The role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cancer cells is not limited to angiogenesis; there are also multiple factors, such as neuropilins (non-tyrosine kinases receptors), tyrosine kinases receptors, immunodeficiencies, and integrins, that interact with VEGF signaling and cause cancer initiation. By combating these factors, tumor progression can be inhibited or limited. Natural products are sources of several bioactive phytochemicals that can interact with VEGF-promoting factors and inhibit them through various signaling pathways, thereby inhibiting cancer growth. This review provides a deeper understanding of the relation and interaction of VEGF with cancer-promoting factors and phytochemicals in order to develop multi-targeted cancer prevention and treatment.

Truffles, the symbiotic hypogeous edible fungi, have been worldwide regarded as a great delicacy because of their unique flavor and high nutritional value. By identifying their bioactive components such as phenolics, terpenoids, polysaccharides, anandamide, fatty acids, and ergosterols, researchers have paid attention to their biological activities including antitumor, antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective activities. In addition, numerous factors have been investigating that can affect the quality and productivity of truffles to overcome their difficulty in culturing and preserving. To provide the information for their potential applications in medicine as well as in functional food, this review summarizes the relevant literature about the biochemical composition, aromatic and nutritional benefits, and biological properties of truffles. Besides, various factors affecting their productivity and quality as well as the preservation methods are also highlighted.

No abstract

No abstract

Ongoing research in the food industry is striving to replace wheat flour with new alternatives from sustainable sources to overcome the disease burden in the existing population. Celiac disease, wheat allergy, gluten sensitivity, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity are some common disorders associated with gluten present in wheat.These scientific findings are crucial to finding appropriate alternatives in introducing new ingredients supporting the consumer's requirements. Among the alternatives, amaranth, barley, coconut, chestnut, maize, millet, teff, oat, rye, sorghum, soy, rice flour, and legumes could be considered appropriate due to their chemical composition, bioactive profile, and alternatives utilization in the baking industry. Furthermore, the enrichment of these alternatives with proper ingredients is considered effective.Literature demonstrated that the flours from these alternative sources significantly enhanced the physicochemical, pasting, and rheological properties of the doughs.These flours boost a significant reduction in gluten proteins associated with food intolerance, in comparison with wheat highlighting a visible market opportunity with nutritional and organoleptic benefits for food producers. Practical applications• New alternatives from sustainable sources to wheat in bakery foods as an approach that affects human health.• Alternatives from sustainable sources are important source of nutrients and bioactive compounds.• Alternatives from sustainable sources are rising due to nutritional and consumer demand in bakery industry.• New alternatives from sustainable sources improve physicochemical, pasting, and rheological properties of dough.

Aim:The main aim of the study is to investigate the phytochemical screening of C. decapetala along with the content determination of different species of genus Caesalpinia with respect to their antidiabetic activity and identification of most bioactive species belonging to different origins. Methods: To achieve our goal different species of genus Caesalpinia collected from China and Pakistan were subjected to open column chromatography, High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), antioxidant, and antidiabetic assays for evaluation. Results: From η-BuOH fraction of C. decapetala extract, eight compounds were isolated using open column chromatography and identified as apigenin-7-rhamnoside (1), 4-O-methylepisappanol (2), caesalpinol (3), daucosterol (4), astragalin (5), kaempferol (6), quercitrin (7), and naringin (8) using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. HPLC analysis of different species of genus Caesalpinia showed that the most active antidiabetic compound 'quercitrin' was present more in C. pulcherrima followed by decreasing order in C. sappan, C.decapetala, and C. bonduc. Conclusion: The results indicated that quercitrin is the most bioactive content and C. pulcherrima is most bioactive specie of China origin from genus Caesalpinia.

High-throughput sequencing technologies (HSTs) have revolutionized crop breeding. The advent of these technologies has enabled the identification of beneficial quantitative trait loci (QTL), genes, and alleles for crop improvement. Climate change have made a significant effect on the global maize yield. To date, the well-known omic approaches such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics are being incorporated in maize breeding studies. These approaches have identified novel biological markers that are being utilized for maize improvement against various abiotic stresses. This review discusses the current information on the morpho-physiological and molecular mechanism of abiotic stress tolerance in maize. The utilization of omics approaches to improve abiotic stress tolerance in maize is highlighted. As compared to single approach, the integration of multi-omics offers a great potential in addressing the challenges of abiotic stresses of maize productivity.

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. C).Data were recorded by measuring germination rate, index, root length, and seed vigour index values. Five higher and three lower tolerant inbred lines were shortlisted. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance, while mean values were compared using Tukey's Honest Significant Difference Test at =0.05 and at =0.01. Using Genstat software, correlation was done. A strong correlation (P＜0.05) was found between germination rate and germination index under all stress conditions. Root length and vigour index were also strongly correlated with germination rate under 5 o C stress condition and compared to 10 o C and 23 o C stress conditions. Our results suggested that five (CO439, CO438, CO450, CO435, and CO445) among 22 maize inbred lines performed better under 5 o C cold stress condition and thus had the potential to develop maize hybrids to increase grain yield under environmentally stressful conditions in South Korea.