Flos Sophorae Immaturus: Phytochemistry, bioactivities, and its potential applications

Medicine and food homology substances: A review of bioactive ingredients, pharmacological effects and applications

In recent years, the idea of medicine and food homology (MFH), which highlights the intimate relationship between food and medicine, has gained international recognition. Specifically, MFH substances have the ability to serve as both food and medicine. Many foods have been reported to have good nutritional and medical values, not only for satiety but also for nourishing the body and treating diseases pharmacologically. As modern scientific research has progressed, the concept of MFH has been emphasized and developed in a way that has never been seen before. Therefore, in this paper, we reviewed the development history of MFH substances, summarized some typical bioactive ingredients, and recognized pharmacological effects. In addition, we further discussed the application of MFH substances in the food field, with the goal of providing ideas and references for the research and development of MFH in the food industry as well as the progress of related industries.

Potassium chloride-assisted heat treatment enhances the de-glycosylation efficiency and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity of Sophora japonica L. flavonoids

Salt-assisted heat treatment is considered an effective way to enhance the bioactivities of flavonoids in Flos Sophorae Immaturus tea (FSIt). Herein, sodium chloride (NaCl)- and potassium chloride (KCl)-assisted heat treatment was employed to process FSIt, the components, xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity, and degradation or conversion kinetics of FSIt flavonoids were recorded. Results showed that KCl-assisted heat treatment significantly increased the XO inhibition rate of FSIt from 28.05 % to 69.50 %. The de-glycosylation of flavonoids was the crucial reason for enhancing XO inhibitory activity. Notably, KCl exhibited a better catalytic effect on the de-glycosylation reaction than NaCl. Meanwhile, conversion kinetics showed that the generation rate of quercetin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin reached the maximum at 180, 160, 160 °C, respectively. Furthermore, the established artificial neural network model could accurately predict the changes of FSIt flavonoids during salt-assisted heat treatment. Thus, KCl can be used as a valuable food processing adjuvant to enhance the bioactivities of food materials.

Polysaccharides from Flos Sophorae Immaturus ameliorates insulin resistance in IR-HepG2 cells by co-regulating signaling pathways of AMPK and IRS-1/PI3K/AKT

Four polysaccharides, named FSIP, FSIP-I, FSIP-II and FSIP-III, were isolated from Flos Sophorae Immaturus. Structure characterization revealed that FSIP-I and FSIP-II were types of AG-II-like polysaccharides while FSIP-III featured a RG-II-like structure with high content of GalpA. In vitro experiments showed that FSIPs upregulated HK and PK activities in glycolysis while downregulated G-6-Pase activities in gluconeogenesis. This increased glucose utilization while decreased the glucose synthesis in IR-HepG2 cells, potentially reducing elevated blood sugar levels induced by excess insulin. In terms of antioxidant system, FSIPs decreased the levels of ROS and MDA, and increased the activities of SOD and CAT, enhancing antioxidant capacity to counteract damage caused by insulin resistance in IR-HepG2 cells. To further explore the mechanism, related genes expressions were analyzed. The results found that FSIPs ameliorated insulin resistance via regulating AMPK and IRS-1/PI3K/AKT signal pathways. In the case of AMPK, glucose can be channeled into oxidative (catabolic) pathway, whereas, in the case of IRS-1/PI3K/AKT, glucose can be stored as glycogen (anabolic). This co-modulation could ameliorate insulin resistance by upregulating the glycolysis and repressing the gluconeogenesis in catabolism, and upregulating the glycogen synthesis in anabolism. Additionally, FSIP-III exhibited better anti-insulin resistance activity, attributed to its high content of GalpA.

Probiotic-fermented edible herbs as functional foods: A review of current status, challenges, and strategies

Recently, consumers have become increasingly interested in natural, health-promoting, and chronic disease-preventing medicine and food homology (MFH). There has been accumulating evidence that many herbal medicines, including MFH, are biologically active due to their biotransformation through the intestinal microbiota. The emphasis of scientific investigation has moved from the functionally active role of MFH to the more subtle role of biotransformation of the active ingredients in probiotic-fermented MFH and their health benefits. This review provides an overview of the current status of research on probiotic-fermented MFH. Probiotics degrade toxins and anti-nutritional factors in MFH, improve the flavor of MFH, and increase its bioactive components through their transformative effects. Moreover, MFH can provide a material base for the growth of probiotics and promote the production of their metabolites. In addition, the health benefits of probiotic-fermented MFH in recent years, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-neurodegenerative, skin-protective, and gut microbiome-modulating effects, are summarized, and the health risks associated with them are also described. Finally, the future development of probiotic-fermented MFH is prospected in combination with modern development technologies, such as high-throughput screening technology, synthetic biology technology, and database construction technology. Overall, probiotic-fermented MFH has the potential to be used in functional food for preventing and improving people's health. In the future, personalized functional foods can be expected based on synthetic biology technology and a database on the functional role of probiotic-fermented MFH.

In Vitro Inhibitory Effects of Polyphenols from Flos sophorae immaturus on α-Glucosidase: Action Mechanism, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry and Molecular Docking Analysis

Flos sophorae immaturus (FSI) is considered to be a natural hypoglycemic product with the potential for a-glucosidase inhibitory activity. In this work, the polyphenols with α-glucosidase inhibition in FSI were identified, and then their potential mechanisms were investigated by omission assay, interaction, type of inhibition, fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism, isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular docking analysis. The results showed that five polyphenols, namely rutin, quercetin, hyperoside, quercitrin and kaempferol, were identified as a-glucosidase inhibitors with IC₅₀ values of 57, 0.21, 12.77, 25.37 and 0.55 mg/mL, respectively. Quercetin plays a considerable a-glucosidase inhibition role in FSI. Furthermore, the combination of quercetin with kaempferol generated a subadditive effect, and the combination of quercetin with rutin, hyperoside and quercitrin exhibited an interference effect. The results of inhibition kinetics, fluorescence spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular docking analysis showed that the five polyphenols were mixed inhibitors and significantly burst the fluorescence intensity of α-glucosidase. Moreover, the isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular docking analysis showed that the binding to α-glucosidase was a spontaneous heat-trapping process, with hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding being the key drivers. In general, rutin, quercetin, hyperoside, quercitrin and kaempferol in FSI are potential α-glucosidase inhibitors.

Influence of Ultrasound-Assisted Vacuum Drying on Physicochemical Characteristics, Antioxidant Activity, and α-Glucosidase Inhibition Activity of Flos Sophorae Immaturus

Flos Sophorae Immaturus (FSI) contains a large number of bioactive substances with antioxidant and hypoglycaemic activity. However, a feasible drying process plays an important role in the retention of its biological activity. The present work investigated the effects of ultrasound-assisted vacuum drying (UAVD) on FSI samples in terms of drying time, colour, microstructure, and total flavonoid content (TFC). Meanwhile, the antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase inhibition activity were also evaluated. The results show that the drying time of UVAD samples was decreased by 40% compared to that of the single vacuum-dried (VD) samples (600 W for 10 min). The cellular porous structures of FSI tissue were formed by UAVD, which promoted the migration of water from the inside to the outside. Furthermore, samples treated by UAVD exhibited better antioxidant activities and α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition capacities, with DPPH (81.86%), ABTS (88.61%), FRAP (83.05%), α-glucosidase inhibition capacity (89%), α-amylase (85%), drying time (3 h), and total aberration (ΔE) (1.63) being the highest characteristic traits. In this condition, the highest levels of total flavonoid content (TFC), rutin, quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, and genistein were obtained with 266.94, 239.46, 35.56, 8.54, 10.37, and 5.64 mg/g DW, respectively. The results confirm that UAVD is a novel method that significantly reduced the VD time and promoted the release of the bioactive substances of FSI.

Nutritional Attributes and Phenolic Composition of Flower and Bud of Sophora japonica L. and Robinia pseudoacacia L

Sophora japonica L. (SJL) and Robinia pseudoacacia L. (RPL) are widely cultivated in China. However, the utilization of their main by-products are limited due to a lack of comprehensive nutritional attributes. Herein, the proximate composition, mineral elements, fatty acids, amino acids, monosaccharides, and phenolics were analyzed to investigate the nutritional attributes of SJL and RPL. Dietary fiber was the main ingredient in SJL and RPL, followed by protein and lipids. The content of Fe in SJL and RPL was highest, especially in flowers of SJL, reaching about 1179.51 mg/kg. The total unsaturated fatty acids accounted for 89.67% of the bud of SJL. Meanwhile, the essential amino acids contents of the flower and bud of SJL and RPL accounted for 35.95-40.59% of total amino acids. The flower of SJL (373.75 mg/g) exhibited the most abundant monosaccharides. Meanwhile, the total phenolics and flavonoid contents in the buds of SJL and RPL were significantly higher than that of the flower, implying the buds possessed better biological activity. Moreover, the bud of SJL possessed the most abundant phenolics. The results provided a reference for the development of functional food derived from SJL and RPL.

The Chemical Profiling and Anticancer Potential of Functional Polysaccharides from Flos Sophorae Immaturus

Polysaccharides from Flos Sophorae Immaturus (FSI) are one of its pharmacological compounds that can perform effective activities. Aiming to extract the most effective polysaccharides against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the polysaccharides were separated from FSI through ultrasonic microwave extraction, and the first comparison was carried out on the characterization of the structure and its cytotoxic properties on HCC SMMC 7721 cells of undeproteinized purified polysaccharides (PFSI-1) and papain-deproteinized polysaccharides (PFSI-2) from FSI. The findings indicated that PFSI-1 and PFSI-2 had characteristic absorption peaks of polysaccharides; PFSI-1 contained three monosaccharides and PFSI-2 contained ten; and SEM, AFM, and NMR were consistent with the verification of IR polysaccharide characteristics, suggesting probable additional latent activities. The pharmacotoxic effects of both PFSI-1 and PFSI-2 on SMMC 7721 cells (p < 0.05), attenuated the migration ability of SMMC 7721 cells (p < 0.05) and promoted apoptosis (p < 0.05), with an increase in G0/G1-phase cells and decrease in S-phase cells in the PFSI-1 as well as a decrease in G0/G1-phase cells, increase in S-phase cells, and decrease in apoptosis in the PFSI-2 (p < 0.05). The significant cytotoxic effect of PFSI-2 on SMMC 7721 cells (p < 0.05) and its protective effect on human hepatic L02 cells (HL-7702) at low concentrations (p > 0.05) could indicate its potential as a new drug for the treatment of HCC.

Application of Response Surface Methodologies to Optimize High-Added Value Products Developments: Cosmetic Formulations as an Example

In recent years, green and advanced extraction technologies have gained great interest to revalue several food by-products. This by-product revaluation is currently allowing the development of high value-added products, such as functional foods, nutraceuticals, or cosmeceuticals. Among the high valued-added products, cosmeceuticals are innovative cosmetic formulations which have incorporated bioactive natural ingredients providing multiple benefits on skin health. In this context, the extraction techniques are an important step during the elaboration of cosmetic ingredients since they represent the beginning of the formulation process and have a great influence on the quality of the final product. Indeed, these technologies are claimed as efficient methods to retrieve bioactive compounds from natural sources in terms of resource utilization, environmental impact, and costs. This review offers a summary of the most-used green and advanced methodologies to obtain cosmetic ingredients with the maximum performance of these extraction techniques. Response surface methodologies may be applied to enhance the optimization processes, providing a simple way to understand the extraction process as well as to reach the optimum conditions to increase the extraction efficiency. The combination of both assumes an economic improvement to attain high value products that may be applied to develop functional ingredients for cosmetics purposes.