The chili pepper is a very important plant used worldwide as a vegetable, as a spice, and as an external medicine. In this work, eight different varieties of Capsicum annuum L. have been characterized by their capsaicinoids content. The chili pepper fruits were cultivated in the Comarca Lagunera region in North of Mexico. The qualitative and quantitative determination of the major and minor capsaicinoids; alkaloids responsible for the pungency level, has been performed by a validated chromatographic procedure (HPLC-DAD) after a preliminary drying step and an opportune extraction procedure. Concentrations of total capsaicinoids varied from a not detectable value for Bell pepper to 31.84 mg g⁻¹ dried weight for Chiltepín. Samples were obtained from plants grown in experimental field and in greenhouse without temperature control, in order to evaluate temperature effect. Analysis of the two principal capsaicinoids in fruits showed that the amount of dihydrocapsaicin was always higher than capsaicin. In addition, our results showed that the content of total capsaicinoids for the varieties Serrano, Puya, Ancho, Guajillo and Bell pepper were increased with high temperature, while the content of total capsaicinoids and Scoville heat units (SHU) for the varieties De árbol and Jalapeño decreased. However, the pungency values found in this study were higher for all varieties analyzed than in other studies.

Moringa oleifera is a tree distributed in Mexican semiarid and coastal regions. M. oleifera is used in practice in the treatment of various diseases and is available without a medical prescription, often in the form of an herbal infusion for everyday use. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the chemical composition and nutritional values of dried M. oleifera leaf powder collected from two different regions in Mexico. All samples of M. oleifera exhibited moisture levels varying from 3.06 to 3.34%, lipids from 10.21 to 10.31%, fiber from 7.29 to 9.46%, ashes from 10.71 to 11.18%, crude protein from 10.74 to 11.48%, and carbohydrates from 54.61 to 57.61%. The predominant mineral elements in the leaf powder according to ICP‐MS were Ca (2016.5–2620.5 mg/100 g), K (1817–1845 mg/100 g), and Mg (322.5–340.6 mg/100 g). The HPLC analysis indicated the presence of phenolic acids (gallic and chlorogenic acids) and flavonoids (rutin, luteolin, quercetin, apigenin, and kaempferol). We concluded that Lombardia M. oleifera samples could be employed in edible and commercial applications. Our results showed that the highest mean value of As from the San Pedro samples exceeds the recommended level and may constitute a health hazard to consumers.

Direct spectrophotometric determination of capsaicinoids content in Chiltepin pepper was investigated as a possible alternative to HPLC analysis. Capsaicinoids were extracted from Chiltepin in red ripe and green fruit with acetonitrile and evaluated quantitatively using the HPLC method with capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin standards. Three samples of different treatment were analyzed for their capsaicinoids content successfully by these methods. HPLC‐DAD revealed that capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, and nordihydrocapsaicin comprised up to 98% of total capsaicinoids detected. The absorbance of the diluted samples was read on a spectrophotometer at 215–300 nm and monitored at 280 nm. We report herein the comparison between traditional UV assays and HPLC‐DAD methods for the determination of the molar absorptivity coefficient of capsaicin ( ε ₂₈₀ = 3,410 and ε ₂₈₀ = 3,720 M ⁻¹ cm ⁻¹ ) and dihydrocapsaicin ( ε ₂₈₀ = 4,175 and ε ₂₈₀ = 4,350 M ⁻¹ cm ⁻¹ ), respectively. Statistical comparisons were performed using the regression analyses (ordinary linear regression and Deming regression) and Bland‐Altman analysis. Comparative data for pungency was determined spectrophotometrically and by HPLC on samples ranging from 29.55 to 129 mg/g with a correlation of 0.91. These results indicate that the two methods significantly agree. The described spectrophotometric method can be routinely used for total capsaicinoids analysis and quality control in agricultural and pharmaceutical analysis.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) dephosphorylates phosphotyrosine residues and is an important regulator of several signaling pathways, such as insulin, leptin, and the ErbB signaling network, among others. Therefore, this enzyme is considered an attractive target to design new drugs against type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cancer. To date, a wide variety of PTP1B inhibitors that have been developed by experimental and computational approaches. In this review, we summarize the achievements with respect to PTP1B inhibitors discovered by applying computer-assisted drug design methodologies (virtual screening, molecular docking, pharmacophore modeling, and quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSAR)) as the principal strategy, in cooperation with experimental approaches, covering articles published from the beginning of the century until the time this review was submitted, with a focus on studies conducted with the aim of discovering new drugs against type 2 diabetes. This review encourages the use of computational techniques and includes helpful information that increases the knowledge generated to date about PTP1B inhibition, with a positive impact on the route toward obtaining a new drug against type 2 diabetes with PTP1B as a molecular target.

In this study, the potential use of Moringa oleifera as a clotting agent of different types of milk (whole, skim, and soy milk) was investigated. M. oleifera seed extract showed high milk-clotting activity followed by flower extract. Specific clotting activity of seed extract was 200 times higher than that of flower extract. Seed extract is composed by four main protein bands (43.6, 32.2, 19.4, and 16.3 kDa). Caseinolytic activity assessed by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and tyrosine quantification, showed a high extent of casein degradation using M. oleifera seed extract. Milk soy cheese was soft and creamy, while skim milk cheese was hard and crumbly. According to these results, it is concluded that seed extract of M. oleifera generates suitable milk clotting activity for cheesemaking. To our knowledge, this study is the first to report comparative data of M. oleifera milk clotting activity between different types of soy milk.