Antioxidant activity and polyphenol composition of sugarcane molasses extract

A Dietary Sugarcane-Derived Polyphenol Mix Reduces the Negative Effects of Cyclic Heat Exposure on Growth Performance, Blood Gas Status, and Meat Quality in Broiler Chickens

Simple Summary

Heat stress is a main reason of systemic oxidative stress, which compromises broiler meat production and quality. To improve the productivity of poultry meat production, studies have investigated different heat stress amelioration strategies. Among these strategies, low-cost feed supplementations are introduced to potentially reduce the negative effects of heat stress. Previous studies have also investigated the effects of different antioxidants on growth performance and meat quality, while a limited number of studies have been made regarding the impacts of the polyphenols at different doses. Polyphenols with antioxidant properties have positive effects against oxidative stress, and are naturally available in high amounts in plants, which makes them a novel feed supplementation for improving meat production as well as meat quality in heat-stressed broiler chickens. Therefore, this study attempted to investigate the effects of different doses of polyphenols supplementation on growth performance, physiological responses, and meat quality in broiler chickens exposed to cyclic heat stress.

Abstract

Heat stress (HS) compromises growth performance and meat quality of broiler chickens by interrupting lipid and protein metabolism, resulting in increased oxidative damages. The experiment attempted to investigate whether dietary polyphenols (Polygain (POL)) could ameliorate the aforementioned adverse effects of HS on performance and meat quality. One hundred and twenty one day-old-male chicks were allocated to two temperature conditions, thermoneutral (TN) or HS, and fed with either a control diet (CON) or the CON plus four different doses of POL (2, 4, 6 and 10 g/kg). Heat stress caused respiratory alkalosis as evidenced by increased rectal temperature (p < 0.001) and respiration rate (p < 0.001) due to increased blood pH (p < 0.001). Heat stress decreased final body weight (p = 0.061) and breast muscle water content (p = 0.013) while POL improved both (p = 0.002 and p = 0.003, respectively). Heat stress amplified muscle damages, indicated by increased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (p < 0.001) and reduced myofibril fragmentation index (p = 0.006) whereas POL improved both (p = 0.037 and p = 0.092, respectively). Heat stress impaired meat tenderness (p < 0.001) while POL improved it (p = 0.003). In conclusion, HS impaired growth performance and meat quality whereas POL ameliorated these responses in a dose-dependent manner, and effects of POL were evident under both temperature conditions.

Evaluation of Sugarcane-Derived Polyphenols on the Pre-Weaning and Post-Weaning Growth of Gilt Progeny

Simple Summary

Gilt progeny are characterised by their poor lifetime growth performance compared with sow progeny. Various feeding strategies that employ the use of additives may be used to improve their growth. Gilts are said to be in increased oxidative stress throughout lactation, which may contribute to the reduced growth performance seen in their progeny. Furthermore, weaning is associated with increased inflammation, which can reduce growth after weaning. In this study, both late gestation/lactation diets and weaner diets were supplemented with a sugarcane extract rich in polyphenols owing to their anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties to collectively improve the growth of gilt progeny. However, no improvements of growth performance of gilt progeny in both the pre-weaning and post-weaning periods were observed in response to polyphenol supplementation and sow progeny continuously outperformed gilt progeny. Furthermore, when inflammation was measured using the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β, no differences were found between the control and polyphenol supplemented group. However, gilt progeny exhibited reduced circulating interleukin-1β overall. In summary, gilt progeny experience persistent underperformance that may be coupled in part to poorer immune development and polyphenol supplementation did not overcome the persistent underperformance.

Abstract

Gilt progeny (GP) exhibit poorer growth compared with sow progeny (SP), particularly in the pre-weaning and post-weaning period. Late gestation/lactation sow diets and weaner diets were supplemented with 0.5% Polygain (POL), a sugarcane extract rich in polyphenols, to collectively improve GP growth in these periods. Gilts (n = 60) and sows (n = 68, parities 2 and 3) were fed a control or POL diet. Weaned GP (n = 79) and SP (n = 92) born to these dams were also fed either a CON or POL diet. Gilts litters weighed less than sow litters at birth and 21 days (p < 0.001 for both) and were not improved by POL (p = 0.80 and 0.54, respectively). GP were lighter than SP at day 7 and day 14 post-weaning (p < 0.001 for both) and were not improved by the POL diet at these timepoints (p = 0.61 and 0.97, respectively). Plasma interleukin-1β (IL-1β) was increased at weaning despite POL supplementation (p = 0.022) and GP had reduced IL-1β overall (p = 0.021). Overall, POL was unable to improve growth in GP and the attenuated immune response seen in GP could be contributing to their poor growth performance.

Polyphenols as Caloric-Restriction Mimetics and Autophagy Inducers in Aging Research

It has been thought that caloric restriction favors longevity and healthy aging where autophagy plays a vital role. However, autophagy decreases during aging and that can lead to the development of aging-associated diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neurodegeneration, etc. It was shown that autophagy can be induced by mechanical or chemical stress. In this regard, various pharmacological compounds were proposed, including natural polyphenols. Apart from the ability to induce autophagy, polyphenols, such as resveratrol, are capable of modulating the expression of pro- and anti-apoptotic factors, neutralizing free radical species, affecting mitochondrial functions, chelating redox-active transition metal ions, and preventing protein aggregation. Moreover, polyphenols have advantages compared to chemical inducers of autophagy due to their intrinsic natural bio-compatibility and safety. In this context, polyphenols can be considered as a potential therapeutic tool for healthy aging either as a part of a diet or as separate compounds (supplements). This review discusses the epigenetic aspect and the underlying molecular mechanism of polyphenols as an anti-aging remedy. In addition, the recent advances of studies on NAD-dependent deacetylase sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) regulation of autophagy, the role of senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) in cells senescence and their regulation by polyphenols have been highlighted as well. Apart from that, the review also revised the latest information on how polyphenols can help to improve mitochondrial function and modulate apoptosis (programmed cell death).

Age-Deterring and Skin Care Function of a Polyphenol Rich Sugarcane Concentrate

Increasing evidence suggests that environmental stress, such as UV radiation, generates reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in skin cells, leading to histochemical changes including skin disorders and aging, hyper pigmentation, and increased formation of wrinkles. Besides the defensive system in skin composed of vitamins and intrinsic antioxidant enzymes, topical and skin conditioning products have been used commonly to eradicate or eliminate these skin ailments. Among various ingredients providing nourishing and moisturizing effect in skin, antioxidants have been reported to be a key ingredient to counteract skin aging processes and skin disorders. Derived from a patented extraction process, a polyphenol rich sugarcane concentrate (Officinol™) becomes the focus of this study due to its rich content of polyphenols known to be strong antioxidants. In this work, we carried out a series of cell-based in vitro studies to examine the use of Officinol™ in anti-aging and skin care functions. Our studies show that Officinol™ activated telomerase, a major biomarker that have been reported to be associated with slowed cellular aging process. When skin cells were under environmental stress such as UV radiation, Officinol™ inhibited MMP-1, an interstitial collagenase in skin cells, and deterred the breakdown of collagen that provides supple texture in skin. Officinol™ also inhibited cellular expression of melanin pigmentation and tyrosinase activity, two major biomarkers causing skin pigmentation and aging spots, and inhibited elastase, an enzyme that facilities the reduction of skin elasticity. At the end of the investigation, we carried out a 10-person, pilot study to examine the effect of Officinol™ on skin lightening and fine line and wrinkle reduction in human skin. The combination of the in vitro and the human pre-study indicates that Officinol™ could provide significant preventative and protective functions including antioxidant, anti-aging, wrinkle reduction, and skin brightening for human skin suffering from aging and other stress. These findings are to be confirmed with a larger scale clinical study at a later stage.