Effect of dehydration techniques on bioactive compounds in hawthorn slices and their correlations with antioxidant properties

Comparative genomic and phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial genomes of hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) in Northeast China

Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) plants are major sources of health food and medicines. Twenty species and seven variations of Crataegus are present in China. A variety of unique Crataegus species was found in their natural distribution in northeast China. In the present study, we assembled and annotated the mitochondrial genomes of five Crataegus species from northeastern China. The sizes of the newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes ranged from 245,907 bp to 410,837 bp. A total of 45-55 genes, including 12-19 transfer RNA genes, three ribosomal RNA genes, and 29-33 protein-coding genes (PCGs) were encoded by these mitochondrial genomes. Seven divergent hotspot regions were identified by comparative analyses: atp6, nad3, ccmFN, matR, nad1, nad5, and rps1. The most conserved genes among the Crataegus species, according to the whole-genome correlation analysis, were nad1, matR, nad5, ccmFN, cox1, nad4, trnQ-TTG, trnK-TTT, trnE-TTC, and trnM-CAT. Horizontal gene transfer between organellar genomes was common in Crataegus plants. Based on the phylogenetic trees of mitochondrial PCGs, C. maximowiczii, C. maximowiczii var. ninganensis, and C. bretschneideri shared similar maternal relationships. This study improves Crataegus mitochondrial genome resources and offers important insights into the taxonomy and species identification of this genus.

Comprehensive Analysis of Physicochemical Properties and Volatile Compounds in Different Strawberry Wines under Various Pre-Treatments

Pre-fermentation treatment has an important impact on the color, aroma, taste, and other characteristics of fruit wine. To discover suitable pre-treatment techniques and conditions that yield strawberry wine of excellent quality, the influences of juice fermentation, pulp maceration, thermovinification, and enzymatic hydrolysis pre-treatments on the basic chemical composition, color, antioxidant capacity, and volatile organic compounds in strawberry wines were investigated. The results showed that the color, antioxidant properties, and volatile aroma of strawberry wines fermented with juice were different from those with pulp. Strawberry wines fermented from juice after 50 °C maceration had more desirable qualities, such as less methanol content (72.43 ± 2.14 mg/L) compared with pulp-fermented wines (88.16 ± 7.52 mg/L) and enzymatic maceration wines (136.72 ± 11.5 mg/L); higher total phenolic content (21.78%) and total flavonoid content (13.02%); enhanced DPPH (17.36%) and ABTS (27.55%) free radical scavenging activities; richer essential terpenoids and fatty acid ethyl esters, such as linalool (11.28%), ethyl hexanoate (14.41%), ethyl octanoate (17.12%), ethyl decanoate (32.49%), and ethyl 9-decenoate (60.64%); pleasant floral and fruity notes compared with juice-fermented wines macerated at normal temperatures; and a lighter color. Overall, juice thermovinification at 50 °C is a potential pre-treatment technique to enhance the nutrition and aroma of strawberry wine.

Virtual Cold Chain Method to Evaluate the Effect of Rising Temperature on the Quality Evolution of Peach Fruit

Poor temperature management along a cold chain leads to fruit quality deterioration and loss. In order to determine the threshold value of temperature fluctuation in a cold chain, peach fruits were stored in four different virtual cold chains applying different temperature-time scenarios. Core temperature profiling, the physicochemical qualities, and the activities of the peaches' antioxidant enzymes were monitored during cold storage and shelf life. Abusive temperature management (temperature increased to 20 and 15 °C three times) resulted in a significant increase in a peach's core temperature to the highest temperature measured: 17.6 °C. The ethylene production rate at the end of the shelf life of peaches under these temperatures was 21.03-28.16% higher than the constant-temperature group and accompanied by significantly lower levels of flesh firmness, titratable acid content, total phenol and flavonoid content, and peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activities (p < 0.05). The results of a principal component analysis (PCA) and heatmap confirmed the results. Limited temperature increases (10 °C) in a cold chain had little impact on the quality of the peaches, while temperature increases higher than 15 °C three times would negatively affect the quality of the peaches significantly. The temperature of a cold chain needs to be controlled precisely to reduce the loss of peaches.

Effects of drying methods on bioactive components of Ganoderma lucidum fermented whole wheat in products & in vitro digestive model

The content of bioactive components is the key to determining the quality of Ganoderma lucidum fermented whole wheat (GW) products, and drying is a necessary link in the initial processing of GW, which will affect the bioactivity and quality of GW. This paper was to assess the effect of hot air drying (AD), freeze drying (FD), vacuum drying (VD) and microwave drying (MVD) on the content of bioactive substances and the characteristics of digestion and absorption of GW. The results showed that FD, VD and AD were beneficial to the retention of unstable substances such as adenosine, polysaccharide and triterpenoid active components in GW, and their contents were 3.84-4.66 times, 2.36-2.83 times and 1.15-1.22 times of MVD, respectively. The bioactive substances in GW were released during digestion. The bioavailability of polysaccharides in the MVD group (419.91 %) was significantly higher than that in the FD, VD and AD groups (68.74 %-78.92 %), but their bioaccessibility (5.66 %) was lower than that in the FD, VD and AD groups (33.41 %-49.69 %). Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that VD is more suitable for GW drying due to the comprehensive performance of 3 aspects in terms of active substance retention, bioavailability and sensory quality.

Crataegus pinnatifida: A botanical, ethnopharmacological, phytochemical, and pharmacological overview

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Crataegus pinnatifida belongs to the Rosaceae family and extensively distribute in North China, Europe, and North America. Its usage was first described in "Xinxiu Ben Cao." The dried fruits of Crataegus pinnatifida Bunge or Crataegus pinnatifida var. major N. E. Br., also known as "Shanzha," is a famous medicine and food homology herb with a long history of medicinal usage in China. C. pinnatifida has the functions for digestive promotion, cardiovascular protection, and lipid reduction. It was traditionally used to treat indigestion, cardiodynia, thoracalgia, hernia, postpartum blood stagnation, and hemafecia. In recent years, C. pinnatifida has attracted worldwide attention as an important medicinal and economical crop due to its multiple and excellent health-promoting effects on cardiovascular, nervous, digestive, endocrine systems, and morbigenous microorganisms of the human body due to its medicinal and nutritional values.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

The current review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the geographical distribution, traditional usage, phytochemical components, pharmacological actions, clinical settings, and toxicities of C. pinnatifida. Moreover, the connection between the claimed biological activities and the traditional usage, along with the future perspectives for ongoing research on this plant, were also critically summarized.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We collected the published literature on C. pinnatifida using a variety of scientific databases, including Web of Science, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Wiley, Springer, Taylor & Francis, ACS Publications, Google Scholar, Baidu Scholar, CNKI, The Plant List Database, and other literature sources (Ph.D. and MSc dissertations) from 2012 to 2022.

RESULTS

In the last decade, over 250 phytochemical compounds containing lignans, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, triterpenoids, and their glycosides, as well as other compounds, have been isolated and characterized from different parts, including the fruit, leaves, and seeds of C. pinnatifida. Among these compounds, flavonoids and triterpenoids were major bioactive components of C. pinnatifida. They exhibited a broad spectrum of pharmacological actions with low toxicity in vitro and in vivo, such as cardiovascular protection, neuroprotection, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-diabetes, anti-cancer, anti-mutagenic, anti-osteoporosis, anti-aging, anti-obesity, and hepatoprotection and other actions.

CONCLUSION

A long history of traditional uses and abundant pharmacochemical and pharmacological investigations have demonstrated that C. pinnatifida is an important medicine and food homology herb, which displays outstanding therapeutic potential, especially in the digestive system and cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, the current studies on the active ingredients or crude extracts of C. pinnatifida and the possible mechanism of action are unclear. More evidence-based scientific studies are required to verify the traditional uses of C. pinnatifida. Furthermore, more efforts must be paid to selecting index components for quality control research and toxicity and safety studies of C. pinnatifida.

Food Applications and Potential Health Benefits of Hawthorn

Hawthorn (Crataegus) is a plant of the Rosaceae family and is widely grown throughout the world as one of the medicinal and edible plants, known as the “nutritious fruit” due to its richness in bioactive substances. Preparations derived from it are used in the formulation of dietary supplements, functional foods, and pharmaceutical products. Rich in amino acids, minerals, pectin, vitamin C, chlorogenic acid, epicatechol, and choline, hawthorn has a high therapeutic and health value. Many studies have shown that hawthorn has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-cardiovascular disease, and digestive enhancing properties. This is related to its bioactive components such as polyphenols (chlorogenic acid, proanthocyanidin B2, epicatechin), flavonoids (proanthocyanidins, mucoxanthin, quercetin, rutin), and pentacyclic triterpenoids (ursolic acid, hawthornic acid, oleanolic acid), which are also its main chemical constituents. This paper briefly reviews the chemical composition, nutritional value, food applications, and the important biological and pharmacological activities of hawthorn. This will contribute to the development of functional foods or nutraceuticals from hawthorn.

Combined Hot Air, Microwave, and Infrared Drying of Hawthorn Fruit: Effects of Ultrasonic Pretreatment on Drying Time, Energy, Qualitative, and Bioactive Compounds' Properties

The present study aimed to examine the effect of ultrasonic pretreatment and hot air, microwave–hot-air, infrared–hot air, and freeze-drying on the drying time, specific energy (SE), qualitative properties (i.e., color, shrinkage, and rehydration ratio), and bioactive compounds’ properties (i.e., antioxidant activity, phenolic, and flavonoid contents) of hawthorn fruit. Drying of hawthorn was conducted from 45 min for the ultrasonic + microwave–hot-air drying to 1280 min for the freeze-drying method. The lowest amount of SE was obtained using the ultrasonic-microwave–hot-air drying method, which was 47.57 MJ/kg. The lowest values in color changes (12.25) and shrinkage (17.21%) were recorded for the freeze-drying method, while the highest amounts for these traits were 45.57% and 66.75% in the HA drying, respectively. In general, the use of different drying methods reduces the antioxidant capacity (AC), total phenolic content (TPC), and total flavonoid content (TFC) during processing compared to fresh samples. The highest values for AC, TPC, TFC, and the rehydration ratio were 30.69%, 73.07 mg-GAE/gdw, 65.93 mg-QE/gdw, and 2.02 for the freeze-drying method, respectively.

Polyphenolic Compounds of Crataegus Berry, Leaf, and Flower Extracts Affect Viability and Invasive Potential of Human Glioblastoma Cells

Crataegus contains numerous health-promoting compounds that are also proposed to have anti-cancer properties. Herein, we aimed at a contemporaneous evaluation of the effects of polyphenol-rich extracts of berries, leaves, and flowers of six Crataegus species on the viability and invasive potential on the highly aggressive human glioblastoma U87MG cell line. The treatment with the extracts evoked cytotoxic effects, with the strongest in the berry extracts. All extracts not only promoted the apoptosis-related cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) but also substantially inhibited the activity of pro-survival kinases, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), and protein kinase B (PKB; also known as Akt), thus indicating the suppression of proliferative and invasive potentials of the examined glioblastoma cells. The qualitative and quantitative characterization of the extracts’ content was also performed and revealed that amongst 37 polyphenolic compounds identified in the examined Crataegus extracts, the majority (29) was detected in berries; the leaf and flower extracts, exerting milder cytotoxic effects, contained only 14 and 13 compounds, respectively. The highest polyphenol content was found in the berries of C. laevigata x rhipidophylla x monogyna, in which flavan-3-ols and phenolic acids predominated. Our results demonstrated that a high content of polyphenolic compounds correlated with the extract cytotoxicity, and especially berries were a valuable source of compounds with anti-cancer potential. This might be a promising option for the development of an effective therapeutic strategy against highly malignant glioblastomas in the future.

Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.): An Updated Overview on Its Beneficial Properties

Medicinal plants, many of which are wild, have recently been under the spotlight worldwide due to growing requests for natural and sustainable eco-compatible remedies for pathological conditions with beneficial health effects that are able to support/supplement a daily diet or to support and/or replace conventional pharmacological therapy. The main requests for these products are: safety, minimum adverse unwanted effects, better efficacy, greater bioavailability, and lower cost when compared with synthetic medications available on the market. One of these popular herbs is hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), belonging to the Rosaceae family, with about 280 species present in Europe, North Africa, West Asia, and North America. Various parts of this herb, including the berries, flowers, and leaves, are rich in nutrients and beneficial bioactive compounds. Its chemical composition has been reported to have many health benefits, including medicinal and nutraceutical properties. Accordingly, the present review gives a snapshot of the in vitro and in vivo therapeutic potential of this herb on human health.