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Kombucha tea is a refreshing beverage that is produced from the fermentation of tea leaves. In this study, kombucha tea was prepared using 1% green tea, oolong tea, and black tea, and 10% sucrose with acetic acid bacteria and yeast. The pH values of the kombucha tea were found to be in a range of 2.70–2.94 at 15 days of fermentation. The lowest pH value of 2.70 was recorded in the kombucha prepared from black tea. The total acidity of kombucha prepared from black tea was the highest by 16.75 g/L and it was still maintained after heat treatment by boiling and after autoclaved. Six organic acids: glucuronic, gluconic, D-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone, ascorbic, acetic, and succinic acid in kombucha tea were detected by HPLC with the optimization for organic acids detection using isocratic elution buffer with C18 conventional column. The highest level of organic acid was gluconic acid. Kombucha prepared from green tea revealed the highest phenolic content and antioxidation against DPPH radicals by 1.248 and 2.642 mg gallic acid/mL kombucha, respectively. Moreover, pathogenic enteric bacteria: Escherichia coli. E. coli O157:H7. Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella Typhi, and Vibrio cholera were inhibited by kombucha and heat-denatured kombucha with diameter of the inhibition zones ranged from 15.0 ± 0.0–25.0 ± 0.0 mm. In addition, kombucha prepared from green tea and black tea demonstrated toxicity on Caco-2 colorectal cancer cells. Therefore, kombucha tea could be considered as a potential source of the antioxidation, inhibition of pathogenic enteric bacteria, and toxicity on colorectal cancer cells.

The white mulberry (Morus alba L.) is widely used as a medicinal plant in Asia. In this study, the bioactive compounds of ethanolic extracts of white mulberry leaves from the Sakon Nakhon and Buriram cultivars were evaluated. The ethanolic extracts of mulberry leaves from the Sakon Nakhon cultivar showed the highest total phenolic content of 49.68 mg GAE/g extract and antioxidant activities of 4.38 mg GAE/g extract, 4.53 mg TEAC/g extract, and 92.78 mg FeSO4/g extract using 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,20-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazolin-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, respectively. The resveratrol and oxyresveratrol compounds in mulberry leaves were also investigated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The mulberry leaf extracts from the Sakon Nakhon and Buriram cultivars showed oxyresveratrol contents of 1.20 ± 0.04 mg/g extract and 0.39 ± 0.02 mg/g extract, respectively, whereas resveratrol was not detected. It was also found that the potent anti-inflammatory properties of mulberry leaf extracts and its compounds, resveratrol and oxyresveratrol, suppressed the LPS-stimulated inflammatory responses in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells by significantly reducing nitric oxide production in a concentration-dependent manner. These compounds further inhibited interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production and suppressed the mRNA and protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Therefore, it is established that mulberry leaf extract and its bioactive compounds contribute to its anti-inflammatory activity.

Kombucha tea is a fermented tea that produced by acetic acid bacteria and yeast. In this study, the kombucha tea from white, green and black tea was studied for its microbial composition, chemical profile, and biological activities during 15-day fermentation period. HPLC analysis revealed key organic acids, including acetic, gluconic, and glucuronic acids in kombucha tea.  In this study, white tea kombucha showed the highest glucuronic acid content. Green tea kombucha demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity by ABTS and FRAP assays. Moreover, white tea kombucha exhibited the strongest DPPH scavenging activity and high phenolic content. Additionally, kombucha tea could inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria, including Escherichia coli , E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhi, Shigella dysenteriae , and Vibrio cholerae. Furthermore, green tea kombucha significantly inhibited nitric oxide production on LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells and demonstrated the strongest anti-inflammatory effect. These findings highlight a potential of kombucha tea as a functional beverage with antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Royal jelly is a nutritious substance produced by the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of honeybees. Royal jelly possesses many attractive and beneficial properties which make it an ideal component in medical and pharmaceutical products. The antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities of royal jelly from honeybees (Apis mellifera) were determined in this study. Moreover, the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the royal jelly were also evaluated. The effects of royal jelly on growth inhibition against skin pathogenic bacteria, including Cutibacterium acnes, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Corynebacterium spp., were investigated by the agar well diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were further determined by the broth dilution method. The results indicated that royal jelly showed antibacterial activity by inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, while the effectiveness decreased against Gram-negative bacteria. Interestingly, royal jelly from Lamphun (RJ-LP1), and Chiang Mai (RJ-CM1), presented high inhibitory efficacy against C. acnes, MRSA, and S. aureus within 4 h by a time killing assay. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory properties of royal jelly were tested using RAW264.7 macrophage cells, and results revealed that RJ-LP1 and RJ-CM1 could reduce nitric oxide (NO) production and suppress iNOS gene expression. After testing the antioxidant activity, RJ-CM1 and RJ-CM2 of royal jelly from Chiang Mai had the highest level. Additionally, RJ-CM1 also showed the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content. These findings have brought forward new knowledge of the antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties of royal jelly, which will improve clinical and pharmaceutical uses of royal jelly as an alternative therapy for bacterial infections, and also as a dietary supplement product.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a causative agent of fever blister, genital herpes, and neonatal herpes. Nowadays, edible algae are recognized as health food due to high nutrition content and their many active compounds that are beneficial to health. The purpose of this study is to investigate the inhibitory effects of algal polysaccharide extract from Cladophora spp. against herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 on Vero cells. In this study, the structure of polysaccharide extract is presented as S=O and C–O–S of the sulfate group, as identified by the FT-IR technique. The toxicity of algal polysaccharide extract on Vero cells was determined by MTT assay. The algal extract showed low toxicity on the cells, with 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC 50 ) value greater than 5000 µg mL −1 . The inhibition of HSV infection by the algal extract was then evaluated on Vero cells using plaque reduction assay. The 50% effective concentration (EC 50 ) values of algal extract exhibited antiviral activity against HSV-1 upon treatment before, during, and after viral adsorption with and without removal of the extract were 70.31, 15.17, > 5000 and 9.78 µg mL −1 , respectively. Additionally, the EC 50 values of algal extract against HSV-2 upon treatment before, during and after viral adsorption with, and without removal of the extract were 5.85, 2.57, > 5000 and 26.96 µg mL −1 , respectively. Moreover, the algal extract demonstrated direct inactivation of HSV-1 and HSV-2 virions as well as inhibitory effect against HSV replication. Accordingly, algal polysaccharide extract containing sulfated polysaccharides showed strong activity against HSV. Therefore, it is proved to be useful to apply Cladophora spp. polysaccharide extract as an anti-HSV agent.

Inflammation and oxidative stress are key drivers of various diseases. Arthrospira platensis is a filamentous cyanobacterium and exhibits significant high nutritional value. Biological activities of A. platensis extract (APE) against free radicals and inflammation on LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells were investigated in this study. The results showed that APE exhibited high levels of total protein, phycobiliprotein and phenolic compound. LC–MS profiling further confirmed the presence of multiple antioxidant metabolites, including glutathione and ergothioneine. APE exhibited low toxicity toward RAW264.7 cells. The anti-inflammatory activity of APE was evaluated on LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, where it significantly suppressed the expression of the iNOS gene and iNOS protein, as well as inhibited NO secretion. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory effects of APE were assessed by measuring the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. The results indicated that APE significantly reduced TNF-α and IL-6 levels while increasing IL-10 production, suggesting strong anti-inflammatory potential. Moreover, the ability of APE to inhibit intracellular reactive oxygen and nitrogen species was also investigated. The findings revealed that APE effectively suppressed both reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species on LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, APE significantly reduced lipid peroxidation as indicated by decreased malondialdehyde levels and improved the glutathione redox status. The effects were more pronounced than treatment with exogenous L-glutathione alone, suggesting the synergistic antioxidant capacity of APE. Therefore, these findings highlight the potential of A. platensis extract as a functional ingredient for the prevention or management of inflammation and oxidative stress-related conditions.

Fruit is an essential part of the human diet and is of great interest because of its richness in phytochemicals. Various fruit extracts from citrus, berries and pomegranates have been shown to possess a broad spectrum of medicinal properties. Fruit phytochemicals are of considerable interest because of their antioxidant properties involving different mechanisms of action, which can act against different pathogenic bacteria. The antioxidant capacity of fruit phytochemicals involves different kinds of reactions, such as radical scavenging and chelation or complexation of metal ions. The interaction between fruit phytochemicals and bacteria has different repercussions: it disrupts the cell envelope, disturbs cell–cell communication and gene regulation, and suppresses metabolic and enzymatic activities. Consequently, fruit phytochemicals can directly inhibit bacterial growth or act indirectly by modulating the expression of virulence factors, both of which reduce microbial pathogenicity. The aim of this review was to report our current knowledge on various fruit extracts and their major bioactive compounds, and determine the effectiveness of organic acids, terpenes, polyphenols, and other types of phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties as a source of antimicrobial agents.

Bovine mastitis poses significant economic challenges for dairy farms globally. Metabolites from lactic acid bacteria (LAB) offer promising alternative substances for preventing bovine mastitis. This study demonstrated the inhibitory activity of metabolite production from seven LAB isolates in the supernatant medium. Four isolates, namely Lactiplantibacillus plantarum TISTR 2070, Lacticaseibacillus casei TISTR 1340, Enterococcus faecalis TCAN02, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum AD73, exhibited antibacterial activity against bacterial pathogens causing mastitis, including Staphylococcus haemolyticus , Staphylococcus capitis subsp. ureolyticus , Streptococcus agalactiae O4, Streptococcus dysgalactiae , and Streptococcus uberis . The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from 6.25 to 25 mg/mL, with minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of 12.5 to 25 mg/mL. Furthermore, analysis of the physical and chemical properties revealed active metabolites in LAB supernatants, particularly lactic acid that was detected in all samples. Additionally, this study presents novel findings on infection of CPAE bovine endothelial cells in vitro by mastitis bacterial pathogens and demonstrating cytopathic effects such as vacuolation, magalocytosis, and cytotoxicity after bacterial infection on the bovine endothelial cells. Moreover, metabolites from LAB supernatant exhibited a protective effect against bacterial colonization and infection of bacterial pathogens causing mastitis on CPAE bovine endothelial cells and leading to increase cell viability. The results of this study suggest that metabolites from LAB samples exert potential candidates as alternative therapeutic agents for bovine mastitis.

Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) is a cyanobacterium containing various phytochemical compounds associated with various antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and immune-promoting properties. The efficacy of ethanolic and methanolic crude extracts of A. platensis regarding antibacterial, antioxidant, and anticancer effects was determined in this study. The ethanolic extract showed the highest antioxidant activity by 8.96 ± 0.84 mg gallic acid equivalent per gram of extract (mg GAE/g extract), 53.03 ± 4.21 mg trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity per gram of extract (mg TEAC/g extract), and 48.06 ± 0.78 mg TEAC/g extract as determined by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP assays, respectively. Moreover, the ethanolic extract showed the highest total phenolic and flavonoid compound contents by 38.79 ± 1.61 mg GAE/g extract and 27.50 ± 0.53 mg of quercetin equivalent per gram of extract (mg QE/g extract). Gallic acid and quercetin in the extracts were also determined by HPLC. The antibacterial activity was evaluated by agar well diffusion and broth dilution methods on skin pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Cutibacterium acnes. The inhibition zone of A. platensis extracts ranges from 9.67 ± 0.58 to 12.50 ± 0.50 mm. In addition, MIC and MBC values ranged from 31.25 to 125 mg/mL. The inhibition of biofilm formation and biofilm eradication by A. platensis ethanolic extract was 87.18% and 99.77%, as determined by the crystal violet staining assay. Furthermore, the anticancer activity of A. platensis on A375 human melanoma cells was examined. The ethanolic and methanolic extracts induced DNA apoptosis through both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways by upregulating the expression of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9. These findings suggested that A. platensis demonstrated promising antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer activities, emphasizing its potential as a natural therapeutic agent for the management of pathological conditions.

Background/Objectives: Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze or tea contains bioactive compounds such as catechin and caffeine, known for their antimicrobial and health-promoting properties. Colibactin-producing Escherichia coli are linked to genotoxicity in colon epithelial cells, potentially contributing to colorectal disease. This study aimed to evaluate the inhibitory effects of tea extracts (green, oolong, and black) and the phytochemicals catechin and caffeine on E. coli pathogenesis mediated by colibactin toxins, including transient infections, DNA damage, and cell cycle alterations in Caco-2 colon cells. Methods: Tea extracts were analyzed by HPLC for phytochemical content. Their antimicrobial activity against colibactin-producing E. coli (ATCC 25922) was assessed. Caco-2 cells were infected with the bacteria and treated with tea extracts or compounds. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay, DNA damage was measured by alkaline comet assay, and the expression of CDK-1, CDK-2, and Ki-67 genes was measurd by qRT-PCR. Results: Tea extracts and catechin inhibited colibactin-producing E. coli and significantly protected Caco-2 cells. Oolong tea showed the highest protection (90.78 ± 2.76%), with others maintaining viability above 80%. DNA damage was markedly reduced, and cell cycle regulation improved. All extracts upregulated CDK-1 and downregulated CDK-2, aiding in cell cycle restoration. Ki-67 expression indicated enhanced cell proliferation during infection. Conclusions: This study highlights new findings showing that tea extracts, including green, oolong, and black tea, as well as the tea compounds catechin and caffeine, can protect against DNA damage and help maintain the normal cell cycle of colon cells infected with E. coli-producing colibactin toxin. These results support their potential role in preventing and mitigating infections caused by such E. coli strains while promoting colon cell health.