scholarly journals Baccharis dracunculifolia and Dalbergia ecastophyllum, Main Plant Sources for Bioactive Properties in Green and Red Brazilian Propolis

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1619
Author(s):  
Adela Ramona Moise ◽  
Otilia Bobiş

Nowadays, propolis is used as a highly valuable product in alternative medicine for improving health or treating a large spectrum of pathologies, an ingredient in pharmaceutical products, and also as a food additive. Different vegetal materials are collected by honeybees and mixed with wax and other own substances in order to obtain the final product, called propolis. It is known as the bee product with the widest chemical composition due to the raw material collected by the bees. Different types are known worldwide: green Brazilian propolis (having Baccharis dracunculifolia as the major plant source), red Brazilian propolis (from Dalbergia ecastophyllum), European propolis (Populus nigra L.), Russian propolis (Betula verrucosa Ehrh), Cuban and Venezuelan red propolis (Clusia spp.), etc. An impressive number of scientific papers already demonstrate the pharmacological potential of different types of propolis, the most important activities being the antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant activities. However, the bioactive compounds responsible for each activity have not been fully elucidated. This review aims to collect important data about the chemical composition and bioactive properties of the vegetal sources and to compare with the chemical composition of respective propolis types, in order to determine the connection between the floral source and the propolis properties.

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Olha Mykhailenko ◽  
Vilma Petrikaite ◽  
Michal Korinek ◽  
Fang-Rong Chang ◽  
Mohamed El-Shazly ◽  
...  

Crocus sativus L. (saffron) has been traditionally used as a food coloring or flavoring agent, but recent research has shown its potent pharmacological activity to tackle several health-related conditions. Crocus sp. leaves, and petals are the by-products of saffron production and are not usually used in the medicine or food industries. The present study was designed to determine the chemical composition of the water and ethanolic extracts of C. sativus leaves and test their cytotoxic activity against melanoma (IGR39) and triple-negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines by MTT assay. We also determined their anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral activities. HPLC fingerprint analysis showed the presence of 16 compounds, including hydroxycinnamic acids, xanthones, flavonoids, and isoflavonoids, which could contribute to the extracts’ biological activities. For the first time, compounds such as tectoridin, iristectorigenin B, nigricin, and irigenin were identified in Crocus leaf extracts. The results showed that mangiferin (up to 2 mg/g dry weight) and isoorientin (8.5 mg/g dry weight) were the major active ingredients in the leaf extracts. The ethanolic extract reduced the viability of IGR39 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells with EC50 = 410 ± 100 and 330 ± 40 µg/mL, respectively. It was more active than the aqueous extract. Kaempferol and quercetin were identified as the most active compounds. Our results showed that Crocus leaves contain secondary metabolites with potent cytotoxic and antioxidant activities.


2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela De Grandi Castro Freitas ◽  
Alda Letícia da Silva Santos Resende ◽  
Angela Aparecida Lemos Furtado ◽  
Luana Tashima ◽  
Henrique Muniz Bechara

Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM) is an alternative for the diversification of new fish-based products and also as a solution for the use of waste from the filleting industries. Tilapia MSM was used in this study for the formulation of a fish spread aimed at investigating its acceptability by consumers. Two spread formulations were prepared with different types of commercial salt: seasoned salt (A) and common salt (B). The consumers (112) evaluated their acceptance with respect to overall impression, spreadability, appearance and flavour acceptability on a 9-point hedonic scale. A microbiological analysis of the Tilapia MSM was also carried out and the chemical composition of the Tilapia MSM-based spread determined. When considering the acceptance of all the consumers, the overall impression, appearance and flavour were significantly (P < 0.05) lower for the spread made with common salt (B). However, three different consumer segments could be found from the overall impression of the Tilapia MSM-based spread. The largest segment also preferred the spread made with the seasoned salt (A), but both products were well accepted. The tilapia MSM presented adequate quality as a raw material according to the technical regulations for microbiological standards. The final product presented the following chemical composition: moisture - 62.17%; ash - 2.11%; protein - 9.75% and lipid - 18.81%. These results could be of great importance for the industry in developing and marketing new products obtained from mechanically separated Tilapia meat.


Author(s):  
Carmen Ioana CHIRCU ◽  
Sevastiţa MUSTE ◽  
Otilia BOBIS ◽  
Victorita BONTA

Grapes, the raw material for wine making, have a complex chemical composition comprising of carbohydrates, organic acids and phenolic compounds, parameters that can be found in wine also, but in different concentrations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 234-241
Author(s):  
Mohammed Al-Shakka ◽  
Ebtesam Abood ◽  
Adel Al-Dhubhany ◽  
Sami Abdo Radman Aldubai ◽  
Khaled Said ◽  
...  

Because of the almost-instant connection with the welfare and well-being of individuals, pharmaceutical industry stands prominently as a very important factor for the improvement and progress of a healthy productive nation. These days, pharmaceutical industry thrives as one of the largest and exponentially expanding global industries. Nonetheless, millions of people in low income developing countries, have to suffer from the fatal consequences of the inaccessibility and non-availability of essential drugs. This is also happening in Yemen, where the pharmaceutical manufacturers sector have to face up to many challenges. The Yemen Drug Company (YEDCO) was founded in 1964 by the Yemeni government as it collaborated with private investors. It was endorsed as a company with the expertise in the medicinal drug marketing. YEDCO started its work by taking in drugs from foreign companies and then locally marketing and distributing them. In 1982, YEDCO built the first medicinal factory for drugs in Sana’a. Since then, seven companies were set up to manufacture medicines in Yemen. The expanding population has led to the need to have more pharmaceutical products. It may be understandable that pharmaceutical manufacturer companies are also hit by the political crisis in the country. Inadequate amount of fuel and raw material as well as low security status were some of the underlying factors behind these ill-effects in Yemen. Imported drugs make up about nearly 90% % of the pharmaceutical market compared to 10% drugs from the domestic market. This situation has led to an additional burden being shouldered by the national economy, where Yemen spends about US$263 million annually on pharmaceutical drugs, in reference to the national Supreme Drugs Authority. Although there is a very quick growth in the population and drugs consumption, the pharmaceutical industry has not been very active, where global pharmaceutical products play their role dominantly on the domestic market. The pharmaceutical production necessitates skilled human resources like university graduates. By contrast, the government and the private sector should also motivate the pharmaceutical industry and make use of the local employment


Author(s):  
D.Y. Bolgova ◽  
◽  
N.A. Tarasenko ◽  
Z.S. Mukhametova ◽  
◽  
...  

Nutrition is an important factor that affects human health. The use of plant proteins as various additives in food production has now been actively developed. The rich chemical composition of pea grains determines the possibility of application in the food industry. Peas are characterized by good assimilability and degree of digestion.


2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Pantru ◽  
Gheorghit Jinescu ◽  
Rozalia R�dulescu ◽  
Antoneta Filcenco Olteanu ◽  
Cosmin Jinescu

This paper presents an intensive procedure used for the decontamination of the soils, which were radioactively contaminated by uranium, due to the occurrence of some antropic accidents, in order to limit the area�s pollution. The procedure used for the chemical decontamination of the polluted soils was the washing one and the decontamination degree is comparatively presented depending on the ultrasounds� presence and absence. The lab testes were performed on five types of soils , which were characterized from the granulometric, structural and chemical composition viewpoint, all these aspects represent the main factors, which determine the applied decontamination procedure�s limits and performances correlated with its utilization costs. The decontamination procedure�s kinetics for each type of soils was analyzed, using successively three different types of reagents (water, 0.1 M sulphuric acid solution and chloro-sodic solution � 100 g/L sodium chloride + 10 g/L sodium carbonate in water) for a solid to liquid ratio of 1:2, during 2 h, at a temperature of 20oC in a mechanic stirring system respectively in ultrasounds field. It was observed that the decontamination degree increases with up to 15-20% in case of the ultrasound field utilization comparing to the first case.


Robotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Luiz F. P. Oliveira ◽  
António P. Moreira ◽  
Manuel F. Silva

The development of robotic systems to operate in forest environments is of great relevance for the public and private sectors. In this sense, this article reviews several scientific papers, research projects and commercial products related to robotic applications for environmental preservation, monitoring, wildfire firefighting, inventory operations, planting, pruning and harvesting. After conducting critical analysis, the main characteristics observed were: (a) the locomotion system is directly affected by the type of environmental monitoring to be performed; (b) different reasons for pruning result in different locomotion and cutting systems; (c) each type of forest, in each season and each type of soil can directly interfere with the navigation technique used; and (d) the integration of the concept of swarm of robots with robots of different types of locomotion systems (land, air or sea) can compensate for the time of executing tasks in unstructured environments. Two major areas are proposed for future research works: Internet of Things (IoT)-based smart forest and navigation systems. It is expected that, with the various characteristics exposed in this paper, the current robotic forest systems will be improved, so that forest exploitation becomes more efficient and sustainable.


Author(s):  
Radosław Rogoziński ◽  
Alina Maciejewska

AbstractVarved clay deposits from ice-dammed lakes are a particularly important and broadly applied raw material used for the production of high-quality ceramics (red bricks, roof tiles, etc.), but the mineralogy and geochemistry of these sediments are not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to determine the chemical and mineralogical composition of ice-dammed lake sediments of the Lębork deposit. Major-element analysis of the compositions of selected samples from the ice-dammed lake clays was performed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and trace elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The mineralogical composition of clay samples was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Analyses of the chemical composition of the ice-dammed lake clays of the Lębork deposit showed that the dominant component was SiO2 with a mean content of 56.13 wt.%; the second most abundant component was Al2O3, with a mean content for the entire deposit of 11.61 wt.%. Analysis by ICP-MS indicated the presence of rare earth elements (REE), e.g. cerium, neodymium, lanthanum, and praseodymium; their mean contents are: 56.9, 27.0, 26.3, and 7.3 ppm, respectively. Mineralogical analysis of the varved clays identified quartz, muscovite, calcite, and clay minerals – illite, kaolinite, and montmorillonite. The material filling the Lębork basin is characterized by small lateral and vertical variability in chemical composition. The results of the present study may be of considerable importance in determining the parent igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, the weathering products of which supplied material to the ice-dammed lake, as well as in determining the mechanisms and character of the sedimentation process itself.


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