Garcinia quaesita and Garcinia zeylanica are Sri Lankan endemic plants with significant therapeutic potential and numerous health-care applications. Despite this, there are no adequate literatures reported on the chemical compositions (CCs) and antioxidative potential (AP) of leaves' essential oils (EOs). The purpose of this study was to extract EOs from the leaves and investigate the CCs and AP of the extracted EOs. The hydro-distillation technique was used to extract the EOs, and the CCs of the EOs were identified through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Only those compounds that had a matching value of more than 90% were taken into consideration, and the AP of the extracted EOs was determined using the ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Hydro-distillation process yielded EOs in the same quantity, 0.12% (v/w) on a fresh weight basis for two varieties. About 33 CCs that were found in the extracted EOs were mainly sesquiterpenes. The most prevalent substances in the EOs were copaene (19.39%), caryophyllene (12.94%), alloaromadendrene (12.12%), α-humulene (11.24%), and α-cubebene (9.38%). It is interesting to note that copaene and alloaromadendrene were only found in G. quaesita, whereas α-cubebene was only found in G. zeylanica. Caryophyllene and α-humulene were identified in both EOs at different concentrations. The EO from G. quaesita showed high AP, presenting FRAP values 274.74 ± 1.32 μL Trolox Eq/L. This study is recognized as being the first to examine the CCs and AP of EOs, and the results may inspire the creation of new uses and high-value leaf products.
[This corrects the article on p. 252 in vol. 13, PMID: 36568054.].
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammation of the large intestine characterized by diarrhea with blood. UC has a more extensive manifestation in children. Current therapy has not given satisfactory results. This is the basis for the need for preventive therapy to reduce the morbidity and mortality of UC in children. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is a viable dietary supplement option due to its ability to act as a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ligand, inhibiting the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The aim of this study was to determine natural compounds from VCO that have the potential to prevent colitis using a docking-based virtual screening approach. Quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis was used to find out how similar the input compounds and the database were. Docking is done using AutoDockTools 1.5.6. The algorithm used is the Lamarckian Genetic Algorithm (4.2). PPAR-gamma (PPAR-γ) was used as the target protein in a complex with rosiglitazone (ID PDB: 7AWC). PyMol 2.5.1 was used to prepare and visualize three-dimensional data, and the amino acid interactions were visualized using Discovery Studio 2021 Clients. It was found that linoleic acid and oleic acid in VCO have anti-inflammatory effects with predictive values of 0.73 and 0.614, respectively, and that they stop tumor necrosis factor (TNF) expression with predictive values of 0.751 and 0.724. The result of molecular docking showed that the VCO compound was able to interact with the same residue as the control. VCO reduces inflammation by acting as a PPAR-γ and TNF expression inhibitor.
Gelatin is a clear, flavorless, and colorless biopolymer formed by the denaturation of collagen protein in animal tissues. Gelatin is an important ingredient in the manufacture of capsule shell films. The tensile strength and elongation values of gelatin film indicate its quality. Sucrose is one of the ingredients that can affect the tensile strength and elongation of the gelatin film. To determine the effect of adding sucrose on the tensile strength and elongation of the chicken leg skin gelatin film. To extract the gelatin, clean, sliced chicken leg skin was freeze-dried, ground into powder, and extracted. The characteristics of chicken skin gelatin were measured using Fourier-transform infrared, and the data were read in the 4000-400 cm- 1 range for 32 scans. Pouring the solution into a mold, flattening it, and drying it at 40°C results in a film that has been tested for tensile strength and elongation. Gelatin films with a 30% sucrose addition had the best tensile strength and elongation values, with a tensile strength of 3.03 MPa and an elongation of 152.02%. Sucrose alters the tensile strength and elongation of chicken leg gelatin film. 30% sucrose provides better tensile and elongation strength.