Encapsulation of Natural Bioactive Compounds: Nanoemulsion Formulation to Enhance Essential Oils Activities

The microencapsulation technology consists of a trap of a compound inside a tiny sphere known as microsphere. The microencapsulation concerns many different active materials such as bioactive compounds, drugs, vitamins, enzymes, flavors, and pesticides. This technology has gained real interest in numerous fields such as agriculture, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, textile, and food. This chapter highlights the encapsulation of essential oils into nanoemulsion-based delivery system as a model for the encapsulation of natural bioactive compounds. Moreover, an investigation of different parameters affecting the stability of produced nanoemulsion was conducted, in addition to the study of the effect of the nanoencapsulation of essential oils on their antibacterial activity. Finally, an enumeration of the advantages of encapsulating essential oils into nanoemulsion-based delivery systems in order to provide a natural food preservatives has been provided

Upshot of the ripening time on biological activities, phenol content and fatty acid composition of Tunisian Opuntia ficus-indica fruit

Total phenol content and the antioxidant activities of three cultivars of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. were evaluated. The results show that the ecotypes were significantly different according to their fatty acid composition, antioxidant and antibacterial activity, as well as their polyphenol profiles. Rossa fruit collected in August exhibited the higher phenolic content (15.48 mg GAE g−1 DW) with a stronger antioxidant activity. Bianca fruit collected in August exhibited a lower phenolic content (3.13 mg GAE g−1 DW) together with the stronger antiradical activity (96.14%). The advantage of this ecotype was more discernible as compared to positive controls butylated  hydroxytoluene (BHT, 79.75%). Likewise, CpG chromatogram identification revealed also an important difference between the ecotypes on oleic and linoleic acids.Keywords: Opuntia ficus-indica, variability, phenol content, fatty acid, antioxidant activity.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(40), pp. 5875-588

Development and Characterization of Novel Bigel-Based 1,4-Naphthoquinones for Topical Application with Antioxidant Potential

Discovering new antioxidant agents and optimizing their processing is a necessity to treat skin diseases. The assessment of quality and antioxidant activity of topical formulations based on 5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (M1) and 2,3-dichloro-5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (M2) was carried out for the first time for this purpose. Stability studies including evaluation of pH, viscosity, microscopic observation, and microbiological quality were determined. M1 and M2 were examined for their antioxidant capacities after their incorporation into bigels. Obtained data suggested that BG-M1 and BG-M2 have a good quality, a natural pH of the skin (4.5–6.0), and no sign of microbial development. Sensory analysis was also performed, and no negative assessment of unpleasant bigel properties was found. M1 and M2 have shown antioxidant activity toward DPPH radical (data are expressed as IC50), 19 × 10−3 mg/mL for M1 and 35 × 10−3 mg/mL for M2, respectively. After their formulations, they have maintained this ability, for BG-M1 = 3.0 and BG-M2 = 1.1 mg/mL. Also, they demonstrated interesting ABTS scavenging with 1.5 × 10−3 and 2.5 × 10−3 mg/mL for M1 and M2, respectively. They kept this potential after formulation, since, BG-M1 = 1.7 mg/mL and BG-M2 = 4.9 mg/mL. Likewise, pure molecules revealed notable β-carotene bleaching inhibition (0.3 and 0.1 mg/mL for M1 and M2, respectively), which was maintained after their formulation into bigels (2.9 and 10.3 mg/mL for BG-M1 and BG-M2, respectively). These developed bigels maintaining the antioxidant potential of M1 and M2 could be used as the provision of a barrier to protect skin

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of the medicinal halophyte Reaumuria vermiculata

Reaumuria vermiculata is a xero-halophytic specie widely distributed in the south of Tunisia. In the current study, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of Reaumuria vermiculata shoot extracts as well as its phenolic compounds were investigated in different solvent extracts (hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water). Results showed a strong antioxidant activity, using the ORAC method and a cell based-assay, in methanol extract as well as an important phenolic composition (117.12 mg GAE/g). Hexane and dichloromethane proved an interesting anticancer activity against A-549 lung carcinoma cells, with IC50 values of 17 and 23 μg/ml, respectively. Besides, dichloromethane extract displayed the utmost anti-inflammatory activity, inhibiting NO release over 100 % at 80 μg /ml in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7. Taken together, these finding suggest that R. vermiculata exhibited an interesting biological activities which may be related to the phenolic composition of this plant. Moreover, the identification of phenolic compounds in R. vermiculata dichloromethane extract using RP-HPLC revealed that myricetin was the major molecule. These results allow us to propose R. vermiculata as a valuable source for bioactive and natural compounds exhibiting interesting biological capacities

Variations in composition and antioxidant activity of Tunisian Pistacia lentiscusL. leaf essential oil

In this study, the composition and antioxidant activity of Pistacia lentiscus L. leaf essential oil (EO) from four Tunisian localities were investigated. The EO yields (%, w/w) of P. lentiscus leaf were 0.009% in Oued El Bir, 0.02% in Jebel Mansour, 0.007% in Siliana and 0.01% in Tabarka. The main compounds of Oued El Bir EO were terpinene-4-ol (41.24%) and α-terpineol (7.31%), whereas those of Jebel Mansour were α-pinene (9.48%), limonene (19.11%) and α-phellandrene (3.20%). In Siliana samples, terpinene-4-ol (23.32%), β-caryophyllene (22.62%) and α-terpineol (7.12%) were the main compounds. For P. lentiscus L. from Tabarka, α-terpineol (9.79%) and β-caryophyllene (38.33%) were the major constituents. Three chemotypes of P. lentiscus EO were identified for the first time in Tunisia. P. lentiscus EOs were also screened for their antioxidant activities. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay gives an IC50 range value of 60–110 μg/mL for all the samples studied. EOs from different Tunisian localities showed lower β-carotene bleaching activity than butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisol. P. lentiscus EO presents a very low capacity to chelate ferrous irons (IC50 = 80.8–104 μg/mL) and no metal chelating activity was recorded

Antioxidant and antimicrobial phenolic compounds from extracts of cultivated and wild-grown Tunisian Ruta chalepensis

Abstract The antioxidant and antibacterial activities of phenolic compounds from cultivated and wild Tunisian Ruta chalepensis L. leaves, stems, and flowers were assessed. The leaves and the flowers exhibited high but similar total polyphenol, flavonoid, and tannin content. Moreover, two organs showed strong, although not significantly different, total antioxidant activity, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging ability, and reducing power. Investigation of the phenolic composition showed that vanillic acid and coumarin were the major compounds in the two organs, with higher percentages in the cultivated organs than in the spontaneous organs. Furthermore, R. chalepensis extracts showed marked antibacterial properties against human pathogen strains, and the activity was organ- and origin-dependent. Spontaneous stems had the strongest activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa . From these results, it was concluded that domestication of Ruta did not significantly affect its chemical composition and consequently the possibility of using R. chalpensis organs as a potential source of natural antioxidants and as an antimicrobial agent in the food industry