Project title: Plants as a source of bioactive sulphur compounds and their ability to hyperaccumulate metals (BioSMe)
Project Manager: PhD Ivica Blažević, Associate Professor
Project duration: 48 months (since March, 1st 2017. till February, 28th 2021.)
It has been estimated that nearly quarter of all pharmaceutical products worldwide are derived from plant sources. Sulphur-containing plant metabolites include a variety of chemical structures, varying from primary metabolites such as sulphur-containing amino acids to secondary metabolites like, thiosulfinates, glucosinolates and others. Owing to the presence of sulphur, volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) show particular physicochemical features and interact with a range of molecular and biological targets.
The botanical order of the Brassicales - which encompasses many of our daily vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, capper, etc.) - is strikingly chemo-characterized by the presence of thiosaccharidic secondary metabolites called glucosinolates (GLs). GL investigation is an ongoing research activity and new structures have been documented and reviewed, now including ca. 130 compounds. This project will focus on scarcely or previously not investigated Croatian wild-growing, endemic (and stenoendemic) species from the botanical order Brassicales, many of which are used as food and medicinal plants.
GLs, associated with an uncommon endogenous glucohydrolase - myrosinase (E.C.3.2.1.147), usually operate like precursors to biologically active isothiocyanates (ITCs). Over the last 20 years, ITCs and their precursors - the GLs - have gained growing attention because of their health-promoting properties. Thus specific focus of the project will involve their isolation, and biological testing.
The beneficial effects have been attributed to the dietary consumption of sulphur containing vegetable. In order for any compound to exert an activity in vivo, it is necessary to reach the site of action in an appropriate form and sufficient concentration. Thus the stability and the bioaccessibility of selected sulphur compounds (intact GLs, ITCs and other), will be investigated under conditions of simulated two-step digestion process using human digestive enzymes (gastric and duodenal). Investigating novel GLs and other sulphur-containing plants, with a biological potential may stimulate the development of new horticultural crops. Moreover, the use of VSCs enriched extracts, and pure compounds in functional food products, cosmeceuticals, and pharmaceuticals may provide additional routes for their exploitation.
As on to date over 500 plants species that hyperaccumulate metals are reported, among which Brassicaceae has the largest number of taxa. Metal accumulating species can be used for phytoremediation (removal of contaminant from soils) or phytomining (growing plants to harvest the metals). In addition, as many of the metals that can be hyperaccumulated are also essential nutrients, food fortification and phytoremediation might be considered two sides of the same coin. Thus, analyzing plant capacity to accumulate metals represents one of the crucial aspects of plant usage.
