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Privet (Ligustrum vulgare L.) fruit is a shiny blackberry with seeds. Oil was extracted from the pulp by solvent and from seeds using cold press. The pulp contained 2.6% oil, with the main fatty acid being oleic acid (47.21%), followed by linoleic acid (37.80%) and palmitic acid (6.62%). Furthermore, the major tocopherols and phytosterols included α-tocopherol (904.20 µg/g) and stigmasterol (1378.37 µg/g). The seeds contained 10% oil, which was then stored for 90 days to assess changes in the oil quality. Oleic acid (49.1%) was the major fatty acid in the seed oil, followed by linoleic acid (39.73%), and palmitic acid (4.59%). Significant increases were observed in acid and peroxide values and phenolic contents during storage for 90 days in the dark. Major sterol compositions included sitosterol (685.48 µg/g), Δ5-avenasterol (356.69 µg/g) and stigmasterol (127.43 µg/g), which were generally unchanged during storage. Moreover, the seed oil contained α-tocopherol (477 µg/g), followed by δ-tocopherol (44 µg/g), both of which decreased during storage by 15%, and 56%, respectively. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that the seed has a reasonably high oil, and bioactive components and the stability of these during storage suggests that privet fruits can provide a novel vegetable oil source.

Background: Cancer, which is defined as abnormal cell growth, is one of the biggestpublic health problems in the world. Natural compounds, such as polyphenols, are used as chemo-preventive and chemotherapeutic agents in different types of cancer owing to their antioxidant,antineoplastic, and cytotoxic properties. To improve their bioavailability and releasing behavior, hydrogelsystems with high drug loadingg, stability and hydrophilic nature have been designed. Objective: We conducted the present study to investigate the anticancer effects of curcumin andchrysin loaded in the alginate-chitosan hydrogel on breast cancer (T47D) and lung cancer (A549). Methods: The curcumin-chrysin-loaded alginate-chitosan hydrogels were prepared through the ionicgelation mechanism utilizing CaCl2. The prepared hydrogels were studied by using the FourierTransform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The MTT andDAPI staining assays were employed for cytotoxicity and apoptosis studies of curcumin-chrysin-loaded alginate-chitosan hydrogels. The effects of the curcumin-chrysin-loaded alginate-chitosanhydrogels on the cell cycle of cell lines T47D and A549 were also evaluated using the propidiumiodide staining. Results: The curcumin-chrysin-loaded alginate-chitosan hydrogels could significantly (p<0.05) reducethe viability and induce apoptosis. Morover G2/M causes arrest of the cell cycle in both A549and T47D cell lines. Conclusion: The alginate-chitosan hydrogels could work best as an enhanced anticancer drug deliverysystem.

In this study, an ultrasonic and heat-assisted liquid–liquid extraction method combined with deep eutectic solvent-based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction procedure was developed for the extraction of four phytosterols from cow milk butters. The analytes were determined by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector without derivatization. Initially, the sample was transferred into a falcon tube and placed into a sonication bath adjusted at 50 °C. Afterward, ethanol was mixed with the butter and the mixture was sonicated. After centrifugation, the ethanolic phase collected on top of the sample was withdrawn. After addition of a few microliters, ethyl (methyl) ammonium chloride/pivalic acid deep eutectic solvent, the mixture was sucked into a glass syringe and injected hastily into deionized water. The turbid solution was centrifuged and the sedimented phase was removed. Then, it was contacted with sodium hydroxide solution to remove the extracted fatty acids. The proposed method presented high enrichment factors (340–425) and extraction recoveries (68–85%), low limits of detection (0.51–1.3 ng g−1) and quantification (1.7–4.3 ng g−1) and acceptable relative standard deviations (≤ 8.4%). The analytes contents of several cow milk butter samples were extracted and quantified with the developed method and the results were compared with ISO 23349.

A temperature-assisted solidification of floating organic droplet-dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) method has been developed for the extraction and preconcentration of some organochlorine pesticides (hexachlorocyclohexane, α-hexachlorocyclohexane, β-hexachlorocyclohexane, aldrin, and dichlobenil) from cocoa powder samples before their determination by gas chromatography–lectron capture detection (GC–ECD). In this method, first, 1 g of cacao powder was mixed with sodium chloride solution (5%, w/v) and the mixture vortexed. Then it was transferred into a water bath to adjust its temperature at 60 °C. After that, a mixture of 1-decanol (as extraction solvent) and ethanol (as a dispersive solvent) was quickly dispersed into the solution to form a cloudy solution. During centrifuging by a refrigerated centrifuge, the droplets of the extraction solvent containing the extracted analytes were solidified and collected on the top of the aqueous solution as a single drop. The solidified drop was withdrawn and after melting at room temperature an aliquot of it (1 µL) was injected into the separation system. Under optimized conditions, the proposed method provided high extraction recoveries (69–85%) and enrichment factors (69–85), low detection (0.027–0.052 ng g−1) and quantification (0.091–0.175 ng g−1) limits, wide linear ranges (0.091–500 ng g−1), and an acceptable repeatability (relative standard deviation ≤ 6.2%). Finally, several cocoa samples were analyzed, and aldrin and dichlobenil were found in one sample.