Caborca is one of the most productive asparagus-growing regions in the state of Sonora in northwest Mexico, an area where some fresh fruits and vegetables are sold at unregulated open-air street markets. This is a cross-sectional study in which fifty bundles of asparagus for exportation, 50 bundles of sub-standard asparagus, and 50 bundles of asparagus from open-air markets were selected randomly and then subjected to Faust, Kinyoun and ELISA testing to detect intestinal parasites. Pearson's chi-square (χ2) and Student-NewmanKeuls tests were used to estimate differences among the sampling site groups (P < 0.05). The pathogens Cryptosporidium spp. (29%) G. intestinalis (5%) and Cyclospora spp. (3%) were found in the asparagus sold in the region. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. was higher in both the sub-standard asparagus and the product sampled from the open-air markets than in the samples for exportation (P < 0.05). This is the first study to demonstrate contamination by intestinal parasites in asparagus sold in different markets in northwest Mexico.
Asparagus officinalis as a valuable medicinal plant has a low multiplication rate using the conventional methods. This study was carried out to establish an efficient in vitro propagation protocol and also to compare some biological activities of in vivo and in vitro grown Asparagus. The nodal explants were cultured on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) or kinetin (Kn) and Indolebutyric acid (IBA), under light and dark conditions. After 6 weeks of culture, the highest percentage (100%) of callus formation was found in 17 of treatments under dark condition and 3 treatments under light condition. Also between the two groups of hormones, Kn +IBA showed better results in promoting callus formation. The highest average number of shoots (4.25) of size 4 mm or more per explant, formed under dark condition using 1.5 mg/L BAP mixed with 0.05 mg/L NAA. Rooting was best induced in shoots excised from shoot cultures which were proliferated on MS medium supplemented with an optimal concentration of 0.4 mg/L IBA (2 roots per explant). In the second part of the study, the extracts of in vivo and in vitro grown plants as well as callus tissue were tested for their total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant and antityrosinase activities, using two different extraction solvents (methanol and hexane). The methanol extract of in vivo grown plants showed a significantly higher amount of total phenolic and flavonoid content. The antioxidant activity of tested samples followed this order; in vivo plant > callus > in vitro plant.
In this study the novel caryophyllene type sesquiterpene lactone (aspfalcolide) has been isolated from the leaves of Asparagus falcatus (Linn.) and characterized by IR, 1D NMR, 2D NMR, EI-MS, HR-ESI-MS and X-ray single crystal diffraction analysis. The aspfalcolide crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with a = 6.37360(10), b = 7.6890(2), c = 27.3281(6) Å, α = β = γ = 90(°) and Z = 4. One intermolecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bond enforces these natural molecules to form infinite chains through the crystal. Aspfalcolide was screened for its anti-angiogenic activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the result showed the remarkable inhibitory effect of aspfalcolide on the proliferation (IC(50) 1.82 μM), migration and tube formation of HUVECs.