Common Fruit Research Articles

All-naturally structured tough, ultrathin, and washable dual-use composite for fruits preservation with high biosafety evaluation

This work develops a sustainable and global strategy to enhance fruit preservation efficacy. The dual-use composite coating or film comprises silk fibroin/cellulose nanocrystals (SF/CNC) with superior ductility through a synergistic plasticizing effect of glycerol and natural aloe-emodin powder (AE) as antimicrobial agents. To confirm our strategy, two common fruit preservation materials (edible surface coating-SCA-CS; packaging film-SCA-PF) and five different fruits (strawberries, bananas, apples, blueberries, and guavas) have been used. Moreover, SCA-CS coating with antibacterial and antioxidant activities formed an ultrathin layer on the fruit's surfaces with a thickness of 7.7 μm and could be easily washable. Therefore, bananas and strawberries' shelf-life with SCA-CS coating can be extended for 9 days and 6 days, respectively. The discharge water of SCA-CS has excellent biosafety in an indoor environment with no threat to plant health (microgreens bean sprouts germination as a case study). The plant exhibited positive results within 15 days, and leaves maintained their green color with a germination rate of 97.6 %. The toughness of SCA-PF film increased by 14,685.7 % with a water vapor transmission rate (WPTR) of 17 g mm m−2 day−1, which confirms that the concept of SCA-PF film and SCA-CS coating are feasible to be used for fruit preservation/packaging.

Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Aspects of Apigenin: A Review

Background: A bioactive flavone, apigenin is plentifully present in common vegetables and fruits including spinach, parsley, celery stalks, peas, black olives, olive oil, grapefruit, kumquat, honey etc. It is a low-toxic flavonoid. Flavonoids are currently considered an important component in a huge range of cosmetic, pharmacological, and medical formulations. According to epidemiological research flavone-rich diets have been related to a lower risk of cancer notably, lung, skin, prostate, breast cancers and certain hematological disorders. It has been proposed as a preventive agent in other disorders such as oxidative stress, inflammation, cardiovascular and neurological issues. Apigenin-enriched medications are more effective for some chronic conditions, but if consumed regularly, they can harm animal and human health such as stomach discomfort, skin irritation, numbness and prolonged sedation etc. Apigenin's bioavailability limitations need the development of innovative carriers to increase bioavailability. Flavonoid’s data is gathered from the major public databank in order to emphasize apigenin's important role in the treatment and prevention of numerous illnesses, as well as to explore its health consequences. Method: The literature review of the apigenin was collected from various databases viz. Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, Google and Science Direct etc. Results: The compiled data on the therapeutic efficacy of apigenin and its derivatives provides a platform for future researcher. Conclusion: The data revealed the pharmacological effects viz. anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, ischemic stroke and anti-arthritic activities of apigenin isolated by using different solvents and analytical methods that can be useful in the utilization for the development and formulation of herbal preparation by future researchers.

Aqueous Extract of Malus domestica Inhibits Human Platelet Aggregation Induced by Multiple Agonists

Cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, myocardial infarction, and atherosclerosis are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in humankind and not only afflict industrialized nations but also affect developing countries such as Pakistan. We attempted to screen one of the most common fruits, Malus domestica (MD or apple), used in Pakistan for its potential cardio-protective effects. The crude aqueous extract (MD-Aq) was prepared and investigated for inhibitory activity against several important cardiovascular drug targets. Activities of antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were studied, as well as total antioxidant status (TAS). Calcium channel blocking activity was measured using guinea pig ileum in an isolated tissue bath setup. Platelet aggregation studies were carried out using a dual-channel aggregometer. MD-Aq showed dose-dependent improvement in the GPX activity. The highest SOD levels were observed with 10 mg/ml and were 185 U/L compared to 174 U/L for saline, which means no significant effect by MD-Aq. TAS levels were highest at 10 mg/ml of MD-Aq, reaching 1.75 mmol/L of plasma. At 10 mg/ml, close to 90% inhibition of KCl-induced opening of calcium channels was observed, compared with the effect of 1mM Verapamil. At each dose of 1, 5, and 10 mg/ml, a significantly higher arachidonic acid-induced inhibition of platelet aggregation was observed as compared to the saline effect. MD-Aq effects on platelet-activating factor-induced platelet aggregation were less potent. We concluded that MD-Aq could elevate GPX and TAS levels, is inactive at SOD, and is excellent as a calcium channel blocker, a more potent blocker of arachidonic acid-induced aggregation than platelet-activating factor-induced aggregation. These activities can help treat various cardiovascular diseases.

Editor's Summaries of the Articles Published in this Issue of Phtypharmacological Communications

Editor's Summaries of the Articles Published in this Issue of Phtypharmacological Communications

ASSESSMENT OF THE ATTITUDES OF FARMERS TOWARDS FRUITS AND VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN ZONE D AGRO ECOLOGICAL ZONES OF KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

Aim of the study: This study examined farmers' attitudes towards the consumption of fruits and vegetables among rural households. Design/Methodology: primary data were utilized. A total of 160 respondents were chosen at random for the study. Descriptive statistics, binary logit regression, and mean scores were used to analyse the data collected. Findings: According to the findings, the majority of respondents were married men and had secondary education. The most common fruits and vegetables that respondents could find and eat were bananas, onions, and oranges. Most of the respondents get fruits and vegetables from their own gardens. Practical Implications: This study shows that Fruits and vegetables consumption were negatively affected by seasonality, income, unavailability, poor market access, storage facilities, infrastructure facilities, quality, pest and disease and post-harvest losses. Originality/value: The thrust of this work is premised on the fact that there is a current need to evaluate attitudes of farmers toward consumption of fruits and vegetables that are readily available in the study area. It makes immense contribution to the existing literature on the consumption of fruits and vegetables. The research exposes the fact that fruits and vegetables can be transformed into forms that may be conserved, extending their shelf life and, as a result, making it possible to access them year-round and reducing post-harvest losses in the rural consumers. Keywords: Attitudes, Consumption, Fruits and Vegetables, Rural households Paper Type: Research paper

Mississippi School Food Service Directors' Interest and Experience With Local Food Procurement and Farm to School Activities.

The purpose of this study was to collect updated school food service purchasing practices from K-12 public school food service directors (SFSD) in Mississippi and to determine their current abilities, experiences, and desires to engage in Farm to School (F2S) activities. The online survey was created using questionnaire items from existing F2S surveys. The survey opened in October 2021 and closed in January 2022. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Of the 173 SFSD sent email invitations, 122 (71%) completed the survey. The most common fresh fruit and vegetable purchasing practices included Department of Defense Fresh Program (65%) and produce vendor (64%). Forty-three percent of SFSD purchased at least one locally sourced fruit and 40% purchased at least one locally sourced vegetable, while 46% did not purchase any locally sourced foods. The most common challenges for purchasing from farmers included no relationship with farmers (50%) and food safety regulations (39%). Sixty-four percent of SFSD were interested in at least one F2S activity. Most SFSD do not purchase local foods directly from farmers and almost half do not purchase any local foods regardless of source. Lack of connection with local farmers is a significant challenge to F2S. Recently proposed framework by USDA for shoring up the food supply chain and transforming the food system may help reduce or remove ongoing challenges to F2S participation.

A robust and facile label-free method for highly sensitive colorimetric detection of ascorbic acid in fresh fruits based on peroxidase-like activity of modified FeCo-LDH@WO3 nanocomposite

Many compounds such as amino acids and oligonucleotides have been shown to effectively change peroxidase-like activity of nanoparticles. While a few studies have focused on mimicking the active site of natural enzymes on nanozymes and thus increasing their substrate affinity. Therefore, in this work, the surface of FeCo@WO3 nanocomposite was modified using guanosine triphosphate (GTP) to mimic the histidine of peroxidase enzyme's active site and its modification was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Then, the peroxidase-mimicking activity of the modified nanocomposite was tested using a colorimetric method, based on the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). It was found that GTP improves the activity of FeCo@WO3 as a natural peroxidase active site's distal histidine residue. Ascorbic acid (AA) is a powerful antioxidant that induces the reduction of blue color (oxidized TMB) ox-TMB to colorless TMB. The colorimetric method was applied for the sensitive detection of AA in common fruits. The linear range of AA was 10–100 μM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.27 μM, which provides a rapid and sensitive method for testing AA in the field of food analysis.

Blueberry Ripeness Detection Model Based on Enhanced Detail Feature and Content-Aware Reassembly

Blueberries have high nutritional and economic value and are easy to cultivate, so they are common fruit crops in China. There is a high demand for blueberry in domestic and foreign markets, and various technologies have been used to extend the supply cycle of blueberry to about 7 months. However, blueberry grows in clusters, and a cluster of fruits generally contains fruits of different degrees of maturity, which leads to low efficiency in manually picking mature fruits, and at the same time wastes a lot of manpower and material resources. Therefore, in order to improve picking efficiency, it is necessary to adopt an automated harvesting mode. However, an accurate maturity detection model can provide a prerequisite for automated harvesting technology. Therefore, this paper proposes a blueberry ripeness detection model based on enhanced detail feature and content-aware reassembly. First of all, this paper designs an EDFM (Enhanced Detail Feature Module) that improves the ability of detail feature extraction so that the model focuses on important features such as blueberry color and texture, which improves the model’s ability to extract blueberry features. Second, by adding the RFB (Receptive Field Block) module to the model, the lack of the model in terms of receptive field can be improved, and the calculation amount of the model can be reduced at the same time. Then, by using the Space-to-depth operation to redesign the MP (MaxPool) module, a new MP-S (MaxPool–Space to depth) module is obtained, which can effectively learn more feature information. Finally, an efficient upsampling method, the CARAFE (Content-Aware Reassembly of Features) module, is used, which can aggregate contextual information within a larger receptive field to improve the detection performance of the model. In order to verify the effectiveness of the method proposed in this paper, experiments were carried out on the self-made dataset “Blueberry—Five Datasets” which consists of data on five different maturity levels of blueberry with a total of 10,000 images. Experimental results show that the mAP (mean average precision) of the proposed network reaches 80.7%, which is 3.2% higher than that of the original network, and has better performance than other existing target detection network models. The proposed model can meet the needs of automatic blueberry picking.

Optimizing Analytical Methods to Determine Lycopene Levels in Syrian Tomatoes from Various Regions

Background: The particular attention in recent years on high nutritional quality food is increasing because of its health benefits. Tomato, which a common fruit in different regions of Syria, is one of these foods. It contains plentiful antioxidant compounds, including lycopene. Lycopene plays a very significant role in human health and nutrition; it is considered a strong antioxidant due to its ability to trap singlet oxygen and remove the peroxyl radical. This study aims to quantify of lycopene content of fresh tomatoes in Syria and determine the best analytical method (solvent for separation by HPLC) for separation by HPLC. Methods: Tomatoes from different Syrian regions were quantitatively analyzed for the detection of lycopene, using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography through isocratic elution and UV detection. Many mobile phases were under experiments in order to maximum achievement the lycopene separation. Result: An Analytical method for determination of lycopene in Syrian tomato samples was optimized and the proper solvent for separation and determination of lycopene in Syrian tomato samples was (MeOH/propanol/THF) (15:65:20). The lycopene content in Syrian tomatoes ranged from 55.94 to 103.70 ìg/g, this disparity was attributed to many genetic and environmental factors. This study suggests that Syrian tomato is rich source of lycopene and a major provenance of this powerful antioxidant and can be considered as a possible alternative to antioxidative supplements.

Health Benefits, Therapeutic Applications, and Recent Advances of Cirsilineol in the Medicine: Potential Bioactive Natural Flavonoids of Genus Artemisia.

Herbal medicine and its derived products have been used in the medicine and nutraceutical sectors for the treatment of human disorders and associated secondary complications. Plant-derived products play an important role in our daily life due to their medicinal properties and pharmacological activities. The attention of scientists to natural products has increased due to their significant biological activities. Flavonoids represent one of the most important phytocompounds present in the higher plants, common fruits, vegetables, herbs, wine, juices, and dried fruits. Flavonoids exert potent antioxidant activity by blocking and scavenging free radicals. Cirsilineol, also called 4',5-dihydroxy-3',6,7-trimethoxyflavone, is an active phytochemical of Artemisia vestita, Artemisia monosperma, Artemisia asiatica, and Agrostis gigantea. Medicinal importance and pharmacological activities of cirsilineol have been investigated in the present work with their analytical aspects in order to know the biological importance of cirsilineol in medicine. Literature data on cirsilineol were collected and analyzed in the present work to study its therapeutic potential against various human disorders and associated secondary complications. Scientific data were collected from Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus and analyzed in the present work using the term herbal medicine, flavonoid and cirsilineol. Medicinal plants containing a significant amount of cirsilineol have biological applications in medicine due to their pharmacological activities. This present work signifies the biological importance of cirsilineol in medicine as it has antiproliferative, gastroprotective, anti-Helicobacter pylori, anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant activities. Further therapeutic effectiveness of cirsilineol against different types of cancers, including breast carcinoma and lung carcinoma, has been discussed in the present work. The biological importance of cirsilineol against allergic rhinitis, inflammation, coronavirus, immune system, renal cellular membrane and protein glycation has also been discussed in the present work. However, the importance of analytical methods for the isolation and identification of cirsilineol in medicine has also been analyzed. This work aimed to summarize the health-beneficial aspects of cirsilineol in medicine which will be beneficial to explore the further therapeutic effectiveness of cirsilineol for the treatment of various forms of human disorders.

Morphological and taxonomical treatments of fruits in the subclass Rosidae Takht. of the flora of Ukraine

Introduction. Rosids is the pivotal clade of eudicots, whose taxonomic composition was significantly changed based on molecular phylogeny. Molecular insight led to the re-evaluation of many phenotypic features, especially in reproductive morpho­logy. Although the floral structure and evolution within the current scope of rosids were actively investigated, the morphological structure of fruit was almost fully neglected. The present study aimed to survey the morphological diversity of fruits in rosids (subclass Rosidae) in the flora of Ukraine to reveal the most common fruit types, analyze the distribution of the basic fruit types among rosids, and survey some comparative-morphological features of gynoecium and fruit. Materials and Methods. Fruit features have been surveyed based on many carpological sources. We also analyzed the gynoecium characteristics crucial for fruit deve­lop­ment, i.e., the type of ovary insertion, placentation, and ovule and locule number. For Rosidae, seven basic fruit types were recognized using the approach previously elaborated for the monocot plants of Ukraine: aggregate fruit, multi-seeded monocarp, capsule, berry, multi-seeded pyrenarium, schizocarp, and one-seeded fruit. Results. As a result, the annotated list of morphological characteristics for each of the 54 families of Rosidae occurring in Ukraine was composed. In this list, the complementary and the most contrasting definitions of fruits from different sources were combined. Discussion. According to our calculations, the subclass Rosidae in the flora of Ukraine is represented by 326 genera and at least 1617 species. Our results demon­strated that the most widespread fruit types at the family level seem to be capsular and one-seeded fruits, while at genus and species level the portion of multi-seeded monocarps and aggregate fruits is also significant. Nine families reveal more than one basic fruit type in the flora of Ukraine. Some fruits are ambiguously classified into one or another fruit type because of their intermediate features. Thus, fuzzy boundaries between most fruit types are evident. Conclusions. The obtained results have been compared with our previously reported results for the monocot clade in the flora of Ukraine. In both cases, the predominance of capsular fruits at the family-level spectrum of basic fruit types was clearly demonstrated. The results of our analysis suggest that the model of basic fruit types has the potential to be applied to the formal treatment of fruit structure in other groups of angiosperms.

Isolation and Identifi cation of Postharvest Fungal Pathogens of Some Selected Fruits in Yunnan, China

Fruits are one of the major economic commodities worldwide and postharvest rot diseases is one of the major problems that led to decreasing fruit production. Fungal contaminants reduce the quality of fresh fruits after harvest and it is one of the leading causes of economic loss in global fresh fruits. The purpose of this research was to isolate and identify pathogens causing postharvest rots on common fruits available in markets in Panlong District, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. The fruits viz. apple (Malus domestica), dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus), peach (Amygdalus persica) and pear (Pyrus sorotina) were selected to examine post-harvest rots since they are commonly available fruits in Yunnan markets. We isolated six fungal strains from the above-mentioned fruits. The pathogenicity tests and phylogenetic analyses were carried out for the fungi isolated from fruits. Our results showed that Fusarium spp. are common on apple, peach and dragon fruit. In the pathogenicity test, Monilinia yunnanensis inoculated on the pear had the strongest effect on the pear, and the disease spot expanded over half of the total area of the fruit. Our results are expected to provide a reference and basis for preventing postharvest diseases of common fruits in Yunnan.

Application of phyto-fabricated zinc oxide nanoparticles to diminish brown spot of pear whilst maintaining its quality.

Pyrus communis is a common fruit of temperate region, its domestication and origin is at two different points, Asia and China. Pear fruits bearing brown spot symptoms were picked, and pathogen was isolated and poured on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) media. On basis of molecular and molecular analyses, this isolated pathogen was identified as Alternaria alternata. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were prepared from Theveti peruviana leaf extract and were characterized through various techniques Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of prepared ZnO NPs depicted the presence of agents responsible for stabilization and reduction such as alkenes, alkynes, nitro compounds, alkyl halides, aromatic compounds and aliphatic amines. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the size (27 nm) and crystalline nature of ZnO NPs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) depicted the irregular shape of the prepared ZnO NPs. Mass percentage of zinc (79.84%) and oxygen (20.16%) was depicted using Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analysis. The in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity (A.F) of prepared NPs against A. alternata was confirmed by poisoned food technique and wound inoculation method. On the basis of which it was concluded that 1.0 mg/mL concentration of ZnO NPs could effectively inhibit A. alteranata growth and minimize the risk of brown spot of pear. SEM images of A. alternata under 1 mg/mL NPs showed the deformation in morphology of A. alternata. ZnO NPs also aided in the preservation of its various organoleptic and biochemical properties. The high percentage of soluble solids, firmness, ascorbic acid and sugars demonstrated its high quality. It has been concluded that 1 mg/mL ZnO NPs can effectively control brown spot of pear while maintaining its quality. In addition, the method might be applied to control emerging diseases in an ecofriendly way to meet the global food demand. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Isolation and characterization of pathogen causing brown spot in pear. Pathogenicity of A. alternata was checked on healthy fruits. Thevetia peruviana leaf extract was used for the synthesis, characterization and antifungal assay of ZnO Nanoparticles. Green synthesized nanoparticles can be economically effective alternative fungicide for the large scale in agriculture fields.

Pesticide residues in common fruits and vegetables in Henan Province, China

ABSTRACT In this study 3307 samples of 24 vegetables and fruits from 18 regions of Henan Province, China, were collected in 2021 with the aim of assessing the levels of pesticide residues and analysing the differences between different sources in Henan Province. Thirteen kinds of pesticides were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and detection rates were compared by the chi-square test. In all samples, except ginger, pimento, edible fungi and yam, pesticide residues were detected. The detection rates of difenoconazole, acetamiprid, carbendazim, procymidone, emamectin benzoate, lambda-cyhalothrin, cypermethrin and dimethomorph in supermarkets and traditional farmers’ markets were different. The difenoconazole group and the dimethomorph group were both statistically different (P < 0.05). This study showed common vegetables and fruits to contain pesticide residues in Henan Province and provided a scientific basis for their evaluation. Different sources take different regulatory measures to control pesticide residues to ensure food safety.

Parasitological and Bacteriological Evaluation of Common Raw Fruits Collected from Two Major Markets in Iwo, Osun State, South-West Nigeria.

Fruits are a vital part of human nutrition because they contain the growth factors required to maintain normal health. Fruits are also known to harbour a wide range of parasites and bacteria. Consumption of unwashed raw fruits can lead to foodborne pathogens. This study was carried out to examine the presence of parasites and bacteria on fruits sold at two major markets in Iwo, Osun state, South-West Nigeria. Twelve different fresh fruits and seven different fresh fruits were purchased from different vendors from "Odo-ori" and "Adeeke" markets, respectively. The samples were transported to the microbiology laboratory of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun state for bacteriological and parasitological analysis. The parasites were concentrated by sedimentation and were examined using a light microscope, while for the microbial analysis, culturing and biochemical tests were also carried out on all the samples. The parasites discovered include Fasciola hepatica eggs, Ascaris lumbricoides and Strongyloides stercoralis larvae, hookworm larvae, and Taenia and Trichuris trichiura eggs. Ascaris lumbricoides was most frequently detected (40.0%). Bacteria isolated from the sampled fruits include Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Kluyvera ascorbata, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus intermedius, Staphylococcus sp., Micrococcus sedentarius, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, and Streptococcus zooepidemicus. The presence of parasites and bacteria on the fruits observed indicates that public health diseases may arise from their consumption. Awareness and education among farmers, vendors, and consumers about the importance of personal and food hygiene through proper washing or disinfection of fruits could reduce the risk of parasites and bacterial fruit contamination.

Taste Perception from Jamu Drinks Color for Younger Generation by using Photo Products

Jamu is a traditional herbal drink from Indonesia that has been inherited from generation to generation. Jamu drinks have a variety of recipes since their ingredients are derived from a combination of typical Indonesian spices that can be obtained in local markets. Previously, jamu was frequently associated with a bitter taste, but due to improvements and innovations, it may now adapt to the preferences of the younger generation. Moreover, modification of a recipe's look involving different hues may cause consumers to speculate about its taste. This study examines taste perception from the Indonesian traditional herbal drinks "jamu" color for the younger generation by using photo products image. The research method was conducted through experimentation by using a questionnaire and forum discussion in 2 phases on 111 visual communication students with an average age of 21.7 years. Results: white, red, blue, and yellow colors were preferred by the majority of participants, followed by orange and brownish-red colors, which were still mostly acceptable. However, brown and green were perceived as the colors that participants disliked the most. Based on the result of this experiment, it can be concluded that human perception of color and taste can also be applied to traditional herbal medicine; this result supports the innovative exploration of jamu recipes that can adapt to the tastes of the younger generation. The result of this study shows that perception is influenced by previous experience; several times, the data showed significantly that colors such as milk or common fruit juice would be perceived the same as the taste of jamu. Furthermore, these findings strengthen various previous studies that the color will be able to make humans perceive its taste; although sometimes the perception is wrong, it can be used as an important reference for industries. In addition, the results of this study also show that the perception of color can be done without the need to see the product directly.

Potential of Plant Exosome Vesicles from Grapefruit (Citrus × paradisi) and Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Juices as Functional Ingredients and Targeted Drug Delivery Vehicles.

Plant-derived extracellular vesicles (PEVs) have gained attention as promising bioactive nutraceutical molecules; their presence in common fruit juices has increased their significance because human interaction is inevitable. The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential of PEVs derived from grapefruit and tomato juices as functional ingredients, antioxidant compounds, and delivery vehicles. PEVs were isolated using differential ultracentrifugation and were found to be similar in size and morphology to mammalian exosomes. The yield of grapefruit exosome-like vesicles (GEVs) was higher than that of tomato exosome-like vesicles (TEVs), despite the latter having larger vesicle sizes. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of GEVs and TEVs was found to be low in comparison to their juice sources, indicating a limited contribution of PEVs to the juice. GEVs showed a higher efficiency in being loaded with the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) than TEVs, as well as a higher efficiency than TEV and PEV-free HSP70 in delivering HSP70 to glioma cells. Overall, our results revealed that GEVs present a higher potential as functional ingredients present in juice and that they exert the potential to deliver functional molecules to human cells. Although PEVs showed low antioxidant activity, their role in oxidative response in cells should be further addressed.

Analgesic and anthelmintic activities in common fruits of the Sundarbans mangrove forest, Bangladesh

The analgesic and anthelmintic activities of the common fruits in the Sundarbans forest, Bangladesh were evaluated. Acetic acid-induced writhing test and hot plate test in mice model were demonstrated for examining the analgesic activity whereas an anthelmintic test was performed using a flatworm, Paramphistomum cervi of livestock ruminants. Among the fruits, Ceriops decandra showed the strongest analgesic activity through inhibiting acetic acid-induced writhing (45%) and increasing response time (16.8 sec) on a hot plate in mice at 250 mg extract/kg body weight (b.w.). Diclofenac sodium (25 mg/kg b.w.), a positive control, demonstrated writhing inhibition of 51.3% whereas morphine (10 mg/kg b.w.), a wellknown centrally active analgesic drug, increased response time of 18.2 sec. The fruits showed inhibition of acetic acid-induced writhing in mice with strong correlations to both the total polyphenols (r2 = 0.85) and the total flavonoids (r2 = 0.81) contents. Similar results were also observed for an increase of response time in mice on hot plate test. Therefore, both the peripheral and the central analgesic activities of the fruits were profoundly related to their total contents of polyphenols as well as flavonoids. Extract of Aegiceras corniculatum fruit displayed the strongest anthelmintic activity with the lowest CDT50 (concentration for death time 50) of 0.69 mg extract/ml whereas albendazole, a positive control, had CDT50 of 5.60 mg/ml for the parasite. The anthelmintic activity of the fruits was not dependent on their contents of polyphenols (r2 = 0.30) or flavonoids. The chromatograms of HPLC-DAD analysis detected caffeic acid, (+)-catechin hydrate, p-coumaric acid, (-)-epicatechin, rutin hydrate, and syringic acid in C. decandra fruit extract and quantified as 10.6, 598.4, 1.5, 28.5, 2 and 1.3 mg/100 g extract, respectively. Results revealed that C. decandra and A. corniculatum fruits are the potentials to treat pain and helminthiasis, respectively. Bangladesh J. Bot. 52(1): 79-86, 2023 (March)

Literary Etymologies of The Ewe Names of Some Fruits

Purpose: This study seeks to employ the theory of literary etymology to investigate the Ewe names of ten fruits. &#x0D; Design/Methodology/Approach: A purposive sample of ten descriptive Ewe fruit names was adopted for the study because literary etymology favours descriptive names and ten is large enough for phenomenological studies such as this one. The names were analysed against the nine analytical criteria of literary etymology.&#x0D; Findings: Findings reveal novel, informative and interesting nuances behind each name and show that conscious reflection rather than random arbitrariness informs the giving of these names.&#x0D; Research Limitation/ Implication: The theoretical framework of literary etymology employed in investigating the names in this study can only be used to analyse descriptive names, like the ones chosen for this study.&#x0D; Practical Implications: The importance of this study is that it allows one to acquire relevant information such as the history behind the names, evidence-based reflection, creativity, and comprehension of the deep meanings behind these common everyday fruit names that could be taken as ordinary names with nothing worth discovering. Finally, the study demonstrates that literary etymology can be used to examine common nouns such as fruit names.&#x0D; Social Implications: Findings of this study have shown that even everyday words are loaded with meaning and understanding these deeper meanings will improve our social and communicative skills. &#x0D; Originality/Value/ Novelty: This study is but one of the very few that has employed the theory of literary etymology to investigate common names and proves its versatility as a framework to analyse all types of names.

The zeaxanthin present in a tomato line rich in this carotenoid is as bioavailable as that present in the food sources richest in this xanthophyll

It is strongly suspected that, like lutein, zeaxanthin (ZEA) plays a biological role in the human eye. Many studies also suggest that it could reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration and improve cognition. Unfortunately, it is only present in a very limited number of foods. This is why a new tomato line, named “Xantomato”, whose fruits can synthesize this compound, was generated. However, whether ZEA in Xantomato is bioavailable enough for Xantomato to qualify as a nutritionally relevant ZEA source is not known. The objective was to compare the bioaccessibility and intestinal cell uptake efficiency of ZEA from Xantomato to that present in the richest sources of this compound. Bioaccessibility was assessed using in vitro digestions and uptake efficiency using Caco-2 cells. Xantomato ZEA bioaccessibility was not statistically different from that of common fruits and vegetables rich in this compound. Xantomato ZEA uptake efficiency (7.8%) was lower (P < 0.05) than that of orange pepper (10.6%) but not different from that of corn (6.9%). Therefore, the results of the in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell model suggest that Xantomato ZEA could be as bioavailable as that found in common food sources of this compound.