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The clinical application of curcumin in cancer treatment is considerably limited due to its serious poor delivery characteristics. In order to increase the hydrophilicity and drug delivery capability, we encapsulated curcumin into 1,3-β-glucan isolated from Vietnam medicinal mushroom Hericium erinaceum. The 1,3-β-glucan-encapsulated curcumin nanoparticles (Cur–Glu) were found to be spherical with an average size of 50 nm, being suitable for drug delivery applications. They were much more soluble in water not only than free curcumin but also than other biodegradable polymer-encapsulated curcumin nanoparticles. An antitumor-promoting assay was carried out, showing the positive effects of Cur–Glu on tumor promotion of Hep-G2 cell line in vitro.

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The rising claim for more environmental friendly and healthy agriculture is a strong incentive to find alternative strategies to replace the use of mineral fertilizer and pesticide. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), a main component of soil microbiota, represent a promising tool as providers of key ecological services. The present work represented one of the first attempts to study, under a morphological and molecular point of view, the AMF communities associated to some strategic crops in Vietnam. The findings about the AMF morphotypes dominant in different crop systems could be a starting point for the development of well performing and adapted inocula suitable for the application in field.

SUMMARYIn recent years, a considerable number of studies on the role of microbes in agarwood production have been carried out in plants of the species Aquilaria. Based on the fact that there is a relationship between the microorganisms residing inside the plant and the agarwood formation, we isolated and characterized endophytic fungi associated with A. crassna samples collected from Southern Vietnam. Morphological identification and DNA barcoding analysis of the fungal endophytic isolates indicated that they were classified at least into three groups of diverse genera: Geotrichum, Fusarium and Colletotrichum belonging to families Dipodascaceae, Nectriaceae and Glomerellaceae, respectively. Noteworthy, Geotrichum candium strain SHTr1 isolated from a dark colored woody sample of agarwood was able to produce a fruity odor and exhibited a slight antimicrobial activity against the test bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Another fungal isolate, Fusarium verticillioides SHTr3's, showed a moderate antimicrobial activity against a test Gram positive bacteria Bacillus subtillis and S. aureus with MIC values at 50 µg.mL -1 . At 200 µg.mL -1 , the ethyl acetate extracts of fungal isolates F. verticillioides SHTr3 and Colletotrichum truncatum SHTrHc7 were found to have comparable scavenging abilities on DPPH-free radicals with 53.87 and 71.82%, respectively. The present results contribute to a depiction of a diverse fungal endophytic community in Vietnamese agarwood plant A. crassna and provide important information for further understanding of the role of endophytic fungi in agarwood formation and therapeutic applications of host plants in general.