Nattokinase as a functional food ingredient:therapeutic applications and mechanisms in age-related diseases

Consumption of natto,a traditional eastern Asian food made of fermented soybeans by Bacillus subtilis,has long been linked to healthy aging and longer human lifespan.As the key thrombolytic ingredient of natto,the serine protease nattokinase(NK)has been developed into a widely-used dietary supplement.NK has shown excellent anti-thrombus,thrombolytic,and anti-inflammation activities that potentially delay aging and provide therapeutic effects on aging-related diseases.In this review,we critically overview the experimental and clinical evidence in the past 20 years that support the beneficial function of NK in the prevention and treatment of aging-related diseases,including cardiovascular diseases,Alzheimer’s disease,other abnormalities and cancer.We focus on the underlying molecular mechanisms and recent advances in application methods that are aimed at further development of NK for healthier aging of modern society.The challenges and unsolved issues in this area are also discussed.

A Multi-Stage Differential-Multifactorial Evolutionary Algorithm for Ingredient Optimization in the Copper Industry

Ingredient optimization plays a pivotal role in the copper industry,for which it is closely related to the concentrate utilization rate,stability of furnace conditions,and the quality of copper production.To acquire a practical ingredient plan,which should exhibit long duration time with sufficient utilization and feeding stability for real applications,an ingredient plan optimization model is proposed in this study to effectively guarantee continuous production and stable furnace conditions.To address the complex challenges posed by this integer programming model,including multiple coupling feeding stages,intricate constraints,and significant non-linearity,a multi-stage differential-multifactorial evolution algorithm is developed.In the proposed algorithm,the differential evolutionary(DE)algorithm is improved in three aspects to efficiently tackle challenges when optimizing the proposed model.First,unlike traditional time-consuming serial approaches,the multifactorial evolutionary algorithm is utilized to optimize multiple complex models contained in the population of evolutionary algorithm caused by the feeding stability in a parallel manner.Second,a repair algorithm is employed to adjust infeasible ingredient lists in a timely manner.In addition,a local search strategy taking feedback from the current optima and considering the different positions of global optimum is developed to avoiding premature convergence of the differential evolutionary algorithm.Finally,the simulation experiments considering different planning horizons using real data from the copper industry in China are conducted,which demonstrates the superiority of the proposed method on feeding duration and stability compared with other commonly deployed approaches.It is practically helpful for reducing material cost as well as increasing production profit for the copper industry.

Integrative analysis of bone-formation associated genes and immune cell infiltration in osteoporosis, and the prediction of active ingredients in targeted traditional Chinese medicine

Objective To explore the differential expression and mechanisms of bone formation-related genes in osteoporosis(OP)leveraging bioinformatics and machine learning methodologies;and to predict the active ingredients of targeted traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)herbs.Methods The Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)and GeneCards databases were employed to conduct a comprehensive screening of genes and disease-associated loci pertinent to the pathogenesis of OP.The R package was utilized as the analytical tool for the identification of differentially expressed genes.Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO)logis-tic regression analysis and support vector machine-recursive feature elimination(SVM-RFE)algorithm were employed in defining the genetic signature specific to OP.Gene Ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analyses for the selected pivotal genes were conducted.The cell-type identification by estimating rela-tive subsets of RNA transcripts(CIBERSORT)algorithm was leveraged to examine the infiltra-tion patterns of immune cells;with Spearman’s rank correlation analysis utilized to assess the relationship between the expression levels of the genes and the presence of immune cells.Coremine Medical Database was used to screen out potential TCM herbs for the treatment of OP.Comparative Toxicogenomics Database(CTD)was employed for forecasting the TCM ac-tive ingredients targeting the key genes.AutoDock Vina 1.2.2 and GROMACS 2020 softwares were employed to conclude analysis results;facilitating the exploration of binding affinity and conformational dynamics between the TCM active ingredients and their biological targets.Results Ten genes were identified by intersecting the results from the GEO and GeneCards databases.Through the application of LASSO regression and SVM-RFE algorithm;four piv-otal genes were selected:coat protein(CP);kallikrein 3(KLK3);polymeraseγ(POLG);and transient receptor potential vanilloid 4(TRPV4).GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analy-ses revealed that these trait genes were predominantly engaged in the regulation of defense response activation;maintenance of cellular metal ion balance;and the production of chemokine ligand 5.These genes were notably associated with signaling pathways such as ferroptosis;porphyrin metabolism;and base excision repair.Immune infiltration analysis showed that key genes were highly correlated with immune cells.Macrophage M0;M1;M2;and resting dendritic cell were significantly different between groups;and there were signifi-cant differences between different groups(P<0.05).The interaction counts of resveratrol;curcumin;and quercetin with KLK3 were 7;3;and 2;respectively.It shows that the interac-tions of resveratrol;curcumin;and quercetin with KLK3 were substantial.Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations further confirmed the robust binding affinity of these bioactive compounds to the target genes.Conclusion Pivotal genes including CP;KLK3;POLG;and TRPV4;exhibited commendable significant prognostic value;and played a crucial role in the diagnostic assessment of OP.Resveratrol;curcumin;and quercetin;natural compounds found in TCM;showed promise in their potential to effectively modulate the bone-forming gene KLK3.This study provides a sci-entific basis for the interpretation of the pathogenesis of OP and the development of clinical drugs.

Giving Food a Fiber Boost: Adding High Beta-Glucan Ingredient from Barley to Everyday Foods

Lack of dietary fiber contributes to many health issues, particularly chronic vascular diseases. Mixed linkage β-1.3 - 1.4 beta-glucan (beta-glucan, in this paper) is a confirmed beneficial ingredient for the human diet through reduction of cholesterol and the glycemic index. Barley contains the highest beta-glucan content of all the grains, and in this study, a percentage of flour from two high beta glucan lines was, each, added to an array of wheat-based food products to measure how it impacted total dietary fiber. Results showed that beta-glucan content was higher in all the products containing the added high beta-glucan flour, along with increased total dietary fiber content. Protein content in the food products is also increased with the higher protein in the barley flours added. Beta-glucan content in the barley-added products increased to 1.2% - 4.0% versus 0.2% - 0.5% in the pure wheat products, while the dietary fibers increased to 3.5% - 24.4% versus 2.1% - 9.1% in pure wheat product controls. This research provided experimental evidence that using a high beta-glucan barley ingredient in food can increase dietary fiber to benefit health.

Study on Skin Care Efficacy of the Active Ingredients in Camellia Japonica Flowers at High and Low Altitudes

The active ingredients of Camellia japonica flowers(CJF)at high and low altitudes,as well as their skin care efficacy were compared.The dried red CJF at high and low altitudes were ultrasonically extracted with 70%ethanol,and these extracts were concentrated and then diluted to a constant volume.The content of total flavonoids,total polyphenols and total proteins was tested and analyzed.In addition,DPPH free radical scavenging,inhibition of the formation of advanced glycation end products,and inhibitory activity against elastase was measured to compare their skin care efficacy in anti-oxidation,anti-glycation,anti-wrinkling and firming.The results showed that,based on the dry weight of CJF,the content of total flavonoids and total proteins of the CJF at high altitude was approximately 1.5 times of the CJF at low altitude,while the content of total polyphenols was approximately 2.4 times that of the CJF at low altitude.The skin care efficacy of CJF at high altitude was significantly better than that of the CJF at low altitude.This work could provide theoretical basis for the selection and application of Camellia japonica flowers in the field of cosmetics.

Collecting Knowledge about Medicinal Ingredients in Northwestern Sichuan in the 1950s

This article explores China’s state-level knowledge production on medicinal ingredients in northwestern Sichuan in the 1950s.Drawing on county-level archives,published materials and interviews,this historical article traces how different levels of governments and state-owned trading companies produced knowledge about medicinal ingredients and its production.It argues that on one hand the state’s procurement standards codified the knowledge about medicinal ingredients from the marketplace and the local producers.On the other hand,direct extraction of knowledge from the medicine gatherers and cultivators verbalized and collected the previously tacit local knowledge about the production of medicinal ingredients,which would help to alleviate the shortage in the supply of traditional Chinese medicines throughout the 1950s.

Antidepressant Effect of Mongolian Pharmaceutical Betel Shisanwei Ingredient Pills and Its Improvement Effect on Depressive Syndromes

[Objectives]To analyze the effect of Mongolian pharmaceutical Betel Shisanwei Ingredient Pills in the clinical treatment of patients with depression.[Methods]From June 2020 to May 2021,64 patients with depression who received treatment in Inner Mongolia Minzu University were selected to participate in this study.These patients were randomly numbered from 1 to 64,and then divided into two groups according to the principle of odd or even number.Patients with odd number were regarded as the reference group,and treated by western medicine fluoxetine;patients with even number were regarded as the study group,and treated by Mongolian pharmaceutical Betel Shisanwei Ingredient Pills.The therapeutic effects of the two groups of patients were compared.[Results]Before treatment,there was no significant difference in the scores of patients'depressive syndromes between the two groups(P>0.05).After treatment,there were two significant changes in comprehensive score of depressive symptoms in both groups.Compared with before treatment,the data of the same group after treatment decreased significantly.Comparison between the two groups showed that the score of patients'depressive syndromes in the study group(13.28±5.49)was significantly lower than that in the reference group(18.46±6.51),and the overall response rate of treatment in the study group(96.88%,31/32)was obviously higher than that in the reference group(75.00%,24/32),showing statistically significant differences(P<0.05).[Conclusions]In the treatment of depression,Mongolian medicine therapy can significantly improve the depressive syndromes in patients,with more prominent curative effects,and is worthy of promotion and application.

A review on cocrystal of active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine

In the development of new drugs products,especially the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients,solubility and oral bioavailability are the main factors which are restricting the development of new drugs,whereas the physicochemical properties of active ingredients are the key element to affecting these factors.Pharmaceutical cocrystal provides an excellent opportunity to develop new drugs with excellent physical and chemical properties such as melting point,solubility,stability and bioavailability while retaining the pharmacological properties of individuals active pharmaceutical ingredients among pharmaceutical cocrystal compounds.Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has the characteristics of multiple pathways and multiple targets,mainly because it contains many active ingredients,like cocrystals thereof with many components.The active ingredients extracted from traditional Chinese herbal medicine have a wide range of pharmacological activities,but most of the active ingredients affect the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients due to their physical and chemical properties such as solubility.Traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical cocrystals can not only improve the physical and chemical properties of drugs without changing the internal structure of drugs,so as to provide a new scheme for the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients.This paper reviews the research progress of active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical cocrystal.The preparation methods of cocrystals are summarized and the advantages of cocrystals are illustrated with examples.

Application of Caenorhabditis elegans in screening active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine

People continue to recognize the important role of Chinese medicine in the treatment of diseases,and there is an urgent need to clarify the mechanism of Chinese medicine.Because of the multi-target and multi-component characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine,it is difficult to elaborate from a single perspective.As a high-quality animal model,Caenorhabditis elegans with the characteristics of small size and fast reproduction,has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine activity experiments.In this article,Caenorhabditis elegans,as model organisms used to screen the active components of traditional Chinese medicine were reviewed.

Establishment of a Multiplex PCR System for Detecting Transgenic Ingredients from Citrus

[Objective] This study aimed to establish a multiplex PCR system for de- tecting transgenic ingredients from Citrus. [Method] Based on the pBI121 plasmid sequences published in GenBank and actin gene sequence of Citrus, the primers specific to CaMV35S promoter, NOS promoter, NOS terminator and actin gene were designed, to establish a multiple PCR system which could detect four types of sequences. In addition, orthogonal tests were performed to determine the optimal concentrations of all the components in PCR reaction system, as well as the optimal PCR cycle parameters. [Result] The optimal PCR reaction system should contain 2.5μl of 10xPCR buffer, 2.0μl of MgCI2 （25 mmol/L）, 2.0 μl of dNTP mixture （2.5 mmol/L of each dNTP）, 1.0 μl of actin gene primers （10μmol/L）, 1.0μl of 35S promoter primers （10 μmol/L）, 1.5 μl of NOS promoter primers （10 μmol/L） and 0.5 μl of NOS terminator primers （10μmol/L）, 0.1 μg of template DNA, 1.25 U of Taq DNA polymerase; ddH20 was added to the total reaction system of 25μl. The PCR reaction program consisted of pre-denaturing at 94℃ for 5 min; 31 cycles of denaturing at 94℃ for 30 s, annealing at 64.1℃ for 45 s and extension at 72℃ for 50 s; final extension at 72℃ for 10 min. The reaction system optimized with the orthogonal tests could detect as less as 0.1% transgenic component in the tested samples. [Conclusion] The MPCR detection system established in this study can meet the requirements in theory for detecting the genetically modified ingredients in Citrus or the deep-processed products.

Research on Extraction of Anti-allergic Active Ingredient from Citrus Peels and Its Anti-allergic Activity

[Objective] This study aimed to determine the optimal process conditions for extraction of anti-allergic active ingredient from citrus peels. [Method] Crude anti- allergic active extracts of citrus peels were extracted. Effects of extraction conditions including extraction temperature, ethanol concentration, extraction time and liquid-to-solid ratio on extraction were explored with single-factor experiment, and the extrac- tion process was optimized with orthogonal experiment. [Result] Based on the single- factor experiment and orthogonal experiment, the optimal extraction condition for crude anti-allergic active extracts of citrus peels were determined to be under extraction temperature of 60℃, ethanol concentration of 70%, extraction time of 60 min, liquid-to-solid ratio of 1：25 and twice extraction. [Concluslon] This process condition is of simple operation and high extraction efficiency, which is environment-friendly and suitable for the extraction of crude anti-allergic active extracts from citrus peels. This study provided a new approach and research ideas for the effective and rapid extraction of anti-allergic active ingredient in citrus peels.

Food Ingredients Identification from Dish Images by Deep Learning

Diet plays an important role in people’s daily life with its strong correlation to health and chronic diseases. Meanwhile, deep based food computing emerges to provide lots of works which including food recognition, food retrieval, and food recommendation, and so on. This work focuses on the food recognition, specially, the ingredients identification from food images. The paper proposes two types of ways for ingredient identification. Type1 method involves the combination of salient ingredients classifier with salient ingredient identifiers. Type 2 method introduces the segment-based classifier. Furthermore, this work chooses 35 kinds of ingredients in the daily life as identification categories, and constructs three kinds of novel datasets for establishing the ingredient identification models. All of the classifiers and identifiers are trained on Resnet50 by transfer learning. Many experiments are conducted to analyze the effectiveness of proposed methods. As the results, Salient ingredients classifier predict one ingredient and achieves 91.97% on test set of salient ingredients dataset and 82.48% on test dish image dataset. Salient ingredients identifiers predict remained ingredients and achieve mean accuracy of 85.96% on test dish image dataset. Furthermore, Segment-based classifier achieves 94.81% on test set of segment-based ingredients dataset.

Analysis of ingredient and heating value of municipal solid waste

Great differences between municipal solid wastes (MSW) produced at different places and different times in terms of such parameters as physical ingredient and heating value lead to difficulty in effective handling of MSW. In this paper, ingredient, heating value and their temporal varying trends of typical MSW in Beijing were continuously measured and analyzed. With consideration of the process in pyrolysis and incineration, correlation between physical ingredients and heating values was induced, favorable for evaluation of heating value needed in handling of MSW from simple analysis of physical ingredients of it.

Methodologies on estimating the energy requirements for maintenance and determining the net energy contents of feed ingredients in swine:a review of recent work

In the past two decades, a considerable amount of research has focused on the determination of the digestible(DE) and metabolizable energy(ME) contents of feed ingredients fed to swine. Compared with the DE and ME systems, the net energy(NE) system is assumed to be the most accurate estimate of the energy actually available to the animal. However, published data pertaining to the measured NE content of ingredients fed to growing pigs are limited. Therefore, the Feed Data Group at the Ministry of Agricultural Feed Industry Centre(MAFIC) located at China Agricultural University has evaluated the NE content of many ingredients using indirect calorimetry. The present review summarizes the NE research works conducted at MAFIC and compares these results with those from other research groups on methodological aspect. These research projects mainly focus on estimating the energy requirements for maintenance and its impact on the determination, prediction, and validation of the NE content of several ingredients fed to swine. The estimation of maintenance energy is affected by methodology, growth stage,and previous feeding level. The fasting heat production method and the curvilinear regression method were used in MAFIC to estimate the NE requirement for maintenance. The NE contents of different feedstuffs were determined using indirect calorimetry through standard experimental procedure in MAFIC. Previously generated NE equations can also be used to predict NE in situations where calorimeters are not available. Although popular, the caloric efficiency is not a generally accepted method to validate the energy content of individual feedstuffs. In the future,more accurate and dynamic NE prediction equations aiming at specific ingredients should be established, and more practical validation approaches need to be developed.

Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicinal Ingredients on IL-2 mRNA Levels of T Lymphocytes in Mice Measured Using Semiquantification RT-PCR

In this study, the IL-2 mRNA levels of T lymphocytes in normal mice stimulated by nine Chinese herbal medicinal ingredients （CHMIs） were measured using semiquantification reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that astragalus polysaccharide （APS）, epimedium polysaccharide （EPS）, Chinese angelica polysaccharide （CAPS）, propolis flavone （PF）, and astrogalosides （AS） promoted IL-2 mRNA levels in T lymphocytes in vitro and in vivo to differing degrees, and the level of IL-2 mRNA induced by propolis polysaccharide （PPS） in vitro was higher than that induced by the control, which differed from that of PPS in vivo.

Effects of dietary fiber content and different fiber-rich ingredients on endogenous loss of fat and fatty acids in growing pigs

Background: Determination of the endogenous loss of fat(ELF) is used to adjust for the estimation of true total tract digestibility(TTTD) of fat in diets and ingredients.Any factor which affected ELF may further affect the digestibility of fat,including sources and concentrations of fat and fiber in the diet.There are some reports of determining the ELF using regression methods based on different levels of fat intake,while reports on effects of dietary fiber content and different fiber-rich ingredients in pig diets on ELF are very limited.Therefore,the objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary fiber content and different fiber-rich ingredients on endogenous losses of fat and fatty acids at the end of ileum and throughout the entire intestinal tract in growing pigs.Methods: In Exp.1,the effect of fiber content on endogenous loss of fat was determined using six growing pigs(Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire;27.6 ± 2.4 kg),fitted with a T-cannula at the end of ileum.The experimental design was a 6 × 6 complete Latin square design with six periods of feeding and six diets.The six experimental fat-free diets were formulated to include graded levels of neutral detergent fiber(NDF)(0,40,80,120,160 and 200 g/kg) and soybean hull(SH) was the only fiber source,providing 0,75,150,225,300 and 375 g/kg,respectively.Chromic oxide was included at4 g/kg in all diets as an indigestible marker.In Exp.2,six crossbred growing barrows(27.6 ± 1.6 kg) were used and the experimental design was the same as for Exp.1.The six fat-free diets were formulated to include six common fiber-rich ingredients and the concentration of NDF was 100 g/kg.The six fiber-rich ingredients were defatted rice bran(DRB),sugar beet pulp(SBP),rice hull(RH),corn germ meal(CGM),SH and wheat bran(WB) and they were fed at represented250,270,145,250,170 and 280 g/kg in the diet,respectively.Results: In Exp.1,the endogenous loss of fatty acids profile did not change as dietary NDF increased in growing pigs.The endogenous losses of fat,C16:0,C18:0,C18:1,C18:2,total unsaturated fatty acids(UFA) and total saturated fatty acids(SFA) in growing pigs at the end of ileum and throughout the entire intestinal tract increased linearly as NDF content of diets increased.The endogenous losses of fat,as well as C16:0 and C18:0 throughout the entire intestinal tract also increased quadratically as NDF content of diets increased.The ELF increased from 0.71 to 3.14 g/kg of dry matter intake(DMI) and 0.56 to 8.21 g/kg DMI at the end of ileum and throughout the entire intestinal tract in growing pigs,respectively.The ELF occurred in the hindgut except for the growing pigs fed 0 and 4% NDF in their diets.The endogenous losses of C16:0 and UFA occurred primarily in the upper regions of the gut and the greatest endogenous losses of C18:0 occurred in the hindgut.The endogenous losses of fat,individual SFA and total SFA throughout the entire intestinal tract were much greater than that at the end of ileum.However,the endogenous losses of individual UFA and total UFA were less throughout the intestinal tract than at the end of ileum.In Exp.2,the endogenous losses of fat at the end of ileum were greater in growing pigs fed CGM or WB diets.The endogenous loss of fatty acids profile changed to a slight degree at the end of ileum that the endogenous loss of UFA(particularly C18:1 and C18:2) in growing pigs fed CGM or WB diets were greater(P < 0.01) than that for the other four diets.The greatest(P < 0.01) endogenous loss of SFA(particularly C18:0) was in growing pigs fed the RH diet.The endogenous losses of fat,C16:0,C18:0 and SFA over the entire intestinal tract were much greater in growing pigs fed CGM or WB diets,whereas the lowest values were in growing pigs fed DRB diet.The ELF at the end of ileum in growing pigs fed CGM or WB diets were 3.50 or 4.17 g/kg DMI,respectively,and the ELF over the entire intestinal tract was 7.23 or 7.38 g/kg DMI.The contribution in percentage of ELF in the upper gut was greater than that in the hindgut of growing pigs fed DRB and RH diets,while the ELF in the upper gut and hindgut were equal in growing pigs fed SBP,CGM and WB diets.On the whole,the endogenous losses of C18:1 and C18:2 throughout the entire intestinal tract in growing pigs fed the six fiber-rich ingredients diets were less than losses at the end of ileum,whereas the endogenous loss of fat,C16:0,C18:0 and SFA were greater throughout the intestinal tract than at the end of ileum.Conclusion: The profile of loss in endogenous fatty acids did not change as dietary NDF increased in growing pigs and the endogenous losses of fatty acids(C16:0,C18:0,C18:1 and C18:2) fat,UFA and SFA increased linearly as NDF content increased in the diets of pigs.The endogenous losses of fat or fatty acids at the end of ileum were greater in growing pigs fed RH,CGM or WB diets.The endogenous losses of fat,fatty acids(C16:0 and C18:0) and SFA were greater over the entire intestinal tract in pigs fed CGM or WB diet,while these values were the lowest in growing pigs fed the DRB diet.The contribution in percentage losses of fat in the upper gut were greater than in the hindgut of growing pigs fed DRB and RH diets,while the contribution of losses of fat in the upper gut and hindgut were equal in growing pigs fed SBP,CGM and WB diets.In addition,the endogenous loss of individual or total UFA was less over the entire intestinal tract of growing pigs fed fiber diets than that at the end of ileum,and the greatest endogenous losses of fat,individual or total SFA were over the entire intestinal tract.Therefore,differences in fiber content and the nature of fiber-rich ingredients in diets of pigs have different effects to the endogenous losses of fat or fatty acids.Considering the requirement of fat or fatty acids of pigs,careful attention must be paid that the endogenous losses of fat and fatty acids when fiber ingredients are used in diets of pigs.

Pharmacokinetics of Two Ingredients of the Compound Chinese Herbal Medicine Transdermal Preparation in Cows

The topical administration of the compound Chinese herbal medicine transdermal preparation has been widely used in treating the mastitis of cows. In order to understand the metabolic process, four cows suffering from clinical mastitis were selected for the pharmacokinetic study. The transdermal preparation was applied to the diseased part of breast. Then the plasma and milk samples were collected respectively at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 24, and 36 h, The concentrations of baicalin and phillyrin in plasma and milk were determined by HPLC and the data of time-concentrations were analyzed by the pharmacokinetic software. The results showed that two ingredients in the plasma were not detectable, but they in the milk had linear relationship with the time. The peak concentration of baicalin [（2.84 ±0.15）μg mL^-1] appeared at （4.93 ± 0.35） h, AUC0.1OQ was （27.32 ± 7.91） mg L^-1 h^-1, and the mean retention time was （28.31 ±0.49） h. The peak concentration of phillyrin [（0.49 ± 0.41） μg mL^-1] achieved at （3.68 ± 3.14） h, AUC0-LOQ was （4.10± 0.31） mg L^-1 h^-1, and the mean retention time was （14.52 ± 0.02） h. These suggested that two ingredients had slow absorbing speed and high absorbing degree. They could not be eliminated in a short time, thus exerted the topical curative effect.

Comparative Analyses on Nutritional Ingredients of Two Cultivars of Passion Fruit

The nutritional ingredients of two cultivars of passion fruit （Passiflora edulia Sims）, Zixiang 1 and Pingtang 1 were compared in this study. The results showed that both the two cultivars contained 7 kinds of essential amino acids for humans, and their total content was higher in Pingtang 1. The contents of Ca and K were also higher in Pingtang 1. In addition, passion fruit was rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, protein, dietary fiber and total carbohydrate. On the whole, the nutritional value of Pingtang 1 was higher than that of Zixiang 1, and it can be promoted in largescale cultivation.

Probiotical Cell Fragments (PCFs) as “Novel Nutraceutical Ingredients”

Probiotical cell fragments (PCFs) are structural components of the probiotic cell lysate(s) and exhibit similar beneficial effects on the host as live probiotic bacteria. With cell fragment technology (CFT?), the structural fragments are isolated and purified from live probiotic cells. While observed to be strain-dependent as in the case of live probiotics, orally administered PCFs demonstrated a broad spectrum of immune modulation functions;anti-allergy;anti-inflammation;anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties;anti-mutagenic;and radioprotective and detoxification abilities in humans and animals. The PCFs mechanisms of action include events of motifs of cell wall peptidoglycans, DNA motifs, nucleotide containing components, lipoteichoic acids (LPAs), surface layer (S-layer) proteins, and cytoplasmic proteins. Different immunological in vivo-in vitro tests have shown that PCFs, essentially, have the ability to stimulate the macrophages, and induce cytokines such as interleukins, tumor necrosis factors (TNFs), interferons (IFNs), and natural killer (NK) cells. PCFs may be used as ingredients for foods and beverages or as nutritional supplements with long term stability and shelf-life up to 5 years. PCFs may also be used as health restorative ingredients in cosmetic products. The outcome of probiotics CFT? stands as an advantage to the food and pharmaceutical industries, regarding the formulation of novel products with unadulterated sensory characteristics of origin. Hence, PCFs are being characterized here as “novel nutraceutical ingredients” for health maintenance in both humans and animals.

Research Progress of Active Ingredients and Pharmacological Action of Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle, the dry flower bud or with open flower of Lonicerajaponica in caprifoliaceae, has been touted as a cure-all for heat-clearing and detoxifying effect. Honeysuckle contains abundant components such as volatile oil, flavonoids and organic acids, playing the role of antibiosis, antivirus, antiphlogosis, immunopotenfiation and antioxidation. The active ingredients and pharmacological action of honeysuckle are reviewed in the paper, so as to lay the foundation for further application of honeysuckle in veterinary clinic.