Antioxidant activity applying an improved ABTS radical cation decolorization assay.

Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain—3-Dimensional Proportional System: An Approach to Cerebral Imaging, J. Talairach, P. Tournoux. Georg Thieme Verlag, New York (1988), 122 pp., 130 figs. DM 268

The use of and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have accelerated in recent years. Ethnopharmacologists, botanists, microbiologists, and natural-products chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and “leads” which could be developed for treatment of infectious diseases. While 25 to 50% of current pharmaceuticals are derived from plants, none are used as antimicrobials. Traditional healers have long used plants to prevent or cure infectious conditions; Western medicine is trying to duplicate their successes. Plants are rich in a wide variety of secondary metabolites, such as tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, which have been found in vitro to have antimicrobial properties. This review attempts to summarize the current status of botanical screening efforts, as well as in vivo studies of their effectiveness and toxicity. The structure and antimicrobial properties of phytochemicals are also addressed. Since many of these compounds are currently available as unregulated botanical preparations and their use by the public is increasing rapidly, clinicians need to consider the consequences of patients self-medicating with these preparations.

Plant Products as Antimicrobial Agents

http://www.dietcan.net/docs/Polifenoles%20en%20alimentos%20y%20biodisponibilidad.pdf

Polyphenols: food sources and bioavailability

This review summarizes the multifaceted aspects of antioxidants and the basic kinetic models of inhibited autoxidation and analyzes the chemical principles of antioxidant capacity assays. Depending upon the reactions involved, these assays can roughly be classified into two types:  assays based on hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) reactions and assays based on electron transfer (ET). The majority of HAT-based assays apply a competitive reaction scheme, in which antioxidant and substrate compete for thermally generated peroxyl radicals through the decomposition of azo compounds. These assays include inhibition of induced low-density lipoprotein autoxidation, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), total radical trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP), and crocin bleaching assays. ET-based assays measure the capacity of an antioxidant in the reduction of an oxidant, which changes color when reduced. The degree of color change is correlated with the sample's antioxidant concentrations. ET-based assays include th...

The Chemistry behind Antioxidant Capacity Assays

Iridoid Glucosides From Lamium Garganicum Flowers

Two new bisiridoid glucosides, radiatoside B and C, together with the known compounds mussaenosidic acid and geniposidic acid, were isolated from the aerial parts of ARGYLIA RADIATA. The structures of the new compounds were established by spectroscopic methods.

Radiatoside B and C, Two New Bisiridoid Glucosides from Argylia radiata1.

10-Deoxymelittoside, an iridoid diglucoside, and other iridoids from lamiastrum galeobdolon

P. C. Calder, R. Albers, J.-M. Antoine, S. Blum, R. Bourdet-Sicard, G. A. Ferns, G. Folkerts, P. S. Friedmann, G. S. Frost, F. Guarner, M. Lovik, S. Macfarlane, P. D. Meyer, L. M’Rabet, M. Serafini, W. van Eden, J. van Loo, W. vas Dias, S. Vidry, B. M. Winklhofer-Roob and J. Zhao School of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 7PX, UK, Unilever Health Institute, 3130 AC, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands, Danone Vitapole, Palaiseau 91767, France, Nestle Research Centre, Lausanne 26, Switzerland, School of Biomedical & Molecular Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK, Department of Pharmacology & Pathophysiology, University of Utrecht, 3508 TB, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Digestive System Research Unit, Hospital General Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain, Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Nydalen, 0403 Oslo, Norway, Division of Pathology and Neuroscience, Dundee University, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK, Sensus, 4804 RA, Roosendall, The Netherlands, Numico-Research, 6700 CA, Wageningen, The Netherlands, Unit of Human Nutrition, National Institute for Nutrition, 00178 Roma, Italy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, 5384 CL, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Raffinerie Tirlemontoise Orafti, 3300 Tienen, Belgium, Seven Seas Ltd, Marfleet, Hull HU9 5NJ, UK, ILSI Europe, 1200 Brussels, Belgium, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria and Yakult Europe, 1332 EN, Almere, The Netherlands

/pdf/nutrition-and-inflammatory-processes-4wrix60y1f.pdf

Mauro Serafini

Papers

Iridoid Glucosides From Lamium Garganicum Flowers

Radiatoside B and C, Two New Bisiridoid Glucosides from Argylia radiata1.

10-Deoxymelittoside, an iridoid diglucoside, and other iridoids from lamiastrum galeobdolon

Nutrition and Inflammatory Processes

The role of Traditional Knowledge in the Safety Assessment of Botanical Food Supplements – Requirements for Manufacturers