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Food spoilage leads to a significant loss in agricultural produce each year. Here, the authors investigate whether certain essential oils can protect against fungus-mediated spoilage of fruits and vegetables. Their results suggest that the compounds they tested might indeed inhibit fungal growth, at various temperatures, a promising result that could reduce food wasting.

Resveratrol is a type of stillbenoid, a phenolic compound produced in plants, that is known for its anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Many oligomers of resveratrol have recently been isolated their bioactivities remain unknown. Here, authors compared the bioactivities of resveratrol with natural dimers (ε-viniferin and gnetin H) and trimers (suffruticosol B and C). Results provide preliminary evidence that resveratrol oligomers could be potential preventive or therapeutic agents for cancers and other immune-related diseases

Pathogenic fungi such as Alternaria alternata (A. alternata) can decimate crop yields and severely limit food supplies when left untreated. Copper chitosan (CuCts) is a promising alternative fungicide for developing agricultural areas due to being inexpensive and nontoxic. We hypothesized that LMWc CuCts would exhibit greater fungal inhibition due to the beneficial properties of LMWc.

Rhizopus stolonifer is a mold commonly found growing on bread that can cause many negative health effects when consumed. Preservatives are the well-known answer to this problem; however, many preservatives are not naturally found in food, and some have negative health effects of their own. We focused on honey as a possible solution because of its natural origin and self-preservation ability. We hypothesized that honey would decrease the growth rate of R. stolonifer . We evaluated the honey with a zone of inhibition (ZOI) test on agar plates. Sabouraud dextrose agar was mixed with differing volumes of honey to generate concentrations between 10.0% and 30.0%. These plates were then inoculated with a solution of spores collected from the mold. The ZOI was measured to determine antifungal effectiveness. A statistically significant difference was found between the means of all concentrations except for 20.0% and 22.5%. Our findings support the hypothesis as we showed a positive correlation between the honey concentration and growth rate of mold. By using this data, progress could be made on an all-natural, honey-based preservative.

Chemical preservatives are often used to reduce grain spoilage due to mold, but can have harmful heath and environmental effects. In this study, the authors tested three low toxic compounds for their effects on mold growth on corn kernels and found that all three were successful at slowing growth.

The authors test potential anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic effects of a polyherbal extract formulation on cultured breast cancer cells.

The authors looked at 5-FU resistant HeLa cells and the ability of an herbal extract to show anti-inflammatory properties.

The authors found that treatment with AS20 suppressed phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and 5-flurouracil (5-FU) induction of COX2 expression. We also observed AS20 treated cells showed DNA fragmentation in HeLa cells.

The authors seek to accelerate wound healing by reducing inflammation with a cocktail containing growth factors and bioactive modulators.

This study hypothesizes that nanoparticles derived from corn (cNPs)may have anti-proliferative effects on bone cancer and metastasized bone cancer. It finds that human osteosarcoma and human lung carcinoma metastasized to bone marrow cell viability decreased to 0% when treated with cNPs. Overall, these results indicate that cNPs have anti-proliferative effects on bone cancer cells and cancer cells that metastasize to the bone.