Hee-Ock Boo

Positive effects of temperature and growth conditions on enzymatic and antioxidant status in lettuce plants

The contents of two bioactive compounds (polyphenols and flavonoids) and their antioxidant and enzyme activities were determined in the leaves of six lettuce (Latuca sativa L.) cultivars subjected to 4 different day/night temperatures for 6 weeks. The total polyphenol and anthocyanin contents and the corresponding antioxidant activities were the highest at 13/10°C and 20/13°C, followed by 25/20°C and 30/25°C. The enzymatic activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) were also the highest at low day/night temperatures, but the peroxidase (POD) activity was decreased at low day/night temperatures and increased at high day/night temperatures. The most significant positive correlation existed between anthocyanin content and PPO activity, total polyphenols and their antioxidant activities. The results showed that at relatively low temperatures, lettuce plants have a high antioxidant and enzymatic status. These results provide additional information for the lettuce growers.

Anthocyanin content and the activities of polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase in lettuce cultivars

Anthocyanin content and the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and their relationships were determined in the leaves of six lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) cultivars, exposed for 6 weeks to alternating three different day/night temperatures. Anthocyanin content was found to be highest at 20/13°C, followed by 25/20°C and 30/25°C, showing accumulation of anthocyanin at low temperatures. Activities of PPO and PAL were also found to be highest at low day/night temperatures, whereas the POD activity was decreased at low day/night temperatures. The most significant positive correlation existed between anthocyanin content and PPO activity (r2 = 0.71). The results suggest that various day/night temperature regimes affect anthocyanin content and the activities of PPO, POD and PAL in lettuce.

Analytical Methods for Enzyme and DPPH Radical Scavenging Activities of Natural Pigments from Some Plants

The enzyme activities in different fractions of Dioscorea japonica Thunb. and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical scavenging activity in 15 natural plant pigments from black rice, purple sweet potato, yellow bitter melon, yellow paprika, red cabbage, yellow gardenia, blue gardenia, Chinese foxglove, mulberry leave, onion peel, grape peel, mulberry, red beet, gromwell, and cactus were determined. The antioxidant activity in the cosmetic composition of mulberry leaves, grape peel, mulberry, and red cabbage pigments was relatively high in comparison with all other studied plants. Enzyme activities in investigated plants were evaluated as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). The cosmetic composition of mulberry leaf pigment had the highest SOD enzyme activity of 67.1% while onion peel pigment showed the lowest SOD enzyme activity of 15.3%. The activity of CAT and APX from cosmetic composition of natural plant pigments has also been investigated. Both CAT and APX showed higher values in the cactus, mulberry, and red cabbage cosmetic compositions in comparison with other plant pigments. The cosmetic composition in EtOAc extract of D. japonica Thunb. had the highest SOD enzyme activity while the BuOH and EtOH extracts were comparatively low. CAT and APX activities showed significantly high values in EtOH and EtOAc extracts. The antioxidant enzyme activities of D. japonica Thunb. differ significantly in different plant pigments during their extraction. In conclusion, we showed that the plant pigments and D. japonica Thunb. had the potent biological activities. Therefore, these plant resources having anti-aging components could be good materials for development of source of natural cosmetics.

Codonopsis lanceolata and Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. root extracts for functional food: metabolic profiling by MS, FTIR and fluorescence and evaluation of cytotoxicity and anti-obesity properties on 3T3-L1 cell line

AbstractnThe effects of bioactivity, binding properties, anti-obesity and antioxidant enzyme activities in different fractions from the roots of Codonopsis lanceolata [C. lanceolata (CL)] in comparison with Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. [N. nucifera Gaertn (NN)] were evaluated in vitro. The rate of cell survival progressively decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Butyl alcohol fraction of CL exhibited a pronounced cytotoxic effect (75.73xa0%) comparable to that of hexane (79.82xa0%), following by methylene chloride (84.02xa0%), ethyl acetate (87.62xa0%) and water fractions (86.30xa0%) at the same concentration at 200xa0μg/mL on 3T3-L1 cells. Confluent 3T3-L1 cells were treated with 50xa0µg/mL of CL and NN extracts and then stained with Oil Red O solution. Inhibitory degree of lipid accumulation against these extracts showed a significant level compared with the control sample. Both lipid accumulation and adipocyte differentiation showed relatively high effects in methyl chloride fraction. Comparative results of cytotoxicity and inhibitory degree of lipid accumulation were obtained with extracts of N. nucifera Gaertn. roots. The root extract of C. lanceolata had the significantly highest SOD enzyme activity of 84.5xa0% in ethyl acetate fraction and the lowest in water (57.9xa0%). Similar correlations were found for CAT, APX and POD activities as the highest in ethyl acetate partition layer compared with the other fractions. The binding properties were determined by interaction of polyphenols extracts of CL and NN with human serum albumin. Overall results of properties of these two plants suggest that the roots of C. lanceolata and N. nucifera Gaertn. may assist in the potential biological activity on anti-obesity, cytotoxic, antioxidant and binding capacities as a part of functional food.nGraphical AbstractCL, NN, Codonopsis lanceolata, Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. I, II, Effects of solvent fractions on lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells of CL, NN. Con, control; MC, methylene chloride fraction; III, IV, 3D-fluorescence spectra and corresponding contour maps (III, IV) of polyphenols of CL and NN in interaction with human serum albumin.

Identification and Characterization of Diploid and Tetraploid in Platycodon grandiflorum

AbstractPlatycodon grandiflorum (PG), a species of herbaceous flowering perennial plant of the family Campanulaceae, has been used as a traditional oriental medicine for bronchitis, asthma, pulmonary tuberculosis, diabetes, hepatic fibrosis, bone disorders and many others similar diseases and as a food supplement. For the primary profiling of PG gas chromatography coupled with high resolution – time of flight mass spectrometry (GC/HR-TOF MS) was used as an analytical tool. A comparison of optimal extraction of metabolites was carried out with a number of solvents [hexane, methylene chloride, methanol, ethanol, methanol: ethanol (70:30, v:v)]. In extracts with methanol: ethanol (70:30 v:v) were detected higher amounts of metabolites than with other solvents. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) plots showed significant differences between the diploid and tetraploid metabolite profiles. Extracts of tetraploid showed higher amounts of amino acids, while extracts of diploid contained more organic acids and sugars.n Graphical Abstractᅟ

Discrimination of Platycodon grandiflorum and Codonopsis lanceolata using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach

Species of herbaceous flowering perennial plant of the family Campanulaceae such as Platycodon grandiflorum (P. grandiflorum) and Codonopsis lanceolata (C. lanceolata) widely used in traditional medicine to treat different diseases. In spite of different medicinal results after consumption of the plants, it is hard to distinguish between two of them, because of their similar morphological characteristics. In this study, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) - based metabolite profiling approach was performed and examined to discriminate tuberous roots of P. grandiflorum and C. lanceolate for medicinal purposes. Two basic approaches for sample preparation, headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and solvent extraction were adopted. Multivariate statistical techniques, such as orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) plots showed significant differences between P. grandiflorum and C. lanceolata for polar primary and volatile organic metabolites. A number of potential candidates were suggested as the chemomarkers for discrimination of two plants.