The present study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of ethanolic extracts from post-harvest sunflower and maize stalk residues, and their impact on the chemical composition, physicochemical parameters, lipid oxidative stability, microbiological properties, and sensory characteristics of pork liver pâtés over a 90-day storage period. Four formulations were prepared: a control group (CON), a batch with butylated hydroxytoluene as a synthetic antioxidant (BHT), 1% ethanolic extract from sunflower residues (SSRE), and 1% ethanolic extract from maize residues (MSRE). The MSRE had a higher total phenol content and showed better antioxidant activity relative to the SSRE (p < 0.01). The addition of SSRE decreased the lightness and increased the redness in the pork liver pâtés, with these pâtés showing the highest total color difference compared to the control (p < 0.01). The crop extracts increased the n-6 and total PUFA contents in pâtés and improved the PUFA/SFA ratio (p < 0.01). Formulations containing crop residue extracts showed higher TBARs and POV values than the control and BHT group (p < 0.01), indicating a pro-oxidant effect and accelerated lipid oxidation in pâtés during storage. As far as microbiological quality, the presence of crop residue extracts decreased the total viable count, lactic acid bacteria, and psychotropic aerobic bacteria (p < 0.01). The incorporation of crop extracts in the pork pâtés impaired their sensory quality, particularly color, odor, aroma, and flavor, and decreased their overall acceptability. These results indicated that, while the crop residue extracts were not as effective as synthetic antioxidants in preserving the lipid stability of pâtés, they demonstrated potential for enhancing the microbial quality of this type of meat product.

The presented study was aimed at exploring the bioactive properties (antioxidant, antimicrobial and food preserving) and chemical composition of R. discolor fruits collected from 2 geographically distinct wild-growing populations and extracted by using different solvents (methanol, ethanol, acetone and water). The total phenol (TPC), flavonoid (TFC) and anthocyanin (TAC) content varied from 52.7 to 186.8 mg GAE/g, 3.5 to 7.0 mg QE/g and 11.1 to 28.2 mg/g dry weight (dw), respectively. HPLC-DAD analysis identified cyanidin-3-glucoside (Cy-3-Glu) as the dominant anthocyanin that ranged in concentration from 18.4 to 32.2 mg/g dw. The acetone extract revealed the highest antioxidant activity through the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), total reducing power (TRC) and ß-carotene bleaching in vitro methods. The examined extracts showed antimicrobial activity, being more effective against Gram-positive (G⁺) than Gram-negative (G^-) bacteria. Furthermore, Candida glabrata was the most susceptible among the pathogenic yeasts. The ethanol fruit extract was the most active against Listeria monocytogenes and thus chosen for incorporation in yoghurt and further analyses regarding its food preserving properties, which confirmed its efficacy towards this food-borne pathogen. Additionally, panelists gave high marks to the novel product regarding color, taste, texture flavor and overall acceptance. The obtained results indicated that R. discolor fruit extracts exhibits notable bioactivity and might therefore be considered as a good platform for the development of new preparations to be used in the food industry.

In this study, the antioxidant properties and total phenolic and flavonoid contents of Rubus caesius L. var. aqu?ticus Weihe & Nees leaf extracts were examined. The radical scavenging capacity of four leaf extracts (methanol, ethanol, acetone and aqueous) was estimated against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays. Total antioxidant capacity was tested by ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) and total reducing capacity (TRC) procedures. Total contents of phenols and flavonoids were also determined. Total phenol content in the extracts was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and amounts ranged between 263.74 for ethanol to 366.27 mg gallic acid (GA)/g for acetone extracts. The amounts of flavonoids varied from 10.73 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/g for aqueous to 75.83 mg QE/g for acetone extract. The highest antioxidant activity against DPPH and ABTS?+ radicals was that of the acetone extract. Values for FRAP varied between 3.00 ?mol Fe+2/mg for the ethanol extract and 5.31 ?mol Fe+2/mg for the methanol extract. The results obtained for total reducing capacity indicate that the acetone extract has the highest antioxidant potential.

Reducing agricultural waste through reuse has become one of the most important strategies to minimise impact on the environment—an emerging global issue. Sunflower ranks fourth in the world in the production of vegetable oilseeds and therefore generates large amounts of agricultural waste. The aim of this study was to investigate the phytochemical composition and bioactivity of sunflower crop residues in order to open up new opportunities for waste management. TPC and TFC were determined spectrophotometrically, while the dominant compounds were identified by LC-DAD-ESI-MS as ent-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (KA) and 6Ac-7OH-dimethylchromone (DMC). Both compounds were present in higher concentrations in the ethyl acetate fraction (245.5 and 16.8 mg/g, respectively) than in the ethanol extract. None of the tested samples showed antimicrobial effects in the microdilution test. DMC showed remarkable antioxidant activity by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP and TRC in vitro assays, while both compounds proved to be promising enzyme inhibitory agents, being particularly efficient in inhibiting anti-neurodegenerative enzymes (IC₅₀ values of DMC and KA were 1.20/1.37 mg/mL and 1.44/1.63 mg/mL for AChE/BChE, respectively) and tyrosinase. The results presented indicate that sunflower crop residues are a good candidate for the extraction of bioactive compounds with potential application in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Cytokines are a diverse group of signaling proteins that regulate immune responses by mediating cell communication. Among them, interleukins (ILs) play essential roles in immune regulation, influencing diverse cell processes through tightly controlled signaling networks. Dysregulation of interleukin signaling could lead to chronic inflammation, contributing to the development of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases as well as cancer. IL-26, a cytokine of the IL-10 family, has emerged as a unique modulator of immune function. Although structurally related to IL-10 and sharing one of its receptor subunits, IL-26 exerts distinct biological effects, particularly in promoting inflammatory responses and interacting with extracellular DNA to activate immune pathways. Increasing evidence implicates IL-26 in the development of several chronic conditions, such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, and various types of cancer. This review summarizes current knowledge on IL-26’s biology, including its structural and receptor characteristics, immunomodulatory functions, and roles in inflammation and disease. Understanding IL-26’s dual functions in normal and inflammatory states may provide insights into novel therapeutic strategies targeting IL-26-mediated pathways in pathological conditions.

The berries of Rubus discolor are considered a rich source of phytochemicals which could play an important role in the prevention of prevalent contemporary chronic diseases. Thus, the goal of the presented study was to determine the profile of phenolic acids and anthocyanins of aqueous and ethanol extracts of R. discolor fruit, and their free radical scavenging, antiproliferative, antidiabetic and antimicrobial activities. LC-MS/MS analyses confirmed the presence of 11 phenolic acids with protocatechuic and gallic acids being the major compounds. Additionally, cyanidin- glucoside/galactoside was the most abundant among the five identified anthocyanins. The ethanol extract was more efficient in scavenging free radicals than the aqueous extract. The absence of antiproliferative activity was observed for both extracts. However, they inhibited carbohydrate hydrolysing digestive enzymes associated with type-2 diabetes. Furthermore, the obtained results for ?-glucosidase inhibitory activity (IC50 values 44.52 and 80.72 ?g/mL, for the aqueous and ethanol extracts, respectively) indicate significantly higher activity than the positive control, GlucobayR (233.38 ?g/mL). The ethanol extract was more effective against all of the examined bacteria (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter cloacae) than the aqueous extract. On the contrary, the aqueous extract showed better antifungal properties, particularly against Trihoderma viride and Penicillium verrucosum var. cyclopium. The quantified phenolics and presented bioactivities of R. discolor fruit extracts candidate them as a potential source of bioactive compounds which might be used in the food, pharmacy and cosmetic industries.