Low Doses of Gamma Irradiation Stimulate Synthesis of Bioactive Compounds with Antioxidant Activity in Fomes fomentarius Living Mycelium

Physiological and biochemical markers of gamma irradiated white radish (Raphanus sativus)

PURPOSE

A field experiment was performed to investigate the impact of low-dose gamma rays on growth parameters and bioactive compounds of white radish.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

White radish seeds were irradiated by gamma rays dose levels (10, 20, 40 and 80 Gy) beside control. Physiological and biochemical markers were done to follow the effect of gamma rays on white radish.

RESULTS

The results revealed that gamma rays increased growth parameters with increasing irradiation to a dose of 40 Gy. The maximum increments were found at 14.64 (cm), 48.30 (cm), 20.84 (cm) and 5.51 (cm) for leaves number, leaves length, roots length and roots diameter, respectively, with a dose of 40 Gy. By increasing the irradiation dose to 80 Gy, the results showed reduction in all parameters studied. Ascorbic acid gave the maximum increase with the dose of 40 Gy, while phenols, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase showed the highest increase with the dose 80 of Gy in radish leaves. Similar trend was observed for the radish roots. Furthermore, the protein and isoenzyme profiles of peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase changed and induced alteration by different irradiation dose levels.

CONCLUSION

Gamma rays can be a useful tool for increasing the growth and biochemical content of white radish plants and perhaps other food crops.

Lyophilized Progenitor Tenocyte Extracts: Sterilizable Cytotherapeutic Derivatives with Antioxidant Properties and Hyaluronan Hydrogel Functionalization Effects

Cultured primary progenitor tenocytes in lyophilized form were previously shown to possess intrinsic antioxidant properties and hyaluronan-based hydrogel viscosity-modulating effects in vitro. The aim of this study was to prepare and functionally characterize several stabilized (lyophilized) cell-free progenitor tenocyte extracts for inclusion in cytotherapy-inspired complex injectable preparations. Fractionation and sterilization methods were included in specific biotechnological manufacturing workflows of such extracts. Comparative and functional-oriented characterizations of the various extracts were performed using several orthogonal descriptive, colorimetric, rheological, mechanical, and proteomic readouts. Specifically, an optimal sugar-based (saccharose/dextran) excipient formula was retained to produce sterilizable cytotherapeutic derivatives with appropriate functions. It was shown that extracts containing soluble cell-derived fractions possessed conserved and significant antioxidant properties (TEAC) compared to the freshly harvested cellular starting materials. Progenitor tenocyte extracts submitted to sub-micron filtration (0.22 µm) and 60Co gamma irradiation terminal sterilization (5−50 kGy) were shown to retain significant antioxidant properties and hyaluronan-based hydrogel viscosity modulating effects. Hydrogel combination products displayed important efficacy-related characteristics (friction modulation, tendon bioadhesivity) with significant (p < 0.05) protective effects of the cellular extracts in oxidative environments. Overall, the present study sets forth robust control methodologies (antioxidant assays, H2O2-challenged rheological setups) for stabilized cell-free progenitor tenocyte extracts. Importantly, it was shown that highly sensitive phases of cytotherapeutic derivative manufacturing process development (purification, terminal sterilization) allowed for the conservation of critical biological extract attributes.

An Assessment of the Type of Substrate and LEDs’ Irradiation Influence on Garden Cress Sprouts (Lepidium sativum L.)

In the current context of climate change and life on Earth, the purpose of this paper is to establish the effects of different light treatments (i.e., LEDs—white, blue, red, and sunlight) and two different substrates (i.e., gauze and biochar) on garden cress sprouts. In this respect, sprouts’ fresh weight and fresh length were statistically analyzed. In the case of the fresh weight, the results indicated that the most suitable substrate for better growth is biochar under all of the light treatments, with a 5.78% weight increase. On the other hand, the highest particular value regarding weight was obtained for gauze substrate under sunlight treatment, with a 4.08% weight increase compared to biochar substrate and sunlight treatment. Furthermore, red LED and biochar used as substrate improved the development of short radicles, with a decrease in length of 94.80% compared to gauze substrate and red LED treatment. The effect of LED irradiation was completed with biochemical analyses concerning polyphenols, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity. Results suggest that blue LED is the most suitable source of artificial light to promote the accumulation of secondary metabolites, with a 9.88% higher concentration of flavonoids compared to the other light variants (2.22 ± 0.40 mg rutin equivalent/g fresh weight) and 37.98% higher concentration of polyphenols compared to the other light variants (2.76 ± 1.05 mg gallic acid equivalent/g fresh weight) in garden cress sprouts. The illumination with white LED produced the highest effect concerning antioxidant activity, with a 37.60% higher free radical scavenging activity.

Bioactive Compounds from Natural Products: Separation, Characterization, and Applications

The study of bioactive compounds represents a new and innovative section of biotechnology, with applications to the well-being of humans [...]