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Quinoa is a climate-resilient food grain crop that has gained significant importance in the last few years due to its nutritional composition, phytochemical properties and associated health benefits. Quinoa grain is enriched in amino acids, fiber, minerals, phenolics, saponins, phytosterols and vitamins. Quinoa possesses different human-health promoting biological substances and nutraceutical molecules. This review synthesizes and summarizes recent findings regarding the nutrition and phytochemical properties of quinoa grains and discusses the associated biological mechanisms. Quinoa grains and grain-based supplements are useful in treating different biological disorders of the human body. Quinoa is being promoted as an exceptionally healthy food and a gluten-free super grain. Quinoa could be used as a biomedicine due to the presence of functional compounds that may help to prevent various chronic diseases. Future research needs to explore the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical aspects of quinoa that might help to control different chronic diseases and to promote human health.

In the present work, sheets of Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.), manufactured by lamination from strips pre-treated with different treatments, were evaluated for their technological and fungal infestation properties (Aspergillus flavus AFl375, A. niger Ani245 and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Cgl311). The results showed that the highest values of tensile strength, tear strength, burst index and double-fold number were observed in papyrus sheets produced from strips treated with nano-cellulose (0.25%), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO 10%), Tylose (0.25%) and nano-cellulose (0.5%), with values of 98.90 N·m/g, 2343.67 mN·m2/g, 1162 kpa·m2/g and 8.33, respectively. The percentage of brightness ranged from 49.7% (strips treated with KOH 2% + 100 mL NaClO) to 9.6% (strips treated with Eucalyptus camaldulensis bark extract 2%), while the percentage of darkness ranged from 99.86% (strips treated with Salix babylonica leaf extract 2% or E. camaldulensis bark extract 0.5%) to 67.26% (strips treated with NaOH (2%) + 100 mL NaClO). From the SEM examination, sheets produced from treated strips with extracts from P. rigida and E. camaldulensis or S. babylonica showed no growths of A. flavus and C. gloeosporioides. Additionally, other pre-treatments, such as Nano-cellulose+Tylose 0.5% (1:1 v/v) and Tylose 0.5%, were also found to have no growth of A. niger. In conclusion, strips pre-treated with nanomaterials and extracts were enhanced in terms of the technological and antifungal properties of produced Papyrus sheets, respectively.

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Background: early blight disease caused by Alternaria solani is one of the most destructive diseases of the tomato, reducing tomato production globally. Methods: four fungal isolates were collected from four tomato cultivars and identified through morphological characterization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the internal transcript spacer (ITS) region. Plectranthus neochilus and Parthenocissus quinquefolia methanol extracts and the bioagents Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas fluorescens were used as antifungal agents in vitro and in vivo and compared with chlorothalonil, a reference chemical fungicide. HPLC analysis of the plant extracts was used to identify the main flavonoid compounds, namely, rutin and myricetin. Results: molecular characterization showed that the fungal isolates belonged to A. solani. The results of in vitro antifungal activity studies revealed that chlorothalonil, at a concentration of 2500 mg/L, showed the highest inhibition percentage of fungal growth (IPFG) against A. solani (84.4%), followed by the bioagents T. viride and P. fluorescens, with IPFG values of 72.9% and 67.9%, respectively. Moderate to weak activity was found against A. solani when P. neochilus and P. quinquefolia extracts were applied at a concentration of 2500 mg/L, with an IPFG value of 54% for both extracts. The results of in vivo spray application showed that T. viride and chlorothalonil, as well as P. fluorescens, significantly reduced the disease index of early blight, and followed by the P. neochilus and P. quinquefolia extracts. By HPLC, the flavonoid compounds rutin and myricetin were identified in P. neochilus (leaf) with amounts of 2429.60 and 75.92 mg/100 g of extract, and in P. quinquefolia (fruit), with amounts of 1891.60 and 241.06 mg/100 g of extract, respectively. Conclusions: the results of the bioactivity of plant extracts and the bioagents indicate a vital role as antifungal activity against A. solani.