Reactive Oxygen Species, Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidative Defense Mechanism

Lipid peroxidation can be defined as the oxidative deterioration of lipids containing any number of carbon-carbon double bonds. Lipid peroxidation is a well-established mechanism of cellular injury in both plants and animals, and is used as an indicator of oxidative stress in cells and tissues. Lipid peroxides are unstable and decompose to form a complex series of compounds including reactive carbonyl compounds. The oxidation of linoleates and cholesterol is discussed in some detail. Analytical methods for studying lipid peroxidation were mentioned. Various kinds of antioxidants with different functions inhibit lipid peroxidation and the deleterious effects caused by the lipid peroxidation products

Synergistic Antioxidant Scavenging Activities of Grape Seed and Green Tea Extracts against Oxidative Stress

Grape seed and green tea extracts are reported to produce antioxidant scavenging activities against free radical toxicity. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that a specific combination of these extracts presents a synergistic antioxidant scavenging activities. The extracts of grape seed, green tea and their mixtures were characterized by phytochemical studies and tested for phenolics and flavonoids. In vitro antioxidant activity for individual extract and its mixtures was determined by DPPH, hydroxyl and superoxide free radical scavenging methods. The amount of total phenolics varied among the different extracts and ranged from 43.74 to 67.68 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) / g dry weight, whereas total flavonoids content ranged from 4.25 to 11.66 mg of quercetin equivalents (QU) /g dry weight. The present results suggest that both extracts reported a highly contents of total phenolic and flavonoids compounds, also the mixtures of these extracts can synergistically enhance antioxidant activity. Antioxidant potential from mixture 2 (grape seed extract 200 mg: green tea extract 100 mg) was comparable to that of standard. HPLC results showed that the most abundant components in the mixture 2 extract were epigallocatechingallate while the lowest was the procyanidine

Antioxidant, anti-cancer and ameliorative activities of Spirulina platensis and pomegranate juice against hepatic damage induced by CCl4

Due to the excessive impact of synthetic drugs, unravelling and employing safe, natural alternatives are now needed to resolve a number of diseases. In this research, we have evaluated hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities of Spirulina platensis and pomegranate juice in rats against hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Spirulina crude carotenoid extract was screened by UPLC-MS / MS. Activities of liver marker enzymes; measured aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and determined lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status as reduced glutathione (GSH) in liver homogenate. The infusion of CCl4 (2 ml/kg b.wt) greatly increases levels of liver marker enzymes and lipid peroxidation, resulting in depletion of antioxidants. Treatment of Spirulina platensis (Sp), pomegranate juice (Pj)or mixture (PJSP) of Spirulina water extract 10% and pomegranate juice 90% (1 ml/100 g b.wt) to CCl4-disrupted rats resulted in decreased activity of liver marker enzymes, lipid peroxidation with increased antioxidant status. Chromatographic separation showed that ß-carotene is the predominant carotenoid extract. This carotenoid extract was tested for colon carcinoma (HCT-116), liver carcinoma (HepG2) and intestinal carcinoma cell lines (CACO) LC50 for 21.8, 14 and 11.3 ug / ml, respectively. Total phenolic phytochemicals, total carotenoids and total flavonoids were also measured in Spirulina. Our study clearly demonstrates that Spirulina platensis and pomegranate juice had hepatoprotective effect on CCl4-caused hepatotoxicity in rats through its antioxidant activity

Chemical compositions and biological activities of the essential oils from gamma irradiated celery (Apium graveolens L.) seeds

Celery seed oils can help in detoxification processes of the body as it facilitates the elimination of toxins and other harmful substances out of the body. This study aimed to assess biological activity of essential oils extracted from un-irradiated and irradiated celery seeds by gamma rays. Celery seeds were irradiated with different dose levels of gamma radiation; control, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 kGy. The highest increase of essential oil extracted was registered with a dosage level of 10.0 kGy (2.42%). The GC-MS analysis showed that, there were new compounds detected in the irradiated samples and others compounds were increased or decreased. The FTIR spectra showed alterations in functional groups of essential oils extracted from celery seeds upon gamma-irradiation. Total phenols, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity increased proportional to the increase in the irradiation dose level and the maximum increase obtained in the irradiation dose level 10.0 kGy. This may be an evidence on the biological value, there were anticancer activity against 2 cell lines, breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and lung cancer cell line (A549). The best IC50 in A549 was 145 µg/ml in sample with irradiation dose level 5.0 kGy while the best IC50 in MCF-7 was 124 µg/ml in irradiated sample with dose 5.0 kGy. Also, the highest inhibition zone of S. aureus, B. subtilis and K. pneumoniae were obtained with the oil extracted from seeds irradiated with 5 kGy dose level, where E. coli and C. albicans were more pronounced for the oil gotten from the seeds irradiated with 10.0 kGy. The irradiation process for celery seeds may be promising for biological value of celery oils

The correlation of in vitro antioxidant potentials with the various biochemical responses of salinized basil leaves

One of the environmental sustainability issues is salinity. Basil seedlings (Ocimum basilicum L.) were treated using NaCl solutions of three different concentrations prepared using irrigation (40, 80, and 130 mM), and various biochemical analyses were performed on basil leaves. The number of leaves, leaf area, moisture, weights, and MDA content of basil decreased significantly as salinity levels increased from 40 to 130 mM; however, dry matter increased. As well, the current study investigated a significant increase in osmolytes (including total soluble sugars and proline) and Na+ contents. The highest activities of CAT and SOD in the leaf tissues of basil were recorded after treatment with 130 mM NaCl, whereas the polyphenol and total flavonoid contents were negatively influenced.  On the other hand, the highest ABTS scavenging activity was observed in the 40 mM-treated leaves at a concentration of 1000 µg/mL; however, the DPPH scavenging potential increased significantly in the 80 mM-treated leaves at 3000 µg/mL. Furthermore, the correlation between in vitro antioxidant potentials and biochemical responses was described. A strong correlation was identified between the in vitro antioxidant capacities of salinized O. basilicum leaves and SOD activity, total flavonoids, and the presence of phenolic acids, particularly p-hydroxybenzoic and o-coumaric acids at various concentrations. As a result, this is the first study to explain how basil may resist salinity by producing specific antioxidant compounds; therefore, our research recommends use of salinity issue to obtain a better plant material for producing dietary supplements or herbal drugs

GC-MS Analysis, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Anticancer Activities of Extracts from Ficus sycomorus Fruits and Leaves

Higher plants have been utilized worldwide as characteristic drug a long time to cure human diseases. About 80% of individuals globally use plants as safe sources of medication to cure human diseases through completely different medicine system. One of the available indigenous medicinal plants, Ficus sycomorus belongs to the Moraceae family. The plant contains totally different teams of biologically active compounds that square measure chargeable for the biological activity. Ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of leaves of Ficus sycomorus contain higher concentrations of total phenols, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and steroids than the fruit extracts. Ethanolic extract in both fruits and leaves gave higher concentrations of phytochemical compounds than the ethyl acetate extracts. Therefore, fruit and leaves extract have antioxidant and antimicrobial activity against gram positive, negative bacteria and fungus. Also, the percentage of Liver cell line (HepG2), Colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) and Breast cell line (MCF-7) viability was decreased with increasing the concentrations of the ethanolic extract of fruits and leaves of Ficus sycomorus. The high concentrations of ethanolic extract of fruits caused high reduction in the viability of cancer cells, especially in Colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cell line. In addition, phytochemical compound screened by GC-MS method. In GC-MS analysis, 12 bioactive phytochemical compounds were identified in fruits and 29 bioactive compounds were detected in leaves extract. These totally different active phytochemicals are found to possess a good vary of activities, which can facilitate within the protection against incurable diseases

Biological Activities of the Doum Palm (Hyphaene thebaica L.) Extract and Its Bioactive Components

The doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica) is a type palm tree which has a wood texture and has edible oval fruits and the origin native to upper Egypt. The trunk of this small palm is dichotomous. It is one of the most important useful plants in the world. All parts of doum palm have a useful role such as fiber and leaflets which used to weave baskets and doum nuts which have antioxidants and secondary metabolites such as tannins, phenols, saponin, steroids, glycosides, flavonoid, terpenes and terpinoids. Also, roots, stems and leaves are used in medicine, ropes and baskets. Studies on anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer and pharmacological potential of Hyphaene thebaica extracts and its major phytoconstituents like the phenolic, essential oil and flavonoid compounds are extensively discussed in this review

Evaluation of the Phytochemical, Antioxidant, Antibacterial and Anticancer Activity of Prunus domestica Fruit

Plants have been used long ago through man history of life for their use in food and medicinal drives. In modern life, natural products have been extracted and isolated from several kinds of plants for the development of new drugs. There are numerous interests in natural antioxidants extracted from medicinal plants, vegetables and fruits, which might help to prevent oxidative damage. One of such plants is plum Prunus domestica L., family Rosaceae. Samples from ‘African Rose’, and ‘Santa Rosa’ plum cultivars were collected from local market in Giza governorate, Egypt. The main phytochemicals of plums (fruit flesh and skin) were analyzed. Total polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, anthocyanins, and reducing power were higher in ‘African Rose’ fruit. The ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of two plum cultivars were both high in the antioxidant effect with IC50 13.923 and 18.416 μg/ml of ethanolic extract of ‘African Rose’, and ‘Santa Rosa’ respectively. The IC50 of ‘African Rose’ and ‘Santa Rose’ extract against Caco-2 was 4 and 8.5 μg/ml. GC-MS analysis was carried out, fourteen and twenty one compound were identified in ‘Santa Rosa’ and ‘African Rose’ respectively. The fruits had an antimicrobial action against gram positive and negative bacteria. There was anticancer activity against 3 cell lines: Liver cell line (HepG2), colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cell line, and breast cell line (MCF-7)

Protein Solubility, Digestibility and Fractionation after Germination of Sorghum Varieties

The changes in crude protein, free amino acids, amino acid composition, protein solubility, protein fractionation and protein digestibility after germination of sorghum were investigated. Sorghum varieties (Dorado, Shandaweel-6, Giza-15) were soaked for 20 h followed by germination for 72 h; the results revealed that crude protein and free amino acids in raw sorghum varieties ranged from 10.62 to 12.46% and 0.66 to 1.03 mg/g, respectively. Shandaweel-6 was the highest variety in crude protein and free amino acids content. After germination, crude protein was decreased and free amino acids were increased. There was an increase in content of valine and phenylalanine amino acids after germination. On the other hand, there was a decrease in most of amino acids after germination. After germination protein solubility was significantly increased. Regarding protein fractions, there was an increase in albumin, globulin and kafirin proteins and a decrease in cross linked kafirin and cross linked glutelin after germination

Propiedades antioxidantes y antimicrobianas de la rosa de Jerico (Anastatica hierochuntica) y duma (Hyphaene thebaica)

The widespread use of medicinal plants for health purposes has increased dramatically due to their great importance to public health. In this study, the levels of phenolic, flavonoid, β-carotene and lycopene compounds of Anastatica hierochuntica and Hyphaene thebaica were determined. The plant extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant activities using various antioxidant methodologies: (i) scavenging of free radicals using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, (ii) metal ion chelating capacity, and (iii) scavenging of superoxide anion radical. The antimicrobial activity of both plant extracts was evaluated against a panel of microorganisms using the agar disc diffusion method. The total phenolic content (51.97 and 64.9 mg/g dry weight in A. hierochuntica and H. thebaica, respectively) was significantly (p < 0.05) different. The antioxidant activity increased with an increase in concentration. The plant extracts were more active against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria. Also, the antimicrobial activity of H. thebaica was higher than that of A. hierochuntica methanolic extracts. This study reveals that the consumption of these plants would exert several beneficial effects by virtue of their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.El extensivo uso de plantas medicinales con fines médicos ha aumentado dramáticamente debido en gran parte a la importancia que tienen en la salud pública. En este estudio, los niveles de compuestos fenólicos, flavonoides, β-caroteno y licopeno de Anastatica hierochuntica y Hyphaene thebaica fueron determinados. Los extractos de plantas fueron evaluados mediante su actividad antioxidante usando varias metodologías: (i) captación de radicales libres usando 2,2-difenil- 1-picrilhidrazina, (ii) capacidad quelatante de iones metálicos, y (iii) captación de radicales superóxidos. La actividad antimicrobiana de ambos extractos de planta fue evaluada mediante un panel de microorganismos usando el método de difusión en disco de agar. El contenido total de fenoles (51.97 y 64.9 mg/g peso seco en A. hierochuntica y H. thebaica, respectivamente) fue significativamente diferente (p < 0.05). La actividad antioxidante incremento con un aumento de la concentración. Los extractos de planta fueron más activos contra bacterias Gram-positiva que contra bacterias Gram-negativas. También, la actividad antimicrobiana de los extractos metanólicos de H. thebaica fue mayor que la de los extractos metanólicos de A. hierochuntica. Este estudio revela que el consumo de estas plantas podría ejercer algunos efectos beneficiosos a causa de sus actividades antioxidantes y microbianas