UNASSIGNED: Type II diabetes mellitus (DM) is an increasing health problem that has negative impacts on patients and healthcare systems, worldwide. The development of new therapies with better efficacy, fewer side effects, and lower prices are urgently needed to treat this disease.
UNASSIGNED: To evaluate and compare the therapeutic effects of Nigella sativa (N. sativa) seed and oil on the biochemical parameters and regeneration of pancreatic islets (or islets of Langerhans) of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.
UNASSIGNED: The diabetic rat model was prepared by administering a single dose of STZ (35 mg/kg body weight). The whole seed or the oil of N. sativa was administered to the diabetic and control groups for a period of 28 days, but not to the negative and STZ controls. Serum blood glucose, liver enzymes, lipid profile, and renal function tests (uric acid, albumin, total protein, urea, and creatinine) were measured in all groups. After the rats were euthanized, their pancreases were extracted, and then sectioned and fixed on slides in preparation before staining with H&E stain and immunohistochemical study.
UNASSIGNED: Treatment of STZ-diabetic rats with N. sativa seeds or oil significantly improved their serum glucose levels, lipid profiles, and liver and renal functions as well as preserved the integrity of pancreatic β cells.
UNASSIGNED: N. sativa seeds and oil demonstrate significant therapeutic improvement effects on DM and its related complications including effective protection of islets of Langerhans. The therapeutic benefits of N. sativa seeds and oil on DM and its related complications are comparable.

BACKGROUND: Sudden temperature drops, resulting from extreme weather events, often occur during the boll-setting period of cotton in Xinjiang, China, causing decreased expression of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal proteins in cotton bolls. The precise threshold temperatures and durations that lead to significant changes in Cry1Ac endotoxin levels under low temperatures remain unclear. To address this, we investigated the effects of different temperatures and stress durations on Cry1Ac endotoxin levels in cotton bolls. In 2020-2021, two Bt transgenic cotton varieties, conventional Sikang1 and hybrid Sikang3, were selected as experimental materials. Various low temperatures (ranging from 16 to 20 °C) with different durations (12 h, 24 h and 48 h) were applied during the peak boll-setting period.
RESULTS: As the temperature decreased, the Cry1Ac endotoxin content in the boll shell, fiber, and seed exhibited a declining trend. Moreover, the threshold temperature which caused a significant reduction in Cry1Ac endotoxin content increased with the prolonged duration of low-temperature stress. Among the components of cotton bolls, seeds were most affected by low-temperature stress, with the threshold temperature for a significant reduction in Cry1Ac endotoxin content ranging from 17 °C to 19 °C. Correlation analysis indicated that low temperatures led to a decrease in protein synthesis capacity and an increase in degradation ability, resulting in reduced Cry1Ac endotoxin content. Pathway analysis revealed that both free amino acid and peptidase had significant negative effects on Cry1Ac endotoxin content.
CONCLUSIONS: In summary, when the daily average temperature was ≤ 19 °C, implementing cultural practices to reduce free amino acid content and peptidase activity could serve as effective cold defense strategies for Bt cotton production.

Consumers are interested in new sustainable ingredients but are unwilling to accept undesirable sensory properties in their food products. Luffa (Luffa cylindrica) is mainly harvested and processed for its fibrous network, which is used as an exfoliator, while its seeds are usually discarded. However, the seeds have been found to have various nutritional benefits. As such, this study investigated the sensory properties of luffa seed powder added to yogurt and compared it to other seed powder (flax, sunflower, chia, and hemp). Consumers (n = 107) evaluated their liking of the different seeds added to yogurt using hedonic scales and the sensory properties using check-all-that-apply (CATA). The luffa seeds when mixed with yogurt were associated with off-colour, off-flavour, metallic, strong flavour, bitter, salty, earthy and decreased consumer liking. The flax and sunflower seeds were found to be sweet, nutty, cooked, mild flavour, and to have a smooth texture. The overall liking scores for the flax and sunflower seed samples were significantly higher than the luffa and hemp samples. Future studies should investigate different drying and roasting treatments to improve the sensory properties of the luffa seeds.

Chinese sour jujube is an important fruit for both medicine and food and effects various biological activities. Although the Chinese sour jujube seed (Ziziphi spinosae semen) is rich in oil, its lipid profiles is significantly affected by the extraction process. However, no studies to date have comprehensively analysed the lipid composition and bioactivity of Ziziphi spinosae semen oil processed using different methods. In this study, we compared the effects of commonly-used pressed, ultrasonic-assisted, and Soxhlet extraction methods on the lipid composition, characteristics, and antioxidant properties of Ziziphi spinosae semen oil. Nineteen subclasses and 390 lipid molecular species were identified, of which 24 lipid molecular species could potentially be used as biomarkers for different processing methods. Correlation analysis revealed that 57 lipids were significantly correlated with the antioxidant capacity (r > 0.9 and P < 0.05). These results indicate that Ziziphi spinosae semen oil is rich in bioactive lipids. These data greatly expand our understanding of the bioactive lipids of Ziziphi spinosae semen oil. Additionally, it could provide useful information for Ziziphi spinosae semen oil applications in functional products or the food industry and new insights into the effects of active vegetable oil processing.

Peruvian fava beans (PFB) are used in traditional cuisine as a nutrient-rich, flavorful, and textural ingredient; however, little is known about their industrial properties. This study evaluated the physicochemical, nutritional, and techno-functional characteristics of PFB varieties: Verde, Quelcao, and Peruanita. PFB exhibited distinct physical characteristics, quality parameters, and morphology. The color patterns of the seed coat and the hardness were the main parameters for distinguishing them. Nutritionally, all three samples exhibited high protein (23.88-24.88 g/100 g), with high proportion of essential amino acids, high dietary fiber (21.74-25.28 g/100 g), and mineral content. They also contain polyphenols (0.79-1.25 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (0.91-1.06 mg CE/g) with antioxidant potential (16.60-21.01 and 4.68-5.17 µmol TE/g for ABTS and DPPH assays, respectively). Through XRD measurements, the semi-crystalline nature of samples was identified, belonging to the C-type crystalline form. Regarding techno-functionality, PFB flours displayed great foaming capacity, with Verde variety being the most stable. Emulsifying capacity was similar among samples, although Peruanita was more stable during heating. Upon heating with water, PFB flours reached peak viscosities between 175 and 272 cP, and final viscosities between 242 and 384 cP. Quelcao and Verde formed firmer gels after refrigeration. Based on these results, PFB would be useful to developing innovative, nutritious, and healthy products that meet market needs.

This comprehensive study explores the phytoconstituents of different parts of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) including flesh, peel, seeds, pumpkin juice, and pumpkin seed oil. Utilizing advanced analytical techniques including UPLC-QqQ-MS and GC-TSQ-MS combined with multivariate statistical analysis, 94 distinct chromatographic peaks from various chemical classes were annotated. Predominant classes included phenolic acids, flavonoids, cucurbitacins, amino acids, triterpenoids, fatty acids, sterols, carotenoids, and other compounds. For more comprehensive chemical profiling of the tested samples, fractionation of the different parts of the fruit was attempted through successive solvent extraction. The unsaponifiable part of the oils, analyzed by GC, showed that the phytosterols, namely ß-sitosterol, and stigmasterol are in the majority. All pumpkin extracts showed significant inhibition of carbohydrase enzymes and glucose uptake promotion by cells. Pumpkin flesh butanol fraction exhibited potent α-glucosidase inhibition, while pumpkin defatted seed methylene chloride fraction showed strong α-amylase inhibition. Additionally, pumpkin seed oil and defatted seed petroleum ether fraction demonstrated high glucose uptake activity. Bioactive metabolites including vaccenic acid, sinapic acid, kuguacin G, luteolin hexoside, delta-7-avenasterol, cucurbitosides and others were unveiled through OPLS multivariate models elucidating the anti-diabetic potential of pumpkin. These findings support the use of pumpkin as a functional food, offering insights into its mechanisms of action in diabetes management.

Red kidney beans (RKB) serve as a powerhouse packed with a plethora of largely unexplored extraordinary chemical entities with potential significance. However, their nutraceutical applications as a functional hypoglycemic food still lag behind and warrant further investigation. With a scope to optimize chemical and biological traits of RKB, green modification approaches (processing methods) seem inevitable. Accordingly, the current study offered the first integrative workflow to scrutinize dynamic changes in chemical profiles of differently processed RKB and their potential entanglements on diabetes mitigation using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) coupled with chemometrics. Different physical and biological processing treatments namely germination, fermentation, cooking and dehulling were preliminarily implemented on RKB. Complementarily, the concomitant metabolite alterations among differently processed RKB were monitored and interpreted. Next, an in-vitro α-amylase and α-glycosidase inhibitory testing of the differently processed samples was conducted and integrated with orthogonal projection to latent structures (OPLS) analysis to pinpoint the possible efficacy compounds. A total of 72 compounds spanning fatty acids and their glycerides, flavonoids, phenolic acids, amino acids, dipeptides, phytosterols and betaxanthins were profiled. Given this analysis and compared with raw unprocessed samples, it was found that flavonoids experienced notable accumulation during germination while both fermentation and dehulling approaches sharply intensified the content of amino acids and dipeptides. Comparably, Fatty acids, phytosterols and betaxanthins were unevenly distributed among the comparable samples. Admittedly, OPLS-DA revealed an evident discrimination among the processed samples assuring their quite compositional discrepancies. In a more targeted approach, kaempferol-O-sophoroside, quercetin, carlinoside and betavulgarin emerged as focal discriminators of sprouted samples while citrulline, linoleic acid, linolenoyl-glycerol and stigmasterol were the determining metabolites in cooked samples. Our efficacy experimental findings emphasized that the different RKB samples exerted profound inhibitory actions against both α-amylase and α-glycosidase enzymes with the most promising observations in the case of sprouted and cooked samples. Coincidently, OPLS analysis revealed selective enhancement of possible efficacy constituents primarily citrulline, formononetin, gamabufotalin, kaempferol-O-sophoroside, carlinoside, oleic acid and ergosterol in sprouted and cooked samples rationalizing their noteworthy α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Taken together, this integrated work provides insightful perspectives beyond the positive impact of different processing protocols on bioactives accumulation and pharmacological traits of RKB expanding their utilization as functional hypoglycemic food to rectify diabetes.

Roasting is necessary for bringing out the aroma and flavor of coffee beans, making coffee one of the most consumed beverages. However, this process also generates a series of toxic compounds, including acrylamide and furanic compounds (5-hydroxymethylfurfural, furan, 2-methylfuran, 3-methylfuran, 2,3-dimethylfuran, and 2,5-dimethylfuran). Furthermore, not much is known about the formation of these compounds in emerging coffee formulations containing alcohol and sugars. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of roasting time and degree on levels of acrylamide and furanic compounds in arabica coffee using fast and slow roasting methods. The fast and slow roasting methods took 5.62 min and 9.65 min, respectively, and reached a maximum of 210 °C to achieve a light roast. For the very dark roast, the coffee beans were roasted for 10.5 min and the maximum temperature reached 245 °C. Our findings showed that the levels of acrylamide (375 ± 2.52 μg kg-1) and 5-HMF (194 ± 11.7 mg kg-1) in the slow-roasted coffee were 35.0 % and 17.4 % lower than in fast-roasted coffee. Furthermore, light roast coffee had significantly lower concentrations of acrylamide and 5-HMF than very dark roast, with values of 93.7 ± 7.51 μg kg-1 and 21.3 ± 10.3 mg kg-1, respectively. However, the levels of furan and alkylfurans increased with increasing roasting time and degree. In this study, we also examined the concentrations of these pollutants in new coffee formulations consisting of alcohol-, sugar-, and honey-infused coffee beans. Formulations with honey and sugar resulted in higher concentrations of 5-HMF, but no clear trend was observed for acrylamide. On the other hand, formulations with honey had higher concentrations of furan and alkylfurans. These results indicate that optimizing roasting time and temperature might not achieve the simultaneous reduction of all the pollutants. Additionally, sugar- and honey-infused coffee beans are bound to have higher furanic compounds, posing a higher health risk.

Soybean is one of the most economically important crops worldwide. However, soybean yield can be substantially decreased by many diseases. Soybean genotypes could have different reactions to pathogen infection. As a first step toward investigating the biochemical basis of soybean resistance and susceptibility to disease, phytochemicals in the seeds of 52 soybean genotypes previously reported to have different reactions to diseases of soybean rust (SBR), Phomopsis seed decay (PSD), and purple seed stain (PSS) were analyzed. Using GC-MS, a total of 46 compounds were tentatively identified which included 11 chemical groups. Among those, the major group was esters, followed by carboxylic acid, ketone, and sugar moieties. Compounds having reported antioxidant, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory activities were also identified. UHPLC-DAD/MS analysis indicated that there were five major isoflavone components presented in the samples, including daidzin, glycitin, genistin, malonyldaidzin, and malonylglycitin. Isoflavones have been reported to play an important role in defense from plant pathogens. Although there was variance in the isoflavone content among soybean genotypes, those with the SBR resistance Rpp6 gene (PI 567102B, PI 567104B, PI 567129) consistently exhibited the highest concentrations of daidzin, glycitin, genistin, and malonyldaidzin. The SBR resistant genotype, PI 230970 (Rpp2) had the greatest amount of genistin. The SBR resistant genotype, PI 200456 (Rpp5) resistant genotype uniquely contained glycitein, a compound that was absent in the other 51 genotypes examined. A PSD-resistant genotype PI 424324B had nearly four times the amount of stigmasterol as PI 556625, which was susceptible to SBR, PSD, and PSS in our previous tests. Results of this study provide useful information for further investigation of the biochemical basis of soybean resistance to diseases. The results may also aid in selection of soybean lines for breeding for resistance to soybean rust and other diseases.

Both seed germination and subsequent seedling establishment are key checkpoints during the life cycle of seed plants, yet flooding stress markedly inhibits both processes, leading to economic losses from agricultural production. Here, we report that melatonin (MT) seed priming treatment enhances the performance of seeds from several crops, including soybean, wheat, maize, and alfalfa, under flooding stress. Transcriptome analysis revealed that MT priming promotes seed germination and seedling establishment associated with changes in abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellin (GA), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) biosynthesis and signaling pathways. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis confirmed that MT priming increases the expression levels of GA biosynthesis genes, ABA catabolism genes, and ROS biosynthesis genes while decreasing the expression of positive ABA regulatory genes. Further, measurements of ABA and GA concentrations are consistent with these trends. Following MT priming, quantification of ROS metabolism-related enzyme activities and the concentrations of H2O2 and superoxide anions (O2 -) after MT priming were consistent with the results of transcriptome analysis and qRT-PCR. Finally, exogenous application of GA, fluridone (an ABA biosynthesis inhibitor), or H2O2 partially rescued the poor germination of non-primed seeds under flooding stress. Collectively, this study uncovers the application and molecular mechanisms underlying MT priming in modulating crop seed vigor under flooding stress.