In Vitro Bioactivities of Commonly Consumed Cereal, Vegetable, and Legume Seeds as Related to Their Bioactive Components: An Untargeted Metabolomics Approach Using UHPLC-QTOF-MS2.

We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the antioxidant, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, and anti-glycation activities associated with the consumption of broccoli, red cabbage, alfalfa, and buckwheat seeds. Additionally, we explored the relationship between these biological activities and the profiles of amino acids, polyphenols, and organic acids identified in the seeds. Our findings demonstrated that red cabbage, broccoli, and buckwheat extracts exhibited significantly higher antioxidant potential compared to the alfalfa extract. Moreover, buckwheat displayed the most significant capacity for inhibiting alpha-glucosidase. Remarkably, broccoli and red cabbage demonstrated substantial anti-glycation and lipase inhibitory potentials. We identified the presence of amino acids, polyphenols, and organic acids in the extracts through untargeted metabolomics analysis. Correlation analysis revealed that pyroglutamic acid positively correlated with all the investigated functional properties. Most polyphenols made positive contributions to the functional properties, with the exception of ferulic acid, which displayed a negative correlation with all tested biological activities. Furthermore, gluconic acid and arabinonic acid among the organic acids identified displayed a positive correlation with all the functional properties. These results strongly support the anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, and anti-glycation potential of red cabbage, broccoli, and buckwheat seeds.

Liposomes incorporating hydrophobically modified silk fibroin: pH-dependent release.

pH-sensitive liposomes were prepared by modifying the surface of egg phosphatidylcholine (EPC) liposomes with hydrophobically modified silk fibroin (HmSF). For the hydrophobic modification of SF, palmitic acid residues were covalently attached to SF through amide bond. According to the result of TNBS assay, about 90% of amino groups of SF participated in the conjugation reaction with palmitic acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester, and the number of palmitic acid residue per SF molecule was calculated to be 15.3. The fluorescence quenching of calcein in liposomal suspension decreased from about 80-50%, when the ratio of HmSF to phospholipid increased from 1:20 to 1:5. The maximum degree of release from liposomes incorporating HmSF (of which HmSF to phospholipid ratio was 1:20) for 5 min was about 95% at pH 4.5, 25% at pH 5.0, and 5% at pH 5.5, and no appreciable amount of release was observed in the range of pH 6.5 to pH 8.0. Under acidic conditions, HmSF is likely to perturb the packing of phospholipid in liposomal membrane, possibly due to the unionization of the carboxylic groups of the silk protein.