Chemical Characterization of Sambucus nigra L. Flowers Aqueous Extract and Its Biological Implications.

The main goal of this study was to chemically characterize an aqueous S. nigra flower extract and validate it as a bioactive agent. The elderflower aqueous extraction was performed at different temperatures (50, 70 and 90 °C). The extract obtained at 90 °C exhibited the highest phenolic content and antiradical activity. Therefore, this extract was analyzed by GC-MS and HPLC-MS, which allowed the identification of 46 compounds, being quercetin and chlorogenic acid derivatives representative of 86% of the total of phenolic compounds identified in hydrophilic fraction of the aqueous extract. Naringenin (27.2%) was the major compound present in the lipophilic fraction. The antiproliferative effects of the S. nigra extract were evaluated using the colon cancer cell lines RKO, HCT-116, Caco-2 and the extract's antigenotoxic potential was evaluated by the Comet assay in RKO cells. The RKO cells were the most susceptible to S. nigra flower extract (IC50 = 1250 µg mL-1). Moreover, the extract showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, particularly Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis. These results show that S. nigra-based extracts can be an important dietary source of bioactive phenolic compounds that contribute to health-span improving life quality, demonstrating their potential as nutraceutical, functional foods and/or cosmetic components for therapeutic purposes.

Staining for viability testing, germination and maturation of Sambucus nigra L. pollen in vitro.

Freshly released pollen of black elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) was incubated under various culture conditions until germination was achieved. Optimal conditions for germination were determined and used for maturation of unicellular microspores in vitro. Staining with 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, propidium iodide and iodine potassium iodide was used to assess pollen viability, nuclear phase and maturation, respectively. The germination rate was highest when fresh pollen was agitated at 40 rpm in Petri dishes containing a liquid medium consisting of Brewbaker and Kwack salts, 15% (w/v) sucrose, 500 mg/l MES sodium salt, at pH 5.0; germination reached nearly 70% after only 1 h in culture. Under these conditions, and with addition of 200 mg/l glutamine, 260 mg/l cytidine and 500 mg/l uridine, uninucleate microspores developed into mature pollen at a 12% germination rate. Our report is the first demonstration of maturation of S. nigra microspores in vitro.

The higher the better? Differences in phenolics and cyanogenic glycosides in Sambucus nigra leaves, flowers and berries from different altitudes.

BACKGROUND: Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) possesses high antioxidant activity and has been used to treat numerous medicinal disorders. In addition to their antioxidant properties, elderberry parts accumulate toxic cyanogenic glycosides (CGG). It has been proven that altitude influences the biosynthesis of many secondary metabolites. In the present study we investigated the change of phenolics and CGG in elder leaves, flowers, and berries induced by different altitudes and locations. RESULTS: The data indicate that the accumulation of CGG and phenolics is affected by the altitude of the growing site. An increase of anthocyanin content was recorded in elder berries collected at higher elevations in both locations. Fruit collected at the foothills of location 2 contained 3343 µg g-1 anthocyanins as opposed to fruit from the hilltop, which contained 7729 µg g-1 . Elder berries contained the lowest levels of harmful CGG compared to other analysed plant parts. However, more cyanogenic glycosides were always present in plant parts collected at the hilltop. Accordingly, berries accumulated 0.11 µg g-1 CGG at the foothills and 0.59 µg g-1 CGG at the hilltop. CONCLUSION: Elder berries and flowers collected at the foothill were characterised by the lowest levels of both beneficial (phenolics) and harmful compounds (CGG) and are suitable for moderate consumption. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Total phenolic contents, antioxidant activities, and lipid fractions from berry pomaces obtained by solid-state fermentation of two Sambucus species with Aspergillus niger.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of solid-state fermentation (SSF) by Aspergillus niger on phenolic contents and antioxidant activity in Sambucus nigra L. and Sambucus ebulus L. berry pomaces. The effect of fermentation time on the total fats and major lipid classes (neutral and polar) was also investigated. During the SSF, the extractable phenolics increased with 18.82% for S. ebulus L. and 11.11% for S. nigra L. The levels of antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts were also significantly enhanced. The HPLC-MS analysis indicated that the cyanidin 3-sambubioside-5-glucoside is the major phenolic compound in both fermented Sambucus fruit residues. In the early stages of fungal growth, the extracted oils (with TAGs as major lipid fraction) increased with 12% for S. nigra L. and 10.50% for S. ebulus L. The GC-MS analysis showed that the SSF resulted in a slight increase of the linoleic and oleic acids level.

Assessment of extracts of Helichrysum arenarium, Crataegus monogyna, Sambucus nigra in photoprotective UVA and UVB; photostability in cosmetic emulsions.

The aim of our study was to investigate the photoprotective activity and photostability efficacy of sunscreen formulations containing Helichrysum arenarium, Sambucus nigra, Crataegus monogyna extracts and their combination. UV transmission of the emulsion films was performed by using diffuse transmittance measurements coupling to an integrating sphere. In vitro photoprotection and photostability efficacy were evaluated according to the following parameters: sun protection factor (SPF), UVA protection factor (PF-UVA), UVA/UVB ratio and critical wavelength (λc) before and after UV irradiation. The results obtained show that the formulations containing polyphenols fulfill the official requirements for sunscreen products due to their broad spectrum of UV protection combined with their high photostability and remarkable antioxidant properties. Therefore H. arenarium, S. nigra, C. monogyna extracts represent useful additives for cosmetic formulation.

Biochemical, molecular and structural analysis of multiple thaumatin-like proteins from the elderberry tree (Sambucus nigra L.).

Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) were isolated and characterized from fruits and leaves of elderberry (Sambucus nigra) and their corresponding genes cloned. In addition, the developmental regulation and induction of the different TLPs was followed in some detail. Ripening berries accumulated a fruit-specific TLP during the final stages of maturation. This fruit-specific TLP had no antifungal activity and was devoid of beta-glucanase activity. Leaves constitutively expressed a TLP that closely resembled the fruit-specific homologue. Treatment with jasmonate methyl ester induced two additional TLPs in leaves but did not induce or enhance the expression of TLPs in immature berries. In contrast to jasmonate methyl ester, both ethephon and garlic extract induced the expression of a TLP in unripe berries that normally do not express any TLP. Sequence analysis and molecular modeling indicated that all elderberry thaumatin-like proteins share a high sequence similarity with group-5 pathogenesis-related proteins. However, the proteins encoded by the different sequences differed from each other in isoelectric point and the distribution of the charges on the surface of the molecule.