Effects of ionizing radiation on bio-active plant extracts useful for preventing oxidative damages |
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| Authors: | Nadia Mulinacci Alessio Valletta Valentina Pasqualetti Marzia Innocenti Camilla Giuliani Maria Bellumori |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Neurofarba, Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Division, University of Florence , Sesto Fiorentino, Italy;2. Department of Environmental Biology, La Sapienza University of Rome , Rome, Italy;3. Unit of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome , Rome, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Humans are exposed to ionizing radiations in medical radiodiagnosis and radiotherapy that cause oxidative damages and degenerative diseases. Airplane pilots, and even more astronauts, are exposed to a variety of potentially harmful factors, including cosmic radiations. Among the phytochemicals, phenols are particularly efficient in countering the oxidative stress. In the present study, different extracts obtained from plant food, plant by-products and dietary supplements, have been compared for their antioxidant properties before and after irradiation of 140 cGy, a dose absorbed during a hypothetical stay of three years in the space. All the dry extracts, characterized in terms of vitamin C and phenolic content, remained chemically unaltered and maintained their antioxidant capability after irradiation. Our results suggest the potential use of these extracts as nutraceuticals to protect humans from oxidative damages, even when these extracts must be stored in an environment exposed to cosmic radiations as in a space station. |
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| Keywords: | Ionizing radiations oxidative damage plant antioxidants phenols vitamin C |
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