An efficient process for the extraction of lutein and chemical characterization of other organic volatiles from marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) flower.

Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) petals are the primary industrial source of lutein, which is used as a colouring agent and nutrient supplement to foods. This research extracted marigold petals using different solvents, covering conventional and non-toxic green solvents. The oleoresin, free lutein, and recrystallized lutein yields varied from 8.47-16.67%, 2.56-9.62%, and 1.11-1.61%, respectively. The purity of lutein was achieved up to 92.57% and 97.64% in conventional and newly established green methods, respectively. The present study described an efficient green process to isolate lutein with significantly improved yield (2.56%) and purity (97.33%) over the conventional methods. Based on the results, 2-methyltetrahydrofurancould be a practical green alternative to the traditional toxic solvents for the processing of lutein. Further, the chemical analysis of the essential oil of the residual receptacles obtained after removing petals revealed the presence of important organic volatiles, including piperitone (54.7%) and piperitenone oxide (6.5%), indicating its usefulness for value-addition.

Ethephon induces coordinated ripening acceleration and divergent coloration responses in fig (Ficus carica L.) flowers and receptacles.

KEY MESSAGE: The regulatory landscape of ethephon-accelerated fig ripening is revealed; flowers and receptacles exhibit opposite responses in anthocyanin accumulation; PG, PL and EXP are suggested key genes in fig softening. Ethephon is used to accelerate fig-fruit ripening for improvement of harvesting efficiency, but the underlying molecular mechanism is still unclear. To elucidate the detailed biological mechanism of ethylene-accelerated fig ripening, fruit in phase II (the lag phase on the double sigmoid growth curve) were treated with ethephon, and reached commercial ripeness 6 days earlier than the nontreated controls. Transcriptomes of flowers and the surrounding receptacles-which together make up the pseudocarp in fig fruit-were analyzed. There were 5189, 5818 and 2563 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) 2, 4 and 6 days after treatment (DAT) in treated compared to control fruit, screened by p-adjust < 0.05 and |log2(fold change) |≥ 2. The DEGs were significantly enriched in plant hormone metabolism and signal transduction, cell-wall modification, sugar accumulation and anthocyanin accumulation pathways. DEGs in the first three pathway categories demonstrated an overall similar expression change in flowers and receptacles, whereas DEGs in anthocyanin pigmentation revealed divergent transcript abundance. Specifically, in both flowers and receptacles, ethephon significantly upregulated 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase and downregulated most of the ethylene-response factor genes; polygalacturonase, pectate lyase and expansin were mainly upregulated; two acid beta-fructofuranosidases were upregulated. However, structural genes in the anthocyanin-synthesis pathway were mainly downregulated in female flowers 2 and 4 DAT, whereas they were upregulated in the receptacles. Our study reveals the regulatory landscape of the two tissues of fig fruit in ethylene-induced ripening; the differentially expressed pathways and genes provide valuable resources for the mining of target genes for crucial biological and commercial trait improvement.

Impact of Vitamin D Status in Chronic Liver Disease.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is extremely common in chronic liver disease (CLD) patients. Up to 93% of these patients have some degree of vitamin D insufficiency. Liver plays an important role in the metabolism and pleiotropic functions of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased mortality, bacterial infections, portal hypertension complications, and fibrosis severity. We aimed to determine the impact of vitamin D level in CLD. METHODS: One hundred fifty individuals consisting of 75 cirrhotic patients (cases) and 75 respective attendants (controls) were enrolled between July 2015 and July 2017. A detailed clinical and laboratory evaluation was done along with estimation of vitamin D level. Unpaired t-test and analysis of variance was used to compare difference in the level of continuous variables between different groups. Linear regression analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between vitamin D deficiency and severity of liver disease. RESULTS: The age of patients ranged from 18 years to 69 years with mean of 48.85 ± 13.6 years in the case group and 46.57 ± 17.24 years in the control group. Out of 75 CLD patients, vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/dl) was found in 31 (41.4%) patients, out of which 14(18.7%) suffered from severe vitamin D deficiency (<10 ng/ml). On applying analysis of variance test, there was significant difference in vitamin D level and serum albumin and serum bilirubin (P < 0.05). On linear regression, vitamin D level showed significant negative correlation with Child-Pugh score (r = -0.7379, P < 0.0001) and Model For End-Stage Liver Disease score (r = -0.6671, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our study concluded that CLD is associated with a significantly low level of vitamin D, which was independent to patient's gender, body mass index, residence, and education level. The findings of our study suggest that awareness of serum vitamin D level in patients with CLD is important. Further studies are required to validate the importance of vitamin D levels and impact of vitamin D supplementation on CLD.

Functional anatomy of the female reproductive system of the American lobster (Homarus americanus).

Light microscopy studies of the female American lobster Homarus americanus reproductive system are essentially nonexistent or outdated. Based on samples taken in the spring, summer, and autumn from the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence between 1994 and 2014, and using a combination of histological and scanning electron microscope techniques, we propose an ovarian cycle with 10 stages, identifying for the first time a recovery stage. Also, an atypical resorption stage, characterized by massive reabsorption of mature oocytes, is occasionally observed during summer months. The oviducts are composed of connective tissue (elastic and collagen fibers) with no muscle or secretory activities. Their epithelium shows a cyclic pattern and phagocytosis activities linked to spawning. Although the role of the seminal receptacle is to store and protect semen, free spermatozoa (i.e., without the spermatophoric wall and the acellular gelatinous substance that constitute the semen) were also observed in its posteriolateral grooves immediately prior to spawning, which is consistent with an external fertilization mechanism at the seminal receptacle. Unexpectedly, free spermatozoa were observed externally near two pore-like structures located on the gonopore's operculum, not at the seminal receptacle, after spawning; hence, more work is needed to fully understand the fertilization mechanism for the American lobster.

Antioxidant activities of extract and fractions from receptaculum nelumbinis and related flavonol glycosides.

The antioxidant activities of ethanolic crude extract (ECE) and its four different solvent sub-fractions (namely, petroleum ether fraction (PEF), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF), n-butanol fraction (BF) and the aqueous fraction (AF) from the receptacles of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Receptaculum Nelumbinis) were investigated using two in vitro antioxidant assays. BF showed the highest total phenolic content (607.6 mg/g gallic acid equivalents), total flavonoid content (862.7 mg/g rutin equivalents) and total proanthocyanidin content (331.0 mg/g catechin equivalents), accompanied with the highest antioxidant activity compared to other fractions through 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging assays. Five flavonol glycosides, namely hyperoside (1), isoquercitrin (2), quercetin-3-O-ß-d-glucuronide (3), isorhamnetin-3-O-ß-d-galactoside (4) and syringetin-3-O-ß-d-glucoside (5) were isolated from the Receptaculum Nelumbinis. Compounds 2-5 were isolated for the first time from the Receptaculum Nelumbinis. The five isolated flavone glycosides, particularly compounds 1-3, demonstrated significant DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity, with IC(50) values of 8.9 ± 0.2, 5.2 ± 0.2, 7.5 ± 0.1 for DPPH and 114.2 ± 1.7, 112.8 ± 0.8, 172.5 ± 0.7 µg/mL for ABTS, respectively. These results suggest that Receptaculum Nelumbinis has strong antioxidant potential and may be potentially used as a safe and inexpensive bioactive source of natural antioxidants.