Yacon has been considered to be a potent alternative food source for patients who require a dietary cure in regional area, while the leaf part has been provided and consumed as an herbal tea in local markets. We demonstrated here potent antioxidative effects of the tea leaves from yacon in different free radical assays, reducing power assay, and cellular superoxide anion radical generation assay. Results support yacon tea leaves may be a good source of natural antioxidants for preventing O2(-) radical-mediated disorders.

Solanum sodomaeum L. is a solanaceous plant native to wide areas of the Libyan desert. In a previous paper, the antineoplastic activity of the mixture of glycoalkaloids extracted from the fruits of S. sodomaeum L. against Sarcoma 180 in mice was reported.1) The glycoalkaloids extracted from the fruits, leaves and stems of this plant were investigated using MS and HPLC analyses, and solamargine and solasonine were identified in all the plant materials.2) Furthermore, it was reported that a cream formulation containing purified glycoalkaloids from the fruits of the title plant was effective in the treatment of malignant human skin tumours; basal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas and benign tumours; keratoses and keratoacanthomas.3) Regarding another constituents of the fruits of S. sodomaeum L., two new pyrrole alkaloids were studied. 4) Here we describe the isolation and structural elucidation of a new steroidal glycoside from the underground parts of S. sodomaeum L., along with seven known steroidal glycosides, one of whose structures was corrected. Additionally, we report their antiproliferative activity against human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells.The MeOH extract of the underground parts of S. sodomaeum L. was successively subjected to Diaion HP20, silica gel, Sephadex LH20 and Chromatorex ODS column chromatographies, as well as HPLC on ODS, to afford eight steroidal glycosides (1-8).Compounds 3-8 were identified as solamargine (3),7) and protodioscin (8), 9) respectively, based on their physical and spectral data.Compound 1 was obtained as an amorphous powder, and its positive FAB-MS showed [MϩNa] ϩ ion peak at m/z 1053. The molecular formula of 1 was determined to be C 51 C-NMR spectrum of the aglycone (Ag) moiety of 1 gave signals similar to those of 6, apart from the appearance of the signals due to one methoxyl carbon (d 55.6) and one hemiacetal carbon (d 103.1) and the lack of the signal due to one oxygenated methylene carbon. These NMR signals were assigned in detail with the aid of 1 H-1 H correlation spectroscopy (COSY), heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence (HMQC), heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (HMBC), and nuclear Overhauser and exchange spectroscopy (NOESY) spectra. The HMBC correlations and the coupling constant value for H-26 of Ag (d, Jϭ8 Hz) indicated 1 to be a tetraglycoside of 26b-methoxy diosgenin as shown in Fig. 1. On acidic hydrolysis, 1 afforded D-glucose, L-rhamnose and D-xylose. Furthermore, the 13 C-NMR data of the Ag moiety and the sugar moiety were quite similar to those of (25R,26R)-26-methoxyspirost-5-en-3b-ol10) and xylosyl-b-solamarine, 11) respectively. Based on these data, 1 was defin- A new steroidal glycoside has been isolated from the underground parts of Solanum sodomaeum L., along with seven known steroidal glycosides. Their chemical structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data and chemical evidence, and the structure of one known pregnane type glycoside was corrected. In addition, their antiproliferative activity against huma...

To establish cheese as a dairy product with health benefits, we examined the multifunctional role of cheeses. In this report, we clarify whether different types of commercial cheeses may possess antiproliferative activity using HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cell lines as a cancer model. Among 12 cheese extracts tested, 6 (Montagnard, Pont-l'Eveque, Brie, Camembert, Danablue, and Blue) revealed strong growth inhibition activity and induction of DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells. Based on the quantification of nitrogen contents in different cheese samples, a positive correlation between the ripeness of various cheeses and their antiproliferative activity tested in HL-60 cells was displayed. Four varieties of Blue cheese ripened for 0, 1, 2, or 3 mo demonstrated that the Blue cheese ripened for a long term was capable of causing the strong suppression of the cell growth and the induction of apoptotic DNA damage as well as nucleic morphological change in HL-60 cells. Collectively, these results obtained suggest a potential role of highly ripened cheeses in the prevention of leukemic cell proliferation.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as hydroxyl and superoxide anion radicals, are highly reactive molecules derived from the metabolism of oxygen. ROS play positive roles in cell physiology, but they may also damage cell membranes and DNA, inducing oxidation that causes membrane lipid peroxidation and decreases membrane fluidity. Soymilk yogurt, which is soymilk fermented using lactic acid bacteria (LAB), is an excellent food item with numerous functional substances with antioxidant effects. In this study, the antioxidative activities of soymilk yogurt were investigated. Sixteen of the 26 tested LAB strains solidified soymilk. In antioxidant capacity tests for bacterial cells, Leuconostoc mesenteroides MYU 60 and Pediococcus pentosaceus MYU 759 showed the highest values in the oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and hydroxyl radical antioxidant capacity (HORAC) tests, respectively. The supernatant of soymilk yogurt made with Lactobacillus gasseri MYU 1 showed the highest ORAC and HORAC values. L. mesenteroides MYU 60, Lactobacillus plantarum MYU 74, Lactobacillus reuteri MYU 220, and P. pentosaceus MYU 759 showed significantly high N-acetylcysteine equivalent values compared with the control in a total ROS reducing assay (p<0.05). These strains were selected, and a comet assay was performed, which exhibited decreased values in all selected strains compared with the control, indicating DNA protection. An acidic exopolysaccharide produced by P. pentosaceus MYU 759 showed high antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant substances produced by LAB fermentation may be exopolysaccharides, antioxidant peptides, and isoflavone aglycones. Soymilk yogurt can be used as a functional food useful for various diseases related to oxidation.

Seven triterpenes, ␣-amyrin (1), uvaol (2), ursolic acid (3), ␤-amyrin (4), erythrodiol (5), lupeol (6) and betulin (7), two sterols, ␤-sitosterol (8) and ␤-sitosterol 3-O-␤-glucopyranoside (9), and one flavonoid, syringetin 3-O-␣-rhamnopyranoside (10) were isolated from the methanol extract of the fruit of rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei). Their chemical structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data. Among them, 3, 4 and 9 exhibited moderate growth inhibitory activity against human lung cancer cells (PC-12) and human colon cancer cells (HCT116) using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay.