Varietal influence on phenolic constituents and nutritive characteristics of pomace obtained from apples grown in western Himalayas.

Apple fruit processing is not variety specific in India, which affect the overall quality of the final processed product. The present study was aimed at elucidation of the nutritive value, phenolic content, antioxidant activity and bioactive phenolic constituents of five widely used apple varieties (Royal Delicious, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Red Chief and Red Gold) of western Himalayas. The pomace obtained from different varieties was evaluated to assess the fruit quality. Royal Delicious pomace had significantly high (p < 0.05) total dietary fibre content (42.63 ± 1.26%) together with soluble (8.25 ± 0.95%) and insoluble fibre (32.90 ± 0.89%), as compared to other apple varieties. The pomace samples were extracted with 70% aqueous methanol to obtain polyphenol enriched extracts. The results of Folin-Ciocalteau assay showed that hydroalcoholic extract of Royal Delicious pomace exhibit higher phenolic content as compared to other varieties and ranged between 2.19 ± 0.09 and 4.59 ± 0.47 mg GAE/g. Royal Delicious pomace also possess higher antioxidant capacity i.e. 3.35 ± 0.10 mg/g, 2.71 ± 0.10 mg/g and 4.67 ± 0.03 mg/g as measured by DPPH, ABTS free radical scavenging assay and FRAP reducing assay, respectively. The higher phenolic content in Royal Delicious pomace was also confirmed by RP-HPLC-DAD analysis. Results of HPLC analysis revealed the presence of phloridzin (487.07 ± 0.04 µg/g), quercetin (241.18 ± 0.03 µg/g), quercitrin (178.34 ± 0.02 µg/g) and quercetin-3-glucoside (195.21 ± 0.05 µg/g) as major constituents. Present results indicate that Royal Delicious variety is rich in dietary fibre and phenolic compounds that might be used by the food sector as a source of bioactive health promoting constituents/dietary supplements.

Rapid screening and quantification of major organic acids in citrus fruits and their bioactivity studies.

Organic acids (OAs) are small non-volatile molecules with widespread usage in processed foods, feeds and instant beverages. The prime aim of this study was to explore major OAs in local citrus fruits (Citrus limetta, Citrus aurantifolia, Citrus nobilis, Citrus karna, Citrus medica, Citrus ichangensis and Citrus aurantium) and assessment of their bioactivities. A RP-HPLC-DAD method was developed using buffer free solvent system for rapid detection and quantification of major OAs from citrus fruits and derived products. Method validation studies showed good linear calibration curve (0.985-0.998) for all OAs. The values of %RSD ranged between 0.0001-1.129 and 0.142-1.941 for interday and intraday variability respectively. The limit of detection and limit of quantification values for different OAs were ranged between 1.5-12 and 5-40 µg mL-1. The juice of above mentioned citrus fruit cultivars were assessed for OAs, total phenolics, free radical scavenging antioxidants and their antimicrobial potential against selected bacterial and fungal strains. The results showed variable contents of phenolics [0.28 ± 0.001-1.17 ± 0.014 mg (GAE) mL-1] and antioxidant compounds (1.26 ± 0.009-2.84 ± 0.006 mg of trolox equivalents mL-1) in all juice samples besides significant antifungal activity against C. albicans and A. niger strains. However, in case of antibacterial activity, only C. aurantifolia showed inhibitory effects against selected strains. It was found that citrus fruits have immense potential for their utilization as economic source of natural OAs and development of value added products, beverages and bio-preservatives.

Apple phenolics as nutraceuticals: assessment, analysis and application.

Humankind is presently engulfed by convenience quench, modern life style and urbanized diet system leading to progression in array of health disorders. The past decade confronted cardiometabolic disorder (21.8 %), lower respiratory and chronic obstructive lung disease (12.5 %) as the major causes of death world over. In anticipation, scientific communities' have demonstrated the role of healthy diets, especially those rich in fruits and vegetables, for management of such health related issues. These horticultural  crops are considered as a good source of polyphenols such as dihydrochalcones, flavanols, flavonols, anthocyanins and phenolic acids. The present article reviews the efforts made to assess the potential of apple phenolic compounds present in fresh fruits, leaves, bark and pomace as dietary polyphenols. Considering the positive impact of such phytochemicals on human health, various nutraceuticals, dietary supplements and phenolic-rich food products are presently available on market shelves. On analytical front, improved instrumentation based on liquid chromatography (HPLC, UPLC, LC/MS/MS) have made the assessment of phenolics more rapid and reliable. Thus, owing to the emergent interest in natural compounds, it is pertinent to discuss the latest significant research findings on therapeutic aspects along with probable metabolic mechanisms of dietary polyphenols found in apples and their implications on human health.

Nutrigenomics and its Impact on Life Style Associated Metabolic Diseases.

Post-human genome revelation observes the emergence of 'Nutigenomics' as one of the exciting scientific advancement influencing mankind around the world. Food or more precisely 'nutrition' has the major impact in defining the cause-response interaction between nutrient (diet) and human health. In addition to substantial understanding of nutrition-human-health interaction, bases of 'nutrigenomic' development foster on advent in transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics as well as insight into food as health supplement. Interaction of selected nutrient with associated genes in specific organ or tissue necessary to comprehend that how individual's genetic makeup (DNA transcribed into mRNA and then to proteins) respond to particular nutrient. It provided new opportunities to incorporate natural bioactive compounds into food for specific group of people with similar genotype. As inception of diabetes associated with change in gene expression of, not limited to, protein kinase B, insulin receptor, duodenal homeobox and glucokinase, thus, targeting such proteins by modifying or improving the nutritional availability or uptake may help to devise novel food, supplements, or nutraceuticals. In this article, various aspects of R&D in nutrigenomics are reviewed to ascertain its impact on human health, especially with life-style associated diseases.

Concurrent NP-HPTLC Determination of Shikonin and ß,ß-Dimethylacryl Shikonin in Arnebia benthamii.

Naphthoquinones are important class of molecules found as a natural red color pigments in roots of Arnebia benthamii (Wall. ex G. Don) L M. Johnston. The aim of present investigation is to develop and validates a simple, cost-effective and reliable method for quantification of these compounds. Therefore, a normal phase-high performance thin-layer chromatography (NP-HPTLC) method for concurrent determination of shikonin and ß,ß-dimethylacryl shikonin in A. benthamii was established. Method development of naphthoquinones in the methanol extract was done using hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol (40:7.5:2.5, v/v/v) solvent system at 520 nm. The developed method showed good band separation for shikonin (Rf, 0.37) and ß,ß-dimethylacryl shikonin (Rf, 0.58). The linearity ranged between 100 and 8,000 ng spot(-1) with an average recovery of >97% in both cases. The results showed reproducible intraday and interday precision (<2.0% RSD) in quantification of naphthoquinones. The limits of detection are 12.96 and 14.65 ng spot(-1) while the limits of quantification are 39.27 and 44.39 ng spot(-1) for shikonin and ß,ß-dimethylacryl shikonin, respectively. The developed method is reliable, fast, easy to follow and economic in concurrent assessment of shikonin and ß,ß-dimethylacryl shikonin in A. benthamii root samples. In addition, it seems to be first report for identification and quantification of ß,ß-dimethylacryl shikonin from the A. benthamii.

Screening of bioconstituents and in vitro cytotoxicity of Clematis gouriana leaves.

Clematis gouriana (Ranunculaceae), a perennial herb, is used by the local inhabitants of the western Himalayan region for its medicinal properties. Major bioconstituents of C. gouriana leaves using different solvent extracts were obtained and analysed. The results revealed promising contents of phenolics (from 18.19 ± 0.10 to 22.17 ± 0.10 mg g(-1)) as gallic acid and flavonoids (from 2.83 ± 0.01 to 6.52 ± 0.08 mg g(-1)) as quercetin equivalent in different extracts. Aqueous acetone extract showed higher antioxidant activity with IC50 value of 129.11 and 25.35 µg mL(-1) against DPPH and ABTS free radicals, respectively. Antioxidant yield ranged from 16.87 ± 0.27 to 24.48 ± 0.13 mg g(-1) of Trolox equivalent in different extracts as measured by the FRAP assay. Furthermore, ethylacetate extract exhibited strong in vitro cytotoxicity against Chinese hamster ovary and glioma cell lines. Proximate composition (proteins, fats, ash and minerals) of C. gouriana leaves was also assessed. Results demonstrated the potential of C. gouriana bioconstituents as nutraceuticals.

Comparative studies for screening of bioactive constituents from various parts of Incarvillea emodi.

A comparative study was performed on various parts (shoots, roots and flowers) of Incarvillea emodi. The alcoholic extracts of different parts were fractionated with solvents of different polarity and studied for the determination of total polyphenol content and total antioxidant potential. Furthermore, we have isolated major iridoid glucosides from the dried flowers of I. emodi followed by the comparative cytotoxicity studies of these iridoids against five different human cancer cell lines. The results have demonstrated that ethyl acetate fraction of all parts have higher phenolic content (167.87-294.31 mg/g as gallic acid equivalent) and higher total antioxidant potential (252.95-384.64 mg/g as trolox equivalent). The results of in vitro cytotoxicity studies have indicated that boschnaloside (2) possesses promising anticancer potential against three human cancer cell lines, THP-1, A-549 and PC-3, which belong to leukaemia, lung and prostate cancers, respectively, while plantarenaloside (1) expressed relevant cytotoxic activity against THP-1 cell lines of leukaemia.