Identification and evaluation of antioxidant activities of bamboo extracts

The antioxidant activity of solvent extracts from two main bamboo species, moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) and madake bamboo (P bambusoides) in Japan, was first evaluated by scavenging free radical of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), the inhibition activity for peroxidation of linoleic acid, and the reduction power. The methanol-extracts of moso bamboo culms and madake bamboo leaves presented stronger antioxidant activity compared with DPPH scavenging activity. Methanol-extract of moso bamboo culms was further fractionated by different solvents and n-butanol soluble fraction exhibited the most significant activity in the DPPH scavenging assay. The fractionation of n-butanol soluble extract was isolated by silica gel column with gradient mixture solvent of chloroform and methanol. The isolated fractions were directed by the antioxidant activity measured by scavenging the stable DPPH free radical. It was observed that most of the eluted fractions showed the antioxidative activity. Fractions acquired from elution with the mixture solvent of chloroform and methanol (10:1-5:1) showed stronger antioxidant activity than the other fractions.     

Isolation and Identification of Antifungal Ingredients from Artemisia hedinii北大核心CSCD

The extraction of Artemisia hedinii Ostenf. et Pauls(A. hedinii) were rough and further isolated by chromatographic separation technology, and the antifungal activity of the component was evaluated by the the spore germination method. Furthermore, the composition of antimicrobial components was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The results showed that 13 kinds of components(Fr.1-Fr.13) were rough isolated from the extraction of A. hedinii, in which the component Fr.5 showed the best antifungal activity. Four kinds of components (Fr.5.1-Fr.5.4) were obtained by the further separation of the component Fr.5. The EC50 of A. hedinii crude extraction on Alternaria alternate (A.alternate) spores was 5.04 g/L, and that of the component Fr.5.2 was 0.57 g/L. The HPLC-MS results showed that the components of Fr.5.2 mainly contained deoxy double hydroxyl artemether (17 %),deoxy dihydroartemisinin (43.65 %) and deoxyartemisinin (16.15 %). The content of dihydroartemisinin of component Fr.5.2 was calculated as 40.95 % by using dihydroartemisinin as the standard. The EC50 of dihydroartemisinin on A.alternate was 2.70 g/L, indicating that the major antifungal matter in component Fr.5.2 was artemisinin derivatives. © 2018, Editorial Board of «Chemistry and Industry of Forest Products». All right reserved.     

Chemical composition and free radicals restraining activity of extracts from three Manglietia species leaves

The extracts from leaves of Manglietia insignis （Wall） Blume, Manglietia chingii Dandy and Manglietia yuyuanensis Law were prepared by organic solvent extraction and their components were analyzed by GC/MS and quantified. Meanwhile, the free radicals restraining activities were detected. The 21 compounds in M. insignis, 36 compounds in M. chigii and 20 compounds in M. yuyuanensis were identified. There were 11 common components in the extracts from three Manglietia species, and 12 components in two Manglietia species. The results of relative contents of every component in three extracts showed that the main constituents of M. insignis were terpenoids and alkene, amounting to 38.93%, followed by alkane （28.18%）, the nitrogen containing compounds （15.73%） and aromatic compounds （7.23 %）. The main constituents of leaf extract from M. chingii were the terpenoids and alkene, carboxylic acid, alkane and aromatic compounds, amounting to 30.22%, 14.17%, 13.87% and 13.29%, respectively, The main constituents of M. yuyuanensis were alcohol compounds, the terpenoids and alkene, and aromatic compounds, amounting to 28.00%, 25.38% and 18.00% respectively. The results showed that the three extracts had strong function of restraining oxygen free radicals. The ultra oxygen anions activity was restrained at the highest level, when the three extracts were diluted by hundred-fold, whereas the restraining capacity of hydroxyl free radicals reached maximum, when the three extracts were diluted by twenty-fold. The above results provide scientific evidences for further approaching the ecological healthy function of three MangUetia species     

Characterization and Role of Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase of Populus suaveolens in Induction of Freezing Resistance

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH, EC 1.1.1.49) was purified from the leaves of 8-week-old Populus suaveolens cuttings. The enzyme activity in the absence and presence of reduced dithiothreitol (DTTred) was determined. The results show that the G6PDH activity is not inactivated by pre-incubation with DTTred, indicating that the purified enzyme probably presented in cytosol of P suaveolens. The catalytic characteristics and kinetic parameters of cytosolic G6PDH purified from P.suaveolens cuttings were also studied. The results show that G6PDH is characterized by Km value of 360/amol.L^-1 for G6P and 16μmol.L^-1 for NADP, a pH range of 7.3-8.9, and the maximum activity around pH 8.2. The enzyme activity is inhibited by various metabolites such as NADPH, NADH, GTP, UTP, ATP, AMP, ADP, CoA, acetyl CoA, fructose-6-phosphate (F6P), erythrose-4-phosphate (E4P), ribose-5-phosphate (R5P) and 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PG) (all at 1 mmol‘L i except for NADPH and NADH)to different extents. NADPH is the most effective inhibitor of enzyme activity, with an inhibition of 72.0%. The addition of metal ions such as MgC12, CaC12 and KC1 (all 1.0 mmol.L^-1) to the standard reaction mixture has no remarkable influence on the cytosolic G6PDH activity. However, CdCl2 (1.0 mmol.L-1) causes high inhibitory effect on the enzyme activity. To explore the role of G6PDH on the enhancement of freezing resistance induced by freezing acclimation, the changes in the cytosolic G6PDH activity and freezing resistance (expressed as LTs0) of P. suaveolens cuttings during freezing acclimation at -20℃ were investigated. The results reveal that freezing acclimation decreases LTs0 of cuttings, and increases the activity of cytosolic G6PDH compared with control ones,while 2 d of de-acclimation at 25 ~C result in a decrease in cytosolic G6PDH activity, and caused an increase in LT50. Furthermore,the change in cytosolic G6PDH activity is found to be closely correlated to the degree of freezing resistance of cuttings during freezing acclimation. It is suggested that cytosolic G6PDH may be involved in the induction of freezing resistance of cuttings.     

Technology of Microwave-assisted Extraction of Sapindus Peel Polysaccharide and Its Antioxidant Activity北大核心CSCD

The microwave extraction technology and in vitro antioxidant capacity of polysaccharides from Sapindus peel were studied in this work, and the primary structure of the polysaccharide was also characterized. The effects of microwave extraction temperature, extraction time and liquid-solid ratio on the yield of polysaccharides were investigated. The microwave extraction process was optimized by response surface analysis. The results showed that the optimum extraction process conditions were as follows: extraction temperature 92 ℃, extraction time 26 min, liquid-solid ratio 25:1(mL:g). The maximal yield of polysaccharides reached 3.47%. Sapindus peel polysaccharide is mainly composed of glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose and fructose, with typical polysaccharide IR characteristics. In addition, the anti-oxidative activity of polysaccharides was evaluated by the scavenging ability on hydroxyl radicals and DPPH free radicals. Sapindus peel polysaccharides showed strong antioxidant activity in a concentration-dependent manner, and the antioxidant activity of the crude polysaccharides was significantly higher than that of purified polysaccharides. The antioxidant activity of polysaccharides has a certain correlation with the glycoprotein structure. © 2018, Editorial Board of «Chemistry and Industry of Forest Products». All right reserved.     

Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of wood-flour/polypropylene composites in the presence of b-nucleating agent

The influence of aryl amide compounds(TMB)as b-nucleating agents, on the non-isothermal crystallization of a wood-flour/polypropylene composite(WF/PP)prepared by compression molding was investigated by wide-angle X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. TMB was proved to be an effective b-crystalline nucleating agent for WF/PP. The DSC data showed that the crystallization peak temperature(Tp) increased and the half-time(t1/2) decreased with the addition of TMB.Three theoretical models were used to analyze the nonisothermal crystallization process. The modified Avrami method and Mo method successfully explained the nonisothermal crystallization behavior of PP and its composites. Their activation energies for non-isothermal crystallization were determined basing on the Kissinger method.     

Composition and antimicrobial activity of Cistus munbyi essential oil: an endemic plant from Algeria

The chemical composition and antimicrobial potential of Cistus munbyi essential oil were studied for the first time. GC and GC–MS analysis revealed 48 compounds representing 96.98% of the oil. Terpinen-4-ol(23.75%), meta-Cymene(17.30%), and Sabinene(12.38%)were the major constituents. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated against nine pathogens using the disc diffusion and broth micro-dilution methods. Results show that C.munbyi essential oil possesses strong antimicrobial activity against all strains, regardless if Gram-positive or Gramnegative bacteria, or yeast, with MICs values not exceeding10(mg/ml). In addition to its efficacy, C. munbyi essential oil has an unusual antimicrobial potency which is attributed to its specific chemical composition. Thus, findings presented here suggest that endemic C. munbyi contains a very interesting essential oil that may be valuable in several areas.     

Effects of antibiotics on plantlet regeneration via organogenesis in Populus euphratica

Four antibiotics, kanamycin, geneticin, carbenicillin and cefotaxime,were evaluated for their effect on the regeneration of adventitious buds, shoot differentiation, rooting from regenerated shoots of Populus euphratica as well as on their control of Agrobacterium -mediated transformations. Results showed that the optimum concentration ranges of kanamycin and geneticin were 15-20 and 10-15 mg·L-1 at the stage of transgenic plantlet selection. The inhibitory effects of cefotaxime and carbenicillin varied among different genotypes of Agrobacterium. The inhibition of cefotaxime on Agrobacterium C58 was stronger than that of carbenicillin. The optimum concentration of cefotaxime was 100 mg·L-1. Cefotaxime and carbenicillin had similar effects on Agrobacterium LBA4404 and their optimum concentrations were both 150 mg·L-1.     

Effect of Allelochemicals of Chinese—fir root extracted by supercritical CO2 extraction on Chinese fir

Allelochemicals of Chinese-fir root was extracted by technology of supercritical CO2 extraction under orthogonal experiment design, and it was used to analyze allelopathic activity of Chinese-fir through bioassay of seed germination, The results showed that as to the available rate of allelochemicals, the pressure and temperature of extraction were the most im-portant factors, The allelochemicals of Chinese-fir root extracted by pure CO2 and ethanol mixed with CO2 have different al-lelopathic activities to seed germination, and the allelochemicals extracted by ethanol mixed with CO2 had stronger inhibitory effects on seed Qermination than that extracted by pure CO2.     

Human responses to flower fragrance of Lilium ‘Siberia’ and Rosa ‘Escimo’

The objective of our study was to lay a foundation for the effect of flower fragrance on human emotions and to provide a theory for the choice of indoor plants and the improvement of the olfactory environment. Specifically, our purpose was to study human physiological responses to flower fragrance of Lilium ‘Siberia’ and Rosa ‘Escimo’. The participants were 31 college students. Blood pressure, pulse rate, finger temperature (FT) and galvanic skin response (GSR) were measured. The results show that the fragrance of Rosa ‘Escimo’ causes the diastolic pressure and pulse rate of the participants to reduce significantly. The average decrease was 0.37 kPa and 2.23 beats per minute, which indicates that sympathetic nervous activity increases, physiological arousal decreases and emotional alleviation occurs. Furthermore, the GSR of participants significantly increased by smelling the fragrance of Lilium ‘Si-beria’, indicating that both sympathetic nervous activity and physiological arousal increased. But the data could not prove that flower fragrance stimulation has an effect on changes in systolic pressure and finger temperature. Some other factors, such as basic emotion and weather, may have an effect.     

Shoot drying and its cause in Calamus simplicifolius at Nanmeiling, Hainan, China

Many stems are subject to shoot drying in the plantations of Calamus simplicifolius Wei at the Nanmeiling Base of the Forestry Bu- reau of Baisha County, Hainan Province. As a palm, stems of C. simpli- cifolius stop growing and later die if the shoots are dry. Generally, shoot drying means reduced cane production and reduced profit for a rattan plantation. We aimed to quantify the incidence of shoot drying and de- termine its reason. We sampled eight 20 m × 20 m plots in the C. simpli- cifolius plantations. In each plot, we counted stems and categorized them as drying shoot or normal shoot, and mother stem or sucker stem. We measured stem length and categorized them as drying shoot and normal shoot for mother stems. We cut open each shoot-drying stem to deter- mine the cause of drying from drying part to fresh part. The frequency of mother stems (259 stem·ha -1 ), was significantly lower than sucker stems (588 stem·ha -1 ). The percentage of shoot drying was 33.8% for mother stems, not significantly higher than that for sucker stems (18.9%). The mother shoot stems were significantly shorter if they were drying than if normal. 80% of stems with a drying shoot were hollow within the leaf sheath, whereas 10% hosted lively mature larvae (one larvae per shoot) and 10% hosted several lively young larvae. Mature larvae were identi- fied as the Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliver. To confirm the present of the weevil, three pheromone traps for the weevil were set up in the plantations and adult weevils were trapped on the nextday and identified as the Red Palm Weevil. We conclude that shoot dry- ing of C. simplicifolius is probably caused by the Red Palm Weevil.     

Simple phenols in tropical woods determined by UHPLC-PDA and their antioxidant capacities: an experimental design for Randall extraction using environmentally friendly solvents

A comprehensive experimental design was developed to determine suitable conditions(volume, percentage of solvent, extraction temperature) for the ethanol extraction of phenolic compounds from ten tropical woody plants. Wenge, angelim vermelho, zebrano, merbau,tigerwood, angelim pedra, jatoba, angelim amargoso,massaranduba, and doussie woods were used in experiments. The effects of three independent variables and their interactions on the yields of cinnamic and benzoic acid derivates were analyzed using UHPLC-PDA. The most significant parameters were found to be solvent percentage,extraction volume, and extraction temperature. Optimal conditions for the extraction of phenolic compound contents were an 80℃ extraction temperature, a 30 mL extraction volume, and the use of pure water as the extraction solvent. The tested species of woods contained mainly cinnamic acid derivates. Water extracts after hydrolysis contained greater amounts of cinnamic acid derivates than those extracts from non-hydrolyzed material.The total phenolics content was highest in water extracts of tigerwood, wenge and merbau;however, the extract of merbau wood was a stronger radical scavenger in ABTS?áassays: 34.11 ± 0.02 mM Trolox equivalents per g of dry extract. The main compounds possessing antioxidant activity in the extracts of vermelho wood assessed by UHPLC analysis were hydroxycinnamic acids.     

Embryo culture and rapid propagation of Syringa

Embryo of lilacs (Syringa L) culture in vitro and the rapid propagation were studied. The orthogonal experiments, including the selection of basal medium, embryo age and other factors such as sugar, benzyladenine (BA), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and glutamine (Gln), were carried out. The results indicated that the optimal medium for embryo culture was Monnier medium supplemented with NAA (0.001 mg.L^-1), BA (0.1 mg.L^-1), sugar (50 g.L^-1), and Gin (400 mg.L^-1), with a germination rate of 91.7% at least; the optimal embryo age was 50 d; and Gln had significant effects on the germination rate of embryo.Moreover, the optimal medium for subculture was MS BA (2 mg.L^-1) NAA (0.001 mg.L^-1) Gln (0.5 mg.L^-1), with the propagation coefficient of 3.6 at least.     

Effect of Pretreatment Methods on Cellulase Adsorption Profiles of Sugarcane Bagasse北大核心CSCD

The effects of two pretreatment methods, sulfite (SPORL) pretreatment and dilute sulfuric acid (DA) pretreatment, on the enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) substrates were investigated and the adsorption of cellulose on SCB during the hydrolysis was studied. The enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency, composition, surface morphology, adsorption isotherms and kinetics of two kinds of pretreated SCB were compared. The results showed that the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of SPORL-SCB(81.92%) was significantly higher than that of DA treated SCB(60.89 %). Compared with the untreated SCB, the surface of SCB treated by SPORL and DA became rough, the surface fibres were partially stripped and the internal fibre skeleton was exposed. The holocellulose contents of these two treated SCB substrates were not significantly different, but the Klason lignin content of SPORL treated SCB was lower. The XPS images suggested that the treated SCB substrates both adsorbed cellulase. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics curves showed that the maximum adsorption of cellulase on SPORL treated SCB was 61.91 mg/g and lower than that on DA treated SCB(82.69 mg/g), but the adsorption affinity and adsorption strength of SPORL treated SCB were higher than those of the DA treated SCB. © 2018, Editorial Board of «Chemistry and Industry of Forest Products». All right reserved.     

Feeding performance of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clostera fulgurita</Emphasis> on three clones of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Populus deltoides</Emphasis>

Poplar leaf defoliator, Clostera fulgurita (Walker) larvae were reared on three Populus deltoides clones (PL1, PL5 and PL7) in the laboratory. The nutritional indices were computed for working out the relationship between food consumption and growth rate of 3rd, 4th and 5th instar larvae on three clones. The result showed that the consumption index (CI), approximate digestibility (AD), growth rate (GR), relative growth rate (RGR) and efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) decreased with the increase in the age of the larvae. Efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD) increased with increase in age of the larvae. GR and RGR varied significantly, indicating that larval development was enhanced on PL1 as compared to PL5 & PL7. The values of AD, ECI and ECD were not affected by the different clones. Feeding and growth indices could be useful to define a defoliation prediction model.     

Electrophysiological and Behavioral Responses of Adult Anoplophora glabripennis（Mostschulsky）to Volatile Components of Host—Plant

Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of adult A.glabripennis(Motsch.)to volatiles from ashleaf maple (Acer negundo L.) were investigated to identify semiochemicals involved in host location.Measurable electroantennogram(EAG) responses were elicited to all compounds tested,the most effective antennal stimulants were trans-2-hexen-l-al,decyl aldehyde and trans-2-hexen-1-ol.These profiles were similar between males and females.In Y-tube olfactometer bioassays,above three compounds with certain concentration,trans-2-hexen-1-al(1%),trans-2-hexen-1-ol(1%) and decyl aldehyde(10%),were significantly attractive to the adults in laboratory.The results show that either EAG or olfactory responding to a particular volatile compound are markedly influenced by the concentration.     

Screening of Indonesian plants for tyrosinase inhibitory activity

In our efforts to find new tyrosinase inhibitory materials, we investigated 44 Indonesian plants belonging to 24 families for tyrosinase inhibitory activity. The extracts of 5 Artocarpus woods showed potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity (over 80% at 100 μg/ml) similar to a positive control, kojic acid. In Artocarpus woods, the extracts of the sapwoods showed stronger inhibitory activity than those of the heartwoods. Chlorophorin was isolated as one of the active compounds in the sapwood of Artocarpus heterophyllus. The content of chlorophorin in sapwood was higher than that in heartwood. Part of this paper was presented at the 53rd (Fukuoka, March 2003) and 54th (Hokkaido, August 2004) Annual Meetings of the Japan Wood Research Society, and the 5th International Wood Science Symposium (Kyoto, September 2004)     

Changes of Plasma Membrane H~+-ATPase Activities of Glycine max Seeds by PEG Treatment

The soybean (Glycine max) Heihe No. 23 is sensitive to imbibitional chilling injury. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatment can improve chilling tolerance of soybean seeds to a certain extent. The changes of hydrolytic ATPase in plasma membranes and H+-pumping responses in soybean seeds were investigated during PEG treatments. Effects of exogenous calcium and exogenous ABA on the hydrolytic ATPase were also examined in order to understand the mechanism of chilling resistance. Highly purified plasma membranes were isolated by 6.0% aqueous two-phase partitioning from soybean seeds, as judged by the sensitivity of hydrolytic ATPase to sodium vanadate. PEG treatment resulted in a slight increase of the hydrolytic ATPase activity in 12 h. Then the activity decreased gradually, but still higher than the control. The H+-pumping activity increased steadily during PEG treatment. Exogenous calcium had both activating and inhibiting effects on the hydrolytic ATPase, but the activity was inhibited in soybean seeds treated with exogenous ABA. Results suggested that PEG treatment, not the exogenous calcium and ABA, up-regulated H+-ATPase activities in soybean seeds.     

Activities of some defense proteins associated with age or plant family in larch needles of Larix olgensis and L. kaempferi × L. gmelinii

Defence proteins are a kind of chemical defence compounds. They play a key role in plant restraining biotic and abiotic harm. To illuminate activities of some defense proteins associated with age or plant family of larch, the larch needles were collected from two different families of Korean larch, Larix olgensis and a hybrid larch, L.kaempferi × L. gmelinii, respectively, and then the activities of defence proteins in those were tested using a UV spectrophotometry. The results showed that the activities of protective enzymes at the16-/17- and 19-year-age groups were higher than those at the other age groups in the both larch species. While the activities of polyphenol oxidase(PPO) at the 16-/17-year-age group and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase(PAL) and protease inhibitors at the 19-year-age group were the highest among all age groups.Then, compared with L. olgensis, the hybrid larch had significant effects on the activities of protective enzymes.The effects of plant family on the activities of PAL and chymotrypsin inhibitor were significantly different, and then those on the activities of PPO were not significantly different. The effects of the two families in L. olgensis on the activities of trypsin inhibitor(TI) were significantlydifferent, while those in the hybrid larch on the activities of TI were contrary. To conclusions showed that the different age and plant family significantly affected the activities of defence proteins in the needles of two larch species, and then enhanced the larch resistance to pests. These could play a key function in forestry tree genetic improvement and management in future.     

Effects of a nitric oxide donor and nitric oxide scavengers on Sorbus pohuashanensis embryo germination

The effects of an exogenous nitric oxide donor(sodium nitroprusside, SNP), a NO scavenger 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxode(PTIO) and carboxy-PTIO potassium salt(c PTIO) on the embryo germination of Sorbus pohuashanensis were studied in a petri dish test. SNP at 0.5–5 mmol L-1 increased germination percentage, mean time to germination, germination index and germination energy compared with the control to different degrees. Treatment with 2 mmol L-1 SNP improved germination most significantly; embryo germination percentage for mother tree 1(91.11%) and mother tree 2(64.44%) were much higher than the control. In addition,excessive SNP levels did not enhance embryo germination.Combined treatment with SNP and an NO scavenger delayed embryo germination. Treatment with c PTIO inhibited embryo germination; germination percentage was 42.22% and was lower than that of the control. These results show that low concentrations of exogenous NO can enhance the embryo germination of S. pohuashanensis,providing a simple, effective way for promoting germination of S. pohuashanensis.