A liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method with selected ion monitoring was developed and validated to analyze the contents of protodioscin and rutin in asparagus. The distribution of rutin and protodioscin within the shoots was found to vary by location, with the tissue closest to the rhizome found to be a rich source of protodioscin, at an average level of 0.025% tissue fresh weight in the three tested lines, while the upper youngest shoot tissue contained the highest amount of rutin at levels of 0.03-0.06% tissue fresh weight. The lower portions of the asparagus shoots that are discarded during grading and processing should instead be considered a promising source of a new value-added nutraceutical product.
Two oligofurostanosides were isolated from the seeds of Asparagus officinalis L and their structures characterized as 3-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-(alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl- (1-->4))-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-26-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-(25R) -22 alpha-methoxyfurost-5-ene-3 beta,26-diol(methyl protodioscin) and its corresponding 22 alpha-hydroxy analogue (protodioscin). The structural identification was performed using detailed analysis of 1H- and 13C-NMR spectra including two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy (COSY, HMQC, NOESY and HMBC), and chemical conversions. These two compounds have been shown to inhibit the growth of human leukemia HL-60 cells in culture and macromolecular synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory effect on DNA synthesis was found to be irreversible.
The impact of a manually operated energy curtain on the recorded nighttime inside air and soil temperatures, relative humidity (RH), and daily light integrals during early-season high tunnel tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) production in central and southern New Jersey were examined. Environmental data (air and soil temperatures, RH, and photosynthetically active radiation) were collected from late March through mid-May at two New Jersey locations for the 2004 and 2005 growing seasons. The continued impact of the early use of an energy curtain was further evaluated by collecting light, temperature, and marketable fruit yield data for the remainder of both growing seasons for one of the two experimental sites. Results showed that although the use of the curtain modestly increased early season nighttime inside air and soil temperatures and RH, the curtain reduced accumulated light integral during the first 7 weeks after transplanting and resulted in a marginal early yield increase. The main benefit of the energy curtain occurred on cold nights when an early season crop might otherwise be exposed to potentially damaging low temperatures.
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