Antioxidant activities of solvent extracts from endemic Cyclamen mirabile Hildebr. tubers and leaves

In this study, solvent extracts were prepared from different parts of Cyclamen mirabile (CM) and their antioxidant activities were evaluated. Other antioxidant properties of all extracts of CM tubers and leaves, including free radical scavenging activity, reducing power and total phenolic compound content, were also determined. Leaves extracts of CM exhibited higher antioxidant activity than tuber extracts with all the types of solvent used. All concentrations of petroleum ether, acetone, methanol and water extracts of CM leaves showed higher antioxidant activities than that of 0.5 mg of á-tocopherol (42%) and close to BHT (99.30%) and had 96.60, 96.00, 96.10 and 97.40% inhibition of lipid peroxidation of linoleic acid at same doses, respectively. All extracts of CM tubers and leaves had effective free radical scavenging and reducing power. In addition, total phenolic compounds in all the extracts of CM tubers and leaves were determined as pyrocatechol equivalents.Key words: Cyclamen mirabile, antioxidant activity, reducing power, scavenging activity, total phenolic compoun

Screening of the antioxidant, antimicrobial and DNA damage protection potentials of the aqueous extract of Asplenium ceterach DC.

In this study, in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial and DNA damage protection potentials of the aqueous extract of Asplenium ceterach was firstly evaluated in addition to its total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Antioxidant activity was determined by five complementary test systems named β- carotene/linoleic acid, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, reducing power, chelating effect and phosphomolibdenum methods. Except for chelating effect assay, the extract exhibited remarkable activity potential. Antimicrobial activity was determined by agar-well diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration tests. In this case, Shigella dysenteriae and Staphylococcus aureus were found to be the most sensitive microorganisms. According to the electrophoretic pattern of pBR322 plasmid DNA after treatment with UV and H2O2, supercoiled DNA was successfully protected in the presence of 20 mg/ml or above concentrations of aqueous extract.Key words: Antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, DNA damage protection, Asplenium ceterach

Phenolic, polysaccharidic and lipidic fractions of mushrooms from northeast Portugal: chemical compounds with antioxidant properties

Mushrooms do not constitute a significant portion of the human diet, but their consumption continues to increase due to their functional benefits and presence of bioactive compounds. Some of those compounds can be found in the phenolic, polysaccharidic and lipidic fractions of edible and inedible species. Herein, those fractions of five wild mushrooms (Coprinopsis atramentaria, Lactarius bertillonii, Lactarius vellereus, Rhodotus palmatus and Xerocomus chrysenteron) from Northeast Portugal were studied for their chemical composition and antioxidant properties. Protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic, p-coumaric and cinnamic acids were found in the phenolic fraction, ramnose, xylose, fucose, arabinose, fructose, glucose, manose, mannitol, sucrose, maltose and trehalose were quantified in polysaccharidic fraction, linoleic and stearic (only in Lactarius sp.) acids, and β- and γ-tocopherols were the main compounds in the lipidic fraction. C. atramentaria and X. chrysenteron phenolic fractions gave the highest free radical scavenging activity, reducing properties and lipid peroxidation inhibition in brain homogenates, which is in agreement with its highest content in total phenolics. Furthermore, among the polysaccharidic fractions C. atramentaria also gave the highest antioxidant activity, which is accordingly with its highest total polysaccharides content and sugars obtained after hydrolysis.The authors are grateful to Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) and COMPETE/QREN/EU (research project PTDC/AGR-ALI/110062/2009) for financial support. L. Barros (BPD/4609/2008) and S.A. Heleno (BD/70304/2010) also thank FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE. The GIP-USAL is financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Programme (FUN-C-FOOD, CSD2007-00063), and Junta de Castilla y León (Grupo de Investigación de Excelencia, GR133)

Recent developments in mushrooms as anti-cancer therapeutics: a review

From time immemorial, mushrooms have been valued by humankind as a culinary wonder and folk medicine in Oriental practice. The last decade has witnessed the overwhelming interest of western research fraternity in pharmaceutical potential of mushrooms. The chief medicinal uses of mushrooms discovered so far are as anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, hypocholesterolemic, anti-tumor, anti-cancer, immunomodulatory, anti-allergic, nephroprotective, and anti-microbial agents. The mushrooms credited with success against cancer belong to the genus Phellinus, Pleurotus, Agaricus, Ganoderma, Clitocybe, Antrodia, Trametes, Cordyceps, Xerocomus, Calvatia, Schizophyllum, Flammulina, Suillus, Inonotus, Inocybe, Funlia, Lactarius, Albatrellus, Russula, and Fomes. The anti-cancer compounds play crucial role as reactive oxygen species inducer, mitotic kinase inhibitor, anti-mitotic, angiogenesis inhibitor, topoisomerase inhibitor, leading to apoptosis, and eventually checking cancer proliferation. The present review updates the recent findings on the pharmacologically active compounds, their anti-tumor potential, and underlying mechanism of biological action in order to raise awareness for further investigations to develop cancer therapeutics from mushrooms. The mounting evidences from various research groups across the globe, regarding anti-tumor application of mushroom extracts unarguably make it a fast-track research area worth mass attention

Rhaponticum acaule (L) DC essential oil: chemical composition, in vitro antioxidant and enzyme inhibition properties

Background: α-glucosidase is a therapeutic target for diabetes mellitus (DM) and α-glucosidase inhibitors play a vital role in the treatments for the disease. Furthermore, xanthine oxidase (XO) is a key enzyme that catalyzes hypoxanthine and xanthine to uric acid which at high levels can lead to hyperuricemia which is an important cause of gout. Pancreatic lipase (PL) secreted into the duodenum plays a key role in the digestion and absorption of fats. For its importance in lipid digestion, PL represents an attractive target for obesity prevention. Methods: The flowers essential oil of Rhaponticum acaule (L) DC (R. acaule) was characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antioxidant activities of R. acaule essential oil (RaEO) were also determined using 2,2’-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), reducing power, phosphomolybdenum, and DNA nicking assays. The inhibitory power of RaEO against α-glucosidase, xanthine oxidase and pancreatic lipase was evaluated. Enzyme kinetic studies using Michaelis-Menten and the derived Lineweaver-Burk (LB) plots were performed to understand the possible mechanism of inhibition exercised by the components of this essential oil. Results: The result revealed the presence of 26 compounds (97.4%). The main constituents include germacrene D (49.2%), methyl eugenol (8.3%), (E)-β-ionone (6.2%), β-caryophyllene (5.7%), (E,E)-α-farnesene (4.2%), bicyclogermacrene (4.1%) and (Z)-α-bisabolene (3.7%). The kinetic inhibition study showed that the essential oil demonstrated a strong α-glucosidase inhibiton and it was a mixed inhibitor. On the other hand, our results evidenced that this oil exhibited important xanthine oxidase inhibitory effect, behaving as a non-competitive inhibitor. The essential oil inhibited the turkey pancreatic lipase, with maximum inhibition of 80% achieved at 2 mg/mL. Furthermore, the inhibition of turkey pancreatic lipase by RaEO was an irreversible one. Conclusion: The results revealed that the RaEO is a new promising potential source of antioxidant compounds, endowed with good practical applications for human health. Keywords: α-glucosidase, Antioxidant activity, Chemical composition, Pancreatic lipase inhibition, Rhaponticum acaule essential oil, Xanthine oxidase

FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY

This study is designed to examine the chemical composition and in vitro antioxidant activity of the hydro-distillated essential oil and various extracts obtained from Thymus longicaulis subsp. longicaulis var. Iongicaulis. GC and GC MS analysis of the essential oil were resulted in determination 22 different compounds, representing 99.61% of total oil. gamma-terpinene, thymol and p-cymene were determined as the major compounds of the oil (27.80, 27.65 and 19.38%. respectively). Antioxidant activities of the samples were determined by four different test systems namely beta-carotene/linoleic acid, DPPH, reducing power and chelating effect. Essential oil showed the highest antioxidant activity in beta-carotene/linoleic acid system among the experiments examined. In the case of other test systems, in general, methanol and water extracts exhibited the strongest activity profiles. Especially, reducing power of water extract was found superior than those of synthetic antioxidants. As well as the antioxidant activities of the extracts, they were evaluated in terms of their total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Hexane and water extracts were found to be rich-in phenolics. However, flavonoids were determined in the highest level in methanol extract. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

EVIDENCE-BASED COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

This study was outlined to examine the chemical composition of hydrodistilled essential oil and in vitro antioxidant potentials of the essential oil and different solvent extracts of endemic Phlomis bourgaei Boiss. used as folk remedy in Turkey. The chemical composition of the oil was analyzed by GC and GC-MS, and the predominant components in the oil were found to be beta-caryophyllene (37.37%), (Z)-beta-farnesene (15.88%), and germacrene D (10.97%). Antioxidant potentials of the solvent extracts and the oil were determined by four testing systems including. beta-carotene/linoleic acid, DPPH, reducing power, and chelating effect. In. beta-carotene/linoleic acid assay, all extracts showed the inhibition of more than 50% at all concentrations. In DPPH, chelating effect, and reducing power test systems, the water extract with 88.68%, 77.45%, and 1.857 (absorbance at 700 nm), respectively, exhibited more excellent activity potential than other extracts (hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol) and the essential oil at 1.0 mg/mL concentration. The amount of the total phenolics and flavonoids was the highest in this extract (139.50 +/- 3.98. mu g gallic acid equivalents (GAEs)/mg extract and 22.71 +/- 0.05 mu g quercetin equivalents (QEs)/mg extract)

SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY

It is known that the local people commonly use some Nepeta species as diuretic, spasmolytic, bronchodilator and sedative agents. In addition, these species are also used topically due to their antiseptic properties. This study aimed to deal with the in vitro antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities of the methanolic extracts of two endemic. Nepeta species (Nepeta nuda L. subsp. glandulifera Hub.-Mor. & Davis and N. cadmea Boiss.) from Turkey. N. nuda subsp. glandulifera was found to contain more phenolics and flavonoids than N. cadmea. N. nuda subsp. glandulifera was also found to have considerable amounts of chlorogenic and ferulic acids (63.52 and 14.65 mg/g extract), and showed higher antioxidant activity in almost all test systems, except metal chelating assay. Meanwhile in beta-carotene bleaching assay, it was found to be as active as BHT and trolox (91.23%). In the enzyme inhibition assay, the extracts showed weak inhibitory activity on AChE, alpha-amylase and a-glucosidase. Inhibitory activity of N. nuda subsp. glandulifera on these enzymes was found to be 1.26 mg GALAEs (galanthamine equivalents)/g extract, 0.36 and 3.67 mmol ACEs (acarbose equivalents)/g extract, respectively. (c) 2018 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved