Accelerated shelf life determination of corn snack bars.

Corn snack bars are a product made from corn extrudate and additional ingredients in the form of sorghum flour and can be consumed as a nutritious snack. The shelf life of snack bar products needs to be known to ensure product quality reaches consumers. This study aims to determine the shelf life changes in critical parameters during storage using the accelerated shelf life testing Arrhenius method. Tests on the estimation of shelf life with the Arrhenius method were carried out at 3 different storage temperatures (10°C, 30°C, and 47°C) for 35 days with an observation time of every 7 days. The shelf life of corn snack bars was tested using parameters of quality changes such as water content, texture hardness, and springiness. Based on the results obtained, the final shelf life of the corn snack bar is determined by the crispness parameter; shelf life at 10°C is 233 days, at 30°C is 111 days, and at 47°C is 363 days.

Mechanism of arctigenin-mediated specific cytotoxicity against human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines.

The lignan arctigenin (ARG) from the herb Arctium lappa L. possesses anti-cancer activity, however the mechanism of action of ARG has been found to vary among tissues and types of cancer cells. The current study aims to gain insight into the ARG mediated mechanism of action involved in inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis in lung adenocarcinoma cells. This study also delineates the cancer cell specificity of ARG by comparison with its effects on various normal cell lines. ARG selectively arrested the proliferation of cancer cells at the G0/G1 phase through the down-regulation of NPAT protein expression. This down-regulation occurred via the suppression of either cyclin E/CDK2 or cyclin H/CDK7, while apoptosis was induced through the modulation of the Akt-1-related signaling pathway. Furthermore, a GSH synthase inhibitor specifically enhanced the cytotoxicity of ARG against cancer cells, suggesting that the intracellular GSH content was another factor influencing the susceptibility of cancer cells to ARG. These findings suggest that specific cytotoxicity of ARG against lung cancer cells was explained by its selective modulation of the expression of NPAT, which is involved in histone biosynthesis. The cytotoxicity of ARG appeared to be dependent on the intracellular GSH level.

Tumor specific cytotoxicity of arctigenin isolated from herbal plant Arctium lappa L.

The effectiveness of cancer chemotherapy is often limited by the toxicity to other tissues in the body. Therefore, the identification of non-toxic chemotherapeutics from herbal medicines remains to be an attractive goal to advance cancer treatments. This study evaluated the cytotoxicity profiles of 364 herbal plant extracts, using various cancer and normal cell lines. The screening found occurrence of A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma) specific cytotoxicity in nine species of herbal plants, especially in the extract of Arctium lappa L. Moreover, purification of the selective cytotoxicity in the extract of Arctium lappa L. resulted in the identification of arctigenin as tumor specific agent that showed cytotoxicity to lung cancer (A549), liver cancer (HepG2) and stomach cancer (KATO III) cells, while no cytotoxicity to several normal cell lines. Arctigenin specifically inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells, which might consequently lead to the induction of apoptosis. In conclusion, this study found that arctigenin was one of cancer specific phytochemicals, and in part responsible for the tumor selective cytotoxicity of the herbal medicine.