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Achieving rapid, cost effective, and intelligent identification and quantification of flavonoids is challenging. For fast and uncomplicated flavonoid determination, a sensing platform of smartphone-coupled colorimetric sensor arrays (electronic noses) was developed, relying on the differential competitive inhibition of hesperidin, nobiletin, and tangeretin on the oxidation reactions of nanozymes with a 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine substrate. First, density functional theory calculations predicted the enhanced peroxidase-like activities of CeO 2 nanozymes after doping with Mn, Co, and Fe, which was then confirmed by experiments. The self-designed mobile application, Quick Viewer, enabled a rapid evaluation of the red, green, and blue values of colorimetric images using a multi-hole parallel acquisition strategy. The sensor array based on three channels of CeMn, CeFe, and CeCo was able to discriminate between different flavonoids from various categories, concentrations, mixtures, and the various storage durations of flavonoid-rich Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium through a linear discriminant analysis. Furthermore, the integration of a "segmentation-extraction-regression" deep learning algorithm enabled single-hole images to be obtained by segmenting from a 3 × 4 sensing array to augment the featured information of array images. The MobileNetV3-small neural network was trained on 37,488 single-well images and achieved an excellent predictive capability for flavonoid concentrations (R 2  = 0.97). Finally, MobileNetV3-small was integrated into a smartphone as an application (Intelligent Analysis Master), to achieve the one-click output of three concentrations. This study developed an innovative approach for the qualitative and simultaneous multi-ingredient quantitative analysis of flavonoids., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Flavonoid compounds are considered important components of new sources of natural antioxidants. This study was performed to optimize the ultrasound-assisted extraction processes of flavonoids from date plum persimmon (DPP) fruits, along with the in vitro antioxidant capacities and identities of those components. First, the effects of liquid/solid ratio, ethanol concentration, extraction time, and extraction temperature on flavonoid yields were investigated by independent variables analysis. Then the response surface methodology was used to optimize the extraction process, and the maximum flavonoid content was 3.05 ± 0.03 mg/g DW under the conditions of liquid/solid ratio 27:1 (mL/g), 74 mL ethanol/100 mL, extraction time 27 min, and extraction temperature 80 °C. Moreover, by DPPH and ABTS assays, the crude extracts of flavonoids in DPP fruits exhibited robust scavenging capacities with IC 50 values of 1.76 and 0.82 μg/mL, respectively. In addition, 17 bioactive compounds of DPP were isolated and identified by HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS, among which two were phenolic acid derivatives, two were flavanones, eight were flavones, four were pentacyclic triterpenoids and one was xanthone. This study provided information regarding the phytochemical composition and functional properties of DPP fruits, supporting future research to facilitate the development and utilization of DPP as a functional food. • Effects of extract parameters on flavonoid yield were studied by single factor test. • The optimal conditions of flavonoid extraction were selected by RSM. • The flavonoid in DPP had robust abilities to scavenge DPPH and ABTS free radicals. • Bioactive compounds of flavonoids were identified by HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing global concern regarding the pervasive issue of plastic pollution. We investigated the response of Populus × euramericana cv. '74/76' to nanoplastic toxicity via phenotypic, microanatomical, physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic approaches. Polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) were distributed throughout the test plants after the application of PS-NPs. Nanoplastics principally accumulated in the roots; minimal fractions were translocated to the leaves. In leaves, however, PS-NPs easily penetrated membranes and became concentrated in chloroplasts, causing thylakoid disintegration and chlorophyll degradation. Finally, oxidant damage from the influx of PS-NPs led to diminished photosynthesis, stunted growth, and etiolation and/or wilting. By integrating dual-omics data, we found that plants could counteract mild PS-NP-induced oxidative stress through the antioxidant enzyme system without initiating secondary metabolic defense mechanisms. In contrast, severe PS-NP treatments promoted a shift in metabolic pattern from primary metabolism to secondary metabolic defense mechanisms, an effect that was particularly pronounced during the upregulation of flavonoid biosynthesis. Our findings provide a useful framework from which to further clarify the roles of key biochemical pathways in plant responses to nanoplastic toxicity. Our work also supports the development of effective strategies to mitigate the environmental risks of nanoplastics by biologically immobilizing them in contaminated lands. [Display omitted] • Polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) are toxic to the woody model plant Poplar. • PS-NPs accumulated mainly in roots, with minimal amounts reaching leaves. • PS-NPs easily penetrated membranes systems, causing thylakoid disintegration. • PS-NPs caused shifts in metabolic patterns in a dose-dependent manner. • Flavonoids are crucial for defending poplar against a severe PS-NPs toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]