PHYTOCHEMICALS – BIOACTIVITIES AND IMPACT ON HEALTH Edited by Iraj Rasooli Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health Edited by Iraj Rasooli Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. 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Used under license from Shutterstock.com First published December, 2011 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health, Edited by Iraj Rasooli p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-424-5 free online editions of InTech Books and Journals can be found at www.intechopen.com Contents Preface IX Part 1 Phytochemicals 1 Chapter 1 Naturally Occurring Organic Sulfur Compounds: An Example of a Multitasking Class of Phytochemicals in Anti-Cancer Research 3 Claudia Cerella, Mareike Kelkel, Elodie Viry, Mario Dicato, Claus Jacob and Marc Diederich Chapter 2 Phytochemicals in Soy and Their Health Effects 43 Xianli Wu and Jie Kang Chapter 3 Sarcodon Mushrooms: Biologically Active Metabolites 77 Maria Carla Marcotullio Chapter 4 By-Products from Plant Foods are Sources of Dietary Fibre and Antioxidants 95 Isabel Goñi and Deisy Hervert-Hernández Chapter 5 Oral Bioavailability and Disposition of Phytochemicals 117 Yan Li and James W. Paxton Part 2 Anticancer Properties 139 Chapter 6 Anticancer and Antimicrobial Potential of Plant-Derived Natural Products 141 Wamidh Hadi Talib Chapter 7 Phytochemicals and Cancer Chemoprevention: Epigenetic Friends or Foe? 159 Katarzyna Szarc vel Szic, Ajay Palagani, Behrouz Hassannia, Linde Sabbe, Karen Heyninck, Guy Haegeman and Wim Vanden Berghe VI Contents Part 3 Nutritional Value 199 Chapter 8 From Nutrition to Health: The Role of Natural Products – A Review 201 H.G. Mikail Chapter 9 Effect of Fruit and Vegetable Intake on Oxidative Stress and Dyslipidemia Markers in Human and Animal Models 227 Jesús Abraham Domínguez-Avila, Emilio Alvarez-Parrilla, Laura A. de la Rosa-Carrillo, Alejandro Martínez-Martínez, Gustavo A. González-Aguilar, Consuelo Gómez-García and Maribel Robles-Sánchez Chapter 10 Acanthopanax trifoliatus, a Potential Adaptogenic Thai Vegetable for Health Supplement 253 Pongtip Sithisarn, Siripen Jarikasem and Krittiya Thisayakorn Chapter 11 Hulless Barley – A Rediscovered Source for Functional Foods Phytochemical Profile and Soluble Dietary Fibre Content in Naked Barley Varieties and Their Antioxidant Properties 269 Susanne Siebenhandl-Ehn, Mathias Kinner, Loredana F. Leopold, Mara B. Poppernitsch, Michael Prückler, Philipp Wurbs, Sabine Poisinger, Elisabeth Kalas, Emmerich Berghofer and Heinrich Grausgruber Part 4 Antioxidative Properties 295 Chapter 12 Herbal Antioxidants as Rejuvenators in Alternative Medicine 297 Samson Jamesdaniel and Asme Samson Chapter 13 Assessment of the Antidiabetic Potential of an Aqueous Extract of Honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia) in Streptozotocin and Obese Insulin Resistant Wistar Rats 313 Christo J.F. Muller, Elizabeth Joubert, Kwazi Gabuza, Dalene de Beer, Stephen J. Fey and Johan Louw Chapter 14 Antihiperglycaemic Activity of Bauhinia megalandra 333 Freddy González-Mujica Chapter 15 First-Pass Metabolism Changes After Long-Term Garlic Supplementation 357 Katja Berginc, Jurij Trontelj, Simon Žakelj, Manica Černe and Albin Kristl Contents VII Chapter 16 Anti-Trypanosomal Activity and Cytotoxicity of Some Compounds and Extracts from Nigerian Medicinal Plants 375 John O. Igoli, Alexander I. Gray, Carol J. Clements and Hazar A. Mouad Preface Throughout the development of civilization, plants, plant parts, and derived oils and extracts have functioned as sources of food and medicine, as symbolic articles in religious and social ceremonies, and as remedies to modify behavior. Taste and aroma not only determine what we eat but often allow us to evaluate the quality of food and, in some cases, identify unwanted contaminants. The principle of self-limitation taken together with the long history in the use of natural flavor complexes in food suggests that these substances are safe under intended conditions of use. Based on a rich history of use of selected plants and plant products that strongly impact the senses, it is not unexpected that society would bestow powers to heal, cure diseases, and spur desirable emotions, in an effort to improve the human condition. The perception is that these products are “natural” which has, in part, mitigated the public’s need to know whether these products work or are safe under conditions of intended use. Herbs and spices have been used for many centuries to improve the sensory characteristics and extend the shelf-life of foods. As a result, considerable research has been carried out on the assessment of the biological activity of many herbs, spices and their extracts. Overwhelming scientific data, from epidemiological studies, indicate that diets rich in fruit, vegetables and grains are associated with a lower risk of several degenerative diseases, such as cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Free radicals were a major interest for early physicists and radiologists and much later were found to be a product of normal metabolism. Today, we know well that radicals cause molecular transformations and gene mutations in many types of organisms. Oxidative stress is well-known to cause many diseases, and scientists in many different disciplines became more interested in natural sources which could provide active components to prevent or reduce its impacts on cells. Currently, there is a strong debate about the safety aspects of chemical preservatives since they are considered responsible for many carcinogenic and teratogenic attributes as well as residual toxicity. Plant products are also known to possess potential for food preservation. Oxidation of lipids, which occurs during raw material storage, processing, heat treatment and further storage of final products is one of the basic processes causing rancidity of food products, leading to their deterioration. Synthetic antioxidants have been used in the food industry since the 1940s, but trends in many health-related industries tend to shift preferences to natural sources. For these reasons, X Preface consumers tend to be suspicious of chemical additives and thus the demand for natural and socially more acceptable preservatives has been intensified. Originally added to change or improve taste, spices and herbs can also enhance shelf- life because of their antimicrobial nature. Due to undesirable influences of oxidized lipids on the human organism, it seems to be essential to decrease contact with products of lipid oxidation in food. Plant-derived natural products are highly abundant; many exhibit numerous biological activities. Therefore, investigation of natural antioxidants has been a major research interest for the past two decades as many research groups and institutions have been screening plant materials for possible antioxidant properties. Researchers have been interested in biologically active compounds isolated from plant species for the elimination of pathogenic microorganisms because of the resistance that microorganisms have built against antibiotics. Essential oils and extracts obtained from many plants have recently gained popularity and scientific interest. Many plants have been used for different purposes, such as food, drugs and perfumery. In this book, we were faced with the daunting task of making a superior collection of experiences backed by years of combined research and observations. One of our goals for this edition was to make the book more accessible to those engaged in herbal research. To accomplish this we focused on four specific areas: Phytochemicals, anticancer properties, nutritional value and antioxidative properties. Iraj Rasooli Department of Biology Shahed University Tehran-Qom Express Way Iran [...]... agents, on one hand, and the continuous demand of new targeted anti-cancer therapeutics, on the other hand From various case-control studies, it emerges that cancers affecting the digestive tract and the prostate appear as the most impacted ones A number of studies investigated any inverse correlations between the consumption of Allium species and the incidence of cancers affecting the esophageal and stomach... Multitasking Class of Phytochemicals in Anti-Cancer Research Fig 1 Overview of the generation of different OSCs in garlic cloves 5 6 Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health The different garlic formulations that are on the market vary significantly in their chemical composition In view of clinical trials it is important to know about the components contained in diverse garlic preparations in order... characteristic pungent garlic 4 Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health odor (Lanzotti, 2006; Wertheim, 1844) Other pharmacologically interesting ingredients of Allium vegetables, on which we will not focus here, include sapogenins, saponins and flavonoids, the latter being mainly present in onion (Miean & Mohamed, 2001) Allixin and organo-selenium compounds also contribute to some biological... which control the permeabilization of the outer mitochondrial membrane The resulting 18 Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health release of cytochrome c (and other additional factors) into the cytoplasm promotes caspase cleavage/activation, whose most upstream implicated member is caspase-9 The extrinsic or physiological pathway is mediated by the stimulation of specific death receptors on the... Multitasking Class of Phytochemicals in Anti-Cancer Research 19 Accordingly, the nuclear chromatin partially condenses and acquires a dotted pattern The pattern of modulations that OCSs produce on cell cycle-related proteins confirms these conclusions The accumulation of cyclin B1 correlates with the down-regulation of CDC25B and 25C, which control the phosphorylation status and the activation of cyclin-dependent... activation has been commonly reported upon DADS treatment in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y (Filomeni et al., 2003) and breast cancer MCF-7 cells (Lei et al., 2008); in prostate PC-3 and DU145 cells in response to DATS (Xiao et al., 2004); by SAMC in colon cancer SW480 cells (Xiao et al., 2003) JNK activation is required for the apoptogenic activity of 22 Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health OSCs,... suggested a direct link between histone hyperacetylation and the antiproliferative activity of some garlic components First, increased histone acetylation was obtained for concentrations similar to those used to inhibit cell proliferation of DS19, human colon cancer Caco-2 cells and human breast cancer T47D cells (µM range for allicin and SAMC, mM range for allylphenylsulfone and SAC) (Lea et al., 2002) In... modulation of histone acetylation as one of the mechanisms involved in the anti-cancer activity of garlic (Druesne-Pecollo & Latino-Martel, 2011) In eukaryotic cells, histones are proteins responsible for the DNA condensation and thus play an important role in the regulation of gene expression Histones are subjected to Naturally Occurring Organic Sulfur Compounds: An Example of a Multitasking Class of Phytochemicals. .. increase histone acetylation Lea et al reported for the first time the increased acetylation of histones H3 and H4 in mouse erythroleukemia DS19 and human leukemia K562 after treatment with DADS and AM (Lea et al., 1999) Then, the same group has confirmed those effects in vivo as histone acetylation was induced in liver and Morris hepatoma 7777 in rats treated with DADS and AM (Lea & Randolph, 2001)... (see section 3.2) Second, ROS production has not always been detected, even if apoptosis was induced (De Martino et al., 2006) The debate, however, remains open for further discussion The over-expression of the 20 Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health enzyme SOD has been shown in the neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells to counteract apoptosis (Filomeni et al., 2003) Besides, pre-incubation of cells . PHYTOCHEMICALS – BIOACTIVITIES AND IMPACT ON HEALTH Edited by Iraj Rasooli Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health Edited by Iraj. A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health, . Overview of the generation of different OSCs in garlic cloves Phytochemicals – Bioactivities and Impact on Health 6 The different garlic formulations that are on the market vary significantly