Liaison of phenolic acids and biological activity of escalating cultivars of Daucus carota

The objective of the present study was to analyze and compare the phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacities of new lines of Dacus carota. The selected cultivars showed high variation in the contents of total phenolics (30.26–65.39 mg/100 g FW) and total ascorbic acid (41.12–58.36 mg/100 g FW). Analysis on RP-HPLC revealed that hydroxycinnamic acids and its derivatives were major phenolic compounds present in D. carota extracts, whereas 5-caffeolquinic acid was a major hydroxycinnamic acid (ranged from 30.26 to 65.39 mg/100 g FW). DCP cultivar showed high total antioxidant capacity (77.69 mg/100 g), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging capacity (52.36 mg/100 g), superoxide radical scavenging capacity (53.69 mg/100 g), and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity (51.91 mg/100 g). A linear relationship was found between total phenolic acid contents and antioxidant capacity. Both phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacities varied significantly (ρ < 0.05) among cultivars. DCP cultivar was found to be a rich source of phenolics and ascorbic acid with high antioxidant activity.     

Sargassum swartzii extracts ameliorate memory functions by neurochemical modulation in a rat model

Food Science and Biotechnology - Recently, considerable attention has been paid to drug exploration from natural sources for treating memory loss, a major manifestation of various neurodegenerative...     

Green Extraction Methods for Polyphenols from Plant Matrices and Their Byproducts: A Review

Polyphenols as phytochemicals have gained significant importance owing to several associated health benefits with regard to lifestyle diseases and oxidative stress. To date, the development of a single standard method for efficient and rapid extraction of polyphenols from plant matrices has remained a challenge due to the inherent limitations of various conventional extraction methods. The exploitation of polyphenols as bioactive compounds at various commercial levels has motivated scientists to explore more eco‐friendly, efficient, and cost‐effective extraction techniques, based on a green extraction approach. The current review aims to provide updated technical information about extraction mechanisms, their advantages and disadvantages, and factors affecting efficiencies, and also presents a comparative overview of applications of the following modern green extraction techniques—supercritical fluid extraction, ultrasound‐assisted extraction, microwave‐assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, and pressurized hot water extraction—as alternatives to conventional extraction methods for polyphenol extraction. These techniques are proving to be promising for the extraction of thermolabile phenolic compounds due to their advantages over conventional, time‐consuming, and laborious extraction techniques, such as reduced solvent use and time and energy consumption and higher recovery rates with lower operational costs. The growing interest in plant‐derived polyphenols prompts continual search for green and economically feasible modern extraction techniques. Modern green extraction techniques represent promising approaches by virtue of overcoming current limitations to the exploitation of polyphenols as bioactive compounds to explore their wide‐reaching applications on an industrial scale and in emerging global markets. Future research is needed in order to remove the technical barriers to scale‐up the processes for industrial needs by increasing our understanding and improving the design of modern extraction operations.     

Short communication: Molecular characteristics,antimicrobial susceptibility,and pathogenicity of clinical Nocardia cyriacigeorgica isolates from an outbreak of bovine mastitis

The occurrence of nocardial mastitis, mostly in the context of outbreaks, has been reported in many countries. However, there is a paucity of reports regarding detailed characterization of Nocardia cyriacigeorgica from bovine mastitis. Thus, herein we report characteristics, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, molecular identification, and pathogenicity of N. cyriacigeorgica isolated from an outbreak of clinical mastitis in a dairy herd in northern China. A total of 182 (80.2%) lactating cows had clinical mastitis with severe inflammation and firmness of the udder, reduced milk production, and anorexia, with no apparent clinical response to common antibiotics. Out of 22 mastitic milk samples submitted to our laboratory, 12 N. cyriacigeorgica were isolated and characterized using standard microbiological analysis, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, random amplified polymorphic DNA PCR analysis, biochemical assays, and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Additionally, in vivo experiments were done to determine pathogenicity of these clinical mastitis isolates. All isolates were resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ciprofloxacin, minocycline, rifampicin, and aminoglycosides (type VI pattern). Additionally, intramammary inoculation of mice with N. cyriacigeorgica caused chronic inflammatory changes, including hyperemia, edema, and infiltration of lymphocytes and neutrophils, as well as hyperplasia of lymph nodules in mammary glands. Therefore, we concluded that N. cyriacigeorgica was involved in the current outbreak of mastitis. To our best knowledge, this is the first report to characterize N. cyriacigeorgica isolated from cases of bovine mastitis in China.     

Synthesis and characterization of poppy seed oil methyl esters

Response surface methodology(RSM) was used to determine the optimum conditions of the methanolysis of crude poppy seed oil using Na OCH3 as catalyst. The experiments were run according to five levels, four variable central composite rotatable design(CCRD) using RSM. The reaction variables, i.e., molar ratio of methanol/oil(3:1–9:1), catalyst concentration(0.5 wt%–1.25 wt% Na OCH3), reaction temperature(25–65 °C), and reaction time(20–90 min) were studied. We demonstrated that the molar ratio of methanol/oil, catalyst concentration,and reaction temperature were the significant parameters affecting the yield of poppy seed oil methyl esters(PSOMEs). The optimum transesterification reaction conditions, established using the RSM, which offered a89.35% PSOME yield, were found to be 7.5:1 molar ratio of methanol/oil, 0.75% catalyst concentration, 45 °C reaction temperature, and 90 min reaction time. The proposed process provided an average biodiesel yield of more than 85%. A linear correlation was constructed between the observed and predicted values of the yield.The gas chromatography(GC) analyses have shown that PSOMEs contain linoleic-, oleic-, palmitic-, and stearic-acids as main fatty acids. The FTIR spectrum of the PSOMEs was also analyzed to confirm the completion of the transesterification reaction. The fuel properties of the PSOMEs were discussed in light of biodiesel standards(ASTM D 6751 and EN 14214).     

Exploring aramid as emerging contender for CO2 capture

To prevent CO_2 accumulation in the atmosphere generated from scorching of fossil fuels, carbon capture and sequestration(CCS) technology is considered as a potential route to mitigate the emissions of CO_2 from reaching the atmosphere. Power generation from sources such as gas, coal and biomass can fulfill the energy demand more readily than many other sources of electricity production. Thus these sources may be retained as important alternative option in the global energy cycle. In order to curtail CO_2, porous aramid network was fabricated by the condensation of 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl trichloride and 1,3-phenylenediamine in 1,4-dioxane solvent. Aramid was characterized for various analyses including FTIR, XRD, TGA, BET surface area and pore size analysis, FESEM and CO_2 adsorption measurements. Excellent thermal stability was provided by strong amide linkages in the polymer backbone. Optimum CO_2 uptake of aramid was achieved to be 23.14 mg·g~(-1) at 273 K at 0.1 MPa. The basic amide groups of network structure showed greater affinity for CO_2.Excellent thermal stability of aramid makes it a promising sorbent for CO_2 capture in adverse conditions.     

COSMO-RS:An ionic liquid prescreening tool for gas hydrate mitigation

Recently ionic liquids(ILs) are introduced as novel dual function gas hydrate inhibitors. However, no desired gas hydrate inhibition has been reported due to poor IL selection and/or tuning method. Trial error as well as selection based on existing literature are the methods currently employed for selecting and/or tuning ILs. These methods are probabilistic, time consuming, expensive and may not result in selecting high performance ILs for gas hydrate mitigation. In this work, COSMO-RS is considered as a prescreening tool of ILs for gas hydrate mitigation by predicting the hydrogen bonding energies(E_(HB)) of studied IL inhibitors and comparing the predicted E_(HB) to the depression temperature(?) and induction time. Results show that, predicted EHBand chain length of ILs strongly relate and significantly affect the gas hydrate inhibition depression temperature but correlate moderately(R = 0.70) with average induction time in literature. It is deduced from the results that, ? increases with increasing IL EHBand/or decreases with increasing chain length. However, the cation–anion pairing of ILs also affects IL gas hydrate inhibition performance. Furthermore, a visual and better understanding of IL/water behavior for gas hydrate inhibition in terms of hydrogen bond donor and acceptor interaction analysis is also presented by determining the sigma profile and sigma potential of studied IL cations and anions used for gas hydrate mitigation for easy IL selection.     

Correlation of In Vivo and In Vitro Assay Results for Assessment of Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Green Tea Nutraceuticals

Green tea (GT)‐derived catechins; epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in particular are commonly used nutraceuticals for their free‐radical scavenging activity (FRSA). The influence of photodegradation on the protective power of GT nutracenticals against oxidative stress was thoroughly explored. Photodegradation of GT extracts was carried out and monitored using orthogonal stability‐indicating testing protocol; in vitro and in vivo assays. Total polyphenol content (TPC) and FRSA were determined spectrophotometrically while EGCG was selectively monitored using SPE‐HPLC. In vivo assessment of photodegraded samples was investigated via measuring a number of biomarkers for hepatic oxidative stress and apoptosis (caspase‐3, inducible nitric oxide synthase, nitric oxide, mitogen‐activated protein kinase, glutathione, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, nuclear factor kappa beta, and nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor) as well as liver damage (alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase) in serum of rats previously subjected to oxidative stress. Results showed complete degradation of EGCG in photodegraded green tea samples with no correlation with either TPC or FRSA. On the other hand, in vivo assay results revealed not only loss of activity but formation of harmful pro‐oxidants. Photostability was found crucial for the protective effect of GT extract against lead acetate insult. Results confirmed that careful design of quality control protocols requires correlation of chemical assays to bioassays to verify efficacy, stability, and most importantly safety of nutraceuticals.     

Selenium (Se) improves drought tolerance in crop plants – a myth or fact?

Climate change has emerged as one of the most complex challenges of the 21st century and has become an area of interest in the past few decades. Many countries of the world have become extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The scarcity of water is a serious concern for food security of these countries and climate change has aggravated the risks of extreme events like drought. Oxidative stress, caused by a variety of active oxygen species formed under drought stress, damages many cellular constituents, such as carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins, which ultimately reduces plant growth, respiration and photosynthesis. Se has become an element of interest to many biologists owing to its physiological and toxicological importance. It plays a beneficial role in plants by enhancing growth, reducing damage caused by oxidative stress, enhancing chlorophyll content under light stress, stimulating senesce to produce antioxidants and improving plant tolerance to drought stress by regulating water status. Researchers have adopted different strategies to evaluate the role of selenium in plants under drought stress. Some of the relevant work available regarding the role of Se in alleviating adverse effect of drought stress is discussed in this paper. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry