In Vitro Sprouted Plantlets of Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad Shown to Possess Interesting Levels of Cucurbitacins and Other Bioactives against Pathogenic Fungi

Cucurbitacins, structurally different triterpenes mainly found in the members of Cucurbitaceae, possess a vast pharmacological potential. Genus Cucurbita, Cucumis, and Citrullus are affluent in these bioactive compounds, and, amongst them, Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. is widely exploited in folk medicine, since a huge number of diseases are successfully treated with organic and aqueous extracts obtained from different organs and tissues of the plant. The well-known pharmacological activities of such species have been attributed to its peculiar composition, which includes cucurbitacins and other bioactive molecules; thus, owing to its high importance as a valuable natural resource for pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, C. colocynthis propagation and multiplication protocols are considered significant, but the exploitation of its phytochemical potential is limited by the restricted cultivation conditions and the low rate of seed germination in the natural environment; in fact, the assessment of accumulation rate of specific phytochemicals under controlled conditions is still missing. Axenically sprouted plantlets obtained without the use of culture media or the addition of hormones have been evaluated here for the production of bioactive compounds and relevant bioactive features. Our results proved that derived organic extracts contain cucurbitacins and other bioactives, show antioxidant potential, and exert activity against some pathogenic fungi (Candida krusei, C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. glabrata, and Aspergillus flavus), supporting the feasibility of a methodology intended to scale-up cultivation of this species as a source of pharmaceutically interesting compounds, achievable from plantlets cultivated under laboratory conditions

Potential of Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Immature Seed Extracts as Food Preservative against a Fungal Mycotoxigenic Contaminant

'e world of plant extracts and natural compounds have long been regarded as a promise land for the individuation of healthyalternatives to chemical preservatives, against microbial contamination, in food and feed commodities. A plethora of aromatic andmedicinal plant species have been studied from decades to explore their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, in order to bothvalidate their ethnobotanical use for healing microbial illnesses and assess their suitability as food preservation agents. In fact, afterterrestrialization and during the following evolutionary pathway, plants had to develop chemical compounds—constitutive and/or induced—for defence against specific pathogens, therefore becoming a potential source of new natural products usable withantimicrobial purposes. Aside from the most common contaminants that could occur in foodstuff, mycotoxigenic fungal speciesrepresent a big concern, mainly in cereals and derived products: aflatoxins in particular are the most dreaded among such toxicand cancerogenic secondary metabolites, and the control of the main producerAspergillus flavusis currently one of the mostpursued goals in the field of food safety. As aromatic and medicinal plants have a long history of use in the Mediterranean basin forboth food preservation and pest control in crops, the exploitation of native species for the control of mycotoxigenic phyto-pathogens is almost rationale. 'e present work provides novel insights into the possible use ofC. colocynthisseed organic extractsas antimycotoxigenic additives, demonstrating, for some of them, a feasible application as crop and food protectants with specificregard to aflatoxin contamination. Additionally, the evaluation of their cytotoxic potential and nitric oxide production on humancell lines has been reported for the first tim

<i>Aspergillus flavus</i> as a Model System to Test the Biological Activity of Botanicals: An Example on <i>Citrullus colocynthis</i> L. Schrad. Organic Extracts

Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrader is an annual plant belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family, widely distributed in the desert areas of the Mediterranean basin. Many pharmacological properties (anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, analgesic, anti-epileptic) are ascribed to different organs of this plant; extracts and derivatives of C. colocynthis are used in folk Berber medicine for the treatment of numerous diseases&#8212;such as rheumatism arthritis, hypertension bronchitis, mastitis, and even cancer. Clinical studies aimed at confirming the chemical and biological bases of pharmacological activity assigned to many plant/herb extracts used in folk medicine often rely on results obtained from laboratory preliminary tests. We investigated the biological activity of some C. colocynthis stem, leaf, and root extracts on the mycotoxigenic and phytopathogenic fungus Aspergillus flavus, testing a possible correlation between the inhibitory effect on aflatoxin biosynthesis, the phytochemical composition of extracts, and their in vitro antioxidant capacities