Arterial hypertension is a highly prevalent chronic disease worldwide, with several etiologies and treatments that may eventually have side effects or result in patients developing tolerance. There is growing interest in traditional medicine and functional foods to isolate biomolecules that could be useful as coadjuvants for treating several aliments. Pitaya, a desert fruit endemic in Mexico, is a rich source of bioactive molecules (betalains and phenolic compounds). In this work, the vasorelaxation properties of pitaya juice concentrate and fraction one were investigated using aortic and mesenteric rings from rats. The incubation of rings with pitaya juice concentrate or fraction one induced significant vasorelaxation, independent of the endothelium, and showed resistance to potassium channel blockers. This vasorelaxation was associated with the transmembrane influx of extracellular calcium through the vascular smooth muscle cells, with an inhibitory effect on the voltage-dependent calcium channel currents. Also, 400 mg/mL of pitaya juice concentrate in spontaneous hypertensive rats reduced their blood pressure for 48 h. Phytochemical analyses showed that the primary compounds in F1 were glycosidic in nature, and could be a complex mixture of disaccharides, dimeric disaccharides, or even tetrasaccharides. The glycosidic compounds found in F1 primarily contributed to vasodilatation, establishing a voltage-dependent calcium channel inhibition as a possible molecular target.

Supercapacitors based on mixed metal oxides are being developed as potential devices for large-scale energy storage applications with physical flexibility, thanks to their low cost and good electrochemical performance. This work demonstrates a novel approach to enhancing the electrochemical performance of bismuth–cerium oxide BiCeO₃ (BC) through thiourea doping. The incorporation of sulfur, confirmed by EDS, induced significant structural modifications, including a reduction in crystallite size from 42.5 nm to 34.8 nm and the emergence of new diffraction planes (002) and (222) in XRD patterns. These changes, indicative of successful lattice doping, yielded a more nanostructured morphology with increased active surface area and a 20% reduction in the optical band gap. Electrochemically, the thiourea-doped BiCeO₃ (BCT) electrode delivered a marked improvement, exhibiting a specific capacitance of 150 F·g⁻¹ at 25 mV·s⁻¹, a 17.2% increase over the pure BiCeO₃ (128 F·g⁻¹). Furthermore, BCT demonstrated superior rate capability and a 43% reduction in overall impedance, underscoring enhanced charge transfer kinetics and ionic conductivity. The synergy between sulfur-induced structural defects, increased electroactive surface area, and improved electronic structure establishes thiourea doping as an effective strategy for developing high-performance BiCeO₃-based supercapacitors.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as versatile materials for advanced applications due to their exceptional structural diversity, high surface areas, and tunable porosity. Among them, calcium-based MOFs (Ca-MOFs) are attracting significant interest owing to the natural abundance, low cost, and biocompatibility of calcium. In this work, a calcium benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (Ca-BTC) MOF was successfully synthesized and characterized as a multifunctional material. X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of the crystalline Ca₃(BTC)₂ phase, in agreement with the simulated pattern derived from the reported single-crystal structure. Electron microscopy revealed a nanorod morphology and ordered crystalline regions at the nanoscale, while Raman spectroscopy provided evidence of Ca–O coordination and the characteristic carboxylate bonding of the BTC linker. Under 365 nm excitation, the Ca-BTC MOF exhibited a bluish-white emission with significantly higher intensity than that obtained under 265 nm excitation, together with an average luminescence lifetime of 51.48 ms and a photoluminescence quantum yield of 7.7%. The higher emission intensity under near-UV excitation highlights its potential as a phosphor for pc-WLED applications. The electrochemical performance of Ca-BTC was evaluated in a solid-state supercapacitor (SC) assembled with graphene-based electrodes and a phosphoric acid electrolyte. Electrochemical measurements demonstrated a specific capacitance of 296.5 F g⁻¹ at 25 mV s⁻¹, together with excellent cycling stability, retaining 97.8% of its initial capacitance after 1000 charge–discharge cycles. These findings demonstrate that the Ca-BTC MOF combines a crystalline structure, long-lived bluish-white luminescence, and electrochemical charge-storage properties, making it a promising candidate for optoelectronic and energy-storage applications.