To explore the potential factors of quinoa to control blood sugar, five active components, polyphenols, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids and polysaccharides, were extracted from three kinds of quinoa by using ten different solvents, then in vitro α-glucosidase activity inhibitory experiment these 30 kinds of extracts were determined. Results showed that the total polyphenols from black quinoa had a strong correlation on the inhibition of α-glucosidase (r = 0.91, P < 0.001). Thus, the extraction process of black quinoa crude polyphenols (BQCP) was carried out, and the most efficient extraction conditions were: material-liquid ratio was 1:70 g/mL, ultrasonic temperature was 45 °C, ultrasound time was 30 min, ultrasonic power was 400 W, the optimal extraction amount was 5.148 ± 0.038 mg/g. Moreover, the black quinoa polyphenols (BQP), purified from BQCP, had stronger inhibitory ability on α-glucosidase (IC₅₀ = 0.59 mg/mL) and α-amylase (IC₅₀ = 2.85 mg/mL) and its inhibition effect was greatly to BQCP. This study demonstrates that BQP can be a good potential source of natural hypoglycemic drugs or functional foods.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a common nutritional problem, but traditional iron supplements cause many adverse reactions. Thus, the development of a novel iron supplement might be significant for the treatment of IDA. This study aimed to study the transport mechanism of Flammulina velutipes polysaccharide-iron complex (FVP1-Fe(Ⅲ)) in Caco-2 cells and the therapeutic effect on IDA rats, as well as the influence on gut microbiota in vivo. These results showed that in vitro, the uptake of FVP1-Fe(Ⅲ) was mediated by sodium-dependent glucose transporter-1 (SGLT1) and facilitated glucose transporter-2 (GLUT2) and GLUT2 played a dominant function. The multidrug resistance-associated protein-2 (MRP-2) was involved in the efflux of FVP1-Fe(Ⅲ) across the Caco-2 cells. In vivo, FVP1-Fe(Ⅲ) had a better restorative effect on blood parameters and iron status indicators in rats with IDA as compared with FeSO₄ and exerted this effect by downregulating the expression of hepcidin. FVP1-Fe(Ⅲ) could also regulate gut microbiota dysbiosis in iron deficiency rats by returning the relative abundance of gut microbiota to the normal level. Besides, as a dietary factor, vitamin C (vit C) could enhance the therapeutic effect of FVP1-Fe(Ⅲ). These present findings showed that FVP1-Fe(Ⅲ) could be exploited as a novel iron supplement to treat IDA.

In previous study, we got a purified ginger polysaccharide UGP1 and verified its significant antitumor activities on colon cancer HCT116 cells. In this article, we aimed to illustrate the underlying mechanism of UGP1 exerted antitumor activities on colon cancer by using in vitro cell models and in vivo animal models. The results demonstrated that UGP1 could induce S-phase cell cycle arrest, up-regulate the expression of Bax and p53, down-regulate the expression of Bcl-2, and activate the downstream protein caspase-9 and caspase-3, which was related to intrinsic apoptosis pathway on HCT116 cells. Moreover, UGP1 significantly stimulated RAW264.7 cell proliferation and secretion activity. Similarly, UGP1 inhibited tumor proliferation on tumor-bearing mice, increased the expression of p53 and the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, enhanced the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-2, IL-6 and decreased the secretion of pro-tumor cytokines TGF-β and bFGF in serum. In conclusion, it indicated that the UGP1 could suppress human colon cancer growth by inducing apoptosis via the regulation of p53, caspase-3, and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio-dependent pathway and regulating immune system activity. This investigation provided basic theoretical mechanism of ginger polysaccharide-exerted antitumor activities, and contributed to develop a possible functional food or adjuvant agent for prevention or treatment of colon cancer.

This study aimed to isolate and characterize the structures of glycoproteins from peas and determine their hypoglycemic activity. The crude pea glycoproteins (PGP) were extracted by hot water and purified by diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-Sepharose chromatography and Sephadex G-100 size-exclusion chromatography in sequence. Then three main fractions were obtained, namely PGP1, PGP2 and PGP3, with molecular weights of 897615, 846740 and 1194692Da, respectively. The physical and chemical properties of the three fractions were evaluated and compared by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and other analytical techniques. The fraction PGP2 with the highest hypoglycemic activity, was screened using the Caco-2 monolayer cell model. It can inhibit the uptake of glucose in the small intestine, as well as the activities of maltase and sucrase. After simulated gastrointestinal digestion, PGP2 significantly enhanced the inhibitory effect of α-glucosidase, and slightly reduced the inhibitory ability of α-amylase. In summary, PGP2 possessed strong hypoglycemic activity after digestion. These results indicated that PGP2 has the potential to be developed into a functional food or natural medicine for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.