Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.
1. Foods. 2024 May 26;13(11):1664. doi: 10.3390/foods13111664. The Metabolic and Antioxidant Activity Profiles of Aged Greek Grape Marc Spirits. Fotakis C(1), Andreou V(1), Christodouleas DC(2), Zervou M(1). Author information: (1)Institute of Chemical Biology, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48 Vas. Constantinou Ave., 11635 Athens, Greece. (2)Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA. In the last decade, "expressions" of grape marc spirits aged in wooden barrels of characteristic amber color and complex sensory attributes have been introduced. Yet studies on constituents migrating from the barrel to the beverage are scarce, and their metabolic profile remains unexplored. Furthermore, the literature on the assessment of their antioxidant activity is limited. NMR metabolomics and spectrophotometry have been implemented in 38 samples to elucidate the impact of the aging procedure on the metabolites' composition and establish whether these beverages exhibit antioxidant activity. Provenance was related to fusel alcohols, esters, acetaldehyde, methanol, saccharides, and 2-phenylethanol, while ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate contributed to discriminating samples of the same winery. Identified metabolites such as vanillin, syringaldehyde, and sinapaldehyde were related to the aging procedure. The maturation in the barrel was also associated with an increase in xylose, glucose, fructose, and arabinose. The antioxidant potential of the aged Greek grape marc spirits resulting from their maturation in oak barrels was highlighted. The metabolic profiling and antioxidant potential of aged Greek grape marc spirits were assessed for the first time. Finally, the enrichment of the aromatic region was noted with the presence of metabolites with a furanic and phenolic ring derived, respectively, from the polysaccharides' degradation or the thermal decomposition of lignin. DOI: 10.3390/foods13111664 PMCID: PMC11172063 PMID: 38890893 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. 2. J Sci Food Agric. 2024 Feb;104(3):1271-1281. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.13009. Epub 2023 Oct 9. Comparative study on the use of seasoned or unseasoned casks made of wood from different origins for the ageing of Sherry vinegar. González-García JA(1), Cereceda M(1), Durán-Guerrero E(1), Rodríguez-Dodero MC(1), Castro R(1). Author information: (1)Analytical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences-IVAGRO, University of Cadiz, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence, Puerto Real, Spain. BACKGROUND: In the present study, the ageing process of Sherry vinegar in used (seasoned) or new casks made of chestnut, American oak, Spanish oak or French oak wood has been investigated, considering that no research has investigated whether this seasoning has a definite influence on the final composition of the aged beverage. The polyphenolic and volatile contents of the aged vinegars were determined and their sensory properties were evaluated. Different statistical tools were applied to the data collected. RESULTS: With respect to polyphenolic contents, ageing time was the most influential factor, followed by the seasoned-cask factor. The type of wood was only significant for gallic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, methylfurfural, ethyl gallate, ferulic acid, coniferyl aldehyde and sinapaldehyde. Principal component analysis according to polyphenols did not allow the samples to be differentiated, whereas cluster analysis revealed a slight grouping trend according to ageing time and seasoning of the wood. In relation to volatile compounds, variance analysis revealed that, again, ageing time and cask-seasoning were the most significant factors, with the samples clustering according to these two parameters. Following the sensory study, a clear difference between seasoned and new cask vinegars could be established as a result of the high scores in olfactory quality obtained for those vinegars aged in new casks. This was probably because of an excess of the descriptor 'ethyl acetate' exhibited by seasoned-cask Sherry vinegars. CONCLUSION: The previous seasoning of the casks together with the ageing time conditioned the composition of the vinegars aged in casks of different botanical origin, which translated into differences at a sensory level. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.13009 PMID: 37756429 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 3. Water Res. 2023 Oct 15;245:120586. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120586. Epub 2023 Sep 6. Phototransformation of Lignin-related Compounds in Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter Solutions. Zhou R(1), Liu J(1), Zhou C(2), Zhang X(3). Author information: (1)School of Resources and Environmental Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, P.R. China. (2)Hubei Water Resources Research Institute, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China. Electronic address: zhouc0222@126.com. (3)School of Resources and Environmental Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, P.R. China. Electronic address: xuzhangwhu@gmail.com. Lignin is a major terrestrial source of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and studying the phototransformation of lignin monomers and their related compounds can enhance our understanding of CDOM intramolecular interactions. Coniferyl aldehyde (Coni) and sinapaldehyde (Sina) form ground-state complexes with CDOM, with equilibrium constants of 7,800 (± 1,800) and 20,000 (± 2,000) M-1, respectively. In comparison, vanillin (Van) exhibits minimal affinity for CDOM complexation. The bimolecular reaction rate constants between singlet oxygen (1O2) and these phenolic carbonyl compounds ranged from 0.46 (± 0.02) to 1.8 (± 0.1) × 107 M-1s-1, which is approximately one order of magnitude lower than their reaction rate constants (0.51 (± 0.02)-1.25 (± 0.02) × 108 M-1s-1) with the triplet excited state of CDOM (3CDOM*). In acidic CDOM solutions (pH 5.0), 1O2, H2O2, and organic peroxyl radicals had negligible impact on the transformation. Comparing the initial transformation rate in the presence and in the absence of NaN3 or furfuryl alcohol led to an overestimation of the contribution of 1O2 to the transformation of Van, Coni, or Sina. 3CDOM* scavengers could not fully inhibit the transformation of Coni or Sina. The remaining transformation is considered to arise from either the unquenched intra-CDOM phase 3CDOM* or a fraction of Coni⊂CDOM or Sina⊂CDOM complex, which underwent intramolecular photoinduced chemical reactions. Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120586 PMID: 37717330 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Xu Zhang reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. 4. Biotechnol Biofuels Bioprod. 2023 Jul 21;16(1):117. doi: 10.1186/s13068-023-02366-4. Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis reveals the effects of polyploidization on the lignin content and metabolic pathway in Eucalyptus. Xu T(1), Liu Z(1), Zhan D(2), Pang Z(2), Zhang S(1), Li C(1), Kang X(1), Yang J(3). Author information: (1)State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants of Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China. (2)Guangxi Bagui R&D Institute for Forest Tree and Flower Breeding, Nanning, 530025, China. (3)State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants of Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China. yang_jun@bjfu.edu.cn. BACKGROUND: Lignin is a major restriction factor for the industrial production of biomass resources, such as pulp and bioenergy. Eucalyptus is one of the most important sources of pulp and bioenergy. After polyploidization, the lignin content of forest trees is generally reduced, which is considered a beneficial genetic improvement. However, the differences in the lignin content between triploid and diploid Eucalyptus and the underlying regulatory mechanism are still unclear. RESULTS: We conducted a comprehensive analysis at the phenotypic, transcriptional and metabolite levels between Eucalyptus urophylla triploids and diploids to reveal the effects of polyploidization on the lignin content and lignin metabolic pathway. The results showed that the lignin content of Eucalyptus urophylla triploid stems was significantly lower than that of diploids. Lignin-related metabolites were differentially accumulated between triploids and diploids, among which coniferaldehyde, p-coumaryl alcohol, sinapaldehyde and coniferyl alcohol had significant positive correlations with lignin content, indicating that they might be primarily contributing metabolites. Most lignin biosynthetic genes were significantly downregulated, among which 11 genes were significantly positively correlated with the lignin content and above metabolites. Furthermore, we constructed a co-expression network between lignin biosynthetic genes and transcription factors based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis. The network identified some putative orthologues of secondary cell wall (SCW)-related transcription factors, among which MYB52, MYB42, NAC076, and LBD15 were significantly downregulated in Eucalyptus urophylla triploids. In addition, potential important transcription factors, including HSL1, BEE3, HHO3, and NAC046, also had high degrees of connectivity and high edge weights with lignin biosynthetic genes, indicating that they might also be involved in the variation of lignin accumulation between triploid and diploid Eucalyptus urophylla. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated that some lignin-related metabolites, lignin biosynthetic genes and transcription factors in Eucalyptus urophylla triploids may be relatively sensitive in response to the polyploidization effect, significantly changing their expression levels, which ultimately correlated with the varied lignin content. The analysis of the underlying formation mechanism could provide beneficial information for the development and utilization of polyploid biomass resources, which will be also valuable for genetic improvement in other bioenergy plants. © 2023. The Author(s). DOI: 10.1186/s13068-023-02366-4 PMCID: PMC10360242 PMID: 37480079 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. 5. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 31;24(11):9542. doi: 10.3390/ijms24119542. Acceptors and Effectors Alter Substrate Inhibition Kinetics of a Plant Glucosyltransferase NbUGT72AY1 and Its Mutants. Liao J(1), Lederer V(1), Bardhi A(1), Zou Z(1), Hoffmann TD(1), Sun G(1), Song C(2), Hoffmann T(1), Schwab W(1). Author information: (1)Biotechnology of Natural Products, Technische Universität München, Liesel-Beckmann-Str. 1, 85354 Freising, Germany. (2)State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, International Joint Laboratory on Tea Chemistry and Health Effects, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China. One of the main obstacles in biocatalysis is the substrate inhibition (SI) of enzymes that play important roles in biosynthesis and metabolic regulation in organisms. The promiscuous glycosyltransferase UGT72AY1 from Nicotiana benthamiana is strongly substrate-inhibited by hydroxycoumarins (inhibitory constant Ki < 20 µM), but only weakly inhibited when monolignols are glucosylated (Ki > 1000 µM). Apocarotenoid effectors reduce the inherent UDP-glucose glucohydrolase activity of the enzyme and attenuate the SI by scopoletin derivatives, which could also be achieved by mutations. Here, we studied the kinetic profiles of different phenols and used the substrate analog vanillin, which has shown atypical Michaelis-Menten kinetics in previous studies, to examine the effects of different ligands and mutations on the SI of NbUGT72AY1. Coumarins had no effect on enzymatic activity, whereas apocarotenoids and fatty acids strongly affected SI kinetics by increasing the inhibition constant Ki. Only the F87I mutant and a chimeric version of the enzyme showed weak SI with the substrate vanillin, but all mutants exhibited mild SI when sinapaldehyde was used as an acceptor. In contrast, stearic acid reduced the transferase activity of the mutants to varying degrees. The results not only confirm the multi-substrate functionality of NbUGT72AY1, but also reveal that the enzymatic activity of this protein can be fine-tuned by external metabolites such as apocarotenoids and fatty acids that affect SI. Since these signals are generated during plant cell destruction, NbUGT72AY1 likely plays an important role in plant defense by participating in the production of lignin in the cell wall and providing direct protection through the formation of toxic phytoalexins. DOI: 10.3390/ijms24119542 PMCID: PMC10253357 PMID: 37298492 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.