This research was carried out to evaluate the effects of flavone, myricetin, naringin, catechin, rutin, quercetin, and kaempferol at the concentration of 4.5% of the substrate (dry matter basis) on the rumen microbial activity in vitro. Mixture of guinea grass and concentrate (60 : 40) was used as the substrate. The results showed that all the flavonoids except naringin and quercetin significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the dry matter degradability. The gas production significantly (P < 0.05) decreased by flavone, myricetin, and kaempferol, whereas naringin, rutin, and quercetin significantly (P < 0.05) increased the gas production. The flavonoids suppressed methane production significantly (P < 0.05). The total VFA concentration significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the presence of flavone, myricetin, and kaempferol. All flavonoids except naringin and quercetin significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the carboxymethyl cellulase, filter paperase, xylanase, and β-glucosidase activities, purine content, and the efficiency of microbial protein synthesis. Flavone, myricetin, catechin, rutin, and kaempferol significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the population of rumen microbes. Total populations of protozoa and methanogens were significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed by naringin and quercetin. The results of this research demonstrated that naringin and quercetin at the concentration of 4.5% of the substrate (dry matter basis) were potential metabolites to suppress methane production without any negative effects on rumen microbial fermentation.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) belongs to the Iridaceae family. The stigma of saffron has been widely used as spice, medicinal plant, and food additive in the Mediterranean and Subtropical countries. Recently, attention has been paid to the identification of new sources of safe natural antioxidants for the food industry. The antioxidant activities of spices are mainly attributed to their phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Saffron is one of the spices believed to possess antioxidant properties, but information on its antioxidant activity and phenolic, flavonoids compound are rather limited, therefore this research was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant activity of saffron stigmas extracted with different solvents. The phenolic and flavonoid compounds of saffron were also examined using reversed phase (RP)-HPLC. Results showed that saffron stigma possess antioxidant activity. The free radical scavenging and ferric reducing power activities were higher for the methanolic extract of saffron stigma at a concentration of 300 μg/mL, with values of 68.2% and 78.9%, respectively, as compared to the corresponding boiling water and ethanolic extracts, but the activities were lower than those of antioxidant standards such as BHT and α-tocopherol. The obtained total phenolics value for methanolic saffron extract was 6.54 ± 0.02 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry weight (DW), and for total flavonoids, 5.88 ± 0.12 mg rutin equivalent/g DW, which were also higher than values obtained from the ethanolic and boiling water extracts. In addition, the RP-HPLC analyses indicated the presence of gallic acid and pyrogallol as two bioactive compounds. In summary, saffron stigmas showed antioxidant activity and methanol appeared to be the best solvent to extract the active components, among which the presence of gallic acid and pyrogallol might contribute towards the stigma’s antioxidant properties. Hence, saffron stigma could be applied as a natural antioxidant source for industrial purposes.

Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl (Thymelaceae) is commonly known as ‘Crown of God’, ‘Mahkota Dewa’, and ‘Pau’. It originates from Papua Island, Indonesia and it grows in tropical areas. Empirically, it is potent in treating the hypertensive, diabetic, cancer and diuretic patients. It has a long history of ethnopharmacological usage, and the lack of information about its biological activities led us to investigate the possible biological activities by characterisation of flavonoids and antimicrobial activity of various part of P. macrocarpa against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The results showed that kaempferol, myricetin, naringin, and rutin were the major flavonoids present in the pericarp while naringin and quercetin were found in the mesocarp and seed. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of different parts of P. macrocarpa fruit showed a weak ability to moderate antibacterial activity against pathogenic tested bacteria (inhibition range: 0.93–2.17 cm) at concentration of 0.3 mg/disc. The anti fungi activity was only found in seed extract against Aspergillus niger (1.87 cm) at concentration of 0.3 mg/well. From the results obtained, P. macrocarpa fruit could be considered as a natural antimicrobial source due to the presence of flavonoid compounds.

BackgroundPhaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl (Thymelaceae) originates from Papua Island, Indonesia and grows in tropical areas. The different parts of the fruit of P. macrocarpa were evaluated for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic activities.MethodsPhaleria macrocarpa fruit were divided into pericarp, mesocarp and seed. All parts of the fruit were reflux extracted with methanol. The antioxidant activity of the extracts were characterized in various in vitro model systems such as FTC, TBA, DPPH radical, reducing power and NO radical. Anti-inflammatory assays were done by using NO production by macrophage RAW 264.7 cell lines induced by LPS/IFN-γ and cytotoxic activities were determined by using several cancer cell lines and one normal cell lineResultsThe results showed that different parts (pericarp, mesocarp, and seed) of Phaleria macrocarpa fruit contain various amount of total phenolic (59.2 ± 0.04, 60.5 ± 0.17, 47.7 ± 1.04 mg gallic acid equivalent/g DW) and flavonoid compounds (161.3 ± 1.58, 131.7 ± 1.66, 35.9 ± 2.47 mg rutin equivalent/g DW). Pericarp and mesocarp showed high antioxidant activities by using DPPH (71.97%, 62.41%), ferric reducing antioxidant power (92.35%, 78.78%) and NO scavenging activity (65.68%, 53.45%). Ferric thiocyanate and thiobarbituric acid tests showed appreciable antioxidant activity in the percentage hydroperoxides inhibitory activity from pericarp and mesocarp in the last day of the assay. Similarly, the pericarp and mesocarp inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthesis with values of 63.4 ± 1.4% and 69.5 ± 1.4% in macrophage RAW 264.7 cell lines induced by LPS/IFN-γ indicating their notable anti-inflammatory potential. Cytotoxic activities against HT-29, MCF-7, HeLa and Chang cell lines were observed in all parts.ConclusionsThese results indicated the possible application of P. macrocarpa fruit as a source of bioactive compounds, potent as an antioxidant, anti inflammatory and cytotoxic agents.

Citrus plants are known to possess beneficial biological activities for human health. In addition, ethnopharmacological application of plants is a good tool to explore their bioactivities and active compounds. This research was carried out to evaluate the phenolic and flavonoid analysis, antioxidant properties, anti inflammatory and anti cancer activity of Citrus aurantium bloom. The total phenolics and flavonoids results revealed that methanolic extract contained high total phenolics and flavonoids compared to ethanolic and boiling water extracts. The obtained total phenolics value for methanolic Citrus aurantium bloom extract was 4.55 ± 0.05 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry weight (DW), and for total flavonoids it was 3.83 ± 0.05 mg rutin equivalent/g DW. In addition, the RP-HPLC analyses of phenolics and flavonoids indicated the presence of gallic acid, pyrogallol, syringic acid, caffeic acid, rutin, quercetin and naringin as bioactive compounds. The antioxidant activity of Citrus aurantium bloom were examined by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) assay and the ferric reducing/antioxidant potential (FRAP). The free radical scavenging and ferric reducing power activities were higher for the methanolic extract of Citrus aurantium bloom at a concentration of 300 μg/mL, with values of 55.3% and 51.7%, respectively, as compared to the corresponding boiling water and ethanolic extracts, but the activities were lower than those of antioxidant standards such as BHT and α-tocopherol. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory result of methanolic extract showed appreciable reduction in nitric oxide production of stimulated RAW 264.7 cells at the presence of plant extract. Apart from that, the anticancer activity of the methanolic extract was investigated in vitro against human cancer cell lines (MCF-7; MDA-MB-231), human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) and Chang cell as a normal human hepatocyte. The obtained result demonstrated the moderate to appreciable activities against all cell line tested and the compounds present in the extracts are non-toxic which make them suitable as potential therapeutics.

Defatted Jatropha curcas L. (J. curcas) seed kernels contained a high percentage of crude protein (61.8%) and relatively little acid detergent fiber (4.8%) and neutral detergent fiber (9.7%). Spectrophotometric analysis of the methanolic extract showed the presence of phenolics, flavonoids and saponins with values of 3.9, 0.4 and 19.0 mg/g DM, respectively. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses showed the presence of gallic acid and pyrogallol (phenolics), rutin and myricetin (flavonoids) and daidzein (isoflavonoid). The amount of phorbol esters in the methanolic extract estimated by HPLC was 3.0 ± 0.1 mg/g DM. Other metabolites detected by GC-MS include: 2-(hydroxymethyl)-2 nitro-1,3-propanediol, β-sitosterol, 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethy) and acetic acid in the methanolic extract; 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethy), acetic acid and furfural (2-furancarboxaldehyde) in the hot water extract. Methanolic and hot water extracts of kernel meal showed antimicrobial activity against both Gram positive and Gram negative pathogenic bacteria (inhibition range: 0–1.63 cm) at the concentrations of 1 and 1.5 mg/disc. Methanolic extract exhibited antioxidant activities that are higher than hot water extract and comparable to β-carotene. The extracts tended to scavenge the free radicals in the reduction of ferric ion (Fe3+) to ferrous ion (Fe2+). Cytotoxicity assay results indicated the potential of methanolic extract as a source of anticancer therapeutic agents toward breast cancer cells.

Heat stress compromises efficient poultry production by impairing growth performance and increasing mortality. Mechanisms to dissipate excess heat divert energy from efficient production. This includes increased energy expenditure for respiration, oxidative stress and micronutrient absorption. The fortification of diets with particular feed additives has been known as one of the most important approaches to minimize the negative impacts of heat stress on broiler production. In this context, the promising functional feed additives appeared to be selenium and vitamins E and C. The fortification of broiler diets with these feed additives has been proven to enhance the function of vital organs, immune system response and growth performance of broilers under heat stress. The current review highlights recent successful experiences in the alleviation of heat stress symptoms in broilers using the above-mentioned additives. Selenium and vitamins E and C enhanced production performance in broiler chickens challenged with acute heat stress. The combination of these additives, by employing multiple mechanisms and through synergistic effects, improves heat stress symptoms more efficiently than their individual forms. Emerging literature reveals that selenium and vitamins E and C are involved in close interactions to protect proteins and lipids from oxidative damage and boost immune system function.

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