Pods of Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) consumed as a vegetable showed functional food properties

Abstract

Antioxidant Antiinflammatory Triterpenoids Piperidine alkaloids Phenolics A B S T R A C T The arid plant Prosopis cineraria (Fabaceae) is known as Khejri in India or the golden tree of Indian deserts. The dried pods are consumed as a vegetable and leaves as traditional medicine to cure a wide range of diseases in the state of Rajasthan, India. The pods of this plant have not been investigated for their bioactive components, hence we have done so in this study. The dried pods were boiled with water to afford the aqueous extract. Extraction of the residue gave methanolic extract. The lipid peroxidation (LPO) and cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and -2) inhibitory activities of extracts and major compounds present in the bioactive extracts were then determined. Purification of bioactive extracts yielded compounds 1-7. The absorbance of 1-7 at 570 nm ranged between 0.15 and 0.45 at 50 lg/mL whereas vitamin C and tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) at 25 lg/mL gave an absorbance of 0.5 in the MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay.At 25 lg/mL concentration, compounds 1-7 inhibited LPO, COX-1 and -2 enzymes between the ranges of 15-87%, 21-67% and 16-59%, respectively. This is the first report of the chemical and biological activities of the edible part of this plant.

Synthesis of diaryl ethers with acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase and carbonic anhydrase inhibitory actions

“…These compounds are found in the substructures of some natural products. Hormones such as triiodothyronine (1) and thyroxine (2) 1 , a trace amine thyronamine (3) which is active at trace amine associated receptors 2 , incorporate diaryl ether scaffolds in their structures. The diaryl ether 4 is a natural product and is isolated from the arid plant Prosopis cineraria (Fabaceae) 3 .…”

“…Hormones such as triiodothyronine (1) and thyroxine (2) 1 , a trace amine thyronamine (3) which is active at trace amine associated receptors 2 , incorporate diaryl ether scaffolds in their structures. The diaryl ether 4 is a natural product and is isolated from the arid plant Prosopis cineraria (Fabaceae) 3 . Lactoperoxidase (LPO), cyclooxygenase-1 and 2 (COX1 and COX2) enzymes inhibition of 4 has been reported by Liu et al 3 Another natural product, obavatol (5), isolated from Magnolia obovata, has anti-inflammatory 4 and anti-tumor activities 5 ( Figure 1).…”

“…The diaryl ether 4 is a natural product and is isolated from the arid plant Prosopis cineraria (Fabaceae) 3 . Lactoperoxidase (LPO), cyclooxygenase-1 and 2 (COX1 and COX2) enzymes inhibition of 4 has been reported by Liu et al 3 Another natural product, obavatol (5), isolated from Magnolia obovata, has anti-inflammatory 4 and anti-tumor activities 5 ( Figure 1). In addition, g/d PPAR agonistic 6 , Candida albicans isocitrate lyase inhibitory 7 , antimicrobial 7 , nitric oxide synthase inhibitory 8 and some other important inhibitory properties of diaryl ethers have been reported 9 .…”

“…In our early studies, we explained the synthesis, carbonic anhydrase (CA) [13][14][15][16] and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) [17][18][19] inhibition of some aryl methyl ether derivatives. The carbonic anhydrases (CAs, EC 4.2.1.1) are a superfamily of metalloenzymes, which catalyze the interconversion between CO 2 and HCO 3 À by using a metal hydroxide nucleophilic mechanism. They are ubiquitous metalloenzymes and present in almost all living organism 18,[20][21][22][23] .…”

Molecular markers to distinguish ‘Thar Shoba’, a variety of khejri [Prosopis cineraria(L.) Druce], from trees in natural populations

“…Flowering and fruiting occur during the dry period from February to May. P. cineraria is considered both a fodder crop and perennial vegetable crop, with immature green pods being used locally as a vegetable called 'sangari', which contains 5.1% (w/w) protein, 6.7% (w/w) fibre, and many anti-oxidants (Liu et al, 2012). The flour made from mature pods is used in the preparation of biscuits and cookies (Samadia et al, 2002).…”