Variation in bioactive phytochemicals and sensory attributes of osmosonic convective dried ginger from four African countries.

BACKGROUND: The rhizome of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is one of the most patronized spices worldwide and plays an important role in folklore medicine. In this study, we aimed to determine the quality of ginger samples from representative West African (Ghana, Nigeria) and East African (Uganda, Kenya) countries. By that, we also implicitly sought to determine the probable influence of location of cultivation (and the intrinsic growth conditions) on the quality of the samples. The ginger samples were pretreated by osmosonication prior to relative humidity convective drying and analyzed for differences in their metabolomes, total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activities, sensory characteristics and volatile compounds composition (via electronic-nose determination). RESULTS: The outcome of our study showed marked source-dependent differences in the metabolomes of the samples as captured by a metabolomics approach. Based on the findings of the metabolomics study, 6-gingerol content was quantified and found to be higher in the samples of West African origin. Also, the samples from the two West African countries contained higher levels of bioactive phytochemicals as evinced by the results of TPC, TFC, e-nose analysis, and antioxidant activities. They also gave better sensory attributes. CONCLUSION: In summary, for all parameters assessed, and on a country-by-country basis, the general quality trend observed was: Ghana > Nigeria > Uganda > Kenya. All results taken together, our findings at least in part, point to the influence of geographical regions of cultivation on the quality of the ginger rhizomes. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Functional Diagnostic and Therapeutic Nanoconstructs for Efficient Probing of Circulating Tumor Cells.

The circulation of tumor cells in peripheral blood is mostly recognized as a prerequisite for cancer progression or systemic invasion, and it correlates with the pivotal hallmark of malignancies known as metastasis. Multiple detection schemes for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have emerged as the most discerning criteria for monitoring the outcome of anticancer therapy. Therefore, there has been a tremendous increase in the use of robust nanostructured platforms for observation of these mobile tumor cells through various simultaneous diagnosis and treatment regimens developed from conventional techniques. This review seeks to give detailed information about the nature of CTCs as well as techniques for exploiting specific biomarkers to help monitor cancer via detection, capturing, and analysis of unstable tumor cells. We will further discuss nanobased diagnostic interventions and novel platforms which have recently been developed from versatile nanomaterials such as polymer nanocomposites, metal organic frameworks, bioderived nanomaterials and other physically responsive particles with desirable intrinsic and external properties. Herein, we will also include in vivo nanotheranostic platforms which have received a lot of attention because of their enormous clinical potential. In all, this review sums up the general potential of key promising nanoinspired systems as well as other advanced strategies under research and those in clinical use.