Characterisation of bioactive compounds and assessment of antioxidant activity of different traditional Lycopersicum esculentum L. varieties: chemometric analysis

Investigation of Phytochemical, Antioxidant and Antidiabetic Potentials of Scabiosa L. (Caprifoliaceae) Species with Chemometric Methods

In this research, the total phenolic and flavonoid amounts, phenolic compositions, in vitro antioxidant, antibacterial and antidiabetic properties of the methanol extracts obtained from Scabiosa L. (Caprifoliaceae) species distributed in the flora of Türkiye were investigated using chemometric methods. For this purpose, principal component (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis were performed as chemometric methods. Chlorogenic acid, quinic acid and cyranoside were determined in the extracts. According to chemometric analysis, S. columbaria subsp. ochroleuca var. ochroleuca and S. triniifolia species were found to be valuable in terms of methanol extract yields, total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities while S. columbaria subsp. ochroleuca var. webbiana species were found to be valuable in terms of phenolic composition. The methanol extracts of Scabiosa species showed high antioxidant activity, with high phenolic and flavonoid contents. Among the tested 13 bacteria, Scabiosa extracts showed only low activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The extracts showed high α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. The results show that Scabiosa methanol extracts may be a source of alternative antioxidants that may be beneficial in slowing or preventing the progression of various oxidative stress-related diseases.

Investigation of Bioactive Components in New Resistant Hungarian Tomato Hybrids

The aim of the present work was to evaluate the influence of genetic impact on the content of some characteristic secondary metabolites in tomato fruits. The study was conducted to screen 14 different tomato genotypes for antioxidant capacity and quality attributes (polyphenols, tocopherols, carotenoids, vitamin C) to select the genetic lines with high biological value, multiple disease resistance, and high yield capacity for further usage in crop improvement programs. Significant differences were found among the different hybrids and cultivation seasons for the phytochemical content of the fruits. The varieties developed by breeding to increase their resistance were found to differ significantly. During a 3-year cultivation experiment, the level of lycopene in freshly harvested fruits ranged between 10.38 and 63.23 mg.kg^-1 fwt for outdoor-cultivated Naik114 and Naik352, respectively. As for β-carotene, its content varied between 0.49 mg.kg^-1 for Unorosso and 11.66 mg.kg^-1 for Cherrola F1. The highest level of vitamin C (702.59 mg.kg^-1) was recorded for Cherrola F1, while the lowest level (1.36.86 mg.kg^-1) was determined in fruits of Unorosso. Neither polyphenol nor vitamin C showed positive correlation with antioxidant activity. In the three cultivation seasons, the highest concentration of polyphenols (579.19-804.12 mg.kg^-1 fwt) was determined in fruits of outdoor-cultivated Cherolla F1 variety. The α- and γ-tocopherol content varied between 2.56 and 18.99 mg.kg^-1, and 0.28 and 9.35 mg.kg^-1, respectively, in fresh tomato fruit. Among the newly bred resistant varieties, the ZKI114 variety was proved to have outstanding features concerning the amounts of the bioactive components.

Effect of irrigation and fertilisation on the biologically active components of tomato

A three-year (2016–2018) open field experiment was conducted to study the effect of irrigation, fertilisation, and seasonal variation on the main bioactive components, such as carotenoids (lycopene and β-carotene), total polyphenols, antioxidant capacity, and tocopherols of processed Uno Rosso F1 tomato. The statistical evaluation of measurements proved that the multi-year data set cannot be evaluated as combined data set; the values obtained in different years must be evaluated separately. The impact of irrigation on the content of bioactive components varied from year to year. The correlation was negative between irrigation and α-tocopherol content in 2016 and 2018 (r = –0.567 and –0.605, respectively), polyphenol content in 2016 (r = –0.668), γ-tocopherol content in 2017 (r = –0.662), while positive correlation was observed between concentration of vitamin C (r = 0.533) in 2017, lycopene content (r = 0.473) in 2018 and irrigation intensity. A weak correlation was proved between K levels and concentrations of lycopene and polyphenols in 2016 (r = 0.301 and r = 0.392, respectively).

Nutritional Composition and Bioactive Compounds in Tomatoes and Their Impact on Human Health and Disease: A Review

Tomatoes are consumed worldwide as fresh vegetables because of their high contents of essential nutrients and antioxidant-rich phytochemicals. Tomatoes contain minerals, vitamins, proteins, essential amino acids (leucine, threonine, valine, histidine, lysine, arginine), monounsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids), carotenoids (lycopene and β-carotenoids) and phytosterols (β-sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol). Lycopene is the main dietary carotenoid in tomato and tomato-based food products and lycopene consumption by humans has been reported to protect against cancer, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive function and osteoporosis. Among the phenolic compounds present in tomato, quercetin, kaempferol, naringenin, caffeic acid and lutein are the most common. Many of these compounds have antioxidant activities and are effective in protecting the human body against various oxidative stress-related diseases. Dietary tomatoes increase the body's level of antioxidants, trapping reactive oxygen species and reducing oxidative damage to important biomolecules such as membrane lipids, enzymatic proteins and DNA, thereby ameliorating oxidative stress. We reviewed the nutritional and phytochemical compositions of tomatoes. In addition, the impacts of the constituents on human health, particularly in ameliorating some degenerative diseases, are also discussed.