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Ginkgo biloba L. is an ancient plant relic, which is known as a "living fossil", and is widely cultivated in China. This plant with medical potential and health benefits has drawn the attention of researchers. Ginkgo seeds are rich in protein. Ginkgo seed proteins (GSPs) have good functional properties over many other seed proteins, which have the potential to be utilized as food ingredients. Moreover, GSP contains no restricted amino acids and is easy to be separated. Several GSP isolate with various bioactivities, such as antimicrobial and antioxidative activities, have been purified and evaluated for their bioactive potential. In this review, the separation methods and bioactivities of GSP were summarized, physicochemical characteristics and functional properties were comprehensively reviewed and compared with other seed proteins. Some food applications of GSP were also briefly introduced. Besides, some suggestions and prospects were discussed in this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-phase systems developed with hydrophilic deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and hydrophobic DESs were prepared in this study for the first time. Ginkgo biloba leaves containing several bioactive compounds were chosen as the model plant material to evaluate the possibility of the two-phase DES system as a designer solvent for the simultaneous extraction of the various bioactive compounds with different polarities. After tailoring, a two-phase DES system prepared with two hydrophilic DESs and one hydrophobic DES at a volume ratio of 35 : 5 : 40 could effectively extract flavonoids, terpene trilactones (TTLs), procyanidine (PAC) and polyprenyl acetates (PPAs) simultaneously from the Ginkgo biloba leaves. The extraction conditions were further optimized using the response surface methodology. When the two-phase DES system was employed in the extraction under the optimal conditions, the PPAs moved into the hydrophobic phase, and the flavonoids, TTLs, and PAC were enriched into the hydrophilic phase. The first extraction rates for PAC, flavonoids, TTLs and PPAs were 86.07%, 77.72%, 93.29% and 94.63%, respectively. After extraction, the hydrophilic and hydrophobic phases containing different bioactive compounds could be easily separated for different preparations. Extraction with the two-phase DES system is a new application trial of DESs, which has the potential to be widely used for the extraction of bioactive compounds from plant materials or removal of different polar impurities from specific extracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ginkgo biloba leaves have various health benefits due to the presence of bioactive compounds such as polyprenyl acetates, flavonoids, and terpene trilactones. However, there is little literature reported on the aromatic acids in Ginkgo biloba leaves. In this work, five aromatic acids including shikimic acid (SA), 6-hydroxykynurenic acid (6-HKA), protocatechuic acid (PA), gallic acid (GAA), and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) were simultaneously extracted from Ginkgo biloba leaves by employing the green deep eutectic solvents (DESs). A DES tailor-made from xylitol, glycolic acid and 1,5-pentanedioic acid at a molar ratio of 1:3:1 with 50% (w/w) water addition, named as NGG50, gave higher extraction yields for the five aromatic acids. Main factors affecting the extraction process were further optimized. The highest extraction yields of SA, GAA, 6-HKA, PA, and PHBA were 94.15 ± 0.96 mg/g, 332.69 ± 5.19 μg/g, 25.90 ± 0.61 μg/g, 429.89 ± 11.47 μg/g and 67.94 ± 0.37 μg/g, respectively. The NGG50-based extraction process developed here was a successful attempt of simultaneously extracting five aromatic acids from Ginkgo biloba leaves for the first time, which could provide a new exploitation direction of Ginkgo biloba leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs), especially hydrophilic DESs, have been considered green substitutes to conventional organic solvents for bioactive compounds extraction. This study provided a practical example demonstrating the efficiency of hydrophobic DESs as designer solvent to extract polyprenyl acetates from Ginkgo biloba leaves. A hydrophobic ternary DES named as MCO gave the highest extraction yield for polyprenyl acetates during the initial screening. It was tailor-made from methyl trioctyl ammonium chloride, capryl alcohol and octylic acid at a molar ratio of 1:2:3 by systematically optimizing the DES component type, molar ratio and number. With MCO-based extraction, the operational factors influencing the extraction yield were further optimized by statistical method. The model for the extraction of polyprenyl acetates was well established and verified. Extraction yield of 84.11 ± 0.7366 was obtained at the optimal conditions, which was much higher than those of conventional hydrophobic organic solvents (petroleum ether and n -hexane). Moreover, excellent recovery of polyprenyl acetates from MCO extraction solution was obtained by macroporous resin AB-8 or DM130 adsorption. This study demonstrated that not only hydrophilic DESs but also hydrophobic DESs can be adopted as solvents for bioactive compounds extraction from biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The research status of the bioactive components in Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp was reviewed. • A summary on the other components in Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp was made. • The bioactivities Current researches on the application of Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp were discussed. • The development direction of Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp was suggested. Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp contains a variety of bioactive components, such as polysaccharides, flavonoids, terpenoid trilactones, and ginkgolic acids, which have a high value of utilization. However, Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp is always treated as waste of ginkgo seeds processing. To maximize the utilization of Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp, it is necessary to deliberate and arouse researchers' attention. This review demonstrated the extraction method, purification method, and determination method of bioactive components in Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp and summarized its composition and bioactivities. Moreover, the future study of Ginkgo biloba seed exocarp resource is prospected, hoping to provide a theoretical basis and direction for its further development and utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ginkgo is rich in bioactive compounds (e.g., flavonoids and terpenoids). • 1256 differentially expressed genes were identified between young and mature leaves. • A gene in phenylpropanoid pathway was significantly upregulated. • 38 significantly different metabolites were detected between young and mature leaves. • Ginkgo metabolites promote the ginkgo-related pharmaceutical industry development. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.) is a unique medicinal tree species that mainly depends on the flavonoids and terpenoids found in its leaves. However, the biosynthesis of these metabolites is controlled and regulated by gene actions which remain poorly understood. To improve our understanding of this process, we produced a transcriptome library from young and mature leaves of ginkgo trees using the Illumina HiSeq X Ten sequencing platformin this study. We obtained a total of 57.5 million clean reads, compared with seven databases and revealed 39,404 annotated unigenes. The key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in young and mature leaves of ginkgo were explored through GO and KEGG metabolic pathway analysis. A total of 1,256 DEGs, including 561 upregulated and 695 downregulated genes were obtained in the ginkgo transcriptome in the mature leaves compared with that of the young leaves. These genes included 23 bHLH, 9 MYB, 5 WRKY, and 4 bZIP genes that act as regulators in flavonoid and terpenoid biosynthesis. One key gene involved in the diterpenoid pathway was downregulated. A gene in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway was significantly upregulated and significantly negatively correlated with serine in metabolites. Additionally, a metabolomics analysis detected 283 metabolites, and 38 significantly different metabolites were identified. The combined metabolome and transcriptome approach employed in this study constitutes an effective method for assessing the relationships between the expression of critical genes and metabolites related to biosynthetic pathways. Our study provides new ideas for analyzing biosynthesis at the molecular level and will encourage further development of the ginkgo-related pharmaceutical industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]