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The effect of three domestic thermal processing methods on chestnut fruit was analysed in this study. By evaluating the changes of the contents of free and bound phenolic profiles as well as the antioxidant activity in chestnut fruit, our study indicated that steaming could better preserve and enhance the level of phenolics and flavonoids in chestnut fruit and thus brought to a higher antioxidant activity. Microwaving could increase the phenolic content and the antioxidant activity of chestnut fruits within a short time, while blanching caused a decrease of flavonoid contents. In addition, our research suggested that there was formation of new phenolics in chestnut fruit, which were discovered during thermal processing because of the increases of bound phenolics after processing. Therefore, the potential of chestnut fruits to be developed as a kind of functional food could be highly expected.

Phenolic profiles, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and hypoglycemic activities of the whole Ehretia macrophylla Wall. (EMW) fruit were investigated in the present study. Catechin (CE), o‐methoxy benzoic acid (o‐MBA), and rosmarinic acid (RA) were the predominant phenolics in free extract, while CE, vanillic acid (VA), and o‐MBA were for bound extract. These extracts exhibited potential antioxidant capacity measured by peroxyl radical scavenging capacity (PSC), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), and cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) assays. This fruit also possessed dose‐dependently antiproliferative activity, and this may be due to the synergistic and additive effects of individual phenolics. Furthermore, EMW fruit showed favorable hypoglycemic activity via inhibition of activities of α‐glucosidase and α‐amylase, enhancement of glucose consumption, glycogen accumulation, and glycogen synthase 2 (GYS2) activity, and downregulation of activities of glucose‐6‐phosphatase (G6Pase) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK). Therefore, EMW fruit has the potential as an ingredient of functional foods to improve human health and shows promising applications with additional health and economical benefits.Practical ApplicationEMW fruit is a plant‐based food rich in natural phenolic compounds, which suggesting its potential bioactivities for humans such as antioxidant, antiproliferative, and hypoglycemic activities. Our findings would provide a logical strategy to promote the comprehensive utilization of phenolics in EMW fruit with both health and economical benefits.

The lipid-based nanotechnology, namely self-microemulsion drug delivery system (SMEDDS) was used to improve the bioavailability and oral delivery of total flavones of Hippophaë rhamnoides L. (TFH). The relevant bioavailability of TFH could be remarkably 3-fold improved by the optimized SMEDDS. The SMEDDS produced via a simple one-step process for poorly soluble TFH to achieve a significant improvement in the bioavailability, may endorse the promising utilization of TFH in functional foods as well as pharmaceutical fields with an enhanced absorption in vivo.

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