Assessment of the Antioxidant Potential of Plants in Urban Ecosystems under Conditions of Anthropogenic Pollution of Soils

Ecological and Geochemical Conditions for the Accumulation of Antioxidants in the Leaves of Lathyrus maritimus (L.) Bigel

“…These compounds have aromatic (benzene) rings in their molecules (one in hydroxybenzoic and hydroxy-cinnamic acids and two in various flavonoids) and one or several hydroxyl groups bonded with the carbon atoms of an aromatic ring. The distinctive features of polyphenols are the universality of distribution, a wide range of variants (over 9000 compounds) and diversity of structures [9,33,34]. All of them are formed by the shikimic acid pathway and polyketide biosynthesis.…”

“…Other distinctive features are easy oxidation accompanied by the formation of less-reactive transition products (semiquinone radicals or ortho-quinone), the ability of interact with proteins with the formation of hydrogen bonds and a tendency towards complexing with metal ions [9,33,34]. Polyphenols exhibit a high antioxidant activity, which is comparable to that of ascorbate and α-tocopherol [9,33,34]. The compounds are capable of inactivating free radicals and thus protecting cells against ROS.…”

“…Another important aspect of research into the defense response of plants is the regulatory and compensatory mechanisms of the antioxidant system. Despite the above considerations and ample literature describing the functioning of antioxidant enzymes [3,6] and low-molecular metabolites [7][8][9], there is little information on the regulatory or compensatory mechanisms of the antioxidant system.…”

Effect of Crude Oil on Growth, Oxidative Stress and Response of Antioxidative System of Two Rye (Secale cereale L.) Varieties

“…The most dangerous disorder, resulted from the effect of pollutants, including crude oil and petroleum hydrocarbons, on plants, is oxidative stress, which leads to the formation of many reactive oxygen species (ROSs) with high oxidizing capacity in cells (superoxide radical (O 2 •− ), H 2 O 2 , hydroxyl radical ( • OH), etc.). In one respect, the ROSs destroy cell-membrane complexes, disrupt transport processes and intracellular reactions, and thereby inhibit growth activity [ 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Contrastingly, plants use ROS as a second messenger in many signal transduction cascades, and therefore ROS accumulation is essential to plant development and defense [ 16 ].…”

Ecological and Landscape Factors Affecting the Spread of European Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) in Urban Areas (A Case Study of the Kaliningrad City, Russia)

“…Then, 5-6 samples were taken from each zone, which were then combined into a mixed sample and used for analysis. Sample preparation and analysis were carried out according to [41].…”