Insights into the Phytochemical and Multifunctional Biological Profile of Spices from the Genus Piper

Abstract

Piper spices represent an inexhaustible reservoir of bioactive compounds that may act as drug leads in natural product research. The aim of this study was to investigate a series of methanolic fruit extracts obtained from P. nigrum (black, green, white and red), P. longum and P. retrofractum in comparative phytochemical and multi-directional biological (antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-enzymatic and anti-melanogenic) assays. The metabolite profiling revealed the presence of 17 piperamides, with a total content of 247.75–591.42 mg piperine equivalents/g. Among the 22 tested microorganism strains, Piper spices were significantly active (MIC < 0.1 mg/mL) against the anaerobes Actinomyces israelii and Fusobacterium nucleatum. The antioxidant and anti-enzymatic activities were evidenced in DPPH (10.64–82.44 mg TE/g) and ABTS (14.20–77.60 mg TE/g) radical scavenging, CUPRAC (39.94–140.52 mg TE/g), FRAP (16.05–77.00 mg TE/g), chelating (0–34.80 mg EDTAE/g), anti-acetylcholinesterase (0–2.27 mg GALAE/g), anti-butyrylcholinesterase (0.60–3.11 mg GALAE/g), anti-amylase (0.62–1.11 mmol ACAE/g) and anti-glucosidase (0–1.22 mmol ACAE/g) assays. Several Piper extracts (10 μg/mL) inhibited both melanin synthesis (to 32.05–60.65% of αMSH+ cells) and release (38.06–45.78% of αMSH+ cells) in αMSH-stimulated B16F10 cells, partly explained by their tyrosinase inhibitory properties. Our study uncovers differences between Piper spices and sheds light on their potential use as nutraceuticals or cosmeceuticals for the management of different diseases linked to bacterial infections, Alzheimer’s dementia, type 2 diabetes mellitus or hyperpigmentation.

Phytochemical Characterization and Evaluation of the Antioxidant and Anti-Enzymatic Activity of Five Common Spices: Focus on Their Essential Oils and Spent Material Extractives

“…Lastly, black pepper extracts showed a homogenous TPC trend, with amounts between 31.50 (BpH) and 37.01 mg GAE/g (BbMW); a significantly lower TFC, ranging from 2.31 (BpMW) and 6.97 mg RE/g (BpM), was noticed. These results are in agreement with previous literature reports; for instance, different black pepper methanolic extracts displayed total phenolics and flavonoids levels between 36.71 and 58.90 mg GAE/g and 5.42 and 18.37 mg RE/g, respectively [56,66].…”

“…Among them, piperine, piperlonguminine, pellitorine, pipernonaline, retrofractamide B, guineensine, and N-isobutyldodecadienamide are some of the most notable congeners. A similar chemical composition was documented in previous literature data for different black pepper extracts [55][56][57].…”

“…The reducing properties of black pepper extracts varied from 51.22 (BpM) to 176.06 mg TE/g (BpEO) in the CUPRAC assay, while in the FRAP assay activity values from 14.11 (LaH) to 435.97 mg TE/g (LaEO) were noticed. In our previous study on Piper species, the methanolic extracts were shown to be active in both CUPRAC and FRAP assays, their reducing capacity varying from 37.36 to 140.52 mg TE/g, and from 16.05 to 77.00 mg TE/g, respectively [56]. Moreover, a comprehensive report on antioxidant effects of 39 spices revealed the reducing potency (as evaluated by CUPRAC method) of methanol extracts obtained from cinnamon (53.65 mg TE/g), cumin (1.71 mg TE/g), clove (54.47 mg TE/g), laurel (11.34 mg TE/g), and black pepper (2.09 mg TE/g) [73].…”

“…It was shown that the residual water derived from laurel essential oil distillation possesses notable chelating ability (16 mg EDTAE/g). Using similar experimental settings, Luca et al [56] found that black pepper methanolic extracts acted as iron chelators (12.35-21.54 mg EDTAE/g). Hydroalcoholic cumin extracts were reported to have iron-chelating effects, with IC 50 values ranging from 29.35 to 35.46 mg/mL [74].…”

“…In our previous study, we reported a similar radical quenching ability for the methanol extracts derived from Piper sp. (63.67-82.44 mg TE/g in DPPH assay and 61.63-77.60 mg TE/g in ABTS assay) [56].…”