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Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a culinary and medicinal plant used in food and pharmaceutical industry. The wide range of biological activities is mainly related to phenolic and terpenic compounds; like carnosic acid (CA), carnosol (CS) and rosmarinic acid (RA), mainly reported in rosemary leaf extracts, and recently described in rosemary callus extracts. The aim of this work was to investigate the chemical profile of rosemary cell lines and evaluate their antiproliferative potential against human HT-29 colorectal cancer cell lines. For this purpose, rosemary leaf explants were dedifferentiated on MS medium and added with 2, 4-D (2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid; 2 mg/L) and BAP (6-benzylaminopurine; 2 mg/L). Cell aggregates were separated according to colour and three rosemary cell lines cultures were established: green (RoG), yellow (RoY) and white (RoW). The chemical profile of rosemary cell lines extracts was characterized by combining HPLC and GC platforms coupled to HR-MS/MS. The antiproliferative activity against HT-29 cell line was analyzed with MTT assay. A total of 71 compounds, including hydroxycinnamic acid and hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives, flavonoids, phenolic di- and triterpenes, as well as relevant unsaturated fatty acids and their esters, phytosterols, and carotenoids were tentatively identified in the extract of the target cell lines. The antiproliferative activity test against HT-29 cell using the MTT assay revealed that the viability of HT-29 colon cancer cells was affected after treatment with the RoW extract (IC50 of 49.63 µg/mL) at 48 h. These results showed that rosemary cell lines can also accumulate other bioactive phytochemicals with demonstrated antiproliferative potential.

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Background The properties of natural pigments, such as antioxidants, functional, medical, and nutraceutical, have demonstrated the advantages of these natural compounds over synthetic ones. Some products are accepted only when they are pigmented with natural, food-quality colorants: for example poultry products (manly marigold flower extracts). Carotenoids such as β-carotene, β-criptoxanthin and lutein are very attractive as natural food colorants due to their antioxidant and pro-vitamin activities which provide additional value to the target products. Marigold (Tagetes erecta) is an Asteraceous ornamental plant native to Mexico, and it is also important as a carotenoid source for industrial and medicinal purposes but nowadays its production is destined mainly for ornamental purposes. Results Friable callus of T. erecta yellow flower (YF) and white flower (WF) varieties was induced from leaf explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 9.0 µM 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 8.8 µM benzyladenine (BA). Calluses developed from both varieties were different in pigmentation. Extract characterization from callus cultures was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This analytical process detected several carotenoids; the main pigments in extracts from YF callus were lutein and zeaxanthin, whereas in the extracts of the WF callus the main pigments were lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin and β-carotene. Callus cultures of T. erecta accumulated pigments even after several rounds of subculture. Conclusions WF callus appeared to be a suitable candidate as a source of different carotenoids, and tested varieties could represent an alternative for further studies about in vitro pigment production.

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BACKGROUND: Digital image analysis has an important role in geographical provenance of grains, as it can provide parameters of size, shape and color, which are important quality parameters for the design of engineering processes such as drying and milling of grains. In this study, digital image analysis was used to classify nine rice cultivars based on different morphometric parameters using the three sides of the grain (lateral, ventral and axial), Feret diameter, and 10 different form factors and color parameters (CIE L*, a* and b*). RESULTS: Result of principal component analyisis was an equation with seven variables (area, perimeter, length, width, thickness, sphericity and color), which was useful for distinguishing between nine different cultivars. The morphometric and color parameters for the Mor A-98 and Mor A-92 varieties showed they had 88% similarity. The variability was expressed with a confidence of 95%. CONCLUSION: Multivariate analysis indicated that the lateral side is the most sensitive for the classification of Mexican rice grains because of its color and morphometric characteristics. These results showed the application of image analysis for the future classifications of grains.

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The morphostructure of grain rice Morelos A-98 was characterized in five stages of physiological maturation, in order to generate morphometric information during the filling process. Micrographic images from optical and scanning electron microscopy coupled to a digital capture system were used. Images were digitally processed to measure different descriptors such as shape, fractal dimension, and surface texture. Results showed that, two weeks after anthesis, an accelerated grain filling was observed, particularly on those grains positioned in the distal panicle zone, compared to those located in the base of this one. As deposition of assimilates in the grain increased, the area and perimeter of the transversal cut of the grains also increased (P ≤ 0.05); meanwhile, the rounded shape factor tended to increase as well (P ≤ 0.05), while the elliptic shape factor decreased. As the dehydrated endosperm passed from "milky" to "doughy" stages, values of fractal dimension area and endosperm perimeter as well as surface texture values showed that grain borders tended to become smoother and that there was a greater structured endosperm area (P ≤ 0.05).

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The carotenoids are photosensitive pigments during photosynthesis. The objective of this work was to study the effect on development and accumulation of carotenoids in ligules of Tagetes erecta exposed under two different lighting ambient (with mesh and without mesh of 50 percent). The plant development was evaluated measuring the height of the plant, number of floral buds, the ligules diameter. In adition, the quantification and identification of carotenoids from ligules was done by HPLC. The results showed significant differences (p<0.05) in the height of the plant, number of floral buds and ligules diameter of T. erecta. The group grown without mesh received greater UV radiation and different temperature, that under a mesh. The first conditions lead to a reduction of the ligules diameter and total content of xanthophylls (lutein and zeaxanthin). The plastids ultrastructure in the cells of T. erecta developed with mesh showed the greatest amount of thylakoid membranes and more conspicuous starch granules.

Los carotenoides son pigmentos fotosensibles frente a un exceso de intensidad luminosa durante el proceso de fotosíntesis. El objetivo de este trabajo fue el estudio del efecto en el desarrollo de la planta y la acumulación de carotenoides por la exposición a dos diferentes intensidades lumínicas (con y sin malla de sombra al 50 por ciento). Se evaluó el desarrollo de T. erecta en cuanto a la altura de la planta, número de botones florales y el diámetro de las lígulas. Adicionalmente, en las lígulas se cuantificaron e identificaron los carotenoides por HPLC. Los resultados mostraron diferencias significativas (p<0.05) en cuanto al desarrollo de las plantas expuestas a mayor radiación UV y temperatura, presentaron reducción del diámetro de las lígulas y disminución en el contenido de Xantófilas totales ( luteína y zeaxantina) con respecto a las cultivadas con malla,. La ultraestructura de los plastidios mostró mayor cantidad de membranas tilacoidales y gránulos de almidón más conspicuos en las células de las plantas de T erecta desarrolladas con malla.

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