Authentication of extra virgin Argan oil by selected-ion flow-tube mass-spectrometry fingerprinting and chemometrics.

Recognized for its nutritional and therapeutic use, extra-virgin Argan Oil (EVAO) is frequently adulterated. Selected-Ion Flow-Tube Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) spectra were applied to quantify adulterants (i.e., Argan oil of lower quality (LQAO), olive oil (OO), and sunflower oil (SO)) in EVAO. Four data sets, i.e., using H3O+, NO+, O2+ reagent ions, and the combined data were considered. Soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were assessed to distinguish adulterated- from pure EVAO. The effectiveness of SIFT-MS associated with PLS and support vector machine (SVM) regression to quantify trace adulterants in EVAO was evaluated. Variable Importance in Projection (VIP), and interval-PLS (iPLS) were also investigated to extract useful features. Different models were built to predict the EVAO authenticity and the degree of adulteration. High accuracy was achieved. SIFT-MS spectra handled with the appropriate chemometric tools were found suitable for the quality evaluation of EVAO.

Comparative Study of Leaf and Rootstock Aqueous Extracts of Foeniculum vulgare on Chemical Profile and In Vitro Antioxidant and Antihyperglycemic Activities.

Foeniculum vulgare is a medicinal plant used in Moroccan folk medicine to treat several diseases such as diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the phenolic bioactive compounds and to evaluate the antioxidant and antihyperglycemic activities of Foeniculum vulgare leaf and rootstock extracts. Phenolic compounds of F. vulgare rootstock and leaf extracts were determined using HPLC-DAD-QTOFMS analysis. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS•+) radicals. Moreover, the in vitro antihyperglycemic effects were tested by measuring the inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities. HPLC-DAD-QTOFMS analysis identified thirty-two phenolic components in both leaf and rootstock extracts. Caffeic acid, quinic acid, and chlorogenic acid were the major compounds of F. vulgare leaf extract (FVLE), while the main compound of F. vulgare rootstock extracts (FVRE) was quinic acid. In the DPPH assay, F. vulgare leaf extract showed important antioxidant activity (IC50 = 12.16 ± 0.02 µg/mL) than F. vulgare rootstock extract (IC50 = 34.36 ± 0.09 µg/mL). Moreover, fennel leaf extracts revealed also the most powerful antioxidant activity (IC50 = 22.95 ± 0.4 µg/mL) in the ABTS assay. The in vitro antihyperglycemic activity showed that F. vulgare rootstock extract exhibited a remarkable inhibitory capacity (IC50 = 194.30 ± 4.8 µg/mL) of α-amylase compared with F. vulgare leaf extract (IC50 = 1026.50 ± 6.5 µg/mL). Furthermore, the inhibition of α-glucosidase was more importantly with F. vulgare rootstock (IC50 of 165.90 ± 1.2 µg/mL) than F. vulgare leaf extracts (203.80 ± 1.3 µg/mL). The funding of this study showed that F. vulgare rootstock and leaf extracts presented several phenolic compounds and showed important antioxidant and antidiabetic effects. We suggest that the identified molecules are responsible for the obtained activities. However, further studies focusing on the isolation and the determination of antioxidant and antidiabetic effects of F. vulgare rootstock and leaf main compounds are required.

In vivo anti-inflammatory response and bioactive compounds' profile of polyphenolic extracts from edible Argan oil (Argania spinosa L.), obtained by two extraction methods.

The present work examined and assessed the in vivo anti-inflammatory effect of polyphenolic extracts from Moroccan edible Argan oils (Argania spinosa L.), extracted by two extraction processes: Hand pressing and mechanical pressing. Chemical properties, such as acidity, peroxide index, ultraviolet indices, total polyphenols composition, fatty acid composition, tocopherol composition, phenolic profiling, and sterol composition were studied. Then, the anti-inflammatory potential was determined by applying carrageenan, an induced paw edema test in rats. The results revealed an anti-inflammatory effect of edible Argan oil and indicated a higher efficiency of hand-pressed oil compared to mechanical-pressed oil, supporting its traditional use in human health, related to pain and inflammations. The chemical composition of these oils was evaluated, and total polyphenols, tocopherol composition, and some phenolic compounds were found highly concentrated in the hand-pressed oil. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The present study highlights and compares the in vivo anti-inflammatory effect of polyphenolic compounds, extracted from Argan oil by two processes (hand and mechanical extraction). The study demonstrated the better quality of hand-pressed oil over mechanically pressed, supporting the traditional uses of this oil in treating several inflammations and pain-related situations. Moreover, the edible Argan oil may be introduced as a regular diet and food ingredient.

Evaluation of In Vitro Antioxidant and Antidiabetic Activities of Aristolochia longa Extracts.

Oxidative stress plays a major role in diabetic physiopathology; hence, the interest of using natural antioxidants as therapeutic tools exists. The aim of this study was the evaluation of in vitro antioxidant activity and inhibitory potential of organic extracts from Aristolochia longa roots against key enzymes linked to hyperglycemia. Antioxidant activity was performed using 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radicals and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. The α-Glucosidase and ß-Galactosidase inhibitory activities were investigated using an in vitro model. Moreover, phytochemical analysis of tested extracts was carried out. The aqueous fraction of this herb exhibited the highest antioxidant activity for both DPPH and ABTS methods, IC50=125.40±2.40 µg/mL and IC50=65.23±2.49 µg/mL, respectively. However, the ethyl acetate fraction possessed the strongest inhibitory effect towards α-Glucosidase (IC50=1.112±0.026 mg/mL). Furthermore, the result showed high levels of phenolic content. The results showed that this plant could be a significant source of medically important natural compounds.

Selected-ion flow-tube mass-spectrometry (SIFT-MS) fingerprinting versus chemical profiling for geographic traceability of Moroccan Argan oils.

This study investigated the effectiveness of SIFT-MS versus chemical profiling, both coupled to multivariate data analysis, to classify 95 Extra Virgin Argan Oils (EVAO), originating from five Moroccan Argan forest locations. The full scan option of SIFT-MS, is suitable to indicate the geographic origin of EVAO based on the fingerprints obtained using the three chemical ionization precursors (H3O+, NO+ and O2+). The chemical profiling (including acidity, peroxide value, spectrophotometric indices, fatty acids, tocopherols- and sterols composition) was also used for classification. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), and support vector machines (SVM), were compared. The SIFT-MS data were therefore fed to variable-selection methods to find potential biomarkers for classification. The classification models based either on chemical profiling or SIFT-MS data were able to classify the samples with high accuracy. SIFT-MS was found to be advantageous for rapid geographic classification.

Chemical composition, acute toxicity, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Moroccan Tetraclinis articulata L.

Hydro-distilled essential oil (EO) from the leaves of the western Mediterranean and Moroccan endemic plant Tetraclinis articulata was analyzed by GC/MS and examined for its acute toxicity on mice, in order to establish the safe doses. Furthermore, the anti-Inflammatory activity was evaluated based on carrageenan and trauma induced rats paw edema and the antioxidant potential has been investigated using different methods including DPPH radical-scavenging assay, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and Ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP). The major identified compounds in GC/MS analysis were bornyl acetate (26.81%), camphor (22.40%) and α-pinene (7.16%), with 25 other minor constituents. No mortalities in acute toxicity were observed, indicating that the LD50 of T. articulata essential oil is highest than 5 g/kg. In the anti-inflammatory test based on chemical and mechanical induced trauma, the EO demonstrated an effective reduce swelling by 64.71 ± 9.38% and 69.09 ± 6.02% respectively obtained 6 h after administration at the dose of 200 mg/kg when compared to the control groups. Moreover in the antioxidant testing battery, T. articulata essential oil showed a promising scavenging effect measured by DPPH, TEAC and ferric-reducing power assays with IC50 values of 12.05 ± 0.24 mg/mL, 8.90 ± 0.17 mg/mL and 0.15 ± 0.01 mg/mL respectively. These results suggest that, the EO from the leaves of T. articulata constitutes a valuable source of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant metabolites. These findings argue for the possible integration of this oil in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries.