Aquacultural, Nutritional and Therapeutic Biology of Delicious Seeds of Euryale ferox Salisb. : A minireview.[Pubmed: 30091404]

Euryale ferox Salisb. (Makhana) is a rooted, macro-hydrophyte grown as a crop in north Bihar wetlands, India. Makhana refers to yummy pops prepared through mechanical smacking of the baked seeds of E. ferox. New techniques have been evolved to produce pops from seeds at a brisk pace.

Transcriptome sequencing and analysis during seed growth and development in Euryale ferox Salisb.[Pubmed: 29743016]

Euryale ferox Salisb., an annual aquatic plant, is the only species in the genus Euryale in the Nymphaeaceae. Seeds of E. ferox are a nutritious food and also used in traditional Chinese medicine (Qian Shi in Mandarin). The molecular events that occurred during seed development in E. ferox have not yet been characterized. In this study, we performed transcriptomic analysis of four developmental stages (T1, T2, T3, and T4) in E. ferox seeds with three biological replicates per developmental stage to understand the physiological and biochemical processes during E. ferox seeds development.

Extract of Euryale ferox Salisb exerts antidepressant effects and regulates autophagy through the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase-UNC-51-like kinase 1 pathway.[Pubmed: 29509332]

Positive regulation of autophagy by Euryale ferox Salisb (ES) leads to antidepressant effects. This study focused on the potential antidepressant mechanisms induced by the petroleum ether fraction of ES (ES-PE) in the chronically unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) mouse model. Deficits in the sucrose preference test, open field test, tail suspension test, and forced swim test were observed following CUMS, and were reversed following ES-PE administration. Contrary to the expression of mammalian target of rapamycin, autophagy was decreased after establishment of the CUMS model. We also observed trends for downregulation of adenosine mononphosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and mammalian autophagy-initiating kinase (ULK1), which were differentially affected by ES-PE. HT22 cells and Compound C, an inhibitor of AMPK, were used to verify the results in mice. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed high level of vitamin E acetate in ES-PE. Taken together, our data indicate that ES-PE activated autophagy by regulating the AMPK pathway.

SSR-Based DNA Fingerprinting and Diversity Assessment Among Indian Germplasm of Euryale ferox: an Aquatic Underutilized and Neglected Food Crop.[Pubmed: 29082475]

Euryale ferox is native to Southeast Asia and China, and it is one of the important aquatic food crops propagated mostly in eastern part of India. The aim of the present study was to characterize and evaluate the genetic diversity of ex situ collections of E. ferox germplasm from different geographical states of India using microsatellite (simple sequence repeats (SSRs)) markers. Ten SSR markers were analyzed to assess DNA fingerprinting and genetic diversity of 16 cultivated germplasm of E. ferox. Total 37 polymorphic alleles were recorded with an average of 3.7 allele frequency per primer. The polymorphic information content value varied from 0.204 to 0.735 with mean of 0.448. A high range of heterozygosity (Ho 0.228; He 0.512) was detected in the present study. The neighbor-joining (N-J) tree and the principle coordinate analysis showed that the germplasm divided in to three main clusters. The results of the present investigation comply that SSR markers are effective for computing genetic assessment of genetic diversity and similarity with classifying cultivated varieties of E. ferox. Evaluation of genetic diversity among Indian E. ferox germplasm could provide useful information for genetic improvement.

The hypoglycemic and antioxidant effects of polysaccharides from the petioles and pedicels of Euryale ferox Salisb. on alloxan-induced hyperglycemic mice.[Pubmed: 28967662]

The present study investigated the potential hypoglycemic and antioxidant effects of polysaccharides extracted from the petioles and pedicels of Euryale ferox Salisb. (EFPP) on alloxan-induced hyperglycemic mice. The EFPP had a total carbohydrate of 65.72 ± 2.81%, uronic acid of 4.56 ± 0.62% and protein of 0.58 ± 0.12%, with an average molecular weight from 1.02 kDa to 11.45 kDa and monosaccharide composition of Man, GlcA, Rha, Glc, Gal and Ara at a molar ratio of 0.12 : 0.01 : 9.57 : 0.41 : 1.00 : 0.24. Administration with EFPP, especially high dose EFPP, was beneficial to reverse body weight loss, reduce blood glucose levels, enhance serum insulin levels, improve oral glucose tolerance, increase hepatic glycogen content and GCK activity, and modulate the mRNA expression of GCK in the liver. Meanwhile, EFPP had protective effects against alloxan-induced oxidative injury in mice, via increasing the activities of SOD, CAT and GSH-Px and decreasing the MDA contents in the liver and kidney of the mice. EFPP ameliorated the damage in pancreas, kidney and liver tissues, which was confirmed by histopathological observation. The results suggested that EFPP possess hypoglycemic and antioxidant activities, and could be a potential source of natural hypoglycemic and antioxidant agents for functional foods or complementary medicines.

[Oligopeptides in plant medicines cited in Chinese Pharmacopoeia].[Pubmed: 28920330]

In total, 23 plant plant medicined containing oligopeptides were cited in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (1 part) of 2015 version including Rubia cordifolia, Linum usitatissimum, Aster tataricus, Psammosilene tunicoides, Pseudostellaria heterophylla, Stellaria dichotoma, Vaccaria segetalis, Dianthus superbus, Celosia argentea, Lycii Cortex, Citrus medica, C. aurantium, Panax ginseng, Parmx notoginseng, Schisandra chinensis, Sparganium stoloniferum, Euryale ferox, Ophiopogon japonicas, Pinellia ternate, Achyranthes bidentata, Physalis alkekengi, Polygonatum odoratum, and Leonuri Fructus. There were 187 oligopeptides in plant medicines above as reported. Oligopeptides consisted mainly of linear peptides and cyclic peptides. The linear peptides included dipeptides, tripeptides and pentapeptides, and cyclic peptides included cyclic, bicyclic and tricyclic peptides. The number of residues of single cyclic peptides ranged from two to twelve. Bicyclic peptides were isolated mainly from R. cordifolia and C. argentea. Modern pharmacological study showed that oligopeptides had many pharmacological effects, including antitumor, anticoagulant, antibacterial, immune suppression and so on.

RAPD and ISSR Marker-Based Comparative Evaluation of Genetic Diversity Among Indian Germplasms of Euryale ferox: an Aquatic Food Plant.[Pubmed: 27364330]

Euryale ferox Salisbury is an important aquatic food plant cultivated largely in eastern India. E. ferox is a monotypic genus, and breeding programmes have mostly relied on the variability present in the primary gene pool. Knowledge of the genetic structure of the population is limited, and there are very few reports available on the genetic diversity of E. ferox. In this study, comprehensive research on the genetic diversity of 16 germplasms of E. ferox was carried out using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Out of 320 RAPD and 95 ISSR primers screened initially, 61 primers (40 RAPD and 21 ISSR) gave reproducible bands and were selected for further work. Amplification of the 40 RAPD primers gave 533 polymorphic bands with an average of 13.32 polymorphic bands per primer. The percentage of polymorphism ranged from 37.5 to 100, with an average of 88.3 %. The 21 ISSR primers produced 259 bands, of which 214 were polymorphic, with an average of 10.19 polymorphic bands per primer. The percentage of polymorphism using ISSR primers ranged from 50 to 100, with a mean of 82.6 %. Jaccard's coefficient ranged from 0.45 to 0.69 (RAPD), 0.50 to 0.77 (ISSR) and 0.48 to 0.71 (RAPD and ISSR). Molecular characterization of different germplasms of E. ferox not only is essential for its conservation but also can be used in further breeding programmes.

2β-hydroxybetulinic acid 3β-caprylate: an active principle from Euryale Ferox Salisb. seeds with antidiabetic, antioxidant, pancreas & hepatoprotective potential in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats.[Pubmed: 26344959]

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the glycemic control, antioxidant, pancreas and liver protective effect of 2β-hydroxybetulinic acid 3β-caprylate (HBAC) from Euryale ferox Salisb. seeds on streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The active principle was isolated from Euryale ferox Salisb. seeds extract by utilizing chromatographic techniques. The rats were divided into seven experimental groups: Gp 1-normal; Gp2- normal + HBAC (60 mg/kg p.o.); Gp3- diabetic control; Gp 4- Diabetic + HBAC (20 mg/kg p.o.); Gp5- Diabetic + HBAC (40 mg/kg p.o.); Gp6- Diabetic + HBAC (60 mg/kg p.o.) and Gp 7- Diabetic + Glibenclamide (10 mg/kg p.o.). Biochemical estimation, free radical scavenging examination and histopathological study was performed at the end of experimentation i.e. on 28th day. The active principle isolated and identified with spectral data as 2β-hydroxybetulinic acid 3β-caprylate (HBAC). It was detected for the first time that HBAC has improvised the glycemic control in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Furthermore, it is remarkable to note that it exhibited excellent free radical scavenging property and pancreas and hepatoprotective property as well, supported by histopathological examination. One of the mechanisms of action of HBAC appears to be stimulating the release of insulin from pancreatic β-cells. HBAC improved the glycemic control, reduced the free radical activity along with corrected glycemic control, lipid profile, and enhanced level of insulin alongh with improvement in pancreas and hepatoprotective architecture. Considering the above results, HBAC shows potential to develop a medicine for diabetes as combinatorial or mono-therapy.

Antidiabetic, antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic effect of extract of Euryale ferox salisb. with enhanced histopathology of pancreas, liver and kidney in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats.[Pubmed: 26155454]

Ethanolic extract of Euryale ferox salisb. (EFx) may have an effect on the activity of hepatic antioxidant enzymes, glycemic control and lipid profile and histopathology of pancreas, liver and kidney of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic wistar rats.