Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (CVMD) are the leading causes of death worldwide, underscoring the urgent necessity to develop new pharmacotherapies. Berberine (BBR) is an eminent component of traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for more than 2000 years. Recently, BBR has attracted much interest for its pharmacological actions in treating and/or managing CVMD. Recent discoveries of basic, translational and clinical studies have identified many novel molecular targets of BBR (such as AMPK, SIRT1, LDLR, PCSK9, and PTP1B) and provided novel evidences supporting the promising therapeutic potential of BBR to combat CVMD. Thus, this review provides a timely overview of the pharmacological properties and therapeutic application of BBR in CVMD, and underlines recent pharmacological advances which validate BBR as a promising lead drug against CVMD.

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Goji (Lycium barbarum L.) leaves are emphasized as a functional tea or as dietary supplements. The phenolic compound profile, antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, antimicrobial, and antimutagenic activities of leaf extracts from two selected cultivars in comparison with wild-growing plants have been evaluated. HPLC-DAD/ESI-ToF-MS analysis revealed the presence of phenolic acids and flavonoids with chlorogenic acid and rutin being the dominant compounds in the cultivated plants, whereas rutin and kaempeferol-3-O-rutinoside for wild growing ones. In particular, cv. Erma contained the highest amount of chlorogenic acid and showed a strong tyrosinase-inhibitory effect. Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Penicillium funiculosum were the most sensitive strains when exposed to extracts from cultivated plants. Antimutagenic activity was evaluated by Ames' test. The tested extracts provided high protection against mutagenicity induced by 2-anthramine (2-AA) to Salmonella typhimurium strains TA 98 and TA 100 (max. inhibition (%) 88% and 74.2%, respectively). Overall, Goji leaves are a rich source of bioactive compounds with functional properties that need further risk/benefit evaluation when used in foods or health-promoting formulations.

This study was focused on the analysis of the phenolic content, antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-cholinesterase, anti-tyrosinase, anti-amylase and anti-glucosidase activity of three solvent extracts from Cotoneaster nummularia. Moreover, water extract was tested in terms of mutagenic/anti-mutagenic effects. The antioxidant activities of these extracts were evaluated by DPPH, ABTS, O2, metal chelating, phosphomolybdenum, β-carotene/linoleic acid, ferric and cupric reducing power assays. Enzyme inhibitory activities were also examined with colorimetric methods. Generally, methanol and water extracts exhibited excellent biological activities. These extracts were rich in phenolic and flavonoid content. Furthermore, Cotoneaster extracts indicated appreciable antibacterial properties against human pathogen strains. HPLC analysis showed that ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, (-) – epicatechin and (+)-catechin were the major phenolics in extracts tested. These data offer that these extracts from C. nummularia may be considered as a potential source of biological agents for developing functional foods or drug formulations.

Background: The genus Asphodeline (Liliaceae) is represented in Turkey by 20 taxa, which are traditionally used for medicinal purposes in Anatolia. Materials and Methods:In this study, we tested the phytochemical content and antioxidant effect of different solvent extracts obtained from different anatomical parts of Asphodeline anatolica. The different extracts of each plant parts were tested for antioxidant activity using different chemical assays. The total antioxidant components were also calculated. Results: Generally, acetone extracts produced the seed and root exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity with high antioxidant components. Total phenolic content of extracts were significantly correlated with antioxidant potentials (except for, metal chelating activity). Conclusion: On the basis of the results obtained, A. anatolica extracts should be regarded as a valuable source of natural antioxidants for food and therapeutic applications.Key words: Asphodeline, Antioxidant activity, Free radical scavenging, Phenolics, Solvent extracts, Turkey. IntroductionFree radicals, especially reactive oxygen species (ROS), are highly unstable molecules; react with various organic substrates such as lipids, proteins, carbohydrates and DNA. The excessive production of free radicals is called "oxidative stress" and can result in serious diseases including cancer, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and neurodegenerative diseases (Arouma, 2010). Defense against oxidative stress is therefore very important in preventing the development of diseases mentioned. Antioxidants are vital substances which possess the ability to protect the body from the damage caused by these radicals (Silva et al., 2005). Hence, it has been suggested that there is an inverse relationship between dietary intake of antioxidants and the incidence of the diseases related to oxidative stress (Rice-Evans et al., 1997;Lu and Foo, 2000). Although synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl gallate (PG) are commonly used for food processing, their toxic properties and unwanted side effects limit their widespread use (Lindenschmidt et al., 1986;Kehrer and DiGiovanni, 1990). For this reason, there has been a particular interest in the potential health benefits of natural antioxidants in medicinal and aromatic plants. In fact, many functional phytochemicals such as phenolics, flavonoids and carotenoids possessed powerful antioxidant activities (Wang et al., 2013) The genus Asphodeline belongs to the Liliaceae family and is present in south-west of Asia, Middle-Eastern countries and Mediterranean region. The genus comprises of 14 species worldwide. In Turkey, this genus represented by 20 taxa and 11 of them are endemic to Turkey (Mathews and Tuzlaci, 1984;Tuzlaci, 1987). The high number of endemics shows that Turkey is one of the gene centre of this genus. The Asphodeline species are known as çiriş plants and are abundant especially in the mountains and steppes of inner Anatolia regio...

Onion, (Allium cepa L.), is one of the most consumed and grown vegetable crops in the world. Onion bulb, with its characteristic flavor, is the third most essential horticultural spice with a substantial commercial value. Apart from its culinary virtues, A. cepa is also used traditionally for its medicinal virtues in a plethora of indigenous cultures. Several publications have been produced in an endeavor to validate such traditional claims. Nonetheless, there is still a dearth of up-to-date, detailed compilation, and critical analysis of the traditional and ethnopharmacological propensities of A. cepa. The present review, therefore, aims to systematically review published literature on the traditional uses, pharmacological properties, and phytochemical composition of A. cepa. A. cepa was found to possess a panoply of bioactive compounds and numerous pharmacological properties, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, hypolipidemic, anti-hypertensive, and immunoprotective effects. Although a large number of in vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted, several limitations and research gaps have been identified which need to be addressed in future studies.

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