Abstract
BackgroundIt is a widespread belief in Asian countries that mung bean soup (MBS) may afford a protective effect against heat stress. Lack of evidence supports MBS conferring a benefit in addition to water.ResultsHere we show that vitexin and isovitexin are the major antioxidant components in mungbean (more than 96% of them existing in the bean seed coat), and both of them could be absorbed via gavage into rat plasma. In the plasma of rats fed with mungbean coat extract before or after exposure to heat stress, the levels of malonaldehyde and activities of lactate dehydrogenase and nitric oxide synthase were remarkably reduced; the levels of total antioxidant capacity and glutathione (a quantitative assessment of oxidative stress) were significantly enhanced.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that MBS can play additional roles to prevent heat stress injury. Characterization of the mechanisms underlying mungbean beneficial effects should help in the design of diet therapy strategies to alleviate heat stress, as well as provide reference for searching natural medicines against oxidative stress induced diseases.
Highlights
In the summer hot days, ‘‘mung bean soup’’ (MBS, the supernatant in a light soup) prepared at home or offered freely in canteens is the most popular beverage in China and many other Asian countries
Comparing the MBS (20 mg/ml) with a tea soup (5 mg/ml) and a vitamin-C solution (0.15 mg/ml) on antioxidant capacity, we found that DPPH scavenging activity (SA) of the MBS was approximately 145% that of the tea soup or 195% that of the vitamin-C solution (Fig. 2A), which means that the DPPH-SA of 100 g mungbean is equivalent to that of 36.3 g dried green tea or 1462 mg vitamin-C
Previous study has demonstrated that the two major flavonoids in MBS was vitexin and isovitexin [8].Quantitative analysis showed that the contents of vitexin and isovitexin in mungbean were 157.5 and 198.5 mg/100 g (Fig. 3), the seed coat contributed to 95.6% of the total vitexin and 96.8% of the total isovitexin in the mungbean
Summary
In the summer hot days, ‘‘mung bean soup’’ (MBS, the supernatant in a light soup) prepared at home or offered freely in canteens is the most popular beverage in China and many other Asian countries. Heat stress may result in increased metabolic rate to meet the needs of active tissues and maximize energy yield [2], which is usually accompanied with excessive formation of reactive oxygen species, causing a redox imbalance between free radicals and antioxidant defense system [3]. It is a widespread belief in Asian countries that mung bean soup (MBS) may afford a protective effect against heat stress. Lack of evidence supports MBS conferring a benefit in addition to water
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
