This study was performed to understand the characteristics and biological activities of phenolics in tomatoes and to examine the effect of tomato on the regulation of blood lipids. Tomatoes of both big and small sizes were used fresh, after blanching, or after blanching and heating. Moreover, a human clinical trial was conducted to examine plasma antioxidation, status of blood lipids, and phenolic responses after ingestion of fresh tomato, tomato juice, and a lycopene drink. The contents of tomato phenolics were increased by 34% for small tomato and by 23% for big tomato after treatment by blanching and heating at 100 degrees C for 30 min. Tomato phenolics showed fair antioxidant activity (57-71%) and also synergistically promoted the antioxidation (81-100%) of tomato carotenoids. In the human clinical study, total antioxidant capacity and phenolic contents in plasma were increased after administration of fresh tomato and tomato juice, but no significant difference was found for lycopene drink consumption. Triglyceride levels and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased after administration of fresh tomato and tomato juice, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was increased.

Leukopenia and immunity impairment usually occur during cancer therapy. Citronellol, an oil soluble compound derived from the geranium, has anticancer and antiinflammatory properties, as well as promoting wound healing. Ganoderma lucidum, Codonopsis pilosula and Angelicae sinensis are traditional Chinese herbs, all of which have proven immunomodulatory functions in laboratory-based research. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study examined whether the Chinese medicinal herb complex (CCMH; a mixture of citronellol and extracts of G. lucidum, C. pilosula and A. sinensis) improves the immune cell counts of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. A total of 105 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy were enrolled. The quantities of immune cells in the blood of the subjects were determined before and after 6 weeks of cancer treatment, with either CCMH or a placebo. CCMH significantly reduced the depletion of leukocytes (14.2% compared with 28.2%) and neutrophils (11.0% compared with 29.1%). Analysis of the lymphocyte phenotype revealed that the patients receiving the placebo had reduced CD4 lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells than the CCMH-treated patients. Treatment with CCMH for patients receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy may improve their immune function, improving their ability to fight off the cancer, as well as any secondary infections that could compromise their treatment and their health.

Betel quid is a popular masticatory in Taiwan. Fresh unripe areca fruit, the fruit of Areca catechu Linn., is the main ingredient of betel quid. In this study, the information on the measurements of phenolics and alkaloids in A. catechu Linn. was obtained. The phenolics in A. catechu Linn. were mainly distributed in root followed by fresh unripe fruit, leaf, spike, and vein, while the contents of alkaloids in A. catechu Linn. were in the order of root, fresh unripe fruit, spike, leaf, and vein. Total amounts of phenolics in areca fruit were well correlated with the length and maturation, but those of alkaloids were only correlated with the maturation. Upside-down areca fruit, areca fruit growing upward (opposite to normal fruits, growing downward), contained a much higher amount of arecaidine (4 mg/g of fresh wt) than normal fresh unripe areca fruit (1.5 mg/g of fresh wt). Tender shoot, the upper young stem of the tree, cooked as a delicious syrup, contained a small amount of total phenolics (0.58 mg of gallic acid equiv/g of fresh wt), condensed tannin (0.85 mg of catechin equiv/g of fresh wt), and total alkaloids (2.38 mg/g of fresh wt). Keywords: Areca catechu Linn.; phenolics; alkaloids; areca fruit; maturation; upside-down areca fruit; tender shoot

Propolis is a bee wax rich in various phytocomponents and traditionally used to treat various ailments. Propolis is reported to possess an array of biological properties including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic as well as cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, renoprotective, and derma protective activities. A plethora of studies confirmed that propolis is effective against various types of cancer including head and neck, lung, liver, brain (glioma), pancreas, kidney, prostate, skin (melanoma), breast, oral, esophagus, gastric, colorectal, and bladder cancers. However, many researchers have demonstrated that propolis displays potent chemoprotective/chemopreventive or anti-cancer activity against only a few types of cancers like oral, gastrointestinal, dermal (melanoma), breast, and prostate cancers. Therefore, this mini-review only summarizes the chemopreventive/chemotherapeutic activities of propolis and its updated underlying mechanisms. Taken together, propolis displays potent chemoprotective or anti-cancer effect due to the presence of various phytocomponents which contribute to pro-apoptotic, cytotoxic, anti-proliferative (cell cycle arrest), anti-metastatic, anti-invasive, anti-angiogenic and anti-genotoxic or anti-mutagenic properties along with antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory functions. Hence, propolis could be used as an adjuvant for treating various cancers along with standard chemotherapeutic drugs. However, many large-scale clinical studies are needed to justify such applications.

Fresh unripe areca fruit is the main ingredient of betel quid in Taiwan. The phenolics in whole fresh areca fruit involved condensed tannins (92 mg/g of dry wt), hydrolyzable tannins (69 mg/g of dry wt), non-tannin flavans (84 mg/g of dry wt) and simple phenolics (56 mg/g of dry wt). For liquid chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 gels were used to separate the condensed tannin and noncondensed tannin phenol fractions from the crude phenolic extract of areca fruit. The condensed tannin phenol fraction was rich in condensed tannins and simple phenolics. The noncondensed tannin phenol fraction contained abundant non-tannin flavans (catechin, epicatechin). The crude phenolic extract of areca fruit and its two separated fractions exhibited marked antioxidative activity and an antimutagenic effect on 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline toward Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100, did not induce chromosomal aberration, and increased the frequency of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) in CHO-K1 cells. Keywords: Phenolics; areca fruit; antioxidative activity; antimutagenicity; SCE