Current understanding and future perspectives on the extraction, structures, and regulation of muscle function of tea pigments.

With the aggravating aging of modern society, the sarcopenia-based aging syndrome poses a serious potential threat to the health of the elderly. Natural dietary supplements show great potential to reduce muscle wasting and enhance muscle performance. Tea has been widely recognized for its health-promoting effects. which contains active ingredients such as tea polyphenols, tea pigments, tea polysaccharides, theanine, caffeine, and vitamins. In different tea production processes, the oxidative condensation and microbial transformation of catechins and other natural substances from tea promotes the production of various tea pigments, including theaflavins (TFs), thearubigins (TRs), and theabrownins (TBs). Tea pigments have shown a positive effect on maintaining muscle health. Nevertheless, the relationship between tea pigments and skeletal muscle function has not been comprehensively elucidated. In addition, the numerous research on the extraction and purification of tea pigments is disordered with the limited recent progress due to the complexity of species and molecular structure. In this review, we sort out the strategies for the separation of tea pigments, and discuss the structures of tea pigments. On this basis, the regulation mechanisms of tea pigments on muscle functional were emphasized. This review highlights the current understanding on the extraction methods, molecular structures and regulation mechanisms of muscle function of tea pigments. Furthermore, main limitations and future perspectives are proposed to provide new insights into broadening theoretical research and industrial applications of tea pigments in the future.

The extraction and isolation methods of tea pigments are detailedly introduced.The structural research progress of tea pigments are summarized.The effects of tea pigments in the prevention of muscle diseases are introduced.The mechanism of tea pigments in enhancing skeletal muscle function are proposed.

Regulation of fungal community and the quality formation and safety control of Pu-erh tea.

Pu-erh tea belongs to dark tea among six major teas in China. As an important kind of post-fermented tea with complex microbial composition, Pu-erh tea is highly praised by many consumers owing to its unique and rich flavor and taste. In recent years, Pu-erh tea has exhibited various physiological activities to prevent and treat metabolic diseases. This review focuses on the fungi in Pu-erh tea and introduces the sources, types, and functions of fungi in Pu-erh tea, as well as the influence on the quality of Pu-erh tea and potential safety risks. During the process of fermentation and aging of Pu-erh tea, fungi contribute to complex chemical changes in bioactive components of tea. Therefore, we examine the important role that fungi play in the quality formation of Pu-erh tea. The associations among the microbial composition, chemicals excreted, and potential food hazards are discussed during the pile-fermentation of Pu-erh tea. The quality of Pu-erh tea has exhibited profound changes during the process of pile-fermentation, including color, aroma, taste, and the bottom of the leaves, which are inseparable from the fungus in the pile-fermentation of Pu-erh tea. Specifically, the application prospects of various detection methods of mycotoxins in assessing the safety of Pu-erh tea are proposed. This review aims to fully understand the importance of fungi in the production of Pu-erh tea and further provides new insights into subtly regulating the piling process to improve the nutritional properties and guarantee the safety of Pu-erh tea.

A Novel Butylated Caffeic Acid Derivative Protects HaCaT Keratinocytes from Squalene Peroxidation-Induced Stress.

Squalene is a major sebum lipid which is easily peroxidized by ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation, generating products that can stress keratinocytes. Prevention of squalene photooxidation with antioxidants could potentially help defend skin from environmental stress. Previously, we have systematically characterized butylated caffeic acid (BCA) as a more lipophilic alternative of caffeic acid (CA). The current study aimed to test the hypothesis that the lipophilic property of BCA makes it a good candidate as a skin antioxidant. The UVA-induced peroxidation of squalene and the antioxidative activity of CA and BCA were measured for peroxide value and further characterized with ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet and mass spectrometry analysis. Both CA and BCA showed strong antioxidant capacity during squalene peroxidation under direct UVA challenge. In HaCaT keratinocyte culture, BCA's and CA's impact on the damage induced by peroxidized squalene (P-SQ) was investigated through quantification of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and expression of interleukin-1 (IL-1) cytokines. Both BCA and CA decreased P-SQ-induced IL-1ß secretion in HaCaT cells. However, only BCA could reduce P-SQ-induced ROS generation as well as expression of inflammatory cytokines in the IL-1 family. This advantage in biological efficacy could have been attributed to BCA's superior intracellular bioavailability due to its higher lipophilicity compared with CA, as indicated by higher intracellular concentration of BCA. Based on this observation, we propose using BCA as a functional antioxidant to prevent sebum lipid from peroxidation and its detrimental effect to skin.

A novel method for quantitative analysis of acetylacetone and ethyl acetoacetate by fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic spectroscopy.

A new method utilization of NMR spectra was developed for structural and quantitative analysis of enol forms of acetylacetone and ethyl acetoacetate. Acetylacetone and ethyl acetoacetate were determined by (19) F NMR upon derivatisation with р-fluorobenzoyl chloride. The base-catalyzed derivatives of acetylacetone and ethyl acetoacetate reaction with р-fluorobenzoyl chloride were analyzed by (1) H and (13) C NMR spectroscopies. E and Z configurations of acetylacetone and ethyl acetoacetate were separated and purified by thin layer chromatography. In addition, the ability of (19) F NMR for quantitative analysis of acetylacetone by integration of the appropriate signals of the derivatives were tested and compared. The results further testified the enol forms of acetylacetone and ethyl acetoacetate and the feasibility of (19) F NMR method. This method can be potentially used to characterize E and Z isomers and quantitatively analyze E/Z ratio of ß-diketone and ß-ketoester homologues. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Study on the Interaction Mechanism of Theaflavin with Whey Protein: Multi-Spectroscopy Analysis and Molecular Docking.

The interaction mechanism of whey proteins with theaflavin (TF1) in black tea was analyzed using multi-spectroscopy analysis and molecular docking simulations. The influence of TF1 on the structure of bovine serum albumin (BSA), ß-lactoglobulin (ß-Lg), and α-lactoalbumin (α-La) was examined in this work using the interaction of TF1 with these proteins. Fluorescence and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectroscopy revealed that TF1 could interact with BSA, ß-Lg and α-La through a static quenching mechanism. Furthermore, circular dichroism (CD) experiments revealed that TF1 altered the secondary structure of BSA, ß-Lg and α-La. Molecular docking demonstrated that the interaction of TF1 with BSA/ß-Lg/α-La was dominated by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction. The binding energies were -10.1 kcal mol-1, -8.4 kcal mol-1 and -10.4 kcal mol-1, respectively. The results provide a theoretical basis for investigating the mechanism of interaction between tea pigments and protein. Moreover, the findings offered technical support for the future development of functional foods that combine tea active ingredients with milk protein. Future research will focus on the effects of food processing methods and different food systems on the interaction between TF1 and whey protein, as well as the physicochemical stability, functional characteristics, and bioavailability of the complexes in vitro or in vivo.

Two Novel Lipophilic Antioxidants Derivatized from Curcumin.

Tert-butyl curcumin (TBC), demethylated tert-butylated curcumin (1E,6E-1,7-bis(3-tert-butyl-4,5-dihydroxyphenyl)hepta-1,6-diene-3,5-dione, DMTC), demethylated curcumin (DMC), and Cur were synthesized from the starting compound, 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol. TBC and DMTC are two novel lipophilic compounds, and Cur and DMC are polar and hydrophilic. The antioxidant activities of Cur, TBC, DMC, and DMTC were evaluated by using the methods of 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trinitro-phenyl)-hydrazinyl (DPPH), deep-frying, and Rancimat. Tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were used as comparison compounds. Both Rancimat and deep-frying tests demonstrated that DMTC was the strongest antioxidant, and TBC also had stronger antioxidant activity than Cur. In the DPPH assay, DMC showed the highest scavenging activity, followed by DMTC, TBHQ, Cur, and TBC. DMTC and TBC can be potentially used as strong antioxidants in food industry, especially for frying, baking, and other high temperature food processing. DMTC is the strongest antioxidant in oil to our knowledge.

Impact of Germinated Brown Rice and Brown Rice on Metabolism, Inflammation, and Gut Microbiome in High Fat Diet-Induced Insulin Resistant Mice.

The constituents of germinated brown rice (GBR), brown rice (BRR), and white rice (WHR) and their impact on metabolism, inflammation, and gut microbiota in high fat (HF) diet-fed mice were examined. The contents of total fiber and γ-aminobutyric acid in BRR and GBR were higher than that in WHR (p < 0.05). Male C57 BL/6J mice received HF diet+26 g% of WHR, BRR, or GBR for 12 weeks. BRR and GBR comparably reduced HF diet-induced increases in fasting plasma glucose, lipids, insulin resistance, and inflammatory markers compared to WHR (p < 0.01). The abundance of fecal Bacteroidetes in mice fed HF+GBR or HF+BRR was higher than in HF+WHR-fed mice (p < 0.05). The abundance of fecal Lactobacillus gasseri in GBR-fed mice was greater than that in WHR- or BRR-fed mice (p < 0.05). The results indicated that GBR or BRR attenuated hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and inflammation in mice. HF+GBR, but not HF+BRR, increased a probiotic bacteria in the gut.

Antioxidant properties of two novel lipophilic derivatives of hydroxytyrosol.

Two novel lipophilic derivatives of the natural olive oil phenol, hydroxytyrosol (HT), were synthesized using 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid as starting material. Their antioxidant activities and kinetics compared to HT and TBHQ were assessed by Rancimat, Schaal Oven, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and deep-frying methods. All experiments, including kinetic data analysis based on the Arrhenius equation, utilized in assessing antioxidant activity except the DPPH assay revealed that the new lipophilic HT derivatives exhibited much stronger antioxidant activity than hydroxytyrosol. Tert-butylhydroquinone exhibited stronger antioxidant activity in bulk oil at 65 °C than the new HT derivatives, but showed much lower activity at higher temperatures (>110 °C). This demonstrates that the introduction of bulky alkyl moiety to the ortho-diphenolic structure of HT increased its antioxidant activity. It can be concluded that the new lipophilic HT derivatives satisfy industrial demands for bioactive compounds with strong antioxidant potential at high temperatures.

[Antitumor activity of extracts of Ganoderma lucidum and their protective effects on damaged HL-7702 cells induced by radiotherapy and chemotherapy].

OBJECTIVE: To study the inhibitory effect of Ganoderma lucidum, the extract of chloroform, the extract of ethyl acetate and the remains after two-time extraction on BEL-7402 and MGC-803 cells and their protective effects on HL-7702 cells pre-and post-exposed to cisplatin (DDP) and various doses of 60Co gamma irradiation. METHOD: The antitumor activity and protective effects on damaged HL-7702 cells induced by radiotherapy and chemotherapy of ganoderma lucidum were determined by MTT technique. RESULT: The anticancer activity of the extract of chloroform Ganoderma lucidum was the best: at the concentration of 0.125 mg x mL(-1), the inhibitory rate was over 50%. To the HL-7702 cells damaged by DDP, four kinds of extracts didn't exert restoring effect, but the pretreatment with the extract of chloroform reduced the damaged degree significantly. To the 60Co gamma irradiated HL-7702 cells, only the extract of chloroform exerted restoring effect to some extent when exposed to middle or high dose of irradiation. The pre-administration of four kinds of extracts reduced the damaged degree by radiation. CONCLUSION: The extract of chloroform exerts notable antitumor effects on cancer cells and protective effects on damaged normal cells induced by radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

[Studies on extraction and isolation of active constituents from Psoralen corylifolia L. and the antitumor effect of the constituents in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents from Psoralea corylifolia L. and their antitumor activities. METHODS: The constituents were isolated on silica gel column chromatography and identified by physicochemical properties and spectroscopic analysis. Morphological and MTT assays in vitro were used to explore the inhibiting effect of the active compounds on the proliferation of BGC-823 cancer cell. RESULTS: Two compounds were isolated from its chloroform extract and identified as psoralen (I) and isopsoralen (II). IC50 of psoralen and isoporalen were 5.82 micrograms/ml and 148.8 micrograms/ml respectively. CONCLUSION: Compound I and II having antitumor activity against BGC-823 cancer cell were obtained from this plant with the yields of 0.048% and 0.11%.