Silk oak flowers as a source of β-carotene

The pigment of the yellow flowers of the silk oak (Grevillea robusta, Cunningham) does not appear to have been investigated heretofore. If the dried material is extracted with ether, the solution shows typical absorption maxima at 483 and 453 mµ,corresponding to the spectrum of p-carotene. The rather blurred borders of these bands indicate, however, the presence of other polyenic pigments in small quantities. After saponification a photometric analysis of the total extract gave values which would correspond to 270 mg. of β-carotene in 1 kilo of the dry flowers if no other pigments were present. After a chromatographic separation the true β-carotene content was found to be about 215 mg. per kilo. Two-thirds of this amount was isolated as crystals; lycopene or γ- and α-carotene were not present [1]. The non-carotene fraction is a complicated xanthophyll mixture in which no single compound predominates. From this fraction two very small amounts of crystalline material were isolated, one of which was kryptoxanthin and the other a new carotenoid possessing a remarkably short wave-length spectrum. For the separation and study of carotenoids contained in extracts we suggest the systematic use of the ultraviolet lamp which has been so helpful in the chromatography of colorless substances (2). Plant pigments are frequently accompanied by large amounts of colorless material which prevent the formation of sharp pigment zones in the Tswett column and thus a satisfactory separation of the components. Furthermore, the crystallization of some carotenoids may be hindered. Fortunately many such colorless substances show an intense fluorescence (3). An observation made in ultraviolet light during the chromatographic separation of the pigments may furnish a good indication of the best method and optimum extent of developing the chromatogram. The distribution of the fluorescence may also indicate the lines at which it is best to cut the column. By sacrificing small amounts of pigment large portions of colorless associated material may be eliminated in this simple way

The carotenoid and provitamin A content of the watermelon

10 years ago lycopene, C40H56, and carotene, C40H56, were isolated from the pulp of the European watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris, Schrad. = Cucumis citrullus, L.) by Zechmeister and Tuzson (l), and it was shown that the chief pigment, lycopene, is responsible for the red color. As the chromatographic method was not available at that time, no precise information as to the composition of the pigment was obtained. In some new experiments described below we have carried out a quantitative analysis of the components and have estimated the provitamin A content of the California watermelon. 1 kilo of the pulp examined contained 1.0 mg. of a complicated xanthophyll mixture, 6.1 mg. of lycopene, 0.06 mg. of γ-carotene, 0.16 mg. of unknown carotenoids (located in the column between γ- and β-carotene), 0.46 mg. of β-carotene, 0.01 mg. of α-carotene. The figures include the fractions of lycopene, and γ- and β-carotene which underwent isomerization during the experimental procedure (2). The calorimetric value of the total extract of 1 kilo of pulp corresponded to 7 to 8 mg. of “lycopene”; some samples were, however, considerably richer in pigment. Our material, picked in California in September, contained, according to the above figures, 0.5 mg. of provitamin A in 1 kilo of pulp, or about one-fifth to one-sixth of the daily β-carotene requirement of an adult person. It is interesting to note that a considerable number of yellow and pink unidentified oxygen-containing carotenoids were found in minute quantities; i.e., to the extent of about 0.01 mg. per kilo of pulp. Even with the use of chromatography 1000 or more kilos of melon would be needed for a satisfactory study of these pigments. One of them is spectroscopically identical with torulene, detected by Lederer in red yeast (3)

Isolation of prolycopene and pro-γ-carotene from Evonymus fortunei

It has been reported (1) that the ripe seeds of Evonymus europaeus L. (Celastraceae) contain unesterified zeaxanthin, C40H56O2, as the main polyene pigment. The same statement is valid for Evonymus fortunei, var. color., Rehd., commonly termed “winter-creeper euonymus,” from 1 kilo of which 1300 mg. of zeaxanthin were isolated. Upon evaporation of its saponified ether extract and addition of petroleum ether, abundant quantities of zeaxanthin crystallize. This paper describes an investigation of some of the pigments (about 200 mg. per kilo, of which one-fourth is β-carotene) which remain in the mother liquor. The mixture can be resolved by chromatographic analysis. In addition to some twenty less interesting pigments, two representatives of a stereochemically new class of natural carotenoids (2) were separated; viz., prolycopene, C40H56, and pro-γ-carotene, C40H66. The yields of pure crystals were 11 mg. and 0.5 mg. per kilo of seeds respectively. Hence, Evonymus fortunei may serve as a source of prolycopene while it does not offer any larger yield of pro-γ-carotene than does the fruit of Butia capitata (3). According to the foregoing paper (4) Pyracantha angustifolia is the best starting material for the isolation of pro-γ-carotene at the present time

Prolycopene, a Naturally Occurring Stereoisomer of Lycopene

In this paper we record the observation that there occurs in the variety of tomato called "tangerine tomato" a carotenoid, prolycopene, which is an isomer of lycopene; the isomeric relationship is similar to that between lycopene and neolycopene,I and in our opinion prolycopene is to be classed as a naturally occurring neolycopene, being the first observed natural neo form of a C40-carotenoid

Evaluation of the therapeutic potential of ant-TLR4-antibody MTS510 in experimental stroke and significa of different routes of application

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are central sensors for the inflammatory response in ischemia-reperfusion injury. We therefore investigated whether TLR4 inhibition could be used to treat stroke in a standard model of focal cerebral ischemia. Anti-TLR4/MD2-antibody (mAb clone MTS510) blocked TLR4-induced cell activation in vitro, as reported previously. Here, different routes of MTS510 application in vivo were used to study the effects on stroke outcome up to 2d after occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO) for 45 min in adult male C57Bl/6 wild-type mice. Improved neurological performance, reduced infarct volumes, and reduced brain swelling showed that intravascular application of MTS510 had a protective effect in the model of 45 min MCAO. Evaluation of potential long-term adverse effects of anti-TLR4-mAb-treament revealed no significant deleterious effect on infarct volumes nor neurological deficit after 14d of reperfusion in a mild model of stroke (15 min MCAO). Interestingly, inhibition of TLR4 resulted in an altered adaptive immune response at 48 hours after reperfusion. We conclude that blocking TLR4 by the use of specific mAb is a promising strategy for stroke therapy. However, long-term studies with increased functional sensitivity, larger sampling sizes and use of other species are required before a clinical use could be envisaged

Carotenoids of Hungarian wheat flour

Whether or not wheat flour contains provitamin A in amounts which could be of any importance for general nutrition is a question of considerable interest. Since Wesener and Teller (1) as well as Monier-Williams (2) considered carotene, C40H56, to be the chief fat-soluble pigment of flour, this claim has been more or less supported by numerous authors (3). It was, however, correctly pointed out in the short reviews given by Widmark and Neymark (4) and by Jörgensen (5) that the reported carotene content of flour decreased with increased progress in this field. While Ferrari and Bailey (6) considered “carotin” the chief component of the coloring matter, it is rightly stated in an important paper by Markley and Bailey (7) that only a fraction of the wheat carotenoids can consist of carotene; e.g., one-third to one-seventh of the total pigment. These figures are, however, still much too high. Malmberg and von Euler (8) were unable to detect any carotene at all in 100 gm. of wheat, and they found xanthophyll, C40H56O2, to be the chief polyene, in accordance with the data of Bowden and Moore (9) who proved the presence of xanthophyll in wheat germ oil. According to our new chromatographic experiments, only a small part of the carefully saponified pigment shows an epiphasic behavior, and even this fraction can easily be separated from added β-carotene in the Tswett column. Consequently we claim that the analyzed, unbleached flours are practically or absolutely free of carotene, the carotene content being less than 0.01 mg. per kilo in any case. Other samples are under investigation, but even our whole wheat flour does not contain much more carotene or xanthophyll than fine grade samples

Crisis, Charisma and Consequences: Evidence from the 2004 US Presidential Election

We investigate how conditions of crisis affect perceptions of charisma and how these, in turn, affect blame attribution and self-sacrificial behavior. Our data are from a 2004 experimental study that preceded the U.S. presidential election, in which we manipulated concerns of a terrorist attack. The results show that those in the Crisis condition rated Bush higher on perceptions of charisma compared to those in the Good Times condition. The Crisis condition also directly and indirectly, via perceptions of charisma, affected whether Bush was blamed for failures in Iraq and our subjects’ willingness to sacrifice their personal resources for his candidacy

High-cadence spectroscopy of M-dwarfs – II. Searching for stellar pulsations with HARPS

Stellar oscillations appear all across the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Recent theoretical studies support their existence also in the atmosphere of M dwarfs. These studies predict for them short periodicities ranging from 20 min to 3 h. Our Cool Tiny Beats (CTB) programme aims at finding these oscillations for the very first time. With this goal, CTB explores the short time domain of M dwarfs using radial velocity data from the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS)-European Southern Observatory and HARPS-N high-precision spectrographs. Here we present the results for the two most long-term stable targets observed to date with CTB, GJ 588 and GJ 699 (i.e. Barnard's star). In the first part of this work we detail the correction of several instrumental effects. These corrections are especially relevant when searching for subnight signals. Results show no significant signals in the range where M dwarfs pulsations were predicted. However, we estimate that stellar pulsations with amplitudes larger than ∼0.5 m s−1 can be detected with a 90 per cent completeness with our observations. This result, along with the excess of power regions detected in the periodograms, opens the possibility of non-resolved very low amplitude pulsation signals. Next generation more precise instrumentation would be required to detect such oscillations. However, the possibility of detecting pulsating M-dwarf stars with larger amplitudes is feasible due to the short size of the analysed sample. This motivates the need for completeness of the CTB survey

The fruit of Pyracantha angustifolia: a practical source of pro-γ-carotene and prolycopene

Ripe fruit of Pyracantha (Cotoneaster) angustifolia Schneid. constitutes the best practical source for the isolation of pro-γ-carotene, C40H56, and a good source for prolycopene, C40H56, both of which possess partially cis configurations. The yields were 27.7 mg. of crystallized pro-γ-carotene and 28.4 mg. of prolycopene from 1 kilo of air-dried berries. A close stereoisomer of prolycopene was also isolated (7.3 mg.) and a monohydroxy pro-γ-carotene observed in solution