Bioactive Compounds, Antioxidant Activity and Nutritional Quality of Different Culinary Aromatic Herbs

In the present work, four of the most widely used culinary herbs (parsley, dill, lovage and celery leaves) in the Romanian traditional cuisine were assessed for some nutritional quality parameters (moisture content, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content and mineral content), total phenolics content, total flavonoids content and antioxidant activity by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. In addition, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with diode-array detection was applied for the identification and quantification of some individual phenolic compounds in the selected aromatic herbs. Although parsley showed the highest ascorbic acid content (206.32 mg/100 g fw), it registered the lowest antioxidant activity. Fresh lovage recorded the highest total phenolic content (577.04 mg GAE/100 g), total flavonoids content (298.38 mg QE/100 g) and antioxidant activity, followed by dill and celery leaves. Among the identified phenolic acids, ellagic acid was predominant in lovage and celery leaves whereas sinapic and vanillic acids were prevalent in dill. Among flavonoids, myricetin was predominant in parsley and celery leaves whereas rutin was predominant in dill and lovage

Antioxidant Compounds, Mineral Content and Antioxidant Activity of Several Tomato Cultivars Grown in Southwestern Romania

Ten indeterminate tomato cultivars differing in fruit shape and typology, grown simultaneously in a greenhouse from Oltenia (Southwestern Romania) and harvested at red ripe stage, were investigated for the contents in ascorbic acid, lycopene, β-carotene, total phenolics, minerals (K, Na, Ca and Mg) and trace elements (Fe, Cu, Mn, Cr, Zn and B). In addition, their antioxidant activities were determined. Significant differences were found among tomato cultivars in all studied antioxidant compounds, as well as in the antioxidant activity. Ascorbic acid ranged from 91.9 to 329.7 mg kg-1 fw, lycopene ranged from 19.7 to 49.0 mg kg-1 fw, while total phenolic compounds varied between 300.2 and 557.8 mg kg-1 fw. Antioxidant activity ranged from 0.81 mmol Trolox kg-1 fw to 1.74 mmol Trolox kg-1 fw and it was significantly correlated to total phenolics content (r = 0.91; p< 0.05). The cocktail type cultivar ‘Tiger’ and the cherry type cultivar ‘Belle’ proved to be the most powerful in antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds while the rectangular plum shaped cultivar ‘Porto’ recorded the highest average lycopene content. A valuable cultivar proved to be the brownish red ‘Sacher’ which registered among the highest contents of phenolics, lycopene and ascorbic acid. Mineral and trace elements contents were also significantly affected by cultivars. Values recorded for K, Ca and Mg ranged from 2139.6 to 3056.9 mg kg-1, 137.7 to 325.8 mg kg-1 and 27.3 to 168.7 mg kg-1 respectively

Is ischemic stroke more severe in pacients with migraine?

MSP Institutul Neurologie şi NeurochirurgieMigraine headache is a negative impact on quality of life, manifested especially in young people. Contemporary studies confirm more convincing association between migraine and brain lesions. This study demonstrated that the severity of motor is more severe in patients who have suffered stroke migraine sufferers compared with patients suffering from other types of headache or no headache. Migrena este o cefalee cu impact negativ asupra calităţii vieţii, manifestându-se în special la persoanele tinere. Studiile contemporane confirmă tot mai convingător asocierea dintre migrenă şi afectarea cerebrală. Prezentul studiu a demonstrat, că gradul de severitate motor este mai sever la pacienţii, care au suportat accident celebro-vascular suferinzi de migrenă, comparativ cu pacienţii, care suferă de alt tip de cefalee sau fără cefalee

Migrena – Factor de risc în evenimentele vasculare ischemice cerebrale şi coronariene

Rolul migrenei în apariţia afecţiunilor ischemice a fost presupus încă la sfârșitul secolului XIX. O ipoteză a riscului mai mare a afecţiunilor ischemice cerebrale și coronariene la pacienţii migrenoși, însă, a fost formulată doar la mijlocul anilor ’50 ai secolului trecut. La moment sunt multiple dovezi, care demonstrează această ipoteză. Argumente convingătoare că persoanele migrenoase prezintă un risc sporit în dezvoltarea unui proces ischemic cerebral sau coronarian acut, nu au fost, însă, deocamdată prezentate pe deplin, cu toate că publicaţiile din ultimii ani au transformat, de fapt, această ipoteză atractivă în argumente documentate, cu un grad destul de înalt de certitudine

Influence of the extraction solvent on antioxidant capacity and total phenolic in currant fruits

In black and red currant fruits the phenolic content and antioxidant capacity were determined. Two solvent systems (methanol and ethanol) at different concentrations and two methods of extraction were used. The study was conducted using fruits of black currant and red currant for determinations. The total phenolics content of each extract was measured according to the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The anti-oxidant capacity of the fruit extracts was evaluated using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assay. It was found that the efficiency of the solvents used for the extraction of polyphenols varied substantially. The total phenolic content was 0.88 to 4.6 gallic acid equivalents in milligrams per gram of fresh weight (mg GAE /g FW). The content of phenolics was highly correlated with the anti-oxidant capacity (r = 0.97 - 0.98) and extracts obtained using ethanol solvents were more effective radical scavenging activities than the ones obtained using methanol solvents.  Fruits of red and black currant represent an abundant source of phenolics, and prove to have good anti-oxidant capacity

MINERAL COMPOSITION OF FRUIT IN BLACK AND RED CURRANT

ABSTRACT. Black currants (Ribes nigrum) and red currants (Ribes rubrum) are highly appreciated for the food and therapeutic value of their fruits. ('Record', 'Bogatar', 'Deea', 'Abanos', 'Blackdown', 'Ronix', 'Tinker', 'Tenah') and three red currants cultivars ('Rosu timpuriu', 'Abundent', 'Houghton Castle') Mineral composition was determined in eight black currants cultivars . For both species analyzed, the results indicated significant differences between cultivars (P < 0.05). The order of nutritive element

Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of hot pepper fruits at different stages of growth and ripening

The evolution of some bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity has been investigated during fruit growth and ripening of five pepper cultivars: ‘Dracula’, ’Pintea’, ‘Pepperone’, ‘Bulgarian carrot’ (C. annuum) and ‘Christmas bell’ (C. baccatum var. pendulum). High-performance liquid chromatography was used to quantify the content of capsaicin in the fruit in order to determine the pungency level of analyzed peppers. Pepper fruits were collected at five stages of growth and ripening. Dry matter, soluble solids, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, including total flavonoids, capsaicin content and antioxidant activity were determined at each stage. There were major differences among the cultivars in the accumulation of the bioactive compounds in the fruit during their growth and ripening, although the quantitative accumulation pathway of various components had a similar trend during phenophases. Antioxidant activity and ascorbic acid content increased during growth and ripening of hot peppers, the highest levels being found in the last stage of ripening. The pattern of variation of total flavonoid content was cultivar dependent. In most cultivars, an important increase of the total phenolic and total flavonoid content was observed in the last stage of ripening. Capsaicin content recorded a maximum level in F3 or F4 depending on cultivar, and decreased afterwards until the complete ripening of the pepper fruits. ‘Dracula’ cultivar was classified as “non-pungent” (fruits are not spicy) while ‘Pintea’ was classified as “highly pungent”, the other analyzed cultivars having an average level of pungency

Evolution of antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruits during growth and ripening

The interest in the consumption of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is, to a large extent, due to its content of bioactive compounds and their importance as dietary antioxidants. During the growth and ripening process, there are quantitative and qualitative changes in the fruit composition which determine the nutritional quality and antioxidant potential at each stage.Two halfdeterminate early hybrids cultivars (Prekos and Balkan) and one indeterminate mid-early hybrid cultivar (Reyana) were considered for this study. Fruits from plants grown on sandy soil in an unheated greenhouse were collected at three growth and six maturity stages. Antioxidant activity, dry matter, soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, lycopene, beta-carotene, chlorophylls and total phenolic contents were monitored. During fruit growth, dry matter, soluble solids and titratable acidity recorded a slight decrease, polyphenols and beta-carotene contents remained almost the same while ascorbic acid content and antioxidant activity increased continuously. The stage of ripening significantly influenced the content of all bioactive compounds as well as the antioxidant activity of tomato fruits. The first stages of ripening were characterized by a slight decrease of the dry matter content and by an increase of the titratable acidity, while in the last two stages of ripening these variations reversed. Ascorbic acid and total phenolics content increased as maturity progressed from mature green to pink or light red stage and decreased afterward. Lycopene started to accumulate since turning and sharply increased in the last three stages, on average 36%of the lycopene content being accumulated in the last stage of ripening. In terms of hydrophilic antioxidant activity, depending on the cultivar, the pink or light red stages were the ones with the greatest potential. Althoughthere weresignificant differences among the contents of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of the three cultivars studied, their patterns of variation during the nine stages were quite similar

Mecanismele comune ale migrenei cu fenomenele ischemice în accidentul cerebral ischemic și sindromul coronarian acut (Revista literaturii)

Asocierea migrenei cu diverse fenomene ischemice (accidentul vascular cerebral ischemic și sindromul coronarian acut) a fost observată încă în anii ’70 ai secolului trecut. Însă, doar ultimile studii, cu examinări profunde (instrumentale - la nivel structural și biochimice - la nivel metabolic) au scos în evidență anumite mecanisme care stau la baza acestei maladii. Mai mult, cercetările de ultimă oră, vorbesc tot mai convingător ca anumite procese patologice asociate migrenei (în special disfuncția endotelială) sunt prezente nu doar la nivel cerebral, dar sunt fenomene sistemice și pot avea un impact negativ și la vasele coronariene