Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine

Glycosylation is potentially one of the most important reactions in glycochemistry, where precise control over the anomeric selectivity is crucial for synthesizing biologically relevant glycoconjugates. Over the last two decades, the advent of visible light chemistry for the generation of glycosyl radicals and its application in the synthesis of glycosides has revolutionized the impact on the stereoselectivity of glycosylation. The visible light-driven radical-based reactions offer exceptional functional group tolerance, operate under mild reaction conditions, and have emerged as a powerful tool for synthesizing potent glycosyl compounds, which include aryl/alkyl glycosides, 2-deoxy sugar, glycosylamino acid, glycosylpeptides, and other glyco-conjugates. In this review article, a brief account of the evolution of glycosyl radical chemistry, with a focus on the visible light-mediated activation of glycosyl halides and its transformative impact on glycoside synthesis, has been discussed.

Food safety is a global concern with significant public health implications. Improper food handling can harbor a wide range of pathogenic organisms. Antimicrobial agents are crucial for controlling microbes and ensuring food safety and human health. The growing demand for natural, safe, and sustainable food preservation methods has driven research into using plant antimicrobials as alternatives to synthetic preservatives. The food industry is now exploring innovative approaches that combine various physical methods with multiple natural antimicrobials. This review aims to outline the evolving applications of plant antimicrobials in the food industry. It discusses strategies for managing bacteria and categorizes different plant antimicrobials, providing insights into their mechanisms of action and structures. This review offers a comprehensive overview of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), detailing their structural characteristics, mechanisms of action, various types, and applications in food packaging fabrication and explaining how they contribute to food preservation. It highlights the synergistic and additive benefits of plant antimicrobials and their successful integration with food technologies like nanotechnology, which enhances the hurdle effect, improving food safety and extending shelf life. The review also emphasizes the importance of antimicrobial peptides and the need for further research in this area. Safety assessment and regulatory considerations are discussed as well. By addressing these gaps, plant antimicrobials have the potential to pave the way for more effective, safe, and sustainable food preservation strategies in the future.

Transplantation experiments conducted in high altitude ecosystems are rising as key strategy to examine the response of individual plant transplanted across distinct elevations. However, plant physiological and biochemical performance in response to changes in abiotic factors across different species and mountain ranges is still lacking. So in the present study, we have made an attempt to link the physiological performance with that of altitudinal gradient in Ladakh by transplanting Lepidium latifolium at four different altitudinal sites. The plant was found to maintain photosynthesis even at high altitudes by modulating photochemical efficiency of photosystem II. Various physiological processes including performance index (PI_ABS), increase in energy fluxes, closing of the reaction centres and decrease in chlorophyll content play a crucial role in the adaptation of this plant. The efficient and dynamic non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) involving carotenoids particularly zeaxanthin mediated dissipation of excess light energy at high altitudinal sites of Ladakh led the plant to withstand with extremely strong light radiation. As a photoprotective mechanism, decreases in chlorophyll content and increase in carotenoids could lead to a reduction in the absorption of high light energy and avoid photo damage to the chloroplasts. Higher content of redox metabolites such as GSH, ASC, GSH/GSSG ratio and ASC/DHA ratio in plants transplanted at high altitudinal sites further suggests the resilience ability of Lepidium latifolium against harsh environmental stresses. Furthermore, increase in glucosinolate content in plants transplanted at high altitudes suggests the involvement of GLS in the establishment of Lepidium latifolium in Ladakh. Overall, no specific altitudinal trend was observed in the present study indicating the adaptation strategy of Lepidium latifolium to different altitudinal sites can be attributed to the combined effects of multiple environmental factors/microenvironment.