Bioactive Compounds and Pharmacological Potential of Pomegranate (Punica granatum) Seeds - A Review

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - The use of complementary medicine has recently increased in an attempt to find effective alternative therapies that reduce the adverse effects of drugs....     

Molecular and Structural Characterizations of Lipases from Chlorella by Functional Genomics

Microalgae have been poorly investigated for new-lipolytic enzymes of biotechnological interest. In silico study combining analysis of sequences homologies and bioinformatic tools allowed the identification and preliminary characterization of 14 putative lipases expressed by Chlorella vulagaris. These proteins have different molecular weights, subcellular localizations, low instability index range and at least 40% of sequence identity with other microalgal lipases. Sequence comparison indicated that the catalytic triad corresponded to residues Ser, Asp and His, with the nucleophilic residue Ser positioned within the consensus GXSXG pentapeptide. 3D models were generated using different approaches and templates and demonstrated that these putative enzymes share a similar core with common α/β hydrolases fold belonging to family 3 lipases and class GX. Six lipases were predicted to have a transmembrane domain and a lysosomal acid lipase was identified. A similar mammalian enzyme plays an important role in breaking down cholesteryl esters and triglycerides and its deficiency causes serious digestive problems in human. More structural insight would provide important information on the enzyme characteristics.     

Chemometric Multivariate Analyses of Kernel Biometric Techniques and Shell Morphological Attributes for Analyzing Pistacia vera L. Genotypes Variability

In this study, the corresponding correlations, interdependencies, and relationships of nine traits of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) kernels were established. Here, the percentage of dehiscent shells, shell homogeneity, shell apex, position of suture opening, suture opening, number of pistachio kernels/100?g, (length/width) pistachio kernel ratio, pistachio kernel flavour and fat content of pistachio kernel were studied.

The evaluation of experimental data was performed by applying a chemometric approach: Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Bayesian Networks method and Network Meta-Analysis. In this regard, based on PCA the first principal component of shell and kernel had high loadings for shell homogeneity. By using Bayesian Networks method, dendrogram of selected pistachio varieties demonstrate a high similitude existing between varieties. Furthermore, the of shell and kernel dendrogram of studied pistachio varieties demonstrated that all studied accessions could be separated into four distinct groups. Based on cluster analysis, a detailed comparison between the varieties demonstrated that the accession named ‘KERMAN’ showed a significant similarity with the Tunisian genotype ‘ELGUETAR’. In this line, Network Meta-Analysis exhibited the different interdependencies between morphological parameters, and the hierarchical clustering via heat maps displayed relationships between studied factors.

These results showed a potential use of desired characteristics at least in some infra-specific studies in Pistacia vera L. The findings of this study will help plant growers by highlighting hidden and eventual relationships between Pistacia vera L. varieties.