Separation and Determination of Chemopreventive Phytochemicals of Flavonoids from Brassicaceae Plants

Plant-Based Meat Analogues: Exploring Proteins, Fibers and Polyphenolic Compounds as Functional Ingredients for Future Food Solutions

As the lack of resources required to meet the demands of a growing population is increasingly evident, plant-based diets can be seen as part of the solution, also addressing ethical, environmental, and health concerns. The rise of vegetarian and vegan food regimes is a powerful catalyzer of a transition from animal-based diets to plant-based diets, which foments the need for innovation within the food industry. Vegetables and fruits are a rich source of protein, and bioactive compounds such as dietary fibres and polyphenols and can be used as technological ingredients (e.g., thickening agents, emulsifiers, or colouring agents), while providing health benefits. This review provides insight on the potential of plant-based ingredients as a source of alternative proteins, dietary fibres and antioxidant compounds, and their use for the development of food- and alternative plant-based products. The application of these ingredients on meat analogues and their impact on health, the environment and consumers' acceptance are discussed. Given the current knowledge on meat analogue production, factors like cost, production and texturization techniques, upscaling conditions, sensory attributes and nutritional safety are factors that require further development to fully achieve the full potential of plant-based meat analogues.

Adsorption and desorption characteristics of flavonoids from white tea using macroporous adsorption resin

White tea contains the highest flavonoids compared to other teas. While there have been numerous studies on the components of different tea varieties, research explicitly focusing on the flavonoid content of white tea remains scarce, making the need for a good flavonoid purification process for white tea even more important. This study compared the adsorption and desorption performance of five types of macroporous resins: D101, HP20, HPD500, DM301, and AB-8. Among the tested resins, AB-8 was selected based on its best adsorption and desorption performance to investigate the static adsorption kinetics and dynamic adsorption-desorption purification of white tea flavonoids. The optimal purification process was determined: adsorption temperature 25 °C, crude tea flavonoid extract pH 3, ethanol concentration 80 %, sample loading flow rate and eluent flow rate 1.5 BV/min, and eluent dosage 40 BV. The results indicated that the adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Under the above purification conditions, the purity of the total flavonoids in the purified white tea flavonoid increased from approximately 17.69 to 46.23 %, achieving a 2.61-fold improvement, indicating good purification results. The purified white tea flavonoid can be further used for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications.

Comparative Studies of Extracts Obtained from Brassica oleracea L. Plants at Different Stages of Growth by Isolation and Determination of Isothiocyanates: An Assessment of Chemopreventive Properties of Broccoli

The main goal of this work was to develop analytical procedures for the isolation and determination of selected isothiocyanates. As an example, particularly sulforaphane from plants of the Brassicaceae Burnett or Cruciferae Juss family. The applied methodology was mainly based on classical extraction methods and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Moreover, the effect of temperature on the release of isothiocyanates from plant cells was considered. The cytotoxic activity of the obtained plant extracts against a selected cancer cell line has also been included. The results allow evaluating the usefulness of obtained plant extracts and raw sprouts regarding their content of isothiocyanates-bioactive compounds with chemopreventive properties.

Discriminative Metabolomics Analysis and Cytotoxic Evaluation of Flowers, Leaves, and Roots Extracts of Matthiola longipetala subsp. livida

Matthiola longipetala subsp. livida is an annual herb in Brassicaceae that has received little attention despite the family's high reputation for health benefits, particularly cancer prevention. In this study, UPLC-HRMS-MS analysis was used for mapping the chemical constituents of different plant parts (i.e., flowers, leaves, and roots). Also, spectral similarity networks via the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) were employed to visualize their chemical differences and similarities. Additionally, the cytotoxic activity on HCT-116, HeLa, and HepG2 cell lines was evaluated. Throughout the current analysis, 154 compounds were annotated, with the prevalence of phenolic acids, glucosinolates, flavonol glucosides, lipids, peptides, and others. Predictably, secondary metabolites (phenolic acids, flavonoids, and glucosinolates) were predominant in flowers and leaves, while the roots were characterized by primary metabolites (peptides and fatty acids). Four diacetyl derivatives tentatively assigned as O-acetyl O-malonyl glucoside of quercetin (103), kaempferol (108 and 112), and isorhamnetin (114) were detected for the first time in nature. The flowers and leaves extracts showed significant inhibition of HeLa cell line propagation with LC50 values of 18.1 ± 0.42 and 29.6 ± 0.35 µg/mL, respectively, whereas the flowers extract inhibited HCT-116 with LC50 24.8 ± 0.45 µg/mL, compared to those of Doxorubicin (26.1 ± 0.27 and 37.6 ± 0.21 µg/mL), respectively. In conclusion, the flowers of M. longipetala are responsible for the abundance of bioactive compounds with cytotoxic properties.

Effects of different processing methods on the polyphenolic compounds profile and the antioxidant and anti-glycaemic properties of horseradish roots (Armoracia rusticana)

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) provides human organisms with various effective treatments for improving human health, and it constitutes a salubrious root used for culinary purposes. This outcome derives from the chemical composition and polyphenols content of horseradish. This study's objective was to determine individual polyphenols, total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid (TFC) contents, colour parameters, inhibition of advanced glycation end product (AGEs) formation and Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) by DPPH and ABTS of horseradish products. Phenolic acids and flavonoids were analysed by HPLC-DAD-MS method. Horseradish products were obtained by thermal treatments such as boiling, baking and sous-vide. Fresh and sous-vide samples were characterized by the most abundant TPC values, whereas TFC horseradish indicated the highest value after boiling treatment. Moreover, the highest values of antioxidant capacity in fresh horseradish roots were detected. Flavonoids presented lower concentrations than phenolic acids, while syringic acid was the most abundant phenolic compound. Horseradish, after sous-vide treatment, appeared to have a higher inhibition of AGEs formation. Thermal treatment of horseradish root increased the saturation of yellow (b*) and red (a*) colours and decreased colour brightness. Our findings indicate that horseradish products are a valuable source of polyphenols, with their profile, content, and antioxidant and anti-AGEs formation activity modulated by applied processes.

Metabolic Profiling of White and Green Radish Cultivars (Raphanus sativus)

Radish (Raphanus sativus) is a Brassica vegetable important for human nutrition and health because it is rich in diverse metabolites. Although previous studies have evaluated various metabolites, few studies have comprehensively profiled the primary and secondary metabolites in the roots of white- and green-colored radishes. Thus, this study aimed to provide information about the contents of metabolites beneficial for human health in both cultivars and to investigate the relationships between the various metabolites detected. In particular, among the 55 metabolites detected in radish roots, the levels of most amino acids and phenolic acids, vital to nutrition and health, were higher in green radish roots, while slightly higher levels of glucosinolates were observed in white radish roots—information which can be used to develop an effective strategy to promote vegetable consumption. Furthermore, glutamic acid, as a metabolic precursor of amino acids and chlorophylls, was positively correlated with other amino acids (cysteine, tryptophan, asparagine, alanine, serine, phenylalanine, valine, isoleucine, proline, leucine, beta-alanine, lysine, and GABA), and chlorophylls (chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b) detected in radish roots and phenylalanine, a metabolic precursor of phenolic compounds, were positively correlated with kaempferol, 4-hydroxybenzoate, and catechin. In addition, strong positive correlations between carbohydrates (sucrose and glucose) and phenolics were observed in this study, indicating that sucrose and glucose function as energy sources for phenolic compounds.

Separation and Quantification of Selected Sapogenins Extracted from Nettle, White Dead-Nettle, Common Soapwort and Washnut

Saponins are an important group of secondary metabolites naturally occurring in plants with important properties like: antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal. Moreover, they are widely used in the cosmetic industry and household chemistry. The sapogenins are saponin hydrolyses products, frequently used to facilitate saponin detection. In the present study, an improved methodology for isolation and separation of five sapogenins extracted from nettle (Urtica dioica L.), white dead-nettle (Lamium album L.), common soapwort (Saponaria officinalis L.) and washnut (Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn.) was developed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with an evaporative light-scattering detector (UHPLC-ELSD). Based on quantitative analysis, the highest content of hederagenin (999.1 ± 6.3 µg/g) and oleanolic acid (386.5 ± 27.7 µg/g) was found in washnut extracts. Good recoveries (71% ± 6 up to 99% ± 8) were achieved for four investigated targets, while just 22.2% ± 0.5 was obtained for the fifth one. Moreover, hederagenin and oleanolic acid of whose highest amount was detected in washnut (999.1 ± 6.3 µg/g and 386.5 ± 27.7 µg/g, respectively) were subject to another approach. Consequently, liquid chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (LC/MS) with multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) was used as an additional technique for fast and simultaneous identification of the mentioned targets.