Black radish juice obtained from the whole root is rich in sulphur heterosides, cyanogenic glycosides, vitamins, phenolic substances which were proved to be excellent antioxidants (free radicals scavengers). Brown sugar contains, beside sucrose, organic acids, amines, pectins, reducing saccharides, aminoacids (proteins), vitamins of B complex, ions of potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, as w...

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), a staple crop for millions of sub-Saharan Africans, contains high levels of cyanogenic glycosides which protect it against herbivory. However, cyanogens have also been proposed to play a role in nitrogen transport from leaves to roots. Consistent with this hypothesis, analyses of the distribution and activities of enzymes involved in cyanide metabolism provid...

Plant toxins are the chemical defenses of plants against herbivory. Grasses have relatively few intrinsic toxins, relying more on growth habit to survive defoliation and endophytic fungal toxins as chemical defenses. Forage grasses that contain intrinsic toxins include Phalaris spp. (tryptamine and carboline alkaloids), sorghums (cyanogenic glycosides), and tropical grasses containing oxalates ...

Novel cyanogenic plants have been generated by the simultaneous expression of the two multifunctional sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP79A1 and CYP71E1 in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv Xanthi) and Arabidopsis under the regulation of the constitutive 35S promoter. CYP79A1 and CYP71E1 catalyze the conversion of the parent amino acid tyrosine to p-hydroxymandelonitr...

Cyanide is a serious environmental pollutant and a biocontrol metabolite in plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas species. Here we report on the presence of multiple sulfurtransferases in the cyanogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and investigate in detail RhdA, a thiosulfate:cyanide sulfurtransferase (rhodanese) which converts cyanide to less toxic thiocyanate. RhdA is a cytoplasmic enz...

Cyanogenic glucosides are compounds that release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) when degraded and act as deterrents against herbivores and predators. Cyanogenic glucosidesand theb-glucosidases thatdegrade them are stored in separate subcellular compartments in plant tissues. Herbivore feeding causes mixing and initiates the release of HCN, a respiratory poison. Over 70 different cyanogenic glucosides h...

Neuraminidase (NA), a key enzyme in viral replication, is the first-line drug target to combat influenza. On the basis of a shape-focused virtual screening, the roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) were identified as plant species with an accumulation of constituents that show 3D similarities to known influenza NA inhibitors (NAIs). Phytochemical investigation revealed 12 constituents identif...

To examine the mediation of host–predator interaction by a parasite, we studied the three-level interactions among a host plant, a root hemiparasitic plant, and their common predator, a generalist snail herbivore. The host species, Trifolium repens, is able to synthesize cyanogenic glucosides that have a significant role in plant herbivore resistance. Some T. repens populations are polymorphic ...

The biosynthesis of the cyanogenic glucosides, linamarin and prunasin, was investigated in linen-flax, peach and cherry-laurel shoots. It was shown that related 2-oximino acids, aldoximes, nitriles and 2-hydroxynitriles were generally good precursors of the aglycone moiety. Studies with double-labelled compounds confirmed the retention of the oximino nitrogen atom from 2-oximinoisovaleric acid ...