Phenolic Content, and Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Crataegus Oxyacantha L (Rosaceae) Fruit Extract from Southeast Serbia

Purpose: The aim of this work was to determine the content of total phenols, total flavonoids, anthocyanins, as well as antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha L.) alcohol, hydroalcohol and aqueous extracts.Methods: The content of total phenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins of the alcohol, hydroalcohol and aqueous extracts of hawthorn were determined using spectrophotometric methods. Antioxidant assay was based on the measurement of DPPH absorbance at 517 nm caused by the reaction of DPPH with the test sample. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by measuring the zone of inhibition against selected test microorganisms: Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonasaeruginosa, and Salmonella abony while antifungal activity was tested against two organisms: Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans.Results: The results of spectrophotometric investigations indicate that the content of total phenol compounds in the investigated extracts varied from 2.12 to 30.63 mg GAE g-1 of fresh hawthorn sample. The content of anthocyanins ranged from 0.3207 to 3.168 mg of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside g-1 of fresh hawthorn fruit. The fruit extracts showed high antioxidant activity with DPPH radical transformation value as high as 89.9 % in the methanol-water (50/50, v/v%)) extract. The ethanol extract exhibited antimicrobial activity against all test microorganisms except two, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, and one species of fungi, Aspergillus niger. Flavonoid structure influenced the extract’s selectivity towards Gram-positive and Gram negative bacteria.Conclusion: Extracts of the fruit of Crataegus oxyacantha L. can be used as natural antioxidant and antimicrobial preparations.Keywords: Crataegus oxyacantha L.; Natural phenolic compounds; Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, Southeast Serbia

Levels of Major and Minor Elements in Some Commercial Fruit Juices Available in Serbia

Purpose: To evaluate the macro- and micro-nutrient elements of some commercially available fruit juices in Serbia.Methods: Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) technique was employed for determination of the major and minor elements in samples of two different types of fruit juices - clear and cloudy.Results: Among macro-nutrient elements, potassium (K) had the highest content of 230.17 μg/g in samples of multivitamine cloudy juice. The content of K was higher in cloudy fruit juices than in clear fruit juices. The content of iron, which is among the group of trace elements, ranged from 2.237 to 5.911 μg/g in clear juices and 3.55 to 10.05 μg/g in cloudy fruit juices. Other trace elements followed the descending order copper > zinc > nickel in terms of their content. The presence of aluminum and cadmium in the tested samples of fruit juices can be toxic since they have no nutritional value, and hence may be treated as potential contaminants in these beverages.Conclusion: All the tested juices had some nutritional value for human health and the juices could be use as an additional source of these elements. The content of aluminium and cadmium are below levels permitted by national regulations.Keywords: Elements, Fruit juice, Inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry

Development and Application of Ligand-Exchange Reaction Method for the Determination of Clonazepam

Purpose: This paper presents an improved kinetic-spectrophotometric procedure for determining clonazepam (CZP) in pharmaceutical formulations and human serum.Methods: The method is based on ligand-exchange reaction. The reaction was followed spectrophotometrically by measuring the rate of change of absorbance at 425 nm in ethanolic sodium hydroxide solution.Results: The optimum operating conditions for reagent concentrations and temperature were established. Linear calibration curve was obtained in the range of 0.32 - 4.10 μg mL-1. The optimized conditions yielded a theoretical detection limit of 0.24 μg mL-1 based on the 3.3So criterion, where S0 is standard deviation of the calibration line. The interference of certain drugs, foreign ions and amino acids on the reaction rate were studied in order to assess the selectivity of the method.Conclusion: The developed method is sensitive, accurate and reproducible and could be used for routine anlysis of clonazepam in pharmaceutical preparations and serum samples.Keywords: Clonazepam, Ligand-exchange reaction, Kinetic spectrometry, Validation, Pharmaceutical preparation, Human seru

Status and Trends of Physical Activity Surveillance, Policy, and Research in 164 Countries: Findings From the Global Observatory for Physical Activity—GoPA! 2015 and 2020 Surveys

Background: Physical activity (PA) surveillance, policy, and research efforts need to be periodically appraised to gain insight into national and global capacities for PA promotion. The aim of this paper was to assess the status and trends in PA surveillance, policy, and research in 164 countries. Methods: We used data from the Global Observatory for Physical Activity (GoPA!) 2015 and 2020 surveys. Comprehensive searches were performed for each country to determine the level of development of their PA surveillance, policy, and research, and the findings were verified by the GoPA! Country Contacts. Trends were analyzed based on the data available for both survey years. Results: The global 5-year progress in all 3 indicators was modest, with most countries either improving or staying at the same level. PA surveillance, policy, and research improved or remained at a high level in 48.1%, 40.6%, and 42.1% of the countries, respectively. PA surveillance, policy, and research scores decreased or remained at a low level in 8.3%, 15.8%, and 28.6% of the countries, respectively. The highest capacity for PA promotion was found in Europe, the lowest in Africa and low- and lower-middle-income countries. Although a large percentage of the world’s population benefit from at least some PA policy, surveillance, and research efforts in their countries, 49.6 million people are without PA surveillance, 629.4 million people are without PA policy, and 108.7 million live in countries without any PA research output. A total of 6.3 billion people or 88.2% of the world’s population live in countries where PA promotion capacity should be significantly improved. Conclusion: Despite PA is essential for health, there are large inequalities between countries and world regions in their capacity to promote PA. Coordinated efforts are needed to reduce the inequalities and improve the global capacity for PA promotion