Oleander ingredients, anti-oxidants

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That is good stuff, Steve. The amazing oleander plant contains quite the array of compounds that have anti-cancer and immune boosting qualities - such as:Oleandrin and a number of other cardiac glycosides including Neriin, Oleandrinogen, Oleandrigenin, Uzarigenin and others; several long-chain polysacharrides such as Beta-sistosterol; Quercitin, Linoleic-acid, Oleic-acid, Adynerin, Alpha-amyrin, Betulin, Foliandrin, Folinerin, Gitoxigenin, Isoquercitrin, Lauric-acid, Oleanolic-acid, Rutin, Stigmasterol, Ursolic-acid.In regards to anti-oxidant properties, yes oleander is not nearly as strong as say pomegranate, blueberry, acai, etc. However, there is also this study published last year, which indicates some additional anti-oxidant activity in the fungi found in oleander plant tops:Endophytic fungi from Nerium Oleander L. (Apocynaceae): main constituents and antioxidant activityWu-Yang Huang1 , Yi-Zhong Cai2, Kevin D. Hyde3, Harold Corke2 and Mei Sun1

 

 

 

(1)

Department of Zoology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, P. R. China

 

 

 

(2)

Department of Botany, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, P. R. China

 

 

 

(3)

Centre for Research in Fungal Diversity, Department of Ecology and Biodiversity, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, P. R. China

Received: 8 December 2006 Accepted: 16 January 2007 Published online: 21 February 2007

Abstract Diverse endophytic fungi exist within plant aerial tissues, with a global estimate of up to a million undescribed species. These endophytes constitute a rich bio-resource for exploration to discover new natural products. Here we investigate fungal endophytes associated with a medicinal plant, Nerium oleander L. (Apocynaceae). A total of 42 endophytic fungal strains were isolated from the host plant. Total antioxidant capacity, xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity, antimicrobial activity, and total phenolic content (TPC) were evaluated for 16 representative fungal cultures grown in improved Czapek's broth and for the host plant. The total antioxidant capacities and phenolic contents of the fungal cultures ranged from 9.59 to 150.79 μmol trolox/100 mL culture, and from 0.52 to 13.95 mg gallic acid/100 mL culture, respectively. The fungal culture of an endophytic strain Chaetomium sp. showed the strongest antioxidant capacity, contained the highest level of phenolics, and to some extent inhibited xanthine oxidase activity with an IC50 value of 109.8 μg/mL. A significant positive correlation was found between antioxidant capacity and TPC in the tested samples. Most of the endophytic fungal cultures tested have a wide range of antimicrobial activities, which were not very strong, but much better than those of the host plant. The major bioactive constituents of the fungal cultures were investigated using LC-ESI-MS and GC-MS, and preliminary identification detected phenolics (e.g. phenolic acids and their derivatives, flavonoids) and volatile and aliphatic compounds. This study shows that the endophytic fungi isolated from N. oleander can be a potential antioxidant resource. When it comes to taking anti-oxidants there are a couple of popular myths that should be addressed. First of all, some people mistakenly believe that they are over-doing it if they take more than one anti-oxidant rich juice, fruit and/or supplement. That is like someone saying that they eat plenty of tomatos and bananas and so there would be no additional benefits in eating a wider variety of vegetables and fruits. A wide variety of anti-oxidants is best, since they do not all have the same qualities and actually work together synergistically in many instances.A second myth, or misunderstanding, is the idea that anti-oxidants somehow retard or prevent cellular oxygenation. Not at all true - what anti-oxidants do is scavange free radicals and prevent oxidative damage.Tonyoleander soup , "Norton, Steve" <stephen.norton wrote:>> I hope this helps regarding the antioxidant activity of oleandar.> The following information is from the Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and> Ethnobotanical Databases. > Oleandar only has 11 identified antioxidants and only one of any> significant amount:> Ursolic-Acid: at 43,000 ppm.> (http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=659> )> Ursolic-Acid is also an anticancer and oleandar has one of the highest> concentrarions of this chemical of any plant.> > In contrast the following food items have the following antioxidant> concentrations:> English walnut:2,720,600 ppm total [4 chemical(s)]> Pomegranate: 1,620,000 ppm total [4 chemical(s)]> Coffee Bean: 1,071,362 ppm total [23 chemical(s)]> Tea Leaf: 1,063,978 ppm total [39 chemical(s)]> Cucumber: 1,009,400 ppm total [1 chemical(s)]> Onion: 843,280 ppm total [34 chemical(s)]> > It would seem that the antioxidant activity of oleandar, at leasst in> terms of quantity of antioxidants, is low. It would be my guess that> oleandarsoup would not interfere with the OCC treatment.> > - Steve> >