RESUMEN
In the present study, Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) were synthesized from Phoenix dactylifera (Date palm fruit) using microwave-assisted pyrolysis and were characterized for its various properties. The synthesized CQD sample exhibited a narrow absorbance peak at 270 nm in UV-Vis spectrum that indicated generation of narrow sized particles. The FTIR analysis of the crude CQDs and dialysed sample revealed the various functional groups involved in the formation of CQDs. TEM data revealed the nature of CQDs to be quasi-spherical and spatially distributed. Biocompatibility of the CQDs was studied using various model systems. CQDs displayed no cytotoxic and anti-clonogenic property when exposed to WRL-68 cell line whereas a slight toxicity was evident in HT1080 post 24 h of incubation suggesting the tremendous potential of the CQDs in the synergistic killing of cancer cells. Phytotoxicity assessment in four different seedlings revealed the non-toxic nature of CQDs. Further these CQDs were found to possess high biocompatibility imposing no inhibition in microbial growth and zilch effect on the development of zebrafish embryos. Thus these CQDs can find immense potential applications in fields of biomedicine as biomolecule detection, drug carriers, fluorescent tracers and in controlling the drug release.
RESUMEN
Chemical composition, antioxidant potential and corresponding lipid preoxidation of Indian commercial beers were evaluated. The presence of polyphenolic compounds such as tannic acid, gallic acid, catechol, vanillin, caffeic acid, quercetin, p-coumaric acid and rutin was quantified using LC-MS while the organic acids including tartaric, malic, acetic, citric and succinic acids were analysed using HPLC. Beer sample B8 had the greatest concentration of phenolic and flavonoid components (0.620 ± 0.084 mg/mL and 0.379 ± 0.020 mg/mL respectively) among the beer samples studied. The DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed in the range of 68.34 ± 0.85 % to 89.90 ± 0.71 % and ABTS radical cation scavenging activity was in the range of 59.75 ± 0.20 % to 76.22 ± 0.50 %. Percent protection in lipid peroxidation was quantified to be maximum (54.45 ± 3.39 %) in sample B5. Total phenolic content positively correlates with antioxidant assays, DPPH and ABTS (r = 0.35 and r = 0.58 respectively) with p < 0.001 and also with lipid peroxidation (r = 0.04) with p < 0.001. Negative correlation was observed between total flavonoid content with ABTS and lipid peroxidation (r = -0.1 and r = -0.05) respectively. The process of brewing warrants additional research to determine how the concentration of selected phenolic compounds can be increased.
