Identification and Quantification of Stilbenes (Piceatannol and Resveratrol) in Passiflora edulis By-Products

Bioactive Constituents in Cold-Pressed Plant Oils: Their Structure, Bioactivity and Chromatographic Analysis

Cold-pressed oils are oils prepared from pressing plant materials with a screw or hydraulic press, yielding oils with little contamination of harmful chemicals and high content of nutrients and functional constituents. Cold-pressed oils have gained increasing recognition as food supplements for preventing and ameliorating body deterioration due to ageing and the progression of lifestyle diseases or non-communicable diseases. This article aimed to review their structure, bioactivity, and chromatographic analysis of the mostly found functional compounds in cold-pressed oils, including phytosterols, carotenoids, tocols (tocopherols and tocotrienols), phenolic compounds (flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins, stilbenes, and lignans), and squalene.

Role and mechanism of fruit waste polyphenols in diabetes management

Among various diseases in humans, diabetes is one of the most complicated disorders resulting either from the malfunctioning of β cells, causing a poor discharge of insulin from them, or poor functioning of the liberated insulin. A wide array of chemical compounds so-called secondary metabolites are present in plants. These phytochemicals are produced as by-products of metabolism and play a key role in plant protection. However, in humans, they offer several beneficial functions. Polyphenols are an important class of phytochemicals and apart from fruits, they are also found in their major wastes mainly including the peel, pomace, and seed. The current review is aimed to focus on the potential sources, distribution, and extraction/isolation of polyphenols from major fruit wastes along with highlighting their medicinal and therapeutic benefits, especially in the management of diabetes.

Plant based food bioactives: A boon or bane for neurological disorders

Neurological disorders are the foremost occurring diseases across the globe resulting in progressive dysfunction, loss of neuronal structure ultimately cell death. Therefore, attention has been drawn toward the natural resources for the search of neuroprotective agents. Plant-based food bioactives have emerged as potential neuroprotective agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. This comprehensive review primarily focuses on various plant food bioactive, mechanisms, therapeutic targets, in vitro and in vivo studies in the treatment of neurological disorders to explore whether they are boon or bane for neurological disorders. In addition, the clinical perspective of plant food bioactives in neurological disorders are also highlighted. Scientific evidences point toward the enormous therapeutic efficacy of plant food bioactives in the prevention or treatment of neurological disorders. Nevertheless, identification of food bioactive components accountable for the neuroprotective effects, mechanism, clinical trials, and consolidation of information flow are warranted. Plant food bioactives primarily act by mediating through various pathways including oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, apoptosis, excitotoxicity, specific proteins, mitochondrial dysfunction, and reversing neurodegeneration and can be used for the prevention and therapy of neurodegenerative disorders. In conclusion, the plant based food bioactives are boon for neurological disorders.

Recent Green Technologies in Natural Stilbenoids Production and Extraction: The Next Chapter in the Cosmetic Industry

Stilbenoids are well-known phytoalexins in the group of polyphenolic compounds. Because of their potent bioactivities, including antioxidant, antityrosinase, photoprotective, and antibacterial activities, stilbenoids are utilized as pharmaceutical active ingredient in cosmetic products. Thus, the demand for stilbenoids in the cosmetic industry is increasing. The main sources of stilbenoids are plants. Although plants are green and sustainable source materials, some of them do not allow a regular and constant supply due to seasonal and geographic reasons. Stilbenoids typically have been extracted by conventional organic solvent extraction, and then purified by separation techniques. This method is unfriendly to the environment and may deteriorate human health. Hence, the procedures called “green technologies” are focused on novel extraction methods and sustainable stilbenoids production by using biotechnology. In this review, the chemical structures together with the biosynthesis and current plant sources of resveratrol, oxyresveratrol, and piceatannol are described. Furthermore, recent natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) for green extraction as well as plant cell cultures for the production of those stilbene compounds are updated.

Antidiabetic, Antiglycation, and Antioxidant Activities of Ethanolic Seed Extract of Passiflora edulis and Piceatannol In Vitro

The objective of this work was to investigate the antidiabetic, antiglycation, and antioxidant potentials of ethanolic extract of seeds of Brazilian Passiflora edulis fruits (PESE), a major by-product of the juice industry, and piceatannol (PIC), one of the main phytochemicals of PESE. PESE, PIC, and acarbose (ACB) exhibited IC₅₀ for alpha-amylase, 32.1 ± 2.7, 85.4 ± 0.7, and 0.4 ± 0.1 µg/mL, respectively, and IC₅₀ for alpha-glucosidase, 76.2 ± 1.9, 20.4 ± 7.6, and 252 ± 4.5 µg/mL, respectively. The IC₅₀ of PESE, PIC, and sitagliptin (STG) for dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 (DPP-4) was 71.1 ± 2.6, 1137 ± 120, and 0.005 ± 0.001 µg/mL, respectively. PESE and PIC inhibited the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGE) with IC₅₀ of 366 ± 1.9 and 360 ± 9.1 µg/mL for the initial stage and 51.5 ± 1.4 and 67.4 ± 4.6 µg/mL for the intermediate stage of glycation, respectively. Additionally, PESE and PIC inhibited the formation of β-amyloid fibrils in vitro up to 100%. IC₅₀ values for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH^•) scavenging activity of PESE and PIC were 20.4 ± 2.1, and 6.3 ± 1.3 µg/mL, respectively. IC₅₀ values for scavenging hypochlorous acid (HOCl) were similar in PESE, PIC, and quercetin (QCT) with values of 1.7 ± 0.3, 1.2 ± 0.5, and 1.9 ± 0.3 µg/mL, respectively. PESE had no cytotoxicity to the human normal bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B), and alpha mouse liver (AML-12) cells up to 100 and 50 µg/mL, respectively. However, 10 µg/mL of the extract was cytotoxic to non-malignant breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A). PESE and PIC were found to be capable of protecting cultured human cells from the oxidative stress caused by the carcinogen NNKOAc at 100 µM. The in vitro evidence of the inhibition of alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, and DPP-4 enzymes as well as antioxidant and antiglycation activities, warrants further investigation of the antidiabetic potential of P. edulis seeds and PIC.

Cosmeceutical Potential of Major Tropical and Subtropical Fruit By-Products for a Sustainable Revalorization

The increasing production of tropical fruits followed by their processing results in tons of waste, such as skins or seeds. However, these by-products have been reported to be rich in bioactive compounds (BACs) with excellent properties of interest in the cosmeceutical industry: antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and photoprotective properties. This review summarizes the tropical fruits most produced worldwide, their bioactive composition and the most important and studied therapeutic properties that their by-products can contribute to skin health, as well as the different approaches for obtaining these compounds using techniques by conventional (Soxhlet, liquid-liquid extraction or maceration) and non-conventional extractions (supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and two-phase aqueous system), followed by their identification by HPLC-MS or GC-MS analysis. Moreover, this work encompasses several studies that may prove the effects of seeds and skins from tropical fruits against oxidative stress, hyperpigmentation, acne, aging or UV radiation. Therefore, the investigation of functional components present in tropical fruit by-products under a circular bioeconomy model could be of great interest for the cosmeceutical industry and a very promising option for obtaining new cosmeceutical formulations.

Constituent Characteristics and Functional Properties of Passion Fruit Seed Extract

The genus Passiflora L. is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. The major species, Passiflora edulis Sims, is known as 'passion fruit' and is widely used in processed foods as well as eaten raw. P. edulis fruits are eaten for their pulp together with the seeds; however, the seeds are often discarded when used in processed foods. P. edulis seeds contain a variety of nutrients and functional components, and their industrial use is desirable from the perspective of waste reduction. Previous studies have analyzed the constituents of P. edulis and their physiological functions. P. edulis seeds contain various types of polyphenols, especially those rich in stilbenes (e.g., piceatannol). P. edulis seed extracts and isolated compounds from seeds have been reported to exhibit various physiological functions, such as antioxidant effects, improvement of skin condition, fat-burning promotion effects, and hypoglycemic effects. This review summarizes the nutritional characteristics, polyphenol content, and physiological functions of P. edulis seeds.

Selective Extraction of Piceatannol from Passiflora edulis by-Products: Application of HSPs Strategy and Inhibition of Neurodegenerative Enzymes

Passiflora edulis by-products (PFBP) are a rich source of polyphenols, of which piceatannol has gained special attention recently. However, there are few studies involving environmentally safe methods for obtaining extracts rich in piceatannol. This work aimed to concentrate piceatannol from defatted PFBP (d-PFBP) by means of pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and conventional extraction, using the bio-based solvents selected with the Hansen solubility parameters approach. The relative energy distance (Ra) between solvent and solute was: Benzyl Alcohol (BnOH) < Ethyl Acetate (EtOAc) < Ethanol (EtOH) < EtOH:H₂O. Nonetheless, EtOH presented the best selectivity for piceatannol. Multi-cycle PLE at 110 °C was able to concentrate piceatannol 2.4 times more than conventional extraction. PLE exhibited a dependence on kinetic parameters and temperature, which could be associated with hydrogen bonding forces and the dielectric constant of the solvents. The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and lipoxygenase (LOX) IC₅₀ were 29.420 μg/mL and 27.682 μg/mL, respectively. The results reinforce the demand for processes to concentrate natural extracts from food by-products.

Plant Phenolics and Extracts in Animal Models of Preeclampsia and Clinical Trials-Review of Perspectives for Novel Therapies

The current health requirements set the direction in pharmacological research, especially as regards diseases that require improvement of existing therapeutic regimens. Such diseases include preeclampsia, which is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy during which there occurs progressive increasing activation of the immune system through elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and antiangiogenic factors, which is dangerous for the mother and fetus. A promising field of research for new drugs to treat this disease is the study of natural phenolic compounds of plant origin and herbal extracts, which are complex matrices of chemical compounds with broad biological activities. Many plant substances with anti‑inflammatory and anti‑hypertensive properties are known, but studies in animal models of preeclampsia and clinical trials concerning this disease constitute a new and developing research trend of significant medical importance. The aim of our research review was to identify and analyze the results of already available studies on baicalin, curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate, punicalagin, quercetin, resveratrol, salvianolic acid A (danshensu), silibinin, and vitexin, as well as plant extracts from Brassica oleracea L., Euterpe oleracea Mart., Moringa oleifera Lam., Punica granatum L., Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertner, Thymus schimperi Ronniger, Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Miq. ex Havil., and Vitis vinifera L., which are potential and promising candidates for further research and for potential new therapies.

Design and characterization of Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) and Nanostructured lipid carrier-based hydrogels containing Passiflora edulis seeds oil

This study aims to design and characterize Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) and Nanostructured lipid carrier-based hydrogels with Passiflora edulis seeds oil, a by-product from Madeira Island food industry. NLC were prepared by the ultrasonication technique, using passion fruit seeds oil as a liquid lipid and glyceryl distearate as a solid lipid. These NLC were then gelled with Poly (acrylic acid). Long-term stability studies were conducted with NLC and NLC-based hydrogels stored for 12 months. The following tests were performed: morphology, encapsulation efficiency, particle size analysis, polydispersity index analysis, zeta potential, pH measurement, color analysis, viscosity studies, texture analysis, in vitro occlusion test, ex vivo skin penetration study, tyrosinase inhibition activity, in vitro skin permeation experiments and in vitro cytotoxicity studies. The developed NLC had spherical shape and narrow particle sizes distribution with mean sizes in the range of 150 nm and PDI below 0.3, Zeta potential values around -30 mV and high Encapsulation efficiency. The tyrosinase inhibitory activity and skin retention of the nanoparticles was superior to that of the non-encapsulated oil. The developed formulations did not show cytotoxicity towards HaCat cells and presented suitable viscosity and texture properties for skin application, proving to be good candidates as depigmenting agent.

Piceatannol Is Superior to Resveratrol at Suppressing Adipogenesis in Human Visceral Adipose-Derived Stem Cells

Resveratrol (3,4′,5-trans-trihydroxystilbene) and piceatannol (3,3′,4′,5-trans-tetraphydroxystilbene) are major stilbene compounds that are predominantly present in various natural foods, such as berries and fruits. Both phytochemical compounds are consumed as dietary supplements to prevent various metabolic diseases and for their anti-aging properties. Adipose-derived stem cells from human visceral adipose tissue (vASCs) are a useful in vitro model for evaluating their adipogenic effect. Treatment with resveratrol and piceatannol significantly inhibited lipid accumulation in vASCs. Their effective concentrations were 5, 10, and 20 μM for inhibiting adipogenesis of vASCs. Interestingly, despite the similar chemical structures of the two compounds, piceatannol showed a higher anti-adipogenic effect at 20 μM than resveratrol in vASCs. Moreover, the inhibitory capacity of lipid droplet generation was higher for piceatannol at 20 μM than that of resveratrol. Piceatannol significantly attenuated the expression level of adipogenic markers (e.g., CCAAT/enhanced binding protein α (C/EBPα), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), and adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (aP2)) compared to resveratrol at the mRNA and protein levels. These results suggest that piceatannol is a superior anti-adipogenic compound compared to resveratrol in the vASC model of visceral obesity.