Functional materials based on renewable raw materials: hydrochar and chitosan as formaldehyde scavengers in urea-formaldehide composites (2025)

Effects of ionizing radiation on bio-active plant extracts useful for preventing oxidative damages

Natural Product Research, 2018

Humans are exposed to ionizing radiations in medical radiodiagnosis and radiotherapy that cause oxidative damages and degenerative diseases. Airplane pilots, and even more astronauts, are exposed to a variety of potentially harmful factors, including cosmic radiations. Among the phytochemicals, phenols are particularly efficient in countering the oxidative stress. In the present study, different extracts obtained from plant food, plant by-products and dietary supplements, have been compared for their antioxidant properties before and after irradiation of 140 cGy, a dose absorbed during a hypothetical stay of three years in the space. All the dry extracts, characterized in terms of vitamin C and phenolic content, remained chemically unaltered and maintained their antioxidant capability after irradiation. Our results suggest the potential use of these extracts as nutraceuticals to protect humans from oxidative damages, even when these extracts must be stored in an environment exposed to cosmic radiations as in a space station.

Effects of radiation processing on phytochemicals and antioxidants in plant produce

Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2009

Consumption of natural, fresh plant produce rich in phytochemicals and antioxidants has been reported to overcome some of the degenerative diseases that affect humans. However, improper processing, handling, and long-term storage of produce might result in minimal availability of the healthpromoting compounds. Food irradiation as a physical method for preservation has proved its efficacy over other common means of preservation, and is known to retain the quality of food and agricultural commodities. This paper summarizes the effects of ionizing (gamma and electron beam) and nonionizing (UV) radiation on the compositional changes induced in health-promoting phytochemicals and antioxidants of plant origin. The information will be beneficial for further commercialization and exploration of this novel technology on a pilot scale in food industries.

Ionizing radiation induced effects on medicinal vegetable products. Cascara bark

Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 1998

The eects of gamma irradiation on cascara bark were studied. Induced degradation products and modi®cation in cascaroside ratio were investigated by a dedicated HPLC method. The presence of free radicals was evaluated by EPR technique. Both HPLC and EPR measurements were performed at dierent times up to four months after the irradiation process.

Effect of gamma radiation on morphological, biochemical, and physiological aspects of plants and plant products

Environmental …, 2012

Research on the basic interaction of radiation with biological systems has contributed to human society through various applications in medicine, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and in other technological developments. In the agricultural sciences and food technology sectors, recent research has elucidated the new potential application of radiation for microbial decontamination due to the inhibitory effect of radiation on microbial infestation. The last few decades have witnessed a large number of pertinent works regarding the utilization of radiation with special interest in g-rays for evolution of superior varieties of agricultural crops of economic importance. In this review, general information will be presented about radiation, such as plant specificity, dose response, beneficial effects, and lethality. A comparison of different studies has clarified how the effects observed after exposure were deeply influenced by several factors, some related to plant characteristics (e.g., species, cultivar, stage of development, tissue architecture, and genome organization) and some related to radiation features (e.g., quality, dose, duration of exposure). There are many beneficial uses of radiation that offer few risks when properly employed. In this review, we report the main results from studies on the effect of g-irradiations on plants, focusing on metabolic alterations, modifications of growth and development, and changes in biochemical pathways especially physiological behaviour.

Radioprotection by plant products: present status and future prospects

Phytotherapy Research, 2005

The development of radioprotective agents has been the subject of intense research in view of their potential for use within a radiation environment, such as space exploration, radiotherapy and even nuclear war. However, no ideal, safe synthetic radioprotectors are available to date, so the search for alternative sources, including plants, has been on going for several decades. In Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicine, several plants have been used to treat free radical-mediated ailments and, therefore, it is logical to expect that such plants may also render some protection against radiation damage. A systematic screening approach can provide leads to identifying potential new candidate drugs from plant sources, for mitigation of radiation injury. This article reviews some of the most promising plants, and their bioactive principles, that are widely used in traditional systems of medicine, and which have rendered significant radioprotection in both in vitro and in vivo model systems. Plants and their constituents with pharmacological activities that may be relevant to amelioration of radiation-mediated damage, including antiemetic, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, cell proliferative, wound healing and haemopoietic stimulatories are also discussed.

Thermal and adsorption study of the spent mushroom substrate and its hydrochar

Book of Abstracts, 2023

Jasna Paradiž, Determining the genetic vulnerability of plants due to ionizing radiation: a comprehensive analysis of the cytogenetic balance and responses of the Allium root meristem to various radiation doses .

In Vitro Evaluation for Protective Effect of Bamboo Leaves Against Gamma Radiation Induced Genetic Damage and Their Polyphenols Quantification Using RP-HPLC

INDIAN DRUGS, 2020

Radioprotector is the prime antidote to radiation injury. The desire to search an ideal radioprotector led us to explore natural sources. Bamboo species are known for theirimmense medicinal potential such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, immunomodulatory activities and are enriched with polyphenolic phytoconstituents. In CBMN assay, the pre-treatment of human peripheral blood lymphocytes with varying concentration of bamboo leaf extract before exposure to different doses of γ- radiation resulted in significant (P < 0.0001) decline of radiation induced micronuclei. Among all the selected species, Bambusa arundinacea showed highest protection ~70% at 9 μg/mL concentration. Through RP-HPLC analysis, compared to other species, B. arundinacea showed presence of all selected polyphenols to the highest extent. The results favour the direct correlation of radioprotective activity and the amount of polyphenol, indicating the role of bamboo polyphenols as radioprotector agai...

Radiation, Plant Proteins and Sustainability

American Journal of Biological and Environmental Statistics, 2016

The best sources of proteins for human nourishment come from animal origin. But, conventional meat production involves not only animal suffering but, also, prodigious amounts of water use and significant global warming gases produced per pound of meat. Sustainable plant proteins are good for human beings, as well as, for the planet. Specific natural resources like pulses, in particular, represent a very environmentally friendly and sustainable food source and are rich of high-quality and cost-effective protein ingredients. Ionizing radiation may contribute to food safety and food security. Also, irradiation could serve as an additional food processing method for inactivation or removal of certain antinutritional factors. In this work, the benefits of plant protein sources, particularly pulse protein foods, are highlighted. Moreover, a survey on database since 1970, about the relation among pulses, plant protein and ionizing radiation has been presented. Highlights: Pulses represent a very environmentally friendly and sustainable food source. Pulses are rich sources of high quality and cost effective protein ingredients. Ionizing radiation may contribute to food safety and food security and it could be applied for inactivation or removal of certain antinutritional factors.

Effects of radiation and role of plants in radioprotection: A critical review

Science of The Total Environment, 2021

Biological effect of irradiated chitosan on plants in vitro

Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry, 2005

For degradation of chitosan, chitosan with an 80 % degree of deacetylation and a weight-average molecular mass (M w) of approx. 48 kDa was irradiated with γ-rays at doses up to 200 kGy in a 10 % (w/v) solution. Thē M w of chitosan was reduced from 48 to 9.1 kDa by irradiation. The characteristics of irradiated chitosan were analysed by using Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy and an elemental analyser. The amino group was found to be stable, whereas the CO -C group decreased with increase in the dose. The product of chitosan irradiated at 100 kGy with anM w of approx. 16 kDa showed the strongest growth promotion effect on plants in vitro. For shoot culture, supplementation with irradiated chitosan increased the fresh biomass of shoot clusters (7.2-17.0 %) as well as the shoot multiplication rate (17.9-69.0 %) for Chrysanthemum morifolium (florist's chrysanthemum), Limonium latifolium (limonium or sea-lavender), Eustoma grandiflorum (lisianthus, tulip gentian or Texas bluebell) and Fragaria ananassa (modern garden strawberry). The optimum concentrations of irradiated chitosan were found to be approx. 70-100 mg/l for chrysanthemum, 50-100 mg/l for lisianthus and 30-100 mg/l for limonium. For the plantlet culture, the optimum concentrations were found to be approx. 100 mg/l for chrysanthemum, 30 mg/l for lisianthus, 40 mg/l for limonium and 50 mg/l for strawberry. Supplementation with optimum concentrations of irradiated chitosan resulted in a significant increase in the fresh biomass (68.1 % for chrysanthemum, 48.5 % for lisianthus, 53.6 % for limonium and 26.4 % for strawberry), shoot height (19.4 % for chrysanthemum, 16.5 % for lisianthus, 33.9 % for limonium and 25.9 % for strawberry) and root length (40.6 % for chrysanthemum, 66.9 % for lisianthus, 23.4 % for limonium and 22.6 % for strawberry). In addition, treatment with irradiated chitosan enhanced the activity of chitosanase in treated plants and also improved the survival ratio and growth of the transferred plantlets acclimatized for 10-30 days under greenhouse conditions.