Flavonoid glycosides from the fruits of Embelia ribes and their anti-oxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities

New insights of flavonoid glycosidases and their application in food industry

Flavonoids are significant natural nutraceuticals and a key component of dietary supplements. Given that flavonoid glycosides are more plentiful in nature and less beneficial to human health than their aglycone counterparts, they serve as potential precursors for flavonoid production. Glycosidases have shown substantial potential within the food industry, particularly in enhancing the organoleptic properties of juice, wine, and tea. When applied to food resources, glycosidases can amplify their biological activities, thereby improving the performance of functional foods. This review provides up-to-date information on flavonoid glycosidases, including their catalytic mechanisms, biochemical properties, and natural sources, as well as their applications within the food industry. The use of flavonoid glycosidases in improving food quality is also reviewed.

The Spectrum of Pharmacological Actions of Syringetin and Its Natural Derivatives-A Summary Review

Mono- and poly-O-methylated flavonols and their glycoside derivatives belong to the group of natural plant polyphenols with a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities. These compounds are known for their antioxidant, antimutagenic, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, and antilipogenic properties. Additionally, they inhibit carcinogenesis and cancer development. Having in mind the multidirectional biological activity of methylated flavonols, we would like to support further study on their health-promoting activities; in this review we summarized the most recent reports on syringetin and some of its structural analogues: laricitrin, ayanin, and isorhamnetin. Natural sources and biological potential of these substances were described based on the latest research papers.

Synthesis of activity evaluation of flavonoid derivatives as ɑ-glucosidase inhibitors

Six flavonoid derivatives were synthesized and tested for anti-α-glucosidase activities. All derivatives were confirmed using NMR and HRMS and exhibited excellent inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase. Derivative four exhibited the highest anti-α-glucosidase activity (IC50: 15.71 ± 0.21 μM). Structure-activity relationship results showed that bromine group would be the most beneficial group to anti-α-glucosidase activity. Inhibitory mechnism and inhibition kinetics results showed derivative four was a reversible and mixed-type inhibitor. Molecular docking revealed that derivative four was tightly bind to the amino acid residues of active pocket of α-glucosidase and formed hydrogen bond, π-π stacking, and Pi-Donor hydrogen with α-glucosidase. Moreover, the physicochemical parameters of all derivatives were assessed using SwissADME software. This results also showed that the hybridization of flavonoid and phenylpropionic acid would be a useful strategy for the development of α-glucosidase inhibitors.

Reviewing the Traditional/Modern Uses, Phytochemistry, Essential Oils/Extracts and Pharmacology of Embelia ribes Burm

Objectives: Embelia ribes Burm. (E. ribes, Myrsinaceae), also known as Vidanga in Ayurveda, has been shown to have significant therapeutic benefits on several disorders, and its main chemical bioactive constituent, embelin, has the therapeutic potential to be converted into innovative drugs, which is why it has recently received considerable interest. In the present work, we provide a higher level of comprehension, awareness, and extensive knowledge of the traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacological characteristics of E. ribes throughout the last several decades (February 1965 to June 2021), emphasizing the importance of the study of essential oils extracted from E. ribes, which show a major potential for exerting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Materials and Methods: Google Scholar, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scifinder, Scopus, and ScienceDirect were used to conduct a thorough literature search. Results: E. ribes is high in essential oils, alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, and phenolics, all of which have medicinal benefits. The essential oils/extracts and isolated chemical constituents exhibited antioxidant activity, wound healing, antidiabetic, central nervous system (CNS)-related disease, antiviral, antiobesity, cardioprotective, antifungal, antibacterial, and antifertility activity, among other promising pharmacological effects. Conclusion: The translation between traditional applications and modern medicine may make E. ribes a promising target for the implementation of innovative medication. To investigate the efficacy and safety profile of E. ribes, further high-quality preclinical studies using advanced methodologies are required.

Embelin: an HPTLC method for quantitative estimation in five species of genus Embelia Burm. f

Background

The plants belonging to the genus Embelia, a significant tropical genus with many biological activities, are benefiting because of their robust medicinal properties. Embelin is one of the principal bioactive molecules responsible for the medicinal properties of the genus Embelia. The quantification of the embelin compound among different species in this genus has not yet been investigated, so still uncertain which species and which part should be accepted. The present study was intended to establish a speedy and precise high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for quantitative study of embelin in various plant parts of Embelia ribes, Embelia tsjeriam-cottam, Embelia basaal, Embelia adnata, and Embelia gardneriana.

Result

This research confirmed the method as per the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. We achieved separation on silica gel 60 F254 HPTLC plates using propanol: butanol: ammonia (7:3:7 v/v/v) as a mobile phase. Densitometry scanning performed for detection and quantification at 254 nm and 366 nm. Among the species investigated, the highest amount of embelin was found in E. ribes fruits.

Conclusion

Embelia ribes fruits are the best source of embelin. Embelin was first described in the endemic species, such as E. adnata and E. gardneriana. The method illustrated in this research may be applied for quantification of embelin and fingerprint analysis of other species within Embelia genus or described genera and chemo taxonomic studies of this genus.

Synthesis, Characterization and Biochemical Analysis of Azo-metal complex of Embelin with Second Group Transition Metals

Aim:

The objective of the work is to synthesize, characterize and biochemically analyze Azo-metal complex of Embelin with Second Group Transition Metals.

Background:

The genus Embelia is a well-known herb and has considerable importance in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry. The plant species has been used considerably as a traditional medicine in Ayurveda, old Chinese medicine, and Siddha for a long time. The dried berries of this plant, called “vidanga” have boundless biochemical properties, like anthelmintic, carminative, antibacterial, antibiotic, and hypoglycemic.

Objective:

Embelin, metal-embelin (EM) and azo-metal-embelin (EAM) complexes were synthesized, analysed for antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

Method:

The metal-embelin (EM) complexes and metal-azo-embelin (EAM) complexes were synthesized by pure mixing of embelin, azo-embelin and metals viz, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag and Cd. The embelin and EAN complexes were analysed by various spectroscopic techniques, viz, UV-visible, FTIR, NMR, TGA, MS and CHNS analysis.

Results:

The results authenticate the reaction between metals, and bidentate embelin occurs via quinonic and enolic oxygen atoms as [M (Emb) 2 (H2O)] 2H2O and [M (Emb-Azo)2 (H2O)2]. The antioxidant results show that the complexation between metals and compounds decreases the antioxidant potential significantly. In contrast, the antimicrobial activity shows that cobalt and nickel embelin complexes showed more than 74% growth inhibition against the concerned microbes in comparison to embelin alone.

Conclusion:

As the results are taken into consideration, the scavenging property of embelin shows the reduction in power upon complexation with metals and azo-metals. Also, embelin and its associates as metal-embelin and metal-azo-embelin can be used as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents significantly.