Elevated CO2 improves the nutritive value, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hypocholestecolemic activities of lemongrass sprouts

Mohammed S Almuhayawi; Soad K Al Jaouni; Saad M Almuhayawi; Samy Selim; Mohamed Abdel-Mawgoud

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129730

Elevated CO₂ improves the nutritive value, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hypocholestecolemic activities of lemongrass sprouts

Food Chem. 2021 Mar 31:357:129730. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129730. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mohammed S Almuhayawi¹, Soad K Al Jaouni², Saad M Almuhayawi³, Samy Selim⁴, Mohamed Abdel-Mawgoud⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: msalmuhayawi@kau.edu.sa.
² Hematology/Pediatric Oncology, Yousef Abdulatif Jameel Scientific Chair of Prophetic Medicine Application, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Sakaka, P.O. 2014, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Desert Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt. Electronic address: mohamed_drc@yahoo.com.

PMID: 33989926
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129730

Abstract

Sprouts have been regarded as a big store for bioactive compounds with a wide range of biological activities. Elevated CO₂ (eCO₂, 620 μmol mol^-1)was employed to enhance the nutritive and health promoting values of sprouts of two species of lemongrass, i.e. Cymbopogon citratus and Cymbopogon proximus. eCO₂ improved the biomass production of sprouts, and their levels of primary metabolites e.g., amino acids and oils and active secondary metabolites e.g., phenolic compounds. As a result, eCO₂ increased total antioxidant capacity, cytotoxicity against several human cancer cell lines, and antibacterial activities of Cymbopogon sprouts. We also recorded a significant increase in hypocholesterolaemic potential and anti-inflammatory activities of eCO₂-treated sprouts, as indicated by inhibition of cholesterol micellar solubility and pancreatic lipase activity, as well as lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase activities, respectively. Thus, the present investigation supports the use of eCO₂ as a promising approach to produce lemongrass sprouts with effective phytochemicals and enhanced biological activities.

Keywords: Anti-inflammatory; Anticancer; Cymbopogon sp.; Hypocholesterolaemic potential; Sprouts; eCO(2).