Severinia buxifolia (Rutaceae) is a promising source of bioactive compounds since it has been traditionally used for the treatment of various diseases. The present study aimed at evaluating the impact of different solvents on extraction yields, phytochemical constituents and antioxidants, and in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of S. buxifolia. The results showed that the used solvents took an important role in the yield of extraction, the content of chemical components, and the tested biological activities. Methanol was identified as the most effective solvent for the extraction, resulting in the highest extraction yield (33.2%) as well as the highest content of phenolic (13.36 mg GAE/g DW), flavonoid (1.92 mg QE/g DW), alkaloid (1.40 mg AE/g DW), and terpenoids (1.25%, w/w). The extract obtained from methanol exhibited high capacity of antioxidant (IC50 value of 16.99 μg/mL) and in vitro anti-inflammatory activity (i.e., albumin denaturation: IC50 = 28.86 μg/mL; antiproteinase activity: IC50 = 414.29 μg/mL; and membrane stabilization: IC50 = 319 μg/mL). The antioxidant activity of the S. buxifolia extract was found to be 3-fold higher than ascorbic acid, and the anti-inflammatory activity of S. buxifolia extract was comparable to aspirin. Therefore, methanol is recommended as the optimal solvent to obtain high content of phytochemical constituents as well as high antioxidants and in vitro anti-inflammatory constituents from the branches of S. buxifolia for utilization in pharmacognosy.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the most important food crops worldwide and its leaves provide a dietary source of nutrients and various bioactive compounds. These constituents of sweet potato leaves (SPL) vary among varieties and play important roles in treating and preventing various diseases. Recently, more attentions in health-promoting benefits have led to several in vitro and in vivo investigations, as well as the identification and quantification of bioactive compounds in SPL. Among them, many new compounds have been reported as the first identified compounds from SPL with their dominant bioactivities. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the bioactive compositions of SPL and their health benefits. Since SPL serve as a potential source of micronutrients and functional compounds, they can be further developed as a sustainable crop for food and medicinal industries.

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Abiotic stresses affect crop plants and cause decreases in plant quality and productivity. Plants can overcome environmental stresses by activating molecular networks, including signal transduction, stress perception, metabolite production and expressions of specific stress-related genes. Recent research suggests that chemical priming is a promising field in crop stress management because plants can be primed by chemical agents to increase their tolerance to various environmental stresses. We present a concept to meet this objective and protect plants through priming of existing defense mechanisms avoiding manipulation of the genome. In addition, recent developments in plant molecular biology include the discovery of genes related to stress tolerance, including functional genes for protecting cells and regulatory genes for regulating stress responses. Therefore, enhancing abiotic stress tolerance using a transgenic approach to transfer these genes into plant genomes has attracted more investigations. Both chemical priming agents and genetic engineering can enhance regulatory and functional genes in plants and increase stress tolerance of plants. This review summarizes the latest findings of chemical priming agents and major achievements in molecular approaches that can potentially enhance the abiotic stress tolerance of plants.

Contaminants in water bodies cause potential health risks for humans and great environmental threats. Therefore, the development and exploration of low-cost, promising adsorbents to remove contaminants from water resources as a sustainable option is one focus of the scientific community. Here, we conducted a critical review regarding the application of pristine and modified/treated biosorbents derived from leaves for the removal of various contaminants. These include potentially toxic cationic and oxyanionic metal ions, radioactive metal ions, rare earth elements, organic cationic and anionic dyes, phosphate, ammonium, and fluoride from water media. Similar to lignocellulosebased biosorbents, leaf-based biosorbents exhibit a low specific surface area and total pore volume but have abundant surface functional groups, high concentrations of light metals, and a high net surface charge density. The maximum adsorption capacity of biosorbents strongly depends on the operation conditions, experiment types, and adsorbate nature. The absorption mechanism of contaminants onto biosorbents is complex; therefore, typical experiments used to identify the primary mechanism of the adsorption of contaminants onto biosorbents were thoroughly discussed. It was concluded that byproduct leaves are renewable, biodegradable, and promising biosorbents which have the potential to be used as a low-cost green alternative to commercial activated carbon for effective removal of various contaminants from the water environment in the real-scale plants.

Liquid lipase-catalyzed esterification of fatty acids with methanol is a promising process for biodiesel production. However, water by-product from this process favors the reverse reaction, thus reducing the reaction yield. To address this, superabsorbent polymer (SAP) was used as a water-removal agent in the esterification in this study. SAP significantly enhanced the conversion yield compared with the reaction without SAP. The lipase-catalyzed esterification in the presence of SAP was then optimized by response surface methodology to maximize the reaction conversion. A maximum conversion of 96.73% was obtained at a temperature of 35.25 • C, methanol to oleic acid molar ratio of 3.44:1, SAP loading of 10.55%, and enzyme loading of 11.98%. Under these conditions, the Eversa Transform lipase could only be reused once. This study suggests that the liquid lipase-catalyzed esterification of fatty acids using SAP as a water-removal agent is an efficient process for producing biodiesel.