Physicochemical and antioxidant characterization of Justicia spicigera

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.09.078

Food Chemistry

Volume 218, 1 March 2017, Pages 305-312

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.09.078 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Justicia Spicigera had high antioxidant characteristics.
•
Extracts were green-iridescent, green-yellow, pink at different intensities.
•
Phenolics and antioxidants were greater in dry samples of J. spicigera.
•
High antioxidant capacity was obtained in the ethanol:water blends.
•
Main chemicals in fresh J. spicigera were azulene, phytol and eucalyptol.

Abstract

Extracts with water:ethanol (100:0, 70:30, 50:50, 30:70, 0:100) solutions from fresh (F), just dried (JD), dried and stored for one year (DS) Justicia spicigera leaves were obtained using the stirring and ultrasound techniques. Extracts were analyzed in physicochemical and antioxidant characteristics. Identification of chemical compounds by gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) was also performed. 2.14 ± 0.91, 5.67 ± 1.70, and 8.52 ± 4.97 g Gallic acid equivalents/100 g dry weight (d.w.) of phenolic compounds were found, in average, for F, JD, and DS J. spicigera, respectively. 2.22 ± 1.31, 2.58 ± 2.11, and 8.48 ± 3.78 g Trolox equivalents/100 g d.w. were detected with the ABTS method and 0.49 ± 0.33, 1.23 ± 0.87, and 0.88 ± 0.94 g with the DPPH method for F, JD and DS J. spicigera, respectively. Eucalyptol, phytol, and azulene were identified as the main compounds. J. spicigera showed colors (green-iridescent, green-yellow, or pink of different intensities) and antioxidant characteristics depending on the solvent concentration. Extracts could be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Introduction

It is important to provide natural products to the food industry as an alternative to replace antioxidants and synthetic pigments that are used today. Antioxidants and natural pigments could be added to many food and pharmaceutical processed products; however, it should be taken into account the use of them in different products and what functions these might have in the system.

A number of plants synthetize pigments that give color to them, depending on the part of the plant and the season of growing. These pigments could be extracted to be used in different ways in areas such as the food and pharmaceutical industries, just to mention some. Examples of plants with great amounts of pigments are calyxes of Hibiscus sabdariffa (Camelo-Mendez, 2013, Cid-Ortega and Guerrero-Beltrán, 2014, Cid-Ortega and Guerrero-Beltrán, 2016, Salazar-González et al., 2012), fruits of Opuntia spp. (Ochoa & Guerrero, 2012), fruits of Stenocereus spp. (Ochoa-Velasco & Guerrero-Beltrán, 2012), blueberry (Jimenez-Aguilar et al., 2011), leaves of Justicia spicigera (Baqueiro-Peña & Guerrero-Beltrán, 2014), just to mention some parts of plants.

Justicia spicigera (muicle or muitle as common name) is a plant that has been used in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times for different purposes. It has been used as a natural pigment source for dying fabrics and crafts. There are reports of the eighteenth century indicating that this plant was used to obtain blue pigments at the Academy of San Carlos in Spain. The fresh plant has a bright green color; however, it shows “liliaceous” (from lat. Liliacĕus, typical of the lily) or violet (Pavón-García et al., 2011) hues that appear until extractions are made, either with water or solvent mixtures. J. spicigera has a significant content of phenolic compounds that contribute to their antioxidant activity, making this plant an interesting alternative for possible industrial applications; it could be used as a good alternative for extracting natural pigments for the use in the food or cosmetics industries (García-Márquez et al., 2012, Sepúlveda-Jiménez et al., 2009).

Extraction conditions such as method, extracting agent, temperature, and extraction time are important factors to be considered in the extraction of phytochemicals from plants (Turkmen, Sari, & Velioglu, 2006). It is also very important to point out that polarity of the extracting agent, or blends of solvents, play an import role in the extraction; however, since reactions may occur between phenols and other molecules present in plants (lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins, just to mention some compounds) (Turkmen et al., 2006), caution should be taken into account for making extractions.

Using alternative technologies, the extracts, due to the stability that the color-imparting molecules possess (Pavón-García et al., 2011), can be concentrated for obtaining powders to be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical, antioxidant, and chemical composition of extracts from fresh and dried J. spicigera leaves.

Section snippets

Chemicals

Phenolphthalein and Folin-Ciocalteu reagents were acquired from Hycel (Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico). Sodium hydroxide, absolute ethanol, and anhydrous sodium carbonate were acquired from J.T. Baker (Xalostoc, EdoMex, Mexico). Gallic acid, sodium persulfate, ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenthiozoline-6-sulfonic acid)), Trolox (6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid), and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) were purchased at Sigma-Aldrich (MO, USA).

Plant material

Fresh (F) J. spicigera leaves were

Physicochemical characteristics

pH of fresh (6.85 ± 0.17) and dried (7.23 ± 0.01) J. spicigera leaves was around 7, near neutrality, as in most plants. The water activity value of fresh (0.910 ± 0.001) J. spicigera was high due to the high moisture content (69.84 ± 0.02% w/w), on the contrary for the water activity (0.272 ± 0.009) of dried J. spicigera. The moisture content (11.65 ± 0.21%) of dried J. spicigera was very close to other dried plants such as H. sabdariffa calyxes (11.08 ± 0.13%) (Salazar-González et al., 2012) and many other

Conclusions

Justicia spicigera has interesting phytochemicals with antioxidant characteristics. Colors of extracts were green-iridescent, green-yellow, or pink of different intensities (including fuchsia), depending of the solvent concentration and the method of extraction. Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were greater in the extract obtained with 100% water in J. spicigera stored one year. However, the high antioxidant activity, obtained by the ABTS method, was detected in the 70:30

Acknowledgements

Itzamná Baqueiro-Peña would like to thank to the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) and to the Universidad de las Américas Puebla for the support provided during her postdoctoral studies. We want to thank to Mr. José Arturo Rodríguez-Malagón for donating us fresh J. spicigera from his Montessori school “El Quinto Sol”. We also thank to Dr. Carlos Enrique Ochoa-Velasco and M.Sc. Beatriz Mejía-Garibay for their valuable help in the analysis of antioxidants and chemical compounds.

References (40)

Y. Cai et al.
Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of 112 traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer
Life Sciences
(2004)
E. Capecka et al.
Antioxidant activity of fresh herbs of some Lamiaceae species
Food Chemistry
(2005)
L.A. Conde-Hernández et al.
Total phenolics and antioxidant activity of Piper auritum and Porophyllum ruderale
Food Chemistry
(2014)
A. Floegel et al.
Comparison of ABTS/DPPH assays to measure antioxidant activity in popular antioxidant-rich US foods
Journal Food Comparison Analysis
(2011)
D. Jimenez-Aguilar et al.
Color and chemical stability of spray-dried blueberry extract using mesquite gum as wall material
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
(2011)
R.T. Marcus
The measurement of color
R. Re et al.
Antioxidant activity applying and improved ABTS radical cation decolorization assay
Free Radical Biology Medicine
(1999)
D. Ryan et al.
Recovery of phenolic compounds from Olea europaea
Analytica Chimica Acta
(2001)
N. Turkmen et al.
Effects of extraction solvents on concentration and antioxidant activity of black mate tea polyphenols determined by ferrous tartrate and Folin-Ciocalteu methods
Food Chemistry
(2006)
M. Vînătoru
An overview of the ultrasonically assisted extraction of bioactive principles from herbs
Ultrasonic Sonochemistry
(2001)

S.P. Wong et al.

Antioxidant activities of aqueous extracts of selected plants

Food Chemistry

(2006)

Abril-Díaz, N., Bárcena-Ruíz, J. A., Fernández-Reyes, E., Galván-Cejudo, A., Jorrín-Novo, J., Peinado-Peinado, J., et...

AOAC

Official methods of analysis

(2000)

I. Baqueiro-Peña et al.

Uses of J. spicigera in medicine and as a source of pigments

Functional Foods in Health and Disease

(2014)

Camelo-Mendez, G. A. (2013). Caracterización química y colorimétrica de cultivo de Jamaica (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.)...

S. Cid-Ortega et al.

Roselle calyces particle size effect on the physicochemical and phytochemicals characteristics

Journal of Food Research

(2014)

S. Cid-Ortega et al.

Antioxidant and physicochemical properties of Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts from two particle sizes

Journal of Food Research

(2016)

A. Djeridane et al.

Antioxidant activity of some Algerian medicinal plants extracts containing phenolic compounds

Food Chemistry

(2007)

S. Dudonné et al.

Comparative study of antioxidant properties and total phenolic content of 30 plant extracts of industrial interest using DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOD and ORAC assays

Journal of Agriculture Food Chemistry

(2009)

K.L. Euler et al.

Isolation of kaempferitrin from Justicia spicigera

Journal of Natural Products

(1982)

Cited by (32)

Phytochemical profiling, anti-hyperglycemic, antifungal, and radicals scavenging potential of crude extracts of Athyrium asplenioides- an in-vitro approach
2023, Environmental Research
This research was aimed to evaluate the phytochemical profile, antifungal, anti-hyperglycemic, as well as antioxidant activity competence of different extracts of Athyrium asplenioides through in-vitro approach. The A. asplenioides crude methanol extract contained considerable quantity of pharmaceutically precious phytochemicals (saponins, tannins, quinones, flavonoid, phenols, steroid, and terpenoids) than others (acetone, ethyl acetate, and chloroform). Interestingly, the crude methanol extract showed remarkable antifungal activity against Candida species (C. krusei: 19.3 ± 2 mm > C. tropicalis: 18.4 ± 1 mm > C. albicans: 16.5 ± 1 mm > C. parapsilosis: 15.5 ± 2 mm > C. glabrate: 13.5 ± 2 mm > C. auris: 7.6 ± 1 mm) at a concentration of 20 mg mL^-1. The crude methanol extract also showed remarkable anti-hyperglycemic activity on concentration basis. Surprisingly, remarkable free radicals scavenging potential against DPPH (76.38%) and ABTS (76.28%) free radicals at a concentration of 20 mg mL^-1. According to the findings, the A. asplenioides crude methanol extract contains pharmaceutically valuable phytochemicals and may be useful for drug discovery.
Thermal and pH stability of Justicia spicigera (Mexican honeysuckle) pigments: Application of mathematical probabilistic models to predict pigments stability
2023, Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences
Citation Excerpt :
Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the viability time of J. spicigera pigments when subjected to different pHs and temperatures using first order kinetics and Time-to-Failure models. The Justicia spicigera extracts were obtained from dried grounded leaves (from the same cultivar acquired with local producer at Puebla, Mexico, in March 2019) according to the Baqueiro-Peña & Guerrero-Beltrán (2017) methodology with some modifications. The extraction consisted in macerating the leaves powder with 50 % ethanol (PubChem CID: 702) solution at 1:83.33 ratio (w/v) for 2 h in dark conditions.
Kinetic and probabilistic (Time-to-Failure, TTF) models were used to predict the color (L*, a*, b* total color differences (ΔE), Hue and Chroma) stability of Justicia spicigera leaves pigments subjected to different temperatures (40 – 80 °C) and pHs (2 – 12). The change in pH caused different hues (from 60° = orange red to 268° = deep-blue) due to the shift effect of anthocyanins in the extract. Temperatures higher than 60 °C increased the color degradation. High heat sensitivity was observed at pH 4 (Ea = 90.27) and 10 (Ea = 154.99 kJ/mol). The Time-to-Failure model for both ΔE and Hue describes the effect of pH and temperature in the J. spicigera extracts. High pHs and temperatures applied to the extracts increased the probability of showing ΔEs > 4 or Hue changes over 20 %. Nearby the neutral region of pH, pigments of J. spicigera were more stable. The TTF model might be a useful tool to describe and predict the behavior of pigments added to foods.
Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitory activity of compounds from Justicia spicigera (Acanthaceae)
2022, Phytochemistry
Citation Excerpt :
Since Prehispanic times, the plant has also been used as a dyeing agent (Atlas de la Medicina Tradicional, 2009); according to Arberet et al. (2021) this species was used as a vegetal colorant in the Prehispanic Borbonicus Codex. Previous phytochemical studies on J. spicigera revealed that its main constituents were flavonoids (kaempferitrin, naringenin, kaempferol) (Euler and Alam, 1982; Esquivel-Gutiérrez et al., 2013), carotenoids (Domínguez et al., 1990; Real-Sandoval et al., 2020), sterols, allantoin (Domínguez et al., 1990), the lignan procumbenoside B (Pérez-Gutiérrez et al., 2018), a few aliphatic compounds (Vega-Avila et al., 2012), and eucalyptol, fatty acid derivatives, azulene, and cinamic acid esters (Baqueiro-Peña and Guerrero-Beltrán, 2017). From the pharmacological point of view, different extracts prepared from the aerial parts have shown cytotoxic (Cáceres-Cortés et al., 2001; Jacobo-Salcedo et al., 2011; Alonso-Castro et al., 2012; Fernández-Pomares et al., 2018), immunomodulatory (Alonso-Castro et al., 2012), antiprotozoal (Ponce-Macotela et al., 2001; Peraza-Sánchez et al., 2005; 2007), antihelmintic (Awad et al., 2018), antibacterial and antifungal (Vega-Avila et al., 2012; Jacobo-Salcedo et al., 2011), anti-inflammatory (Meckes et al., 2004), anti-obesity (Real-Sandoval et al., 2020) antidiabetic (Ortiz-Andrade et al., 2012); antihypertensive (Esquivel-Gutiérrez et al., 2013; Magos-Guerrero et al., 2017), antinociceptive (Zapata-Morales et al., 2016; Ángeles-López et al., 2019), anticonvulsant, anxiolytic (González-Trujano et al., 2017) and spasmolytic (Ángeles-López et al., 2019) activities.
An infusion from the aerial parts of Justicia spicigera Schltdl., an herb commonly used to treat diabetes, inhibited the activity of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B). Two undescribed compounds, 2-N-(p-coumaroyl)-3H-phenoxazin-3-one, and 3″-O-acetyl-kaempferitrin, along with kaempferitrin, kaempferol 7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, perisbivalvine B and 2,5-dimethoxy-p-benzoquinone were isolated from the active extract. Their structures were elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic and spectrometric methods. The isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against PTP1B; the most active compounds were 2-N-(p-coumaroyl)-3H-phenoxazin-3-one, and perisbivalvine B with IC₅₀ values of 159.1 ± 0.02 μM and 106.6 ± 0.01 μM, respectively. However, perisbivalvine B was unstable. Kinetic analysis of 2-N-(p-coumaroyl)-3H-phenoxazin-3-one and 2,5-dimethoxy-p-benzoquinone (obtained in good amounts) indicated that both compounds behaved as parabolic competitive inhibitors and bind to the enzyme forming complexes with 1:1 and 1:2 stoichiometry. Docking of 2-N-(p-coumaroyl)-3H-phenoxazin-3-one and 2,5-dimethoxy-p-benzoquinone to PTP1B_1-400 predicted a good affinity of these compounds for PTP1B catalytic site and demonstrated that the binding of a second ligand is sterically possible. The 1:2 complex was also supported by the second docking analysis, which predicted an important contribution of π-stacking interactions to the stability of these 1:2 complexes. Finally, an UHPLC-MS method was developed and validated to quantify the content of kaempferitrin in the infusion of the plant.
Microencapsulates by spray of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG from fermented whole or skimmed cow's milk added with Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) extract using mesquite gum as carrier agent
2022, Heliyon
Citation Excerpt :
Consequently, the moment of addition of the J. spicigera extracts, before or after fermentation, affects the final color of the powder. On the other hand, for samples WJ, SJ and JM, which were not subjected to any fermentation process, purple hues were observed in the 270–360° (blue to red) of the color space, similar to the color of ethanol-water extracts of J. spicigera previously reported by Baqueiro-Peña and Guerrero-Beltrán (2017). All powders presented a milky appearance due to proteins of the milk.
This work aimed to evaluate the effect of the addition 5°Bx Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) extract (JSE) in spray dried encapsulates of whole and skimmed unfermented and fermented cow's milk with Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus (LR). All samples were spray dried at 160 °C. Samples were analyzed in physical properties (moisture content, water activity (a_w), L∗, a∗, b∗, Hue, Chroma color parameters, particle size), LR content, and bioactive compounds (total anthocyanins (TA), total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant capacity (AC) using the DPPH assay). Results showed that the load of LR was in the range 6.79–7.44 Log₁₀ (CFU/mL) cycles after fermentation, lower values were obtained when JSE was added before fermentation. In addition, LR remains after drying in fermented samples but decrease about 1 Log₁₀ (CFU/mL) cycle. LR was 4.46 Log₁₀ (CFU/mL) in the fermented skimmed milk-J. spicigera extract powder. All powders had a_w and moisture content below 0.295 and 6.51%, respectively. Color of powders depended on the moment of addition of JSE and fermentation. Powders from fermented milk were pale brownish/orangey/red (Hue = 44.91–59.7) and unfermented and J. spicigera extract-maltodextrin solution (12% w/v) powders were purple (Hue = 314.52–326.68). Higher particle sizes (52.3–104.7 μm) were obtained with whole milk fermented and unfermented powders. On the contrary, skimmed milk and JSE without milk protein had values in the range 15.56–44.0 μm. TPC in powders were higher (16.96–33.81 mg GAE/g powder db) compared with TA (0.27–0.64 mg Peonidin-3,5-diglucoside/g powder db). TPC increased with fermentation and remain after spray drying. The AC and TPCs were highly correlated and had antioxidant capacity of 10.18 mg TE/g powder db. The principal component analysis showed that the type of milk and fermentation separate the powders in four groups, depending on their physical and antioxidant properties. Encapsulated pigments could be used in formulations in the food industry to increase bioactive compounds and pigments in foods.
Biosynthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanoparticles using extracts of Justicia spicigera for the degradation of methylene blue
2021, Journal of Molecular Structure
This paper presents an easy and simple green route method for the biosynthesis of ZnO nanoparticles, which were synthesized using Justicia spicigera extract, in different concentrations (1, 2, 4 and 8% in weight-volume). The samples were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and Visible Ultraviolet Spectrometry (UV-vis) spectrophotometric techniques, furthermore complemented with the use of X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Finally, the different catalysts were tested for the degradation of methylene blue under ultraviolet light. The samples presented the typical band of the Zn-O bond at 618 cm⁻¹. UV-vis studies revealed a characteristic signal at 373-376 nm, confirming the formation of ZnO nanoparticles. The different samples manifest the same hexagonal crystal structure, Wurtzite. These materials have a semi-spherical morphology and sizes ranging from 10 to 100 nm. Regarding photocatalytic activity, the catalysts degraded close to 90% of the dye in 120 min.
Medicinal plants as potential functional foods or resources for obtaining anticancer activity metabolites
2021, Oncological Functional Nutrition: Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants
Medicinal plants have been used for the prevention and treatment of cancer all over the world in different traditional medicines. Nowadays, numerous investigations have been carried out on various species of plants against various types of cancer, obtaining a variety of results that indicate a probable antineoplastic effect attributable to bioactive compounds. This chapter is intended to summarize the information related to medicinal plants and cancer.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Physicochemical and antioxidant characterization of Justicia spicigera

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Chemicals

Plant material

Physicochemical characteristics

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Life Sciences

Food Chemistry

Food Chemistry

Journal Food Comparison Analysis

Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

Free Radical Biology Medicine

Analytica Chimica Acta

Food Chemistry

Ultrasonic Sonochemistry

Food Chemistry

Official methods of analysis

Uses of J. spicigera in medicine and as a source of pigments

Functional Foods in Health and Disease

Roselle calyces particle size effect on the physicochemical and phytochemicals characteristics

Journal of Food Research

Antioxidant and physicochemical properties of Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts from two particle sizes

Journal of Food Research

Antioxidant activity of some Algerian medicinal plants extracts containing phenolic compounds

Food Chemistry

Comparative study of antioxidant properties and total phenolic content of 30 plant extracts of industrial interest using DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOD and ORAC assays

Journal of Agriculture Food Chemistry

Isolation of kaempferitrin from Justicia spicigera

Journal of Natural Products