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Background:Vaccinium myrtillus L. is a species belonging to the genus Vaccinium of the family Ericaceae. Bilberries have drawn attention due to the multiple benefits for the human health, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-neurodegenerative, and cardioprotective effects. Recently, bilberries were shown to inhibit the activity of carbohydrate-hydrolysing enzymes that can help reduce the intensity of the metabolic syndrome and prevent type 2 diabetes.

Background:Plantago major L. leaves have been used for centuries by the traditional medicine in the treatment of infectious disorders of the respiratory, urinary and digestive tracts. Researchers have reported that hot water extracts of Plantago major possess a broad-spectrum of anticancer, antioxidant and antiviral activities, as well as activities which modulate cell-mediated immunity. Their beneficial properties may be due to the significant content of polysaccharides. The polysaccharides that have been isolated from the leaves of Plantago major L. have different structures – pectic substances, galactans, arabinogalactans, glucomannans.

For the period between June 2020 and -March 2022, a total of 8 dairy cattle farms were surveyed in terms of the prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis. Four of them were located in Northern Bulgaria (Targovishte, Shumen and Dobrich districts) and another four in Southern Bulgaria (Stara Zagora, Plovdiv and Haskovo districts). In these target farms, a rapid mastitis screening test was initially performed to detect the presence of subclinical mastitis or samples with high somatic cell counts. A total of 312 milk samples were obtained from milk quarters who reacted with 3+ or 4+ to which 34 samples of inflammatory exudate from cows with clinical mastitis were added. During the microbiological investigation of the 346 samples, 272 of them (79.1%) were bacteriologically positive. Streptococcus spp., were isolated from 151 samples (55.5%). The second most common species was Staphylococcus spp., detected in 110 (40.4%) of the tested samples. In total, the Grampositive cocci finding exceeded 95% of the microbial species. The remaining 11 (4.0%) isolates belonged to another 6 taxa. These included four strains identified by prior phenotypic identification as Trueperella pyogenes, three Escherichia coli isolates, and one strain of each Pasteurella multocida, Nocardia asteroides, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter spp. Staphylococci were also studied for their sensitivity to 11 chemotherapeutic agents. The highest percentage of resistance (50%) was determined to lincomycin, followed by that to tetracycline (37.3%), and beta-lactams ampicillin (24.5%), and oxacillin (13.6%). The resistance rates to cefoxitin and cephalotin were 5.5% and 0.9% respectively. Also, lower values of resistant strains were observed for the combination of trimethoprim/sulfonamides (7.3%), ciprofloxacin (1.8%), and rifampicin (0.9%). Resistance to gentamicin and amoxicillin/ clavulanic acid was not established. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined for the studied chemotherapeutics, with the highest MIC90 values of 128 µg/mL and 2 µg/mL for tetracycline and lincomycin, and the lowest MIC90 values of 0.001 µg/mL for rifampicin and ciprofloxacin, respectively. A MIC90 of 0.125 µg/mL was obtained for oxacillin, 1.5 µg/mL for trimethoprim/sulfonamides and 1.0 µg/mL for ampicillin, cephalotin and cefoxitin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leaves of Plantago species have been known as a rich source of polysaccharides, polyphenols, and iridoids. In the recent years, some authors have examined the relative influence of carbohydrate compositions and polyphenols on their antioxidant and prebiotic activity. In this study enzymatic hydrolysis of Plantago major, Plantago lanceolata, and Plantago media leaves with hemicellulase and xylanase was carried out. The chemical composition of the enzyme‐derived hydrolysis products was determined. Their antioxidant activity was evaluated using 2,2‐diphenyl‐2‐picryl‐hydrazyl‐hydrate, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and cupric reducing antioxidant capacity assays. The utilization of the carbohydrate complex from the obtained hydrolysates to stimulate the production of certain glycohydrolases from Lactobacillus plantarum probiotic strains was investigated. The HPLC analysis of the hydrolysis products showed the presence of galactose and arabinose in 1:3 and 1:4 ratios. The highest concentration of total sugars was determined in P. major hydrolysates with hemicellulase (386.71 mg/g dry weight). The antioxidant activity according to the three methods was the highest in P. media hydrolysates, which correlated with their total phenolic concentration. L. plantarum S27 showed the highest values of α‐galactosidase activity at the 24‐h fermentation process when it was cultivated in a broth with the presence of P. major hydrolysates with hemicellulase and xylanase (0.129 U/mg and 0.133 U/mg, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Fruits of the plant Lycium barbarum L. (Goji berry) fruit have been widely used around the world for their medicinal purposes and as a functional food for more than 4500 years. Studies indicate the effects of the fruits of Goji berry on aging, neuroprotection, fatigue, energy expenditure, glucose control in diabetics, antioxidant properties, immunomodulation, anti-tumor activity, and cytoprotection. Some authors report that antioxidant molecules found in goji fruit might offer many health protective benefits by alleviating oxidative stress when used as an additive or in a mixture with other phytochemicals in fruit or herbal products. It was found that Goji berry fruit growing in Bulgaria has a total polysaccharide content of about 4%. The content of total polyphenol compounds in the different extracts was found to be between 5.5mg and 8mg GAE/g of dry product. Polyphenols from dry Goji berry fruit were extracted and studied by HPLC analysis for the type of polyphenols present. Antioxidant activity of extracts rich in polyphenols was determined by DPPH, FRAP and CUPRAC methods. The data was compared with a medicinal product containing an extract of Goji berry, where synergistic effects were also established. Inhibitory effects of the Goji berry extracts and their corresponding polyphenols were investigated in the presence of α-glucosidase for antidiabetic activity. The 50% inhibitory concentration found for organic extract was IC50=91.7 µg GAE/g of fruits. The study demonstrated that some of the polyphenols in the investigated extracts exhibit competitive properties towards the enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-soluble and acid-soluble pectic polysaccharides with significant immunostimulating activity were isolated from alcohol-insoluble solids (AIS) of leek. Pectic polysaccharides characterized with high anhydrouronic acid content and common pectic sugars - L-arabinose, D-galactose, D-glucose, and L-rhamnose. It was accomplished that D-galactose content was the highest, which allowed the assumption that pectin sugar side chains were from galactan type. Enzyme modification of acid-extracted pectin was realized. Different pectin-degrading enzymes were used. The first modified pectic fraction, obtained after endopolygalacturonase action and alcohol precipitation contained rhamnogalacturonan I and had high D-galactose content. The second fraction obtained from the first, after ß-galactosidase treatment characterized with low D-galactose content. Probably this was result from ß-galactosidase hydrolysis of pectin side chains. It was proved by the action of ß-galactosidase that galactan side chains were mainly composed of ß-(1?4)-linked D-galactose. It was accomplished that rhamnogalacturonan I had higher immunostimulating activity than the initial pectic polysaccharide, which confirmed the statement that pectin hairy regions were responsible for the biological activity. The second fraction had lower D-galactose content and lower activity than the first. Probably galactan side chains were responsible for the immunostimulating activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Pollution of the aquatic environment is a well-known problem with a long history. Monitoring water quality relies on biota in order to provide adequative assessment and management of the water bodies. Among the different biological indicators applied, aquatic macrophytes, and particularly mosses, are in direct relationship with the environment and their use as biomonitors is well documented. In the current study, we made an attempt to apply new fast, reliable and comprehensible methods for water pollution control. Three reservoirs were selected for the following reasons: (i) they were polluted with hazardous substances (heavy metals and organic material) and (ii) they are used for fish farming and irrigation and their water quality directly affects human health. Moss-bags with the selected biomonitor Fontinalis antipyretica were exposed in the reservoirs for a period of 30 days and molecular, chemical and micromorphological markers were studied. All biomarkers tested appeared to be sensitive to the pollution. This research provided a basis for further studies on selected biomarkers towards standardization. Moss-bags were applied to study the effect of contamination in three standing water bodies in Bulgaria (Kardzhali, Studen Kladenets and Zhrebchevo Reservoirs), the first two with old industrial contamination and the last polluted with short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs). Fontinalis antipyretica Hedw. collected from background (unpolluted) site was placed in cages for a period of 30 days. The present study examined whether inorganic and organic pollution detected with moss-bags resulted in corresponding differences in molecular, chemical and micromorphological markers. Suppressed large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) expression was assessed in moss-bags from two of the reservoirs, contaminated with heavy metals. There was a decrease of the total phenolic content (TPC) in the moss-bags, which provides a basis for further studies of the chemical content of aquatic mosses. Fontinalis antipyretica also showed a response through leaf micromorphological characteristics. In the all three reservoirs, an increase of the twig leaf cell number was recorded (p ≤ 0.01 for Kardzhali and p ≤ 0.001 for Studen Kladenets and Zhrebchevo reservoirs), as well as of the stem leaf cell number in Zhrebchevo Reservoir (p ≤ 0.001). On the contrary, the width of the cells decreased in the studied anthropogenically impacted reservoirs. All three studied groups of biomarkers (molecular, chemical and micromorphological) appeared to be sensitive to freshwater pollution. The results achieved indicated that rbcL gene expression, TPC, cell number and size are promising biomonitoring tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]