Alpinia officinarum Hance (Zingiberaceae) is traditionally used to treat inflammation, pain, colds and digestive diseases. To investigate the potential protective mechanism of total flavonoids from...

Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. (A. oxyphylla) is an important edible and traditional herbal medicine. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of A. oxyphylla was sequenced, analysed, and compared to five species in the Zingiberaceae family. The size of the A. oxyphylla chloroplast genome was 161351 bp, which consisted of a large single-copy (LSC, 87248 bp) and small single-copy (SSC, 16175 bp) region separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRa and IRb, 28964 bp each). The genome encoded 132 unique genes, including 87 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNAs and four rRNAs. The GC content of the genome was 36.17%. A total of 53 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 80 long repeats were identified in the A. oxyphylla chloroplast genome. The chloroplast genome of A. oxyphylla shared the highest sequence similarity of >90% with the chloroplast genome of A. zerumbet, and six chloroplast genomes in the Zingiberaceae family were compared by using CGView Comparison Tool (CCT). According to the phylogenetic tree, the Zingiberaceae family is divided into two categories, which coincide with the classification of the characteristics of sun-like and shade-like in plants. Our results reveal the phototrophic component of NADH-dehydrogenase (ndhB and ndhC), photosystem II (psbZ) and ATP synthase (atpE, atpF) exhibit adaptive evolution under different environments, and the strength of light is an important trigger for the adaptations at the chloroplast level.

Our previous studies have found that total flavonoid of Alpinia officinarum Hance (Zingiberaceae) (F.AOH) had protective effects on gastric ulcer (GU).To investigate the protective mechanism of F.A...

Purpose: Study aims to optimize the synthesis conditions for silver nanoparticle composites [ALP(D)-AgNPs] using a rapid and environmentally friendly method and investigate the antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer activities of the fabricated composite. Methods: The polysaccharide component ALP-D was extracted and purified from the fruits of Amomum longiligulare and subsequently used for further experiments. The structure of ALP-D was characterized by FT-IR, monosaccharide composition and molecular weight.The optimal conditions for the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using ALP-D were determined through single-factor experiments. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, DLS, HRTEM and XRD. Finally, the in vitro antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity and anticancer activity of the nano-silver composite were evaluated. Results: Single-factor experiments identified the optimal synthesis conditions for ALP(D)-AgNPs as a reaction time of 180 min, a temperature of 100 °C, and a 10:1 volume ratio of silver nitrate to ALP-D. The free radical scavenging activity of ALP(D)-AgNPs against DPPH and ABTS was significantly enhanced compared with that of ALP-D. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of ALP(D)-AgNPs against E coli and B subtilis were 31.25 μg/mL, while the MIC value against S aureus was 62.5 μg/mL. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of ALP(D)-AgNPs were 125 μg/mL for E coli, B subtilis, and S aureus. The IC50 values of ALP(D)-AgNPs on the MDA-MB-231, HepG2, Caco-2, and C6 cancer cell lines were 14.72 ± 0.23, 8.19 ± 0.65, 22.73 ± 3.01, and 15.77 ± 2.91 μg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: In summary, we have identified a novel material for the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The results show the ALP(D)-AgNPs synthesized using the new material ALP-D exhibit excellent stability and dispersibility. Furthermore, the biological activity reveals that ALP(D)-AgNPs possess notable antioxidant, antibacterial, and cancer-suppressing activities.