Some Mexican Plants Used in Traditional Medicine

In Mexico, there is an area known as semiarid region that is located in northern Mexico, and this region is rich in biodiversity (endemic flora and fauna). In the semiarid region of Mexico are more than 3500 species of plants that have been identified and used as natural alternatives to treat different ailments (digestive ailments, kidney problems, skin conditions, etc.). The use of plants for medicinal purposes was a common practice in Mexico before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century; although this knowledge was underestimated for a long time, now interest has reemerged in the use of plants as alternative remedies or traditional medicine. It is now known that the medicinal plant capacity is due to its biological properties, which are due to chemical compounds that are synthesized by the plant metabolisms, called phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are bioactive compounds that have important biological properties such as anticancer property, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidant, and interest in the recovery of these compounds has grown in recent years, in order to find natural alternatives to synthetic drugs, which they are used for different chronic conditions such as cancer

Hydrothermal–microwave processing for starch extraction from mexican avocado seeds: operational conditions and characterization

Avocado seeds are an agroindustrial residue widely produced in Mexico that are causing various environmental problems due to their accumulation. The evaluation of avocado residues to recover biopolymers by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and the characterization of avocado starch properties were studied in the present work. A central-composite design was used to optimize the MAE process. Moreover, a comparison was performed between MAE non-isothermal mode (NO–ISO) and conventional extraction. Starch optimization by MAE was obtained at 161.09 °C for 56.23 min with an extraction yield of 49.52% ± 0.69%, while with NO–ISO at 161 °C was obtained 45.75% ± 2.18%. Conventional extraction was 39.04% ± 2.22%. Compared with conventional starch, MAE starch showed similar proprieties and molecular spectra. In contrast, MAE starch showed high solubility, low water absorption capacity, a non-granular structure with small particle size (<2 μm) and polydispersity of fragments at different sizes of polymers. Therefore, MAE is a viable technology to extract the starch, and avocado seed can be considered an excellent starch source for the development of novel functional foods, contributing to promoting sustainability across the food chain.N/Ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anaerobic Biodegradation of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons by a Sulfate Reducing Bacteria C1Fd Strain

Aromatic hydrocarbons contamination is widely prevalent in various parts of the world due to anthropogenic activities and leads to anaerobic conditions. As a result, most of its biodegradation is due to anaerobic microorganisms, and most specifically by anaerobic bacteria capable of using sulfates as final electron acceptor to degrade these compounds. Although there are reports on consortia of microorganisms that are involved in the anaerobic biodegradation of monoaromatic hydrocarbons (MAH) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), only few reports are available using pure cultures. This paper describes an anaerobic, gram positive and spore forming bacterial strain (C1Fd), which was isolated and purified from aromatic compounds degrading consortium developed using bovine rumen fluid as inoculum. C1Fd was able to use MAH and PAH under anaerobic conditions and removed up 9.4 mM of MAH and 9.2 mM of PAH in less than 72 h. The strain was identified as Bacillus sp. and is phylogenetically related to the hydrocarbon degrading bacteria, Desulfotomaculum sp., isolated from a wastewater treatment plant

Process optimization of microwave-assisted extraction of bioactive molecules from avocado seeds

Avocado seeds are an agroindustrial residue produced largely by avocado processing industries, which is accumulated in high quantities because it has low reuse due to its poor revalorization. The optimization of Microwave-Assisted Extraction (MAE) of bioactive compounds with high antioxidant capacity from avocado seeds were studied in the present work for the first time. Applying two experimental designs, using acetone 70 % and ethanol, the optimal conditions of extraction were found: 72.18 °C for 19.01 min and 71.64 °C for 14.69 min with 58.51 % of ethanol, respectively, to obtain extracts with highest antioxidant activity. The optimized extracts obtained with acetone and ethanol showed a high polyphenolic content (307.09 ± 14.16 and 254.40 ± 16.36 mg GAE/g extract) and high antioxidant activity measured by DPPH (266.56 ± 2.76 and 221.69 ± 20.12 mg ET/g extract), ABTS (607.28 ± 4.71 and 516.34 ± 11.81 mg ET/g extract) and ORAC (475.55 ± 47.82 and 495.25 ± 14.52 mg ET/g extract), proving MAE as a better technique than those previously reported for avocado seeds. Fiber residues obtained after MAE showed bonded phenolics compounds with relevant antioxidant activity, those obtained with ethanol. HPLC-ESI-MS analysis showed the presence of 20 different identified compounds, including phenolic acids, procyanidins dimer B and trimer A and B in different isomers forms, catechin, epicatechin and perseitol. MAE is a green, energy efficient and rapid tool for extractions of bioactive components from avocado seedswithout affecting their antioxidant activities representing an attractive alternative protocol in traditional herbal industry and medicine.N/

Preliminary Testing of Ultrasound/Microwave-Assisted Extraction (U/M-AE) for the Isolation of Geraniin from Nephelium lappaceum L. (Mexican Variety) Peel

The rambutan peel (RP) is a relevant source of bioactive molecules, which could be used for application in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceutical areas. Total soluble polyphenol content was extracted from Mexican variety rambutan peels using an emergent ultrasound/microwave-assisted extraction (U/M-AE) technology. Five extractions were performed using different mass/volume and ethanol/water ratios; 1:16-0; 1:16-70; 1:8-0; 1:8-70; 1:12-30. Condition 1:16-0 was defined as the best extraction condition with 0% ethanol percentage (only water). The content of total soluble polyphenols was 307.57 mg/g. The total bound polyphenol content was 26.53 mg/g. Besides, two separation processes were made with the soluble fraction; the first one was performed using Amberlite XAD-16 (Sigma-Aldrich, Saint Louis, MO, USA), and seven polyphenolic compounds were obtained. The second one was performed using a preparative HPLC (Varian, Palo Alto, CA, USA) equipment obtained fraction where three compounds were obtained: geraniin (main compound), ellagic acid, and ellagic acid pentoside. The major compound isolated in the two separations was geraniin, according to HPLC/ESI/MS (High Performance Liquid Chromatography/ElectroSpray Ionization/Mass) analysis

Recovery of Bioactive Ellagitannins by Ultrasound/Microwave-Assisted Extraction from Mexican Rambutan Peel (Nephelium lappaceum L.)

Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) is a tropical fruit from Asia which has become the main target of many studies involving polyphenolic analysis. Mexico produces over 8 million tons per year of rambutan, generating a huge amount of agro-industrial waste since only the pulp is used and the peel, which comprises around 45% of the fruit&rsquo;s weight, is left behind. This waste can later be used in the recovery of polyphenolic fractions. In this work, emerging technologies such as microwave, ultrasound, and the hybridization of both were tested in the extraction of phenolic compounds from Mexican rambutan peel. The results show that the hybrid technology extraction yielded the highest polyphenolic content (176.38 mg GAE/g of dry rambutan peel). The HPLC/MS/ESI analysis revealed three majoritarian compounds: geraniin, corilagin, and ellagic acid. These compounds explain the excellent results for the biological assays, namely antioxidant activity evaluated by the DPPH, ABTS, and LOI (Lipid oxidation inhibition) assays that exhibited great antioxidant capacity with IC50 values of 0.098, 0.335, and 0.034 mg/mL respectively, as well as prebiotic activity demonstrated by a &micro;Max (maximum growth) of 0.203 for Lactobacillus paracasei. Lastly, these compounds have shown no hemolytic activity, opening the door for the elaboration of different products in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries

Biological activities of compounds from Avocado (Persea americana) agro-industrial waste: Toward a green and sustainable future

Avocado residues, such as seeds, peels, and leaves, are waste generated by the agri-food industry in large quantities since avocado is a fruit of high 4nutritional value consumed in much of the world. However, the increase in its waste is an environmental problem, so its use represents a viable alternative to this problem. It has been shown that these residues are a great source of bioactive compounds such as phenols, tannins, anthocyanins, and flavonoids, among others, whose application in areas such as health is of great importance since these compounds have characteristics due to their antioxidant nature that give them biological properties such as anticancer, antiviral, antimicrobial, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, and others that have been studied to prevent or counteract diseases and that will be described in this chapter.To the National Laboratory BIOBANCO UANL-UAdeC of CONAHCYT for the support provided.Peer reviewe

Phytochemical Characterization of <i>Phoradendron bollanum</i> and <i>Viscum album</i> subs. <i>austriacum</i> as Mexican Mistletoe Plants with Antimicrobial Activity

In Mexico, mistletoes have several applications in traditional medicine due to the great variety of compounds with biological activities that have not been characterized to date. The goals of the present study are to analyze the composition of minerals and phytochemical compounds in Mexican mistletoes Phoradendron bollanum and Viscum album subs. austriacum qualitatively and quantitatively, identify the compounds using HPLC-MS, and assess the antimicrobial potential in phytopathogenic microorganism control. Mineral content was evaluated with X-ray fluorescence. Three types of extracts were prepared: ethanol, water, and aqueous 150 mM sodium chloride solution. Characterization was carried out using qualitative tests for phytochemical compound groups, analytical methods for proteins, reducing sugars, total phenol, flavonoids quantification, and HPLC-MS for compound identification. The antimicrobial activity of mistletoe’s liquid extracts was evaluated by microplate assay. K and Ca minerals were observed in both mistletoes. A qualitative test demonstrated alkaloids, carbohydrates, saponins, flavonoids, tannins, and quinones. Ethanolic extract showed flavonoids, 3845 ± 69 and 3067 ± 17.2 mg QE/g for Phoradendron bollanum and Viscum album subs. austriacum, respectively, while aqueous extracts showed a total phenol content of 65 ± 6.9 and 90 ± 1.19 mg GAE/g Phoradendron bollanum and Viscum album subs. austriacum, respectively. HPLC-MS identified largely hydroxycinnamic acids and methoxycinnamic acids. Clavibacter michiganenses was successfully inhibited by aqueous extract of both mistletoes