Spent Grain from Malt Whisky: Assessment of the Phenolic Compounds.

In order to extract antioxidant phenolic compounds from spent grain (SG) two extraction methods were studied: the ultrasound-assisted method (US) and the Ultra-Turrax method (high stirring rate) (UT). Liquid to solid ratios, solvent concentration, time, and temperature/stirring rate were optimized. Spent grain extracts were analyzed for their total phenol content (TPC) (0.62 to 1.76 mg GAE/g SG DW for Ultra-Turrax pretreatment, and 0.57 to 2.11 mg GAE/g SG DW for ultrasound-assisted pretreatment), total flavonoid content (TFC) (0.6 to 1.67 mg QE/g SG DW for UT, and 0.5 to 1.63 mg QE/g SG DW for US), and antioxidant activity was measured using 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical (25.88% to 79.58% for UT, and 27.49% to 78.30% for UT). TPC was greater at a high stirring rate and high exposure time up to a certain extent for the Ultra-Turrax method, and at a high temperature for the ultrasound-assisted method. P-coumaric acid (20.4 ± 1.72 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and 14.0 ± 1.14 mg/100 SG DW for US) accounted for the majority of the phenolic found compounds, followed by rosmarinic (6.5 ± 0.96 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and 4.0 ± 0.76 mg/100 SG DW for US), chlorogenic (5.4 ± 1.1 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and non-detectable for US), and vanillic acids (3.1 ± 0.8 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and 10.0 ± 1.03 mg/100 SG DW for US) were found in lower quantities. Protocatechuic (0.7 ± 0.05 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and non-detectable for US), 4-hydroxy benzoic (1.1 ± 0.06 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and non-detectable for US), and caffeic acids (0.7 ± 0.03 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and non-detectable for US) were present in very small amounts. Ultrasound-assisted and Ultra-Turrax pretreatments were demonstrated to be efficient methods to recover these value-added compounds.

Lipase-catalyzed Synthesis of Feruloylated Lysophospholipid in Toluene-Ionic Liquids and Its Antioxidant Activity.

In this study, Novozym 435-catalyzed interesterification of ethyl ferulate (EF) with phosphatidylcholine (PC) in a two-phase system consisting of an ionic liquid (IL) and toluene was optimized to prepare feruloylated lysophospholipids (FLPs). Optimum conditions for the interesterification process were found to be [Bmim][Tf2N]/toluene ratio of 1:1 (v/v), solvent volume of 4 mL, molecular sieves (4 Å) concentration of 80 mg/mL, reaction temperature of 55°C, substrate molar ratio of 5:1 (PC/EF), Novozym 435 concentration of 50 mg/mL. Under these conditions, two FLPs products (1-FLP and 2-FLP) with total conversion rate of 50.79% were obtained. Because the formation of 1-FLP was significantly higher than 2-FLP, 1-FLP was purified and characterized by LC-MS and NMR. In addition, 1-FLP showed DPPH scavenging activity comparable with those of EF and BHT. Therefore, this study provides a good method for transformation of ferulic acid to improve its solubility and promote its application as functional ingredient in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Assessment of the Antigenotoxic Activity of Poly(d,l-lactic- co-glycolic acid) Nanoparticles Loaded with Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Using the Ames Salmonella/Microsome Assay.

In the present study, the antigenotoxic activity of poly(d,l-lactic- co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) was investigated in comparison to free CAPE using the Ames Salmonella/microsome assay. Additionally, to elucidate the impacts of the type of solvent effect on antigenotoxic activity, the following systems were tested: CAPE in water (poor solvent), ethyl alcohol (good solvent), and PLGA NPs (unknown). The effect of the NP system on solubility was investigated for the first time by assessing the antigenotoxic potential. In this study, the CAPE/PLGA NPs were synthesized using an oil-in-water (o/w) single-emulsion solvent evaporation method with an average size of 206.2 ± 1.2 nm, ζ potential of -19.8 ± 2.5 mV, encapsulation efficiency of 87.2 ± 2.5%, and drug loading of 53.3 ± 1.8%. According to the results of the antigenotoxic activity, the highest antimutagenic activity in both applied strains was found for CAPE in ethanol, and the lowest activity was detected for CAPE in water. Our study has shown that NP systems exhibit high antigenotoxic activity, which is similar to the results of CAPE dissolved in ethanol. These results have shown that NP systems increase biological activity of hydrophobic substances by increasing their solubility and that the use of PLGA instead of organic solvents in drug production may provide an increase in their medical utility.

Minor compounds of the high purity salvianolic acid B freeze-dried powder from Salvia miltiorrhiza and antibacterial activity assessment.

The study explored the isolation and characterisation of three compounds of high purity salvianolic acid B freeze-dried powder extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. A new salvianolic acid, salvianolic acid V (2) together with two known compounds (3-4) was identified. The antibacterial activity tests showed that compound 2 combined with clinical antibiotics such as Levofloxacin or Colistin sulphate together exhibited potent effects against MRSA or Acinetobacter baumanii. This report has considerably extended our knowledge about the diversity and bioactivity of caffeic acid derivatives from S. miltiorrhiza.

NIR Spectroscopy of Actaea racemosa L. rhizome - En Route to Fast and Low-Cost Quality Assessment.

Rhizomes of Actaea racemosa L. (formerly Cimicifuga racemosa) gained increasing interest as a plant-derived drug due to its hormone-like activity and the absence of estrogenic activity. According to the Current Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines and pharmacopeial standards, quality assessment of herbal starting materials includes tests on identity and substitution, as well as quantification of secondary metabolites, usually by HPTLC and LC methods. To reduce the laboratory effort, we investigated near-infrared spectroscopy for rapid species authentication and quantification of metabolites of interest.Near-infrared spectroscopy analysis is carried out directly on the milled raw plant material. Spectra were correlated with reference data of polyphenols and triterpene glycosides determined by LC/diode array detection and LC/evaporative light scattering detection, respectively. Quantification models were built and validated by cross-validation procedures. Clone plants, derived by vegetative propagation, and plants of a collection from different geographical origins cultivated in Berlin were analysed together with mixed batches from wild harvests purchased at wholesalers.Generally, good to excellent correlations were found for the overall content of polyphenols with coefficients of determination of R2 > 0.93. For individual polyphenols such as fukinolic acid, only models containing clone plants succeeded (R2 > 0.92). For the total content of triterpene glycosides, results were generally worse in comparison to polyphenols and were observed only for the mixed batches (R2 = 0.93).Next to quantitative analysis, near-infrared spectroscopy was proven as a rapid alternative to other, more laborious methods for species authentication. Near-infrared spectroscopy was able to distinguish different Actaea spp. such as the North American Actaea cordifolia and the Asian Actaea cimicifuga, Actaea dahurica, Actaea heracleifolia, and Actaea simplex.

Assessment of total (free and bound) phenolic compounds in spent coffee extracts.

Spent coffee is the main byproduct of the brewing process and a potential source of bioactive compounds, mainly phenolic acids easily extracted with water. Free and bound caffeoylquinic (3-CQA, 4-CQA, 5-CQA), dicaffeoylquinic (3,4-diCQA, 3,5-diCQA, 4,5-diCQA), caffeic, ferulic, p-coumaric, sinapic, and 4-hydroxybenzoic acids were measured by HPLC, after the application of three treatments (alkaline, acid, saline) to spent coffee extracts. Around 2-fold higher content of total phenolics has been estimated in comparison to free compounds. Phenolic compounds with one or more caffeic acid molecules were approximately 54% linked to macromolecules such as melanoidins, mainly by noncovalent interactions (up to 81% of bound phenolic compounds). The rest of the quantitated phenolic acids were mainly attached to other structures by covalent bonds (62-97% of total bound compounds). Alkaline hydrolysis and saline treatment were suitable to estimate total bound and ionically bound phenolic acids, respectively, whereas acid hydrolysis is an inadequate method to quantitate coffee phenolic acids.

Use of reference compounds in antioxidant activity assessment.

The choice of reference compounds is examined as a "critical control point" of antioxidant activity assessment. Gallic, caffeic, sinapic, uric, and ascorbic acids, isoeugenol, and Trolox were tested using different redox (FRAP, Folin-Ciocalteu) and radical scavenging (DPPH*, ABTS*+, CBA, ORAC) assays. The ability to chelate transition metals was assessed to support some of the findings. Analytes were also tested in liposomes. On the basis of the findings, we do not recommend uric acid (due to solubility constrains) and ascorbic acid (due to fast degradation kinetics) as references. The behavior of the rest of the compounds could not always be attributed to typical structural characteristics. Selection of suitable reference compounds for in vitro antioxidant activity assays is not an easy task to achieve. The choice of reference compounds has to remain at the convenience of the researchers, with regard to the aim of the study.

S-0139 (Shionogi).

Shionogi and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), as the joint venture company Shionogi-GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals LLC, are developing S-0139 (SB-737004), an endothelin-A (ETA) antagonist, for the potential treatment of hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke [223386], [252007], [426822], [426830]. By 1999, the compound was in phase II trials in Japan for stroke [348554]; phase II trials were ongoing in March 2002 [446957]. As of May 2000, Shionogi was preparing to develop the drug in the US and Europe [370602]. As of May 2001, a phase I European trial was in preparation [410912]; which was underway by November 2001 [429990]. In July 2001, Shionogi and GSK signed a letter of intent to create a joint venture that was initially to have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize four compounds contributed by Shionogi and one by GSK, including S-0139 14167621. The agreement wasfinalized in October 2001 [426569], [426822]. In August 1999, Lehman Brothers gave S-0139 a 10% probability of reaching the market with an expected launch in 2005. Sales were expected to peak at US $50 million in 2012 [349228].