Antioxidant activity, anti-aging effects and cytotoxicity activity of cinnamon essential oils from Cinnamomum zeylanicum were investigated in this study. The antioxidant activities of the cinnamon essential oil at the concentrations of 125, 250, 500, and 1000 µg/mL were determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2ʹ-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS). The inhibitory activities against collagenase, elastase and tyrosinase were evaluated for anti-aging effects. The antioxidant activity determined by DPPH and ABTS assays varied from 4.91 - 28.74% and 4.96 - 50.17%, respectively. In addition, cinnamon essential oil at all concentrations tested (100, 200, 500, and 1000 µg/mL) inhibited tyrosinase activity by 61.68 - 93.12 %, collagenase activity by 2.83 - 30.28 % and elastase activity by 4.37 - 33.92 %. The cytotoxicity activity determined by the diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) assay revealed that the cinnamon essential oil at the concentration less than 100 µg/mL did not exhibit cytotoxicity activity on human fibroblast cells while the percentage of cell viability decreased when exposed to this oil at the concentration higher than 150 µg/mL. These results demonstrated that the cinnamon essential oil has antioxidant, tyrosinase inhibitory, collagenase inhibitory, and elastase inhibitory activities. In addition, cinnamon essential oil at each effective concentration did not show any toxicity when tested on normal human fibroblast cell. Therefore, this essential oil could be a potential candidate for cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.
Natto is a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis var. natto. It is also a famous food in Thailand. Potential probiotics were screened from natto. Bacillus subtilis strain VN5 produced the most quantity of exopolysaccharide (EPS), so it was selected to study the properties of microbial EPS and probiotics. The Fourier transform infrared spectrometer or FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. The patterns of FT-IR and levans are similar. The basic properties of probiotics were revealed. The 90% of VN5 strain resisted lysozyme within 30 min. VN5 survived under acidic conditions (pH 1-6), and the survival rate in 0.3%, 0.5%, and 1% bile solutions for 24 h was 100%. Unfortunately, VN5 did not inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhi. Gamma hemolysis was determined in VN5 strain. The finding on Bacillus subtilis strain (VN5) from natto paves the way to a high potential, useful new strain of probiotics.
Tantalum oxide (TaO) thin films were deposited by dc reactive magnetron sputtering at room temperature. A target of tantalum (99.995%) and a mixture of argon and oxygen gases were used to deposit TaO films on to silicon wafers (100) and BK7 glass substrate. The effects of annealing temperature (300–700 °C) on structural, morphology and anti-bacterial properties were investigated. Grazing incident X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements are carried out to identify the crystalline structure, film morphology and surface roughness, respectively. The antibacterial behavior of the tantalum oxide thin films will be discussed in this paper.
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