Mentha arvensis L. and Mentha × piperita L. are herbal plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family and are widely cultivated for their essential oils and culinary uses. These herbs are commercially valuable mints used in the preparation of herbal formulations, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and in food industries. Due to the presence of potential secondary metabolites, mints were employed to treat various disorders since ancient times in traditional medicines. The extracts of M. arvensis and M. × piperita can improve the function of digestive system, central nervous system and respiratory system of the human body. Majority of the health benefits of these herbs are attributed by the essential oil components. In addition, the administration of M. arvensis and M. × piperita under various pathological conditions studied in vitro and in vivo facilitated the recovery of detrimental ailments. Due to the increasing demand for natural product-based medicines, research is focused on the utilization of phytochemicals to treat various ailments. In order to provide a comprehensive overview of health benefits of M. arvensis and M. × piperita, the present endeavor deals with the antioxidant property, anti-inflammatory property, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer activities of both species. However, a deeper knowledge on the specific metabolites of M. arvensis and M. × piperita and their mode of action against different disease targets will accelerate the discovery of novel natural drugs with less side effects and higher efficiency.
Biosurfactant rhamnolipids (RLs) have gained global interests owing to their fully green properties, potentially wide applications in diverse fields, as well as high stabilities under various harsh conditions. Nevertheless, we doubted the reputed stability of RLs in considering their natural structure of carbohydrate heads and lipid tails. This study, for the first time, systematically investigated the stability of RLs at varying temperatures and pH. As found, the concentration of RLs in an aqueous solution was significantly reduced when the pH was over 11 at room temperature, and this was much more severe with the increase in temperature and preservation time. According to the high-performance liquid chromatography−mass spectrometry (HPLC−MS) analysis, degradation yielded other RL congeners, 3-hydroxy fatty acids, rhamnose, methyl furfural, and organic acids. The newly generated RL congeners and fatty acids still possessed equivalent surface activities in reducing the surface tension of the aqueous solution, well explaining the previously claimed high stability of RLs. The finding will be greatly valued for commercially developing the industrial applications of RLs and other biosurfactants.
Correction for ‘New zinc(ii) dyes with enhanced two-photon absorption cross sections based on the imidazolyl ligand’ by Dan Liu et al., RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 77849–77853.
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