Potential Application of Tetrapleura tetraptera and Hibiscus sabdariffa (Malvaceae) in Designing Highly Flavoured and Bioactive Pito with Functional Properties

Nutritive value, biological properties, health benefits and applications of Tetrapleura tetraptera: An updated comprehensive review

Due to the health benefits that medicinal plants present, they are applied in traditional healthcare in developing and developed countries alike. Tetrapleura tetraptera, a flowering plant mostly found in the western part of Africa has an essential chemical composition that gives it nutritive value and medicinal capacities. This review aims to highlight the nutritional attributes, biological properties, health benefits, and applications of T. tetraptera. The fruit of the plant has been revealed to possess about 58.48-63. 86% carbohydrates, 251.22-288.62 mg/g potassium, 182.11-200.02 mg/g calcium, 322.00-342.00 mg/g manganese, and 0.02-4.69 mg/g vitamins. Also, active phytochemical compounds including phenols (3.51 ± 0.03 mgGAE/g), flavonoids (0.87 ± 0.03 mgQE/g), saponins (4.27 ± 0.03 mgDE/g), tannins (23.87 ± 0.44 mg/100 g), and alkaloids (5.03 ± 0.15% w/w) have been discovered in the fruit of T. tetraptera. The plant's abundant phytochemicals account for its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-parasitic, and anti-proliferative activities. These biological properties in turn translate to health benefits including lower blood pressure, enhanced immune system, malaria treatment, diabetes and hypertension management, and cancer prevention. The health-promoting assets of T. tetraptera underscore its applications in beverage production, food preservation and flavoring, feed supplementation, and pharmaceutical formulations. The data gathered in this piece is crucial for industrial food processing and the creation of potent pharmaceutical products and functional foods with superior health attributes.

Production of herbal toothpaste: Physical, organoleptic, phyto-compound, and antimicrobial properties

Objective

To investigate the possibility of producing dental antimicrobial toothpaste from Allium cepa L skin chaff, Azadirachta indica A. seed, and Tetrapleura tetraptera pod extracts.

Methods

Ethanolic extracts of the three plant materials were obtained. These were subjected to phytochemical and GC-MS analyses. The different extract combinations were used for the production of various toothpaste. The toothpaste's physical, organoleptic, and antimicrobial properties were determined.

Results

From the phytochemical analysis, Allium cepa has the highest phenolic (1.20 mgGAE/g), saponin (14.80%), tannin (0.11 mg/g) and DPPH (82.80%), Tetrapleura tetraptera has the highest flavonoid (0.33 mg RE/g), and alkaloid (20.50 mg/g) while, Azadirachta indica has the highest oxalate (77.50 mg/g). The GC-MS revealed significant chemical components of Allium cepa as 1-heptatriacotanol, germacra-1(10),4,11(13)-trien-12-oic acid, 6-alpha-hydroxy-,gamma-lactone, (E,E)-, 11H-Indeno [1,2b] quinoxaline, 2-methyl- while Azadirachta indica have butyl benzoate, benzoic acid, hexyl ester, hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester and Tetrapleura tetraptera have the following 15-hydroxypentadecanoic acid, cis-9-hexadecenal, and 11,13-dimethyl-12-tetradecen-1-ol acetate. All the produced toothpaste has a brown colour and a pleasant smell, with pH from 7.30 to 8.10 and foamability from 19.23% of stand-alone toothpaste to 44.44% of Allium cepa-based. Amongst the produced toothpaste Allium cepa-based toothpaste has the best antimicrobial activities against the tested bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca) and fungi (Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis). The stand-alone toothpaste has the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration of 1.25 mg/mL against bacteria and fungi.

Clinical significance

The study provides information on the production of human health-friendly dental antimicrobial toothpaste from plant materials.

Phenolic Compounds and Functional Beverages

The rise in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) over the last few years has promoted the need to afford consumers with accurate health data on food and beverage products as part of their right to health [...]

Phytochemicals and Amino Acids Profiles of Selected sub-Saharan African Medicinal Plants' Parts Used for Cardiovascular Diseases' Treatment

For years, the focus on the lipid-atherosclerosis relationship has limited the consideration of the possible contribution of other key dietary components, such as amino acids (AAs), to cardiovascular disease (CVD) development. Notwithstanding, the potential of plant-based diets, some AAs and phytochemicals to reduce CVDs' risk has been reported. Therefore, in this study, the phytochemical and AA profiles of different medicinal plants' (MPs) parts used for CVDs' treatment in sub-Saharan Africa were investigated. Fourier-transform infrared analysis confirmed the presence of hydroxyl, amino and other bioactive compounds' functional groups in the samples. In most of them, glutamic and aspartic acids were the most abundant AAs, while lysine was the most limiting. P. biglobosa leaf, had the richest total branched-chain AAs (BCAAs) level, followed by A. cepa bulb. However, A. cepa bulb had the highest total AAs content and an encouraging nutraceutical use for adults based on its amino acid score. Principal component analysis revealed no sharp distinction between the AAs composition of MPs that have found food applications and those only used medicinally. Overall, the presence of medicinally important phytochemicals and AAs levels in the selected MPs' parts support their use for CVDs treatment as they might not add to the AAs (e.g., the BCAAs) burden in the human body.

Maize and Sorghum as Raw Materials for Brewing, a Review

Brewing is among the oldest biotechnological processes, in which barley malt and—to a lesser extent—wheat malt are used as conventional raw materials. Worldwide, 85–90% of beer production is now produced with adjuvants, with wide variations on different continents. This review proposes the use of two other cereals as raw materials in the manufacture of beer, corn and sorghum, highlighting the advantages it recommends in this regard and the disadvantages, so that they are removed in technological practice. The use of these cereals as adjuvants in brewing has been known for a long time. Recently, research has intensified regarding the use of these cereals (including in the malted form) to obtain new assortments of beer from 100% corn malt or 100% sorghum malt. There is also great interest in obtaining gluten-free beer assortments, new nonalcoholic or low-alcohol beer assortments, and beers with an increased shelf life, by complying with current food safety regulations, under which maize and sorghum can be used in manufacturing recipes.

Ginger Beer: An Overview of Health Benefits and Recent Developments

Since time immemorial, ginger has been widely used as a food spice, providing aromatic odor and pungent taste, and as a medicinal plant, with various therapeutic effects such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic, among others. It has long been an integral constituent of most herbal medicines in Africa, China and India. Its medicinal properties are largely attributed to its outstanding amount of phenolics which include gingerols, paradols, zingerones, and many others. With consumer preference gradually and remarkably shifting from high-calorie towards low-calorie and functional beverages, the demand for ginger beer is flourishing at a faster rate. Currently, the ginger beer market is dominated by the United States. The demand for ginger beer is, however, debilitated by using artificial ingredients. Nonetheless, the use of natural ginger extract enriches beer with putative bioactive phytoconstituents such as shagaol, gingerone, zingerone, ginger flavonoids and essential oils, as well as essential nutritional components including proteins, vitamins and minerals, to promote general wellbeing of consumer. This paper presents an overview of the phytoconstituents of ginger as well as the overall biological activities they confer to the consumer. In addition, the market trend as well as the production technology of ginger beer using natural ginger extract is described here.