Investigating and assessing the risk of remaining toxins in cucumbers grown in fields and greenhouses in Mazandaran Province.

To address concerns regarding the potential health risks associated with residual chemicals in food products, this study aimed to assess the concentrations of residual Benomyl, Malathion, and Diazinon in cucumbers and evaluate the associated health risks for consumers. This descriptive study involved the collection of 100 cucumber samples from both field and greenhouse cultivation in Mazandaran Province. These samples were subsequently sent to the laboratory for analysis. Following sample preparation and digestion, we determined the levels of residual Malathion, Benomyl, and Diazinon using HPLC. The results showed an average residual Malathion concentration of 2.1 ± 0.04 mg/kg in field-grown cucumbers and 2.04 ± 1.5 mg/kg in greenhouse-cultivated cucumbers. Meanwhile, the average residual Diazinon concentration was 5.1 ± 0.2 mg/kg in field samples and 4.99 ± 3.23 mg/kg in greenhouse samples. The average concentrations of residual Benomyl were found to be 0.94 ± 0.65 mg/kg in field-grown cucumbers and 0.39 ± 0.2 mg/kg in greenhouse-cultivated cucumbers. Furthermore, a health risk assessment model was employed to evaluate the cumulative risk of these residual pesticides in cucumbers. The analysis revealed that residual Benomyl levels ranged from 0 to 24.33 mg/kg, while Malathion ranged from 0 to 9.25 mg/kg, and Diazinon ranged from 0 to 6.8 mg/kg. Notably, in some areas, the average concentration of all three pesticides exceeded the guidelines set by the WHO and the European Union. Additionally, the cumulative risk assessment (represented by MOET value of 2655) indicated that the combined presence of residual Malathion, Benomyl, and Diazinon in field-cultivated cucumbers posed a health risk. Based on current per capita consumption rates, the study's health risk index results raised concerns about the safety of consuming these residual byproducts. Given the growing use of chemicals in agricultural and horticultural practices, it is imperative to monitor residual pesticides to assess dietary intake and ensure consumer safety in food production.

Diastereoselective Sonochemical Synthesis of Spirocyclopropaneoxindoles and Evaluation of Their Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities.

An efficient diastereoselective synthesis of spirocyclopropaneoxindoles is reported using three-component reactions of various phenacylidenetriphenylphosphorane, isatins and phenacyl bromide under ultrasonic irradiation. The structures of synthesized spirocyclopropaneoxindoles were characterized by their spectral data. The antioxidant activities of the synthesized compounds were evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Among the products, those with NH group in their structure exhibited higher antioxidant activities than other derivatives. Also, in vitro cytotoxicity of compounds 4b, 4e, 4j, 4k were examined against heLa cancer cell lines using MTT assay. The results revealed that compound 4j with chlorine substituent on phenyl group displayed higher cytotoxicity activity (IC50 =4.50±0.30 µg/mL) after 48 h.

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidine Derivatives and Evaluation of Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities.

A series of novel thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidines were synthesized and characterized by FT-IR, 1 H, 13 C-NMR and mass techniques. Their antioxidant activities were investigated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and the results showed that all the synthesized compounds exhibit good antioxidant activity. In addition, it was found that any substituent on the aromatic ring of the products plays an important role in their antioxidant activity. In vitro cytotoxicity of compounds 4a-4j was investigated using MTT cell viability assay. Among these compounds, 6-ethyl 2,3-dimethyl 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-7-methyl-2,3-dihydro-5H-[1,3]thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidine-2,3,6-tricarboxylate (4e) bearing a chlorine substituent displayed the highest cytotoxic effect (IC50 =6.26±0.6 µm) in comparison with doxorubicin (IC50 =0.68±0.1 µm) as a standard after 72 h. Therefore, it is assumed that these compounds could be used as effective antioxidant and cytotoxic agents.

Antioxidant capacity of calendula officinalis flowers extract and prevention of radiation induced oropharyngeal mucositis in patients with head and neck cancers: a randomized controlled clinical study.

This study was designed to determine the effect of Calendula officinalis flowers extract mouthwash as oral gel on radiation-induced oropharyngeal mucositis (OM) in patients with head-and-neck cancer. Forty patients with neck and head cancers under radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy protocols were randomly assigned to receive either 2% calendula extract mouthwash or placebo (20 patients in each group). Patients were treated with telecobalt radiotherapy at conventional fractionation (200 cGy/fraction, five fractions weekly, 30-35 fractions within 4-7 weeks). The oropharyngeal mucositis was evaluated by two clinical investigators (a radiation oncologist and a dentist), using the oral mucositis assessment scale (OMAS). Trying to find out the possible mechanism of action of the treatment, total antioxidant, polyphenol and flavonoid contents, and quercetin concentration of the mouth wash were measured. Calendula mouthwash significantly decreased the intensity of OM compared to placebo at week 2 (score: 5.5 vs. 6.8, p = 0.019), week 3 (score: 8.25 vs. 10.95, p < 0.0001) and week 6 (score: 11.4 vs. 13.35, p = 0.031). Total antioxidant, polyphenol and flavonoid contents and quercetin concentration of the 2% extract were 2353.4 ± 56.5 µM, 313.40 ± 6.52 mg/g, 76.66 ± 23.24 mg/g, and 19.41 ± 4.34 mg/l, respectively. Calendula extract gel could be effective on decreasing the intensity of radiotherapy- induced OM during the treatment and antioxidant capacity may be partly responsible for the effect.

Evaluation of Antioxidant Stability of Arbutin and Pyrus boissieriana Buhse Leaf Extract.

With regard to the importance of antioxidants in foods, cosmetics and pharmaceutics, there are several studies on natural resources for finding rich sources of antioxidants and their role in protecting the body against oxidative stress injuries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant stability of arbutin and the Pyrus boissieriana buhse Leaf extract and their effects on lipid oxidation in different conditions of temperature and time. Arbutin and the Pyrus boissieriana buhse Leaf extract were stored for 14 days in the different conditions of temperature including room, refrigerator and freezer. Total phenolic compounds were measured by the folin-ciocaltea method. Flavonoid compounds were evaluated by aluminum chloride method. Their total antioxidant activity was measured by FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) method and their protection effect on lipid oxidation was measured by TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactant substances) method. Also, the amount of sustainability for peroxide activities was measured by TMB (Tetra Methyl Benzedrine) method. Polyphenol formed 1.96 mg/g dry weight of Pyrus boissieriana buhse Leaf extract and the amount of flavonoid complex was 0.125 mg/g dry weight of Pyrus boissieriana buhse Leaf extract. The amount of FRAP was decreased by increasing temperature and time. The amount of lipid oxidation had increased in all samples with time (0-14). The stability of peroxide activities decreased in the different conditions of temperature and time. The results of this study show the existence of antioxidant activities with higher stability in storage time and the protective effect of arbutin and Pyrus boissieriana buhse Leaf extract on lipid oxidation. Therefore, using arbutin and Pyrus boissieriana buhse Leaf extract as a natural resource of antioxidant is suggested for substituting synthetic antioxidants.

Antioxidant activity and glucose diffusion relationship of traditional medicinal antihyperglycemic plant extracts.

Plants with hypoglycemic properties are important in the treatment of diabetes. One of the mechanisms in reducing blood glucose is preventing the digestive absorption of glucose. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant properties of some traditional medicinal plants collected from different regions of Iran and their effects on glucose diffusion decrease. The amounts of phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, total polysaccharides, antioxidant activity and lipid peroxidation were determined respectively by folin ciocalteu, querceting, sulfuric acid, FRAP and thiobarbituric acid - reactive substanses (TBARS) in eleven confirmed traditional antihyperglycemic medicinal plants prepared at 50g/l concentrations using the boiling method. Phenolic compounds of Eucalyptus globules (100.8± 0.01 mg /g), total flavonoids content of Juglans regia (16.9± 0.01 mg /g) and total polysaccharide amount of Allium satirum (0.28± 0.05) were the highest. Significant relationship was observed between the polyphenols and flavonoids (p <0.05). The grape seed extract showed the highest antioxidant activity (133± 0.02 mg/g) together with decreased glucose diffusion as well as increased polyphenols (p <0.05), but the increase in antioxidant activity was not related to glucose diffusion. Antihyperglycemic plant extracts containing higher polyphenols showed more efficiently in vitro glucose diffusion decrease, but no significant relationship was observed between antioxidant activity increase and glucose diffusion.