Phytotherapy and food applications from Brassica genus.

Plants of the genus Brassica occupy the top place among vegetables in the world. This genus, which contains a group of six related species of a global economic significance, three of which are diploid: Brassica nigra (L.) K. Koch, Brassica oleracea L., and Brassica rapa L. and three are amphidiploid species: Brassica carinata A. Braun, Brassica juncea (L.) Czern., and Brassica napus L. These varieties are divided into oily, fodder, spice, and vegetable based on their morphological structure, chemical composition, and usefulness of plant organs. The present review provides information about habitat, phytochemical composition, and the bioactive potential of Brassica plants, mainly antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer activities, and clinical studies in human. Brassica vegetables are of great economic importance around the world. At present, Brassica plants are grown together with cereals and form the basis of global food supplies. They are distinguished by high nutritional properties from other vegetable plants, such as low fat and protein content and high value of vitamins, fibers along with minerals. In addition, they possess several phenolic compounds and have a unique type of compounds namely glucosinolates that differentiate these crops from other vegetables. These compounds are also responsible for numerous biological activities to the genus Brassica as described in this review.

Bioassay-guided isolation of anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive metabolites among three Moroccan Juniperus leaves extract supported with in vitro enzyme inhibitory assays.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Herbs of the genus Juniperus (family Cupressaceae) have been commonly used in ancestral folk medicine known as "Al'Araar" for treatment of rheumatism, diabetes, inflammation, pain, and fever. Bioassay-guided isolation of bioactives from medicinal plants is recognized as a potential approach for the discovery of novel drug candidates. In particular, non-addictive painkillers are of special interest among herbal phytochemicals. AIM OF THE STUDY: The current study aimed to assess the safety of J. thurifera, J. phoenicea, and J. oxycedrus aqueous extracts in oral treatments; validating the traditionally reported anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Further phytochemical investigations, especially for the most bioactive species, may lead to isolation of bioactive metabolites responsible for such bioactivities supported with in vitro enzyme inhibition assays. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Firstly, the acute toxicity study was investigated following the OECD Guidelines. Then, the antinociceptive, and anti-inflammatory bioactivities were evaluated based on chemical and mechanical trauma assays and investigated their underlying mechanisms. The most active J. thurifera n-butanol fraction was subjected to chromatographic studies for isolating the major anti-inflammatory metabolites. Moreover, several enzymatic inhibition assays (e.g., 5-lipoxygenase, protease, elastase, collagenase, and tyrosinase) were assessed for the crude extracts and isolated compounds. RESULTS: The results showed that acute oral administration of the extracts (300-500 mg/kg, p. o.) inhibited both mechanically and chemically triggered inflammatory edema in mice (up to 70% in case of J. thurifera) with a dose-dependent antinociceptive (tail flick) and anti-inflammatory pain (formalin assay) activities. This effect was partially mediated by naloxone inhibition of the opioid receptor (2 mg/kg, i. p.). In addition, 3-methoxy gallic acid (1), quercetin (2), kaempferol (3), and ellagic acid (4) were successfully identified being involved most likely in J. thurifera extract bioactivities. Nevertheless, quercetin was found to be the most potent against 5-LOX, tyrosinase, and protease with IC50 of 1.52 ± 0.01, 192.90 ± 6.20, and 399 ± 9.05 µM, respectively. CONCLUSION: J. thurifera extract with its major metabolites are prospective drug candidates for inflammatory pain supported with inhibition of inflammatory enzymes. Interestingly, antagonism of opioid and non-opioid receptors is potentially involved.

Sulfated Well-Defined Mesoporous Nanostructured Zirconia for Levulinic Acid Esterification.

Well-organized zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles forming mesoporous materials have been successfully synthesized via a facile micelle-templating method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a structure-directing template to control the nucleation/growth process and porosity. The systematic use of such a surfactant in combination with a microwave-assisted solvothermal (cyclohexane/water) reaction enabled the control of pore size in a narrow-size distribution range (3-17 nm). The effect of solvent mixture ratio on the porosity of the synthesized oxide was determined, and the controlled growth of zirconia nanoparticles was confirmed by means of powder X-ray diffraction, small-angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as well as N2 physisorption isotherm analysis. Then, the as-prepared nanostructured zirconia oxides were treated with sulfuric acid to have sulfated samples. The catalytic performances of these mesoporous zirconia nanoparticles and their sulfated samples were tested for levulinic acid (LA) esterification by ethanol, with quantitative conversions of LA to ethyl levulinate after 8 h of reaction.

Hybrid Alginate-Brushite Beads Easily Catalyze the Knoevenagel Condensation On-Water.

An innovative hybrid organic-inorganic material composed of alginate-brushite xerogel beads was successfully applied for the catalysis of the Knoevenagel condensation. The catalyst was derived from phosphated alginate xerogel microspheres formed from the ionotropic gelling effect of phosphated alginate. To this end, alginate was phosphated by the addition of diammonium hydrogen phosphate in a 1% w/w alginate gel. The phosphated alginate was subsequently precipitated by chelation of Ca2+ cations, generating a phosphated alginate hydrogel microsphere, which was washed and dried, forming hybrid organic-inorganic xerogel beads as a crystalline phosphate-rich mineral fraction covered by alginate. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the crystalline inorganic matrix of the material was composed predominantly of brushite. SEM analysis revealed plate-like, ribbon-like, or needle-like morphologies in the hybrid alginate-brushite beads. The hybrid material was tested as a catalyst for Knoevenagel condensation, which was performed ″on-water″ under mild conditions with aromatic aldehydes and activated methylene compounds, giving high yields (up to 97%). The reaction rate and product yield increased together with the reaction temperature for all reagents. The recyclable solid catalyst was effective for three runs, revealing the potential of the innovative hybrid catalyst as an eco-friendly heterogeneous catalyst.

Controlling the growth of nanosized titania via polymer gelation for photocatalytic applications.

Nanocrystalline titania was synthesized by a simple, innovative and eco-friendly gelation method by using biopolymers (polysaccharides). The effect of the gelling agent, such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) or alginate (Alg), and the drying routes (conventional drying at room temperature, or freeze-drying) on the properties and photocatalytic performances of nanostructured TiO2 was examined. The crystallographic structures, and textural and morphological characteristics were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry (ESEM-FEG-EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms. The as-synthesized samples were fully crystallized and appeared to be highly phase-pure anatase or mixed titania polymorphs, and have a quasi-spherical shape with a particle size ranging from 10.34 to 18.07 nm. Phase-pure anatase was obtained by using alginate as the gelling agent, whereas CMC's gelation promotes mixed structures. The presence of rutile phase results in a lower bandgap value of 3.04 eV corresponding to 408 nm. Thus, the material absorption wavelength shifts slightly from the UV (190-380 nm) to visible region (380-750 nm). The drying process also affects TiO2 properties. The lyophilization route improves the oxide's specific surface area, and also its photocatalytic properties verified during Orange G dye photodegradation study.