Bioactivity and nutritional quality of nutgall (Rhus semialata Murray), an underutilized fruit of Manipur.

Introduction: Underutilized fruits plays a significant role in socio economic, cultural, nutritional and ethnomedicinal status of tribal people. However, scientific studies on the nutritional and other pharmaceuticals/biological activities of these fruits are meagre. Hence, the present study dealt with the quantification of nutritional quality and deciphering the bioactivity of nutgall (Rhus semialata Murray syn. Rhus chinensis Mill.), an underutilized fruit crop mainly found in foothill tracks of Eastern Himalaya, India, China, Japan, Korea and other South East Asian countries. Methods: The Rhus semialata Murray fruits were collected from five different locations in Purul sub-division, Senapati district, Manipur, India. The nutritional composition of the fruit pulp was analysed. Further the fruit pulp was extracted in methanol and water. The methanol and water extracts were studied for bioactivity properties such as antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, antihypertensive, antihyperuricemia, anti-tyrosinase, and antimicrobial activity. Results and discussion: The fruit was rich in essential fatty acids. The presence of linoleic and oleic acids, along with traces of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapantaenoic acid, revealed the potential food value of the fruit. 59.18% of the total amino acid composition of the protein present was constituted by essential amino acids. The IC50 value of methanolic extract (MExt) and Water extract (WExt) of the fruit were recorded as 4.05 ± 0.22 and 4.45 ± 0.16 µg/mL, respectively, in the DPPH assay and 5.43 ± 0.37 and 11.36 ± 2.9 µg/mL, respectively, in the ABTS assay as compared to Ascorbic acid (3 and 5.4 µg/mL in DPPH and ABTS assay, respectively). The CUPRAC assay also showed a high antioxidant potential of MExt and WExt (1143.84 ± 88.34 and 456.53 ± 30.02 mg Ascorbic Acid Equivalent/g, respectively). MExt and WExt of the fruit were more active against α-glucosidase (IC50 of 1.61 ± 0.34 and 7.74 ± 0.54 µg/ mL, respectively) than α-amylase enzyme (IC50 14.15 ± 0.57 and 123.33 ± 14.7 µg/mL, respectively). In addition, the methanolic fruit extract showed low to moderate pharmacological potential in terms of antihypertensive (Angiotensin converting enzyme-I inhibition), antihyperuricemia (xanthine oxidase inhibition), anti-tyrosinase, and antimicrobial activity. The IC50 values of angiotensin-converting enzyme I inhibition, xanthine oxidase inhibition and tyrosinase inhibition were recorded as 13.35 ± 1.21 mg/mL, 93.16 ± 4.65 mg/mL, and 862.7 ± 12.62 µg/mL, respectively. The study evidently indicates that nutgall fruit is a potential source of phytonutrients, bestowed with commercially exploitable, multifaceted health benefits.

DNA protection ability, antihyperglycemic potential and in-vivo toxicity assessment of arrowleaf tearthumb (Persicaria sagittata L.), a neglected aquatic plant species of Eastern Asia.

Persicaria sagittata L. (common name arrowleaf tearthumb, American) is an herbaceous edible plant with characteristics sessile leaves mainly found in wetland areas of North America and Eastern Asia. In Eastern Himalayan Region of India, the ethnic communities consumed this plant as vegetables. The present investigation suggests the plant is endowed with bioactive compounds having potential DNA protection ability and antihyperglycemic activity. The DNA nicking assay revealed that the methanolic extract of this plant has the potential to protect plasmid DNA against hydroxyl damage. The α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory assay of this methanolic extract suggest more effectiveness in inhibition of α-amylase than the α-glucosidase. Further, proximate composition, micronutrient, total phenolic and flavonoid content of this underutilised aquatic plant was determined. And lastly the in-vivo cytotoxicity study of Persicaria sagittata L. plant extract suggest that the plant is less toxic to in-vivo system.

Growth kinetics, improved plant growth and alleviation of water stress in tomato by water stress tolerant bacteria.

Plants are subject to a variety of abiotic stresses contributed to yield losses of up to 50%, posing a significant challenge to global food production. To cope with drought stress, of 205 bacterial cultures investigated for moisture stress tolerant potential, 16 cultures showed promising results in improving the majority of plant growth ameliorating activities under water stress and non-stress conditions. Growth kinetics and plant growth ameliorating activities declined significantly with the increase in water stress level. Most of the isolates tolerant to water stress were Streptomyces and Pseudomonas species. Of these, four strains with the best results were selected for growing tomato under water stress conditions. The imposition of water stress severely inhibited the growth of tomato plants. However, bacterial strains alleviated the stress and enhanced plant growth performance. Antioxidant activity showed a promising result of protection from reactive oxygen species produced in plants because of water stress. Plants treated with bioinoculants also exhibited a substantial decline in lipid peroxidation. Water stress significantly reduced the yield of tomato. However, bioinoculants treated plants demonstrated significantly higher yields than untreated plants. Nutrient uptake and fruit quality also improved in the treated plants. Experiments point to the scope of developing a microbial formulation to alleviate water stress in higher plants.

Anticarcinogenic and Antioxidant Action of an Edible Aquatic Flora Jussiaea repens L. Using In Vitro Bioassays and In Vivo Zebrafish Model.

Oxidative stress is the major cause of many health conditions, and regular consumption of antioxidants helped to encounter and prevent such oxidative stress-related diseases. Due to safety concerns over long-term uses of synthetic antioxidants, natural antioxidants are more preferred. The purpose of this study is to investigate the antioxidant and anticancer activities of Jussiaea repens L., a wild edible flora found in Manipur, India. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and DNA-nicking assay. The anticancer activity was tested using five cancer lines viz., SKOV3 cells (ovarian), HeLa (cervical), MDA-MB-231 (breast), PANC-1 (pancreatic), and PC3 (prostate). The toxicity, developmental effect, antiproliferative activity was further tested using zebrafish embryos. The methanolic plant extract had higher polyphenol content than flavonoids. The in vitro study demonstrated a promising antioxidant capacity and DNA protection ability of this plant. The extract also showed cytotoxic activity against SKOV3, HeLa, MDA-MB-23, and PANC-1 cancer cell lines. The in vivo studies on zebrafish embryos demonstrated the extract's ability to suppress the developmental process and elicited more cytotoxicity to cancer cells than developing zebrafish embryos. Moreover, the in vivo studies on zebrafish embryos also indicated the antiproliferative activity of J. repens L. extract.