Antioxidant Properties of a Supercritical Fluid Extract of the Halophyte Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum L. from Sicilian Coasts: Nutraceutical and Cosmeceutical Applications

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to obtain different extracts from the aerial parts of Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum, comparing traditional extraction (using solvents with increasing polarity such as hexane, ethanol 80%, acetone 70% and water) with an eco-friendly technique (supercritical fluid extraction (SFE)); to evaluate which extract showed a higher amount of antioxidants and then evaluate the bioactive properties in vitro, in human fibroblast (HS68). From the six extracts obtained it was observed that the solvent with the highest extraction efficiency was water, but the extracts in ethanol, N-hexane and SFE are those that showed the highest antioxidant activity (polyphenols, 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and reducing power). On the basis of these results, the SFE extract was chosen to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-aging activity in vitro, by assessing cell vitality and molecular markers (MTT and immunoblotting assays). The results showed that the SFE extract exerted antioxidant activity in vitro, protecting cells from mortality induced by oxidative stress; this protection was also confirmed at the molecular level, by the levels of the protein integrin -1, that is able to prevent the negative effects of a stress situation, such as oxidative stress, that could promote aging and related diseases. This extract, obtained with an eco-friendly technique, given its beneficial properties, could be used for application in nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals.

Antioxidant Bioactivity of Extracts from Beach Cast Leaves of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile

“…Since it appears to be well documented the positive relationship between polyphenol content of plants extracts and their antioxidant activity in vitro [11,23,25,[61][62][63][64], the high content of total phenolic compounds found in Gd-E4 extract, may explain its activity against oxidative stress.…”

Supercritical Extraction of Red Propolis: Operational Conditions and Chemical Characterization

“…Bueno-Silva et al [ 69 ] evaluated the effect of season on chemical composition and found lower formononetin contents (78.76 to 112.78 μg/g) than those found in this study for ethanolic extract of red propolis of the same origin. This may demonstrate that SFE (CO 2 as the solvent and ethanol as the cosolvent) may be an important and promising technology for obtaining red propolis extracts with potential for nutraceutical and cosmetic applications [ 70 ]. In the present study, it was possible to demonstrate that ethanol (as a cosolvent) played a role by causing an increase in the polarity and eluting power of supercritical CO 2 , maintaining the same process parameters without significantly changing selectivity.…”

In Vitro Bioactivity of Astaxanthin and Peptides from Hydrolisates of Shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) By-Products: From the Extraction Process to Biological Effect Evaluation, as Pilot Actions for the Strategy “From Waste to Profit”

“…The total antioxidant power of PH and Pep was measured using the DPPH assay [ 66 , 67 , 68 ]. A total of 0.4 mL of different Pep, at concentration of 1, 2, and 4 mg/mL, was prepared by diluting the stock solutions in absolute ethanol (30 mg/mL); they were then mixed with 1.6 mL of 100 μM DPPH in 96% ethanol to start the reaction.…”

“…Different concentrations of Pep (25, 50, and 75 µg/mL dissolved in sterile distilled water and filtered in 0.22 µm Millipore membrane) (Millex ® Merck Millipore, Darmstadt, Germany), were added to cells and incubated for 48 h. After 48 h, all samples except for the control were exposed to the chemical promoter of oxidative stress, hydrogen peroxide (50 µM) (Carlo Erba reagents, Milano, Italy), according to a previously standardized protocol [ 11 , 66 , 68 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 ]. The viability was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, according to Mossman’s method [ 77 ], as reported by Messina et al [ 11 ].…”