Ellagic Acid Content Research Articles

Polyphenols in selected marine algae and aromatic herbs with antimicrobial properties: A comparative study

The increasing resistance of bacteria toward commercial antibiotics recommends offering various natural products as potent alternatives. In this study, polyphenols including flavonoids and phenolic compounds were detected in the sampled seaweeds: Corallina officinalis, Ulva lactuca, and Pterocladia capillacea, abundant in the Egyptian marine environment, and the aromatic herbs: Ocimum basilicum, Mentha longifolia, and Salvia officinalis, abundant in the Egyptian market. Phenolics were detected in different concentrations in seaweed and aromatic herbs, where the highest values were recorded for cinnamic acid (0.0213 mg/g), followed by the ellagic acid concentration (0.0152 mg/g) in S. officinalis. In addition, the highest values of flavonoids were estimated as 87.8258 for Kaempferol in O. basilicum. The antibacterial activity of algal and herbal extracts was evaluated. As revealed, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 was the most affected strain by all extracts. The algal extracts recorded considerable values against S. aureus ATCC 25923 (i.e., 16 mm by P. capillacea extract) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027 (i.e., 44 mm by C. officinalis extract). The aromatic herbal extracts also exhibited high antibacterial activity against S. aureus ATCC 25923 (34–38 mm). These extracts showed high activities against P. aeruginosa ATCC 9027 (34–40 mm). The C. officinalis crude extract was then fractioned by preparative TLC plates and afforded three materials: 1, 2, and 3, where Rf = 0.44, 0.29, and 0.11, respectively. The most abundant spots were scraped and collected from 12 TLC sheets to detect their antibacterial activities against the same pathogens compared to the Ciprofloxacin antibiotic. However, spot 1 showed the highest inhibition.

An approach for the valorization of pomegranate by-products using ultrasound and enzymatic methods

In this work, a holistic approach for the management of pomegranate wastes towards the recovery of value-adding components, is proposed. Regarding pomegranate peels, free phenolic components were recovered from defatted material with the aid of ultrasound-assisted extraction at the optimum conditions determined in a prior work studying the effect of the used solvent (water, ethanol, methanol, 50% aqueous ethanol, and 50% aqueous methanol) on the total phenolic content, radical scavenging activity, as well as punicalagin and ellagic acid content of the obtained extracts, using various in vitro assays and RP-HPLC-DAD, respectively. In the case of pomegranate seeds, the potential of enzymatic pretreatment to enhance the recovery yield of ultrasound-assisted oil recovery was investigated. This procedure was optimized in terms of pretreatment time (60–240 min), type of enzyme (cellulase:pectinase) (0–100% cellulase), enzyme concentration (2–4% w/w), and water/seeds ratio (2–6 mL/g). The optimum efficiency achieved (27.53 g oil/100 g seeds at 1.8 h or 97.8% oil extraction) was higher to the efficiencies achieved by other recovery techniques, including maceration, ultrasound-assisted extraction, supercritical extraction cold pressing, and superheated fluid extraction at comparable or longer extraction times. Findings of the present work seem promising for the holistic valorization of pomegranate industry byproducts towards the recovery of valuable compounds as well as their future application as natural additives to functional products, minimizing, at the same time, the environmental hazard.

The physical characteristics and antibacterial properties of a combination of ellagic acid and calcium hydroxide

Context: Ellagic acid is a natural pomegranate compound with potent anti-inflammatory properties. A combination of ellagic acid and bone-stimulating material in bone remodelling plays a vital role in suppressing inflammation and resulting in bone formation. However, the characteristic of the mixture of ellagic acid and bone-stimulating material, like calcium hydroxide, needs to be established, especially its physical attributes and antibacterial properties. Aims: To analyse the characteristics of three different ratios of combinations of ellagic acid and calcium hydroxide, including compound, compressive strength, acidity, calcium ion release and antibacterial properties of Streptococcus mutans. Methods: Using distilled water solvent, the combination of ellagic acid and calcium hydroxide was made with three different ratios, 1:99, 3:97 and 5:95. Each combination was created as a sample mould with 4 mm in diameter. At the same time, the control group only had calcium hydroxide. The identified compound of ellagic acid was analysed using the compressive strength of the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), the compressive strength using an autograph compression strength tester, and acidity and calcium release using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), while the antibacterial properties used diffusion methods. The differences in each characteristic were analysed using a one-way ANOVA test and Tukey’s HSD post hoc test, with p<0.05 considered significantly different. Results: The combination of ellagic acid and calcium hydroxide showed a functional group of hydroxyls (-OH) and carbonate (CO32-). The combination with a ratio of 1:99 showed a higher compressive strength, alkaline acidity, calcium release and higher inhibition to Streptococcus mutans than combination 3:97 and 5:95 (p<0.05). Conclusions: The combination of ellagic acid and calcium hydroxide showed a promising characteristic for use in bone regeneration. The lower concentration of ellagic acid (1:99) showed better characteristics, including acidity, compressive strength and antibacterial properties to Streptococcus mutans.

Leishmanicidal and immunomodulatory activity of Terminalia catappa in Leishmania amazonensisin vitro infection

Leishmaniases are infectious-parasitic diseases that impact public health around the world. Antileishmanial drugs presented toxicity and increase in parasitic resistance. Studies with natural products show an alternative to this effect, and several metabolites have demonstrated potential in the treatment of various diseases. Terminalia catappa is a plant species with promising pharmaceutical properties. The objective of this work was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of extracts and fractions of T. catappa on Leishmania amazonensis and investigate the immunomodulatory mechanisms associated with its action. In anti-Leishmania assays, the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited activity against promastigotes (IC50 86.07 ± 1.09 μg/mL) and low cytotoxicity (CC50 517.70 ± 1.68 μg/mL). The ethyl acetate fraction also inhibited the intracellular parasite (IC50 25.74 ± 1.08 μg/mL) with a selectivity index of 20.11. Treatment with T. catappa ethyl acetate fraction did not alter nitrite production by peritoneal macrophages stimulated with L. amazonensis, although there was a decrease in unstimulated macrophages treated at 50 μg/mL (p = 0.0048). The T. catappa ethyl acetate fraction at 100 μg/mL increased TNF-α levels (p = 0.0238) and downregulated HO-1 (p = 0.0030) and ferritin (p = 0.0002) gene expression in L. amazonensis-stimulated macrophages. Additionally, the total flavonoid and ellagic acid content for ethyl acetate fraction was 13.41 ± 1.86 mg QE/g and 79.25 mg/g, respectively. In conclusion, the T. catappa ethyl acetate fraction showed leishmanicidal activity against different forms of L. amazonensis and displayed immunomodulatory mechanisms, including TNF-α production and expression of pro and antioxidant genes.

ELAJİK ASİDİN İNSAN KOLON KANSERİ HÜCRELERİNDE İNCELENMESİ

Cancer is seen as one of the most important and deadly diseases of our time. Colon cancer, which is one of the cancer types and ranks second in cancer-related deaths, is the second most common cancer type in men and the fourth most common cancer type in women. Ellagic acid is a plant phytochemical that can be obtained from fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, raspberries, and hazelnuts and is very important for human health. In order to understand the effects of ellagic acid on human colon cancer, different doses of ellagic acid were applied. In the proliferation study, ellagic acid was applied to CCL-233 cells at concentrations of 5 µM, 10 µM, 25 µM, 50 µM and 100 µM. Cell death was observed with an increase in applied ellagic acid concentration. The semi-lethal dose (LD50) was determined to be 40 µM. For PARP and VEGF studies, different doses of ellagic acid were applied to human colon cancer cells, which consequently showed a decrease in both values.

ELLAGIC ACID: A REVIEW ON NATURAL SOURCES AND MEDICINAL IMPORTANCE

Ellagic acid is a phenolic compound present in different plant species mainly in fruits and vegetables (and other plant parts such as leaves, root, bark, kernel) but also in processed foods (jams, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages) with a role in protecting the body against numerous conditions due to its antioxidant capacity. The amount of ellagic acid is different depending on the species, type of sample, temperature and extraction method, respectively method of analysis. This paper proposes an analysis of the specialized literature regarding the role and importance of ellagic acid for the human body, studied species with a high content of ellagic acid, the therapeutic medicinal importance and its potential as an antioxidant compound.

Ellagic acid treatment during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes improves development competence after parthenogenetic activation and somatic cell nuclear transfer

Ellagic acid (EA) is a natural polyphenol and a free radical scavenger with antioxidant properties. This study investigated the protective effects of EA during in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes. To determine the optimal concentration, IVM medium was supplemented with various concentrations of EA. Treatment with 10 μM EA (10 EA) resulted in the highest cleavage rate, blastocyst formation rate, and total cell number per blastocyst and the lowest percentage of apoptotic cell in parthenogenetic blastocysts. In the 10 EA group, abnormal spindle and chromosome misalignment were rescued and the ratio of phosphorylated p44/42 to total p44/42 was increased. Furthermore, the reactive oxygen species and glutathione levels were significantly decreased and increased, respectively, and antioxidant genes (Nrf2, HO-1, CAT, and SOD1) were significantly upregulated in the 10 EA group. mRNA expression of developmental-related (CDX2, POU5F1, and SOX2) and anti-apoptotic (BCL2L1) genes was significantly upregulated in the 10 EA group, while mRNA expression of pro-apoptotic genes (BAK, FAS, and CASP3) was significantly downregulated. Ultimately, following somatic cell nuclear transfer, the blastocyst formation rate was significantly increased and the percentage of apoptotic cell in blastocysts was significantly decreased in the 10 EA group. In conclusion, addition of 10 EA to IVM medium improved oocyte maturation and the subsequent embryo development capacity through antioxidant mechanisms. These findings suggest that EA can enhance the efficiencies of assisted reproductive technologies.

Comparative anti-inflammatory effect of extract from novel Korean strawberry cultivars (Fragaria × ananassa) on lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW264.7 macrophages and mouse model.

Dietary interventions are crucial in modulating inflammation in humans. Strawberries are enjoyed by people of different ages as a result of their attractive phenotype and taste. In addition, the active compounds in strawberries may contribute to the reduction of inflammation. When developing new strawberry cultivars to address agricultural and environmental threats, the bioactivity of strawberries must be improved to maintain their health benefits. We determined the phytochemical contents of extracts from a new Korean strawberry cultivar, with the CN7 cultivar extract possessing the highest total polyphenol and flavonoid contents compared to the CN5 and Seolhyang cultivar extracts. The new Korean strawberry cultivars reduced the expression of inflammatory-related genes in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells via the nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathway, indicating an anti-inflammatory effect. The CN7 cultivar showed greater bioactivity potential and the highest ellagic acid content; hence, we assessed the effect of the CN7 cultivar in an LPS-stimulated mouse model. The CN7 cultivar treatment demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing inflammation via the downregulation of inflammatory cytokines secretion and gene expression. The results obtained in the present study have revealed the observable differences of the newly developed strawberry cultivars with Seolhyang in mitigating inflammation induced by LPS. The enhanced phytochemical content of the CN7 cultivar extract may contribute to its improved anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain the nutritive benefits of strawberry during the development of new cultivation. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Validation of the analysis method for marker compound ellagic acid of ethanol extracts of Sanguisorba officinalis L. using HPLC-DAD

The validation of ellagic acid as a marker compound was attempted as an analysis method for the standardization of the extract from Sanguisorba officinalis L. for the development of healthy functional foods. The ellagic acid analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) and retention time with standard compounds satisfied the stay time and specificity. Ellagic acid has confirmed limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), accuracy, precision, recovery rate, stability, and content analysis by HPLC for an 80% ethanol extract of Sanguisorba officinalis L. The correlation (R2) at the concentration of ellagic acid of 9.5–95.0 µg/mL was above 0.999, showing high linearity. The LOD and LOQ were expressed as 1.5430 and 4.6757 μg/mL, respectively. The recovery rate was 99 to 110%. The precision of RSD intraday was 0.23–0.65% and interday was 0.18–2.13%. In addition, the average recovery rate of ellagic acid before and after 24 h was 98.79%, confirming a change in the content of 0.17%, and the content of ellagic acid was 22.48 µg/mL in 80% ethanol extract of Sanguisorba officinalis L.

Mechanism of Ellagic Acid-Induced Autophagy in Cis-Diamminedichloroplatinum(II)-Resistant Ovarian Cancer Cells

This study investigated the effect of ellagic acid on autophagy in cisplatin-resistant human epithelial ovarian cancer cells. After the autophagy double-labeled mred fluorescence protein, green fluorescence protein, light chain 3 carrying adenovirus infected cisplatin-resistant human epithelial ovarian cancer cells, the changes of autophagy flux and autophagy-related proteins were detected. Cell counting kit-8 assay was employed to detect the viability of cisplatin-resistant human epithelial ovarian cancer cells. The results showed that the number of autophagosomes and autolysosomes in the ellagic acid group increased significantly in comparison with the in cisplatin-resistant human epithelial ovarian cancer group. With the increase in ellagic acid concentration, light chain 3-II/I ratio and Beclin1 expression increased, p62 expression and cell viability decreased, and caspase-3 activated, in cisplatin-resistant human epithelial ovarian cancer cells. Conversely, 3-methyladenine inhibited ellagic acid-induced autophagy and activated caspase-3 and enhanced the cell viability. Similarly, chloroquine significantly increased cell survival rate, light chain 3-II/I ratio, and activated caspase-3, but decreased p62 expression in the ellagic acid group. In conclusion, ellagic acid can induce autophagy to inhibit the proliferation of cisplatin-resistant human epithelial ovarian cancer cells.

Determination of Multicomponents in Rubi Fructus by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Technique

Objective. Rubi Fructus (RF) is a dry aggregate fruit of Rubus (Rosaceae). It has shown significant pharmacological effects such as anti-oxidation, hypoglycemic, and anti-inflammatory. A combination of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and partial least squares regression (PLSR) under seven different spectral data preprocessing techniques was used to determine the performance of quantitative analysis correction models which employed moisure, ellagic acid, and total flavonoids as indicators of RF. Methods. Ninety-seven different RF batches were collected for NIR spectra. By using primary analysis techniques such as drying method, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and ultraviolet visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), the contents of moisure, ellagic acid, and total flavonoids were determined. The NIR spectral data and the primary analysis method data were correlated through PLSR. Seven methods were used for pretreating the spectral data, including no spectral pretreatment, first derivative, standard normalized variate, multiple scattering corrections, elimination of constant offset, and minimum maximum normalization. The quantitative analysis correction models adopted PLSR chemometrics for moisture, ellagic acid and total flavonoids were developed, and their effectiveness was evaluated using the correlation coefficient (R), ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD), and root mean square error (RMSE). Results. The first derivative was combined with variable standardization, elimination of constant offset, and multiple scattering corrections, respectively, to pretreat the PLSR models for moisture, ellagic acid, and total flavonoids. The R-values of the PLSR models for moisture, ellagic acid, and total flavonoids were, respectively, 0.9788, 0.9468, and 0.9748, all of which were higher than 0.90, and the RPD values were 4.9, 3.1, and 4.5, respectively, which were all larger than 3.0. The RMSE ratios of the calibration set and the test set were 0.98, 0.94, and 1.0, respectively. Conclusion. The R-values of the NIR-PLSR models for moisture, ellagic acid, and total flavonoids are all greater than 0.90 after suitable pretreatments, indicating that the models are reliable. The RPD values are more than 3.0, which indicate that the models are good and useable for quality control. The RMSE ratios are closed to 1, indicating that the calibration set and test set had same distribution and the models were not overfitting indicating good predictability.

Multi-component analyses of raspberry: Optimization of extraction procedure and network pharmacology

The contents of ellagic acid and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, the chief active components of raspberry, are considered the quality control indices of raspberry. This work employed the ant colony neural network (ACO-BPNN) to optimize their extraction processes, and the combination of network pharmacology and molecular docking technology to unveil the potential pharmacological effects of these components. Based on the single-factor test (ultrasonic time, ethanol concentration, ultrasonic temperature, and solid-liquid ratio), a factorial experiment with 4-factors and 3-levels was conducted in parallel for 3 times. The multi-factor analysis of variance results revealed high-order interactions among the factors. Then, the ACO-BPNN model was established to characterize the complex relationship of experimental data. After further verification, relative errors were all less than 8 %, implying the model's effectiveness and reliability. Moreover, with the network pharmacology, 66 key targets were screened out and mainly concentrated in PI3K-AKT, MAPK, and Ras signal pathways. Molecular docking revealed the binding sites between active components and key targets.

Ellagic Acid from Hull Blackberries: Extraction, Purification, and Potential Anticancer Activity.

Ellagic acid (EA) is present at relatively high concentrations in many berries and has many beneficial health effects, including anticancer properties. To improve the development and utilization of blackberry fruit nutrients, we divided Hull blackberry fruits into five growth periods according to color and determined the EA content in the fruits in each period. The EA content in the green fruit stage was the highest at 5.67 mg/g FW. Single-factor tests and response surface methodology were used to optimize the extraction process, while macroporous resin adsorption and alkali dissolution, acid precipitation, and solvent recrystallization were used for purification. The highest purity of the final EA powder was 90%. The anticancer assessment results determined by MTT assay showed that EA inhibited HeLa cells with an IC50 of 35 μg/mL, and the apoptosis rate of the cells increased in a dose-dependent manner, with the highest rate of about 67%. We evaluated the changes in the mRNA levels of genes related to the EA-mediated inhibition of cancer cell growth and initially verified the PI3K/PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathway as the pathway by which EA inhibits HeLa cell growth. We hope to provide a theoretical basis for the deep exploration and utilization of this functional food.

Comparative analysis of flavonoids extracted from Dendrobium chrysotoxum flowers by supercritical fluid extraction and ultrasonic cold extraction

Flowers are by-products of the medicinal plant Dendrobium chrysotoxum, with high yield but low utilization rate. Extracting flavonoids from D. chrysotoxum flowers can not only reduce resource waste but also bring economic benefits. In this study, two green extraction methods, SFE (supercritical fluid extraction) and UCE (ultrasonic cold extraction) were used to extract flavonoids from D. chrysotoxum flowers, and the response surface method (RSM) was used to optimize the extraction conditions. The results showed that on the optimal conditions of SFE (time 90 min, temperature 50 °C, pressure 20 MPa) and UCE (time 30 min, power 400 W, temperature 40 °C, solid-liquid ratio 1:40 (w:v), ethanol concentration 60%), the total flavonoid extraction yield was 2.04% ± 0.02% and 0.64% ± 0.02%, respectively. In vitro, antioxidant activity analysis showed that both extracts had good antioxidant activity, and the antioxidant activity of SFE extract was higher than that of UCE extract. The quantitative determination of flavonoid compounds showed that the content of quercetin, kaempferol, and catechin in SFE extract was significantly higher than that in UCE extract, and the content of ellagic acid in the two extracts was similar. These results indicated that the two green extraction methods improved the resource utilization of D. chrysotoxum flowers, and SFE was more suitable for extracting flavonoids from D. chrysotoxum flowers than UCE.

Light-emitting diode-induced ellagic acid production in Drosera tokaiensis inhibits advanced glycation end-product formation

Drosera tokaiensis (DT) is an insectivorous plant that effectively inhibits advanced glycation end products (AGEs) generated from non-enzymatic reactions between reducing sugars and protein amino groups using phenolic compounds, including ellagic acid, myricitrin, and quercitrin. The accumulation of AGEs increases during the pathogenesis of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and nephropathy. Therefore, the extracts of Drosera species could have preventive effects against such diseases. The development of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and their use in plant cultivation and tissue culture can enhance secondary metabolite production by controlling the wavelength of light in which plants are cultivated. We evaluated how LEDs affected the production of AGE-inhibitory compounds in extracts isolated from DT tissue cultures. DT was cultured for two months in different light wavelengths under unified photosynthetic photon flex density and the resulting extracts were used to examine changes in phenolic compound content and the inhibition of AGE formation. Cultivation in monochromatic light from LEDs had no significant effect on plant weight compared to conventional fluorescent cultivation, except for red LED light. Ellagic acid content increased regardless of LED coloration and the production and accumulation of myricitrin and quercitrin were inhibited. The extracts isolated from plantlets cultured under LEDs showed the same level of AGE inhibition as those cultured under fluorescent light. Therefore, for anti-glycation activity, DT can be grown stably and at a low cost using LED lights when compared to conventional culture methods.

Rose polyphenols exert antiobesity effect in high-fat–induced obese mice by regulating lipogenic gene expression

Obesity presents a major risk factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Recent reports indicate that many kinds of polyphenols have the potential to prevent metabolic diseases. We hypothesized that rose polyphenols (ROSE) have the effect of improvement in lipid metabolism. In this study, we investigated whether rose polyphenols affected lipid metabolism and exerted antiobesity. To clarify the mechanism, C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet containing 0.25% ROSE for 35 days. Compared with the control group, body weight gain and adipose tissue weight in the 0.25% ROSE group were significantly decreased. Serum cholesterol and hepatic triglyceride concentrations significantly decreased, whereas fecal triglyceride was significantly increased in the 0.25% ROSE group. Liver stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (Scd1), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (Hmgcr), and acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase 1 (Acat1) mRNA as well as protein stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 concentrations were significantly lower in the 0.25% ROSE group than that in the control group. The mRNA and the protein concentrations of adipose triglyceride lipase, hormone-sensitive lipase, and peroxisomal acylcoenzyme A oxidase 1 in white adipose tissue were significantly higher in the 0.25% ROSE group than that in the control group. The components in rose polyphenols were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and we consider that ellagic acid plays an important role in an antiobesity effect because the ellagic acid content is the highest among polyphenols in rose polyphenols. In summary, rose polyphenols exhibit antiobesity effects by influencing lipid metabolism-related genes and proteins to promote lipolysis and suppress lipid synthesis.

Polyphenols of white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) seeds cultivated in Southern Italy by a LC-HRMS method

In this work we examined the contents of 14 polyphenols in white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) samples cultivated in Southern Italy by the optimisation and validation of a LC-HRMS method. The validation of the LC-HRMS method showed linearity results r2 > 0.989 and recovery values between 71 and 119% for a very wide range of concentrations. Ellagic acid was the most abundant polyphenol, with mean concentrations of 16271.86 ± 19798.53 μg/Kg, followed by apigenin (2749.51 ± 889.95 μg/Kg). A significant variability in ellagic acid contents was found between the areas of cultivation examined (p < 0.05). As far as we know, this work provides the first data on the polyphenols contents of white lupins cultivated in Italy. The comparison with other study confirms the role of the cultivation area for the determination of the polyphenol’s contents. The study also confirms white lupins as a promising source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substances in a balanced diet.

Ellagic acid loaded nanospheres/biodegradable PVA‐sodium alginate hydrogel for wound healing application

AbstractIn the present study, a novel polyvinyl alcohol‐sodium alginate hydrogel was prepared using ellagic acid loaded nanospheres in its structure. Ellagic acid was loaded into polymeric nanospheres using a double‐emulsion solvent evaporation technique. Obtained nanospheres were dispersed in a polyvinyl alcohol‐sodium alginate hydrogel, prepared using freeze–thaw method followed by freeze‐drying. Ellagic acid loaded nanospheres and the final hydrogel preparation were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, and investigated for ellagic acid content, and release profile. MTT assays were conducted to measure the viability of cells after treatment with the hydrogel, and wound healing activity was investigated through in vivo studies on open wounds of an animal model. Results showed formation of nanospheres with average diameter of 241.5 nm and prolonged‐release profile of ellagic acid during 48 h. MTT assays showed a significant increase in cell proliferation upon treatment of NIH3T3 cells with the hydrogel. The hydrogel also significantly increased the rate of wound closure through improved epithelialization and production of collagen fibers. It can be concluded that the hydrogel containing ellagic acid‐loaded nanospheres prepared in this study can be designated as a biocompatible dressing to accelerate the wound healing process.

COMPARISON OF A NOVEL VACUUM-COMBINED INFRARED AND HOT-AIR CONVECTION METHODS FOR DRYING OF DEVECI (PYRUS COMMUNIS L.) PEAR SLICES

In this study, the quality characteristics of pear slices dried in vacuum-combined infrared dryer equipped with a two-way infrared heating (100-300 W infrared power) and convectional dryer (40-70 °C) were comparatively investigated. Increasing infrared power in vacuum-combined infrared dryer decreased the drying time. However, the differences between vacuum pressures (100 mmHg and 250 mmHg) were generally negligible. Drying process at 200 and 300 W IP under vacuum was approximately 2- and 2.5-times shorter than conventionally drying at 55 and 70 °C, respectively. Although a very low amount of HMF in dried pear slices by the conventional dryer was detected only at 70 °C after 300 min, high amounts of HMF was detected at 300 W after 120 minutes. The rehydration rate of pear slice dried with vacuum-combined infrared dryer was higher than those of pear slice dried with conventional dryer. Syringic, chlorogenic and ellagic acids were identified in dried pear samples. Chlorogenic acid was found to be the most among phenolic compounds in dried pears. While the ellagic acid was not detected in fresh pear, dried pears had ellagic acid content (8.14-16.93 mg/kg d.m.). It was found that total phenolic content, ABTS and DPPH values of dried pears by vacuum-combined infrared dryer was lower than those of dried sample by conventional dryer. The pear slices dried at 300W and 250 mmHg had the highest sensory scores. The results show that the vacuum-combined infrared drying provided a shorter drying time and better sensory quality for dried pear compared to conventional drying.

Comparison of Protective Effects of Phenolic Acids on Protein Glycation of BSA Supported by In Vitro and Docking Studies.

Several diabetic complications are associated with forming advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Different chemical and natural compounds are able to prevent the development of these products. In this study, glycosylation was induced as a model by incubating bovine serum albumin (BSA) with glucose. Consequently, BSA was treated with glucose and different concentrations (1.25, 2.5, and 5 μM) of syringic acid, gallic acid, ellagic acid, ferulic acid, paracoumaric acid, and caffeic acid for 4 and 6 weeks. Biochemical experiments comprise measurements of fluorescent AGEs, protein carbonyl contents, total thiol, hemolysis tests, and also malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in RBC. These demonstrated the antiglycating mechanism of these phenolic acids. Most of the phenolic acids used in this study reduced MDA levels and protected thiol residues in protein structures. They also inhibited the formation of fluorescent AGEs and RBC lysis, except gallic acid. Moreover, ferulic acid, paracoumaric acid, and caffeic acid proteins significantly prevent carbonylation. Molecular docking and simulation studies showed that ellagic, caffeic, gallic, and syringic acids could interact with lysine and arginine residues in the active site of BSA and stabilize its structure to inhibit the formation of AGEs. Our results suggest that phenolic acid could be used as a potential phytochemical against protein glycation and related diabetic complications.