Antioxidant proficiency in Serbian mushrooms: a comparative study on Hydnum repandum L. 1753 from mycorrhizal and edible niches.

This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant potential of autochthonous Hydnum repandum through LC-MS/MS profiling, total phenolic content (TP), total protein content (TPR), and antioxidant capabilities (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays) across various extracts (CHCl3, acetone, 70% EtOH, 80% MeOH, and hot water). LC-MS/MS analysis revealed a predominant presence of quinic acid in polar solvents (ranging from 531.37 to 676.07 ng/mL), while EtOH and MeOH extracts exhibited elevated total phenolic levels (27.44 ± 0.32 and 28.29 ± 3.62 mg GAE/g d.w., respectively). Impressively, H. repandum showcased remarkable antioxidant properties, as evidenced by its FRAP values (57.29 to 199.96 mg AAE/g d.w.), ABTS values (5.69 to 29.95 mg TE/g d.w.), and IC50 values in the DPPH assay (91.40 to 372.55 µg/mL), which exhibited a strong correlation with TP. Notably, the acetone extract exhibited the most robust antioxidant activity where the highest TPR was observed, suggesting synergism of primary and secondary metabolites.

Anthriscus sylvestris-Noxious Weed or Sustainable Source of Bioactive Lignans?

Anthriscus sylvestris (L.) Hoffm. (Apiaceae), commonly known as wild chervil, has gained scientific interest owing to its diverse phytochemical profile and potential therapeutic applications. The plant, despite being categorized as a noxious weed, is traditionally used in treating various conditions like headaches, dressing wounds, and as a tonic, antitussive, antipyretic, analgesic, and diuretic. Its pharmacological importance stems from containing diverse bioactive lignans, especially aryltetralins and dibenzylbutyrolactones. One of the main compounds of A. sylvestris, deoxypodophyllotoxin, among its wide-ranging effects, including antitumor, antiproliferative, antiplatelet aggregation, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and insecticidal properties, serves as a pivotal precursor to epipodophyllotoxin, crucial in the semisynthesis of cytostatic agents like etoposide and teniposide. The main starting compound for these anticancer medicines was podophyllotoxin, intensively isolated from Sinopodophyllum hexandrum, now listed as an endangered species due to overexploitation. Since new species are being investigated as potential sources, A. sylvestris emerges as a highly promising candidate owing to its abundant lignan content. This review summarizes the current knowledge on A. sylvestris, investigating its biological and morphological characteristics, and pharmacological properties. Emphasizing the biological activities and structure-activity relationship, this review underscores its therapeutic potential, thus encouraging further exploration and utilization of this valuable plant resource.

Quantitative HPLC-UV Study of Lignans in Anthriscus sylvestris.

Wild chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris) is a wild-growing plant from the Apiaceae family, used as a food in Europe and eastern Asia. Due to its high content of lignans known to possess anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, antiviral and other activities, it represents a potential functional food. However, quantitative data on lignans are still scarce and limited to deoxypodophyllotoxin, nemerosin and yatein. In this paper, a newly developed and validated reverse-phase HPLC-UV method was used to evaluate the content of 14 lignans in both aerial parts and roots of A. sylvestris. The most abundant root components were found to be deoxypodophyllotoxin (2.0-42.8 mg/g), nemerosin (2.0-23.4 mg/g), yatein (1.1-18.5 mg/g), podophyllotoxone (0.7-20.5 mg/g), guaiadequiol (0.8-8.3 mg/g) and dimethylmatairesinol (0.1-5.2 mg/g). Despite the high intra-population variability, a general trend of an increased lignan content during plant development could be observed in the root samples, whereas an opposite trend was observed in the herb samples. A validation study indicated that some of the investigated compounds-7-oxoaryltetralins and dibenzylbutyrolactones-have low stability and require cold storage in the dark. Furthermore, dibenzylbutyrolactones were confirmed to undergo a fast cis-trans isomerization; therefore, only the total content of these isomers should be reported.

Comprehensive study of Anthriscus sylvestris lignans.

Wild chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris) is a widespread, wild-growing herbaceous plant from Apiaceae family, known for high content of lignans related to podophyllotoxin, and thus representing a promising new source for their industrial isolation. The data on detailed chemical profile of A. sylvestris lignans are still lacking. By combining fractionation with non-targeted LC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS metabolite profiling, we have identified, fully or tentatively, 46 lignans, 12 of which were never reported in A. sylvestris and 19 in any biological source. The dominant lignans were found to be nemerosin, yatein, deoxypodophyllotoxin, podophyllotoxin, podophyllotoxone and guayadequiol. In addition to well-known dibenzylbutyrolactones, aryltetralins and 7-oxygenated aryltetralins, we found several oxygenated lignan classes previously undescribed in A. sylvestris - 7-hydroxy, 7-oxo and 8-hydroxydibenzylbutyrolactones, a 7'-oxotetrahydrofuran and a 7-hydroxyarylnaphthalene. To facilitate future rapid classification and identification of lignans in raw extracts, UV, MS and NMR spectral features of different lignan classes are described.

Comparison of Two Schizophyllum commune Strains in Production of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors and Antioxidants from Submerged Cultivation.

In recent years, fungi have been recognized as producers of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, agents important for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to examine the AChE inhibitory, the antioxidative and antibacterial activity of two different Schizophyllum commune strains that originated from Serbia (SRB) and Italy (IT). Submerged cultivation of grown mycelia (M) and fermentation broth (F) of ethanol (EtOH) and polysaccharide (PSH) extracts lasted for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. For AChE activity Ellman method was performed, while for antioxidative activity, sevendifferent assays were conducted: DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOA, OH, NO together with total phenolic content. Antimicrobial screen, LC-MS/MS technique and FTIR measurements were performed. Different isolates exhibited different AChE activity, with PSH being the strongest (SRB, M, 28 days IC90 79.73 ± 26.34 µg/mL), while in EtOH extracts, IT stood out (F, 14 days, IC50 0.8 ± 0.6 µg/mL). PSH extracts (7 days) exhibit significant antioxidative activity (AO), opposite to EtOH extracts where 14 and 21days periods stood out. Only tw extracts showed antibacterial activity. Following LC-MS/MS analysis p-hydroxybenzoic and gallic acids were the most abundant phenolics. PSH extracts demonstrated remarkable results, making this study debut and introducing S. commune as a valuable resource of AChE inhibitors.

Four selected commercial seaweeds: biologically active compounds, antioxidant and cytotoxic properties.

The aim of this research work was to study the chemical characterisation, antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of ethanolic extracts of four commercial algae species Arame, Kombu, Hijiki and Wakame. The highest scavenging activity has been observed in Arame extract. Antioxidant potential of all extracts was in correlation with total phenol content (Arame extract: 319.15 ± 0.56 mg GAE/g d.w) and it was not in correlation with total carotenoids content (Wakame: 75.15 ± 0.20 mg/g). Polyphenols were quantified using LC-MS/MS technique. Baicalein and amentoflavone were identified in higher amount in relation to other phenols. Intracellular antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of algae extracts were evaluated on the human prostate cancer cell line PC3. Although presented biomolecules in the extracts have demonstrated in vitro antioxidant activity, they did not show a significant effect on PC3 cells. However, this study opens up broad perspective for the further comprehensive investigation of these, commercial, seaweed's biopotential.

Chemical Characterization, Antioxidant, Enzyme Inhibition and Antimutagenic Properties of Eight Mushroom Species: A Comparative Study.

This study aimed to determine the chemical composition and biologic activities of eight mushroom species (Amanita crocea, Hemileccinum depilatum, Cyclocybe cylindracea, Lactarius deliciosus, Hygrocybe acutoconica, Neoboletus erythropus, Russula aurea and Russula sanguinea). The antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory and mutagenic/antimutagenic activities were evaluated to provide data on the biologic activities. With respect to the chemical composition, LC-MS/MS technique was used to determine individual phenolic compounds present in the extracts. Antioxidant properties were investigated by different chemical methods including radical quenching (DPPH and ABTS), reducing power (CUPRAC and FRAP), phosphomolybdenum and metal chelating. In the enzyme inhibitory assays, cholinesterases, tyrosinase, amylase and glucosidase were used. Mutagenic and antimutagenic properties were evaluated by the Ames assay. In general, the best antioxidant abilities were observed from H. depilatum and N. erythropus, which also showed highest level of phenolics. The best cholinesterase inhibition ability was found from C. cylindracea (1.02 mg GALAE/g for AChE; 0.99 mg GALAE/g for BChE). Tyrosinase inhibition ability varied from 48.83 to 54.18 mg KAE/g. The extracts exhibited no mutagenic effects and showed significant antimutagenic potential. H. acutoconica, in particular depicted excellent antimutagenicity with a ratio of 97% for TA100 and with a rate of 96% for TA98 strain against mutagens in the presence of metabolic activation system. Results presented in this study tend to show that the mushroom species could be exploited as potential sources of therapeutic bioactive agents, geared towards the management of oxidative stress, global health problems and cancer.

Investigation of the chemical composition and biological activity of edible grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) leaf varieties.

Chemical composition and bioactivity of eight edible Vitis vinifera L. leaf varieties originating from Fruska Gora, Serbia, including two autochthonous varieties, were evaluated. The LC-MS/MS analysis confirmed the presence of 28 natural products in leaf samples, among which most abundant were glycosylated flavonoids, ellagic and chlorogenic acids. The highest amounts of most of the tested compounds were detected in leaves of autochthonous variety Sila. Bioactivity was assessed by a set of in vitro antioxidant, neuroprotective and cytotoxic assays. Leaves of all examined varieties exhibited average bioactivity, with leaves of autochthonous variety Zupljanka standing out as the most promising sample. To conclude, investigated grapevine leaves proved to be a rich source of nutraceuticals, primarily antioxidants, and their further employment as medicinal food in human diet and beneficial raw material for food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries should be supported.

Alchemilla vulgaris agg. (Lady's mantle) from central Balkan: antioxidant, anticancer and enzyme inhibition properties.

The current study was designed to evaluate the phytochemical profile and biological properties (antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory and cytotoxic activity) of methanolic, ethanolic, ethyl-acetate and water extracts of Alchemilla vulgaris from Southeast Serbia (central Balkan) which was traditionally used to alleviate and treat many diseases. Bioactive compounds were characterized by LC-MS/MS technique and biological properties were evaluated using antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory and cytotoxic assays. Twenty-six phenolic compounds were quantified in methanolic, ethanolic, ethyl acetate and water extracts, whereas the highest yields were found in ethyl-acetate (EA) extract (gallic acid, caffeic acid, catchin, quercetin). This extract has also shown the greatest antioxidant, anticancer and inhibitory enzyme activities which were demonstrated for the first time in this study. The obtained results indicated that Alchemilla vulgaris from South Serbia possesses high potential for pharmaceutical applications.