Beneath the rind: A review on the remarkable health benefits and applications of the wood apple fruit.

Limonia acidissima Groff, commonly referred to as the Wood apple, is a tropical fruit belonging to Rutaceae family. Indigenous to Sri Lanka, India, and Myanmar, it is extensively cultivated throughout Southeast Asia. This fruit holds a profound historical significance in traditional medicine due to its exceptional nutritional and therapeutic attributes. Wood apple pulp is significantly abundant in ß-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, and contains a substantial amount of vitamin B, including riboflavin and thiamine, as well as trace amounts of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Moreover health-benefitting properties associated with L. acidissima, such as, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spermatogenic, analgesic, antiulcer, and antihyperlipidemic properties, are attributed to a diverse range of phytochemicals. These encompass polyphenolic compounds, saponins, phytosterols, tannins, triterpenoids, coumarins, amino acids, tyramine derivatives, and vitamins. From the findings of the various studies, it was observed that wood apple fruit shows significant anticancer activity by inhibiting the proliferation of cancer. Furthermore, wood apple finds wide-ranging commercial applications in the formulation of ready-to-serve beverages, syrups, jellies, chutneys, and various other food products. In summary, this review highlights the nutritional and phytochemical constituents of wood apple, depicts its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic capabilities, and explores its potential in value-added product development. Nevertheless, it is crucial to acknowledge that the molecular mechanisms supporting these properties remain an underexplored domain. To ensure the safe integration of wood apple fruit into the realms of the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical sectors, rigorous clinical trials, including toxicity assessments, are required. These endeavors hold the potential to promote innovation and contribute significantly to both research and industrial sectors.

Exploring apple pectic polysaccharides: Extraction, characterization, and biological activities - A comprehensive review.

Apple (Malus domestica) is a popular and ancient fruit of the Myrtaceae family. Apple fruit is well-known for its great nutritional and phytochemical content consisted of beneficial compounds such as polyphenols, polysaccharides, sterols, and organic acids. Polysaccharides extracted from different parts of the apple fruit, including the peel, pomace, or the whole fruit, have been extensively studied. Researchers have investigated the structural characteristics of these polysaccharides, such as molecular weight, type of monosaccharide unit, type of linkage and its position and arrangement. Besides this, functional properties and physicochemical and of apple polysaccharides have also been studied, along with the effects of extraction procedures, storage, and processing on cell wall polysaccharides. Various extraction techniques, including hot water extraction, enzymatic extraction, and solvent-assisted extraction, have been studied. From the findings, it was evident that apple polysaccharides are mainly composed of (1 â†’ 3), (1 â†’ 6): α-ß-glycosidic linkage. Moreover, the apple polysaccharides were demonstrated to exhibit antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, hypoilipidemic, and enzyme inhibitory properties in vitro and in vivo. The potential applications of apple polysaccharides in the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical industries have also been explored in the present review. Overall, the research on apple polysaccharides highlights their significant potential as a source of biologically active compounds with various health benefits and practical applications.

Phytochemicals, therapeutic benefits and applications of chrysanthemum flower: A review.

Chrysanthemum is a flowering plant belonging to a genus of the dicotyledonous herbaceous annual flowering plant of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. It is a perpetual flowering plant, mostly cultivated for medicinal purposes; generally, used in popular drinks due to its aroma and flavor. It is primarily cultivated in China, Japan, Europe, and United States. These flowers were extensively used in various healthcare systems and for treating various diseases. Chrysanthemum flowers are rich in phenolic compounds and exhibit strong properties including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-allergic, anti-obesity, immune regulation, hepatoprotective, and nephroprotective activities. The main aim of the present review was to investigate the nutritional profile, phytochemistry, and biological activities of flowers of different Chrysanthemum species. Also, a critical discussion of the diverse metabolites or bioactive constituents of the Chrysanthemum flowers is highlighted in the present review. Moreover, the flower extracts of Chrysanthemum have been assessed to possess a rich phytochemical profile, including compounds such as cyanidin-3-O-(6″-O-malonyl) glucoside, delphinidin 3-O-(6" -O-malonyl) glucoside-3', rutin, quercetin, isorhamnetin, rutinoside, and others. These profiles exhibit potential health benefits, leading to their utilization in the production of supplementary food products and pharmaceutical drugs within the industry. However, more comprehensive research studies/investigations are still needed to further discover the potential benefits for human and animal utilization.

In-depth evaluation of nutritive, chemical constituents and anti-glycemic properties of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam) clonal accessions with flake colour diversity from Eastern Sub-Himalayan plains of India.

The study was designed to elucidate the potential of jackfruit clonal accessions having diverse flake colours from nutritional and medicinal perspectives. Jack fruit accessions with deep yellow flakes were found to contain the highest flavonoids, antioxidant activity, ascorbic acid, and α-glucosidase inhibition whereas, orange-red flakes exhibited the highest ß-carotene, phenol, minerals (iron and zinc) and better inhibition of α-amylase and ß-glucosidase enzymes. Phenolic compounds profiling revealed the presence of higher sinapic acid, ferulic acid and quercetin contents in the orange-red-coloured flakes. Metabolite analysis revealed presence of anti-diabetic compounds (n-Hexadecanoic acid, tridecane, 2-Heptadecenal etc.) in deep yellow and orange-red coloured jack flakes with lower glycemic load. Considering the abundant health benefits as evident from the present study, orange-red and deep yellow-coloured flakes may be recommended for consumption to manage the hyperglycemic condition.

Botanicals and Oral Stem Cell Mediated Regeneration: A Paradigm Shift from Artificial to Biological Replacement.

Stem cells are a well-known autologous pluripotent cell source, having excellent potential to develop into specialized cells, such as brain, skin, and bone marrow cells. The oral cavity is reported to be a rich source of multiple types of oral stem cells, including the dental pulp, mucosal soft tissues, periodontal ligament, and apical papilla. Oral stem cells were useful for both the regeneration of soft tissue components in the dental pulp and mineralized structure regeneration, such as bone or dentin, and can be a viable substitute for traditionally used bone marrow stem cells. In recent years, several studies have reported that plant extracts or compounds promoted the proliferation, differentiation, and survival of different oral stem cells. This review is carried out by following the PRISMA guidelines and focusing mainly on the effects of bioactive compounds on oral stem cell-mediated dental, bone, and neural regeneration. It is observed that in recent years studies were mainly focused on the utilization of oral stem cell-mediated regeneration of bone or dental mesenchymal cells, however, the utility of bioactive compounds on oral stem cell-mediated regeneration requires additional assessment beyond in vitro and in vivo studies, and requires more randomized clinical trials and case studies.

Onion (Allium cepa L.) peel: A review on the extraction of bioactive compounds, its antioxidant potential, and its application as a functional food ingredient.

Functional food development is rapidly increasing as a result of consumer consciousness concerning healthy and nutritious foods. In turn, research exploring novel ingredients for formulating functional foods has been accelerated. Onion peel or skin is a byproduct obtained from onion processing that contains abundant phytochemicals, contributing to its antioxidant potential. The main focus of this review is to highlight different extraction techniques (both conventional and nonconventional) that can be implemented to extract the bioactive compounds from onion peel and assess their antioxidant activity. Furthermore, this review highlights the major areas for the application of onion peel and its extract as prospective functional ingredients, thus aiding in the preparation of designer foods with additional health benefits. The use of onion peel could also assist in redesigning popularly consumed processed foods, such as baked products, noodles or pasta, as packaging material, meat quality improvers, colorants, and juice clarifiers. This review serves as a preliminary document that can assist in exploring different ways of incorporating bioactive onion peels or skin into the functional food industry and concludes that future research can assist in the effective and efficient utilization of this resource.

Apitherapy and Periodontal Disease: Insights into In Vitro, In Vivo, and Clinical Studies.

Periodontal diseases are caused mainly by inflammation of the gums and bones surrounding the teeth or by dysbiosis of the oral microbiome, and the Global Burden of Disease study (2019) reported that periodontal disease affects 20-50% of the global population. In recent years, more preference has been given to natural therapies compared to synthetic drugs in the treatment of periodontal disease, and several oral care products, such as toothpaste, mouthwash, and dentifrices, have been developed comprising honeybee products, such as propolis, honey, royal jelly, and purified bee venom. In this study, we systematically reviewed the literature on the treatment of periodontitis using honeybee products. A literature search was performed using various databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus, clinicaltrials.gov, and Google Scholar. A total of 31 studies were reviewed using eligibility criteria published between January 2016 and December 2021. In vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies (randomized clinical trials) were included. Based on the results of these studies, honeybee products, such as propolis and purified bee venom, were concluded to be effective and safe for use in the treatment of periodontitis mainly due to their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities. However, to obtain reliable results from randomized clinical trials assessing the effectiveness of honeybee products in periodontal treatment with long-term follow-up, a broader sample size and assessment of various clinical parameters are needed.

Plant-Based Antioxidant Extracts and Compounds in the Management of Oral Cancer.

Oral cancer continues to be a leading cause of death worldwide, and its prevalence is particularly high in developing countries, where people chew tobacco and betel nut on a regular basis. Radiation-, chemo-, targeted-, immuno-, and hormone-based therapies along with surgery are commonly used as part of a treatment plan. However, these treatments frequently result in various unwanted short- to long-term side effects. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop treatment options for oral cancer that have little or no adverse effects. Numerous bioactive compounds derived from various plants have recently attracted attention as therapeutic options for cancer treatment. Antioxidants found in medicinal plants, such as vitamins E, C, and A, reduce damage to the mucosa by neutralizing free radicals found in various oral mucosal lesions. Phytochemicals found in medicinal plants have the potential to modulate cellular signalling pathways that alter the cellular defence mechanisms to protect normal cells from reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce apoptosis in cancer cells. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of various medicinal plants and phytoconstituents that have shown the potential to be used as oral cancer therapeutics.

Ethnomedicinal Plants Used in the Health Care System: Survey of the Mid Hills of Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, India.

The study was performed in the mid hills of the Dharampur region in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. At the study site, a total of 115 medicinal plants were documented (38 trees, 37 herbs, 34 shrubs, 5 climbers, 1 fern, and 1 grass). In the study region, extensive field surveys were performed between March 2020 and August 2021. Indigenous knowledge of wild medicinal plants was collected through questionnaires, discussions, and personal interviews during field trips. Plants with their correct nomenclature were arranged by botanical name, family, common name, habitat, parts used, routes used, and diseases treated. In the present study, the predominant family was Rosaceae, which represented the maximum number of plant species, 10, followed by Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, which represented 8 plant species. The rural inhabitants of the Dharampur region in the Solan district have been using local plants for primary health care and the treatment of various diseases for a longer time. However, information related to the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants was not documented. The rural inhabitants of the Dharampur region reported that the new generation is not so interested in traditional knowledge of medicinal plants due to modernization in society, so there is an urgent need to document ethnomedicinal plants before such knowledge becomes inaccessible and extinct.