Pranay Jain

Nutraceuticals: Recent Developments and Future Prospectives

Recent scientific research has focused on food components that have possible health benefits beyond traditional nutritional value. Nutraceuticals as an amalgamation of the terms nutritional and pharmaceutical refers to foods or parts of foods that provide medical or health benefits, including the prevention and/or treatment of disease. There is growing recognition of the potential role for nutraceuticals in helping to reduce health risks and improve health quality. In the global marketplace nutraceuticals have become a multi-billion dollar industry. Nutraceuticals may range from isolated nutrients, herbal products, dietary supplements and diets to genetically engineered “designer” foods and processed products such as cereals, soups, juices and beverages. Major chemical groups now recognized as having potential health promoting effects are the phenolics, flavonoids, alkaloids, carotenoids, pre- and probiotics, phytosterols, tannins, fatty acids, terpenoids, saponins, and soluble and insoluble dietary fibres. Some examples of relationships between nutraceuticals and health benefits include the importance of calcium in preventing osteoporosis, foliate in the prevention of neural tube defects in infants and the role of decreasing dietary fat and increasing fiber in the prevention of colon cancer. Advances in the areas of food technology, food biochemistry and the nutritional sciences (including nutritional genomics) are providing consumers with access to fresh and often supplemented produce with recognizable health benefits that previously were not available. New methods being used by the functional food industry to isolate, characterize, extract and purify nutraceuticals from microorganisms, plant and animal sources are resulting in decreased costs to the industry as well as providing new options for use of nutraceuticals. The health promoting effects of nutraceuticals likely are due to a complex mix of biochemical and cellular interactions which together promote overall health of the individual. Nutraceuticals may function: as substrates in metabolic reactions or cofactors of key metabolic enzymes; as ligands that promote or compete with biochemical interactions at the cell surface or with intercellular receptors which can enhance absorption and assimilation of important macro- and micronutrients; and as agents which selectively promote the growth of bacteria (especially lactic acid bacteria) with health benefits in the gastrointestinal system and compete with or partially eliminate the growth of harmful bacteria. In addition these agents may act as enzyme inhibitors, absorbents or toxicant scavengers that can associate with and help remove damaging substances or toxins from the body. Application of modern approaches in genomics, proteomics and metabolomics to the study of genetics and the biochemistry of functional foods derived from plants and animals has potential to characterize these products in a better way. Moreover, these approaches will enable us to modify product characteristics with precision. Considerable attention now is being paid to characterization of the natural biodiversity found throughout the planet. Plants in particular, present opportunities to alter their biochemical makeup to adapt to new applications and challenges, as well as providing a diverse array of growth responses that can be exploited to allow their use under many different regional ecological conditions. This chapter will provide definition, introduction, worldwide status and classification of nutraceuticals and its significance and nutrigenomics. Further, the regulatory status and recent development in nutraceuticals are discussed.

Recent Trends in Identification and Molecular Characterization of Rhizobia Species

Nutrient enrichment of soils by nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacteria present in legumes has been known for centuries. The symbiosis between the root nodule bacteria of the genus Rhizobium and legumes results in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in root nodules. This symbiotic relationship is of special significance to legume husbandry as seed inoculation with effective strains of Rhizobium can meet the nitrogen requirements of the legume to achieve increased yields. Rhizobia are Gram-negative soil bacteria which are able specifically to induce nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots of leguminous plants. A myriad of advances have been made in the understanding of both plant and bacterial genomes, the biochemistry of the symbiosis, plant and bacterial signaling, and the measurement of nitrogen fixation. However, knowledge of the ecology of the bacterial symbiont has lagged behind, mainly due to a lack of practical techniques that could be used to monitor and assess the performance of these bacteria in the field. The development of practical techniques, while providing knowledge of the success or failure of specific strains in a range of environments, has not allowed insight into the nature of the pre-existing rhizobial populations in these sites, nor the interaction between marked strains and the background population. The advent of molecular techniques has revolutionized the study of Rhizobium. In addition, molecular techniques have increased the basic knowledge of how individual strains and populations of root nodule bacteria respond to changes in the environment and how genetic diversity evolves in field sites over time. This chapter focuses on recently developed molecular techniques and other advanced technologies of genomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics that hold promise for continuing to develop our understanding of Rhizobium ecology and how these can be used to address a range of applied problems to yield new insights into rhizobial life in soil and as legume symbionts.

Diverse Endophytic Microflora of Medicinal Plants

Endophytes are microorganisms that live within plant tissues without causing symptoms of disease. They are important components of plant microbiomes. Endophytes interact with, and overlap in function with, other core microbial groups that colonize plant tissues, e.g., mycorrhizal fungi, pathogens, epiphytes, and saprotrophs. They have been recognized as potential sources of novel natural products for exploitation in medicine, agriculture, and industry with more and more bioactive natural products isolated from the microorganisms. In this chapter, we focus mainly on biodiversity of endophytic fungi, bacteria, and actinomycetes specifically with reference to medicinal plants globally. Medicinal plants are known to harbor endophytic microorganisms that are believed to be associated with the production of pharmaceutical products. Therefore, it is important to explore endophytic microflora in the medicinal plants.

Recent Trends in Prevention and Treatment of Dental Caries and Periodontal Disease by Natural Plant Products

Dental caries and periodontal disease are the most common oral diseases showing striking geographic variations, socio-economic patterns and severity of distribution all over the world. These diseases pose challenges when it comes to determining their microbial etiology. Dental caries is a localized, progressive demineralization of the hard tissues of the crown and root surfaces of teeth. The demineralization is caused by acids produced by bacteria, particularly Streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli that ferment dietary carbohydrates. This occurs within a bacteria-laden gelatinous material called dental plaque that adheres to tooth surfaces and becomes colonized by bacteria Periodontal disease is a group of illnesses in the form of gingivitis and periodontitis, located in the gums and dental support structures (ligament and alveolar bone) and are produced by certain bacteria encountered in subgingival plaque. In the present clinical scenario globally, there is a great interest in the use of antimicrobial agents for prevention and treatment of plaque-related oral diseases due to the spread of antibiotic resistance in oral cavity microorganisms. There has been an extensive research on the effectiveness of minimum inhibitory concentration of agents for cariogenic and periodontopathogenic microorganisms. Among antibiotic alternatives are therapies derived from complementary and alternative medicine to cope with the wide-spread problem of antibiotic resistance. A view to the past indicates that in ancient times, India was probably the most advanced country in dental health services in the world. In the old ayurvedic literature of India, details of gum diseases have been described and forms of treatment have also been described. The practice of oral hygiene was included in daily rituals. Ancient scriptures such as vedas and puranas proposed that the natural dentition could be preserved by appropriate periodontal treatment. In the present times, ayurvedic treatment is still very popular amongst rural and uneducated people in India. For the treatment of periodontal disease, massaging of gums with oils and ointments prepared from herbs is still advised. There are an overwhelming number of studies on the antimicrobial activities of plant and natural products derivatives. The prevention and management of dental caries and periodontal disease historically has been the dominant focus of most dentists’ professional efforts. As the putative dental caries and periodontal pathogens are developing resistance against the commercially available antibiotics, the need of hour is to explore novel drugs from natural products that can be used in the prevention and treatment of not only the dental infections but also of other dreadful diseases for which there has been no optimal drug yet discovered.