Kakadu Plum Extract

Terminalia ferdinandiana (Kakadu plum, KKD-NT) extracts were studied for their potential inhibitory effects against obesity-linked inflammation and Type 2 diabetes with an integrated in silico-in vitro approach. Results from the in silico studies show that potential active compounds present in KKD-NT such as ellagic acid (EA), gallic acid (GA), daidzin (DD), and ascorbic acid (AA) exhibit high docking affinities with molecular targets linked to obesity and inflammation such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha, and β-catenin. Binding affinities of EA and DD were also found to be stronger than the positive control drug resveratrol on these targets.
Confirmation studies with 3T3-L1 adipocytes showed that KKD-NT attenuates cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels by upregulating antioxidant enzymes. Furthermore, KKD-NT was able to significantly inhibit lipid accumulation and nitric oxide (NO) production while also downregulating factors involved in adipogenesis, Wnt signaling, and pro-inflammatory markers. Anti-diabetic activity of KKD-NT was also observed in vitro where KKD-NT promoted glucose uptake and inhibited α-glucosidase activity. An increase in GLUT4 and adiponectin mRNA expression was also observed.

Fig. 1 Mechanism of Kakadu plum extract in treating obesity-induced Type 2 diabetes and chronic inflammation. (Morshed M N.; et al. 2024)

A report on the first ambient-temperature synthesis of highly crystalline, UV-emissive carbon quantum dots from Kakadu plum powder without external energy input or chemical oxidants. The one-step room temperature process involves dissolving 0.3 g of fruit powder in water then filtering, dialyzing, and freeze-drying the solution which yields a colorless powder that produces narrow-band UV emission centered at 325 nm with a quantum yield of 8.5%. Analysis reveals spherical particles with an average diameter of 3.9 nm consisting of a graphitic carbon core surrounded by an oxygen rich amorphous shell with surface functional groups. These surface functionalities were confirmed by FT-IR analysis.
The resulting dots are water-soluble, photostable and have pH-independent emission intensities for pH ranging from 5-11. These carbon dots go through four stages in their synthesis: dehydration, carbonization, functionalization and UV-centred formation. This process was made possible by the naturally high contents of vitamin C, carbohydrates, and proteins in the Kakadu plum.

Fig. 2 Kakadu plum-derived highly crystalline UV-emitting carbon quantum dots. (Alassafi J E.; et al. 2023)