No abstract

This study was conducted to test the effectiveness of a particular bitter melon peptide (BMP), with a specific sequence of 19 amino acids (mcIRBP-19), in regulating diabetic patients’ blood glucose. In order to test the product with the specially processed BMP, a total of 142 diabetic patients were solicited as study subjects, of which 64 were assigned to an experiment group and 78 to a control group. Biochemical data were compared with a paired t-test to verify the significance of changes over different time periods. The clinical results showed that BMP started to improve the subjects’ glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels at the end of the second month (T2), with mean values being significantly lowered from 7.8 ± 1.4% (T0) to 7.5 ± 1.4% (T2) (p = 0.004). The values reduced continuously, eventually reaching 7.4 ± 1.1% (p = 0.000) at the end of the experiment (T3). HbA1c levels for the control group were 7.5 ± 1.2% in T0 and 7.5 ± 1.1% (T3), and not significantly different (p = 0.852) over the same period. This study provides clinical evidence that helps to verify the effectiveness of the new BMP product in regulating diabetic patients’ blood sugar levels.

The potential antimicrobial activity of the insoluble fibre prepared from the pomace of Averrhoa carambola and the effects of micron technology on its antimicrobial activity were investigated. Particle sizes reduction (from > 29 to 14.3 mu m) by micronization significantly increased the levels of measurable condensed tannins and antimicrobial effects. Antimicrobial assays revealed that the micronization treatment could increase the inhibitory and bactericidal activities of the micronized fibre (14.3 mu m) by 2-8-fold and similar to 2-4-fold, respectively. The micronization treatment might therefore provide an opportunity to improve the antimicrobial activity of the fibre sample, particularly against the Bacillus cereus BCRC 10603 and Salmonella choleraesuis BCRC 12948. These results suggested that the supplementation of this micronized fibre, as a natural antimicrobial ingredient, in foods and diets might help inhibit adverse microbial growth in food products (as well as gastrointestinal tract), and hence increase the shelf life or improve the food safety

Graphical abstract Highlights Crassocephalum rabens is a vegetable and ethnomedicinal plant, as for treating a variety of inflammation-related syndromes, in Taiwan. In the acute toxicity study, the extract of C. rabens was considered non-toxic with a LD50 > 5,000 mg/kg BW. In the sub-acute toxicity study, the no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) of the extract of C. rabens in rats was > 1,666.7 mg/kg BW.

No abstract