Exploring the Bioactive Compounds in Some Apple Vinegar Samples and Their Biological Activities

Apple vinegar is highly recommended for nutrition due to its health benefits and bioactive components. However, the apple cultivar greatly influences the quality of the vinegar. In this research, our focus was on examining the impact of four different apple cultivars on the physicochemical attributes, chemical composition, as well as biological properties-including antidepressant and anti-inflammatory activities-of vinegar. Interestingly, the physicochemical properties of vinegar and the contents of acetic acid and polyphenols depend on the apple cultivars. HPLC chromatographic analysis showed that citric acid (820.62-193.63 mg/100 g) and gallic acid (285.70-54.40 µg/g) were mostly abundant in the vinegar samples. The in vivo results showed that administration of Golden Delicious apple vinegar (10 mL/kg) to adult Wistar rats reduced carrageenan-induced inflammation by 37.50%. The same vinegar sample exhibited a significant antidepressant effect by reducing the rats' immobility time by 31.07% in the forced swimming test. Due to its high acidity, Golden Delicious vinegar was found to be more effective against bacteria, particularly Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans, resulting in a MIC value of 31.81 mg/mL. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of various vinegar samples was found to be powerful, displaying optimal values of IC50 = 65.20 mg/mL, 85.83%, and 26.45 AAE/g in the DPPH, β-carotene decolorization and TAC assays, respectively. In conclusion, the apple cultivars used in this study impact the chemical composition and biological activities of vinegar, which may help demonstrate the importance of raw material selection for the production of vinegar.

Pistachio genomes provide insights into nut tree domestication and ZW sex chromosome evolution

Pistachio is a nut crop domesticated in the Fertile Crescent and a dioecious species with ZW sex chromosomes. We sequenced the genomes of Pistacia vera cultivar (cv.) Siirt, the female parent, and P. vera cv. Bagyolu, the male parent. Two chromosome-level reference genomes of pistachio were generated, and Z and W chromosomes were assembled. The ZW chromosomes originated from an autosome following the first inversion, which occurred approximately 8.18 Mya. Three inversion events in the W chromosome led to the formation of a 12.7-Mb (22.8% of the W chromosome) non-recombining region. These W-specific sequences contain several genes of interest that may have played a pivotal role in sex determination and contributed to the initiation and evolution of a ZW sex chromosome system in pistachio. The W-specific genes, including defA, defA-like, DYT1, two PTEN1, and two tandem duplications of six VPS13A paralogs, are strong candidates for sex determination or differentiation. Demographic history analysis of resequenced genomes suggest that cultivated pistachio underwent severe domestication bottlenecks approximately 7640 years ago, dating the domestication event close to the archeological record of pistachio domestication in Iran. We identified 390, 211, and 290 potential selective sweeps in 3 cultivar subgroups that underlie agronomic traits such as nut development and quality, grafting success, flowering time shift, and drought tolerance. These findings have improved our understanding of the genomic basis of sex determination/differentiation and horticulturally important traits and will accelerate the improvement of pistachio cultivars and rootstocks.

Box-Behnken design based optimization of phenolic extractions from Polygonum equisetiforme roots linked to its antioxidant and antibacterial efficiencies

Purpose

The Polygonum equisetifome is a prospective plant source of high protein, unsaturated fatty acids, and useful safe bioactive molecules. Therefore, the aim of this study was to optimize the ultrasonic aqueous extraction of phenols from P. equisetifome roots using Box-Behnken design based statistical modeling, and to evaluate the antioxidant and antibacterial efficiencies of P. equisetifome root extracts against pathogenic bacteria.

Methods

In this study, the box-behnken design was used to optimize the extraction of phenols. The extraction temperature (30–70°C), ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) time (1–9 min), and liquid-solid ratio (35–45 mL/g) were investigated as the factors that influence the phenolic yield (Y1) and their DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activity (Y2).

Results

The optimal conditions for both responses were 50°C, 5 min, and 40 mL/g. At these conditions, Y1 reached its maximum to be 45.321 mg GAE/g dry weight and Y2 to be 120.354 μmol Trolox/g dry weight. The P. equisetifome roots contained water soluble phenol, high anthocyanin, and condensed tannins. Interestingly, the P. equisetifome extracts showed a relation to its antioxidant and antibacterial activities, FRAP (Ferric-reducing/antioxidant power), and ABTS scavenging activity were determined. The morphological and physico-chemical features of the extract were analyzed using SEM-EDX, FT-IR, and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was analyzed against several pathogenic bacteria. The antibacterial activity of the extract showed that the extract is more efficient against Staphylococcus aureus, while the P. equisetifome extracts showed efficient MIC against S. aureus, followed by Bacillus cereus.

Suggestions

The relation of P. equisetifome extracts to its antioxidant, and antibacterial efficiencies open a new avenue of their potential uses in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Polysaccharides to combat viruses (Covid-19) and microbes: New updates

COVID-19, which is speedily distributed across the world and presents a significant challenge to public health, is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Following MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and SARS, this is the third severe coronavirus outbreak in less than 20 years. To date, there are no exact agents and vaccines available for the treatment of COVID-19 that are clinically successful. Antimicrobial medications are effective in controlling infectious diseases. However, the extensive use of antibiotics makes microbes more resistant to drugs and demands novel bioactive agents' development. Polysaccharides are currently commonly used in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries for their remarkable applications. Polysaccharides appear to have a wide range of anti-virus (anti-coronavirus) and antimicrobial applications. Polysaccharides are able to induce bacterial cell membrane disruption as they demonstrate potency in binding onto the surfaces of microbial cells. Here, the antiviral mechanisms of such polysaccharides and their success in the application of antiviral infections are reviewed. Additionally, this report provides a summary of current advancements of well-recognized polysaccharides as antimicrobial and anti-biofilm agents.

Comparison of Polyphenol, Sugar, Organic Acid, Volatile Compounds, and Antioxidant Capacity of Commercially Grown Strawberry Cultivars in Turkey

The aim of this study was to compare certain important fruit quality parameters such as sugars, organic acids, total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and volatile compounds of 10 commercial strawberry cultivars grown in the research and experimental area in Yaltir Agricultural Company located in Adana provinces of Turkey. As for the sugar content of strawberry fruits, fructose was identified as the dominant sugar and the highest value (4.43%) was found in the cultivar “Rubygem”. In terms of organic acid, among the examined strawberry cultivars, “Calinda” had the greatest level of citric acid (711.45 mg g⁻¹). Regarding vitamin C content, the highest amount was found in the cultivar “Sabrina” (25.08 mg 100 g⁻¹). Ellagic acid was the main phenolic acid in all examined cultivars (except the “Plared” cultivar), and the highest amount was detected in the “Fortuna” cultivar (3.18 mg 100 g⁻¹). We found that the cultivar FL-127 had the highest total phenolic content (158.37 mg gallic acid equivalent 100 g⁻¹ fresh weight base). Regarding antioxidant capacities, the highest value (88.92%) was found in the cultivar Victory among all the cultivars studied. The detailed analysis of volatile compounds was performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and 34 compounds were detected. Among them, esters, acids, and alcohols were found to be the major volatile compounds in strawberry fruits. In conclusion, strawberry fruits belong to ten cultivars showed abundant phenolic compounds and at the same time have high antioxidant activity.

Total phenolics, antioxidant activities and fatty acid profiles of six Morchella species

In present study, total phenolic compound, antioxidant activities and fatty acids of several Morchella species collected from different regions of Turkey were determined. Six species were detected, namely Morchella dunalii (HT562), M. purpurascens group (HT565, HT592, HT662, HT699), M. deliciosa (HT682), M. mediterraneensis (HT698), M. importuna (HT667, HT681) and M. esculenta (HT704). The highest phenolic content was determined in the collection numbered as HT565 (281.96 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry weight), followed by HT699, HT562, HT662, HT592, HT698, HT704, HT681, HT667 and HT682. Antioxidant activities were also evaluated by DPPH and FRAP assays and the maximum (0.51 and 1.04 mmol trolox equivalent (TE)/g dry weight respectively) was observed in HT565. The results for the fatty acids composition showed that assessed Morchella species were rich in nutritionally important unsaturated fatty acids and oleic acid, palmitoleic acid, linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and myristic acid were the identified compounds. Linoleic acid was the most common in samples like HT565, HT592, HT704, HT662, HT682 and HT667 and followed by oleic acid except in HT565. In HT681, HT698, HT699 and HT562, oleic acid was dominant and followed by linoleic acid. The ratios of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids were calculated as 10.79, 4.78, 6.80, 8.09, 6.67, 4.35, 8.70, 8.64, 7.90 and 7.43 in HT562, HT565, HT592, HT662, HT667, HT681, HT682, HT698, HT699 and HT704 respectively. The sampling locations and species of Morels had influenced the bioactivities and fatty acid compositions of specimens.

In vitro cytogenetic toxicity of bezafibrate in human peripheral blood lymphocytes

Bezafibrate (BF) is a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonist used as a lipid-lowering agent to treat both the familial or acquired combined forms of hyperlipidemia. BF is the only available fibrate drug that acts on all PPAR subtypes of α, β, and δ. Although there are studies that indicate a genotoxic potential associated with the use of fibrates, to our knowledge, the genotoxicity of BF in human peripheral blood lymphocytes has not been studied. In the present study, the genotoxic potential of BF was evaluated using chromosome aberration (CA) and micronucleus (MN) assays in peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy human subjects. In addition, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used to identify and quantitate the drug passage into the cells. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were exposed to four different concentrations (100, 175, 250 and 325 μg/mL) of BF for 24- and 48-h treatment periods. As shown by HPLC, in spite of significant passage of BF into human peripheral blood lymphocytes in 24- and 48-h treatment periods, BF was not found to increase the CA and MN frequency. On the other hand, exposing cells to BF for 24- and 48-h treatment periods caused significant concentration-dependent decreases in the mitotic index (r = -0.995, p < 0.01 for 24-h; r = -0.992, p < 0.01 for 48-h) and nuclear division index (r = -0.990, p < 0.01 for 24-h; r = -0.981, p < 0.01 for 48-h). Our results suggest that BF has cytotoxic effect on cultured human peripheral blood lymphocytes.