Olive Pomace Phenolic Compounds Stability and Safety Evaluation: From Raw Material to Future Ophthalmic Applications

Nowadays, increasing interest in olive pomace (OP) valorization aims to improve olive’s industry sustainability. Interestingly, several studies propose a high-value application for OP extracts containing its main phenolic compounds, hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein, as therapy for ocular surface diseases. In this work, the stability and accessibility of OP total phenolic and flavonoid content, main representative compounds, and antioxidant activity were assessed under different pretreatment conditions. Among them, lyophilization and supercritical CO2 extraction were found to increase significantly most responses measured in the produced extracts. Two selected extracts (CONV and OPT3) were obtained by different techniques (conventional and pressurized liquid extraction); Their aqueous solutions were characterized by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS. Additionally, their safety and stability were evaluated according to EMA requirements towards their approval as ophthalmic products: their genotoxic effect on ocular surface cells and their 6-months storage stability at 4 different temperature/moisture conditions (CPMP/ICH/2736/99), together with pure hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein solutions. The concentration of hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein in pure or extract solutions was tracked, and possible degradation products were putatively identified by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS. Hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein had different stability as standard or extract solutions, with oleuropein also showing different degradation profile. All compounds/extracts were safe for ophthalmic use at the concentrations tested.

Docking and Molecular Dynamic Simulations Study to Search Curcumin Analogue Compounds as Potential Inhibitor Against SARS-CoV-2: A Computational Approach

Coronavirus is a pandemic in the world. It requires researchers and scientists to work hard to find a vaccine or drug to inhibit the development of the coronavirus. Many drugs have been used, such as remdesivir, lopinavir, and chloroquine. However, how effective is the use of these drugs for inhibiting the coronavirus’s growth? There is no research has been done. Curcumin is now known as one of the compounds that have some biological activities, and it is also can potentially be used as a CoV-2 inhibitor. The computational study, i.e., molecular docking and molecular dynamic, can help researchers to predict which compounds have the potential as an inhibitor against the CoV-2 coronavirus. In this study, lopinavir was used as a positive control. Lopinavir and 45 curcumin analog compounds were docked against the main protease protein with 6LU7 PDB ID. Based on the docking results, it was discovered that compound 1, compound 2, and compound 4 have the same binding orientation as lopinavir. Molecular dynamic simulation with the lowest binding free energy conformation was used to check these compounds’ stability. Only compound 4 was maintained to observe hydrogen bonding with Lys5 and Lys137 with a distance of 2.9 Å. The distance of hydrogen bonds and binding free energy over simulation time is essential to elucidate the potential compound’s affinity. For then, compound 4 can be used as a potential inhibitor against the CoV-2 coronavirus.

Computational studies of some benzothiazinone-pepirazine derivatives and lipase b inhibitor for mycobacterium tuberculosis

Computational technique was employed on Benzothiazinone-pepirazine derivatives as dominant anti-mycobacterium tuberculosis. The compound structures were drawn with the aid of chemdraw 3D Pro 12.1.0V and optimized was employed using DFT method applying B3LYP with the 6-31G? basis set. Genetic Function Approximation (GFA) was employed to form five models. Model 1 was sorted out based on model validation parameters and found to be significant with R2 value of 0.948605, R2adj(adjusted correlation coefficient) value of 0.934329, QLoo(Cross validation coefficient) value 0.892724 and R2pred value of 0.658537. The docking studies showed that the ligand 6, 7 and 18 has the highest binding affinities of 10.5, 10.4, 10.3 k/mole are the most vital compounds among the binding scores. Ligand 6 being among the ligands with the highest binding affinity (-10.5 k/mole) was found to be more potent than other compounds. Stability and Robustness the model highlight the way for designing latest Benzothiazinone-pepirazine analogue with better activity against mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Physical, physicochemical, microbiological, and bioactive compounds stability of low-calorie orange jellies during storage: packaging effect

Fruit jellies are widely produced as a way to utilize fresh fruits, which are highly perishable. Orange a fruit widely consumed in Brazil, it has a significant amount of bioactive compounds. Despite the great progress in the development of jellies, several factors can change its useful life, among them is the packaging. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of packaging on the physicochemical, physical, microbiological and bioactive compounds stability of low-calorie orange jellies during storage. Analyses every 30 days during the 180 days of storage. The results showed that increased storage time led to a decrease in pH, reduction of the flow rate (polypropylene packaging), reduction in yellow intensity, and growth of fungi and yeasts (higher in polypropylene packaging). In contrast, luminosity, red intensity, moisture, total sugars, and the consistency index tended to remain stable during storage. The DPPH results showed an increase in the antioxidant activity and reduction of vitamin C throughout the period of storage, especially in polypropylene packaging. The total phenolic content was stable with a tendency to decrease during storage. Notably, vitamin C showed a positive correlation with antioxidant activity in jellies. Low-calorie orange jellies packaged in glass showed the least changes during storage.

New Electrochemical Detection Strategies for Iodinated Compounds

Iodine is a micronutrient of high importance for the health and good development of individuals. It is contained in many foods, but it is also part of the chemical component of oceans and soil. Its deficiency is still a problem of humanity, which has a serious repercussion on our health. It is therefore important to have specific, fast and cost effective methods of iodine detection from different samples. This work aims to identify optimal parameters for potassium iodide (KI) detection from different media, to be further applied to real samples: plant extracts, water, biological fluids. Results showed a significant difference in electrochemical results, depending on the pH values of the mixture and also on the time which influences the compounds stability. Differential pulse voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry using carbon printed sensors, as well as microsensors for redox status or direct iodide detection are important analytical tools which have a wide range of applications in the food, medicine, toxicology and other domains.

Thermal Behavoiur of Valsartan Active Substance and in Pharmaceutical Products

G/DTG and DSC curves provide important information regarding the physical properties of the pharmaceutical compounds (stability, compatibility, polymorphism, kinetic analysis, phase transitions etc). The thermal behaviour of valsartan was studied under dynamic nitrogen atmosphere, in comparison with pharmaceutical products containing the corresponding active substances. Also, the FT�IR spectra and X-ray diffactogram of the same samples were recorded. The main conclusion of this comparative study was that TG / DTG and DSC assays along with FT-IR spectra and X-ray diffractograms provide credible data for differences between active substance and pharmaceutical forms.