Phytochemical Characterization and Evaluation of the Antioxidant and Anti-Enzymatic Activity of Five Common Spices: Focus on Their Essential Oils and Spent Material Extractives

Detailed Phytochemical Composition, Cyto-/Hepatotoxicity, and Antioxidant/Anti-Inflammatory Profile of Moroccan Spices: A Study on Coriander, Caraway, and Mystical Cumin

Coriander, caraway, and mystical cumin are famous for their aromatic properties and widely used in Moroccan cuisine. The nutritional/phytochemical composition of their seeds (used for food flavoring and preservation) were compared. Their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic and hepatotoxic effects were also explored. The fat content was similar among the samples (13%), with monounsaturated fatty acids being predominant. The coriander and mystical cumin seeds were extremely rich in C18:1n9c (81 and 85%, respectively) while, in the caraway, C18:1n12 (25%) was found together with C18:1n9c (32%). The caraway seeds also presented a higher proportion of C18:2n6c (34%) than the other seeds (13 and 8%, correspondingly). γ-Tocotrienol was the major vitamin E form in all the samples. The caraway seeds contained double the amount of protein (~18%) compared to the other seeds (~8%) but, qualitatively, the amino acid profiles among all seeds were similar. The seeds were also rich in dietary fiber (40-53%); however, differences were found in their fiber profiles. Caraway showed the highest antioxidant profile and anti-inflammatory activity and an LC-DAD-ESI/MSn analysis revealed great differences in the phenolic profiles of the samples. Cytotoxicity (NCI-H460, AGS, MCF-7, and CaCo2) and hepatotoxicity (RAW 264.7) were not observed. In sum, besides their flavoring/preservation properties, these seeds are also relevant source of bioactive compounds with health-promoting activities.

Microbial Decontamination of Cuminum cyminum Seeds Using "Intensification of Vaporization by Decompression to the Vacuum": Effect on Color Parameters and Essential Oil Profile

Cumin seeds are frequently utilized in herbal infusions and as flavoring agents in home cuisine. Nevertheless, studies have demonstrated that spices are frequently contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, including bacterial spores. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a new decontamination method called "Intensification of Vaporization by Decompression to the Vacuum" (IVDV) on intentionally contaminated Cuminum cyminum seeds. The study also examined the impact of this treatment on the color and oil profile of the treated samples. The untreated samples were inoculated with Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Salmonella Typhimurium (ATCC 14028) and then subjected to IVDV treatment. Response surface methodology was employed to obtain safe, high-quality cumin seeds presenting a balance between microbial load, color, and oil profile. The optimal IVDV conditions were achieved at a pressure of 3.5 bar and a time of 133.45 s, resulting in typical 4 log reductions observed with 99.99% of Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium inactivation. The treated spices presented a mild color modification compared to the untreated ones, manifested by a darker shade (decreased L* value), reduced greenness (increased a* value), and heightened yellowness (increased b* value). The GC-MS analysis detected the existence of seven compounds in the treated cumin, with cuminaldehyde being the primary compound (83.79%). Furthermore, the use of IVDV treatment resulted in an increase in the total content of essential oils in some samples, whereby six monoterpenes were identified in the untreated sample compared to seven monoterpenes in IVDV-treated samples. This innovative technology demonstrated high efficacy in decontaminating C. cyminum seeds, improving the extractability of the essential oils while only slightly affecting the color.

Inhibition of Food-Borne Pathogen Growth and Biogenic Amine Synthesis by Spice Extracts

Food-borne pathogens and their toxins cause significant health problems in humans. Formation of biogenic amines (BAs) produced by microbial decarboxylation of amino acids in food is undesirable because it can induce toxic effects in consumers. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the effects of natural additives with high bioactivity like spice extracts to inhibit the growth of these bacteria and the formation of BAs in food. In the present study, the antibacterial effects of diethyl ether spice (sumac, cumin, black pepper, and red pepper) extracts at doses of 1% (w/v) on Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) and Gram-negative (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Campylobacter jejuni, Aeromonas hydrophila, Salmonella Paratyphi A, and Yersinia enterocolitica) food-borne pathogen bacterial strains (FBP) were established. In addition, the accumulation of ammonia (AMN), trimethylamine (TMA), and biogenic amines (BAs) in tyrosine decarboxylase broth (TDB) was investigated by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Sumac extract exhibited the highest antibacterial potential against all FBPs, followed by cumin and peppers. AMN (570.71 mg/L) and TMA (53.66 mg/L) production were strongly inhibited by sumac extract in the levels of 55.10 mg/L for Y. enterocolitica and 2.76 mg/L for A. hydrophila, respectively. With the exception of S. aureus, black pepper dramatically reduced the synthesis of putrescine, serotonin, dopamine, and agmatine by FBP especially for Gram-negative ones. Furthermore, sumac extracts inhibited histamine and tyramine production by the majority of FBP. This research suggests the application of sumac extracts as natural preservatives for inhibiting the growth of FBPs and limiting the production of AMN, TMA, and BAs.

A Review on Reinforcements and Additives in Starch-Based Composites for Food Packaging

The research of starch as a matrix material for manufacturing biodegradable films has been gaining popularity in recent years, indicating its potential and possible limitations. To compete with conventional petroleum-based plastics, an enhancement of their low resistance to water and limited mechanical properties is essential. This review aims to discuss the various types of nanofillers and additives that have been used in plasticized starch films including nanoclays (montmorillonite, halloysite, kaolinite, etc.), poly-saccharide nanofillers (cellulose, starch, chitin, and chitosan nanomaterials), metal oxides (titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, zirconium oxide, etc.), and essential oils (carvacrol, eugenol, cinnamic acid). These reinforcements are frequently used to enhance several physical characteristics including mechanical properties, thermal stability, moisture resistance, oxygen barrier capabilities, and biodegradation rate, providing antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. This paper will provide an overview of the development of starch-based nanocomposite films and coatings applied in food packaging systems through the application of reinforcements and additives.

Prospective Nutraceutical Effects of Cinnamon Derivatives Against Insulin Resistance in Type II Diabetes Mellitus-Evidence From the Literature

Apart from advances in pharmaceutical antidiabetic agents, efforts are being made toward hypoglycemic agents derived from natural sources. Cinnamon has been reported to have significant benefits for human health, particularly as an anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anti-hypertriglyceridemic agent. The phytochemicals in cinnamon can be extracted from different parts of plant by distillation and solvent extraction. These chemicals help in decreasing insulin resistance and can act against hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia, inflammation and oxidative stress, obesity, overweight, and abnormal glycation of proteins. Cinnamon has shown to improve all of these conditions in in vitro, animal, and/or human studies. However, the mechanism of action of active ingredients found in cinnamon remains unclear. The current review presents the outstanding ability of cinnamon derivatives to control diabetes by various pathways modulating insulin release and insulin receptor signaling. It was also found that the type and dosage of cinnamon as well as subject characteristics including drug interactions are likely to affect the response to cinnamon. Future research directions based on this review include the synergistic usage of various cinnamon derivatives in managing and/or preventing diabetes and possible other relevant chronic diseases.

Multi-Targeting Neuroprotective Effects of Syzygium aromaticum Bud Extracts and Their Key Phytocompounds against Neurodegenerative Diseases

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes a gradual loss of normal motor and cognitive function. The complex AD pathophysiology involves various factors such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, amyloid-beta (Aβ) aggregation, disturbed neurotransmission, and apoptosis. The available drugs suffer from a range of side effects and are not able to cover different aspects of the disease. Therefore, finding a safer therapeutic approach that can affect multiple targets at a time is highly desirable. In the present study, the underlying neuroprotective mechanism of an important culinary spice, Syzygium aromaticum (Clove) extract, and major bioactive compounds were studied in hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell lines as a model. The extracts were subjected to GC-MS to identify important bioactive components. The extracts and key bio-actives reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS), restored mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and provided neuroprotection from H2O2-induced oxidative stress in cell-based assays due to the antioxidant action. They also reduced lipid peroxidation significantly and restored GSH content. Clove extracts have also displayed anti-acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, anti-glycation potential, and Aβ aggregation/fibrilization inhibition. The multitarget neuroprotective approach displayed by Clove makes it a potential candidate for AD drug development.

Supercritical CO2 extraction of spices: A systematic study with focus on terpenes and piperamides from black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)

Black pepper (P. nigrum L.) is considered one of the most valuable spices and a promising candidate in natural product research. In this study, the influence of different combinations of pressures (100-300 bar) and temperatures (40-60 °C) on the supercritical CO₂ (SC-CO₂) recovery of several key compounds from black pepper was evaluated systematically. The extraction curves showed that terpenes were recovered in a short time under all studied conditions. In contrast, higher pressure values were required to extract piperamides efficiently. Furthermore, the differences in the extraction kinetics of piperine, piperettine, pellitorine, guineensine, and N-isobutyl-2,4,14-eicosatrienamide were linked with several structural features, such as the nature of the amine group or the terminal part of the fatty acid. The data from the isocratic experiments represented the starting point for designing a two-step pressure gradient SC-CO₂ process in which one terpene-rich and one piperamide-rich product were successively obtained.

Value-Added Compounds with Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and Enzyme-Inhibitory Effects from Post-Distillation and Post-Supercritical CO2 Extraction By-Products of Rosemary

Hydrodistillation is the main technique to obtain essential oils from rosemary for the aroma industry. However, this technique is wasteful, producing numerous by-products (residual water, spent materials) that are usually discarded in the environment. Supercritical CO₂ (SC-CO₂) extraction is considered an alternative greener technology for producing aroma compounds. However, there have been no discussions about the spent plant material leftover. Therefore, this work investigated the chemical profile (GC-MS, LC-HRMS/MS) and multi-biological activity (antimicrobial, antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory) of several raw rosemary materials (essential oil, SC-CO₂ extracts, solvent extracts) and by-products/waste materials (post-distillation residual water, spent plant material extracts, and post-supercritical CO₂ spent plant material extracts). More than 55 volatile organic compounds (e.g., pinene, eucalyptol, borneol, camphor, caryophyllene, etc.) were identified in the rosemary essential oil and SC-CO₂ extracts. The LC-HRMS/MS profiling of the solvent extracts revealed around 25 specialized metabolites (e.g., caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acids, luteolin derivatives, rosmanol derivatives, carnosol derivatives, etc.). Minimum inhibitory concentrations of 15.6-62.5 mg/L were obtained for some rosemary extracts against Micrococcus luteus, Bacilus cereus, or Staphylococcus aureus MRSA. Evaluated in six different in vitro tests, the antioxidant potential revealed strong activity for the polyphenol-containing extracts. In contrast, the terpene-rich extracts were more potent in inhibiting various key enzymes (e.g., acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, tyrosinase, amylase, and glucosidase). The current work brings new insightful contributions to the continuously developing body of knowledge about the valorization of rosemary by-products as a low-cost source of high-added-value constituents in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical industries.

Post-Distillation By-Products of Aromatic Plants from Lamiaceae Family as Rich Sources of Antioxidants and Enzyme Inhibitors

There is currently no use for the vast quantities of post-distillation by-products, such as spent plant materials and residual waters, produced by the essential oil (EO) industry of aromatic herbs. In this study, the EOs of three Lamiaceae species (thyme, oregano, and basil) and their total, spent, and residual water extracts were phytochemically characterized and biologically assessed. The collected information was put through a series of analyses, including principal component analysis, heatmap analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis. Concerning the EOs, 58 volatile compounds were present in thyme (e.g., p-cymene, thymol), 44 compounds in oregano (e.g., thymol, carvacrol), and 67 compounds in basil (e.g., eucalyptol, linalool, estragole, (E)-methyl cinnamate). The LC-HRMS/MS analysis of the total, spent, and residual water extracts showed the presence of 31 compounds in thyme (e.g., quercetin-O-hexoside, pebrellin, eriodictyol), 31 compounds in oregano (e.g., rosmarinic acid, apigenin, kaempferol, salvianolic acids I, B, and E), and 25 compounds in basil (e.g., fertaric acid, cichoric acid, caftaric acid, salvianolic acid A). The EOs of the three Lamiaceae species showed the highest metal-reducing properties (up to 1792.32 mg TE/g in the CUPRAC assay), whereas the spent extracts of oregano and basil displayed very high radical-scavenging properties (up to 266.59 mg TE/g in DPPH assay). All extracts exhibited anti-acetylcholinesterase (up to 3.29 mg GALAE/g), anti-tyrosinase (up to 70.00 mg KAE/g), anti-amylase (up to 0.66 mmol ACAE/g), and anti-glucosidase (up to 1.22 mmol ACAE/g) effects. Thus, the present research demonstrated that both the raw extracts (EOs and total extracts) and the post-distillation by-products (spent material and residual water extracts) are rich in bioactive metabolites with antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory properties.

Effect of Different Heat Treatments on the Quality and Flavor Compounds of Black Tibetan Sheep Meat by HS-GC-IMS Coupled with Multivariate Analysis

There are limited reports about the effect of different heat treatments on the quality and flavor of Black Tibetan sheep meat. The current study examined the effect of pan-frying, deep-frying, baking, and boiling treatment on the quality of Black Tibetan sheep meat; the amino acid, fatty acid, and volatile flavor compounds (VFCs) were investigated by a texture analyzer, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), gas chromatography (GC), and headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility (HS-GC-IMS). The key VFCs were identified through orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA), and variable importance projection (VIP) values. In addition, Pearson’s correlations between meat quality parameters and key VFCs were examined. The sensory scores, including texture, color, and appearance, of baked and pan-fried meat were higher than those of deep-fried and boiled meat. The protein (40.47%) and amino acid (62.93 µmol/g) contents were the highest in pan-fried meat (p < 0.05). Additionally, it contained the highest amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic, linoleic, and α-linolenic acids (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, pan-fried and deep-fried meat had higher amounts of VFCs than baked meat. The OPLS-DA similarity and fingerprinting analyses revealed significant differences between the three heat treatment methods. Aldehydes were the key aroma compounds in pan-fried meat. Importantly, 3-methylbutyraldehyde and 2-heptanone contents were positively correlated with eicosenoic, oleic, isooleic, linoleic, α-Linolenic, and eicosadiene acids (p < 0.05). To sum up, pan-fried Black Tibetan sheep meat had the best edible, nutritional, and flavor quality.

Health Benefits and Risks of Consuming Spices on the Example of Black Pepper and Cinnamon

The aim of this study is to present the benefits and risks associated with the consumption of black pepper and cinnamon, which are very popular spices in Poland. The article presents the current state of knowledge about health properties and possible dangers, such as liver damage, associated with their consumption. The experimental part presents the results of the research on the antioxidant properties against the DPPH radical, which was 80.85 ± 3.84-85.42 ± 2.34% for black pepper, and 55.52 ± 7.56-91.87 ± 2.93% for cinnamon. The total content of polyphenols in black pepper was 10.67 ± 1.30-32.13 ± 0.24 mg GAE/g, and in cinnamon 52.34 ± 0.96-94.71 ± 3.34 mg GAE/g. In addition, the content of piperine and pepper oil in black pepper was determined, as well as the content of coumarin in cinnamon. The content of piperine in the black pepper samples was in the range of 3.92 ± 0.35-9.23 ± 0.05%. The tested black pepper samples contained 0.89 ± 0.08-2.19 ± 0.15 mL/100 g d.m. of essential oil. The coumarin content in the cinnamon samples remained in the range of 1027.67 ± 50.36-4012.00 ± 79.57 mg/kg. Taking into account the content of coumarin in the tested cinnamon samples, it should be assumed that the majority of cinnamon available in Polish retail is Cinnamomum cassia (L.) J. Presl.

Acetylcholinesterase inhibition and antioxidant activity properties of Petiveria alliacea L

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Petiveria alliacea L. is traditionally used as a folk medical herb in different regions of the world to treat different ailments including those related to the central nervous system. Previous studies have proved that extracts from P. alliacea show improvement in memory and learning process.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To study extracts, fractions, subfractions and isolated compounds from P. alliacea on acetylcholinesterase inhibition and antioxidant activity.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Extracts obtained with different polarity solvents and fractions from P. alliacea were evaluated for their inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase by Ellman method. This screening allowed the selection of the methanol fraction as the most active and continued a bio-guided study. The compounds identified in methanol fraction were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Identification of (E)-Tagetone was performed by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra. Moreover, the antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH and ABTS methods, and the cell viability was assessed by WST-1 method.

RESULTS

Two extracts of different polarity were obtained from P. alliacea. The methanol extract and its fraction showed an inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase; however, methanol fraction was found to be most potent with 86.5 % AChE inhibition. The methanol fraction also showed antioxidant activity and was not toxic on SH-SY5Y cells. Different compounds including capreoside, narcissin, indane, (-)-isocaryophyllene, (-)-β-pinene, (E)-tagetone and peonidin 3-O-sambubioside 5-O-glucoside were identified.

CONCLUSION

This is the first report indicating that P. alliacea methanol fraction and its subfractions bear acetylcholinesterase inhibition and antioxidant activity properties. This work establishes the basis for further studies in the development of new therapies for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer 's disease.