scholarly journals Dragon fruit: A review of health benefits and nutrients and its sustainable development under climate changes in Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 71-94
Author(s):  
Thi-Thuy-Hai Luu ◽  
Truc-Linh Le ◽  
Nga Huynh ◽  
Pablo Quintela-Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Mekong Delta ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Natural Antioxidants ◽  
Tropical Country ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Dragon Fruit ◽  
Wide Range

Dragon fruit or pitaya is an exotic tropical plant that brings multiple benefits to human health thanks to its high nutritional value and bioactive compounds, including powerful natural antioxidants. Extracts from stems, flowers, peels, pulps of dragon fruit own a range of beneficial biological activities against pathogenic microbes including bacteria, fungi and viruses, and diseases like diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidaemia, and cancer. Moreover, dragon fruit extracts have cardiovascular and hepatoprotective properties, as well as prebiotic potential. Vietnam is a tropical country with favourable climate conditions for the development of pitaya plantations, which have great adaptability and tolerance to a wide range of environmental conditions (e.g. salinity adaptation, favour light intensity, drought resistance, etc.). The dragon fruit, thanks to its nutritional properties, biological activities, and commercial value has become a cost-effective product for the Vietnamese economy, particularly in the poorest areas of the Mekong Delta region, and a driving force in the sustainable development of Vietnam under the challenges posed by the global climate change such as saline intrusion and drought.

scholarly journals Enhanced Recovery of Antioxidant Compounds from Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) Involucre Based on Extraction Optimization: Phytochemical Profile and Biological Activities

Antioxidants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rusu ◽  
Fizeșan ◽  
Pop ◽  
Gheldiu ◽  
Mocan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Enhanced Recovery ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Natural Antioxidants ◽  
Antioxidant Compounds ◽  
Cancerous Cell ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Corylus Avellana L

Tree nut by-products could contain a wide range of phytochemicals, natural antioxidants, which might be used as a natural source for dietary supplements. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the phenolic and sterolic composition, as well as the antioxidant and other biological activities, of hazelnut involucre (HI) extracts. Experimental designs were developed in order to select the optimum extraction conditions (solvent, temperature, time) using turbo-extraction by Ultra-Turrax for obtaining extracts rich in bioactive compounds. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed by LC-MS and LC-MS/MS and they revealed important amounts of individual polyphenols and phytosterols, molecules with antioxidant potential. The richest polyphenolic HI extract with the highest antioxidant activity by TEAC assay was further evaluated by other in vitro antioxidant tests (DPPH, FRAP) and enzyme inhibitory assays. Additionally, the cytotoxic and antioxidant effects of this extract on two cancerous cell lines and on normal cells were tested. This is the first study to analyze the composition of both hydrophilic and lipophilic bioactive compounds in HI extracts. Our findings reveal that this plant by-product presents strong biological activities, justifying further research, and it could be considered an inexpensive source of natural antioxidants for food, pharmaceutical, or cosmetic industry.

scholarly journals Antioxidant Effect of Moroccan Pomegranate (Punica granatum L. Sefri Variety) Extracts Rich in Punicalagin against the Oxidative Stress Process

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 2219
Author(s):  
Lamiae Benchagra ◽  
Hicham Berrougui ◽  
Mohamed Obaidul Islam ◽  
Mhamed Ramchoun ◽  
Samira Boulbaroud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Activities ◽  
Radical Scavenging ◽  
Reducing Power ◽  
Natural Antioxidants ◽  
Punica Granatum ◽  
Food Preservation ◽  
Anthocyanin Content ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Phenolic Extract ◽  
Punica Granatum L

Natural antioxidants products are widely distributed in food and medicinal plants. These natural antioxidants, especially polyphenols, exhibit a wide range of biological activities including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-atherosclerosis activities. Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a rich source of polyphenolic components. The purpose of this study was to characterize the phenolic composition and flavonoids and anthocyanin content of different parts (peel and aril) of the Sefri variety of pomegranate. Our results showed that Peel extract was richer in these compounds than that of the Arils, especially in Punicalagin (A and B). DPPH free radical scavenging, reducing power (FRAP), β-carotene bleaching, and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assays revealed a greater dose-dependent activity of pomegranate peel phenolic extract (PPPE) compared to pomegranate aril phenolic extract (PAPE). PPPE was also more potent than PAPE concerning its ability to inhibit conjugated diene formation and to reduce α-tocopherol disappearance induced by CuSO4-mediated LDL peroxidation. Interestingly, both extracts (PPPE and PAPE) significantly inhibited lipid peroxidation and the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in stressed J82 human bladder cancer cells. These results reflect the protective effects that this Moroccan variety of pomegranate can provide against the development of metabolic disorder, cancer, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease. Given these properties, further studies should be undertaken to investigate possible applications of Sefri pomegranate extracts in the fields of food preservation and health supplements.

scholarly journals Evaluation of anti-microbial and anti-haemolytic activity of edible basidiomycetes mushroom fungi

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhanraj R ◽  
Ravikumar K ◽  
Maya MR ◽  
Ramanaiah Illuri ◽  
Venkatakrishna K ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Activities ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Pharmaceutical Products ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Haemolytic Activity ◽  
Pleurotus Pulmonarius ◽  
Nutritional Values ◽  
Anticancer Effects ◽  
Alternative Systems ◽  
Wide Range

Mushrooms are used for a variety of biotechnological applications, particularly for the production of food, enzymes, dietary supplements, pharmaceutical compounds, feed supplements. Basidiomycetes mushroom fungi have been known for their nutritional values they can be considered as functional foods which can provide health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients. Mushroom represents a major and untapped source of potent new pharmaceutical products. A wide range of activities including antitumour, cardiovascular and antimicrobial are reported in mushrooms. In developing countries like India mushroom progress is a boon in the field of food, medicine, and in generating employment. The alternative systems of medicine utilize the curative properties of mushrooms. They are also known to possess promising antioxidative, cardiovascular, hypercholesterolemia, antimicrobial, hepato-protective and anticancer effects. The present study aimed to evaluate antimicrobial and antihaemolytic activities of various extracts of Basidiomycetes mushroom fungi. Different Basidiomycetes mushroom fungi extracts (Hot water, Acetone and Hexane) were tested for antimicrobial and antihaemolytic activities. Among these different extracts of Basidiomycetes mushroom fungi the hexane extract of Pleurotus pulmonarius showed potential antimicrobial and antihaemolytic activity. The results of this study suggest the possibility of using Basidiomycetes mushroom fungi as natural sources for the pharmaceutical industry and could act as safe and cost-effective with potential biological activities. These findings encourage studying these fungal strains further for their potential biological applications.

A Fluorescence Study on the Extracts of Red Dragon Fruit Peel in Various Solvents

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Krisfian Tata Aneka Priyangga ◽  
Yehezkiel Steven Kurniawan ◽  
Edi Setiyono ◽  
Muhammad Riza Ghulam Fahmi ◽  
Hendrik Oktendy Lintang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Activities ◽  
Ethanolic Extract ◽  
Emission Peak ◽  
Photoluminescence Properties ◽  
Fruit Peel ◽  
Photonic Material ◽  
Solvent Type ◽  
Dragon Fruit ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Potential Use

Special attention has been given to red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) because of its unique natural compounds exhibiting wide biological activities. However, the potential use of the red dragon fruit peel has been less addressed. In the present work, simple extraction of red dragon fruit peel was carried out to study the fluorescence properties of the corresponding extracts in various solvents. The red dragon fruit peel was first separated, dried, and macerated for 24 hours using distilled water, ethanol, and acetone, separately. The results demonstrated that the peel extracts exhibited different photoluminescence properties depending on the solvent type. It was revealed that the ethanolic extract gave the highest fluorescence intensity among the other extracts. The ethanolic extract showed two excitation peaks at 290 and 359 nm, yielding different emission properties. Excitation at 290 nm gave one emission peak at 339 nm, while the excitation at 359 nm gave an emission peak at 436 nm. Such strong photoluminescence properties observed in the wide range of UV and visible regions demonstrated the potential use of the red dragon fruit peel as a photonic material. Spectroscopy study also proposed that the ethanolic extract would have polyphenol and chlorogenic acid as the main compounds.

2D Color-Intensity Representation of Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge Measurements

2020 ◽  
pp. 1192-1198
Author(s):  
M.S. Mohammad ◽  
Tibebe Tesfaye ◽  
Kim Ki-Seong
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
The Other ◽  
Thickness Gauge ◽  
Color Intensity ◽  
Digital Readout ◽  
Flat Surfaces ◽  
Video Cameras ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cost Effective Alternative ◽  
Ultrasonic Thickness

Ultrasonic thickness gauges are easy to operate and reliable, and can be used to measure a wide range of thicknesses and inspect all engineering materials. Supplementing the simple ultrasonic thickness gauges that present results in either a digital readout or as an A-scan with systems that enable correlating the measured values to their positions on the inspected surface to produce a two-dimensional (2D) thickness representation can extend their benefits and provide a cost-effective alternative to expensive advanced C-scan machines. In previous work, the authors introduced a system for the positioning and mapping of the values measured by the ultrasonic thickness gauges and flaw detectors (Tesfaye et al. 2019). The system is an alternative to the systems that use mechanical scanners, encoders, and sophisticated UT machines. It used a camera to record the probe’s movement and a projected laser grid obtained by a laser pattern generator to locate the probe on the inspected surface. In this paper, a novel system is proposed to be applied to flat surfaces, in addition to overcoming the other limitations posed due to the use of the laser projection. The proposed system uses two video cameras, one to monitor the probe’s movement on the inspected surface and the other to capture the corresponding digital readout of the thickness gauge. The acquired images of the probe’s position and thickness gauge readout are processed to plot the measured data in a 2D color-coded map. The system is meant to be simpler and more effective than the previous development.

Pharmacologically potentials of different substituted coumarin derivatives

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chem Int
Keyword(s):  
Benzene Ring ◽  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Pharmacological Properties ◽  
Coumarin Derivatives ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Anti Oxidant ◽  
Anti Inflammatory ◽  
Coumarin Compounds

Coumarin and its derivatives are widely spread in nature. Coumarin goes to agroup as benzopyrones, which consists of a benzene ring connected to a pyronemoiety. Coumarins displayed a broad range of pharmacologically useful profile.Coumarins are considered as a promising group of bioactive compounds thatexhibited a wide range of biological activities like anti-microbial, anti-viral,antiparasitic, anti-helmintic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anticancer,anti-oxidant, anti-proliferative, anti-convulsant, and antihypertensiveactivities etc. The coumarin compounds have immense interest due to theirdiverse pharmacological properties. In particular, these biological activities makecoumarin compounds more attractive and testing as novel therapeuticcompounds.

Problem of energy efficiency in the model of sustainable development in Ukraine: EU experience

2019 ◽  
pp. 18-23
Author(s):  
Vasyl Zelenko ◽  
Yaryna Ferenchak ◽  
Nataliya Zelenko
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Efficient Construction

The paper outlines major preconditions of development of energy efficiency programs and the process of their introduction from the perspective of sustainable development concept. Energy saving measures of European Union are examined, its experience and results, like green books and Thermie programs, etc are analyzed. The paper also specifies relevant activities and responsibilities undertaken by Member States by 2030 and the rates planned to be achieved. The experience of neighboring Poland in energy efficiency promotion is analyzed, as far as the country most closely resembles Ukraine by the initial rates in 1990. We calculated conditional losses of Ukraine in 2017 as the gap between the rates of energy efficiency of Ukraine and Poland (similarity of climate conditions and the state of housing funds allowed us to assume that the comparison will be the most correct regarding Ukraine). The results of calculations make us conclude that the funds are used most efficiently if the money designated, for example, for subsidizing of population are directed at strengthening of energy efficiency (at least up to the level of neighboring country). It will result in saving of about 40 billion. This is the amount defined as Ukrainian capacity in terms of improvement of energy saving and possible results of its realization. The paper determines the stage Ukraine is at in introduction of energy efficiency measures and programs: “warm loans” program; conditions regarding energy saving in Ukraine enshrined in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement; creation of legal basis, namely the Law of Ukraine “On Energy Efficiency Fund” as of 8 June 2017. The role of newly created Energy Efficiency Fund is analyzed. Special attention is paid to the fact that energy efficient construction is one of international liabilities undertaken by Ukraine. The presence of The Active House Alliance at Ukrainian market is an important achievement in this sphere as it is the non-profit association aiming at creation of housing concept corresponding to the sustainable development principles.

Synthesis, Characterization and Antiproliferative Activity Assessment of a Novel 1H-5-mercapto-1,2,4 Triazole Derivative

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Mioc ◽  
Sorin Avram ◽  
Vasile Bercean ◽  
Mihaela Balan Porcarasu ◽  
Codruta Soica ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antiproliferative Activity ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Cancer Cell Line ◽  
Vascular Endothelial ◽  
Triazole Derivative ◽  
Activity Assessment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Specific Receptors ◽  
Endothelial Growth Factor ◽  
Selection Of

Angiogenesis plays an important function in tumor proliferation, one of the main angiogenic promoters being the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) which activates specific receptors, particularly VEGFR-2. Thus, VEGFR-2 has become an essential therapeutic target in the development of new antitumor drugs. 1,2,4-triazoles show a wide range of biological activities, including antitumor effect, which was documented by numerous reports. In the current study the selection of 5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole structure (1H-3-styryl-5-benzylidenehydrazino-carbonyl-methylsulfanil-1,2,4-triazole, Tz3a.7) was conducted based on molecular docking that emphasized it as suitable ligand for VEGFR-2 and EGFR1 receptors. Compound Tz3a.7 was synthesized and physicochemically and biologically evaluated thus revealing a moderate antiproliferative activity against breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231.

Potential Triazole-based Molecules for the Treatment of Neglected Diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (23) ◽  
pp. 4403-4434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susimaire Pedersoli Mantoani ◽  
Peterson de Andrade ◽  
Talita Perez Cantuaria Chierrito ◽  
Andreza Silva Figueredo ◽  
Ivone Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Effective Treatment ◽  
Chagas Disease ◽  
Medicinal Chemistry ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Neglected Diseases ◽  
Triazole Derivatives ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Great Relevance ◽  
The Moment

Neglected Diseases (NDs) affect million of people, especially the poorest population around the world. Several efforts to an effective treatment have proved insufficient at the moment. In this context, triazole derivatives have shown great relevance in medicinal chemistry due to a wide range of biological activities. This review aims to describe some of the most relevant and recent research focused on 1,2,3- and 1,2,4-triazolebased molecules targeting four expressive NDs: Chagas disease, Malaria, Tuberculosis and Leishmaniasis.

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