Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Ethanol Extract Stem of Etlingera rubroloba A.D. Poulsen.

<b>Background and Objective:</b> <i>Etlingera rubroloba</i> A.D. Poulsen (<i>E. rubroloba</i>) is a plant endemic to South-East Sulawesi which is used empirically by local people as a pain reliever for joints and to increase endurance after typhoid fever. This study aimed to determine the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of the ethanol extract stem of <i>E. rubroloba</i>. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> The stem of the ethanol extract of <i>E. rubroloba</i> with evaluated for antioxidants using the FRAP method and anti-inflammatory activity with the parameter level of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-α) <i>in vivo</i> by using 6 groups of rats, namely the normal, the negative (Na-CMC 0.5%), the positive control (Diclofenac sodium) and the ethanol extract group at doses of 200, 300 and 400 mg kg¹ b.wt. <b>Results:</b> The results of this study indicated that the antioxidant activity value of the IC₅₀ ethanol extract was 12.720±0.12 µg mL¹ and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as a standard control was 3.14±0.12 µg mL¹. The TNF- α normal group (7.83 pg mL¹), negative control (250.92 pg mL¹), positive control (123.66 pg mL¹), treatment group dose 200 (192.20 pg mL¹), 300 (97, 95 pg mL¹) and 400 mg kg¹ b.wt. (28.78 pg mL¹). <b>Conclusion:</b> This study concluded that the ethanol extract of the stem of <i>E. rubroloba</i> has a very strong antioxidant activity and is an anti-inflammatory which is the best in reducing levels of TNF-α at a dose of 400 mg kg¹ b.wt.

The beneficial effect of peppermint (Mentha X Piperita L.) and lemongrass (Melissa officinalis L.) dosage on total antioxidant and polyphenol content during alcoholic fermentation.

Our research aimed to create an herbal fermented alcoholic beverage with high antioxidant and polyphenol content. In this study, continuous sampling was performed throughout the fermentation period, and the changes in total antioxidant (TA) and total polyphenol (TP) contents were determined. After processing the raw material, the prepared herbs were added in 0.5 and 1.0 v/v% concentrations to the samples. The TP content of the control sample was between 1.17 and 1.57 mg/g, and the TA content was 2.12 and 2.54 mg/g during the fermentation process. The lemongrass dosage increased 77.86 % the antioxidant and 70.98 % the polyphenol content by the end of the fermentation process. In the best case, the peppermint dosage increased 72.80 % of the antioxidant content and 72.05 % of the polyphenol content. Overall, fermentation combined with herbs dosage could increase the bioavailability of products made from its polyphenol and antioxidant contents and can be used to develop novel functional foods.

Silver Nanoparticles Alter Microtubule Arrangement, Dynamics and Stress Phytohormone Levels.

The superior properties of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has resulted in their broad utilization worldwide, but also the risk of irreversible environment infestation. The plant cuticle and cell wall can trap a large part of the nanoparticles and thus protect the internal cell structures, where the cytoskeleton, for example, reacts very quickly to the threat, and defense signaling is subsequently triggered. We therefore used not only wild-type Arabidopsis seedlings, but also the glabra 1 mutant, which has a different composition of the cuticle. Both lines had GFP-labeled microtubules (MTs), allowing us to observe their arrangement. To quantify MT dynamics, we developed a new microscopic method based on the FRAP technique. The number and growth rate of MTs decreased significantly after AgNPs, similarly in both lines. However, the layer above the plasma membrane thickened significantly in wild-type plants. The levels of three major stress phytohormone derivatives-jasmonic, abscisic, and salicylic acids-after AgNP (with concomitant Ag+) treatment increased significantly (particularly in mutant plants) and to some extent resembled the plant response after mechanical stress. The profile of phytohormones helped us to estimate the mechanism of response to AgNPs and also to understand the broader physiological context of the observed changes in MT structure and dynamics.

Comparison of antioxidative properties of raw vegetables and thermally processed ones using the conventional and sous-vide methods.

The study determines the antioxidant properties of methanol vegetable extracts from raw vegetables, conventionally cooked vegetables and sous-vide. In the research, two methods were used: free radical scavenging DPPH (µM Trolox) and the reduction of Fe3+to Fe2+ - FRAP (µM Fe2+). Antioxidative properties for raw vegetables were obtained with the range of 7.47-235 (µM Trolox/100g of vegetables) and 2.66-103 (µM Fe2+/100g of vegetables), for vegetables after the conventional cooking process 6.15-657 (µM Trolox/100g of vegetables) and 3.03-99.9 (µM Fe2+/100g of vegetables), for vegetables after the sous-vide process 4.45-648 (µM Trolox/100g of vegetables) and 3.06-99.9 (µM Fe2+/100g of vegetables). For some vegetables, an increase in the antioxidative potential was observed as a result of cooking processes; however, it was much higher for the sous-vide technique. All results were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and, if significant differences were revealed, the POST-HOC Duncan test was used (α=0.05).