scholarly journals Bioactives in spices, and spice oleoresins: Phytochemicals and their beneficial effects in food preservation and health promotion

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 8-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feriedoon Shahidi ◽  
Abul Hossain

Spices have broadly been used as food flavoring and folk medicine since ancient times. Numerous phytochemicals have been identified in spices, namely thymol (ajowan and thyme), anethole (aniseed), piperine (black pepper), capsaicin (capsicum), cinnamaldehyde (cinnamon), eugenol (clove), linalool (coriander), sabinene (curry leaf), limonene (dill seed), estragole (fennel seed), allicin (garlic), gingerol (ginger), safranal (saffron), and curcumin (turmeric), among others. The antioxidants in spices are very effective and also render anti-mutagenic, cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties. Apart from their antioxidant efficacy, spices, particularly their essential oils possess strong antimicrobial activity against bacteria, fungi, yeasts, and microbial toxins synthesis. In this contribution, a summary of the most relevant and recent findings on phytochemical composition and antioxidant properties of spices has been compiled and discussed. The content of phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, steroids, and terpenoids in different spices are summarized. In addition, the beneficial effects of spices in food preservation and in health promotion and disease risk reduction are briefly described.

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-322
Author(s):  
A. K. Pandey ◽  
O. P. Chauhan ◽  
A. D. Semwal

Seaweeds are microalgae growing in coastal regions and resistant to salinity. Seaweeds are rich resources of natural nutrients some of which cannot be obtained from terrestrial plants. Bioactive compounds of seaweeds such as sulphated polysaccharides, peptides, minerals, phlorotannins, carotenoids and sulfolipids have proven health benefits against various diseases. Traditionally, seaweeds are used as folk medicine for treating diseases like goiter, wounds, burns, rashes, inflammation, diabetes and also gaining attention of pharmaceutical industries due to their anti-cancer, anti-aging, anti-angiogenesis, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and antioxidant properties. Seaweeds polysaccharides have wide applications in foods as well as in pharmaceutical industry due to their bio-chemical properties such as stabilizer, emulsifier and gelling property. In food industry, seaweed polysaccharides are used as a functional ingredient in many products such as frozen foods, ice-cream, jam, jelly, beverages etc. Several commercial food preparations from seaweeds are also available in the market such as sea salt, nori snack wasabi, pink rock salt, seaweed thins toasted coconuts, crunchy seaweed chips, raw unroasted seaweed under different brand names. The present review is a compilation of nutritional, pharmacological and food properties of seaweeds along with its potential towards development of functional foods.


Author(s):  
Yuldashev Nasirdjan ◽  
◽  
Tuhtaeva Feruza ◽  

Chamomile has been used in scientific and folk medicine since ancient times and is still widely used in medicine due to its high medicinal properties. The beneficial effects of the flavonoids, essential oils and other biochemicals contained in it prevent and fight many diseases in the body thanks to its positive effects.


2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 547-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Hamlaoui-Gasmi ◽  
Meherzia Mokni ◽  
Nadia Limam ◽  
Prudence N’guessan ◽  
Alice Carrier ◽  
...  

Garlic is a commonly used spice in folk medicine that can exert adverse health effects when given at a high dose. Grape seed and skin extract (GSSE) exhibits a variety of beneficial effects even at a high dose. In the present study we evaluated the toxicity of high-dose garlic treatment on liver and the protective effect of GSSE. Rats were intraperitoneally administered either with garlic extract (5 g·(kg body weight)–1) or GSSE (500 mg·(kg body weight)–1) or a combination of garlic and GSSE at the same doses daily for 1 month. Plasma and hepatic levels of cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and transaminases and liver antioxidant status were evaluated. Data showed that a high garlic dose induced liver toxicity and a pro-oxidative status characterized by increased malondialdehyde and decreased antioxidant enzyme activities as catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase. Garlic increased intracellular H2O2but decreased free iron and Ca2+. GSSE alone or in co-treatment with garlic had the reverse effect and counteracted almost all garlic-induced deleterious impacts to near control levels. In conclusion, a high garlic dose induced a pro-oxidative state characterized by the Fenton reaction between H2O2and free iron, inducing Ca2+depletion, while GSSE exerted antioxidant properties and Ca2+repletion.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 2341-2350
Author(s):  
Nadia Limam ◽  
Lamjed Marzouki ◽  
Mohamed Amri

Garlic is a commonly used spice in folk medicine which could exert adverse health effects when given at high dose. Grape seed and skin extract (GSSE) exhibits a variety of beneficial effects even at high dose. In the present study we evaluated the toxicity of high garlic dose treatment on heart and the protective effect of GSSE. Rats were intraperitoneally (IP) administered either with garlic extract (5 g/kg bw) or GSSE (500 mg/kg bw) or a combination of garlic and GSSE at the same doses daily for one month. Data showed that high garlic dose induced heart toxicity and a pro-oxidative status characterized by increased MDA, NO, carbonyl protein, LDH, H2O2, free iron, and calcium. Unexpectedly garlic increased catalase and peroxidase but had no effect on superoxide dismutase. GSSE alone or in co-treatment with garlic had an opposite role and counteracted almost all garlic-induced deleterious effects to near control level. In conclusion, high garlic dose induced a pro-oxidative state into heart via the Fenton reaction between H2O2 and free iron, and GSSE exerted antioxidant properties.


Antioxidants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 651
Author(s):  
Anita Thyagarajan ◽  
Andrew S. Forino ◽  
Raymond L. Konger ◽  
Ravi P. Sahu

Naturally occurring dietary agents present in a wide variety of plant products, are rich sources of phytochemicals possessing medicinal properties, and thus, have been used in folk medicine for ages to treat various ailments. The beneficial effects of such dietary components are frequently attributed to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, particularly in regards to their antineoplastic activities. As many tumor types exhibit greater oxidative stress levels that are implicated in favoring autonomous cell growth activation, most chemotherapeutic agents can also enhance tumoral oxidative stress levels in part via generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). While ROS-mediated imbalance of the cellular redox potential can provide novel drug targets, as a consequence, this ROS-mediated excessive damage to cellular functions, including oncogenic mutagenesis, has also been implicated in inducing chemoresistance. This remains one of the major challenges in the treatment and management of human malignancies. Antioxidant-enriched natural compounds offer one of the promising approaches in mitigating some of the underlying mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis and metastasis, and therefore, have been extensively explored in cancer chemoprevention. Among various groups of dietary phytochemicals, polyphenols have been extensively explored for their underlying chemopreventive mechanisms in other cancer models. Thus, the current review highlights the significance and mechanisms of some of the highly studied polyphenolic compounds, with greater emphasis on pancreatic cancer chemoprevention.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1196-1208
Author(s):  
Ramin Ghodsi ◽  
Rahmat Nosrati

Background: Oils and fats are the densest sources of food energy among food groups. Vegetable oils are constituted predominantly of triglycerides. Due to the importance of edible oils in nutrition, food industry and human health, great attention has been paid to them in recent years. Some minor bioactive constituents in oils include phospholipids, tocols, sterols, carotenoid, chlorophyll, phenols, phylokynon and terpenes. Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine beneficial effects of minor compounds in edible oils on human health. Results: Minor compounds of edible oils that we use daily can produce remarkable results in the prevention and treatment of various diseases like diabetes, inflammation, hypertension, cancer, allergy and central nervous system disorders due to their antimicrobial, anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammation, anti-mutagenic, hypolipidemic, and hypoglycemic properties, among others. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the presence of beneficial minor compounds in oils could have significant impact on the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Therefore, the type of consumed oil can play an important role in human health.


Author(s):  
Xiao-Feng Zhu ◽  
Xiao-Jin Li ◽  
Zhong-Lian Cao ◽  
Xiu-Jie Liu ◽  
Ping Yang ◽  
...  

Background: A Chinese folk medicine plant Pleurospermum lindleyanum possesses pharmacological activities of heat-clearing, detoxifying and preventing from hepatopathy, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and high altitude sickness. We isolated and characterized its constituents to investigate its synergistic effects against human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the synergistic anti-cancer activities of isolates from P. lindleyanum with 5-FU on hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells in vitro and their primary mechanisms. Methods: Sequential chromatographic techniques were conducted for the isolation studies. The isolates structures were established by spectroscopic analysis as well as X-ray crystallographic diffraction. Growth inhibition was detected by MTT assay. The isobologram method was used to assess the effect of drug combinations. Flow cytometry and western blot were used to examine apoptosis and protein expression. Results: A new coumarin (16), along with sixteen known compounds, were isolated from the whole plant of P. lindleyanum and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Four coumarins (2, 3, 5, and 16), two flavonoids (8 and 9) and three phytosterols and triterpenes (12-14) were found to synergistically enhance the inhibitory effect of 5-FU against SMMC-7721 cells. Among them, compounds 3 and 16 exhibited the best synergistic effects with IC50 of 5-FU reduced by 16-fold and 22-fold possessing the minimum Combination Index (CI) 0.34 and 0.27. The mechanism of action of combinations might be through synergistic arresting for the cell cycle at G1 phases and the induction of apoptosis. Moreover, western blotting and molecular docking revealed that compounds 3 or 5 might promote 5-FU-induced apoptosis by regulating the expression of Caspase 9 and PARP. Conclusion: Constituents from P. lindleyanum may improve the treatment effectiveness of 5-FU against hepatocellular carcinoma cells.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kehkashan Arshad Qamar ◽  
Ahsana Dar Farooq ◽  
Bina S. Siddiqui ◽  
Nurul Kabir ◽  
Sabira Begum

Aims: The aim of the current study was to identify active compound(s) responsible for the antiproliferative effects of O. basilicum and explore their underlying mechanism/s. Background: Plants have been the source of medicines for the treatment of various diseases since ancient times. Ocimum basilicum (Sweet Basil, Bobai Tulsi) has been used in the folk medicine for the treatment of human liver, spleen and stomach cancers. Background: Plants have been the source of medicines for the treatment of various diseases since ancient times. Ocimum basilicum (Sweet Basil, Bobai Tulsi) has been used in the folk medicine for the treatment of human liver, spleen and stomach cancers. Objective: To emphasize the importance of O. basilicum as a potential novel non-toxic alternative to the conventional anticancer therapy. Method: O. basilicum (aerial parts) methanolic extract and fractions were screened against HT-144, MCF-7, NCI-H460 and SF-268 human cancer cell lines using sulforhodamine B assay. The more active Petroleum Ether Insoluble (PEI) fraction was fractionated into six sub-fractions (OB-1 to OB-6). Four pure compounds (3-O-methyl ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, 3-epi-ursolic acid and ursolic acid) were isolated from the more potent sub-fraction OB- 6. Triple channel immunofluorescence microscopy was employed to observe the effects of methanolic extract, PEI fraction, sub-fractions OB-5 and OB-6, 3-epi-ursolic acid and oleanolic acid on the cytoskeleton and nuclei of MCF-7 cells. Result: The methanolic extract and the PEI fraction exhibited selectively greater growth inhibition against MCF-7 cell line (TGI: 56 and 36.2 µg/ml, respectively). By using triple channel immunofluorescence microscopy, it was observed that the methanolic extract, PEI fraction, sub-fraction OB-5 and 3-epi-ursolic acid induced irregular mitotic spindle formation and slowing of mitotic progression in MCF-7 cells while sub-fraction OB-6 induced mitotic arrest in the prophase stage. F-actin aggregation was also visible in PEI fraction, subfraction OB-5 and 3-epi-ursolic acid treated MCF-7 cells. Conclusion: These results emphasize the importance of O. basilicum as a potential novel non-toxic alternative to the conventional anticancer therapy and suggest that it inhibits the growth of MCF-7 cancer cells via multiple mechanisms such as interaction with the microtubules and mitotic spindle apparatus, and F-actin aggregation.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
Ninon G.E.R. Etsassala ◽  
Ahmed A. Hussein ◽  
Felix Nchu

Diabetes is one of the most dangerous metabolic disorders, with high rates of mortality worldwide. Since ancient times, medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicine to treat many diseases, including diabetes and its related complications. Plants are widely accepted, affordable, and perceived to have minimal adverse side effects. The Lamiaceae family is a potential source of therapeutic agents for the management of metabolic disorders, including diabetes. Hence, this review paper summarizes the antidiabetic use of Lamiaceae species in folk medicine globally. Furthermore, we present the antidiabetic activities and phytochemical constituents of twenty-three (23) Lamiaceae species and the antidiabetic activity of some notable chemical constituents isolated from some of these Lamiaceae species.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 612
Author(s):  
Mee Ree Kim

Antioxidant ingredients are known to contribute to the beneficial effects of natural products in health promotion as well as disease prevention by reducing oxidative stress, caused by reactive oxygen or nitrogen species, in biological systems [...]


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document