UV/VIS spectrophotometric and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-PDA) methods were applied in order to compare the composition of polyphenols and methylxanthines in commercial cocoa products affected by different extraction solvents. Antioxidant capacity of water and methanol extracts was evaluated using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl). check details ABTS (2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) and FRAP (ferric reducing/antioxidant power) assays. The obtained results confirmed that the content of polyphenols and methylxanthines, as well as the antioxidant capacity of
cocoa products depend on the content of their cocoa solids. Among the tested cocoa products, the highest content of bioactive compounds (polyphenols and methylxanthines) was determined in extracts of cocoa products with the highest content of cocoa solids (cocoa liquor, cocoa powder and dark chocolate with 88% cocoa solids), while the lowest content was determined BI 6727 Cell Cycle inhibitor in milk chocolate and cocoa bar extracts. The most abundant phenolic compound in cocoa extracts was (-)-epicatechin, while the most abundant methylxanthine was theobromine. In comparison with water, 70% methanol demonstrated higher efficiency for the extraction of the studied bioactive
compounds from cocoa products, (c) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.”
“Various efforts have been made in past in order to predict the underlying mechanism of pesticide-induced toxicity using in vitro and animal models, however, these predictions may or may not be directly correlated with humans. The
present study was designed to investigate the carbofuran induced genotoxicity and its amelioration by vitamins C and E by treating learn more human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) with different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.25, 2.5, 3.75 and 5.0 mu M) of this compound. The treatment of PBLs with carbofuran displayed significant DNA damage in concentration dependent manner. The carbofuran induced genotoxicity could be ameliorated to considerable extent by pretreatment of PBLs with equimolar (10 mu M) concentration of each of the vitamins C and E; the magnitude of protection by vitamin E being higher than by vitamin C. Also, it was found that the level of protection by these vitamins was higher when PBLs were treated with lower concentrations of pesticide. The significant DNA damage as observed by H2O2, a positive control in the present study, and its amelioration by natural antioxidants (vitamins C and E) lend an evidence to suggest that carbofuran would have caused genotoxicity via pesticide induced oxidative stress.