Antimicrobial and antiviral activity of selenium sulphide nanoparticles synthesised in extracts from spices in natural deep eutectic solvents (NDES)

The increasing importance of novel deep eutectic solvents as potential effective antimicrobials and other medicinal properties

With the rise of antibiotic resistance globally, coupled with evolving and emerging infectious diseases, there is an urgent need for the development of novel antimicrobials. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are a new generation of eutectic mixtures that depict promising attributes with several biological implications. DES exhibit unique properties such as low toxicity, biodegradability, and high thermal stability. Herein, the antimicrobial properties of DES and their mechanisms of action against a range of microorganisms, including bacteria, amoebae, fungi, viruses, and anti-cancer properties are reviewed. Overall, DES represent a promising class of novel antimicrobial agents as well as possessing other important biological attributes, however, future studies on DES are needed to investigate their underlying antimicrobial mechanism, as well as their in vivo effects, for use in the clinic and public at large.

The redox riddle of selenium sulfide

Selenium sulfide, in analogy with selenium dioxide, is often considered as SeS2. At closer inspection, however, selenium sulfide represents a large family of rather complicated molecules which differ depending on the mode of preparation. Together, these compounds share extraordinarily low solubility in virtually any solvent with a biological activity rather impressive for such simple molecules. The surface reactivity of such microscopic and nanoscopic materials, prepared chemically or by fermentation, may provide an answer to this riddle and explain activities by a combination of physical, redox, metal binding, covalent, and non-covalent interactions with biomolecules and cells.

The Influence of Deep Eutectic Solvents Extract from Ginger on the Formation of Heterocyclic Amines and Advanced Glycation End Products in Roast Beef Patties

Heterocyclic amines (HAs) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are important harmful products formed simultaneously during the thermal processing of food. In order to develop a green, efficient method that can be used to control the production of two harmful products simultaneously in food processing. In the present study, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were used to extract ginger, and this method produced significantly higher levels of total phenolic and flavonoid content as well as an antioxidant activity than ginger extracted using conventional solvents. Herein, we further investigated the inhibitory effects of DES extracts from ginger on the generation of HAs and AGEs in roast beef patties. All the nine DES extracts reduced the formation of HAs and AGEs, and the application of choline chloride–lactic-acid-based DES extract caused a signification reduction of 44.33%, 29.38%, 50.95%, 78.61%, 21.94%, and 17.52% of the PhIP, MeIQx, MeIQ, 4,8-DiMeIQx, Harmane, and Norhamane content, and those for Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) and Nε-(carboxyethyl)lysine (CEL) were 49.08% and 58.50%, respectively. Furthermore, the proximate and texture profile changes of beef patties as well as the precursors (creatine, creatinine, and glucose) of HAs and AGEs were evaluated to determine the mechanism of ginger DES extracts on the formation of HAs and AGEs and the physical/chemical changes of ginger DES extracts on beef patties. This study develops a new method for reducing the amount of HAs and AGEs in meat, which will help food manufacturers produce healthier meat products.

Exploring nanoselenium to tackle mutated SARS-CoV-2 for efficient COVID-19 management

Despite ongoing public health measures and increasing vaccination rates, deaths and disease severity caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its new emergent variants continue to threaten the health of people around the world. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel strategies for research, diagnosis, treatment, and government policies to combat the variant strains of SARS-CoV-2. Since the state-of-the-art COVID-19 pandemic, the role of selenium in dealing with COVID-19 disease has been widely discussed due to its importance as an essential micronutrient. This review aims at providing all antiviral activities of nanoselenium (Nano-Se) ever explored using different methods in the literature. We systematically summarize the studied antiviral activities of Nano-Se required to project it as an efficient antiviral system as a function of shape, size, and synthesis method. The outcomes of this article not only introduce Nano-Se to the scientific community but also motivate scholars to adopt Nano-Se to tackle any serious virus such as mutated SARS-CoV-2 to achieve an effective antiviral activity in a desired manner.