Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of bee venom against multi-drug resistant pathogens.

Bee venom with an antimicrobial effect is a powerful natural product. One of the most important areas where new antimicrobials are needed is in the prevention and control of multi-drug resistant pathogens. Today, antibacterial products used to treat multi-drug resistant pathogen infections in hospitals and healthcare facilities are insufficient to prevent colonisation and spread, and new products are needed. The aim of the study is to investigate the antibacterial effect of the bee venom (BV), a natural substance, on the species of Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis, Carbapenem resistant Escherichia coli, Carbapenem resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and Carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. As a result of this study, it was found that MIC90 and MBC90 values ranged from 6.25 µg/mL - 12.5 µg/mL and numbers of bacteria decreased by 4-6 logs within 1-24 h for multi-drug resistant pathogens. In particular, Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis isolate decreased 6 log cfu/mL at 50 µg/mL and 100 µg/mL concentrations in the first hour. The effective bacterial inhibition rate of bee venom suggests that it could be a potential antibacterial agent for multi-drug resistant pathogens.Contribution: The treatment options of antibiotic-resistant pathogens are a major problem in both veterinary and human medicine fields. We have detected a high antibacterial effect against these agents in this bee venom study, which is a natural product. Apitherapy is a fashionable treatment method all over the world and is used in many areas of health. Bee venom is also a product that can be used as a drug or disinfectant raw material and can fill the natural product gap that can be used against resistant bacteria.

Assessment of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Turkey Tail Medicinal Mushroom Trametes versicolor (Agaricomycetes).

Trametes versicolor is important for its medicinal rather than nutritional value. It has a variety of pharmacological activities. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the bioactive properties of the wild medicinal mushroom T. versicolor (L.) Lloyd. Samples were analyzed for antioxidant potential and the chemical composition of the major bioactive chemical components. Chromatographic procedures were used to analyze phenolic compounds, free amino acids, vitamins, and fatty acids. T. versicolor was analyzed for moisture (87.21 ± 1.08 g/100 g fw), protein (11.07 ± 0.85 g/100 g dw), and fat (1.35 ± 0.09 g/100 g dw) content. Phenolic compounds in T. versicolor were found as p-hydroxy benzoic (113.16 ± 0.22 µg/g dw), protocatechuic (10.07 ± 0.54 µg/g dw), vanillic (5.21 ± 0.10 µg/g dw), and homogentisic acids (1.24 ± 0.15 µg/g dw). In the studied mushroom, essential and nonessential amino acids were determined as leucine (72.41 ± 0.16 mg/100 g dw), isoleucine (60.07 ± 0.10 mg/100 g dw), methionine (53.51 ± 0.09 mg/100 g dw), tyrosine (33.37 ± 0.27 mg/100 g dw), glutamine (15.48 ± 0.19 mg/100 g dw), and asparagine (10.90 ± 0.13 mg/100 g dw). Vitamin content of T. versicolor was found as nicotinic acid (26.52 ± 0.10 mg/100 g dw) and nicotinamide (12.18 ± 0.05 mg/100 g dw). Fatty acids in T. versicolor were linoleic acid (18:2n6c), oleic acid (18:1n9c), palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), and linolenic acid (18:3n3). In conclusion, the results of the present study support the potential use of T. versicolor as a promising source of bioactive products for pharmaceutical and also food industries.

Bioactive Compounds, Chemical Composition, and Medicinal Value of the Giant Puffball, Calvatia gigantea (Higher Basidiomycetes), from Turkey.

In this study, the compositions of Calvatia gigantea were first analyzed in order to elucidate its chemical basis for development as a health-enhancing food or medicine. This study investigates the chemical composition (nutritional value; phenolic, sugar and fatty acid content; aroma compounds) and antioxidant properties (radical scavenging activity, reducing power, and inhibition of lipid peroxidation) of C. gigantea. The results showed that C. gigantea contains phenolic compounds and sugars and is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (67.93%), proteins (34.37%), and carbohydrates (51.97%). The most abundant compounds were gentisic acid (23.26 µg/g; as a phenolic compound), trehalose (9.78 g/100g; as a sugar), and hexanal (34.71%; as an aroma compound). These findings suggest that C. gigantea might be a promising source of medicine and has the potential to be a health food and food supplementary product.

Chemical constituents: water-soluble vitamins, free amino acids and sugar profile from Ganoderma adspersum.

Ganoderma adspersum presents a rigid fruiting body owing to chitin content and having a small quantity of water or moisture. The utility of bioactive constituent of the mushroom can only be available by extraction for human usage. In this study, carbohydrate, water-soluble vitamin compositions and amino acid contents were determined in G. adspersum mushroom. The composition in individual sugars was determined by HPLC-RID, mannitol (13.04 g/100 g) and trehalose (10.27 g/100 g) being the most abundant sugars. The examination of water-soluble vitamins and free amino acid composition was determined by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Essential amino acid constituted 67.79% of total amino acid, which is well worth the attention with regard to researchers and consumers. In addition, G. adspersum, which is also significantly rich in B group vitamins and vitamin C, can provide a wide range of notable applications in the pharmaceutics, cosmetics, food and dietary supplement industries. G. adspersum revealed its value for pharmacy and nutrition fields.

Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Centaurea ensiformis Hub.-Mor. (Asteraceae), a species endemic to Mugla (Turkey).

The n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethyl alcohol extracts of the aerial parts of Centaurea ensiformis, endemic to Turkey, have been assessed for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The chemical composition of the hexane extract of this plant was determined. The antimicrobial activities on microorganisms, including multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria, were evaluated using the disc diffusion method. The antioxidant activities were determined by using four complementary in vitro assays: inhibition of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical, total antioxidant activity, and the total amount of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. The structure of the active extract was elucidated by: thin layer chromatography, column chromatography, gas chromatography or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The various extracts of C. ensiformis inhibited the growth of tested bacteria. All the C. ensiformis extracts had no effect on the yeasts. The total antioxidant activity increased with the increasing amount of the extracts (20, 40, 80 and 160 microg), which contained linoleic acid emulsion. The major compounds of the hexane extract of the plant were caryophyllene oxide (28.72%), spathulenol (17.81%), eudesmol (13.03%) and beta-bourbonene (8.51%).