Our phytochemical investigation defined the polyphenol, anthocyanin and flavonoid content from methanolic, ethanolic 50% and watery extracts from fresh pomegranate juice and seeds with a ...spectrophotometric method. The antioxidant capacity was defined with the ABTS and DPPH methods. We determined the polyphenols with the Folin-Ciocalteu method, the anthocyanins with the method in Hungarian Pharmacopoeia VIIIth edition at Myrtilli fructus monography and the flavonoids with a modified method of the Romanian Pharmacopeia Xth edition Cynarae folium monography. We expressed the concentration of polyphenols in gallic acids (GA). The values indicated the following: in fruit juice, 47.57 μg GA/ml, in methanol seed extract 7 μg GA/g, the ethanol 50% and in watery seed extracts 8 μg GA/g. The definition of flavonoids indicated the following values expressed in quercetin (QE): in fruit juice 706 μg QE/ml, in methanol seed extract 416 μg QE/g, in ethanol 50% seed extract 46 μg QE/g and in watery seed extract 57 μg QE/g. The anthocyans from juice 3.95 mg/100 ml and seed 6.47 mg/100 g expressed in cyanidin-3-0-glycoside. We determined the following values with the ABTS method: the antioxidant capacity of juice is 25.40 μg/ml, in methanol seed extract 2.87 μg/ml, in ethanol seed extract 2.52 μg/ml, in watery 9.15 μg/ml. With the DPPH method, we obtained the following values: from juice 54.2 μg/ml, from methanolic extract 14.7 μg/ml, from ethanolic extract 10.58 μg/ml and watery extract 18.22 μg/ml. The received data shows the importance of pomegranate, which can be a new phytotherapeutic potential resource.
The aim of our studies was to determine the amount of polyphenols reaching the colon after oral intake of apple juice and blueberries. After a polyphenol‐free diet healthy ileostomy volunteers ...consumed a polyphenol‐rich cloudy apple juice while others consumed anthocyanin‐rich blueberries. Ileostomy effluent was collected and polyphenols were identified using HPLC‐DAD as well as HPLC‐ESI‐MS/MS; quantification was performed with HPLC‐DAD. Most of the orally administered apple polyphenols were absorbed from or metabolized in the small intestine. Between 0 and 33% of the oral dose was recovered in the ileostomy bags with a maximum of excretion after 2 h. A higher amount of the blueberry anthocyanins under study (up to 85%, depending on the sugar moiety) were determined in the ileostomy bags and therefore would reach the colon under physiological circumstances. Such structure‐related availability has to be considered when polyphenols are used in model systems to study potential preventive effects in colorectal diseases.
Polysaccharides was extracted from dried Lycium barbarum fruits. The ion-exchange chromatography was used to isolate and purify the polysaccharides to afford a complex water-soluble polysaccharide, ...named LBPF5 with a molecular mass of 5.3×104Da. LBPF5 consisted of arabose, mannose, xylose, glucose and rhamnose. Preliminary tests in vitro showed strong free radicals scavenging activities. The oxidative hemolysis of erythrocytes induced by AAPH was suppressed by the LBPF5 in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. In addition, LBPF5 and anthocyan could inhibit the growth of human bladder carcinoma cell line BIU87 and induce BIU87 apoptosis. Furthermore, anthocyan displayed stronger antitumor activities. From these results, it was demonstrated that LBPF5 has the ability to protect against damage from oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo.
Cellobiose dehydrogenase from the ascomycete fungus
Myriococcum thermophilum
(MtCDH) was tested for the ability to generate bleaching species at a pH suitable for liquid detergents. The catalytic ...properties of MtCDH were investigated for a large variety of carbohydrate substrates using oxygen as an electron receptor. MtCDH produces H
2
O
2
with all substrates tested (except fructose) but only in the presence of a chelant. Insoluble substrates like cellulose and cotton could as well be oxidized by MtCDH. To enhance the amount of cello-oligosaccharides in solution, different cellulases on cotton were used and in combination with MtCDH an increased H
2
O
2
concentration could be measured. Additionally, the degradation of pure anthocyanins in solution (as model substrates for bleaching) was investigated in the absence and presence of a horseradish peroxidase. MtCDH was able to produce a sufficient amount of H
2
O
2
to decolorize the anthocyanins within 2 h.
Five materials were tested in autumn 2009 as part of an MSc project to determine their suitability as reflective ground covers. Nine-year-old apple cv. ‘Gala Mondial' trees on M9 rootstock were grown ...near Bonn, Germany in North-South orientation to optimise light conditions at a 3.5 m ´ 1 m spacing under black hail-net. White textile ground covers ExtendayR (84% reflection) and DaybrightTM (70% reflection), a composite material with interwoven aluminium strips (Svensson ILS AluTM) and a kaolin-coated industrial paper (Uniset OTM), spread either side of the tree rows 5 weeks before anticipated harvest, tripled light reflection 1 m above ground in the middle of the alleyways, relative to the uncovered grassed control. All five reflective ground covers employed improved red colouration (a - value in the CIE-Lab scale) of the ‘Gala Mondial' apple fruits; i.e., significantly increased their top colour from a = 30 in the uncovered grassed control to a = 35 − 39 on lower side of the fruit, and from a = 28 in the control to a = 32 − 38 on the shaded, inner side of the fruit - the latter excluded the paper. However, no difference was detected on the outer, sun-exposed side of the apple fruit from the grassed control and any of the ground covers; this was attributed to light conditions saturating for red colouration (anthocyanin synthesis) on this side of the fruit. Apple cv. ‘Gala Mondial' trees with ExtendayR or Svensson ILS AluTM produced 78-80% well-coloured, class I fruit (>75% fruit surface with red colouration) and 70-74% with those grown with MylarTM, DaybrightTM and Uniset OTM compared with only 57% of well-coloured class I fruit in the grassed control. All reflective ground covers improved the taste of apple fruit under hail-nets, i.e., increased the sugar content from 11.7°Brix in the grassed control to 12.1°Brix with Daybright. All reflective ground covers, except for Svensson ILS AluTM, enhanced starch breakdown and fruit ripening under hail-net by up to four days.
Dioxins induce adverse effects through transformation of the cytosolic Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR). Our previous study found that flavones and flavonols at dietary levels suppress AhR ...transformation. In the present study, we investigated whether 20 anthocyans dissolved in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)-MeOH suppressed AhR transformation in a cell-free system and in Hepa-1c1c7 cells. Although four compounds at 50micro m suppressed 0.1 nM 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-induced AhR transformation and their effects were dose-dependent in the cell-free system, they were ineffective at 0.5 microM, which is close to physiological concentration. Moreover, no anthocyan at 50 microM tested here suppressed 0.1 nM TCDD-induced AhR transformation in Hepa-1c1c7 cells. We also confirmed that protocatechuic acid and related compounds, which are possible metabolites of anthocyans, did not affect the transformation in the cell-free system. It is concluded that anthocyans are not suitable candidates for protection from dioxin toxicity.
The accumulation of anthocyanins in cell cultures of Daucus carota L. and the enzymes involved in their biosynthesis were investigated under growth in the dark, continuous irradiation with UV light, ...incubation with elicitors from Pythium aphanidermatum, and elicitor treatment of UV-irradiated cells. Upon UV irradiation, anthocyanin accumulation was strongly enhanced, and the enzymes of the phenylpropanoid and flavonoid pathways, including the "late" enzymes cyanidin galactosyltransferase, cyanidin galactoside xylosyltransferase, cyanidin triglycoside sinapoyltransferase and sinapic acid glucosyltransferase, all showed transient increases in their activities. The time courses of the enzyme activities exhibited successive maxima with an ordered sequence corresponding to their position in the biosynthetic pathway, suggesting a coordinated induction of the entire set of enzymes. The key enzymes phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and chalcone synthase are regulated on a transcriptional level. Incubation of dark-grown carrot cells with fungal elicitors led to a rapid and transient induction of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase corresponding to the formation of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, but the amount of anthocyanin did not increase and there was no enhancement of any of the enzyme activities which are part of the anthocyanin pathway, including the enzymes catalyzing glycosylation and acylation reactions. Treatment with UV light and elicitors resulted in a rapid induction of the phenylpropanoid pathway, whereas the inducing effect of UV light on the anthocyanin content, on chalcone synthase and on the enzymes catalyzing the final steps of anthocyanin biosynthesis was suppressed. These results indicate a coordinated regulation of the enzymes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis, an independent inducibility of the phenylpropanoid pathway, and a hierarchy of the different effectors, as shown by the dominating role of the elicitor-signal over the UV stimulus.
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