Nutritional Value and Antimicrobial Activity of Pittosporum angustifolium (Gumby Gumby), an Australian Indigenous Plant

Comparative and phylogenetic analysis of the complete chloroplast genomes of ten Pittosporum species from East Asia

Pittosporum (Pittosporaceae) is famous as the ornamental and medical values, which is distributed tropical and subtropical regions of Eastern Hemisphere. The few phylogenetic studies have included samples from the Pacific Island, but the phylogenetic relationships of Asian species has not been studied. Here, the complete chloroplast (cp) genomes of ten Pittosporum species from East Asia were first sequenced and compared with those of the published species of this genus. Our results indicated that cp genomes of these species had a typical and conserved quadripartite structure. 131 genes were identical in order and orientation and no changes of inverted repeat (IR) occurred. However, the comparative analysis of cp genomes suggested that sequence divergence mainly appeared in non-coding or intergenic regions, in which several divergence hotspots were identified. By contrast, protein-coding genes showed the lowest variance under strong purifying selection. Phylogenetic analysis based on the cp genome sequences showed that the tested Pittosporum species were clustered into two major clades, in which the Asian species formed Clade I and the remaining species from Australia and New Zealand formed Clade II with high support values, which was consistent with the results of ITS data with low support values. These results suggested that cp genome is a robust phylogenetic indicator for deep nodes in the phylogeny of Pittosporum. Meanwhile, these results will provide the valuable information to better understand the phylogeny and biogeography of Pittosporum.

Bioassay-Guided Fractionation of Pittosporum angustifolium and Terminalia ferdinandiana with Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy Exploratory Study

Bioprospecting native Australian plants offers the potential discovery of latent and novel bioactive compounds. The promising cytotoxic and antibacterial activity of methanolic extracts of Pittosporum angustifolium and Terminalia ferdinandiana led to further fractionation and isolation using our laboratory's bioassay-guided fractionation protocol. Hence, the aim of this study was to further evaluate the bioactivity of the fractions and subfractions and characterize bioactive compounds using liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography MS (GC-MS). Compounds tentatively identified in P. angustifolium Fraction 1 using LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS were chlorogenic acid and/or neochlorogenic acid, bergapten, berberine, 8'-epitanegool and rosmarinic acid. GC-MS analysis data showed the presence of around 100 compounds, mainly comprising carboxylic acids, sugars, sugar alcohols, amino acids and monoalkylglycerols. Furthermore, the fractions obtained from T. ferdinandiana flesh extracts showed no cytotoxicity, except against HT29 cell lines, and only Fraction 2 exhibited some antibacterial activity. The reduced bioactivity observed in the T. ferdinandiana fractions could be attributed to the potential loss of synergy as compounds become separated within the fractions. As a result, the further fractionation and separation of compounds in these samples was not pursued. However, additional dose-dependent studies are warranted to validate the bioactivity of T. ferdinandiana flesh fractions, particularly since this is an understudied species. Moreover, LC-MS/GC-MS studies confirm the presence of bioactive compounds in P. angustifolium Fraction 1/subfractions, which helps to explain the significant acute anticancer activity of this plant. The screening process designed in this study has the potential to pave the way for developing scientifically validated phytochemical/bioactivity information on ethnomedicinal plants, thereby facilitating further bioprospecting efforts and supporting the discovery of novel drugs in modern medicine.

Further sesquiterpenoids from Pittosporum qinlingense and their anti-inflammatory activity

Four new sesquiterpenoid glycoside esters, Pitqinlingoside N-Q (1-4), together with eleven known metabolites (5-15), were isolated from 95% EtOH extract of the twigs, fruits and leaves of P. qinlingense. The structures of new compounds were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses, including IR, UV, HRMS, NMR and electronic circular dichroism spectra. Unusal glycoside esters are characterized by the presence of polyacylated β-D-fucopyranosyl and β-d-glucopyranosyl units. Pitqinlingoside N (1), O (2), P (3), boscialin (5) and arvoside C (6) showed significant nitric oxide production inhibition in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV-2 microglial cells with IC₅₀ values ranging from 1.58 to 28.74 μM. Structure-activity relationships of the isolated compounds are discussed.

Estimating the potential of wild foods for nutrition and food security planning in tropical areas: Experimentation with a method in Northwestern Colombia

Wild foods contribute to the food security of multiple communities in tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America. However, wild foods are not regularly considered in the planning of strategies for food and nutrition security mainly due to the lack of technical and/or scientific knowledge so that they can be considered suitable for human consumption. This paper proposes a multidisciplinary method that estimates the potential of wild foods as alternative resources when planning interventions in favour of food and nutrition security in tropical forest territories. When designing the method, four dimensions were identified in science, technology and innovation (STI) that define this potential as well as ten assessment criteria. The wild foods chosen for applying the method were Alibertia patinoi (a fruit commonly known as Borojó) and Proechimys semispinosus (Mouse of thorns), which are two of the main wild foods traditionally used by human communities in a tropical forest territory in the northwest of Colombia. In both cases, although there are significant advances in STI, compliance with some criteria is still required to regard them as viable alternatives for nutrition and food security within this territory. This research is useful for promoting the inclusion of wild food in food security programmes for communities where this food is already included in their traditional pattern of consumption and identifies the progress needed in STI to achieve this purpose. It may also promote the early recognition of possible traditional and cultural practices with high risk of transmission of pathogenic elements by the handling and/or inadequate consumption of wild foods. This early recognition could contribute to the prevention of diseases of wild animal origin, including those of rapid global spread.

The Framework for Responsible Research With Australian Native Plant Foods: A Food Chemist's Perspective

Australia is a rich source of biodiverse native plants that are mostly unstudied by western food science despite many of them being ethnofoods of Australian Indigenous people. Finding and understanding the relevant policy and legal requirements to scientifically assess these plants in a responsible way is a major challenge for food scientists. This work aims to give an overview of what the legal and policy framework is in relation to food chemistry on Australian native plant foods, to clarify the relationships between the guidelines, laws, policies and ethics and to discuss some of the challenges they present in food chemistry. This work provides the framework of Indigenous rights, international treaties, federal and state laws and ethical guidelines including key legislation and guidelines. It discusses the specific areas that are applicable to food chemistry: the collection of plant foods, the analysis of the samples and working with Indigenous communities. This brief perspective presents a framework that can be utilized by food chemists when developing responsible research involving plant foods native to northern Australia and can help them understand some of the complexity of working in this research area.

The effect of extractive lacto-fermentation on the bioactivity and natural products content of Pittosporum angustifolium (gumbi gumbi) extracts

Pittosporum angustifolium, known as gumbi gumbi, is a native Australian plant, which has traditionally been used as an Aboriginal medicine. This study investigates the effect of different solvents and extractive fermentation on the content and natural products composition of Pittosporum angustifolium extracts, and compares their antioxidant activity, in vitro α-amylase inhibition, and anti-inflammatory properties. Anti-inflammatory activity of the extracts was determined by measuring the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production. Extracts were characterised with FTIR-ATR spectroscopy, and screened for antioxidant activities and α-amylase inhibitory activity via High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC)-Effect-directed analysis (EDA) with direct bioautography. HPTLC combined with chemical derivatization and bioassays was used for EDA screening. The results show that lactic acid fermentation of gumbi gumbi leaves boosts the antioxidant activity in extracts by increasing the total phenolic content, but does not affect (increase or decrease) α-amylase inhibitory activity or nitrogen scavenging/anti-inflammatory activity. Analysis of the ATR-FTIR spectra from the band at R_F = 0.85 that inhibits α-amylase, suggests that fatty acid esters are responsible for the enzyme inhibition; both saturated fatty acid esters in unfermented extracts and unsaturated fatty acid esters in fermented extracts. The ATR-FTIR spectra of the polyphenolics in fermented extracts (R_F = 0.15-0.20) suggests the presence of soluble lignin fragments (i.e. lignins depolymerized into monomers and oligomers during the fermentation process).

Tecticornia sp. (Samphire)-A Promising Underutilized Australian Indigenous Edible Halophyte

Salinization is gradually increasing over cropping soils and is challenging Governments in many countries, including Australia. There has been a high demand for utilizing arid and semi-arid land for sustainable food production. Currently, the main crops and forage plants are salt sensitive, while halophytes can tolerate a wide range of salinities. Samphire is an Australian indigenous edible halophyte and belongs to the genus Tecticornia. It is an underutilized, succulent plant growing on arid or semi-arid land. Most samphire species have a long history of use as food, but also as non-food (fodder and medicine), among indigenous communities in Australia, while scientific information is limited on their nutritional composition and potential bioactivity. The present study reports, for the first time, the nutritional composition, bioactive compounds (phytochemicals) and antioxidant capacity of six Australian grown samphire from different locations. The results showed that celosianin II and isocelosianin II could be identified as the predominant betalains (phytochemicals) in pigmented samphire species. Proximates and fiber varied significantly (p < 0.05) between the samphire species with a highest value of fiber of 46.8 g/100 g dry weight (DW). Furthermore, samphire could be identified as a valuable source of essential minerals and trace elements, such as iron (41.5 mg/100 g DW), magnesium (1.2 g/100 g DW) and sodium (16.7 g/100 g DW). The fatty acid profile, mainly palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and α-linolenic acid, was similar among the studied species. Total phenolic content and DPPH-radical scavenging capacity were different (p < 0.05) between the six samphire samples. These initial results are very promising and indicate that Australian grown samphire may have the potential to be utilized as a functional food ingredient.