In this study, the extraction of anthocyanin colorant from karanda fruit (Carissa carandas L.) was carried out and optimized with multiple single factor assays. Selected conditions for yield maximization consisted of ripen fruits with black-purple color, material size of thin slices (1.0–1.5 mm), solvent of EtOH 50%, material/ solvent ratio of 1:3, temperature of 50 °C, extraction time of 45 min, and two extraction cycles. The anthocyanin content in the extract was 277.2 mg/L, which is equivalent to 9.33 mg anthocyanin per gram of dry material. Aqueous solutions of the extract and dried extracts from Carissa carandas fruit were evaluated for stability at two temperature conditions, namely room temperature (30 ± 2 °C) and 45 °C. The temperature exerted great impact on color change, anthocyanin content and the degree of polymerization of anthocyanin. Aqueous solutions of extract with citric acid (3.0–5.0 g/L) were generally more color stable and less anthocyanin degradable than those without citric acid. In the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging assay, The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of the dried extract was 87.56 μg/mL, which was approximately 29 times higher than that of vitamin C. After 3-month storage at −18 °C, IC₅₀ of the dried extract was 173.67 μg/mL.

As a promising candidate for expanding the capacity of drug loading in silica nanoplatforms, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) are gaining increasing attention. In this study, porous nanosilica (PNS) and HMSNs were prepared by the sol-gel method and template assisted method, then further used for Rhodamine (RhB) loading. To characterize the as-synthesized nanocarriers, a number of techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen absorption-desorption isotherms, dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed. The size of HMSN nanoparticles in aqueous solution averaged 134.0 ± 0.3 nm, which could be adjusted by minor changes during synthesis, whereas that of PNS nanoparticles was 63.4 ± 0.6 nm. In addition, the encapsulation of RhB into HMSN nanoparticles to form RhB-loaded nanocarriers (RhB/HMSN) was successful, achieving high loading efficiency (51.67% ± 0.11%). This was significantly higher than that of RhB-loaded PNS (RhB/PNS) (12.24% ± 0.24%). Similarly, RhB/HMSN also possessed a higher RhB loading content (10.44% ± 0.02%) compared to RhB/PNS (2.90% ± 0.05%). From those results, it is suggested that prepared HMSN nanocarriers may act as high-capacity carriers in drug delivery applications.

Ten compounds (1–10) were purified from the extract of lichens C. faveomaculata, and among these one new triterpenoid, cryptothecin A (1) was characterized through mass spectrometric and 2D NMR spectroscopic analyses. Some of the isolated compounds were assessed for their antimicrobial (1, 6, and 8) and cytotoxic activity (1, 4–5, and 7–9), but only weak inhibitory effects were observed. Graphical Abstract

One new triterpenoid, hexagonin F (1) was characterized from the fruiting bodies of Hexagonia tenuis with the assistance of spectroscopic and spectrometric analytical methods. In addition, two triterpenoids and two steroids were also identified by comparison of their physical and spectroscopic data with those reported. The purified compounds were examined for their cytotoxicity against five tumor cell lines, however, only weak cytotoxicity was demonstrated. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

One new cytochalasin daldinin (1), 2 known cytochalasins 2 and 3, along with 2 steroids 4 and 5, were characterized from the methanol extracts of the fruiting bodies of Daldinia concentrica. The structure of new compound 1 was elucidated using a combination of 1- and 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic and high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometric analyses. In addition, the isolated compounds were examined for their cytotoxicity against several tumor cell lines and the tested compounds demonstrated moderate-to-weak cytotoxicity.