Comparative study of the phytochemical and mineral composition of fresh and cooked broccolini.

Broccolini is originated from crossing the regular broccoli with Chinese kale. Consequently, it has similar properties to these vegetables, but other very particular characteristics. Its consumption has increased in the last few years and, consequently, there have been some studies related to its quality parameters and the influence of different cooking methods. Nevertheless, changes on its phenolic composition and mineral content originated by its cooking have not been investigated in-depth so far. Here we report the phytochemical profile of broccolini before and after boiling, steaming, and griddling cooking treatments. The mineral content and phytochemicals were assessed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS), respectively. The main phenolics (mainly hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives from caffeic, coumaric, ferulic and sinapic acids) were quantified. Three oxylipins, three flavonoid glycosides and the glucosinolate glucobrassicin were also identified. ABTS and DPPH assays were also used as screening methods to assess the antioxidant potential of broccolini. A significant loss of the phenolic compounds and a reduction of the antioxidant activity were observed after the three cooking methods. Clear disadvantages were detected when broccolini was boiled, namely high losses of phenolic acids and derivatives (70%). Steaming and griddling also led to a significant loss of phenolics (50%) from fresh broccolini. The mineral content of this vegetable after domestic cooking procedures is also reported for the first time, calculating the contribution of broccolini consumption to official daily recommendations.

Phenolic profile and antioxidant activity of Jasonia glutinosa herbal tea. Influence of simulated gastrointestinal in vitro digestion.

In order to value J. glutinosa DC (rock tea), we characterised its phenolic profile and antioxidant activity. The study was performed in aqueous extracts before and after a simulated in vitro digestion to obtain data regarding phenolics bioavailability. Methanolic extracts were also analysed for comparison purposes. Phytochemical profiles were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection, whereas total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant assays were performed by conventional spectrophotometric methods. The most abundant compounds were dicaffeoylquinic acids, representing more than 90% of phenolics in tea infusions. Statistically significant differences were observed for all parameters except for TPC in methanol and aqueous extracts. Both phenolics amount and antioxidant activities were lower after the in vitro digestion of the infusions. However, although phenolics were lost during the simulated digestion, rock tea is still a good source of bioactive compounds with potential applications in the pharmaceutical or nutraceutical industries.

(-)­Oleocanthal inhibits proliferation and migration by modulating Ca2+ entry through TRPC6 in breast cancer cells.

Triple negative breast cancer is an aggressive type of cancer that does not respond to hormonal therapy and current therapeutic strategies are accompanied by side effects due to cytotoxic actions on normal tissues. Therefore, there is a need for the identification of anti-cancer compounds with negligible effects on non-tumoral cells. Here we show that (-)­oleocanthal (OLCT), a phenolic compound isolated from olive oil, selectively impairs MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation and viability without affecting the ability of non-tumoral MCF10A cells to proliferate or their viability. Similarly, OLCT selectively impairs the ability of MDA-MB-231 cells to migrate while the ability of MCF10A to migrate was unaffected. The effect of OLCT was not exclusive for triple negative breast cancer cells as we found that OLCT also attenuate cell viability and proliferation of MCF7 cells. Our results indicate that OLCT is unable to induce Ca2+ mobilization in non-tumoral cells. By contrast, OLCT induces Ca2+ entry in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, which is impaired by TRPC6 expression silencing. We have found that MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 cells overexpress the channel TRPC6 as compared to non-tumoral MCF10A and treatment with OLCT for 24-72 h downregulates TRPC6 expression in MDA-MB-231 cells. These findings indicate that OLCT impairs the ability of breast cancer cells to proliferate and migrate via downregulation of TRPC6 channel expression while having no effect on the biology of non-tumoral breast cells.