Antibacterial activities of isothiocyanates extracted from horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) root against Antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana L.) leaf juice encapsulated within polysaccharides-blend-based carriers: Characterization and application as potential antioxidants in mayonnaise production

This study aimed to encapsulate cold-pressed horseradish leaf juice within maltodextrin/alginate (MD/AL), maltodextrin/guar gum (MD/GG), and maltodextrin/gum Arabic (MD/GA) by spray-drying, to characterize the encapsulates, and to test their potential as mayonnaise oxidation-preventing ingredients. The encapsulates exhibited desirable physicochemical, morphological, structural, and thermal properties, highlighting MD/GA-containing encapsulates, especially regarding high encapsulation yield (78.50 %). Also, encapsulates contained a significant amount of phenolics, which were stable during freezer storage. The encapsulates successfully delayed the mayonnaise oxidation: 31.91-38.94 % more than the synthetic antioxidant ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, especially highlighting MD/AL-containing encapsulates. Also, the encapsulates improved product quality with a higher pH and lower acidity after storage compared to the controls. Overall acceptability of encapsulates-containing mayonnaises and commercial mayonnaise did not differ significantly. This study contributes to sustainable development by providing new insights into the valorization of horseradish leaves, as a promising alternative to synthetic additives to prolong the oxidative stability and shelf-life of high-oil-containing foods.

Plant-Derived Antimicrobials and Their Crucial Role in Combating Antimicrobial Resistance

Antibiotic resistance emerged shortly after the discovery of the first antibiotic and has remained a critical public health issue ever since. Managing antibiotic resistance in clinical settings continues to be challenging, particularly with the rise of superbugs, or bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, known as multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. This rapid development of resistance has compelled researchers to continuously seek new antimicrobial agents to curb resistance, despite a shrinking pipeline of new drugs. Recently, the focus of antimicrobial discovery has shifted to plants, fungi, lichens, endophytes, and various marine sources, such as seaweeds, corals, and other microorganisms, due to their promising properties. For this review, an extensive search was conducted across multiple scientific databases, including PubMed, Elsevier, ResearchGate, Scopus, and Google Scholar, encompassing publications from 1929 to 2024. This review provides a concise overview of the mechanisms employed by bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance, followed by an in-depth exploration of plant secondary metabolites as a potential solution to MDR pathogens. In recent years, the interest in plant-based medicines has surged, driven by their advantageous properties. However, additional research is essential to fully understand the mechanisms of action and verify the safety of antimicrobial phytochemicals. Future prospects for enhancing the use of plant secondary metabolites in combating antibiotic-resistant pathogens will also be discussed.

Back to the Roots-An Overview of the Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Selected Root-Essential Oils

Since ancient times, plant roots have been widely used in traditional medicine for treating various ailments and diseases due to their beneficial effects. A large number of studies have demonstrated that-besides their aromatic properties-their biological activity can often be attributed to volatile constituents. This review provides a comprehensive overview of investigations into the chemical composition of essential oils and volatile components obtained from selected aromatic roots, including Angelica archangelica, Armoracia rusticana, Carlina sp., Chrysopogon zizanioides, Coleus forskohlii, Inula helenium, Sassafras albidum, Saussurea costus, and Valeriana officinalis. Additionally, their most important associated biological impacts are reported, such as anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, pesticidal, and other miscellaneous properties. Various literature and electronic databases-including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Springer, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Wiley-were screened and data was obtained accordingly. The results indicate the promising properties of root-essential oils and their potential as a source for natural biologically active products for flavor, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and fragrance industries. However, more research is required to further establish the mechanism of action mediating these bioactivities as well as essential oil standardization because the chemical composition often strongly varies depending on external factors.

A novel isothiocyanate derivative inhibits HIV-1 gene expression and replication by modulating the nuclear matrix associated protein SMAR1

The essential role of SMAR1 in HIV-1 transcription and LTR driven gene expression suggests SMAR1 as an HIV dependency factor (HDF) and a potential anti-HIV therapeutic target. Here, we report for the first time, anti-HIV activity of 8 novel isothiocyanate (ITC) derivatives that differentially stabilise SMAR1. Out of 8 novel ITC derivatives, SCS-OCL-381 was observed to inhibit HIV-1 replication most significantly at the noncytotoxic concentration in reporter T-cell line, CEM-GFP. Further, the highly conserved anti-HIV activity of SCS-OCL-381 is a cell type, virus isolate and viral load independent phenomena and is approximately 3 fold more effective than the representative ITC, Sulforaphane (SFN). Further, SCS-OCL-381 does not hamper the activity of viral enzymes reverse transcriptase, integrase and protease. Mechanistically, SCS-OCL-381 stabilises SMAR1 which, otherwise undergoes proteasomal degradation upon HIV-1 infection in T-cells. This stabilisation results in the recruitment of repressor complex on HIV-1 LTR resulting in repression of LTR mediated transcription and gene expression. These inhibitory consequences were further confirmed by reporter based LTR activity assays in different cell lines. Taken together, these findings highlight the anti-HIV potential of novel ITC derivatives by the stabilisation of SMAR1 and strongly support further in vivo characterisation and potential translational applications of SCS-OCL-381.

The antioxidant power of horseradish, Armoracia rusticana, underlies antimicrobial and antiradical effects, exerted in vitro

Armoracia rusticana (AR) was tested for antimicrobial and antioxidants power. The compound demonstrated to inhibit fish pathogens such as Vibrio anguillarum, V. harvey, V. alginolyticus, Aeromonas hydrophila, A. salmonicida, Photobacterium damselae subspecie piscicida, Tenacibaculum marinum and Pseudomonas anguilliseptica,. The total phenolic content and the reducing power resulted higher in the water extract of AR, respect to the hydroalcoolic. In vitro test demonstrated that AR significantly protect cells against death, induced by oxidative stress.

Comparative study on natural plant antibiotics - vegetable and their consumption among college students

The research study is aimed at evaluation of natural plant antibiotics utilization among college students (554) with different subject study (Pre-school and elementary education, Biology, Regional Tourism, Horticulture, Physical education) from 3 countries - Slovak Republic, Czech Republic and Hungary. The attention has been focused on natural antibiotics in plants - vegetables (garlic, onion and horse radish) and the frequency of their consumption among college students. From the research results there is evident that majority of students had basic knowledge about natural plant antibiotics (85% of respondents) and they utilize them in everyday life (60.3%). The prevailing number of students utilizes synthetic antibiotics only rarely - once a year (33.4%) or never (37.5%). From achieved results about exact plants (garlic, onion and horse radish) consumption, the majority of respondents consume garlic once a week (42.2%); on the daily base the highest usage was noticed in the group of Slovak students with the subject of Physical education (32.1%) that could be considered as statistically different in comparison with the rest of groups. On the contrary, the lowest garlic consumption was noticed for students of biology (23.5%) and only small amount of students (3.6%) claimed that they have never included garlic into their diet. As for the onion, the majority of respondents (42.10%) also consume this commodity once a week; everyday consumption was noticed again especially between Slovak students with the subject of Physical education (32.1%) and Horticulture (31.1%). The results of these groups significantly differed from results of other groups. Third studied vegetable, horse-radish, it has never been consumed by Slovak students of Pre-school and elementary education in Slovak language (47.9%) that has been significantly distinguishable from another groups. Also Hungarian students of Physical education consume this commodity rarely (30.6%) - only once a year. Major part of students (46%) consumes horse-radish once a month. Czech students of Horticulture prefer consummation of horse-radish only once a month (76.8%). The lowest utilization was noticed in groups MU/ H (76.8%) consumed this commodity only monthly. Similarly, students of UP/ PE (30.6%) consumed horse radish only once a year that was significantly lower value in comparison with the rest of evaluated groups.

Antifungal activity of isothiocyanates extracted from horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) root against pathogenic dermal fungi

To develop natural antifungal agents against pathogenic dermal fungi, the antifungal activity of isothiocyanates (ITCs) extracted from horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) root was investigated. A paper disk diffusion assay showed that ITCs inhibited growth of the four pathogenic dermal fungi (Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum canis, and Epidermophyton floccosum) at 5000 μg/mL, as well as perfectly inhibited the growth of the fungi at 10,000 μg/mL in a concentration-dependent manner. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of ITCs against T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, M. canis, and E. floccosum were 200, 200, 100, and 100 μg/mL, respectively. The minimum fungicidal concentrations of ITCs against the four pathogenic dermal fungi were 200 μg/mL. These results strongly suggested that ITCs extracted from horseradish root can be a candidate of natural antifungal agents against pathogenic dermal fungi, even though further study is needed to investigate how to use ITCs in clinical therapy.