Eucommia ulmoides male flower as a remarkable edible floral resource exerts lifespan/healthspan-promoting effects on Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Natural products, especially phytochemicals, can effectively improve the health of various model organisms and ultimately prolong their lifespan. As an emerging resource of plant-based food, edible flowers have potential anti-aging...

A novel peptide derived fromHaematococcus pluvialisresidue exhibits anti-aging activity inCaenorhabditis elegans viathe insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway

“…Lifespan assay was performed according to the protocol described in detail previously. 21 A minimum of 50 worms per strain were grown at 20 °C and transferred to a new plate daily during the reproductive phase, thereafter about every other day. Worms were gently picked with a sterilized platinum wire, observed for a response, and counted as dead when they did not respond to the touch of the platinum needle.…”

“…Lipofuscin of nematodes was tested according to Chen et al 21 After 4 and 10 days of treatment, the worms were transferred to 10 mM NaN 3 solution for 10 min and placed on a slide for measurement with fluorescence microscopy. The fluorescence microscope was set at 100× magnification using a GFP filter.…”

Asperuloside, the bioactive compound in the edible Eucommia ulmoides male flower, delays muscle aging by daf-16 mediated improvement in mitochondrial dysfunction

“…The confocal fluorescence microscopy methods used to observe body-wall muscular mitochondrial morphology (strain SJ4103), LGG-1 puncta number (DA2123), intracellular localization of DAF-16 (TJ356), and in vivo mitophagy activity (IR1511) have been detailed in our previous study. 5 However, the NGM medium composition and drugs differed, as ESI Method 1 † indicated. Moreover, the RW1596 strain was used for muscle fiber observation under the GFP channel and the 40× water immersion objective.…”

“…3,4 Moreover, we found that crude extracts from Eucommia ulmoides male flowers showed healthspan-enhancing effects, involving motility, muscle status, and mitochondrial health. 5 As a new food resource approved by China's Ministry of Health, the male flowers of E. ulmoides are traditionally consumed in tea or other food ingredients. 6 Iridoids, including aucubin (Auc), geniposide (Gen), and asperuloside, were identified as major active components of this flower.…”

“…6 Iridoids, including aucubin (Auc), geniposide (Gen), and asperuloside, were identified as major active components of this flower. 5 It is worth mentioning that the three iridoids have corresponding modulatory effects on muscular health in mouse or rat models. [7][8][9] Iridoids are natural phytochemicals with a monoterpene cyclic ring that usually appears in the glycosidic form.…”