Browsing by Subject "Antioxidants"

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Open Access
Nutritional and Antioxidant Properties of the Seeds of Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc. – An Underutilized Legume of West Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 2021-03) Firdousi, Sabnam; Chakraborty, Rakhi; Roy, Swarnendu
The Exploration of the underutilized crops for nutritional benefits is one of the major strategies to feed the ever-increasing population. There are many nutritionally rich leguminous crops (Vigna unguiculata, Cassia hirsuta, Canavalia ensiformis, Dolichos biflorus, etc.) that have remained unexplored for a long time, though could provide a cheap and alternative food source. The present study was conducted to assess the nutritional and antioxidant properties of the seeds of an underutilized legume Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc. The methanolic seed extract showed concentration-dependent radical scavenging activities against DPPH, ABTS, NO, OH and FRAP. The seed extract also showed the presence of nutritional and antioxidative phytochemicals viz. alkaloids, saponins, tannins, phenolics, flavonoids, ascorbic acid etc. The presence of a considerably high amount of protein and a low amount of total sugar can also be regarded as beneficial for regular consumption. Moreover, HPLC-MS analysis also revealed the presence of several phenolic derivatives (gallic acid, pyrogallol, chlorogenic acid, catechol etc.) that might also contribute to the antioxidative property of the seeds. Further research on the isolation, purification and characterization of the antioxidative phytocompounds would help decipher their mechanism of action as well as increase the sustainable utilization of the nutritionally rich legume crop.
Open Access
Sea buckthorn and its microsymbiont-a review
(University Of North Bengal, 2011-03) Basistha, Bharat C; Sen, Arnab
Hippophae sp. is a versatile plant restricted in distribution to the Himalayas having multipurpose usage including food, fodder, medicine, and controlling soil erosion. Besides, it plays a huge role in increasing the fertility of the soil by harboring symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria called Frankia. In this review we have looked into two main aspects of this symbiosis. First we have made a detailed account of the macrosymbiont i.e. Hippophae. Since Hippophae has food and medicinal properties and are widely used in cosmetic production, we excavated the antioxidant activity of various parts of Hippophae including fruits, seeds, bark and leaf. People of Indo-Tibetan plateau adapt a special agro-technique to cultivate Hippophae. The technique has been discussed here. A detail report of this plant including their distribution and various ecological parameters has also been done. On the other hand we have also elucidate about the microsymbiont present in root nodule of Hippophae i.e. Frankia. Frankia is filamentous actinomycetes which fix atmospheric nitrogen to the soil and therefore increase the soil-fertility. A detailed account of morphology. anatomy, phylogeny and ecology of Frankia has been illustrated here. The diversity of Frankia in soil is another interesting topic and the speciation of this bacterium is an everlasting controversy. We have given a closer look to the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of Frankia at intra and inter generic level.