Treatment with Argovit® Silver Nanoparticles Induces Differentiated Postharvest Biosynthesis of Compounds with Pharmaceutical Interest in Carrot (Daucus carota L.)

Abstract

The global market for plant-derived bioactive compounds is growing significantly. The use of plant secondary metabolites has been reported to be used for the prevention of chronic diseases. Silver nanoparticles were used to analyze the content of enhancement phenolic compounds in carrots. Carrot samples were immersed in different concentrations (0, 5, 10, 20, or 40 mg/L) of each of five types of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) for 3 min. Spectrophotometric methods measured the total phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity. The individual phenolic compounds were quantified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and identified by –mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The five types of AgNPs could significantly increase the antioxidant capacity of carrots’ tissue in a dose-dependent manner. An amount of 20 mg/L of type 2 and 5 silver nanoparticle formulations increased the antioxidant capacity 3.3-fold and 4.1-fold, respectively. The phenolic compounds that significantly increased their content after the AgNP treatment were chlorogenic acid, 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid, and 5′-caffeoylquinic acid. The increment of each compound depended on the dose and the type of the used AgNPs. The exogenous application of Argovit® AgNPs works like controlled abiotic stress and produces high-value secondary bioactive compounds in carrot.

Optimization of the Synthesis of Natural Polymeric Nanoparticles of Inulin Loaded with Quercetin: Characterization and Cytotoxicity Effect

“…These conditions include cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic lung illnesses [ 2 ]. In addition, reports suggest that the prevention of NCDs by consuming vegetables and fruits is related to their contents of secondary metabolites, to which a beneficial bioactivity for health is attributed [ 3 , 4 ]. Moreover, due to their properties, these secondary metabolites represent an important impact on the global economy.…”

“…The chemical structure of flavonoids is composed of a variable number of hydroxyl groups, thus potentiating antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic and/or anti-carcinogenic properties. They are potential inhibitors of several enzymes, such as xanthine oxidase (XO), cyclo-oxygenase (COX), lipoxygenase and phosphoinositide 3-kinase [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Although flavonoids have health implications for humans, their bioavailability is generally low and can vary drastically among different flavonoid classes and among individual compounds within a particular class [ 7 , 8 ].…”