A comparative study on composition and antioxidant activities of supercritical carbon dioxide, hexane and ethanol extracts from blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) growing in Poland.

BACKGROUND: Large quantities of blackberry seeds are produced as a pomace during the processing of juice and jam production; this by-product is a very interesting raw material both for oil manufacturing and as a source of bioactive compounds. In this work the composition, yield and antioxidant activity of three types of Rubus fructicosus pomace extracts isolated by liquid extraction using solvents of different polarity, as well with supercritical CO2 fluid extraction have been compared. RESULTS: The highest extract yield was reported for Soxhlet extraction using ethanol as a solvent (14.2%). Supercritical carbon dioxide and hexane extracts were characterised by the highest content of phytosterols (1445 and 1583 mg 100 g-1 of extract, respectively) among which ß-sitosterol was the main one, while the concentration of tocopherols, with predominant γ-isomer, was the highest for both hexane and ethanol extracts, being 2364 and 2334 mg 100 g-1 , respectively. Using a GC-MS method 95 volatiles, in which non-saturated aldehydes were predominant, were identified in the essential oil of seed pomace and in the volatile oil isolated from supercritical extract. The ethanolic extract which is characterised by the highest phenolic content (9443 mg GAE 100 g-1 ) exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (according to the ABTS•+ and DPPH• assays). CONCLUSION: All pomace extracts examined were of high quality, rich in essential omega fatty acids and with a very high content of bioactive compounds, such as phytosterols and tocopherols. The high nutritional value of extracts from berry seed pomace could justify the commercialisation of specific extracts not only as food additives but also as cosmetic components. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Hydrolates from lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)--their chemical composition as well as aromatic, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.

It was shown that the method for obtaining hydrolates from lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) influences the content of active compounds and the aromatic, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the hydrolates. The content of volatile organic compounds ranged from 9.12 to 97.23 mg/100 mL of hydrolate. Lavender hydrolate variants showed low antimicrobial activity (from 0% to 0.05%). The radical scavenging activity of DPPH was from 3.6 ± 0.5% to 3.8 ± 0.6% and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC(FL)) results were from 0 to 266 µM Trolox equivalent, depending on the hydrolate variant.

Chemical composition and biological activity of Abies alba and A. koreana seed and cone essential oils and characterization of their seed hydrolates.

The chemical composition, including the enantiomeric excess of the main terpenes, the antimicrobial and antiradical activities, as well as the cytotoxicity of Abies alba and A. koreana seed and cone essential oils were investigated. Additionally, their seed hydrolates were characterized. In the examined oils and hydrolates, a total of 174 compounds were identified, which comprised 95.6-99.9% of the volatiles. The essential oils were mainly composed of monoterpene hydrocarbons, whereas the composition of the hydrolates, differing from the seed oils of the corresponding fir species, consisted mainly of oxygenated derivatives of sesquiterpenes. The seed and cone essential oils of both firs exhibited DPPH-radical-scavenging properties and low antibacterial activity against the bacterial strains tested. Moreover, they evoked only low cytotoxicity towards normal fibroblasts and the two cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MBA-231. At concentrations up to 50 µg/ml, all essential oils were safe in relation to normal fibroblasts. Although they induced cytotoxicity towards the cancer cells at concentrations slightly lower than those required for the inhibition of fibroblast proliferation, their influence on cancer cells was weak, with IC50 values similar to those observed towards normal fibroblasts.

Acrylamide-quenching of Rhizomucor miehei lipase.

Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence-quenching measurements have been performed to study multitryptophan lipase from filamentous fungus Rhizomucor miehei. Using the steady-state acrylamide fluorescence quenching data and the fluorescence-quenching-resolved-spectra (FQRS) method, the total emission spectrum of native ("closed-lid") lipase has been decomposed into two distinct spectral components accessible to acrylamide. According to FQRS analysis, more quenchable component has a maximum of fluorescence emission at about 352 nm whereas less quenchable component emits at about 332 nm. The redder component participates in about 60-64% of the total lipase fluorescence and may be characterized by the dynamic and static quenching constants equal to K(1) = 3.75 M(-1) and V(1) = 1.12 M(-1), respectively. The bluer component is quenchable via dynamic mechanism with K(2) = 1.97 M(-1). Significant difference in the values of acrylamide bimolecular rate quenching constants estimated for redder and bluer component (i.e., k(q) = 1.2 x 10 (9) M(-1)s (-1) vs. k(q) = 4.3 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1), respectively), suggests that tryptophan residues in fungal lipase are not uniformly exposed to the solvent.