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BACKGROUND Eighteen edible plants were assessed for their antioxidant potential based on oxygen radical absorbance capacity ( ORAC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl ( DPPH) radical scavenging activity, total phenolics, vitamin C content and various lipophilic antioxidants. The inhibitory activities of the plant extracts against the enzymatic activities of α-amylase and α-glucosidase were also evaluated. RESULTS The antioxidant and starch hydrolase activities of the plants varied widely across a single batch of analysis. The ORAC and DPPH radical scavenging EC50 values varied between 298 and 1984 Trolox equivalents g−1 fresh weight and between 91 and 533 mg kg−1 fresh weight, respectively. The total phenolics and vitamin C contents varied between 32 and 125 mg gallic acid equivalents g−1 fresh weight and between 96 and 285 µg g−1 fresh weight, respectively. All the plants contained neoxanthin, violaxanthin, and α- and β- carotene in varying amounts. Coccinia grandis, Asparagus racemosus, Costus speciosus, Amaranthus viridis and Annona muricata displayed the highest inhibitory activities against starch hydrolases. They were the most efficient against the breakdown of seven starches exposed to the two enzymes as well. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the edible plants were observed to display a high antioxidant potential with starch hydrolase inhibitory properties, which were beneficial in their being recognized as functional food. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of the phosphoglucose isomerase from a Bacillus subtilis native strain were carried out. The crystals belonged to the monoclinic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 145.7, b = 136.0, c = 109.1 Å, β = 119.4°. The diffraction quality of the crystal was significantly improved from 2.4 Å to greater than 1.9 Å resolution by using the in situ flash-annealing method. A 98% complete data set with an overall Rmerge of 4.6% was collected using an R-AXIS IV++ image-plate system and a copper rotating-anode X-ray generator. The crystals contained four molecules per asymmetric unit and the predicted solvent content and the Matthews coefficient ( VM) were 46.8% and 2.3 Å3 Da−1, respectively. Structure determination by the molecular-replacement method provided a reasonable solution for model building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]