Effects of Steaming Treatment on the Effective Components and Efficacy in Vitro of Ginseng Flowers.

The effective composition, antioxidant, enzyme inhibition and bile binding ability of Ginseng flowers after different steaming times were studied. The results showed that different steaming times affected the effective components of ginseng flower, the content of polysaccharide and total saponins reached the highest when steaming for 5 times, the total flavonoids and phenol increased with the times of steaming. Steaming treatment significantly induced the ability of antioxidant and inhibition of α-amylase; but reduced the inhibition of α-glucosidase and cholate binding ability. Steaming treatment improved the effective content of ginseng flower and facilitate the production of low polar saponins; steaming changes the composition of ginsenoside.

In Vitro Biological Activity and Primary Structure of Polysaccharide Extracted from Flower of Panax Ginseng C.A. Meyer.

This study investigates how three different extraction methods impact the biological activity and structure characteristics of polysaccharides from the flower of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer. The three polysaccharides were named AHEP, DWEP and ANEP that extracted by acid solvent (HCL 0.01 mol/L), distilled water and alkali solvent (NaOH 0.01 mol/L) respectively. The results showed that the yield of ANEP was highest compared to the others, as well as the capacity of antioxidant, cholate-binding and inhibition to α-glucosidase were better than AHEP and DWEP (P<0.05). Moreover, the activity retention rate in vitro with simulated digestion demonstrated that ANEP were superior to AHEP and DWEP. The large components, nominated ANEP-1 and ANEP-2, were eluted from the ANEP by DEAE-52-cellulose. UV-Vis and FT-IR analysis demonstrated that ANEP-1 and ANEP-2 had typical characteristic absorption of proteoglycan, but SEM results showed that the surface shapes of ANEP-1 and ANEP-2 were quite different. It can be concluded that ANEP has great potential as an effective strategy for obtaining polysaccharides from ginseng flower.

Isolation and characterization of a protease from the Actinidia arguta fruit for improving meat tenderness.

An protease from Actinidia arguta for improving meat tenderness was purified, characterized from wild A. arguta fruit by ammonium sulfate precipitation, Sephdex G-25 gel filtration chromatography, and DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow ion exchange chromatography, and its activity was investigated. The purified protease was subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to obtain a single band of protease. The protease was purified successfully, and found to have a molecular weight of 23.8 kDa (mass spectrometry). The specific activity of the purified protease reached 53,428 U/mg with a 25.5-fold purification factor and 9% activity recovery. Based on N-terminal sequencing results, the A. arguta protease was derived from the class of actinidia proteases that have an N-terminal sequence of VLPDY VDWRS AGAVV. The protease was effective for tenderizing beef and decomposing actomyosin, suggesting the potential application for improving meat tenderness.