New lignans from the fruits of Leonurus japonicus and their hepatoprotective activities

Enrichment of Cookies with Fruits and Their By-Products: Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Properties, and Sensory Changes

Cookies made from wheat have become increasingly popular as a snack due to their various advantages, such as their convenience as a ready-to-eat and easily storable food item, wide availability in different types, and affordability. Especially in recent years, there has been a trend towards enriching food with fruit additives, which increase the health-promoting properties of the products. The aim of this study was to examine current trends in fortifying cookies with fruits and their byproducts, with a particular focus on the changes in chemical composition, antioxidant properties, and sensory attributes. As indicated by the results of studies, the incorporation of powdered fruits and fruit byproducts into cookies helps to increase their fiber and mineral content. Most importantly, it significantly enhances the nutraceutical potential of the products by adding phenolic compounds with high antioxidant capacity. Enriching shortbread cookies is a challenge for both researchers and producers because the type of fruit additive and level of substitution can diversely affect sensory attributes of cookies such as color, texture, flavor, and taste, which have an impact on consumer acceptability.

Review of lignans from 2019 to 2021: Newly reported compounds, diverse activities, structure-activity relationships and clinical applications

Lignans, with various biological activities, such as antitumor, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiviral activities, are widely distributed in nature and mainly exist in the xylem of plants. In this paper, we summarized the structures and bioactivities of lignans reported in recent years (2019-2021) from five parts, including (1) a summary and classification of newly reported compounds; (2) the pharmacological activities of lignans; (3) molecular resources and activity distribution; (4) the structure-activity relationships; and (5) the clinical application of lignans. This review covers all undescribed compounds that were reported within the covered period of time and all bioactivity data about previously isolated lignans. The distribution of lignans in different plants and families is visualized, which improves the efficiency of searching for specific molecules. The diverse activities of different types of lignans provide an important reference for the rapid screening of these compounds. Discussion about the structure-activity relationships of lignans provides a direction for the structural modification of skeleton molecules. Combined with the clinical application of such molecules, this work will provide a valuable reference for pharmaceutical chemists.

Vulgarisin-type diterpenoids from self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) and their neuroprotective effects against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) via a mitochondria-related pathway

Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris L.) is a perennial edible plant that is widely distributed across the world and is traditionally consumed as a food additive in soft drink beverages. In this study, to explore the functional components of P. vulgaris, an investigation of its ethanol extracts has been conducted by our group. As a result, twelve (1-12) vulgarisin-type diterpenoids with a special 5/6/4/5-fused ring skeleton, including six new ones (1-6), were obtained. Their structures including the absolute configuration were elucidated based on comprehensive spectroscopic evidence, ECD calculations, as well as single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. All the isolates were tested for neuroprotective effects against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) on primary neuron cells through the oxygen and glucose deprivation and reperfusion (OGD/R) induced injury model. The results showed that all twelve vulgarisin-type diterpenoids possess promising neuroprotective activity at a concentration of 10 μM. Among them, compound 3 can significantly suppress cell apoptosis by regulating Bax/Bcl-2 protein expression and inhibiting cleaved caspase-3 and caspase-9 expression with a western blotting assay. Further research revealed that compound 3 could improve mitochondrial function by inhibiting mitochondrial cytochrome c release, reducing ROS levels, and maintaining the membrane potential. This work firstly reports vulgarisin-type diterpenoids possessing neuroprotective activity. These findings also suggest that daily consumption of P. vulgaris might prevent cerebral disorders via a mitochondria-related pathway.