Optimization of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Saussurea costus Oil and Its Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and Anticancer Activities.

Saussurea costus is a medicinal plant with different bioactive compounds that have an essential role in biomedicine applications, especially in Arab nations. However, traditional extraction methods for oils can lead to the loss of some volatile and non-volatile oils. Therefore, this study aimed to optimize the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of oils from S. costus at pressures (10, 20, and 48 MPa). The results were investigated by GC/MS analysis. MTT, DPPH, and agar diffusion methods assessed the extracted oils' anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial action. GC/MS results showed that elevated pressure from 10 to 20 and 48 MPa led to the loss of some valuable compounds. In addition, the best IC50 values were recorded at 10 MPa on HCT, MCF-7, and HepG-2 cells at about 0.44, 0.46, and 0.74 µg/mL, respectively. In contrast, at 20 MPa, the IC50 values were about 2.33, 6.59, and 19.0 µg/mL, respectively, on HCT, MCF-7, and HepG-2 cells, followed by 48 MPa, about 36.02, 59.5, and 96.9 µg/mL. The oil extract at a pressure of 10 MPa contained much more of á-elemene, dihydro-à-ionone, patchoulene, á-maaliene, à-selinene, (-)-spathulenol, cedran-diol, 8S,13, elemol, eremanthin, á-guaiene, eudesmol, ç-gurjunenepoxide-(2), iso-velleral, and propanedioic acid and had a higher antioxidant activity (IC50 14.4 µg/mL) more than the oil extract at 20 and 48 MPa. In addition, the inhibitory activity of all extracts was higher than gentamicin against all tested bacteria. One of the more significant findings from this study is low pressure in SFE enhancement, the extraction of oils from S. costus, for the first time. As a result, the SFE is regarded as a good extraction technique since it is both quick and ecologically friendly. Furthermore, SFE at 10 MPa increased the production and quality of oils, with high antioxidant activity and a positive effect on cancer cells and pathogens.

Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction, LC-MS/MS Analysis, Anticholinesterase, and Antioxidant Activities of Valuable Natural Metabolites from Astragalus armatus Willd.: In Silico Molecular Docking and In Vitro Enzymatic Studies.

The Astragalus armatus Willd. plant's phenolic constituent extraction and identification were optimized using the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method and the LC-MS/MS analysis, respectively. Additionally, cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC), beta carotene, reducing power, DMSO alcalin, silver nanoparticle (SNP)-based method, phenanthroline, and hydroxyl radical tests were utilized to assess the extract's antioxidant capacity, while the neuroprotective effect was examined in vitro against acetylcholinesterase enzyme. This study accurately estimated the chemical bonding between the identified phenolic molecules derived from LC-MS/MS and the AChE. The extract was found to contain sixteen phenolic substances, and rosmarinic, protocatechuic, and chlorogenic acids, as well as 4-hydroxybenzoic, hyperoside, and hesperidin, were the most abundant substances in the extract. In all antioxidant experiments, the plant extract demonstrated strong antioxidant activity and a significant inhibitory impact against AChE (40.25 ± 1.41 µg/mL). According to molecular docking affinity to the enzyme AChE, the top-five molecules were found to be luteolin, quercetin, naringenin, rosmarinic acid, and kaempferol. Furthermore, these tested polyphenols satisfy the essential requirements for drug-like characteristics and Lipinski's rule of five. These results highlight the significance of the A. armatus plant in cosmetics, as food additives, and in the pharmaceutical industry due to its rosmarinic and chlorogenic acid content.

Identification of peptides, metal binding and lipid peroxidation activities of HPLC fractions of hydrolyzed oat bran proteins.

The aim of this study was to evaluate metal binding and antioxidant activities of hydrolyzed oat bran proteins followed by the determination of peptide sequences. Protamex oat bran protein hydrolysates (OBPH) were separated by reverse-phase HPLC into eight peptide fractions (F1-F8) and their abilities to either chelate metals (Fe2+, Ca2+) or prevent the oxidation of lipids were investigated. In the Fe2+ chelation assay, OBPH had significantly (p < 0.05) higher activity (39.7 %) than the best performed fraction F7 (22.8 %). The second most active was F5 with 12.1 % chelating activity and this was higher than the activity of the tripeptide glutathione (5.8 %) used as control. The two most Fe2+ chelating fractions (F5, F7) however had weak calcium binding (0.6-1.0 %) properties at peptide concentration ranging from 0.2 to 1.0 mg/mL. In the lipid peroxidation assay, OBPH and all HPLC fractions prevented the oxidation of linoleic acid. More than 60 peptides mainly derived from globulin and avenin proteins were identified using tandem mass spectrometry.

Reduction of hexavalent chromium by digested oat bran proteins.

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is associated with an increase in oxidative stress, such as DNA, lipid and protein oxidations. This study investigated, for the first time, the ability of digested food proteins to reduce Cr(VI) and scavenge free radicals. Protamex, an endopeptidase was used to digest oat bran protein isolates for 1, 2, 3, and 4h. The hydrolysates (1mg/ml) showed a maximum Cr(VI)-reducing activity of 5.4 ± 0.4% and 44.6% at pH 7.4 and 3.0, respectively. The difference might be due to charge or conformation changes depending on the pH. The 2h hydrolysate possessed the highest O2(-) inhibition activity (57.4 ± 5.1%), while the 1h hydrolysate had the highest HO inhibition (11.6 ± 0.6%). A correlation (R(2)=0.82) was observed between the O2(-) scavenging activities of hydrolysates and their Cr(VI)-reducing activities at pH 3.0 only. Further investigations of the digested oat bran proteins are required to determine their ability to reduce Cr(VI) oxidative stress damage in vivo.