Production of bioactive compounds from callus of Pueraria thomsonii Benth with promising cytotoxic and antibacterial activities

Effects of different developmental stages of the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) on argan (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels) edible oil and methanolic extracts, and development of eco-friendly control methods based on plant callus oils

Argan (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels) is an endangered agroforestry species known for producing one of most expensive and sought-after oils in the world. Argan forests are a suitable habitat for medfly (Ceratitis capitata). To our knowledge, no study has investigated the potential effect of medfly on the quality of argan oils and extracts. The use of callus-derived oils from cactus (Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill.) and moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) as an eco-friendly approach to control medfly has never been explored. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of medfly at different developmental stages (i.e., egg, larva and pupa) on methanolic extracts and edible oil from unripe (i.e., green) and ripe (i.e., yellow) argan fruits, and to investigate the efficiency of cactus and moringa callus oils in controlling this pest. The antioxidant activity and reducing capacity varied depending on plant material, fruit maturity and medfly developmental stage. The highest antioxidant activity (98.48 %) and reducing capacity (14.49 mg GAE.g-1 DM) of methanolic extracts were obtained from green fruit pulps and green fruit kernels, respectively, during pupa medfly infestation. The highest antioxidant activity (97.72 %) and reducing capacity (205.35 μg GAE.g-1) of argan edible oil were obtained during larva medfly infestation. Egg infestation has the most negative impact on reducing capacity with 5.11 μg GAE.g-1 of edible oil compared to relative control (19.17 μg GAE.g-1 edible oil). Argan edible oils were rich in unsaturated fatty acids (79.95-80.34 %) regardless of medfly developmental stage. Oleic (41.77-44.27 %) and linoleic (35.49-37.65 %) acids were the dominant fatty acids in all samples. Cactus callus-derived oils were more lethal to medfly (up to 100 % mortality) than moringa oils (up to 74.66 % mortality). 1,54-Dibromotetrapentacontane, 1,3,2-Dioxaborolane, 2,4-diethyl and 6-Hydroxy-hexan-2-one were the major bioactive components detected in cactus callus oil while (E)-9-Octadecenoic acid, ethyl ester and cis-Vaccenic acid were the predominant compounds in moringa callus oil.

Evaluation of Hair Growth Promoting Activity of Standardized Soybean Extract on Testosterone-Induced Alopecia

Millions of men and women suffer from alopecia, especially androgenic alopecia (AGA), which is considered the most common form of hair loss. The available treatments for hair loss include multiple approaches, with the most popular being synthetic drugs including minoxidil and finasteride, in addition to natural products. However, synthetic drugs have shown many undesirable side effects, on the contrary, the specifications of the commonly used natural drugs have not been reported in most of the previous studies, despite the high market preference for them. One of these natural drugs is soybean (Glycine max), an economically important bean that has been reported in several studies to effectively prevent hair loss in humans and is widely used in many products treating alopecia. However, no reports were traced on the specification and standardization of the used soybean extract, which may lead to unreproducible results. Thus, in this study, we investigated the effects of different concentrations; 1%, 3%, and 5% (v/v) of a specified soybean extract (SSE) in coconut oil, using a testosterone-induced model of alopecia in adult male Wistar rats in comparison with a 2% finasteride solution. Visual and microscopical evaluations of follicular diameter, length, and density were performed. The data showed that 5% of SSE exhibited the highest activity with results comparable to standard 2% finasteride for hair diameter, length, and density, which could be attributed to the extract's isoflavone content. Genistin and diadzin isoflavones were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of the SSE. The total extract was standardized using high-performance liquid chromatography using genistin as a marker and showed a content of 6.2 µg/mL. Accordingly, the formulated 3% and 5% SSEs (containing 0.186 and 0.31 µg/mL of genistin, respectively) could be considered as a promising natural treatment for AGA.

Non-destructive prediction of isoflavone and starch by hyperspectral imaging and deep learning in Puerariae Thomsonii Radix

Accurate assessment of isoflavone and starch content in Puerariae Thomsonii Radix (PTR) is crucial for ensuring its quality. However, conventional measurement methods often suffer from time-consuming and labor-intensive procedures. In this study, we propose an innovative and efficient approach that harnesses hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology and deep learning (DL) to predict the content of isoflavones (puerarin, puerarin apioside, daidzin, daidzein) and starch in PTR. Specifically, we develop a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1DCNN) model and compare its predictive performance with traditional methods, including partial least squares regression (PLSR), support vector regression (SVR), and CatBoost. To optimize the prediction process, we employ various spectral preprocessing techniques and wavelength selection algorithms. Experimental results unequivocally demonstrate the superior performance of the DL model, achieving exceptional performance with mean coefficient of determination (R2) values surpassing 0.9 for all components. This research underscores the potential of integrating HSI technology with DL methods, thereby establishing the feasibility of HSI as an efficient and non-destructive tool for predicting the content of isoflavones and starch in PTR. Moreover, this methodology holds great promise for enhancing efficiency in quality control within the food industry.

Anticancer and antibacterial flavonoids from the callus of Ampelopsis grossedentata; a new weapon to mitigate the proliferation of cancer cells and bacteria

A new flavonoid angelioue (1) together with five known compounds cuminatanol (2), myricetin (3), epigallocatechin (4), taxifolin (5) and dihydromyricetin (6) was isolated from the callus extract of Ampelopsis grossedentata (Hand.-Mazz.) W. T. Wang and the structures were elucidated based on their detailed spectroscopic data. Among the compounds, the new compound angelioue (1) displayed significant antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with the MIC value of 6.68 μg mL-1 and MBC value of 53.42 μg mL-1; in contrast the other compounds showed moderate to no antibacterial activity. In addition, known dihydromyricetin (6) exhibited potent cytotoxic activities against mouse breast cancer cells (4T1), human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) and human non-small cell lung cancer (NCI-H1975) tumor cell lines with GI50 values of 17.47, 18.91 and 20.50 μM mL-1, respectively. The compounds 1-5 exhibited low micro-molar inhibitory activities. Moreover, the structure-activity relationships of the most active compounds for antibacterial and cytotoxic activities are discussed. The present findings clearly suggest that the A. grossedentata callus is a good source of bioactive compounds.