Screening of Bioactivity in Extracts from Different Varieties of Lettuce

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) belongs to Asteraceae family and is a widely grown and a popularly consumed vegetable worldwide cause leafy vegetables are common items in a well-balanced diet. Lettuce is low in calories, fat and sodium. It is a good source of fiber, iron, folate, vitamin C and various bioactive compounds. Lettuce is consumed in salad mixes and, as its consumption is increasing, is becoming one of most 'healthy' food. Moreover, since lettuce is generally eaten raw, more nutrients and bioactive compounds are retained compared to other vegetables that are cooked or processed, avoiding in this way the degradation of the thermolabile phytochemicals with potential nutraceutical interest. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown anti-inflammatory, cholesterol-lowering, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant activities attributed to the bioactive compounds in lettuce. The healthy properties are attributed to a large supply of antioxidant compounds mainly polyphenols. As they act as free radical scavengers, both these secondary plant metabolites are fundamental to counter oxidative stress, inflammation, cancer, diabetes, age-related neurodegeneration and cardiovascular disease. Further, various studies have investigated the effects of the polyphenolic compounds present in green lettuce, in reducing oxidative and anti-inflammatory stresses. This work aims to assess polyphenolic content, as well as related antioxidant capacity of 16 lettuce types, belonging to butterhead (var. capitata) and crisphead (var. crispa) varieties, in order to know their potential correlation between phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Results have shown lattuce an interesting and cheap source of antioxidant phenolics useful to functionalise various products

Influence of Ripening on Polyphenolic Content, Degradative, and Browning Enzymes in Cantaloupe Varieties (C. Melo, L.)

The biochemical changes that occur during the growth and ripening of fruit and vegetable tissues, especially for color and firmness, are the most important factors affecting the quality of fresh products. Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo, L.) is one of the main economically important fruits in the world and its quality parameters, e.g., sweetness, nutritional factors, and texture, influence consumer preferences. Hence, these two features, appearance and texture changes, were investigated in three different genotypes of netted melon, all characterized by an extended shelf life but with different ripening phases. In particular, in all melon cultivars, the cell wall-modifying enzymatic activities and indicators of softening as well as total polyphenols, ortho-diphenols, flavonoids, and tannins, and antioxidant activity were studied. One variety with excellent shelf-life displayed the best nutritional and healthy qualities, in the early stages of ripening, and the lowest degree of browning. The lytic enzyme activities were reduced in the initial stages and after they increased gradually until the overripe stage, with the same trend for all varieties under investigation. The antioxidant activities declined with increasing time of ripeness in all genotypes. The outcomes confirm that the activities of both classes examined, antioxidant and cell wall-modifying enzymes, may vary significantly during ripeness depending on the genotype, suggesting the involvement in determining the postharvest behavior of these fruits

Natural Antioxidant Potential of Melon Peels for Fortified Foods

: Agricultural and food waste recycling reduces natural resource losses, contributing significantly to the development of new green markets through the creation of redesigned products. In order to cycle valuable molecules, the peels from Italian cantaloupe (Cucumis melo L.) cultivars were studied and successfully characterized for high-added biomolecules to verify their possible exploitation as wealthy biomasses. Peels were investigated for their cell wall-modifying and browning enzymes, as well as for total polyphenols, ortho-diphenols, flavonoids, tannins, and antioxidant properties. The results of the analyses displayed great promise in one of the three cultivars investigated. Later on, a preliminary study using the best peel extract as a dietary supplement was carried out by preparing fortified seawater to enhance its antioxidant power. The effects of storage time (60 days) were examined at two temperatures through the determination of the stability of the polyphenol content. The kinetic parameters of degradation were also calculated. The "enriched sea water" retained great antioxidant activity in refrigerated conditions, demonstrating that there is good potential for melon by-products to add their natural compounds for food fortification. These findings may provide valuable data for scale-up, from the lab to the pilot or industrial application

A new method to assess the viability of collected CD34+ cells before reinfusion: a prospective study in 50 autotransplanted patients.

Introduction: In the setting of peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT),the strongest predictive factor for successful engraftment is the dose of reinfused CD34+ cells (per kg of body weight, not corrected for viability). Currently the amount of harvested CD34+ cells is assessed after completing the aphereses, before cryopreservation. However, such measurement does not account for the variable loss of viable CD34+ cells which occurs during freezing or thawing processes. Here we propose a novel method to measure the CD34+ cell viable content after cryopreservation, before reinfusion, through the use of a small bag (mini-bag, mB) which replicates the conditions to which CD34+ cells are subjected in the mother-bag (MB) to be reinfused. Material (or patients) and methods: We analyzed 93 samples from 63 aphereses collected from 50 patients undergoing PBSCT for hematological malignancies (22 multiple myeloma, 24 lymphoma, 4 acute leukemia). Total and viable CD34+ cells were quantified by flow cytometry; analyses were performed according to ISHAGE method with 7-AAD exclusion, before controlled freezing (ICE-CUBE14M system) from an aliquot of the final apheresis volume (FAV); after 1 week of storage for the mB; just prior to reinfusion from an aliquot of the MB. The mB contained 5 ml from FAV, were structurally similar to the MB and were cryopreserved together. Results were statistically compared by Student’s t test and Pearson correlation. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to identify variables influencing the viability of CD34+ cells. Results: Mean viability before cryopreservation was 99.7% (range 94-100%); median cell concentration in the FAV was 220x106/ml for leukocytes (range 10-376)and 3x106/ml for CD34+ cells (range 0.3-27).After diluting and splitting the FAV, the median amount of CD34+ in each MB was 2.2x106cells (range 0.2-25) and the median concentration of neutrophils was 19x106/ml (range1-37). After thawing the mean viability of CD34+ cells was 76% (range 23-97%) for mB and 71% (range 28-99%) for MB (P=NS). The two viability values had good linear correlation with high statistical significance (Pearson’s rho 0.59, p40.0001). We investigated factors affecting the viability of CD34+ cells according to the two methods: atunivariate analyses, FAV and the bag leukocyte content were inversely correlated with viability both for mB and MB. In a multivariate model including all covariates with significance P40.2, FAV remained as the only significant factor for viability (both for mB and MB). FAV was highly correlated with both the leukocyte and neutrophil content of the apheresis, MB and mB. Conclusion: We showed that viability check of CD34+ cells after cryopreservation can be done with comparable results in thawed MB or mB. However, results of mB are available before reinfusion, allowing for a correction of the planned CD34+ dose to be reinfused, thus making it preferable as quality control of the freezing/thawing process. Leukocyte/neutrophil contamination of the collection (reflected by the size of FAV) significantly impacts CD34+ cells viability and should be minimized

Uveal melanoma: evaluation of extrascleral extension using thin-section MR of the eye with surface coils

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate the role of high-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with special surface coils in selecting the correct therapeutic approach (eye enucleation or follow-up) in patients with suspected extrascleral extension of uveal melanoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study involved 12 patients with suspected extrascleral extension of uveal melanoma on orbital ultrasonography. All patients were studied with thin-section MR imaging of the eye using surface coils. RESULTS: High-resolution MR imaging of the eye excluded extrascleral extension of disease in 8/12 patients: in 4/8 cases it revealed vascular ectasia and in the other 4/8 cases the linear hypointensity of the sclera was unbroken. Seven of these eight patients were followed up by ultrasound, which showed stability of melanoma for at least 2 years, while the last patient underwent enucleation, and the histological examination confirmed the MR diagnosis. In 4/12 patients, high-resolution MR suggested a diagnosis of extrascleral extension of melanoma, which was confirmed at histological examination after enucleation. CONCLUSION: High-resolution MR imaging of the eye with surface coils allowed us to evaluate extrascleral extension of uveal melanoma and choose the correct therapeutic approach, avoiding unnecessary enucleation in 7/12 patients