Bioactivity and chemical characterization in hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds of Chenopodium ambrosioides L

TLDR: The studied plant proved to be a good source of natural antioxidants and other bioactive compounds, which may have industrial use, and is the first detailed chemical characterization and bioactivity evaluation of C. ambrosioides methanolic extract and infusion.

About: This article is published in Journal of Functional Foods.The article was published on 2013-10-01 and is currently open access. It has received 257 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Chenopodium ambrosioides.

Figures

Table 1. Bioactive properties of the methanolic extract and infusion of wild Chenopodium ambrosioides.

Table 2. Chemical composition in hydrophilic compounds- sugars and organic acids- of wild Chenopodium ambrosioides.

Figure 1. HPLC phenolic profile of Chenopodium ambrosiodes, obtained at 370 nm (A) and 280 nm (B) for flavonoids and phenolic acids, respectively.

Table 4. Chemical composition in lipophilic compounds of wild Chenopodium ambrosioides.

Table 3. Retention time (Rt), wavelengths of maximum absorption in the UV-vis region (λmax), pseudomolecular and MS2 fragment ions (in brackets, relative abundances), identification and quantification of phenolic compounds in wild C. ambrosiodes.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What contributions have the authors mentioned in the paper "Bioactivity and chemical characterization in hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds of chenopodium ambrosioides l" ?

In this paper, the authors characterized the chemical composition of C. ambrosioides in hydrophilic ( sugars, organic acids and phenolic compounds ) and lipophilic ( fatty acids and tocopherols ) molecules, as well as some bioactive properties ( antioxidant and antitumour activities, and hepatotoxicity ) of its infusion and methanolic extract. 

Q2. What are the mechanisms of antioxidants in C. ambrosioides?

They act as antioxidants through various mechanisms, including hydrogen donating reactions, metal chelation, and up-regulation or protection of antioxidant defenses (e.g. intracellular glutathione levels) (Pereira et al.,2013). 

Q3. What is the abundant phenolic compound in the plant?

Flavonoids were the major phenolic compounds present in this sample (768 mg/100 g dw), being quercetin (46.98%) and kaempferol derivatives (45.91%) the most abundant. 

Q4. What cell lines were used for the study?

Five human tumour cell lines were used: MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), NCI-H460 (non-small cell lung cancer), HCT-15 (colon carcinoma), HeLa (cervical carcinoma) and HepG2 (hepatocellular carcinoma). 

Q5. What is the prominent PUFA in the Western diet?

Linoleic acid is the most prominent PUFA in the Western diet and previous studies showed health benefits under the prevention of cancer diseases (Whelan, 2008). 

Q6. What is the way to evaluate the antioxidant activity of C. ambrosioides?

Trolox and ellipticine were used as positive controls of antioxidant and antitumour activities evaluation assays, respectively, but comparison with the samples should be avoided, because they are individual compounds and not mixtures. 

Q7. What are the main diseases associated with the production of free radicals?

Relevant diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cirrhosis, heart disease or dementia disorders, as well as aging process have been associated with the uncontrolled production of free radicals (Valko et al., 2007; Halliwell, 2012). 

Q8. What was the purpose of the MS detector?

The MS detector was programmed for recording in two consecutive modes: Enhanced MS (EMS) and enhanced product ion (EPI) analysis. 

Q9. What were the compounds found in the extract?

Among them, five compounds (peaks 1-3, 5 and 9) were p-coumaric acid derivatives identified according to their UV spectra and pseudomolecular ion. 

Q10. What is the abundant p-coumaric acid?

Phenolic acids were 6.58% of the total phenolic compounds in this sample and trans p-coumaric acid was the most abundant one (25.65 mg/100 g dw, peak 9). 

Q11. What was the method used for the analysis?

The analysis was carried out with a DANI model GC 1000 instrument equipped with a split/splitless injector, a flame ionization detector (FID at 260 ºC) and a Macherey– Nagel (Düren, Germany) column (50% cyanopropyl-methyl-50% phenylmethylpolysiloxane, 30 m × 0.32 mm i.d. × 0.25 μm df). 

Q12. What is the m/z of the fragments?

The fragments ions at m/z 447 and 285 would correspond to the respective losses of the pentosyl and hexosyl moieties, respectively. 

Q13. What was the ion pattern of peak 4?

Peak 4 was associated to a feruloyl pentoside acid based on its molecular ion fragmentation pattern similar to peak 1, whereas no precise identity could be established for peak 6.