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Juncus decipiens is a member of the Juncaceae family and has culinary, medicinal, and decorative properties. It is also used in traditional Chinese Medicines for many years that promotes diuresis for strangury and clears out heart fire. This species has recently gained medicinal attention as a source of phenanthrenes, phenolic compounds, glycerides, flavonoids, and cycloartane triterpenes. This plant was also shown to be active, and researchers explored its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antialgal, antibacterial, and psychological behaviour-boosting properties. Preliminary research suggests that this species might be used for skin protection and brain disorders if proper clinical trials are conducted. The ethnomedicinal, phytochemistry, biological potencies, dangers, and scopes of Juncus decipiens have been examined in this respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue of the journal Molecules explores the potential of natural products to improve human health and society. The articles cover a range of topics, including essential oils from Jasminum plants, endophytic fungi, seaweeds, and the roots of the invasive plant Xanthium spinosum. The research focuses on the isolation, identification, and biological activity of these natural products, highlighting their potential as sources of new therapeutic compounds. The studies investigate their cytotoxic, antiviral, antimicrobial, and antimalarial activities, as well as their potential as inhibitors of biofilm and quorum-sensing. The findings suggest that these natural products could be further studied for drug development and skincare. The issue also includes studies on microbial biotransformation, which is a technique used to modify the structures of natural and synthetic compounds to enhance their biological activity or reduce toxicity. One study demonstrates the biotransformation of vulgarin, a compound from Artemisia judaica L., resulting in the production of two new compounds. Another study focuses on the neuroprotective properties of hericenone C, a compound found in Lion's mane mushroom, and its hydrolyzed product, deacylhericenone. The issue also includes reviews on the therapeutic benefits of mushroom polysaccharides in cancer treatment and the pharmacological properties of Retama monosperma, a leguminous plant. Overall, these studies contribute to our understanding of natural products and their potential applications in [Extracted from the article]

Potato peel may play a mixed blessing role via providing useful and economic compounds, in contrast, it contains very toxic glycoalkaloids. However, massive amounts of potato peel waste are generated from industrial and personal uses. The evaluation of the four used bio-modulator responses on potato peel was estimated by monitoring the chemical contents by GC-MS, LC-ESI-MS/MS, reducing sugar, total phenolics, and total flavonoid contents as well as a-amylase and antioxidant activities by the comparison to control untreated peels. The in vitro a-amylase assay indicated that treatment with red beetroot (0.0025% w/v) methanolic extract exhibited the maximum a-amylase inhibitory activity by 91.7%. In addition, the treatment with red beetroot's different aqueous extract concentrations significantly minifies the reduced sugar content three-fold in the peel in comparison to the control untreated. The treated peel with methanolic extract (0.0025% w/v) of pomegranate outer peel retained the highest total flavonoid content while treated with olive leaves (0.0025% w/v) methanolic extract exhibited the highest total phenolic content. GC-MS revealed that solanidine-5-en-ol was suppressed by pomegranate outer peel (0.05% w/v) aqueous extract, lantana camara leaves (0.05% w/v) aqueous extract, and red beetroot (0.0025% w/v) methanolic extract. LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis interestingly determines the food safety effectiveness of olive leaves (0.1% w/v) aqueous extract among all applied bio-modulators in the reduction of toxic glycol and steroidal alkaloids in potato peel. In conclusion, these findings may indicate the versatile applications of bio-modulators via boosting and/or modifying potato peel's chemical and biological properties in either food safety or pharmaceutical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coleus forskohlii (Willd.) Briq. is a medicinal herb of the Lamiaceae family. It is native to India and widely present in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Egypt, China, Ethiopia, and Pakistan. The roots of C. forskohlii are edible, rich with pharmaceutically bioactive compounds, and traditionally reported to treat a variety of diseases, including inflammation, respiratory disorders, obesity, and viral ailments. Notably, the emergence of viral diseases is expected to quickly spread; consequently, these data impose a need for various approaches to develop broad active therapeutics for utilization in the management of future viral infectious outbreaks. In this study, the naturally occurring labdane diterpenoid derivative, Forskolin, was obtained from Coleus forskohlii. Additionally, we evaluated the antiviral potential of Forskolin towards three viruses, namely the herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2), hepatitis A virus (HAV), and coxsackievirus B4 (COX-B4). We observed that Forskolin displayed antiviral activity against HAV, COX-B4, HSV-1, and HSV-2 with IC50 values of 62.9, 73.1, 99.0, and 106.0 μg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, we explored the Forskolin's potential antiviral target using PharmMapper, a pharmacophore-based virtual screening platform. Forskolin's modeled structure was analyzed to identify potential protein targets linked to its antiviral activity, with results ranked based on Fit scores. Cathepsin L (PDB ID: 3BC3) emerged as a top-scoring hit, prompting further exploration through molecular docking and MD simulations. Our analysis revealed that Forskolin's binding mode within Cathepsin L's active site, characterized by stable hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, mirrors that of a co-crystallized inhibitor. These findings, supported by consistent RMSD profiles and similar binding free energies, suggest Forskolin's potential in inhibiting Cathepsin L, highlighting its promise as an antiviral agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four new natural compounds named hericenone O (1), hericenone P (2), hericenone Q (3), and hericenone R (4), two of them were reported synthetically (3-4), together with eleven known compounds were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Hericium erinaceus. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by using NMR analysis and mass spectrometry, as well as comparisons with the reported data in the literature. The bioactivity evaluation revealed that hericenone Q showed significant cytotoxic activity against Hep-G2 with IC50 values of 23.89 μM, and against HCT-116 with IC50 values of 65.64 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conocarpus lancifolius Engl. (Combretaceae) has several potential health-promoting effects, such as antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic effects. Phytochemical study of the ethyl acetate fraction of the leaf extract of this plant led to the isolation and identification of eight compounds viz., gallic acid (1), dihydromyricetin (2), myricetin (3), daucosterol (4), syringetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucoside (6), gallocatechin (7), and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (8). Their acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in vitro and in silico inhibitory activities were evaluated. Daucosterol (4) showed the highest activity (IC50 0.316 μM) which was further validated by the superimposed docking orientation with the co-crystallized inhibitor, donepezil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Propolis is a bee product traditionally used for therapy in several diseases. The therapeutic activities of propolis, such as antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory, are commonly known. Propolis from the stingless bee (Wallacetrigona insica) showed promising bioactivity essential for the criteria. Objective: The present study focused on an examination of the cytotoxicity effect of secondary metabolites isolated from stingless bee (W. insica) propolis in some cancer cell lines. Methods: The fractionation and isolation of the active compound from stingless bee (W. insica) propolis were done by chromatographic methods and spectroscopic analysis. Results: The prenylated flavonoid named 8,3΄-diisoprenyl kaempferol (broussoflavonol F) showed cytotoxicity to all types of cancer cells (HepG2, MCF-7, HeLa, and HCT116). Among the four cancer-cell lines tested, broussoflavonol F displayed the strongest cytotoxicity effect against HCT116 (IC50 1.66±0.25 μM) and HeLa (IC50 17.10±0.26 μM), compared to 5-FU as a positive standard. It also showed 63.3% of viable cells at 12 μg/ml in CCD841 normal cells. Conclusion: These findings provide scientific evidence that broussoflavonol F from stingless bee (W. insica) propolis might have potential as an anticancer agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study targets the evaluation of melanin synthesis inhibition activity of the bamboo shoot skin as agro-waste. The total methanolic extract of bamboo peel extract was evaluated for its skin protective effects via measuring its melanin inhibitory activity and its suppression activity on the expression of tyrosinase mRNA levels. Results showed that bamboo peel extract has a good ability for the inhibition of melanin synthesis so further studies were performed for the isolation of its constituents. Twelve compounds have been isolated from the shoot skin of Phyllostachys pubescens. Their structures were elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic methods. The melanin inhibition potential of the isolates was tested with their collagen-production-promoting activity for the determination of active principles. Results showed that Betulinic acid, tachioside, and 1,2-dilinolenin significantly suppressed melanin production per cell compared to control. Triacontanol, tricin, and (+)-lyoniresinol 9′-O-glucoside also tended to decrease melanin production per cell. These findings indicated that the skin of bamboo shoots, a significant agricultural waste, is a useful natural source for further research on its potential for aging problems such hyperpigmentation and cognitive function impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new compounds, 11S-methoxy-11,12-dihydro phytuberin (2) and 9S-methoxy-benzocyclononan-7-one (6), together with twenty-six known ones were isolated from Lycium schweinfurthii (Solanaceae). Their planar structure was established by extensive spectroscopic analyses. The absolute configuration of compound 6 was determined by time dependent density functional theory calculations (TDDFT). The cytotoxic potential of the isolates was assessed in cultured skin cancer (G-361) and colon cancer (HCT-116 and CaCo-2) cell lines. Certain flavonoids showed the highest cytotoxic activity, with IC50 values ranging from 7.1 to 63.3 µM; meanwhile 5-flurouracil showed IC50 values ranging from 62.4 to >100 µM. All compounds showed minimal toxicity towards normal cells from skin (NHDF-4) and colon (CCD-841), indicating their potential selectivity and safety as cytotoxic candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]