Introduction: Nutrition is an important aspect of public health because it is linked to many significant diseases and health problems. This work is part of the promotion of traditional foods from the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in the province of Bandundu, by assessing the antioxidant capacity of 4 unconventional green leafy vegetables and determining their microscopic features and their chromatographic fingerprints. Materials and Methods: Methanolic extracts from leaves of traditional vegetables were characterized for their chemical fingerprint by TLC, HPLC-DAD and their in vitro antioxidant activities using ABTS, DPPH assays. Results: The microscopic analysis of the powder of leaves showed that each species presents characteristic elements allowing their distinction. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, terpenes, steroids and quinones in all species. However, Entada gigas and Psophocarpus scandens also contain alkaloids, Salacia pynaertii and Tetrochirdium congolenses also contain anthocyanins. All extracts displayed a good radical-scavenging activity at the concentration range 1 -60 µg/mL in the following order: S. pynaertii > T. congolense > E. gigas > P. scandens. S. pynaretii and T. congolense extracts showed significant antioxidant activity compared to quercetin, and this activity may depend on a synergic effect of several polyphenolic compounds. Conclusion: The high nutritive value of these traditional vegetables associated with their important antioxidant activities could contribute to diversifying diets for increased antioxidant consumption for Bandundu's population, and could provide benefits for protection against oxidative damage under different conditions including konzo.
Nutrition is an important aspect of public health because it is linked to many significant diseases and health problems. This work is part of the promotion of traditional foods from the Democratic Republic of Congo in general and in the province of Bandundu, in particular by assessing the selenium content and the antioxidant capacity of wild edible mushrooms. Methanolic extracts from selected mushrooms were characterized for their chemical fingerprint by TLC and their in vitro antioxidant activities using ABTS, DPPH assays. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, free amines, steroids and terpenes in all species. However, Auricularia delicata and Pleurotus tuberregium contain flavonoids. All extracts displayed a good radical-scavenging activity at the concentration range 1 -300 µg/mL in the following order:Auricularia delicata > Lentinus cf cladopus > Pleurotus tuberregium > Marasmius buzungolo > Schizophillum commune. Studied mushrooms showed the interest quantity of selenium and L. cf cladodus had the highest concentration. Moderate selenium content of these wild mushrooms associated with their important antioxidant activities could provide health benefits to Bandundu's populations in protecting against oxidative damage under different conditions including konzo.
Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) is a selenoprotein with biological properties that allow the detoxification of endogenous or exogenous reactive oxygen species as well as the elimination of xenobiotic compounds in the cells. Due to its isoform activities and pathophysiological functions, GPx holds the status of a redox system (GSH/ GSSG) in the glutathione (GSH) system to prevent oxidative damage of cellular constituents. As such, the GPx is the first line of defense against free radicals. Its deficiency causes oxidative stress that not only promotes the oxidation of proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) but also leads to insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, inflammation, and metabolic alterations, which expose to high risk for cardiometabolic disorders due to cardiovascular and degenerative diseases especially when associated with aging. This work presents a review of different studies done on the localization of GPx in subcellular organelles, activity changes during cellular aging, their effects on cardiometabolic risks, and associated diseases.
Insects are part of the regular diet of more than two billion people around the world and are not only delicacies. Insects provide great opportunities to replace meals but can have important additional benefits as well. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), caterpillars are the most consumed insects, and they are consumed by more than 70% of the population throughout the year. The aim of this research was to report the microscopic features, mineral micronutrients, chromatographic fingerprints, antioxidant activities and peroxidase inhibition of edible Congolese caterpillars of the genus Cinabra, Imbrasia and Gonimbrasia from DRC. Microscopic analysis showed the presence of characteristic features, specific to each host plant of caterpillars, such as palisade cells, stomata, trichomes, sclereids, fibres, vessels, pollen and starch grains. Phytochemical screening by chromatographic techniques revealed the presence of phenolic acids, flavonoids and terpenes as major secondary metabolites. Elemental analysis on dry matter showed that studied caterpillars are insects containing significant amounts of micronutrients such as copper, magnesium, manganese, selenium and zinc. Gonimbrasia belina had the highest selenium, magnesium and zinc content (0.12 g/100 g, 0.17 g/100 g and 0.011 g/100 g, respectively) than Cirina forda, Cinabra hyperbius, Imbrasia truncata and Imbrasia sp., C. forda and Imbrasia sp. had the highest copper content (0.003 g/100 g). C. forda had the highest manganese content (0.006 g/100 g). All aqueous extracts displayed high radical-scavenging activities with IC50 values ranging from 10 to 80 μg/ml. Extracts showed the best cellular antioxidant activities on reactive oxygen species-induced chemiluminescence using L012 on human leucocytes 60 monocytes related to their IC50 values less than 0.5 μg/ml. In specific immuno-extraction followed by enzymatic detection of myeloperoxidase assay, all extracts of caterpillars exhibited a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on myeloperoxidase activity in the range concentrations of 1 to 20 μg/ml excepted extracts of Imbrasia epimethea, Imbrasia sp. and I. truncata. Our results showed that insects are not only valuable source of lipids, proteins and micronutrients such as selenium but also are sources of phytochemicals with therapeutic benefits.
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