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Since the World Health Organization has suggested the exploration of natural products for cancer management owing to the side effects of chemotherapy and irradiation on humans and breast cancer accounts for the highest number of cancer related deaths globally, this study has examined antiproliferative effects of the aqueous and methanol extracts of Hypsizygus tessellatus (brown and white var.) and Flammulina velutipes caps against two breast cancer cell lines. The antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of these mushroom extracts were evaluated in vitro using chemical-based (for antioxidant activity) and cell (for antiproliferative activity) approaches. Furthermore, the phytochemical composition of the mushroom extracts were identified using mass spectroscopy (UPLC-QTOF/MS). The obtained results showed aqueous extracts of F. velutipes (Enoki) and white H. tessellatus (Bunapi shimeji) caps to possess higher antiodixant activities against DPPH (IC50 = 0.202 and 0.573 mg/mL, respectively), and H2O2 (IC50 = 0.622 and 0.745 mg/mL, respectively) compared tothe methanol extracts. Aqueous extracts of the mushrooms also showed better ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) values against ferric ions compared to the methanol extracts. Finally, the mushroom extracts showed good antiproliferative activities against human breast cancer cell lines. These findings suggest the presence of phytochemicals with antiproliferative and antioxidant acrtivities in the mushroom extracts studied.

Saudi Arabia is one of the major producers of date (Phoenix dactylifera) fruit. Date fruit flesh is considered a healthy food due to the presence of natural antioxidants. Green and innovative supercritical fluid (SFE, 52.5 °C temperature, 27.50 MPa pressure, 5 mL CO2/min flow rate) and subcritical (SubCO2, 250 extraction cycles, 29 °C temperature, 6.8 MPa, 12 h, ethanol solvent) extraction techniques were used to produce flesh extracts from four Saudi date fruits (Sukari (SKFE), Ambara (AMFE), Majdool (MJFE) and Sagai (SGFE)), and extracts prepared using 6 h Soxhlet extraction at 70 °C for 16 h using n-hexane as solvent, were taken as control. SFE produced the highest (p < 0.05) extract yields, whereas the SubCO2 method recovered significantly higher (p < 0.05) amounts of phytochemicals. Total phenolics (186.37–447.31 mg GAE/100 g), total flavonoids (82.12–215.28 mg QE/100 g), total anthocyanins (0.41–1.34 mg/100 g), and total carotenoid (1.24–2.85 mg BCE/100 g) were quantified in all the flesh extracts. The biological properties evaluation showed that flesh extracts had high antioxidant (17.79–45.08 µg AAE/mL), antiradical (191.36–34.66 µg/mL DPPH IC50), ferric-reducing (2.18–5.01 mmol TE/100 g) and ABTS-scavenging (444.75–883.96 µmol TE/100 g) activities. SubCO2 was the best technique and Majdool the best date variety, in terms of both phytochemicals and biological properties.

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a highly polluted industrial wastewater that may cause detrimental environmental pollution if discharged directly due to its biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations. In the present study, the performance of FeSO4.7H2O waste from titanium oxide industry was investigated in removing BOD, COD, and total suspended solids (TSS) from POME. Jar tests were conducted with varying coagulant doses (1–5 g L−1), pH (2–10), and temperature (40–80 °C) as a function of treatment time ranging from 5 to 90 min. Results show that the FeSO4.7H2O waste can remove about 70% COD, over 80% BOD, and over 85% TSS in a single stage coagulation treatment. The coagulation adsorption mechanisms for the removal of COD, BOD, and TSS from POME were investigated based on Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Freundlich, and Langmuir isotherm models. The removal of COD, BOD, and TSS from POME was best described by the Freundlich isotherm model, indicating that coagulation adsorption occurred in a multilayer formation with non-uniform distribution of adsorbed particles. The coagulation adsorption kinetics studies revealed that the removal of COD, BOD, and TSS from POME using FeSO4.7H2O waste followed the second-order-kinetics modeling. Our findings suggest that the FeSO4.7H2O waste has the potential to be utilized as a coagulant for treating POME in compliance with the standard discharge limits.

Date palm (Pheonix dactylifera L.) has long been known for its medical benefits. In this review, the therapeutic properties of P. dactylifera are presented in light of the analysis of huge past reviews that reported the bioactivities of both flesh and seed of this fruit. The reported bioactivities of P. dactylifera included antioxidants, anti-cancer, aphrodisiac, antimicrobial, and anti-diabetic properties. This review additionally highlights the extraction technologies (Soxhlet, maceration, heat under reflux, Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) and microwave assisted extraction) that were utilized as part of the extraction of P. dactylifera. This is because the quality and amount of the extraction yield depend on the extraction technology used. Accordingly, this review aims for underlining the potentials of P. dactylifera by compiling available data on the bioactivities and extraction technologies used to set the directions for the improvement of future research of this fruit.

This review summarizes the information on the health-promoting effects of phytosterols and the techniques for their extraction. The extraction and analysis processes of phytosterols are complex and have not been fully established. Phytosterols have significant roles in the areas of foods, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Free phytosterols extracted from plant sources are widely used in fortified foods and dietary supplements. Most phytosterols are extracted from plant matrices using organic solvents which are health and environmental hazards. However, the application of supercritical fluid in the extraction of phytosterols has offered a promising green technology in overcoming the limitations of conventional extraction.

Phaleria macrocarpa, known as “Mahkota Dewa”, is a widely used medicinal plant in Malaysia. This study focused on the characterization of α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of P. macrocarpa extracts using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)-based metabolomics. P. macrocarpa and its extracts contain thousands of compounds having synergistic effect. Generally, their variability exists, and there are many active components in meager amounts. Thus, the conventional measurement methods of a single component for the quality control are time consuming, laborious, expensive, and unreliable. It is of great interest to develop a rapid prediction method for herbal quality control to investigate the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of P. macrocarpa by multicomponent analyses. In this study, a rapid and simple analytical method was developed using FTIR spectroscopy-based fingerprinting. A total of 36 extracts of different ethanol concentrations were prepared and tested on inhibitory potential and fingerprinted using FTIR spectroscopy, coupled with chemometrics of orthogonal partial least square (OPLS) at the 4000–400 cm−1 frequency region and resolution of 4 cm−1. The OPLS model generated the highest regression coefficient with R2Y = 0.98 and Q2Y = 0.70, lowest root mean square error estimation = 17.17, and root mean square error of cross validation = 57.29. A five-component (1+4+0) predictive model was build up to correlate FTIR spectra with activity, and the responsible functional groups, such as –CH, –NH, –COOH, and –OH, were identified for the bioactivity. A successful multivariate model was constructed using FTIR-attenuated total reflection as a simple and rapid technique to predict the inhibitory activity.

The use of amlodipine is very common due to the effects of amlodipine on hypertension and coronary artery disease (CAD) like chronic stable angina, vasospastic angina (Prinzmetal’s or variant angina), and angiographically documented CAD. Amlodipine is involved in several combinations with other antihypertensive drugs. The analysis of amlodipine and its co-drugs is reported using several analytical methods such as spectrophotometric, capillary electrophoresis and chromatographic methods. To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive reports which address all analytical methods for the analysis of amlodipine and combination, therefore we tried to gather as much as reports in one review paper to help researchers and industrial experts to easily access the information related to amlodipine analysis.

Stereospermum fimbriatum is one of the medicinal plants that has been claimed to be used traditionally to treat several illnesses such as stomachache, earache, skin irritation and postpartum illness. The genus of this plant is known to possess medicinal properties in every part of the plant. Therapeutic potential of S. fimbriatum is anticipated based on numerous previous studies that documented variety of phytochemical contents and bioactivity of the genus. The most reported bioactivities of its genus are antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrheal and analgesic activities. S. fimbriatum is a rare species that has not been discovered yet. Thus, this review aims at highlighting the potentials of S. fimbriatum by collecting available data on the bioactivities of its genus and set the directions for future research on this plant.

The demand for exploring advanced and eco-friendly sustainable packaging materials with superior physical, mechanical and barrier properties is increasing. The materials that are currently used in packaging for food, beverage, medical and pharmaceutical products, as well as in industrial applications, are non-degradable, and thus, these materials are raising environmental pollution concerns. Numerous studies have been conducted on the utilization of bio-based materials in the pursuit of developing sustainable packaging materials. Although significant improvements have been achieved, a balance among environmental concerns, economic considerations and product packaging performance is still lacking. This is likely due to bio-based materials being used in product packaging applications without a proper design. The present review article intends to summarize the information regarding the potential applications of cellulosic nanofiber for the packaging. The importance of the design process, its principles and the challenges of design process for sustainable packaging are also summarized in this review. Overall it can be concluded that scientists, designers and engineers all are necessarily required to contribute towards research in order to commercially exploit cellulose nanofiber for sustainable packaging.

Squalene is used as an ingredient in functional foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Due to the limitation of squalene availability from predominant source which is shark liver oil and to sustain the environment by fully utilising the by-product of palm oil, an effort has been made to find a potential source of squalene as an alternative to shark liver oil. The motivation for this work is to optimise its extraction from an alternative source, a palm oil by-product known as palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), using supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2) with the aid of a pressure swing technique. The measurements were performed using a sc-CO2 extraction in a fixed bed at temperatures of 40°C, 50°C, and 60°C, pressures of 20, 30 and 40 MPa, and holding times of 20, 30 and 40 min; high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for squalene content analysis, optimised with a central composite design using research surface methodology (RSM). The second-order polynomial mathematical model adequately fitted the experimental results. The maximum squalene content from the model was predicted to be 356.24 ppm under the set of conditions with pressure of 23 MPa, temperature at 40°C, and 20 min holding time.

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using carbon dioxide (CO2) and liquid CO2 using Soxhlet (CO2-Soxhlet) extraction were employed to extract three (3) antidiabetic compounds viz. stigmasterol, quercetin and avicularin from Mimosa pudica. Various extraction parameters were studied. Extracts were analyzed pharmacologically, qualitatively and quantitatively to ascertain enrichment level. All three (3) antidiabetic compounds were effectively enriched at optimized conditions of temperature 60oC, pressure 40 MPa, co-solvent ratio 30% and CO2 flow rate of 5 ml min−1. SFE was found to be the better method for enrichment of the antidiabetic compounds than the CO2-Soxhlet method. Extraction conditions were seen to affect enrichment of desired compounds.

Pharmaceutical workers involved with the production of antimicrobial drugs are exposed to various antimicrobial chemicals in different steps of manufacturing such as grinding, sieving, compression, granulation, mixing and filling. These exposures may lead to the development of multidrug resistance (MDR) in bacteria. Scientific reports on the occupational health hazard of pharmaceutical workers involved in manufacturing antibiotics are scarce. The present study aimed to compare the degree of bacterial resistance in pharmaceutical workers in Bangladesh to that of individuals not involved in the pharmaceutical field.Twenty male workers from five local pharmaceutical companies and twenty male subjects not involved in the pharmaceutical field (non-pharmaceutical subjects) were randomly selected. Nasal fluid, mucus/cough and stool specimens were collected from each subject and were cultured separately at 37°C for 24 hours to obtain bacterial growth. The cultured species were then identified, isolated and subjected to microbial sensitivity testing against 18 different antibiotics from eight different groups by the disk diffusion method. Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Escherichia coli were identified and isolated from the culture of nasal fluids, mucuses and stools, respectively.All the isolated species of bacteria exhibited significant enhancement of the degree of MDR in pharmaceutical workers compared with non-pharmaceutical subjects. Workers with a longer working history had greater degree of antibiotic resistance and vice versa. It can be certainly considered that the exposure of pharmaceutical workers to antibiotic agents resulted in a high incidence of multidrug resistance.Effective steps should be taken to minimize inherent exposure of pharmaceutical workers to antibiotics during work to prevent antimicrobial drug resistance.

Mango seed kernels (MSK) are discarded as agricultural wastes of industrial processing’s by-product as well as direct consumption of the mango fruits. The extraction parameters of SC-CO2 were optimized using central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM) yielding cocoa butter analogy fats from MSK. The pressure, temperature, and CO2 flow rate were considered as variables, where the linear and quadratic effect of the flow rate of CO2, quadratic effect of pressure, and interaction between pressure and temperature was positive and most significant on the MSK oil yield. On the other hand, linear effect of pressure and temperature, quadratic effect of temperature, and interaction between temperature and CO2 flow rate had a less impact. The optimized oil yield was predicted to be 11.29 % at 44.2 MPa, 72.2 °C and CO2 flow rate of 3.4 ml/min which was close to the oil yield (11.7 %) of Soxhlet extraction method. However, the stearic (41.99 to 42.21 %) and oleic (43.78 to 43.89 %) the predominant fatty acids in terms of triglycerides constituents were found in MSK oils extracted by SC-CO2 and Soxhlet methods. The MSK oil extracted using SC-CO2 method could be regarded as premium quality cocoa butter analogy fats in this study.

A steam autoclave was used to sterilize bacteria in clinical solid waste in order to determine an alternative to incineration technology in clinical solid waste management. The influence of contact time (0, 5, 15, 30 and 60 min) and temperature (111 °C, 121 °C and 131 °C) at automated saturated steam pressure was investigated. Results showed that with increasing contact time and temperature, the number of surviving bacteria decreased. The optimum experimental conditions as measured by degree of inactivation of bacteria were 121 °C for 15 minutes (min) for Gram negative bacteria, 121 °C and 131 °C for 60 and 30 min for Gram positive bacteria, respectively. The re-growth of bacteria in sterilized waste was also evaluated in the present study. It was found that bacterial re-growth started two days after the inactivation. The present study recommends that the steam autoclave cannot be considered as an alternative technology to incineration in clinical solid waste management.

An Aqueous Two-Phase System (ATPS) was employed for the first time for the separation and purification of pectinase from mango (Mangifera Indica Cv. Chokanan) peel. The effects of different parameters such as molecular weight of the polymer (polyethylene glycol, 2,000–10,000), potassium phosphate composition (12–20%, w/w), system pH (6–9), and addition of different concentrations of neutral salts (0–8%, w/w) on partition behavior of pectinase were investigated. The partition coefficient of the enzyme was decreased by increasing the PEG molecular weight. Additionally, the phase composition showed a significant effect on purification factor and yield of the enzyme. Optimum conditions for purification of pectinase from mango peel were achieved in a 14% PEG 4000-14% potassium phosphate system using 3% (w/w) NaCl addition at pH 7.0. Based on this system, the purification factor of pectinase was increased to 13.2 with a high yield of (97.6%). Thus, this study proves that ATPS can be an inexpensive and effective method for partitioning of pectinase from mango peel.

We have developed one approach to fingerprint and estimate the active compounds in the leaves of Vitex trifolia Linn possessing anti-tracheospasmolytic assay using two-dimensional TLC pattern comparison. Based on the two-dimensional TLC pattern and the activity of the centrifugal partition chromatography fractions, we concluded that the semi polar compounds were responsible for anti-tracheospasmolytic activity. The best non-polar/semi polar mobile phases for the two-dimensional TLC using silica gel as the stationary phase were chloroform/methanol (9/1) as the first mobile phase and ethyl acetate/chloroform/methanol (28/28/44) as the second mobile phase.

A novel approach to identify compounds possessing adenosine A1 receptor binding activity in the leaves of O. stamineus was developed. O. stamineus extract is one of the components of a functional beverage used in Indonesia for the treatment of kidney stones. In this study, adenosine A1 receptor binding, which is related to the diuretic action in the treatment of kidney stones was tested. A combination of thin layer chromatography of different extracts prepared by extraction with diverse solvents (n-hexane, chloroform, n-butanol and water), and multivariate data analysis based on orthogonal partial least squares proved to be a promising approach to determine these active compounds. Several methoxyflavonoids, fatty acids or terpenoids were estimated to be related to this activity. The results of this study support the traditional use in Indonesia of O. stamineus as a functional drink to treat kidney stones.

The dough characteristics of mixtures of wheat flour and potato starches from three different cultivars (Eniwa, Benimaru and Norin No. 1) were investigated using a Brabender farinograph. The water absorption of control wheat dough was higher than that for all mixture doughs and decreased significantly with increases in potato starch. The peak time of wheat flour-potato starch mixtures ranged from 21.0 to 22.5 min, with no large difference with increase of potato starch. Dough stability significantly increased with increase of potato starch. The increase of potato starch in the mixtures decreased the tolerances of mixing, indicating that they were weaker than the control flour. Breakdown time of mixtures tended to be the same as for control wheat flour up to 5 % potato starch, above which it increased significantly. Results are applicable to the substitution of potato starch in certain wheat-based foods such as noodles, breads, biscuits, and crackers.

High-quality fish oil for human consumption requires low levels of toxic elements. The aim of this study was to develop a method to extract oil from fish wastes with the least toxic elements contamination. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was applied to detoxify fish oils from toxic elements. The SFE unit used consisted of an intelligent HPLC pump equipped with a cooling jacket to deliver CO2. The freeze-dried fish waste sample was extracted by heating in a column oven. Under supercritical conditions, the oil dissolved in CO2 was separated from the supercritical phase using pressure reduction. The SFE parameters (pressure, temperature, CO2 flow rate, and extraction time) were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) to extract the highest levels of toxic elements. The results showed that toxic elements in fish oil can be reduced using supercritical CO2 at optimum pressure 40 MPa, temperature 61 ºC, CO2 flow rate 3.8 MPa, and extraction time 4.25 hr. There were significant reductions in the mercury (98.2%), cadmium (98.9%), arsenic (96%), and lead contents (99.2%) of the fish oil. The fish oil extracted using this method contained elements at levels that were much lower than the accepted limits of 0.1 μg/g. The reduction of toxic elements using the SFE method was more efficient than that of the conventional methods due to the high selectivity of supercritical CO2 for non-polar compounds.

Chitosan is a promising biopolymer for drug delivery systems. Because of its beneficial properties, chitosan is widely used in biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. In this review, we summarize the physicochemical and drug delivery properties of chitosan, selected studies on utilization of chitosan and chitosan-based nanoparticle composites in various drug delivery systems, and selected studies on the application of chitosan films in both drug delivery and wound healing. Chitosan is considered the most important polysaccharide for various drug delivery purposes because of its cationic character and primary amino groups, which are responsible for its many properties such as mucoadhesion, controlled drug release, transfection, in situ gelation, and efflux pump inhibitory properties and permeation enhancement. This review can enhance our understanding of drug delivery systems particularly in cases where chitosan drug-loaded nanoparticles are applied.

The molecular mass distribution, amino acid composition and radical-scavenging activity of collagen hydrolysates prepared from collagen isolated from the sea cucumber Stichopus vastus were investigated. β and α1 chains of the collagen were successfully hydrolysed by trypsin. The molecular mass distribution of the hydrolysates ranged from 5 to 25 kDa, and they were rich in glycine, alanine, glutamate, proline and hydroxyproline residues. The hydrolysates exhibited excellent radical-scavenging activity. These results indicate that collagen hydrolysates from S. vastus can be used as a functional ingredient in food and nutraceutical products.

The present study was undertaken to determine the bacterial agents present in various clinical solid wastes, general waste and clinical sharp waste. The waste was collected from different wards/units in a healthcare facility in Penang Island, Malaysia. The presence of bacterial agents in clinical and general waste was determined using the conventional bacteria identification methods. Several pathogenic bacteria including opportunistic bacterial agent such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes were detected in clinical solid wastes. The presence of specific pathogenic bacterial strains in clinical sharp waste was determined using 16s rDNA analysis. In this study, several nosocomial pathogenic bacteria strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Serratia marcescens, and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in clinical sharp waste. The present study suggests that waste generated from healthcare facilities should be sterilized at the point of generation in order to eliminate nosocomial infections from the general waste or either of the clinical wastes.

In the present study, ultrasound-assisted extraction of crude oil from winter melon seeds was investigated through response surface methodology (RSM). Process variables were power level (25–75%), temperature (45–55 °C) and sonication time (20–40 min). It was found that all process variables have significant (p < 0.05) effects on the response variable. A central composite design (CCD) was used to determine the optimum process conditions. Optimal conditions were identified as 65% power level, 52 °C temperature and 36 min sonication time for maximum crude yield (108.62 mg-extract/g-dried matter). The antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and fatty acid composition of extract obtained under optimized conditions were determined and compared with those of oil obtained by the Soxhlet method. It was found that crude extract yield (CEY) of ultrasound-assisted extraction was lower than that of the Soxhlet method, whereas antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of the extract obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction were clearly higher than those of the Soxhlet extract. Furthermore, both extracts were rich in unsaturated fatty acids. The major fatty acids of the both extracts were linoleic acid and oleic acid.

Mango peel is a good source of protease but remains an industrial waste. This study focuses on the optimization of polyethylene glycol (PEG)/dextran-based aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) to purify serine protease from mango peel. The activity of serine protease in different phase systems was studied and then the possible relationship between the purification variables, namely polyethylene glycol molecular weight (PEG, 4000-12,000 g·mol(-1)), tie line length (-3.42-35.27%), NaCl (-2.5-11.5%) and pH (4.5-10.5) on the enzymatic properties of purified enzyme was investigated. The most significant effect of PEG was on the efficiency of serine protease purification. Also, there was a significant increase in the partition coefficient with the addition of 4.5% of NaCl to the system. This could be due to the high hydrophobicity of serine protease compared to protein contaminates. The optimum conditions to achieve high partition coefficient (84.2) purification factor (14.37) and yield (97.3%) of serine protease were obtained in the presence of 8000 g·mol(-1) of PEG, 17.2% of tie line length and 4.5% of NaCl at pH 7.5. The enzymatic properties of purified serine protease using PEG/dextran ATPS showed that the enzyme could be purified at a high purification factor and yield with easy scale-up and fast processing.

Objective To assess the immunopotentiality of Ayurvedic polyherbal preparations, “Saribadi” and “Anantamul Salsa”. Methods Freshly prepared BALB/c mice splenocytes were cultured with “Saribadi” or “Anantamul Salsa” treatment [doses of 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, 1.00%, 1.50%, 2.00%, 3.00% and 4.00% (v/v)] at 37 °C for 5 days. The immunoglobulin M (IgM) production and lymphocytes proliferation were determined by ELISA and MTT methods, respectively. Endotoxin contamination was assessed by treating the preparations with polymyxin B. Results The doses of “Saribadi” [0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75% and 1.00% (v/v)] significantly increased IgM productions (0.966, 0.728, 0.695 and 0.615 μg/mL vs. control 0.265 μg/mL) and lymphocytes proliferation [absorbance 0.311, 0.394, 0.372 and 0.334 optical density (OD) vs. control 0.162 OD]. Similarly, the doses of “Anantamul Salsa” [0.50%, 0.75%, 1.00% and 1.50% (v/v)] promoted IgM productions (0.933, 0.919, 0.917 and 0.892 μg/mL vs. control 0.502 μg/mL) and the doses of “Anantamul Salsa” [0.50%, 0.75%, 1.00%, 1.50%, 2.00%, and 3.00% (v/v)] stimulated lymphocytes proliferation (absorbance 0.395, 0.326, 0.440, 0.398, 0.452 and 0.355 OD vs. control 0.199 OD). The activity of “Saribadi” and “Anantamul Salsa” was not retarded by the treatment of preparations with polymyxin B. Conclusions Immunomodulatory activity of “Saribadi” and “Anantamul Salsa” was unveiled for the first time. “Saribadi” and “Anantamul Salsa” possess immunostimulating potential acting through the induction of lymphocyte proliferation and IgM production. These preparations may be useful in strengthening immune responses. However, further cellular and in vivo studies are required.