Caesalpinia coriaria (C. coriaria), also named cascalote, has been known traditionally in México for having cicatrizing and inflammatory properties. Phytochemical reports on Caesalpinia species have identified a high content of phenolic compounds and shown antineoplastic effects against cancer cells. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify the active compounds of a water:acetone:ethanol (WAE) extract of C. coriaria pods and characterize their cytotoxic effect and cell death induction in different cancer cell lines. The compounds isolated and identified by chromatography and spectroscopic analysis were stigmasterol, ethyl gallate and gallic acid. Cytotoxic assays on cancer cells showed different ranges of activities. A differential effect on cell cycle progression was observed by flow cytometry. In particular, ethyl gallate and tannic acid induced G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and showed interesting effect on microtubule stabilization in Hep3B cells observed by immunofluorescence. The induction of apoptosis was characterized by morphological characteristic changes, and was supported by increases in the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 expression and activation of caspase 3/7. This work constitutes the first phytochemical and cytotoxic study of C. coriaria and showed the action of its phenolic constituents on cell cycle, cell death and microtubules organization.

Background: Agave syrups are natural sweeteners that are highly desirable for human consumption because they have low glycemic index. In this work, we explored the potential of ¹H‐NMR‐Chemometrics as a useful tool in the identification and differentiation of Agave syrups. Also, we evaluated the phytochemical screening and antioxidant capacity of Agave syrup compared to other natural sweeteners.Results: The phytochemical screening stands out for Agave syrups containing higher levels of metabolites with antioxidant activity, mainly saponins, glycosides, and terpenoids. Agave syrup antioxidant activity was in a range from 10% to 53%, while the total phenolic content was from 24 to 300 EAG/100 g, and condensed tannins were between 240 and 1,900 mg CE/g. Additionally, ¹H‐NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize syrup profiles and chemometrics. PCA group analyses allowed the sweeteners’ classification by origin and kind of Agave.Conclusion: Thus, we conclude that ¹H‐NMR and chemometrics can be used for identifying, differentiating, and classifying Agave syrups. Besides, Agave syrups contain significant amounts of antioxidative components and can be considered as an effective source of antioxidant.

An indole‐biotransforming strain MA was identified as Lysinibacillus xylanilyticus on the basis of the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. It transforms indole completely from the broth culture in the presence of an additional carbon source (i.e., sodium succinate). Gas‐chromatography‐mass spectrometry identified indole‐3‐acetamide, indole‐3‐acetic acid, and 3‐methylindole as transformation products. Tryptophan‐2‐monooxygenase activity was detected in the crude extracts of indole‐induced cells of strain MA, which confirms the formation of indole‐3‐acetamide from tryptophan in the degradation pathway of indole. On the basis of identified metabolites and enzyme assay, we have proposed a new transformation pathway for indole degradation. Indole was first transformed to indole‐3‐acetamide via tryptophan. Indole‐3‐acetamide was then transformed to indole‐3‐acetic acid that was decarboxylated to 3‐methylindole. This is the first report of a 3‐methylindole synthesis via the degradation pathway of indole.