Stepwise elution by high-speed counter-current chromatography combined with a modified macroporous resin to isolate and purify antioxidant phenolics from discarded jackfruit (Artocarpusheterophyllus Lam.) peels.

Combined with modified macroporous resin (MR), high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was developed to separate and purify the antioxidant phenolics from waste jackfruit peels. First, the 4,4'-bis(chloromethyl)-1,1'-biphenyl was used to modify the commercially available adsorbent resin XAD-4 in order to enrich the antioxidant phenolics. Second, the resultant phenolics-rich fractions were further purified by HSCCC. In the separation process, the petroleum ether-ethyl acetate-methanol-0.1% acetic acid (5 : 5 : 3 : 7, v/v) upper phase was employed as an immobile phase. Afterwards, stepwise elution using petroleum the ether-ethyl acetate-methanol-0.1% acetic acid (5 : 5 : 3 : 7, v/v) lower phase was carried out during the initial 3.5 h, whereas the petroleum ether-ethyl acetate-methanol-0.1% acetic acid (5 : 5 : 6 : 4, v/v) lower phase was adopted for stepwise elution during the later 2.0 h. Four phenolics were obtained from 179 mg of the phenolics-rich fraction in a single run, including 41 mg chlorogenic, 27 mg gallic acid, 33 mg quercetin, and 29 mg catechin. 13C NMR, 1H NMR, and ESI-MS were employed to identify their structures.

Eco-friendly extraction and physicochemical properties of pectin from jackfruit peel waste with subcritical water.

BACKGROUND: Water is generally considered to be a safe and green solvent suitable for use in natural product extraction. In this study, an eco-friendly subcritical water method was used to extract pectin from waste jackfruit peel (JFP-S), which was compared with pectin obtained by the traditional citric acid method (JFP-C). RESULTS: The extraction process was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM), and the optimum process parameters were as follows: extraction temperature 138 °C, extraction time 9.15 min, liquid / solid (L/S) ratio 17.03 mL g-1 . Under these conditions, the pectin yield was 149.6 g kg-1 (dry basis). Pectin obtained from the two extraction methods displayed a high degree of esterification and the monosaccharide composition was consistent. The galacturonic acid content of JFP-S and JFP-C was 52.27% and 56.99%, respectively. JFP-S had more hairy regions and side chains than JFP-C. The molecular weight of JFP-S was 113.3 kDa, which was significantly lower than that of JFP-C (174.3 kDa). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that two samples had similar pectin typical absorption peaks. According to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), both JFP-S and JFP-C had relatively good thermal stability. JFP-S demonstrated lower apparent viscosity and elasticity than JFP-C. Meanwhile, the G' and G'' moduli of JFP-S were lower, which found expression in the gel textural characterization of the samples. CONCLUSION: This work showed that the subcritical water method is an efficient, time-saving, and eco-friendly technology for the extraction of pectin from jackfruit peel compared with the traditional citric acid method. The physicochemical properties of pectin could be changed during subcritical water extraction. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Influence of sucrose ingestion on brainstem and hypothalamic intrinsic oscillations in lean and obese women.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The study of intrinsic fluctuations in the blood oxygen level-dependent signal of functional magnetic resonance imaging can provide insight into the effect of physiologic states on brain processes. In an effort to better understand the brain-gut communication induced by the absorption and metabolism of nutrients in healthy lean and obese individuals, we investigated whether ingestion of nutritive and non-nutritive sweetened beverages differentially engages the hypothalamus and brainstem vagal pathways in lean and obese women. METHODS: In a 2-day, double-blind crossover study, 11 lean and 11 obese healthy women underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans after ingestion of 2 beverages of different sucrose content, but identical sweetness. During scans, subjects rested with eyes closed. RESULTS: Blood oxygen level-dependent fluctuations demonstrated significantly greater power in the highest frequency band (slow-3: 0.073-0.198 Hz) after ingestion of high-sucrose compared with low-sucrose beverages in the nucleus tractus solitarius for both groups. Obese women had greater connectivity between the right lateral hypothalamus and a reward-related brain region and weaker connectivity with homeostasis and gustatory-related brain regions than lean women. CONCLUSIONS: In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we observed sucrose-related changes in oscillatory dynamics of blood oxygen level-dependent fluctuations in brainstem and hypothalamus in lean and obese women. The observed frequency changes are consistent with a rapid vagally mediated mechanism due to nutrient absorption, rather than sweet taste receptor activation. These findings provide support for altered interaction between homeostatic and reward networks in obese individuals.

[Preparation of crocin from gardenia yellow pigment by slow rotary countercurrent chromatography].

A method was established for the preparation of crocin from gardenia yellow pigment by slow rotary countercurrent chromatography (SRCCC). A two-phase solvent system consisting of methyl tert-butyl ether, n-butanol, acetonitrile and water (2 : 2. 5 : 1 : 5, v/v/v/v) was used. The upper phase was used as the stationary phase, and the lower phase as the mobile phase. By SRCCC elution, 2.47 g of crocin with a purity of 96.8% was obtained from 5 g of gardenia yellow pigment at a flow rate of 5 mL/min and a rotation speed of 50 r/min. The results indicated that SRCCC is a powerful technique for the purification of crocin from gardenia yellow pigment with high preparative capacity, high safety and high efficiency in resolution, and it is possible to prepare crocin at industrial level by SRCCC.

Acupuncture improves cognitive deficits and regulates the brain cell proliferation of SAMP8 mice.

Senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) is an autogenic senile strain characterized by early cognitive impairment and age-related deterioration of learning and memory. To investigate the effect of acupuncture on behavioral changes and brain cell events, male 4-month-old SAMP8 and age-matched homologous normal aging SAMR1 mice were divided into four groups: SAMP8 acupuncture group (Pa), SAMP8 non-acupoint control group (Pn), SAMP8 control group (Pc) and SAMR1 normal control group (Rc). By Morris water maze test, the cognitive deficit of SAMP8 was revealed and significantly improved by "Yiqitiaoxue and Fubenpeiyuan" acupuncture. Meanwhile, by 5'-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) specific immunodetection, the decreased cell proliferation in dentate gyrus (DG) of SAMP8 was greatly enhanced by the therapeutic acupuncture, suggesting acupoint-related specificity. Even though no significant differences were found in ventricular/subventricular zones (VZ/SVZ) of the third ventricle (V3) and lateral ventricle (LV) between groups, we obtained interesting results: a stream-like distribution of newly proliferated cells presented along the dorsum of alveus hippocampi (Alv), extending from LV to corpus callosum (CC), and the therapeutic acupuncture showed a marked effect on this region. Our research suggests that acupuncture can induce different cell proliferation in different brain regions of SAMP8, which brings forth the need to explore further for the mechanism of cognitive deficits and acupuncture intervention in this field.