevation of serum biochemical markers including cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, liver enzymes, and glucose. Chronic cold restraint stress was observed to increase the adrenal gland weight, brain 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) level while reducing brain antioxidant enzyme level. However, these parameters were found reverted in mice treated with diazepam, high concentration of fermented mung bean and high concentration of germinated mung bean. Moreover, enhanced level of antioxidant on the chronic stress mice was observed in fermented and germinated mung bean treated groups. In comparison between germinated and fermented mung bean, fermented mung bean always showed better antistress and antioxidant effects throughout this study.
Hypertension is one of the major causes of cardiovascular-related diseases, which is highly associated with angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) activity and oxidative stress. In this study, winged bean seed (WBS), a potential source of protein, was utilised for the production of bifunctional proteolysate and biopeptides with ACE inhibitory and antioxidative properties. An enzymatic approach was applied, coupled with pretreatment of shaking and centrifuging techniques to remove endogenous ACE inhibitors prior to proteolysis. ACE inhibition reached its highest activity, 78.5%, after 12 h proteolysis while antioxidative activities, determined using assays involving DPPH˙ radical scavenging activity and metal ion-chelating activity, reached peaks of 65.0% and 65.7% at 8 h and 14 h, respectively. The said bioactivities were proposed to share some common structural requirements among peptides. A two-dimensional approach was employed for characterisation of effective peptides based on hydrophobicity, using RP-HPLC, and isoelectric property, using isoelectric focusing technique. Results revealed that acidic and basic peptides with partially higher hydrophobicity provided higher ACE inhibition activity than did neutral peptides. Finally, by using Q-TOF mass spectrometry, two peptide sequences (YPNQKV and FDIRA) with ACE inhibitory and antioxidative activities were successfully matched with a database. This study indicates that the WBS proteolysate can be a potential bifunctional food ingredient as the identified biopeptides demonstrated both ACE inhibitory and antioxidative activities in vitro.
Lignosus rhinocerus (tiger milk mushroom) is an important medicinal mushroom used in Southeast Asia and China, and its sclerotium can be developed into functional food/nutraceuticals. The nutrient composition, antioxidant properties, and anti-proliferative activity of wild type and a cultivated strain of L. rhinocerus sclerotia were investigated.
The Lignosus is a genus of fungi that have useful medicinal properties. In Southeast Asia, three species of Lignosus (locally known collectively as Tiger milk mushrooms) have been reported including L. tigris, L. rhinocerotis, and L. cameronensis. All three have been used as important medicinal mushrooms by the natives of Peninsular Malaysia. In this work, the nutritional composition and antioxidant activities of the wild type and a cultivated strain of L. tigris sclerotial extracts were investigated. The sclerotia are rich in carbohydrates with moderate amount of protein and low fat content. Free radical scavenging activities of L. tigris sclerotial extracts correlate with their phenolic content, which ranges from 6.25 to 45.42 mg GAE/g extract. The FRAP values ranged from 0.002 to 0.041 mmol/min/g extract, while the DPPH(•), ABTS(•+), and superoxide anion (SOA) scavenging activities ranged from 0.18 to 2.53, 0.01 to 0.36, and -4.53 to 10.05 mmol Trolox equivalents/g extract, respectively. L. tigris cultivar shows good prospect to be developed into functional food due to its good nutritional value and potent SOA scavenging activity.
Large amounts of agricultural waste, especially marine product waste, are produced annually. These wastes can be used to produce compounds with high-added value. Chitosan is one such valuable product that can be obtained from crustacean wastes. Various biological activities of chitosan and its derivatives, especially antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer properties, have been confirmed by many studies. The unique characteristics of chitosan, especially chitosan nanocarriers, have led to the expansion of using chitosan in various sectors, especially in biomedical sciences and food industries. On the other hand, essential oils, known as volatile and aromatic compounds of plants, have attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Like chitosan, essential oils have various biological activities, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer. In recent years, one of the ways to improve the biological properties of chitosan is to use essential oils encapsulated in chitosan nanocarriers. Among the various biological activities of chitosan nanocarriers containing essential oils, most studies conducted in recent years have been in the field of antimicrobial activity. It was documented that the antimicrobial activity was increased by reducing the size of chitosan particles in the nanoscale. In addition, the antimicrobial activity was intensified when essential oils were in the structure of chitosan nanoparticles. Essential oils can increase the antimicrobial activity of chitosan nanoparticles with synergistic effects. Using essential oils in the structure of chitosan nanocarriers can also improve the other biological properties (antioxidant and anticancer activities) of chitosan and increase the application fields of chitosan. Of course, using essential oils in chitosan nanocarriers for commercial use requires more studies, including stability during storage and effectiveness in real environments. This review aims to overview recent studies on the biological effects of essential oils encapsulated in chitosan nanocarriers, with notes on their biological mechanisms.
The present study evaluated the antioxidant activity and potential toxicity of 50% methanolic extract of Orthosiphon stamineus (Lamiaceae) leaves (MEOS) after acute and subchronic administration in rats. Superoxide radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, and ferrous ion chelating methods were used to evaluate the antioxidant properties of the extract. In acute toxicity study, single dose of MEOS, 5000 mg/kg, was administered to rats by oral gavage, and the treated rats were monitored for 14 days. While in the subchronic toxicity study, MEOS was administered orally, at doses of 1250, 2500, and 5000 mg/kg/day for 28 days. From the results, MEOS showed good superoxide radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, ferrous ion chelating, and antilipid peroxidation activities. There was no mortality detected or any signs of toxicity in acute and subchronic toxicity studies. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in bodyweight, relative organ weight, and haematological and biochemical parameters between both male and female treated rats in any doses tested. No abnormality of internal organs was observed between treatment and control groups. The oral lethal dose determined was more than 5000 mg/kg and the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of MEOS for both male and female rats is considered to be 5000 mg/kg per day.
The thermal pretreatment of oilseed prior to oil extraction could increase the oil yield and improve the oil quality. Phenolic compounds are important antioxidants in rapeseed oil. In this study, we investigated the impact of thermal pretreatment method on the rapeseed oil based on phenolic compound levels. Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis showed that the phenolic compound contents in the microwave-pretreated oil were higher than those in the oven- and infrared-treated oils. Sinapic acid (SA) and canolol (CA), which are the top two phenolic compounds in rapeseed oil, exerted well 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 8.45 and 8.80 μmol/L. The cell experiment uncovered that SA and CA have significant biological activities related to rapeseed oil quality, including increase of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), alleviation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and cytotoxicity of HepG2 cells after the intake of excessive oleic acid. Further investigation indicated that SA and CA reduced cell apoptosis rate through Bax-Bcl-2-caspase-3 and p53-Bax-Bcl-2-caspase-3, respectively. Taken together, our findings suggest that microwave pretreatment is the best method to improve the content of phenolic compounds in rapeseed oil compared with oven and infrared pretreatments.
Cellulose acetate (CA) is a remarkable biomaterial most extensively used in biomedical applications due to their properties. This review highlighted the synthesis and chemical structure of CA polymer as well as focused on the mechanical, chemical, thermal, biocompatible, and biodegradable properties of electrospun CA nanofibers. These properties are essential in the evaluation of the CA nanofibers and provide information as a reference for the further utilization and improvement of CA nanofibers. Moreover, we have summarized the use of electrospun CA nanofibers in the drug delivery system as a carrier for drugs and classify them according to the drug class, including anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial agents, vitamins and amino acids. Our review has been concluded that CA nanofibers cannot wholly be biodegraded within the human body due to the absence of cellulase enzyme but degraded by microorganisms. Hence, the biodegradation of CA nanofibers in vivo has addressed as a critical challenge.
Plants and plant-based products have been used for a long time for medicinal purposes. This study aimed to determine the antioxidant and anti-α-glucosidase activities of eight selected underutilized plants in Malaysia: Leucaena leucocephala, Muntingia calabura, Spondias dulcis, Annona squamosa, Ardisia elliptica, Cynometra cauliflora, Ficus auriculata, and Averrhoa bilimbi. This study showed that the 70% ethanolic extract of all plants exhibited total phenolic content (TPC) ranging from 51 to 344 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry weight. A. elliptica showed strong 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activities, with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 2.17 and 49.43 μg/mL, respectively. Most of the tested plant extracts showed higher inhibition of α-glucosidase enzyme activity than the standard, quercetin, particularly A. elliptica, F. auriculata, and M. calabura extracts with IC50 values of 0.29, 0.36, and 0.51 μg/mL, respectively. A total of 62 metabolites including flavonoids, triterpenoids, benzoquinones, and fatty acids were tentatively identified in the most active plant, i.e., A. elliptica leaf extract, by using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-electrospray ionization (ESI) Orbitrap MS. This study suggests a potential natural source of antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitors from A. elliptica.
Peperomia pellucida leaf extract was characterized for its anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant activities, and chemical compositions. Anticancer activity of P. pellucida leaf extract was determined through Colorimetric MTT (tetrazolium) assay against human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell line and the antimicrobial property of the plant extract was revealed by using two-fold broth micro-dilution method against 10 bacterial isolates. Antioxidant activity of the plant extract was then characterized using α, α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method and the chemical compositions were screened and identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results of present study indicated that P. pellucida leaf extract possessed anticancer activities with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 10.4 ± 0.06 µg/ml. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were ranged from 31.25 to 125 mg/l in which the plant extract was found to inhibit the growth of Edwardsiella tarda, Escherichia coli, Flavobacterium sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio cholerae at 31.25 mg/l; Klebsiella sp., Aeromonas hydrophila and Vibrio alginolyticus at 62.5 mg/l; and it was able to control the growth of Salmonella sp. and Vibrio parahaemolyticus at 125 mg/l. At the concentration of 0.625 ppt, the plant extract was found to inhibit 30% of DPPH, free radical. Phytol (37.88%) was the major compound in the plant extract followed by 2-Naphthalenol, decahydro- (26.20%), Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (18.31%) and 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)-, methyl ester (17.61%). Findings from this study indicated that methanol extract of P. pellucida leaf possessed vast potential as medicinal drug especially in breast cancer treatment.
Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Aiton) Hassk. is a flowering plant belonging to the family Myrtaceae, native to southern and southeastern Asia. It has been used in traditional Vietnamese, Chinese, and Malaysian medicine for a long time for the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, gynecopathy, stomachache, and wound healing. Moreover, R. tomentosa is used to make various food products such as wine, tea, and jam. Notably, R. tomentosa has been known to contain structurally diverse and biologically active metabolites, thus serving as a potential resource for exploring novel functional agents. Up to now, numerous phenolic and terpenoid compounds from the leaves, root, or fruits of R. tomentosa have been identified, and their biological activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer have been evidenced. In this contribution, an overview of R. tomentosa and its health beneficial properties was focused on and emphasized.
In this present study, isolation, characterization and protective effect of sulfated polysaccharide (SP) isolated from the brown algae Padina gymnospora was investigated. SP was isolated and characterized through FT-IR, 1H NMR, TGA, GC-MS and CHN analysis. The molecular weight of SP was found to be 16 kDa. The isolated SP contains 29.4 ± 0.35% of sulfate, 27 ± 0.11% of fucose, 0.05 ± 0.12% of protein, respectively. Furthermore, SP exhibits its excellent radical scavenging effects were evaluated by DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging and reducing power assays. Moreover, pretreatment with SP significantly mitigates H2O2 induced cytotoxicity in L-929 cells in a dose dependent manner. Furthermore, SP pretreatment ameliorates oxidative stress induced apoptosis and DNA damage, alleviates the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and restores mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in L-929 cells through its antioxidant potential. Together, these results suggest that SP can be exploited as a natural antioxidant in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Catechins-rich oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) leaves extract (OPLE) is known to have antioxidant activity. Several polyphenolic compounds reported as antioxidants such as quercetin, catechins and gallic acid have been highlighted to have pro-oxidant activity at high doses. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant and pro-oxidant effects of chronically administering high dose of OPLE (1000 mg kg⁻¹) in an animal model of diabetic nephropathy (DN).
In this study the antioxidant and cytotoxicity activity of the Adonidia merrillii fruits were investigated using different solvent polarities (methanol, ethyl acetate and water). The results showed that the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the methanolic extract was higher compare with other extract with respective values of 17.80 ± 0.45 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dry weight (DW) and 5.43 ± 0.33 mg rutin equivalents/g DW. Beside that The RP-HPLC analyses indicated the presence of gallic acid, pyrogallol, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, naringin and rutin. In the DPPH, NO2 and ABTS scavenging assays, the methanolic extract exhibited higher antioxidant activity as compared to the ethyl acetate and water extracts. The extracts exhibited moderate to weak cytotoxic activity in the assays using human hepatocytes (Chang liver cells) and NIH/3T3 (fibroblasts cell) cell lines. The findings showed the Adonidia merrillii fruit extracts to possess considerable antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties. The fruit, therefore, is a potential candidate for further work to discover antioxidant and cytotoxic drugs from natural sources.
A series of novel α-methyl-l-DOPA urea derivatives viz., 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-methyl-2-(3-halo/trifluoromethyl substituted phenyl ureido)propanoic acids (6a-e) have been synthesized from the reaction of α-methyl-l-DOPA (3) with various aryl isocyanates (4a-e) by using triethylamine (5, TEA) as a base catalyst in THF at reflux conditions. The synthesized compounds are structurally characterized by spectral (IR, 1H &13C NMR and MASS) and elemental analysis studies and screened for their in-vitro antioxidant activity against DPPH, NO and H2O2 free radical scavenging assays and identified compounds 6c &6d as potential antioxidants. The acquired in vitro results were correlated with the results of molecular docking, ADMET, QSAR and bioactivity studies performed for them and predicted that the recorded in silico binding affinities are in good correlation with the in vitro antioxidant activity results. The molecular docking analysis has comprehended the strong hydrogen bonding interactions of 6a-e with 1CB4, 1N8Q, 3MNG, 1OG5, 1DNU, 3NRZ, 2CDU, 1HD2 and 2HCK proteins of their respective SOD, LO, PRXS5, CP450, MP, XO, NO, PRY5 and HCK enzymes. This has sustained the effective binding of 6a-e and resulted in functional inhibition of selective aminoacid residues to be pronounced as multiple molecular targets mediated antioxidant potent compounds. In addition, the evaluated toxicology risks of 6a-e are identified with in the potential limits of drug candidates. The conformational analysis of 6c & 6d prominently infers that urea moiety uniting α-methyl-l-DOPA with halo substituted aryl units into a distinctive orientation to comply good structure-activity to inhibit the proliferation of reactive oxygen species in vivo.
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is an important plant naturally found as a weed in field crops and lawns. Purslane is widely distributed around the globe and is popular as a potherb in many areas of Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean region. This plant possesses mucilaginous substances which are of medicinal importance. It is a rich source of potassium (494 mg/100 g) followed by magnesium (68 mg/100 g) and calcium (65 mg/100 g) and possesses the potential to be used as vegetable source of omega-3 fatty acid. It is very good source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and gamma-linolenic acid (LNA, 18 : 3 w3) (4 mg/g fresh weight) of any green leafy vegetable. It contained the highest amount (22.2 mg and 130 mg per 100 g of fresh and dry weight, resp.) of alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid (26.6 mg and 506 mg per 100 g of fresh and dry weight, resp.). The oxalate content of purslane leaves was reported as 671-869 mg/100 g fresh weight. The antioxidant content and nutritional value of purslane are important for human consumption. It revealed tremendous nutritional potential and has indicated the potential use of this herb for the future.
'Mato Peiyu' pomelo (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck 'Mato Peiyu') leaves from pruning are currently an agricultural waste. The aim of this study was to isolate essential oils from these leaves through steam distillation (SD) and solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME) and to evaluate their applicability to skin care by analyzing their antimicrobial, antioxidant (diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging assay, β-carotene/linoleic acid assay, and nitric oxide scavenging assay), anti-inflammatory (5-lipoxygenase inhibition assay), and antityrosinase activities. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry results indicated that the main components of 'Mato Peiyu' leaf essential oils were citronellal and citronellol, with a total percentage of 50.71% and 59.82% for SD and SFME, respectively. The highest bioactivity among all assays was obtained for 5-lipoxygenase inhibition, with an IC50 value of 0.034% (v/v). The MIC90 of the antimicrobial activity of essential oils against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans ranged from 0.086% to 0.121% (v/v). Citronellal and citronellol were the main contributors, accounting for at least 54.58% of the essential oil's bioactivity. This paper is the first to report the compositions and bioactivities of 'Mato Peiyu' leaf essential oil, and the results imply that the pomelo leaf essential oil may be applied in skin care.
In order to improve the membrane lipophilicity and the affinity towards the environment of lipid bilayers, squalene (SQ) could be conjugated to phospholipids in the formation of liposomes. The effect of membrane composition and concentrations on the degradation of liposomes prepared via the extrusion method was investigated. Liposomes were prepared using a mixture of SQ, cholesterol (CH) and Tween80 (TW80). Based on the optimal conditions, liposome batches were prepared in the absence and presence of SQ. Their physicochemical and stability behavior were evaluated as a function of liposome constituent. From the optimization study, the liposomal formulation containing 5% (w/w) mixed soy lecithin (ML), 0.5% (w/w) SQ, 0.3% (w/w) CH and 0.75% (w/w) TW80 had optimal physicochemical properties and displayed a unilamellar structure. Liposome prepared using the optimal formulation had a low particle size (158.31 ± 2.96 nm) and acceptable %increase in the particle size (15.09% ± 3.76%) and %trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (%TEAC) loss (35.69% ± 0.72%) against UV light treatment (280-320 nm) for 6 h. The interesting outcome of this research was the association of naturally occurring substance SQ for size reduction without the extra input of energy or mechanical procedures, and improvement of vesicle stability and antioxidant activity of ML-based liposome. This study also demonstrated that the presence of SQ in the membrane might increase the acyl chain dynamics and decrease the viscosity of the dispersion, thereby limiting long-term stability of the liposome.
Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don is a herbal plant traditionally used by local populations in India, South Africa, China and Malaysia to treat diabetes. The present study reports the in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of the major alkaloids isolated from Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don leaves extract. Four alkaloids--vindoline I, vindolidine II, vindolicine III and vindolinine IV--were isolated and identified from the dichloromethane extract (DE) of this plant's leaves. DE and compounds I-III were not cytotoxic towards pancreatic β-TC6 cells at the highest dosage tested (25.0 µg/mL). All four alkaloids induced relatively high glucose uptake in pancreatic β-TC6 or myoblast C2C12 cells, with III showing the highest activity. In addition, compounds II-IV demonstrated good protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP-1B) inhibition activity, implying their therapeutic potential against type 2 diabetes. III showed the highest antioxidant potential in ORAC and DPPH assays and it also alleviated H₂O₂-induced oxidative damage in β-TC6 cells at 12.5 µg/mL and 25.0 µg/mL.