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Plant Source Foods
Published in Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy, Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy
Watercress (Nasturtiumofficinale), of the family Brassicaceae or Cruciferae, is an aquatic plant native to Europe and Central Asia. The leaves are dark green with 4–12 cm long. Watercress is rich in glucosinolates (sulforaphane), carotenoids, and polyphenols, as well as Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin A, lutein, zeaxanthin, α-tocopherol (vitamin E), and folic acid. It is a good source of iron, calcium, and iodine (133). It provides a reservoir of flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, and many other glycosides. In traditional medicine, the leaves are used as diuretic, stomachic, depurative, expectorant, hypoglycemic, odontalgic, and stimulant (133). Consumption of watercress may lower arterial blood pressure and prevent diabetes. Rich in vitamin K, watercress can interfere with blood-thinners like warfarin when taken in excess. Recent scientific studies have reported that watercress might delay or impede some forms of cancer like breast, prostate, melanoma, esophageal, pancreatic cancers, because watercress is rich in glucosinolates (sulforaphane) (133).
Diseases of the Hepatobiliary Tree and Pancreas Associated with Fever
Published in Benedict Isaac, Serge Kernbaum, Michael Burke, Unexplained Fever, 2019
Fascioliasis — Infection by the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatic, may occur in sheep- or cattle-raising areas. Humans acquire the infection by ingesting contaminated wild watercress.214,215 The clinical picture comprises upper abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea, pruritus, jaundice, and eosinophilia. The condition may mimic choledocholithiasis. The diagnosis can be established by a complement fixation test and the detection of ova in the feces. Liver biopsy may reveal granulomas,214 which occasionally contain an ovum of F. hepatica.216
Dietary supplements and food fortification
Published in Geoffrey P. Webb, Nutrition, 2019
For example, the watercress headline refers to some research (sponsored by a watercress growers association) which indicates that eating 85 g of watercress (more than what most people eat in total over eight weeks) every day for eight weeks increases blood antioxidant levels, reduces acute measures of oxidant stress and increases resistance of blood to the effect of an oxidising agent. Dark green leafy vegetables are well known to be rich sources of substances with antioxidant activity so it would probably be surprising if very large supplements of watercress did not have such effects. Even though the scientific data may be correct, does it provide significant evidence that eating normal amounts of watercress reduces cancer risk? Many similar vegetables taken in this way would probably produce similar effects.
Effect of heavy metal stress on antioxidant enzymes and DNA damage in Nasturtium officinale R.Br. (watercress)
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2019
Fahriye Sümer Ercan, Nuri Ercan, Dilek Demirezen Yilmaz
Watercress (Nasturtium officinale), an edible aquatic herb belonging to the Brassicaceae (cabbage) family, is a “luxury feeder” that can grow rapidly and take up nitrogen in excess of its growth requirements NIWA (2008). This plant can use phytoremediation of some pollutants from ecosystem. The properties of N. officinale that entail metal accumulation were extensively studied in the past. However, even then the available knowledge regarding the Cu, Cd, and Cr effects on DNA damage of watercress exposed to these HMs is not sufficient.
Watercress-based electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds enhance proliferation and stemness preservation of human adipose-derived stem cells
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2018
Mehdi Dadashpour, Younes Pilehvar-Soltanahmadi, Seyed Abolghasem Mohammadi, Nosratollah Zarghami, Mohammad Pourhassan-Moghaddam, Effat Alizadeh, Mohammad Jafar Maleki, Akram Firouzi-Amandi, Mohammad Nouri
The antioxidant property of the PCL-PEG nanofibers and WE-loaded PCL-PEG nanofibers has been investigated through DPPH assay. DPPH is a stable free radical which has a purple color that changes to yellow in the presence of a free radical scavenger because of the reduction of DPPH to hydrazine form. The DPPH molecule in the form of radical has a maximum absorbance at 517 nm which fades after acceptance of an electron or hydrogen radical from an antioxidant material [4]. The findings of the assay are determined as %AA by calculating reductions in absorbance of DPPH in the presence of released WE solution to the absorbance of DPPH free radical at 517 nm at different time distance. As shown in Table 2, %AA of WE-loaded PCL-PEG nanofibers is enhancing with respect to time, which demonstrates that the WE-loaded PCL-PEG nanofibers is capable of retaining the biological effects after exposure to high electric field. The %AA of WE-loaded PCL-PEG nanofibers in the presence of WE, whencompared with %AA of PCL-PEG nanofibers is high. Several scientific studies have been reported antioxidant activity of WE [36–38]. Watercress is a medicinal plant with mainly potent complexing activities due to the presence of phenolic and flavonoid compounds and other phytochemicals [39]. Several number of literatures found in the database have shown that the various part of the WE possess antioxidant activity [36–38,40]. In a study by Aires and et al [41], phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of WE was evaluated and it was shown that WE possess high antioxidant capacity and this property was extremely related with quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, caffeic acid, isorhamnetin and glucosnastrutiin. Bahramikia and et al. showed that WE due to high amount of phenolic and flavonoid compounds possesses antioxidant properties [42]. Based on these results, it seems that WE could be an important source of phytochemicals with antioxidant properties which are essential for medicinal and health purposes.
Toxicities of selected medicinal plants and floras of lower phyla
Published in Alexandria Journal of Medicine, 2018
P.U. Amadi, E.N. Agomuo, A.I. Bob-Chile Agada, U.C. Njoku, M.O. Ifeanacho, J.C. Okereke, C.U. Iheka, J.O. Osuoha
Table 1 shows the effects of administration of C. portoricensis, D. arborea, D. repens, P. juniperinum, P. caperata, and N. officinale, on the hepatic dysfunction indicators of Wistar rats. The result showed that only the animals administered with water cress plant produced ALP, ALT, AST, GGT, T.Bil, and C. Bil levels comparable to the control, whereas other administered plant extracts significantly elevated the above mentioned liver function markers, with D. arborea, P. caperata, C. portoricensis extremely disrupting the ALP activities. Similar to the effects of water cress on ALT and AST activities, D. arborea produced significantly comparable results, while P. caperata showed no observable derangements of total bilirubin levels. The results of Table 1 further indicated that all the administered plants disrupted the GGT concentrations except for water cress and D. arborea extracts, while the total protein, albumin, and globulin levels were significantly altered by all the plants used in this study. Since tissue damage is associated with elevated levels of the enzymes in circulation, the selective alterations of the liver function indicators shown in this study by these plants necessitate an in-depth analysis of their bioactive components in order to affirm the cause(s) of the alterations. P. caperata and P. juniperinum though have been claimed in forklore to provide some medicinal properties, no report has been presented on their bioactive components to corroborate such claims. Water cress is particularly rich in phenolic acids and flavonoids, which could be responsible for the hepatoprotective properties,48 while the antinutrients and other toxic phytochemicals present in C. portoricensis,49 and D. repens13 are possibly responsible for their hepatotoxic effects shown in this study. Both ALP and AST are less sensitive hepatic damage markers than GGT and ALT, hence, the result of Table 1 implies that the functional status of the liver has been possibly compromised on administration of C. portoricensis, D. repens, P. juniperinum, and P. caperata. Further, the result showed elevated levels of total bilirubin on administration of C. portoricensis, D. arborea and D. repens possibly caused by an increased heme metabolism, however, the ability of the liver to conjugate bilirubin in these cases seemed appreciable. The consequent alterations in the total protein, albumin, and globulin levels on administration of these extracts provides further experimental evidence to complications in the liver’s synthetic function.