A dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) reductase has been isolated in 50% yield from Dunaliella tertiolecta by rapid chromatography on diethylaminoethyl cellulose. The activity was located in the chloroplasts. The enzyme was cold labile, but if stored with 2 molar glycerol, most of the activity was restored at 30 degrees C after 20 minutes. The spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) reductase isoforms wer...

The extraction of lutein and β-carotene from spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) leaves is important to the dietary supplement industry. A Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology (RSM) were used to investigate the effect of process variables on the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of lutein and β-carotene from spinach. Three independent variables, extraction temperature (°C), extract...

Outbreaks associated with leafy greens have focused attention on the transfer of human pathogens to these commodities during harvest with commercial equipment. Attachment of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on new or rusty spinach harvester blades immersed in spinach extract or 10% tryptic soy broth (TSB) was investigated. Bacteriophages specific for E. coli O157:H7 were evaluated to kill cells attache...

Glycoglycerolipids are mostly found in plants, however the beneficial effects of the glycoglycerolipids on mammalian body have not been understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of glycolipid extracts from spinach, which highly contained glycoglycerolipids, on mucosal injury induced by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in rats. Preadministration of glycolipid extracts from spinach (20 mg/kg bo...

Light could induce phosphorylation of light harvesting chlorophyll a/b binding proteins (LHCII) in Dunaliella salina and spinach thylakoid membranes. We found that neither phosphorylation was affected by glycerol, whereas treatment with NaCl significantly enhanced light-induced LHCII phosphorylation in D. salina thylakoid membranes and inhibited that in spinach. Furthermore, even in the absence...

The ethno medicinal plant Basella alba belongs to the family Basellaceae, and commonly known as malabar spinach, indian spinach, ceylon spinach and vine spinach. Although it has been reported in ancient systems of medicine, it did not gain much importance and has always remained controversial. It has been found to be a good source of calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C. In the Indian system ...

The kinetics of the 520 mmu absorption change in spinach chloroplasts and Chlorella vulgaris following a flash from the ruby laser have been determined as follows: rise halftime </= 0.3 x 10(-6) second; rapid recovery halftime = 5 to 6 x 10(-6) second; intermediate recovery halftime = 4 x 10(-4) second (spinach chloroplasts only); slow recovery halftime = 12 to 170 x 10(-3) second, dependent on...

Spinach is an in vitro-selected RNA aptamer that binds a GFP-like ligand and activates its green fluorescence. Spinach is thus an RNA analog of GFP and has potentially widespread applications for in vivo labeling and imaging. We used antibody-assisted crystallography to determine the structures of Spinach both with and without bound fluorophore at 2.2-Å and 2.4-Å resolution, respectively. Spina...

The aim of the present study is to determine the antioxidant, carotene and alkaloids content of the selected plant leaves namely spinach oleracea and Annona squamosa. The antioxidant screening was done by DPPH free radical scavenging assay using shade dried leaf extracts. The results showed that IC50 for Annona squamosa and Spinach oleracea was 68.24 (μg/ml), 42.57 μg/ml respectively. Annona sq...

Modern molecular ecology techniques were used to demonstrate the effects of plant genotype and environmental conditions prior to harvest on the spinach epiphytic bacterial community. Three cultivars of spinach with different leaf topographies were collected at three different periods during the fall growing season. Leaf surface topography had an effect on diversity and number of culturable bact...