Novel smart cotton diagnostic assay was developed toward onsite sensing of sweat pH variations for possible medical applications such as drug test and healthcare purposes. Humulus lupulus L. extract ...was obtained according to previously reported procedure. As reported by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the extract demonstrated the presence of hop acids, prenylchalcones, and prenylflavanones, which is responsible for the colorimetric changes. The extract was applied to cellulose fibers employing potassium aluminum sulfate as mordant. This was observed by the formation of mordant/xanthohumol nanoparticles onto cotton surface. The absorption spectra and CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage) Lab screening of the prepared cotton assay showed colorimetric changes in association with hypsochromic shift from 600 nm to 433 nm upon exposure to sweat simulant fluid (pH < 7). The biochromic activity of the xanthohumol‐finished cotton depends mainly on the halochromic performance of the xanthohumol chromophore to show a colorimetric switch from yellow to white owing to intramolecular charge transfer in the xanthohumol molecule. No substantial defects were detected in gas‐permeability and stiffness of the treated fabrics. Satisfactory fastness was approved for the xanthohumol‐dyed diagnostic cotton assay.
Environmentally friendly cotton swab was prepared for onsite sweat monitoring. Humulus lupulus L. extracted from common hop was immobilized into cotton assay. Color shift from yellow to white was detected due to sweat biochemical changes. Sweat monitoring showed hypsochromic shift was detected from 600 to 433 nm. No substantial defects were detected in comfortability of treated fabrics.
•Hop extracts obtained by supercritical CO2 and compressed propane are rich in phenolics compounds.•Ethyl acetate as cosolvent combined to scCO2 improves the extraction yields by 50%.•Ethyl acetate ...as cosolvent combined to scCO2 improves the mass transfer reducing the extraction time by 71%.•The pressure is the most critical factor for increasing yield in extractions using scCO2 as a solvent.
Display omitted
This study compares the yields of different extractions methods for a Brazilian variety of Humulus lupulus using scCO2, scCO2 +ethanol, scCO2 +ethyl acetate, and compressed propane. Extracts were characterized by total phenolics content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activity (AA). The extraction yields were from 2.7 to 10.1 wt% when using compressed propane at 20 °C and 10 MPa and scCO2 +ethyl acetate at 80 °C and 25 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of adding ethyl acetate as a cosolvent in a semi-batch process over the extraction time and extracts properties were evaluated in comparison to the extracts obtained using scCO2, scCO2 +ethanol, and compressed propane. The results indicate that ethyl acetate increases the extraction yield and produces samples with higher TPC, TFC, and AA values comparing to scCO2 +ethanol and similar values compared to pure scCO2.
Summary
We recently described, in Cannabis sativa, the oldest sex chromosome system documented so far in plants (12–28 Myr old). Based on the estimated age, we predicted that it should be shared by ...its sister genus Humulus, which is known also to possess XY chromosomes.
Here, we used transcriptome sequencing of an F1 family of H. lupulus to identify and study the sex chromosomes in this species using the probabilistic method SEX‐DETector.
We identified 265 sex‐linked genes in H. lupulus, which preferentially mapped to the C. sativa X chromosome. Using phylogenies of sex‐linked genes, we showed that a region of the sex chromosomes had already stopped recombining in an ancestor of both species. Furthermore, as in C. sativa, Y‐linked gene expression reduction is correlated to the position on the X chromosome, and highly Y degenerated genes showed dosage compensation.
We report, for the first time in Angiosperms, a sex chromosome system that is shared by two different genera. Thus, recombination suppression started at least 21–25 Myr ago, and then (either gradually or step‐wise) spread to a large part of the sex chromosomes (c. 70%), leading to a degenerated Y chromosome.
Abstract Hop cultivation, integral to the brewing industry, faces challenges from viroids, especially the citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd) but also the hop latent viroid (HLVd) influences hop cone ...quality. We focused on the degradation kinetics of HLVd thereby covering compost, silage, and digestate made from hop residues. In this study, HLVd serves as a model for understanding CBCVd, which causes significant stunting and yield losses in European hop crops. Composting experiments revealed that although composting significantly lowers HLVd levels, complete degradation within 7 weeks is not guaranteed, with loose compost showing a more rapid reduction than compacted variants. Infectivity experiments conducted using inocula obtained from HLVd-infected hop plant residues exposed to composting, ensiling, and biogas digestate did not result in the transmission of HLVd to viroid-free plants. Also extracting and analyzing the soil-root mixture of plants inoculated with HLVd-infected hop residues did not show evidence for viroid persistence. Degradation experiments further differentiated between the physiochemical and biological influences on viroid and viroid-like random RNA stability, showing that higher temperatures of 50 °C enhance degradation over 40 °C, and pH levels of 5 or 7 are slowing degradation. In contrast deionized water or a pH of 4 or 9 enhances viroid degradation. Adding extracts from digestate accelerated the process indicating a role of biological activity. Interestingly, a viroid-like random RNA with similar physiochemical properties, showed to degrade faster compared to HLVd, suggesting high robustness of the actual viroid secondary structure. These findings offer valuable insights into managing HLVd in hops and potentially other crops, highlighting effective strategies to mitigate viroid spread, and contributing to broader understanding of RNA degradation in agriculture.
•Harvest maturity has a significant impact on the aroma of Cascade hops.•Citrusy aroma in Cascade hops increases with harvest maturity.•Late harvest Cascade hops have higher total oils and amounts of ...aroma volatiles.•As Cascade hops mature on bine, bound thiols decrease while free thiols increase.•Later harvested Cascade hops are likely to be better suited for dry-hopping.
The impact of ripening on the dry-hop aroma potential and chemical development of Cascade hops is not well understood. Therefore, 5–6 weekly hop samples were collected over the 2014, 2015 and 2016 harvests. Concentrations of humulones did not change as a function of harvest date, while total hop essential oil content displayed significant positive trends. Concentrations of thiol precursors decreased over harvest while concentrations of free thiols increased. These weekly samples were used to dry-hop an unhopped base beer. Overall hop aroma intensity and citrus quality attributed to beer during dry-hopping increased as a function of harvest date. These results suggest that for brewers to maximize the efficiency of hop usage, early harvested Cascades might be better for bittering, while, later harvested Cascades might be better for dry-hopping or aroma additions because they attributed more intense citrusy aromas to beer and had higher concentrations of free thiols and terpene alcohols.
•The correct stereoconfiguration of the bitter acids has been assigned.•Heterogeneous and organocatalysts can be used for the isomerisation of alpha-acids.•Reduction of iso-alpha-acids to ...hexahydro-iso-alpha-acids is feasible in one step.•Alpha-humulene is regioselectively epoxidised.•The chemistry of beta-caryophyllene is governed by its ring strain.
The annual production of hops (Humulus lupulus L.) exceeds 100,000mt and is almost exclusively consumed by the brewing industry. The value of hops is attributed to their characteristic secondary metabolites; these metabolites are precursors which are transformed during the brewing process into important bittering, aromatising and preservative components with rather low efficiency. By selectively transforming these components off-line, both their utilisation efficiency and functionality can be significantly improved. Therefore, the chemical transformations of these secondary metabolites will be considered with special attention to recent advances in the field. The considered components are the hop alpha-acids, hop beta-acids and xanthohumol, which are components unique to hops, and alpha-humulene and beta-caryophyllene, sesquiterpenes which are highly characteristic of hops.
Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is an important commercial crop known for the biosynthesis of valuable specialized secondary metabolites in glandular trichomes (lupulin glands), which are used for the ...brewing industry. To achieve burgeoning market demands is the essentiality of comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in hop. Over the past year, several studies using structural biology and functional genomics approaches have shown that Mediator (MED) serves as an integrative hub for RNAP II-mediated transcriptional regulation of various physiological and cellular processes, including involvement of MED5a and MED5b in hyperaccumulation of phenylpropanoid in A. thaliana. In the present work, an unprecedented attempt was made to generate Hlmed5a/med5b double loci mutant lines in hop using a CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing system. The Hlmed5a/med5b double loci mutant lines showed reduced expression of structural genes of the flavonoid, humulone, and terpenoid biosynthetic pathways, which was more pronounced in the lupulin gland compared to leaf tissue and was consistent with their reduced accumulation. Phenotypic and anatomical observations revealed that Hlmed5a/med5b double loci mutant line exhibited robust growth, earlier flowering, earlier cone maturity, reduced cone size, variations in floral structure patterns, and distorted lupulin glands without any remarkable changes in leaf morphology, intensity of leaf color, and chlorophyll content. Comparative transcriptome analysis of leaf and lupulin gland tissues indicates that the expression of enzymatic genes related to secondary metabolite biosynthesis, phytohormone biosynthesis, floral organs, flowering time, and trichome development, including other genes related to starch and sucrose metabolism and defense mechanisms, were differentially modulated in the Hlmed5a/med5b lines. The combined results from functional and transcriptomic analyses illuminates the pivotal function of HlMED5a and HlMED5b in homeostasis of secondary meatbolites accumulation in hop.
•In the present study, we generated Hlmed5a/med5b double mutant line using CRISPR/Cas9 technique. The Hlmed5a/med5b double mutant line exhibited reduction in secondary metabolite content.•In addition, we observed the robust growth, earlier floral, cone maturation and distortion in lupulin gland morphology in Hlmed5a/med5b double mutant line.•The comparative transcriptome analysis unveiled the modulation of global gene expression patterns in Hlmed5a/med5b double mutant line related to secondary metabolite biosynthesis, phytohormone biosynthesis, floral organs, flowering time, and trichome development.
Display omitted
The present study investigated the potential antioxidant applications of Humulus lupulus L. as raw extract and nanoformulated in liposomes. H. lupulus is commonly used as a food ...ingredient, but it is also a promising source of specialized metabolites with health-promoting effects. In the extract obtained by hydroalcoholic maceration, 24 compounds were characterized using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses. The extract exhibited an interesting antioxidant activity in in vitro spectrophotometric and cell assays. The extract was nanoformulated into liposomes to exploit and improve its beneficial proprieties. The in vitro assays revealed that, after incorporation into liposomes, the extract’s antioxidant activity was preserved and even improved. Moreover, a lower dose of the extract was required to prevent reactive oxygen species overproduction when included in the nanoformulation. These results confirm the advantages of nanoformulating herbal extract to maximize its health-promoting effects for a potential pharmaceutical application.
Flavonoids target a variety of pathophysiological mechanisms and are therefore increasingly considered as compounds encompassed with therapeutic potentials in diseases such as cancer, diabetes, ...arteriosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases and mood disorders. Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) is rich in flavonoids such as the flavanone 8-prenylnaringenin, which is the most potent phytoestrogen identified so far, and the prenylchalcone xanthohumol, which has potent tumor-preventive, anti-inflammatory and antiviral activities. In the present study, we questioned whether hops-derived prenylflavonoids and synthetic derivatives thereof act on neuronal precursor cells and neuronal cell lines to induce neuronal differentiation, neurite outgrowth and neuroprotection. Therefore, mouse embryonic forebrain-derived neural precursors and Neuro2a neuroblastoma-derived cells were stimulated with the prenylflavonoids of interest, and their potential to activate the promoter of the neuronal fate-specific doublecortin gene and to stimulate neuronal differentiation and neurite outgrowth was analyzed. In this screening, we identified highly “neuroactive” compounds, which we termed “enhancement of neuronal differentiation factors” (ENDFs). The most potent molecule, ENDF1, was demonstrated to promote neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells and neurite outgrowth of cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons and protected neuronal PC12 cells from cobalt chloride-induced as well as cholinergic neurons of the nucleus basalis of Meynert from deafferentation-induced cell death. The results indicate that hops-derived prenylflavonoids such as ENDFs might be powerful molecules to promote neurogenesis, neuroregeneration and neuroprotection in cases of chronic neurodegenerative diseases, acute brain and spinal cord lesion and age-associated cognitive impairments.
Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is an essential ingredient of beer, where it provides the typical bitter taste, but is also applied in traditional folk medicine for sedative and antibacterial purposes. In ...this study, we demonstrate and compare the anti-inflammatory effect of various classes of hop bitter acids (HBA), including -acids (AA), -acids (BA), and iso-acids (IAA), in fibroblasts, which are important players in the inflammatory response. All three studied classes of HBA blocked the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF)-induced production of the cytokine IL6, and inhibited the transactivation of the pro-inflammatory transcription factors nuclear factor kappa B (NF-B), activator protein-1 (AP-1), and cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB). In this respect, the six-membered ring compounds AA and BA showed equal potency, whereas the five-membered ring compounds, IAA, were effective only when used at higher concentrations. Furthermore, with regard to the mechanism of NF-B suppression, we excluded a possible role for glucocorticoid receptor alpha (GR), peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor alpha/gamma (PPAR or PPAR), nuclear receptors (NRs) that are also known to inhibit inflammation by directly interfering with the activity of pro-inflammatory transcription factors. Interestingly, combining hop acids and selective agonists for GR, PPAR, or PPAR resulted in additive inhibition of NF-B activity after TNF treatment, which may open up new avenues for combinatorial anti-inflammatory strategies with fewer side effects. Finally, systemic administration of HBA efficiently inhibited acute local inflammation in vivo.
PDF
