Policosanol profiles and adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation potential of Korean wheat seedling extracts according to cultivar and growth time.

Policosanols is a health promoting aliphatic alcohol known as lipid-lowing agent. To enable maximising the functional properties of wheat, this research investigates the policosanol profiles and adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation potential of Korean wheat seedlings according to cultivars and growth times. GC-MS revealed six policosanols that differed markedly in content between 17 cultivars, especially, octacosanol (8) showed the most predominant component (49-83%), varying significantly in average concentrations with growth times as 361.4 (3 days) â†’ 613.0 (6 days) â†’ 203.1 (9 days) â†’ 196.5 (12 days) â†’ 50.9 mg/100 g (19 days). The highest average policosanol (738.7 mg/100 g) exhibited after 6 days, while the lowest was 104.4 mg/100 g on 19 days. Moreover, the wheat cultivars including Shinmichal 1, Anbaek, Namhae, and Joah at 6 days may be recommended as potential sources because of high policosanols (921.7-990.6 mg/100 g). Western blot analysis revealed markedly higher AMPK activation in cells treated with the hexane extracts (150-370% at 100 µg/ml) and octacosanol (8) possessed potent AMPK activator (control; 100 â†’ 280% at 200 µg/ml). It is confirmed that the AMPK activation by wheat seedlings are positively related to the highest policosanol content at the 6 days of growth time, independent of the cultivar. Our results may be contributed to enhance the wheat value regarding development of new cultivars and functional foods.

Simultaneous determination of 15 phenolic compounds and caffeine in teas and mate using RP-HPLC/UV detection: method development and optimization of extraction process.

A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic coupled to ultraviolet detection (RP-HPLC/UV) method was developed for simultaneous determination of 15 phenolic compounds and caffeine in TEAS (green tea, oolong tea, black tea and mate). Furthermore, the extraction process of total phenolic contents (TPC) from TEAS were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) based on a central composite design (CCD) and then applied to extraction of TEAS. The best conditions obtained using the model were as follow: green tea--extraction time of 123 min, extraction temperature of 70 °C and ethanol concentration of 75%, oolong tea--extraction time of 98 min, extraction temperature of 70 °C and ethanol concentration of 69%, black tea--extraction time of 105 min, extraction temperature of 71 °C and ethanol concentration of 63%, and mate--extraction time of 103 min, extraction temperature of 71 °C and ethanol concentration of 61%. Among the extraction methods used in this study, heat-reflux extraction was found to result in the highest values of TPC. The chromatographic peaks of the 16 studied compounds were successfully identified by comparing their retention time and UV spectra with the reference standards. Method validation was performed by means of linearity, sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy and precision. The developed method was found to be simple, specific and reliable and is suited for routine analysis of phenolic compounds and caffeine in TEAS.