Persimmon (Diospyros kaki), a familiar and widespread fruit worldwide, is known to exhibit several physiological effects because of the presence of pharmacologically active compounds called phytochemicals. However, its high-molecular-weight compounds, particularly polysaccharides, have not been extensively studied. In this study, D. kaki extract (DK) was fractionated into low- and high-molecular-weight fractions (DK-L and DK-H, respectively) through ethanol fractionation, and their effects on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiwrinkle activities were investigated by an in vitro system. DK-H contained significantly higher contents of neutral sugar, uronic acid, and polyphenols compared to DK and DK-L. Furthermore, DK-H exhibited significantly improved pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiwrinkle properties, compared to those of DK and DK-L, demonstrating that DK-H may play an important role in mediating the beneficial effects of persimmon. Sugar composition analysis and molecular characterization indicated that DK-H consisted of a galacturonic acid (GalA)-rich polysaccharide with a molecular weight of >345 kDa that mainly comprised GalA and small amounts of neutral sugar and polyphenol residues. These results suggest that the bioactive fraction DK-H is likely to be a GalA-rich pectic polysaccharide containing a small number of polyphenol residues, which may be a novel candidate in the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.

(1) Background: Nanotechnology is being widely applied for anticancer strategies with few side effects. Nanoparticles (NPs) prepared from natural extracts are promising candidates for cancer treatment because of their unique physicochemical characteristics. This study aimed to prepare gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) from Phyllanthus emblica fruit extract (PEFE) using Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) and to evaluate their anticancer activity against the human gastric adenocarcinoma cell-line (AGS). (2) Methods: The safety of microbial biosynthesis AuNPs (PEFE-AuNPs) was assessed by evaluating the cytotoxicity. The anticancer activity of PEFE-AuNPs was investigated in AGS cells in terms of apoptosis and autophagy. (3) Results: PEFE-AuNPs exhibited significant cytotoxicity against AGS cells but not against normal cells. The apoptosis induced by PEFE-AuNPs in AGS cells was associated with PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1)-Parkin mediated reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential and activation of intracellular signaling apoptosis pathways. The anticancer activity of PEFE-AuNPs was associated with induction of apoptosis through inhibition of autophagy, downregulation of LC3-II/LC3-I and Beclin-1 expression, and upregulation of p62 expression in AGS cells. (4) Conclusions: This study is the first to demonstrate the anticancer activity of PEFE-AuNPs against AGS cells. Our results provide a good starting point for the development of new anticancer products based on gold nanoparticles of P. emblica fruit extract.

Centella asiatica L. Urban (CA) is a valuable medicinal herb that contains various bioactive secondary metabolites. In the present study, the harvested CA was divided into whole plant and leaf parts, and were heated-air-dried or freeze-dried. The dried CA was extracted under various extraction conditions to obtain 16 extracts, and their antioxidant activities were examined. Twelve types of secondary metabolites (five polyphenolic acids, four triterpenoids, and three flavonoids) were quantified in each extract. Finally, the intercorrelations between secondary metabolites and antioxidant activities were analyzed through statistical analyses, such as Pearson correlation coefficient, scatter plotting, and principal component analysis. The antioxidant capacities of CA might be primarily influenced by major triterpenoids such as madecassoside and asiaticoside, which showed high content in the ethanol extracts of freeze-dried leaf parts. The present study provides a valuable groundwork for the development of optimal extraction processes for C. asiatica L. as an antioxidant material.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Oenothera biennis sprout extract (OBS-E) on skin-function improvement in an in vitro system and to identify its pharmaceutically active components. OBS-E showed antioxidant ability in radical scavenging and reducing power assays, significantly inhibited matrix metalloproteinases-1 and -2, and increased the production of type I collagen, indicating its anti-wrinkle activity. Furthermore, OBS-E significantly increased the level of hyaluronic acid (HA) and the expression of moisturizing genes, such as hyaluronic acid synthase 2 (HAS2) and aquaporin 3 (AQP3), indicating it is effective in enhancing skin hydration. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) analyses showed that OBS-E contained high levels of polyphenolic acids, such as gallic acid and ellagic acid, in addition to flavonoid glycosides, such as luteolin 7-glucuronide and quercetin 3-glucuronide. Our results suggest that these major phytochemicals are likely to play crucial roles in the expression of antioxidant, anti-wrinkle, and moisturizing activities of OBS-E.