Characterization of Citrus nobilis Peel Methanolic Extract for Antioxidant,Antimicrobial, and Anti-Inflammatory Activity

Currently, the potential utilization of fruits and vegetable waste as a source of micronutrients and antioxidants has increased. The present study, therefore, aimed to determine the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities of Citrus nobilis peel extract. A modified solvent evaporation technique was employed for peel extract preparation. For effective utilization of the natural product, quantitative analysis of phenolic compounds was carried out using liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy technique. Phenolic and flavonoids were present in high amounts, while β-carotene and lycopene were present in vestigial amounts. The antimicrobial efficiency of peel extract was evaluated against four bacterial strains including Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC 3160), Klebsiella pneumoniae (MTCC 3384), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 2295), and Salmonella typhimurium (MTCC 1254), and one fungal strain Candida albicans (MTCC 183), and zone of inhibition was comparable to the positive control streptomycin and amphotericin B, respectively. The extract of Citrus nobilis peels showed effective anti-inflammatory activity during human red blood cell membrane stabilization (HRBC) and albumin denaturation assay. The extracts also exhibited 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity ranging from 53.46 to 81.13%. Therefore, the obtained results suggest that Citrus nobilis peel could be used as an excellent source of polyphenols and transformed into value-added products.     

Residues of 165 pesticides in citrus fruits using LC-MS/MS: a study of the pesticides distribution from the peel to the pulp

Abstract

A sensitive LC–ESI-MS/MS method was developed for the determination of 165 pesticides in 50 citrus fruit samples collected in Sicily. Moreover, an evaluation of pesticides levels in the citrus layers (peel, albedo, and pulp) was carried out. The method presented acceptable trueness, precision, and linearity with LOQ of 5?μg/kg. The results obtained showed a high frequency of fungicides class pesticides in all the citrus samples examined (>95%) with the highest concentrations in the peel (4468?µg/Kg). A significant difference of concentrations was found between the layers of the citrus fruits analysed (p?<?0.05). In particular, the peel and albedo present higher pesticides significantly higher than the pulp. Our findings confirming the widespread use of these substances in citrus cultivation and suggesting the importance of pesticides analysis in all the citrus fruit layers separately, considering the different interactions between the physicochemical characteristics of the matrices and the pesticides.     

喀什石榴皮籽中单宁的提取

单宁又称鞣质,在一些植物中广泛存在,是具有重要开发利用价值的天然资源。本文对新疆喀什石榴皮籽中的单宁作了提取研究,研究结果表明:在溶剂比为1.5:1(乙醇:乙醚),回流时间为12h,溶剂用量为80mL时结果最好,产率最高.     

A Standardized Extract Prepared from Red Orange and Lemon Wastes Blocks High-Fat Diet-Induced Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia in Mice

Citrus fruits are a rich source of high-value bioactive compounds and their consumption has been associated with beneficial effects on human health. Red (blood) oranges (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) are particularly rich in anthocyanins (95% of which are represented by cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-6″-malonyl-glucoside), flavanones (hesperidin, narirutin, and didymin), and hydroxycinnamic acids (caffeic acid, coumaric acid, sinapic, and ferulic acid). Lemon fruit (Citrus limon) is also rich in flavanones (eriocitrin, hesperidin, and diosmin) and other polyphenols. All of these compounds are believed to play a very important role as dietary antioxidants due to their ability to scavenge free radicals. A standardized powder extract, red orange and lemon extract (RLE), was obtained by properly mixing anthocyanins and other polyphenols recovered from red orange processing waste with eriocitrin and other flavanones recovered from lemon peel by a patented extraction process. RLE was used for in vivo assays aimed at testing a potential beneficial effect on glucose and lipid metabolism. In vivo experiments performed on male CD1 mice fed with a high-fat diet showed that an 8-week treatment with RLE was able to induce a significant reduction in glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides levels in the blood, with positive effects on regulation of hyperglycemia and lipid metabolism, thus suggesting a potential use of this new phytoextract for nutraceutical purposes.     

LC–QTOF–MS-based metabolite profiling and evaluation of α-glucosidase inhibitory kinetics of Coccinia grandis fruit

Coccinia grandis is an important food crop of the Cucurbitaceae family, widely used for culinary purposes in India. It is reported to possess hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant activities. The current study was aimed to explore the inhibition kinetics as well as major constituents of the active fraction of C. grandis against α-glucosidase. The kinetic study was performed through spectrophotometric assay, with p-nitrophenyl-α-d -glucopyranoside as a substrate with varying concentrations. An in vitro antioxidant study was performed by DPPH assay. In addition, UPLC–QTOF–MS analysis was carried out for metabolite profiling of the bioactive fraction of C. grandis. The results showed that the difference between the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the ethyl acetate fraction of C. grandis (EFCG) (IC₅₀ 2.43 ± 0.27 mg/ml), and standard inhibitor, acarbose (2.08 ± 0.19 mg/ml), was not statistically significant at a P-value of 0.05. The enzyme kinetics confirmed the inhibition mode in a mixed manner. The EFCG also showed the highest antioxidant activity (101.74 ± 1.95 μg/ml) among all of the fractions. A significant correlation between antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of EFCG was observed. The LC–QTOF–MS study of the EFCG putatively identified 35 metabolites, which may be responsible for its antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory properties. Thus, C. grandis fruits can serve as a functional food to address diabetes-related disorders associated with α-glucosidase.     

Sorbent-excluding sample preparation method for GC–MS pesticide analysis in apple peel

Apple peel is frequently exposed to pesticides, especially in the last stages of the pesticide treatment practice. For a certain period, peel retains most of the applied pesticides, which precisely indicates the presence of pesticide residues. This study was conducted to establish and evaluate the method for the residue analysis of pyrimethanil, cyprodinil, trifloxystrobin, bifenthrin and boscalid by GC–MS in peel of Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Idared varieties. The method consisted of few steps, without the routine usage of sorbents, and resulted in efficient removal of waxes, targeted as main interferences in GC–MS analysis. The matrix effect, boscalid selectivity issue, trend of lower trueness for bifenthrin in all matrices and for all analytes in Granny Smith matrix were in some way associated with the waxes. Finally, the method was applied to the analysis of three varieties of apple orchard samples, after 9 and 5 months of treatment with commercial formulations that contain pyrimethanil, cyprodinil and boscalid as active ingredients. Since the developed method consisted of few steps and used nontoxic and economic reagents, it could be implemented as a fast, economic and reliable screening method.     

Assessment of Beam Damage in Polymers Caused by in situ ESEM Analysis using IR Spectroscopy

Summary: The environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) enables in situ analyses of non-conducting samples such as polymers, thus allowing microscopic phenomena to be correlated to macroscopic measurement data. Unfortunately, irradiation of polymers with electrons always causes beam damage 1 and it is unclear whether this damage could influence the outcome of the experiments. The amount of beam damage in polymers is mainly determined by the electron dose, which is a function of the probe current, the irradiation time, the irradiated area and the type of imaging gas used. The beam damage during in situ tensile tests of peel films was assessed using Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The band at 965 cm⁻¹ turned out to be significant for the estimation of beam damage in this material, which was verified by long-term measurements. The measurements were performed in an ESEM Quanta 600 FEG at parameters comparable to the prior in situ tensile tests. Additional measurements were performed in a Quanta 200 at parameters typical of in situ investigations. Again, the out-of-plane trans C H wag at 965 cm⁻¹ turned out to be significant for beam damage and was used as an indicator for beam damage (dehydrogenation) for this type of material.     

不知火杂柑可溶性固形物在线检测模型建立及优化

应用近红外漫透射光谱检测技术对不知火杂柑的可溶性固形物(SSC)进行在线检测具有十分重要的意义。研究变量筛选方法对不知火杂柑可溶性固形物在线检测模型的影响,为实现其快速、准确的在线检测分级奠定基础。实验把形状不整、内藏瓤瓣的不知火杂柑作为研究对象,选取560~930nm的光谱,采用偏最小二乘法(PLS)建立不知火杂柑可溶性固形物的在线检测模型,并讨论不同的光谱预处理方法(卷积平滑(S-G)、一阶微分(1st derivatives)等),不同的变量筛选方法(移动窗口偏最小二乘法MWPLS、遗传算法GA、连续投影SPA)对PLS所建预测模型性能的影响。经对比,多元散射校正(MSC)能有效地消除光散射的影响,遗传算法能大大地降低了建模的波长点数,缩短了建模时间,改善模型预测精度。其最优PLS模型的RP=0.956,RMSEP=0.380,RC=0.967,RMSEC=0.340。实验表明在线检测不知火杂柑的可溶性固形物是完全可行的。     

快原子轰击质谱法测定宽漠王体中的K+

采用快原子轰击质谱法(FAB)对漠王族中宽漠王(Mantichorula grandis Semenow)体中的微量元素K’进行定量测定。以锂离子作为测定时的内标物,在质谱图中用K 和Li 的丰度比定出钾离子的含量。研究了有无底物,快原子轰击能量,以及共存元素等因素对测定结果的影响。对实验结果的精密度,准确度以及检出限进行了测定。