La présente étude avait pour objectif de déterminer la composition en acides gras, la teneur en caroténoïdes, en vitamine E, et en polyphénols des huiles extraites de quatre variétés de palmier à huile cultivées en Côte d'Ivoire (variétés parentales : HP1et HP2, variétés hybrides : HP3 et HP4), puis d'étudier les propriétés antioxydantes de leurs extraits polyphénoliques. Les résultats ont montré : une richesse particulière en acides gras insaturés totaux avec une prédominance en acide oléique des variétés HP1 (60%), HP3 (56%) et HP4 (57%) comparée à HP2 (48%). Les concentrations en vitamine E étaient de 864 à 1124 µg/g avec une forte teneur en α- et γ- tocotriénol dans la variété HP2 et les hybrides HP3 et HP4. La variété HP1 et les hybrides ont des taux de caroténoïdes totaux significativement plus élevés que la variété HP2. La teneur en polyphénols totaux était élevée dans les variétés HP1 (0,195mM EAG), HP3 et HP4 (0,191mM et 0,2 mM EAG). Les différents polyphénols identifiés étaient l'acide caféique, l'acide chlorogénique, l'acide coumarique, la rutine et un dérivé non identifié de la quercétine. Ces extraits polyphénoliques avaient un effet inhibiteur sur l'oxydation des LDL de manière dose-dépendante, dans le système d'oxydation au cuivre qu'à l'AAPH. Les activités antioxydantes étaient significativement plus importantes pour HP3 et HP4 comparées à HP1 et HP2. Ces extraits polyphénoliques ont inhibé la production d'O2•― par modulation de la NADPH oxydase au niveau des cellules THP-1 stimulées au PMA, de manière dose-dépendante. Cette action antioxydante a été confirmée par l'inhibition de l'expression de la sous unité p22phox de 74% pour HP1, 87% pour HP2, 69% pour HP3 et 75% pour HP4. L'huile de palme brute pourrait ainsi être considérée comme une source sûre de composés polyphénoliques, notamment l'huile issue des formes variétales HP3 et HP4, dont les effets protecteurs semblaient être plus marqués. / The purpose of the present study was to determine fatty acid, vitamin E, carotene and polyphenol contents in four oil palm species of Côte d'Ivoire (parental varieties: HP1et HP2, crossing varieties: HP3 and HP4), then to study their polyphenol antioxidant properties. The results showed that palm oil species were characterized by the special richness in polyunsaturated fatty acids composition, with a prevalence in oleic acid, especially the first variety, HP1 (60%), and the two hybrids ensuing from crossing HP3 (56%) and HP4 (57%) compared to HP2 (48%). Total vitamin E content was 864–1124 μg g−1, with a notable higher content of γ -and α-tocotrienol in variety HP2 and hybrids HP3 and HP4. Total carotene content of those varieties was higher, and the β-carotene and α-carotene levels were predominant in HP1, HP3 and HP4. The highest total phenolic contents were found for parental variety HP1, (0.195 mM GAE), the two crossing varieties HP3 and HP4 (0.191mM and 0.2 mM GAE). The main identified phenolic compounds were caffeic, chlorogenic, coumaric acids, rutin, and a non identified quercetin derivative. The antioxidative effects were monitored by Cu2+- or AAPH-induced generation of conjugated dienes (lag-time and oxidation rate) showed that these phenolic compounds inhibit human LDL oxidation in a synergistic manner. The antioxidant activities were significantly more important for HP3 and HP4 varieties compared to HP1 and HP2 varieties. All palm oil polyphenol extracts (compared to control) decreased PMA-stimulated O2•― production by THP-1 cells in a dose dependent manner in the modulation of NADPH oxidase. Using Western blot analysis, we further demonstrated that incubation for 24h of these polyphenol extracts with THP-1 cells led to a significant reduction in the expression of NADPH oxidase subunit p22phox (from 74% for HP1, 87% for HP2, 69% for HP3 and 75% for HP4). Crude palm oil could be considered as a good source of phenolic compounds, in particularly oil resulting from HP3 and HP4 varieties. These protective effects seemed to be more marked with the two crossing varieties in comparison with the two parental varieties.

Thesis (MSc (Biochemistry))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The phytoestrogenic activity of Cyclopia, used to prepare honeybush tea, was evaluated and compared with that of the endogenous estrogen, 17-β-estradiol (E2) and the known phytoestrogen, genistein. Phytoestrogens are plant polyphenols much in demand in the nutraceutical market as they mediate an estrogenic effect through binding to estrogen receptor (ER) subtypes, ERα and ERβ.

published_or_final_version / Anatomy / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

abstract / Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

Stress-related psychological ill health has increased dramatically in Europe. A diagnosis equivalent to occupational burnout can be found in the Swedish version of the tenth edition of the “International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems" by the World Health Organization. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare lists treatment suggestions including a section of self-care that recommended something that could be translated to “a sensible diet” (“vettig kost”) without providing evidence for what could constitute a sensible diet. By using the hypothesis of burnout being a stress-mediated decrease in neurogenesis which in turn decrease the ability to cope with stress, this article systematically reviews the efficacy of dietary polyphenols on neurogenesis in rodents to evaluate if dietary polyphenols could constitute a part of a sensible diet for burnout patients. Dietary polyphenols significantly increased various parts of neurogenesis, in rodents subjected to stressors, in some cases demonstrating effect sizes comparable to antidepressants. Adverse effects have been observed in extremely high doses and young rodents not exposed to induced stressors with a putative high level of neurogenesis.

Thesis (Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Brewer’s spent grain (BSG), a solid residue obtained from brewing beer, is gaining attention in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry due to its use as natural source of colorants, texturisers, functional ingredients and preservatives. It is therefore necessary to develop an economically viable method for the extraction, isolation or enrichment of these compounds. Although literature shows the technical feasibility of extraction of bioactive compounds from BSG at laboratory bench scale, none of the reviewed literature could provide adequate information necessary to determine the economic feasibility of the process at commercial scale. The aim of this study was to investigate the technical and economic viability of a commercial process for the recovery of antioxidant rich polyphenolic compounds from brewers spent grain using organic solvents and/or water. The objectives were to select the best solvent, perform the optimisation and kinetic study, as well as to model and simulate the extraction process with the aim of performing an economic analysis. In selecting the best solvent, maceration and soxhlet extraction were used for the recovery of polyphenolic compounds. Acetone and acetone: water mixtures, ethanol and ethanol: water mixtures as well as pure water were used as solvents. The evaluation of the best solvent was measured by the total phenolic content (TPC), flavonol content, the antioxidant activity using 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. The study performed optimisation for various operational parameters (time, temperature, solvent to feed ratio and shaking speed) using response surface method. The effect of temperature on the extraction kinetics was also investigated with experiments being carried out at 20°C, 40°C and 80°C. Antioxidant activity was detected in all BSG extracts, but water showed the highest global yield and rates of extraction. The optimum conditions were found at 15 min reaction time, temperature of 40 °C, shaking speed of 185 rpm and solvent to solid ratio of 27.5: 1. So-Macdonald model was a suitable fit for the experimental data with a R2-value range of (0.85 < r2 < 0.995). A processing scenario was proposed as a base case, upon which subsequent scenarios were generated to improve the operation or the economics. SuperPro Designer® (Intelligen, Inc) was used for modelling the proposed process, for simulation and for the economic evaluation. Four alternative schemes from the base case simulation were developed for optimisation of the process. The process was found to be economically feasible and attractive with a return of investment (ROI) of 48.45 % for alternative scheme 4. The results in this thesis highlight the likely economic feasibility of the extraction of polyphenolic compounds from BSG at commercial scale by the maceration method.

Masters of Science / Plant genome analysis is currently experiencing a boost due to reduced costs associated with the development of next generation sequencing technologies. Knowledge on genetic background can be applied to guide targeted plant selection and breeding, and to facilitate natural product discovery and biological engineering. In medicinal plants, secondary metabolites are of particular interest because they often represent the main active ingredients associated with health-promoting qualities. Plant polyphenols are a highly diverse family of aromatic secondary metabolites that act as antimicrobial agents, UV protectants, and insect or herbivore repellents. Most of the genome mining tools developed to understand genetic materials have very seldom addressed secondary metabolite genes and biosynthesis pathways. Little significant research has been conducted to study key enzyme factors that can predict a class of secondary metabolite genes from polyketide synthases. The objectives of this study were twofold: Primarily, it aimed to identify the biological properties of secondary metabolite genes and the selection of a specific gene, naringenin-chalcone synthase or chalcone synthase (CHS). The study hypothesized that data science approaches in mining biological data, particularly secondary metabolite genes, would enable the compulsory disclosure of some aspects of secondary metabolite (SM). Secondarily, the aim was to propose a proof of concept for classifying or predicting plant genes involved in polyphenol biosynthesis from data science techniques and convey these techniques in computational analysis through machine learning algorithms and mathematical and statistical approaches. Three specific challenges experienced while analysing secondary metabolite datasets were: 1) class imbalance, which refers to lack of proportionality among protein sequence classes; 2) high dimensionality, which alludes to a phenomenon feature space that arises when analysing bioinformatics datasets; and 3) the difference in protein sequences lengths, which alludes to a phenomenon that protein sequences have different lengths. Considering these inherent issues, developing precise classification models and statistical models proves a challenge. Therefore, the prerequisite for effective SM plant gene mining is dedicated data science techniques that can collect, prepare and analyse SM genes.

Copy of author's previously published article inserted. Bibliography: leaves 180-195. Investigation of the contribution of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) to enzymic browning in sugarcane juice.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Nutrition))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Flavonoids are of great interest for their antioxidant and health-promoting activities. Ascorbate (vitamin C) has antioxidant activities but also sometimes displays pro-oxidant activities <i>in vitro</i> and reportedly <i>in vivo</i>. This research investigated to what extent flavonoids moderate oxidative stress from vitamin C <i>in vivo</i>.<p>Dietary experiments were conducted in two phases using adult male Wistar rats. First, all animals were maintained for two weeks on a control flavonoid-free diet with the dietary requirement (27 IU) of vitamin E/kg diet. In the subsequent four weeks, the animals were treated in four groups (8 rats/group), being fed the following diets: flavonoid-free control (C), ascorbate-supplemented (7.55 mmol/kg diet) (A), flavonoid-supplemented (2.67 mmol/kg diet) (F) and flavonoids (2.67 mmol/kg diet) plus ascorbate (7.55 mmol/kg diet)-supplemented (T). Measurements were done on in vivo biomarkers of oxidative stress, tissue antioxidants and on tissue in vitro susceptibility to oxidative stress.<p>In the combined feeding of ascorbate plus flavonoids, endogenous thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) increased in liver by 114%. No effects of dietary ascorbate or flavonoids were seen on endogenous TBARS in brain or heart, or on plasma thiols or erythrocyte fragility.<p><i>In vitro</i>, the susceptibility to TBARS formation of liver homogenate (incubated for 60 min at 37ºC in air) showed a significant 60% increase in ascorbate-fed animals compared to control, but no increase in animals fed ascorbate plus flavonoids, suggesting that the additional feeding of flavonoids helped to prevent the increase produced by ascorbate-feeding. Incubation of liver mitochondria with 300 µM ascorbate in vitro produced a large (2-7 fold) increase in TBARS, but there was no difference among mitochondria from the different feeding groups.<p>The ability of flavonoid-feeding in protecting against oxidative stress from ascorbate in vivo could not be demonstrated in this study, even showing pro-oxidant effects of flavonoids in combination with ascorbate in liver. However, in vitro tests in liver suggest a protective effect of flavonoid-feeding against susceptibility to oxidative stress from ascorbate. Further investigations are needed in order to resolve the differences observed in vitro and in vivo and to determine the endogenous effects of specific flavonoids under ascorbate-induced oxidative stress.