Chemical Composition of Litsea pungens Essential Oil and Its Potential Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities.

Litsea pungens is a plant with medicinal and edible properties, where the fruits are edible and the leaves have medicinal properties. However, there is limited research on the chemical and pharmacological activities of the plant. In this study, essential oils were extracted by steam distillation and their antioxidant and antibacterial activities were further evaluated. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to identify the chemical components of L. pungens fresh fruit essential oil (FREO) and L. pungens fresh flower essential oil (FLEO), rapeseed oil (RO) and commercial Litsea oil (CEO). The results showed that 12 chemical components were identified in FREO. Twelve chemical components were identified from FLEO, four chemical components were identified from CEO, and thirteen chemical components were identified from RO. Except for RO, the other three oils were mainly composed of terpenes, among which limonene is the main chemical component. In terms of antioxidant activity, FREO, FLEO, CEO and RO have antioxidant capacity, mainly reflected in the scavenging DPPH free radicals and the iron ion chelating ability, and the antioxidant activity shows a certain dose effect, but the antioxidant activity of FLEO is the weakest among the four oils. Meanwhile, under the stress of hydrogen peroxide, CEO demonstrated a significant antioxidant protective effect on cells. It is worth mentioning that compared with the positive control, the FREO exhibited a better antibacterial rate. When the concentration of essential oil is 20 mg/mL, the bacteriostatic rate can reach 100%. Therefore, it could be a promising candidate among medicinal and edible plants.

Integrated Analysis of Transcriptome and Metabolome Provides Insight into Camellia oleifera Oil Alleviating Fat Accumulation in High-Fat Caenorhabditis elegans.

Camellia oil (CO) is a high medicinal and nutritional value edible oil. However, its ability to alleviate fat accumulation in high-fat Caenorhabditis elegans has not been well elucidated. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of CO on fat accumulation in high-fat C. elegans via transcriptome and metabolome analysis. The results showed that CO significantly reduced fat accumulation in high-fat C. elegans by 10.34% (Oil Red O method) and 11.54% (TG content method), respectively. Furthermore, CO primarily altered the transcription levels of genes involved in longevity regulating pathway. Specifically, CO decreased lipid storage in high-fat C. elegans by inhibiting fat synthesis. In addition, CO supplementation modulated the abundance of metabolic biomarkers related to pyrimidine metabolism and riboflavin metabolism. The integrated transcriptome and metabolome analyses indicated that CO supplementation could alleviate fat accumulation in high-fat C. elegans by regulating retinol metabolism, drug metabolism-cytochrome P450, metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, and pentose and glucuronate interconversions. Overall, these findings highlight the potential health benefits of CO that could potentially be used as a functional edible oil.