Utpal Raychaudhuri

Role of nutraceuticals in human health

Nutraceutical is the hybrid of ‘nutrition’ and ‘pharmaceutical’. Nutraceuticals, in broad, are food or part of food playing a significant role in modifying and maintaining normal physiological function that maintains healthy human beings. The principal reasons for the growth of the nutraceutical market worldwide are the current population and the health trends. The food products used as nutraceuticals can be categorized as dietary fibre, prebiotics, probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants and other different types of herbal/ natural foods. These nutraceuticals help in combating some of the major health problems of the century such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, cholesterol etc. In whole, ‘nutraceutical’ has lead to the new era of medicine and health, in which the food industry has become a research oriented sector.

Artificial sweeteners – a review

Now a days sugar free food are very much popular because of their less calorie content. So food industry uses various artificial sweeteners which are low in calorie content instead of high calorie sugar. U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved aspartame, acesulfame-k, neotame, cyclamate and alitame for use as per acceptable daily intake (ADI) value. But till date, breakdown products of these sweeteners have controversial health and metabolic effects. On the other hand, rare sugars are monosaccharides and have no known health effects because it does not metabolize in our body, but shows same sweet taste and bulk property as sugar. Rare sugars have no such ADI value and are mainly produced by using bioreactor and so inspite of high demand, rare sugars cannot be produced in the desired quantities.

Cereal based functional food of Indian subcontinent: a review.

Due to constant health awareness and readily available information on usefulness of different diet and their direct link with health, the demand of functional food is increasing day by day. The concept of functional foods includes foods or food ingredients that exert a beneficial effect on host health and/or reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions. Increasing awareness of consumer health and interest in functional foods to achieve a healthy lifestyle has resulted in the need for food products with versatile health-benefiting properties. Cereal- and cereal component-based food products offer opportunities to include probiotics, prebiotics, and fibers in the human diet. Various growth studies using probiotic Lactic acid bacteria on cereal-based substrates and utilization of whole grain or components as high-fiber foods in developing novel food products lend support to the idea that cereal-based media may well be good probiotic carriers. It is essential that science and traditional knowledge should go together to find mutually beneficial results. In the Indian subcontinent, making use of fermented food and beverages using local food crops and other biological resources are very common. But the nature of the products and the base material vary from region to region.

Bromelain induces cardioprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury through Akt/FOXO pathway in rat myocardium.

Bromelain (Br), a proteolytic enzyme extracted from the stem of the pineapple, is known to possess anti-inflammatory activity and has been shown to reduce blood viscosity, prevent the aggregation of blood platelets, and improve ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in a skeletal muscle model. We investigated the capacity of Br to limit myocardial injury in a global I/R model. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups: control (PBS) and Br at 10 mg/kg in PBS administered via intraperitoneal injection (twice/day) for 15 consecutive days. On day 16, the hearts were excised and subjected to 30 min of global ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Br treatment showed higher left ventricular functional recovery throughout reperfusion compared with the controls [maximum rate of rise in intraventricular pressure (dP/dt max), 2,225 vs. 1,578 mmHg/s at 2 h reperfusion]. Aortic flow was also found to be increased in Br treatment when compared with that in untreated rats (11 vs. 1 ml). Furthermore, Br treatment reduced both the infarct size (34% vs. 43%) and the degree of apoptosis (28% vs. 37%) compared with the control animals. Western blot analysis showed an increased phosphorylation of both Akt and FOXO3A in the treatment group compared with the control. These results demonstrated for the first time that Br triggers an Akt-dependent survival pathway in the heart, revealing a novel mechanism of cardioprotective action and a potential therapeutic target against I/R injury.

Cardioprotective properties of raw and cooked eggplant (Solanum melongena L)

Although eggplants are known to be part of a healthy diet, the effects of this fruit on cardioprotection are not known. The present study examined the role of raw and grilled eggplants on cardioprotection using an isolated perfusion heart model. The animals were fed freeze-dried products of either raw or grilled eggplants for 30 days. After 30 days, isolated working hearts were subjected to 30 min ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Left ventricular function was monitored, and myocardial infarct size and cardiomyocyte apoptosis were assessed. To determine the antioxidant function of eggplants, their DPPH scavenging ability were determined, and polyphenolic components, especially nasunin content, were determined. The chemical composition of raw and grilled eggplants were determined in order to examine whether grilling was associated with major changes in their composition. The results of this study demonstrated eggplants as containing potent cardioprotective compounds judging by their ability to increase left ventricular function, and reduce myocardial infarct size and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. However, there was no difference in cardioprotective ability between the raw and grilled products. The antioxidant vitamins, including vitamin A, vitamin C and β-carotene, were lower and some of the polyphenolic components, especially nasunin content, were higher in grilled eggplants, but they were unable to demonstrate better cardioprotective properties compared to the raw fruit.

Comparison of the protective effects of steamed and cooked broccolis on ischaemia-reperfusion-induced cardiac injury

Recently, broccoli, a vegetable of the Brassica family, has been found to protect the myocardium from ischaemic reperfusion injury through the redox signalling of sulphoraphane, which is being formed from glucosinolate present in this vegetable. Since cooked broccoli loses most of its glucosinolate, we assumed that fresh broccoli could be a superior cardioprotective agent compared to cooked broccoli. To test this, two groups of rats were fed with fresh (steamed) broccoli or cooked broccoli for 30 d, while a third group was given vehicle only for the same period of time. After 30 d, all the rats were sacrificed, and the isolated working hearts were subjected to 30 min ischaemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Both cooked and steamed broccolis displayed significantly improved post-ischaemic ventricular function and reduced myocardial infarction and cardiomyocyte apoptosis compared to control, but steamed broccoli showed superior cardioprotective abilities compared with the cooked broccoli. Corroborating with these results, both cooked and steamed broccolis demonstrated significantly enhanced induction of the survival signalling proteins including Bcl2, Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, haemoxygenase-1, NFE2 related factor 2, superoxide dismutase (SOD1) and SOD2 and down-regulation of the proteins (e.g. Bax, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase) of the death signalling pathway, steamed broccoli displaying superior results over its cooked counterpart. The expressions of proteins of the thioredoxin (Trx) superfamily including Trx1 and its precursor sulphoraphane, Trx2 and Trx reductase, were enhanced only in the steamed broccoli group. The results of the present study documented superior cardioprotective properties of the steamed broccoli over cooked broccoli because of the ability of fresh broccoli to perform redox signalling of Trx.

The Effect of Euryale Ferox (Makhana), an Herb of Aquatic Origin, on Myocardial Ischemic Reperfusion Injury

Fox nut or gorgon nut (Euryale ferox – Family Nymphaeaceae), popularly known as Makhana, has been widely used in traditional oriental medicine to cure a variety of diseases including kidney problems, chronic diarrhea, excessive leucorrhea and hypofunction of the spleen. Based on the recent studies revealing antioxidant activities of Euryale ferox and its glucosides composition, we sought to determine if Euryale ferox seeds (Makhana) could reduce myocardial ischemic reperfusion injury. Two different models were used: acute model, where isolated rat hearts were preperfused for 15 min with Krebs Henseleit bicarbonate (KHB) buffer containing three different doses of makhana (25, 125 or 250 μg/ml) followed by 30 min of ischemia and 2 h of reperfusion; and chronic model, where rats were given two different doses of makhana (250 and 500 mg/kg/day) for 21 days, after which isolated hearts were subjected to 30 min of ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. In both cases, the hearts of the Makhana treated rats were resistant to ischemic reperfusion injury as evidenced by their improved post-ischemic ventricular function and reduced myocardial infarct size. Antibody array technique was used to identify the cardioprotective proteins. The Makhana-treated hearts had increased amounts of thioredoxin-1 (Trx–1) and thioredoxin-related protein-32 (TRP32) compared to the control hearts. Western blot analysis confirmed increased expression of TRP32 and thioredoxin proteins. In vitro studies revealed that Makhana extracts had potent reactive oxygen species scavenging activities. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate cardioprotective properties of Makhana and suggest that such cardioprotective properties may be linked with the ability of makhana to induce TRP32 and Trx-1 proteins and to scavenge ROS.

Supplementation of common white bread by coriander leaf powder

Coriander leaves are widely used worldwide as a very common garnish in almost all types of Western, Oriental, and Arabic culinary. It is rich in the beneficial components of antioxidants, trace elements, and essential oils. Bread enriched with coriander leaf powder is therefore likely to have greater acceptability to consumers compared to unfortified bread. In the present study the antioxidant and sensory analyses along with baking and staling characteristics of such breads at supplementation levels of 1.0, 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0%(w/w) on wheat flour have been investigated. Results show that supplementation with coriander leaf powder bettered the crumb moisture content with only a little increase in crumb firmness. A substantial improvement in sensory characteristics was observed with the supplemented breads. A sharp increase in antioxidant content was an important beneficial fortification effect observed in the fortified breads. Coriander leaf content between 3.0 and 5.0% was found to be the optimum supplementation level that offered the best compromise for highest acceptability of the fortified breads.

The 21st century form of vitamin E--tocotrienol.

Vitamin E family constitutes of tocopherol and tocotrienol. Each form has several isomers: alpha,beta, gamma, delta, desmo and didesmo. Although tocopherol is known much earlier, tocotrienol has been discovered more recently.Tocotrienol has higher antioxidant potential than tocopherol. Research shows that tocotrienol can inhibit the induced oxidative damage to lipids and proteins. Cholesterol biosynthesis pathway requires HMG Co A reductase. Tocotrienol degrades HMG Co A reductase protein and in turn lowers cholesterol synthesis. Tocotrienol can reverse ischemia-reperfusion which mediates cardiac dysfunction and induces c-Src protein expression. Tocotrienol prevents oxytosis and offers protection against Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, Hungtingtons disease. Tocotrienol exerts anticancer property through cell cycle arrest, induction of apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis; antitumor activity. Tocotrienol also possesses anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antiadipogenic and antiatherogenic effect.

Effect of freeze drying and oven drying on antioxidant properties of fresh wheatgrass

The effects of freeze drying and hot air drying on total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidant properties of flour from seven-day-old fresh wheatgrass (Triticum aestivum L.) were investigated. In the quantitative analysis of antioxidative components, fresh wheatgrass samples had the highest amount of ascorbic acid and chlorophyll, but the lowest amount of total flavonoids and phenolics. In the analysis of ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP), ethanolic extract from freeze-dried wheatgrass gave the highest value, while the α-tocopherol gave the lowest value. In the analysis of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging ability, freeze-dried wheatgrass samples exhibited the highest activity among the three samples.