Zolfino landrace (Phaseolus vulgarisL.) from Pratomagno: general and specific features of a functional food

Abstract

BackgroundThe Zolfino bean is a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris, which is cultivated in a limited area of Tuscany, Italy, and is widely appreciated for its flavor and culinary uses.ObjectivesA yellow Zolfino landrace cultivated in the Leccio-Reggello area was characterized and compared with three other varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris (i.e. the Borlotto, Cannellino, and Corona beans) in terms of its general features and potential as an antioxidant/anti-inflammatory agent.DesignThe length, width, thickness, equatorial section surface, weight, volume, and seed coat section were measured in all the beans. The seed surface area was also estimated by an original empirical method. The ability of the different beans to interfere with the enzymes of the polyol pathway (that is, aldose reductase (AR) and sorbitol dehydrogenase) was tested using the supernatant after soaking the beans at room temperature and after thermal treatment, which simulated the bean-cooking process in a controlled fashion.ResultsConcerning the general features, Zolfino was comparable with other beans, except Corona, in terms of surface–volume ratio, which possesses the lowest tegument thickness. Moreover, Zolfino appears the most effective in inhibiting AR activity. The inhibitory ability is unaffected by thermal treatment and appears to be associated with compound(s) present in the coat of the bean.ConclusionsThe ability of Zolfino to inhibit AR, thus reducing the flux of glucose through the polyol pathway, highlights the features of Zolfino as a functional food, potentially useful in treating the dysfunctions linked to the hyperactivity of AR, such as diabetic complications or inflammatory responses.

Edible vegetables as a source of aldose reductase differential inhibitors

“…In fact, while fractionation of the tomato and the Zolfino bean extracts revealed a number of components able to exert differential inhibition on L-idose reduction with respect to HNE with a different effectiveness and statistical significance, no evidence of differential inhibition appeared among the fractions of the cabbage extracts. The Zolfino bean, previously reported as a notable source of ARIs [26] showed a maximal differential inhibition of approximately 30% (p < 0.0001), (Fig 1. Panel A lower part, fraction 17).…”

Design, Synthesis and in Combo Antidiabetic Bioevaluation of Multitarget Phenylpropanoic Acids

“…The in vitro AKR1B1 inhibitory activity of compounds 1 – 5 ( Table 2 ) was evaluated by using a highly purified human recombinant enzyme preparation [ 24 , 25 ]. Sorbinil was employed as reference drug.…”

Intra-site differential inhibition of multi-specific enzymes

“…The Zolfino bean, a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris, has been revealed to be a very promising source of ARDIs. After the bean was characterised in terms of classical AKR1B1 inhibitory activity 56 , components identified as soya saponins were isolated and shown to differentially inhibit to some extent L-idose reduction versus HNE reduction 57 .…”