3 research outputs found
Unleashing the Biological Potential of Fomes fomentarius via Dry and Wet Milling
Fomes fomentarius, usually referred to as tinder conk, is a common wood-based fungus
rich in many interesting phytochemicals and with an unique porous structure. Dry or wet ball
milling of this sponge on a planetary mill results in small particles with sizes in the range of
10 µm or below. Suspended in water and without preservatives or other stabilizers, the resulting
micro-suspensions are sterile for around six days, probably due to the increased temperatures of
around 80 â—¦C especially during the wet milling process. The suspensions also exhibit excellent
antioxidant activities as determined in the DPPH, ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) and
2,20
-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. In the DPPH assay, IC50 values
of 0.02–0.04% w/v and 0.04% w/v were observed for dry and wet milled samples, respectively. In
the FRAP assay, IC50 values of <0.02% w/v and 0.04% w/v were observed for dry and wet milled
samples, respectively. In contrast, the ABTS assay provided IC50 values of 0.04% w/v and 0.005%
w/v, respectively. Notably, this activity is mostly—albeit not exclusively—associated with the highly
porous particles and their large surfaces, although some active ingredients also diffuse into the
surrounding aqueous medium. Such suspensions of natural particles carrying otherwise insoluble
antioxidants on their surfaces provide an interesting avenue to unleash the antioxidant potential
of materials such as sponges and barks. As dry milling also enables longer storage and transport,
applications in the fields of medicine, nutrition, agriculture, materials and cosmetics are feasible
Selenomethionine: A Pink Trojan Redox Horse with Implications in Aging and Various Age-Related Diseases
Selenium is an essential trace element. Although this chalcogen forms a wide variety of
compounds, there are surprisingly few small-molecule organic selenium compounds (OSeCs) in
biology. Besides its more prominent relative selenocysteine (SeCys), the amino acid selenomethionine
(SeMet) is one example. SeMet is synthesized in plants and some fungi and, via nutrition, finds its way
into mammalian cells. In contrast to its sulfur analog methionine (Met), SeMet is extraordinarily redox
active under physiological conditions and via its catalytic selenide (RSeR’)/selenoxide (RSe(O)R’)
couple provides protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other possibly harmful oxidants.
In contrast to SeCys, which is incorporated via an eloquent ribosomal mechanism, SeMet can
enter such biomolecules by simply replacing proteinogenic Met. Interestingly, eukaryotes, such as
yeast and mammals, also metabolize SeMet to a small family of reactive selenium species (RSeS).
Together, SeMet, proteins containing SeMet and metabolites of SeMet form a powerful triad of
redox-active metabolites with a plethora of biological implications. In any case, SeMet and its family
of natural RSeS provide plenty of opportunities for studies in the fields of nutrition, aging, health
and redox biology
Unleashing the Biological Potential of Fomes fomentarius via Dry and Wet Milling
Fomes fomentarius, usually referred to as tinder conk, is a common wood-based fungus rich in many interesting phytochemicals and with an unique porous structure. Dry or wet ball milling of this sponge on a planetary mill results in small particles with sizes in the range of 10 µm or below. Suspended in water and without preservatives or other stabilizers, the resulting micro-suspensions are sterile for around six days, probably due to the increased temperatures of around 80 °C especially during the wet milling process. The suspensions also exhibit excellent antioxidant activities as determined in the DPPH, ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. In the DPPH assay, IC50 values of 0.02–0.04% w/v and 0.04% w/v were observed for dry and wet milled samples, respectively. In the FRAP assay, IC50 values of <0.02% w/v and 0.04% w/v were observed for dry and wet milled samples, respectively. In contrast, the ABTS assay provided IC50 values of 0.04% w/v and 0.005% w/v, respectively. Notably, this activity is mostly—albeit not exclusively—associated with the highly porous particles and their large surfaces, although some active ingredients also diffuse into the surrounding aqueous medium. Such suspensions of natural particles carrying otherwise insoluble antioxidants on their surfaces provide an interesting avenue to unleash the antioxidant potential of materials such as sponges and barks. As dry milling also enables longer storage and transport, applications in the fields of medicine, nutrition, agriculture, materials and cosmetics are feasible