Papers by Dorota Grabek-Lejko
Antibiotics
Streptococcus mutans is considered the main pathogen responsible for dental caries, one of the ma... more Streptococcus mutans is considered the main pathogen responsible for dental caries, one of the major infectious diseases, affecting more than 4 billion people worldwide. Honey is a natural product with well-known antibacterial potential against several human pathogens. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of Polish honey against S. mutans and analyze the role of some bioactive substances on its antibacterial action. The antibacterial potential of different honey varieties (goldenrod, buckwheat, honeydew, and lime) was analyzed using a microdilution assay. Manuka and artificial honey were used as controls. The content of GOX, hydrogen peroxide, total polyphenols, and antioxidant potential was assayed in honey. The influence of catalase and proteinase K on antibacterial activity as well as antibiofilm action was also determined. The strongest antibacterial activity was observed for buckwheat, honeydew, and manuka honey, which were also characterized by the h...
International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 2017
Museum artefacts are generally stored for a long period in repositories and are prone to microbio... more Museum artefacts are generally stored for a long period in repositories and are prone to microbiological colonisation. The goal of this research was to assess the risk of biodeterioration of artefacts stored in the Regional Museum in Rzeszow, Poland. The museum building consists of the historic and newly built parts and the aim was to verify the hypothesis about higher airborne concentrations of microorganisms in the historic part. In all repositories, the number of bacterial colonies was higher than those of fungi. The most polluted depots were those where different types of artefacts were stored. There were no differences in the number of fungal colonies in the repositories located in the historic and modern parts of the museum. The differences concerned only bacteria. The most common fungi were Penicillium expansum and Penicillium spp., while among bacteria Micrococcus luteus/lylae and Staphylococcus warneri. The highest microorganism biodiversity was in the historical depots and the lowest in the room with a book collection in the modern part of the museum. Findings showed that the microbial biota is not specific for either building type or the kind of artefact. Regarding bacteria, we detected the effect of 'historical building air'.
CABI Reviews, 2015
Rubus is one of a hundred genera in the family Rosaceae . The genus Rubus comprises about 700 spe... more Rubus is one of a hundred genera in the family Rosaceae . The genus Rubus comprises about 700 species naturally occurring in temperate zones. The worldwide popularity of Rubus fruits has increased because they are considered a healthy and nutritious food, containing many antioxidants. Antioxidants play a major role in protecting our body from disease by reducing the oxidative damage to cellular component caused by reactive oxygen species. Many investigations suggest that the plant origin antioxidants, like from Rubus species, with free-radical scavenging properties may have great therapeutic importance in free-radical mediated diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular diseases, ageing, gastrointestinal diseases and arthritis. In this paper, current literature connected with strong antioxidant potential of various Rubus species and its possibility of pharmacological usage (such as antibacterial, antiviral, antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory...
Journal of Biological Engineering
Background Birch is a tree with a common occurrence in the environment and its organs are used in... more Background Birch is a tree with a common occurrence in the environment and its organs are used in the form of herbal material. An important aspect of this study is birch pollen, which is a problem for allergy sufferers, and due to a variety of environmental conditions, its allergenicity may increase. Among the organs studied, inflorescences deserve attention, which, as seen from an overview of the literature, are analysed for the content of heavy metals for the first time in this study. Results This paper investigated the relationship between antioxidant properties and the content of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni and Cr) as the plant's response to stress, taking into account both the vegetative and generative organs of the tree Betula pendula. While studying the accumulation of elements in individual organs, the research was extended to include the aspect of different environmental conditions, reflected in two soil types of differing physicochemical properties: sandy and silt...
Molecules
Juglans regia L., walnut, is a large, long-living tree, cultivated in temperate climates around t... more Juglans regia L., walnut, is a large, long-living tree, cultivated in temperate climates around the world. It is highly appreciated for its nutritional kernels and high-quality timber. Its barks, leaves, and husk are used as dyes and in folk medicine as herbal remedies for several diseases. From a biological and chemical standpoint, relatively little is known about the male flowers of the tree. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the phenolic profile as well as in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative activity of male Juglans regia L. flowers. Phenolic content was determined by UPLC/PDA/MS/MS analyses; antioxidant activity was assessed by five different methods; antimicrobial activity was evaluated against the six most common pathogenic strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and antiproliferative properties were assessed against six cell lines. Most of the analyses carried out in this study were performed for the first time for this raw ma...
The characterization of some honey samples from Poland was carried out on the basis of their micr... more The characterization of some honey samples from Poland was carried out on the basis of their microbiological (fungi and yeasts) analysis. Most of the samples contained less than 20 % water. The amount of fungi found in the honey samples was less than 1 x 10 2 CFU.g-1 but 19 % of the samples had more yeasts than 1 x 10 2 CFU.g-1-up to 5.7 x 10 2 CFU.g-1. The isolated fungi were Alternaria spp., Aspergillus spp., Cladosporium spp., Fusarium spp., Mycelia sterilia, Rhizopus spp. and Penicillium spp. The last genus was isolated very frequently. A total number of eight fungal Penicillium species were identified namely,
Zywnosc Nauka Technologia Jakosc/Food Science Technology Quality, 2021
COVID-19 to nowa choroba zakaźna układu oddechowego wywoływana przez wirus SARS-CoV-2, patogen na... more COVID-19 to nowa choroba zakaźna układu oddechowego wywoływana przez wirus SARS-CoV-2, patogen należący do rodziny koronawirusów, odpowiedzialny za wywołanie światowej pandemii. Obecnie nie ma zatwierdzonych metod leczenia, a jedynym sposobem zapobiegania pandemii są masowe szczepienia. Równocześnie na całym świecie trwają poszukiwania leku na COVID-19, testowane są głównie znane substancje lecznicze, w tym produkty naturalne. Do grupy tej zalicza się miód, produkt znany z właściwości przeciwbakteryjnych, przeciwwirusowych i immunomodelujących. Właściwości przeciwwirusowe miodu obejmują działanie wirusobójcze, hamowanie replikacji wirusa, blokowanie adhezji i wnikania do komórek gospodarza, aktywację układu odpornościowego i indukcję przeciwciał oraz wzmacnianie leków przeciwwirusowych. Za aktywność przeciwwirusową miodu odpowiadają występujące w nim składniki, głównie flawonoidy, kwasy fenolowe i nadtlenek wodoru. Aktywność przeciwutleniająca miodów jest skorelowana z całkowitą zaw...
Molecules
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of blackberry and raspberry fruits (1 and 4%)... more The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of blackberry and raspberry fruits (1 and 4%) and leaves (0.5 and 1%) on the biological activities of rape honey. Honey and plant material extracts were analyzed regarding total phenolic, flavonoid, anthocyanin contents, HPTLC and HPLC polyphenol profiles, as well as antioxidant activity. The antiviral potential was analyzed against bacteriophage phi 6—a coronavirus surrogate—whereas antimicrobial was tested against S. aureus and E. coli. Blackberry extracts were more abundant in antioxidants than raspberry extracts, with better properties found for leaves than fruits and for cultivated rather than commercial plants. The addition of both Rubus plant additives significantly increased the antioxidant potential of honey by four-fold (for 4% fruits additive) to five-fold (for 1% of leaves). Honey with the addition of fruits possessed higher antiviral potential compared with raw rape honey (the highest for 4% of raspberry fruit and 1% o...
Nauka Przyroda Technologie, 2017
There is growing demand for unprocessed or minimally processed food products without chemical pre... more There is growing demand for unprocessed or minimally processed food products without chemical preservatives. This tendency can also be observed in seafood. Therefore, traditional methods of preservation are being replaced by modern ones, e.g. biopreservation. Biopreservation is the use of non-pathogenic microorganisms and/or their metabolites to improve microbiological safety and extend the shelf life of foods. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and products of their metabolism, such as bacteriocins, organic acids, hydrogen peroxide, diacetyl and carbon dioxide can be successfully used as biopreservatives. LAB inhibit the growth of pathogenic and food-spoiling bacteria, keep food fresh and extend its shelf life. About 20 years ago research began on the use of bacteria in non-fermented products such as fish and seafood, where sensory changes and nutrient modifications cannot occur. This article describes the latest reports on the use of these substances to preserve fish and fishery products,...
Food Control, 2018
Abstract In recent years, there has been growing interest in verifying the floral origin of unifl... more Abstract In recent years, there has been growing interest in verifying the floral origin of unifloral honeys, as a very interesting natural remedy. Fourier Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is more and more frequently used in honey identification and their quality control. The aim of this study was to develop procedures allowing for authentication of rape ( Brassica ) honey by chemometrics and spectroscopy. The FTIR-ATR spectrum of rape pollen was used as a reference to determine the rape pollen content within the investigate rape honey samples. The higher percentage of rape pollen contained the rape honey, the more similarities were observed between the respective spectra of these two samples, while the spectra of other honey types differed significantly. Discriminant analysis demonstrated, that the absorbance values at 1540 cm −1 , 1650 cm −1 , 1740 cm −1 were the parameters unambiguously identifying rape honey. According to the Classification Tree Analysis, peaks at 1000–1200 cm −1 , 1650 cm −1 , 1740 cm −1 wavenumbers were significant with threshold absorbance values 0.70787, 0.11467 and 0.3605, respectively. The FTIR-ATR spectroscopy technique supplemented by chemometrics allow for quick identification of rape honey.
Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 2021
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Birch sap is used as a traditional drink and in traditional medicine in many countries in the nor... more Birch sap is used as a traditional drink and in traditional medicine in many countries in the northern hemisphere. However, there are scarce data on the antioxidant properties, nutrients and the mineral content of birch saps. In this study, the above-mentioned properties were analyzed in two different birch species Betula pendula Roth (silver birch) and Betula pubescens Ehrh. (downy birch) in various areas (suburban, traffic and industrial). The current study evidenced significant differences between the antioxidant, nutrition and mineral content depending on the type of habitat, not on species. It was shown that higher antioxidant properties, sugar and protein content were detected for silver birch sap from industrial area, which may be due to the response of plants to environmental stress. Moreover, heavy metals presenting in soil were not detected or detected at low concentrations in the sap. Birch sap can be used as a valuable natural beverage, which is especially important nowa...
The present of this study aimed to characterize forty honeys from apiarists available in the Slov... more The present of this study aimed to characterize forty honeys from apiarists available in the Slovakian and Polish apiarists in respect to microbial quality. The chemical parameters as water activity and water content of each honey sample were obtained to differentiate them, because these two factors are important of microorganisms contamination. Furthermore, the antimicrobial effect against two pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus) and one yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was also studied. Concerning the chemical JMBFS / Kačániová et al. 2012 : 2 (1) 272-281 273 parameters, honey samples were found to meet European Legislation (EC Directive 2001/110) except for water content of four samples. Microbiologically, the commercial quality was considered good and all samples showed to be negative in respect to safety parameters. The antimicrobial activities of honey samples were tested by 10%, 25% and 50% (by mass per volume) concentration. The strongest antimicrobial ...
Methylotrophic yeasts are unique eukaryotic organisms, that can metabolize toxic one-carbon subst... more Methylotrophic yeasts are unique eukaryotic organisms, that can metabolize toxic one-carbon substrate, methyl alcohol or methanol. About 50 species of methylotrophic yeasts is known, among them 4 species are the best studied: Pichia methanolica, Hansenula polymorpha, Pichia pastoris i Candida boidinii. These organisms, especially P. pastoris i H. polymorpha appeared to be very perspective overproducers of heterologous proteins and nowadays are used for industrial production of some of them. In this review, we provide information on the organization of the genome, mechanisms of regulation of gene expression and the use of strong promoters of these yeast species to construct the producers of heterologous proteins. In more details, we analyze genetic control of carbon and nitrogen catabolic repression in H. polymorpha and also the identification of metabolites inducing catabolite repression or peroxisome selective autophagy in the medium with ethanol in the Pichia methanolica yeast.
Zywnosc Nauka Technologia Jakosc/Food Science Technology Quality
COVID-19 to nowa choroba zakaźna układu oddechowego wywoływana przez wirus SARS-CoV-2, patogen na... more COVID-19 to nowa choroba zakaźna układu oddechowego wywoływana przez wirus SARS-CoV-2, patogen należący do rodziny koronawirusów, odpowiedzialny za wywołanie światowej pandemii. Obecnie nie ma zatwierdzonych metod leczenia, a jedynym sposobem zapobiegania pandemii są masowe szczepienia. Równocześnie na całym świecie trwają poszukiwania leku na COVID-19, testowane są głównie znane substancje lecznicze, w tym produkty naturalne. Do grupy tej zalicza się miód, produkt znany z właściwości przeciwbakteryjnych, przeciwwirusowych i immunomodelujących. Właściwości przeciwwirusowe miodu obejmują działanie wirusobójcze, hamowanie replikacji wirusa, blokowanie adhezji i wnikania do komórek gospodarza, aktywację układu odpornościowego i indukcję przeciwciał oraz wzmacnianie leków przeciwwirusowych. Za aktywność przeciwwirusową miodu odpowiadają występujące w nim składniki, głównie flawonoidy, kwasy fenolowe i nadtlenek wodoru. Aktywność przeciwutleniająca miodów jest skorelowana z całkowitą zaw...
Agronomy
Paulownia spp. are widely distributed ornamental trees with leaves abundant in secondary metaboli... more Paulownia spp. are widely distributed ornamental trees with leaves abundant in secondary metabolites of high medicinal potential. Eighteen breeding clones of Paulownia spp. were tested in terms of their antioxidant activity and total polyphenolic contents. The 50% ethanolic extracts (2 g/30 mL) of leaves and petioles were compared in the screening step. Eight paulownia clones were selected for detailed analyses including HPTLC polyphenolic profile, verbascoside content and antibacterial activity against five bacteria species (S. aureus, B. cereus, E. coli, Y. enterocolitica, S. enterica). The species-specific differences in terms of antioxidant activity correlated with phenolic compounds were found mainly in the case of leaf blade extracts, the highest for P. tomentosa × P. fortunei and the lowest for P. elongata × P. fortunei clones. The P. tomentosa clones varied greatly in this regard. In the HPTLC polyphenolic profile, the occurrence of some polyphenols was proved and the specif...
Food & Function
Rape honey with the addition of Aronia melanocarpa dried fruits is a new product, enriched with a... more Rape honey with the addition of Aronia melanocarpa dried fruits is a new product, enriched with additional bioactive compounds, with increased antioxidant potential and enhanced antibacterial and antiviral activity.
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Papers by Dorota Grabek-Lejko