Phytochemicals, nutritional, antioxidant activity, and sensory analyses of Moringa oleifera Lam. collected from mid-hill region of Nepal.

This study was aimed to determine the phytochemicals and nutritional compositions, antioxidant activity and sensorial properties of Moringa oleifera extracts. The powders prepared from leaves and pods were mixed separately at the ratios of 1:0, 0:1, 0.25:0.75, 0.5:0.5 and 0.75:0.25 and labelled as mixtures A, B, C, D and E, respectively. Mixture A exhibited highest chlorophylls, tannins, phenolics and flavonoids contents (17.8 mg/g, 9.1 mg GAE/g, 91.1 mg GAE/g and 38.1 mg QE/g, respectively). The crude proteins content was higher (18.03%) in mixture A. The fats, fibres and carbohydrates amounts were higher (2.96%, 11.02% and 67.86%, respectively) in mixture B. The highest energy value (335.62 Kcal/100 g) and the highest antioxidant activity (83.2%) were in mixture A. However, most of the sensory attributes were ranked high for mixture D, signifying to use the equal proportion of leaves and pods powder of M. oleifera for the development of food products.

Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers: phytochemical composition, cytotoxicity, proximate analysis and their biological activities.

The present research work has been performed to evaluate the phenolic content, flavonoids content, and cytotoxicity of a multidimensional medicinal plant; Tinospora cordifolia and as well as to determine nutritive value by proximate analysis. The total phenolic and flavonoids contents of Tinospora cordifolia were found to be significantly greater in methanol extract as compared to corresponding hexane extract. Brine shrimp bioassay indicated Tinospora cordifolia is pharmacologically active. The percentage composition of different nutrition parameters namely moisture, total ash, crude fat, protein, fibre, carbohydrate, and vitamin C were assessed. The nutritive values of fresh and dried stem samples were evaluated as 156.44 Kcal/100g and 232.61 Kcal/100g respectively. From Gas column mass spectrometry analysis, it can be reported that inositol, 1-deoxy-, trans-sinapyl alcohol, n-hexadecanoic acid were present in the major amount in methanol stem extract. The findings from this study reveal Tinospora cordifolia contains an adequate amount of phenolic and flavonoids content, vital bioactive antioxidant compounds, and a good source of carbohydrates and fibers which potentially adds to the overall value of the plant.

Production of Minor Ginsenosides C-K and C-Y from Naturally Occurring Major Ginsenosides Using Crude ß-Glucosidase Preparation from Submerged Culture of Fomitella fraxinea.

Minor ginsenosides, such as compounds (C)-K and C-Y, possess relatively better bioactivity than those of naturally occurring major ginsenosides. Therefore, this study focused on the biotransformation of major ginsenosides into minor ginsenosides using crude ß-glucosidase preparation isolated from submerged liquid culture of Fomitella fraxinea (FFEP). FFEP was prepared by ammonium sulfate (30-80%) precipitation from submerged culture of F. fraxinea. FFEP was used to prepare minor ginsenosides from protopanaxadiol (PPD)-type ginsenoside (PPDG-F) or total ginsenoside fraction (TG-F). In addition, biotransformation of major ginsenosides into minor ginsenosides as affected by reaction time and pH were investigated by TLC and HPLC analyses, and the metabolites were also identified by UPLC/negative-ESI-Q-TOF-MS analysis. FFEP biotransformed ginsenosides Rb1 and Rc into C-K via the following pathways: Rd → F2 → C-K for Rb1 and both Rd → F2→ C-K and C-Mc1 → C-Mc → C-K for Rc, respectively, while C-Y is formed from Rb2 via C-O. FFEP can be applied to produce minor ginsenosides C-K and C-Y from PPDG-F or TG-F. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report the production of C-K and C-Y from major ginsenosides by basidiomycete F. fraxinea.

Genome Sequence of Hymenobacter polaris RP-2-7T, Isolated from Arctic Soil.

Hymenobacter polaris RP-2-7T was isolated from soil from the Arctic region. This study presents the genome sequence of Hymenobacter polaris RP-2-7T, generated using the Illumina HiSeq platform. The genome size is 5,587,174 bp; it contains 4,721 genes and has 62.8 mol% DNA G+C content.

Highly regioselective biotransformation of ginsenoside Rb2 into compound Y and compound K by ß-glycosidase purified from Armillaria mellea mycelia.

BACKGROUND: The biological activities of ginseng saponins (ginsenosides) are associated with type, number, and position of sugar moieties linked to aglycone skeletons. Deglycosylated minor ginsenosides are known to be more biologically active than major ginsenosides. Accordingly, the deglycosylation of major ginsenosides can provide the multibioactive effects of ginsenosides. The purpose of this study was to transform ginsenoside Rb2, one of the protopanaxadiol-type major ginsenosides, into minor ginsenosides using ß-glycosidase (BG-1) purified from Armillaria mellea mycelium. METHODS: Ginsenoside Rb2 was hydrolyzed by using BG-1; the hydrolytic properties of Rb2 by BG-1 were also characterized. In addition, the influence of reaction conditions such as reaction time, pH, and temperature, and transformation pathways of Rb2, Rd, F2, compound O (C-O), and C-Y by treatment with BG-1 were investigated. RESULTS: BG-1 first hydrolyzes 3-O-outer ß-d-glucoside of Rb2, then 3-O-ß-d-glucoside of C-O into C-Y. C-Y was gradually converted into C-K with a prolonged reaction time, but the pathway of Rb2 → Rd → F2 → C-K was not observed. The optimum reaction conditions for C-Y and C-K formation from Rb2 by BG-1 were pH 4.0-4.5, temperature 45-60°C, and reaction time 72-96 h. CONCLUSION: ß-Glycosidase purified from A. mellea mycelium can be efficiently used to transform Rb2 into C-Y and C-K. To our best knowledge, this is the first result of transformation from Rb2 into C-Y and C-K by basidiomycete mushroom enzyme.

Purification and characterization of a novel ginsenoside Rc-hydrolyzing ß-glucosidase from Armillaria mellea mycelia.

Ginsenosides are the principal compounds responsible for the pharmacological effects and health benefits of Panax ginseng root. Among protopanaxadiol (PPD)-type ginsenosides, minor ginsenosides such as ginsenoside (G)-F2, G-Rh2, compound (C)-Mc1, C-Mc, C-O, C-Y, and C-K are known to be more pharmacologically active constituents than major ginsenosides such as G-Rb1, G-Rb2, G-Rc, and G-Rd. A novel ginsenoside Rc-hydrolyzing ß-glucosidase (BG-1) from Armillaria mellea mycelia was purified as a single protein band with molecular weight of 121.5 kDa on SDS-PAGE and a specific activity of 17.9 U mg-1 protein. BG-1 concurrently hydrolyzed α-(1 â†’ 6)-arabinofuranosidic linkage at the C-20 site or outer ß-(1 â†’ 2)-glucosidic linkage at the C-3 site of G-Rc to produce G-Rd and C-Mc1, respectively. The enzyme also hydrolyzed outer and inner glucosidic linkages at the C-3 site of G-Rd to produce C-K via G-F2, and inner glucosidic linkage at the C-3 site of C-Mc1 to produce C-Mc. C-Mc was also slowly hydrolyzed α-(1 â†’ 6)-arabinofuranosidic linkage at the C-20 site to produce C-K with reaction time prolongation. Finally, the pathways for formation of C-Mc and C-K from G-Rc by BG-1 were G-Rc â†’ C-Mc1 â†’ C-Mc and G-Rc â†’ G-Rd â†’ G-F2 â†’ C-K, respectively. The optimum reaction conditions for C-Mc and C-K formation from G-Rc by BG-1 were pH 4.0-4.5, temperature 45-60 °C, and reaction time 72-96 h. This is the first report of efficient production of minor ginsenosides, C-Mc and C-K from G-Rc by ß-glucosidase purified from A. mellea mycelia.

Enzymatic formation of compound-K from ginsenoside Rb1 by enzyme preparation from cultured mycelia of Armillaria mellea.

BACKGROUND: Minor saponins or human intestinal bacterial metabolites, such as ginsenosides Rg3, F2, Rh2, and compound K, are more pharmacologically active than major saponins, such as ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, and Rc. In this work, enzymatic hydrolysis of ginsenoside Rb1 was studied using enzyme preparations from cultured mycelia of mushrooms. METHODS: Mycelia of Armillaria mellea, Ganoderma lucidum, Phellinus linteus, Elfvingia applanata, and Pleurotus ostreatus were cultivated in liquid media at 25°C for 2 wk. Enzyme preparations from cultured mycelia of five mushrooms were obtained by mycelia separation from cultured broth, enzyme extraction, ammonium sulfate (30-80%) precipitation, dialysis, and freeze drying, respectively. The enzyme preparations were used for enzymatic hydrolysis of ginsenoside Rb1. RESULTS: Among the mushrooms used in this study, the enzyme preparation from cultured mycelia of A. mellea (AMMEP) was found to convert ginsenoside Rb1 into compound K with a high yield, while those from G. lucidum, P. linteus, E. applanata, and P. ostreatus produced remarkable amounts of ginsenoside Rd from ginsenoside Rb1. The enzymatic hydrolysis pathway of ginsenoside Rb1 by AMMEP was Rb1 → Rd → F2 → compound K. The optimum reaction conditions for compound K formation from ginsenoside Rb1 were as follows: reaction time 72-96 h, pH 4.0-4.5, and temperature 45-55°C. CONCLUSION: AMMEP can be used to produce the human intestinal bacterial metabolite, compound K, from ginsenoside Rb1 with a high yield and without food safety issues.