An updated review of various medicinal applications of p-coumaric acid: From antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties to effects on cell cycle and proliferation

: P-Coumaric acid (p-CA) is a hydroxycinnamic acid, an organic compound that is a hydroxyl derivative of cinnamic acid. P-CA is the most abundant isomer of the three in nature and can be found in a wide variety of edible plants such as fungi, peanuts, navy beans, tomatoes, carrots, basil, and garlic. Recently, the therapeutic properties of p-CA have received a great deal of attention from the scientific society. Here, we described the medicinal effects of p-CA on various pathological conditions. This review was performed via evaluating PubMed reported studies from January 2010 to January 2020 also reference lists were checked to find additional studies. All intermediation or complementarity of animal models, case-control and cohort studies, in-vitro studies, and controlled trials (CTs) on p-CA were acceptable, although, plant extract studies without indication of main active substances were excluded due to the considerable diversities and heterogeneities. According to recent evidence regarding the beneficial effects of p-CA, numerous diseases such as nephropathies, cardiovascular diseases, neuro-inflammatory diseases, liver diseases, cancers, and some metabolic disorders could potentially control by this natural herb. Interestingly, autophagy is a novel molecular mechanism involved in the crosstalk between classic effects of p-CA and introduces alternative therapeutic pathways for this compound. Much work remains in clarifying the main therapeutic properties among the various p-CA effects; these will be the subject of forthcoming work, which could be resulting in presenting the further mechanism of action.

Developing Biomarkers of Rice Bran and Navy Bean Intake via Integrated Metabolomics from Infants, Children and Adults for Association with Gut Health Properties

Objectives Self-reporting methods for dietary exposure are error-prone and have had limited impact to identify food components that mitigate disease risk. The purpose of this study was to use non-targeted and targeted metabolomics from feeding trials with rice bran and navy beans for the identification of dietary biomarkers across the lifespan. Methods Prepared meals/snacks, and biological samples from randomized-controlled trials performed in 50 infants, 38 children and 49 adults were utilized in this study. Diet groups were placebo control, rice bran, cooked navy bean powder, or a combination of rice bran/navy beans with increasing daily doses by age group and for duration of 4, 12 or 24 weeks per protocol. Plasma/dried blood spots, urine or stool samples were collected at a baseline, midpoint and endpoint. Non-targeted profiling was performed with UPLC-MS/MS, and metabolite quantification by LC-triple-quadropole (LC-QQQ-MS). A linear mixed model to compare between time points in each group was performed using SAS. Results The plasma/blood metabolomes contained between 771–1001 metabolites and showed variation in ∼20–30% of the profile following intervention. Fold changes over time and fold-differences in metabolite abundance were assessed by age (P < 0.05). There were 10–20 candidate identified from metabolomics across studies and with relevance to rice bran and/or navy bean were applied for targeted assay development. Food metabolomes confirmed metabolite origins and the host and microbial metabolism. Candidate metabolites included pipecolate, S-methlycysteine, S-methylcysteine sulfoxide, trigonelline, N-methyl-pipecolate, pyridoxal, 2-hydroxyhippurate, apigenin, xanthurenate, chiro-inositol, and salicylate. Inter-individual variation was reported across studies, ages and dietary patterns. Conclusions Dietary biomarkers for rice bran and/or navy bean intake merit additional selection criteria from non-targeted metabolomics. Targeted assays will need validation in larger cohort investigations using cross-over study designs and diverse dietary patterns. Funding Sources This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Foods and Agriculture-U.S Department of Agriculture (NIFA-USDA).

Navy Beans Impact the Stool Metabolome and Metabolic Pathways for Colon Health in Cancer Survivors

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and emerging evidence supports that increased consumption of legumes, such as navy beans, can reduce risk. Navy bean consumption was previously shown to modulate host and microbiome metabolism, and this investigation was performed to assess the impact on the human stool metabolome, which includes the presence of navy bean metabolites. This 4-week, randomized-controlled trial with overweight and obese CRC survivors involved consumption of 1 meal and 1 snack daily. The intervention contained 35 g of cooked navy bean or macronutrient matched meals and snacks with 0 g of navy beans for the control group (n = 18). There were 30 statistically significant metabolite differences in the stool of participants that consumed navy bean at day 28 compared to the participants’ baseline (p ≤ 0.05) and 26 significantly different metabolites when compared to the control group. Of the 560 total metabolites identified from the cooked navy beans, there were 237 possible navy bean-derived metabolites that were identified in the stool of participants consuming navy beans, such as N-methylpipecolate, 2-aminoadipate, piperidine, and vanillate. The microbial metabolism of amino acids and fatty acids were also identified in stool after 4 weeks of navy bean intake including cadaverine, hydantoin-5 propionic acid, 4-hydroxyphenylacetate, and caprylate. The stool relative abundance of ophthalmate increased 5.25-fold for navy bean consumers that can indicate glutathione regulation, and involving cancer control mechanisms such as detoxification of xenobiotics, antioxidant defense, proliferation, and apoptosis. Metabolic pathways involving lysine, and phytochemicals were also modulated by navy bean intake in CRC survivors. These metabolites and metabolic pathways represent an acute response to increased navy bean intake, which merit further investigation for improving colonic health after long-term consumption.

Characterization of Bioactive Compounds, Mineral Content and Antioxidant Capacity in Bean Varieties Grown in Semi-Arid Conditions in Zacatecas, Mexico

This research describes the characterization of bioactive compounds, mineral content, and antioxidant capacity in bean varieties grown in semi-arid conditions in Zacatecas, Mexico. This will provide better progress perspectives for agriculture nationwide and will ensure that bean crops are in the condition to satisfy the population’s nutritional needs by placing it not only as one of the foodstuffs comprising Mexico’s basic diet but also as one of the legumes having greater biofortification potential in Mexico. Eleven bean varieties were collected (flor de mayo, bayo, frijola, patola, navy beans, flor de junio, reata beans, Japanese beans, black beans, canary beans, and pinto Saltillo). The evaluation done included the physical and physico-chemical characteristics, as well as the mineral content, bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity of these bean varieties. Data gathered were subject to a variance and mean separation analysis. The most remarkable individual results were as follows: Canary beans had the highest iron content (105.29 mg/kg), while bayo beans had the highest zinc concentration (48.18 mg/kg) and reata beans had the highest level of protein (26.88%). The varieties showing the most remarkable results with regard to zinc, iron and protein content and antioxidant capacity were as follows: Flor de junio, flor de mayo, reata beans, navy beans and pinto Saltillo; however, the most remarkable variety in comprehensive terms was flor de junio, which showed a reducing power of 0.20%, an antioxidant capacity of 80.62% inhibition, a protein content of 0.17%, in addition to Ca (0.24%), Fe (90.97 mg/kg), Zn (27.23 mg/kg), fiber (3.22%), energy (353.50 kcal), phenols (94.82 mg gallic acid (GA)/g extract) and flavonoids (1.30 mg mg Cat/g−1 dw). Finally, we came to the conclusion that beans grown in Zacatecas, Mexico, offer a huge benefit to consumers as a result of the mineral, protein, fiber, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant capacity contributions such beans provide. Thus, these beans can be used in a biofortification program using micronutrients to improve their nutritional quality.

Impact of common bacterial blight on the yield, seed weight and seed discoloration of different market classes of dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Boersma, J. G., Hou, A., Gillard, C. L., McRae, K. B. and Conner, R. L. 2015. Impact of common bacterial blight on the yield, seed weight and seed discoloration of different market classes of dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Can. J. Plant Sci. 95: 703–710. Common bacterial blight (CBB) is a seed-borne disease of dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), causing significant economic loss to growers due to reductions in seed yield and quality and the need to annually purchase disease-free seed. Over the past decade a number of breeding lines and cultivars with resistance to CBB have been developed in several bean market classes including navy, black and cranberry beans. A comparison of three susceptible navy bean cultivars and seven resistant navy, three black and one cranberry bean entries in Manitoba revealed that most resistant navy and black bean lines had significantly reduced the incidence of leaf symptoms and their mean yield losses were reduced to less than 17%, while those of the susceptible lines were as high as 36% under severe disease pressure. Only the weakly resistant navy bean cultivar HR67 and the cranberry bean line F4GR1 failed to substantially reduce CBB symptoms or show a yield advantage. The Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) marker PVctt001 in combination with Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (SCAR) marker SU91 was associated with a low incidence of CBB symptoms and a reduced yield loss in five navy bean lines, but not in the cranberry bean line F4GR1. Disease symptoms on the pods in the resistant black and navy beans and seed discoloration of navy beans caused by CBB were also significantly reduced by resistance. Seed weights were reduced by 2.1–4.7% in the susceptible cultivars, but there was only a slight or no decrease or no effect on the seed weight of the CBB-resistant lines and cultivars. Generally the magnitude of the reductions in yield was much greater than the impact on seed weight, which suggests that yield losses were caused by a combination of reduced seed weight and the number of seeds per plant.