Improved recovery of antioxidant compounds from refined pumpkin peel extract: a mixture design method approach

This study employed the mixture design method to determine optimal solvent combinations, aiming to obtain refined extracts from squash peels with enhanced antioxidant properties. We optimized extraction solvents, focusing on recovering the total phenolic compounds (TPC) and increased antioxidant properties using a second-order polynomial equation through the response surface methodology (RSM). Six solvents (MeOH, Hexane, DCM, EtOAc, BuOH, and water) were assessed for their effects on TPC and antioxidant activity in preliminary experiments. The refined extracts underwent a HPLC analysis for a phenolic composition determination and were further evaluated for their antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity. The results revealed a rich phenolic content in the refined extract from peels of Bejaoui landrace, primarily catechin (8.06 mg/g dry extract (DE)), followed by epicatechin and kaempferol (5 mg/g DE). Antibacterial tests against Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus showed significant antimicrobial activities, especially for Karkoubi and batati landraces, where the growth inhibitions were 99%, 96%, 97%, and 80% and 94%, 89%, 98%, and 96% for the respective bacteria. The peel extracts exhibited a negligible cytotoxicity on the RAW264.7 cell line, even at high concentrations. Our findings emphasize the potential antioxidant and antibacterial properties of peel extracts due to diverse phenolic compounds, suggesting the potential use of squash peels in the food and nutraceuticals industries as sources of natural antimicrobial agents.This study was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and was funded under the scope of the Project PulpIng-H2020-PRIMA 2019—Section 2—Multi-topic 2019. To the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020); to FCT for the contract of L. Barros (CEEC Institutional); to the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development and Investments under the PRIMA Program. PRIMA is an Art.185 initiative supported and co-funded under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Program for Research and Plants 2022, 11, 800 16 of 18 Innovation (Prima2019-08).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Essential oil composition, phenolic compound, and antioxidant potential of Inulaviscosa as affected by extraction process

The purpose of this study was to compare the essential oil composition of Inula viscosa leaves by hydrodistillation (HDE), ultrasonic (UDE) and solvent (SE) extractions followed by hydrodistillation. The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents and their antioxidant effects were studied by different solvent of extraction: ethanol (ET), ethyl acetate (EA), methanol (ME) and aqueous (AE). The principal compounds for HDE were: 2-hexenal (3.70%), caryophyllene oxide (3.11%), γ-selinene (3.09%), 3-hexen-1-ol (2.00%), eugenol (1.70%) and trans-caryophyllene (1.34%), while for UDE were: γ-selinene (5.68%), caryophyllene oxide (4.87%), trans-caryophyllene (1.99%) and nerolidol (1.74%). The oil obtained by SE was shown to contain tridecane (3.89%), dodecane (3.08%), trans-caryophyllene (2.94%), caryophyllene oxide (2.56%) and nerolidol (2.53%). Significant changes on phenolic contents were found between the different solvent of extraction. ME and AE extracts led to the highest total polyphenol (PHL) and flavonoid (FL) amounts. The anti-radical activity and reducing power were maximal in AE and ME extract. HPLC examination established that the ferulic acid as major phenolic acid in ME and AE fractions, whereas luteolin was the main compound of EA and ET fractions

Current approaches and challenges for chemical characterization of inhibitory effect against cancer cell line isolated from Gokshur extract.

International audienceIn the present study, the potential effect anti tumor and the chemical composition of different fractions of Gokshur was evaluated. Commonly known as puncture vine, it has been used for a long time in both the Indian and traditional Chinese medicine. It is popularly used as a remedy for fertility disorder in Ayurveda. Samples were collected during June-September 2014 in the Cap Bon (north east of the northern Tunisia). Different organs were separated and extracted by sequential process to compare and investigate their potential anti-tumor effect. For the first time, we report the antiproliferatif effect of leaves n-butannolic fraction against cancer cell lines. The better anti-tumor fraction (94.76±1.52%) has been detected and performed by RP-HPLC has shown a great peak area (5578.21Mau). Novel designed natural derivatives from Gokshur, a cyclotrisiloxane, major compound identified by GC-MS

Separation and evaluation of natural antileishmanial potential against Leishmania major and infuntum isolated from the Tunisia strains

Besides its nutritional value as a dietary supplement, Tribulus terrestris is used as a remedy for fertility disorder in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine as well as by modern herbalists. The aim of this study was to explore the biological potential (antileishmanial effect) of an extract rich in saponins from Tunisian tribulus. The chloroform extract of the various parts of T. terrestris was subjected to partial purification by solvent partitioning with ethanol and n-butanol. All prepared extracts were tested for their anti-leishmanial activity. The result showed that n-butanolic extract (saponin fraction, when isolated from leaves part) exhibited the best antileishmanial effect against both pathogenic parasites Leshmania L. major (GlC94) and L. infuntum (LV50) evaluated in vitro assessment through MTT assay. n-Butanolic extract had been detected, quantified and purified using the RP-HPLC finger print (Hypersil ODS coupled to UV-vis). High peak area (5116.82 at 3.03 min) was detected at 205 nm