At present, the technology used for the extraction and purification of Camellia oleifera saponins generally has the problems of high cost and low purity, and the quantitative detection of Camellia oleifera saponins also has the problems of low sensitivity and easy interference from impurities. To solve these problems, this paper aimed to use liquid chromatography for the quantitative detection of Camellia oleifera saponins, and to adjust and optimize the related conditions. In our study, the average recovery of Camellia oleifera saponins obtained was 100.42%. The RSD of precision test was 0.41%. The RSD of the repeatability test was 0.22%. The detection limit of the liquid chromatography was 0.06 mg/L, and the quantification limit was 0.2 mg/L. In order to improve the yield and purity, the Camellia oleifera saponins were extracted from Camellia oleifera Abel. seed meal by methanol extraction. Then, the extracted Camellia oleifera saponins were extracted with an ammonium sulfate/propanol aqueous two-phase system. We optimized the purification process of formaldehyde extraction and aqueous two-phase extraction. Under the optimal purification process, the purity of Camellia oleifera saponins extracted by methanol was 36.15%, and the yield was 25.24%. The purity of Camellia oleifera saponins obtained by aqueous two-phase extraction was 83.72%. Thus, this study can provide a reference standard for rapid and efficient detection and analysis of Camellia oleifera saponins for industrial extraction and purification.

Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) is a frequent harmful fungal pathogen. It can infect traditional Chinese medicine materials and release aflatoxin, to cause both economic and human health effects. By comparing the inhibitory potential of Litsea cubeba oil and its active components to A. flavus CGMCC 3.4408, citral was confirmed to be the main component that inhibits the growth of A. flavus CGMCC 3.4408, and the EC50 was 163.65mgL⁻¹. The inhibitory effect of citral on A. flavus CGMCC 3.4408 was studied for colony growth rate, mycelium biomass, aflatoxin production, and microstructure. Citral slowed down the growth rate of colonies and reduced mycelium biomass and toxin production. Moreover, citral altered the morphology of fungal spores and mycelium. In addition, citral also has the inhibitory effects on the isolates of A. flavus from moldy traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Thus, citral can be used as a potential agent to check the growth of A. flavus or related fungal strains.

Acetaminophen (AC) is one of the most common over-the-counter drugs, and its pollutant in groundwater has attracted more attention due to its serious risk to human health. Currently, the research on AC is mainly focused on its detection, but few are concerned about its removal. In this work, for the first time, nitrogen-doped Soulangeana sepals derived biochar/β-cyclodextrin-Metal-organic frameworks (N-SC/β-CD-MOFs) composite was proposed for the simultaneous efficient removal and detection of AC. N-SC/β-CD-MOFs combined the properties of host-guest recognition of β-CD-MOFs and porous structure, high porosity, and large surface area of N-SC. Their synergies endowed N-SC/β-CD-MOFs with a high adsorption capacity toward AC, which was up to 66.43 mg/g. The adsorption type of AC on the surface of N-SC/β-CD-MOFs conformed to the Langmuir adsorption model, and the study of the adsorption mechanism showed that AC adsorption on N-SC was mainly achieved through hydrogen bonding. In addition, the high conductivity, large specific surface area and abundant active sites of N-SC/β-CD-MOFs were of great significance to the high-performance detection of AC. Accordingly, the sensor prepared with N-SC/β-CD-MOFs presented a wide linear range (1.0–30.0 μM) and a low limit of detection of 0.3 nM (S/N = 3). These excellent performances demonstrate that N-SC/β-CD-MOFs could act as an efficient dual-functional material for the detection and removal of AC.

In this study, we systematically investigated the mechanisms of the antioxidation and anti-lipid accumulation effects of antioxidant peptides from Litsea cubeba on a free fatty acid (FFA)-induced NAFLD model of HepG2 cells. The NAFLD cell model was constructed by inducing the HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line with 0.5 mmol/L FFAs, and AQRDAGLL, QEGPFVR, and DVPPPRGPL were given to the culture to study their lipid-lowering and antioxidant activities on NAFLD cells. The lipid-lowering activities of the three antioxidant peptides were evaluated by Oil Red O staining and TG and TC content assays, and the results showed that all three peptides had strong ameliorating effects on FFA-induced lipid accumulation in NAFLD cells. The intracellular antioxidant protease (CAT, GSH, and SOD) activity levels and lipid peroxidation (MDA) content were measured and intracellular ROS levels were detected. The results showed that after intervention with the antioxidant peptides, the intracellular ROS levels in the NAFLD model cells were significantly reduced, the SOD and CAT activities were increased, the GSH content was elevated, and the MDA content was reduced, which indicated that AQRDAGLL, QEGPFVR, and DVPPPRGPL were able to inhibit the oxidative stress of the cells effectively and to achieve the effect of intervening in NAFLD. JC-1 fluorescence staining experiments showed that the mitochondrial membrane potential function of NAFLD cells was restored under the effect of the antioxidant peptides. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the main driving force between QEGPFVR and Keap1 protein was van der Waals forces, ΔG = −62.11 kcal/mol, which indicated that QEGPFVR was capable of spontaneously binding to Keap1 protein.

The development of a novel repellent plays an important role in the integrated control of Blattella germanica. A series of novel hydronopylformamides derivatives were synthesized from a naturally occurring compound (-)-β-pinene. The structures of these hydronopylformamides derivatives were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR), and electron impact mass spectrometry (EI-MS). Repellency of these hydronopylformamides derivatives against Blattella germanica was evaluated by the using petri dish arena method. The results showed that four derivatives (compounds 8a, 8b, 8c and 8e) exhibited repellency against Blattella germanica at a concentration of 20 mg/mL. Compound 8a was the most active compound among these derivatives, where the repelling ratios of compound 8a against Blattella germanica were 66.10%, 50.46%, 48.26%, at concentrations of 20 mg/mL, 10 mg/mL, and 5 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, compound 8a showed better repellency than the traditional insect repellent N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET), which indicated that compound 8a had a good application prospect in the prevention of Blattella germanica. This research hopes to promote the value-added utilization of (-)-β-pinene and the development of novel German cockroach repellents.