Glossary

Absorbance: A measure of the amount of light which passes through a colored liquid or solid. 

Agar: A gelatin like substance used as a culture medium for microbiological work.

Antioxidant: A chemical that prevent oxidation of other chemicals.

Apoptosis: A form of programmed cell death beneficial to living things.

Assay: A procedure where a property of a system or object is measured.

Autoclave: A pressurized heating device used to obtain sterile media or destroy microbial contaminated material.

Bacteria: Single celled microorganisms.

Biomolecule: A chemical compound that naturally occurs in living organisms.

Büchner Flask: A flask attached to a vacuum used to make an extract

Cell Proliferation: Cell growth.

Centrifuge: A mechanical device that rotates an object at high speeds.

Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP) Assay: The FRAP Assay is an assay used to measure the antioxidizing power of a sample. It depends on the reduction of Fe (III)-TPTZ complex to the Fe (II)-TPTZ by a reductant at a low pH level. Fe (II)-TPTZ has an intensive blue colour and can be monitored at 593 nm wavelength. Quantitation for this assay is done by analyzing a calibration curve made from the absorbance of iron (II) sulfate at varying concentrations (absorbance versus mmol/L iron (II) sulfate). This standard curve is used to relate the absorbance of the samples to mmol iron (II) sulfate formed.

Folin-Ciocalteu Assay: The Folin-Ciocalteu Assay is an assay used to measure the total polyphenol amount of a sample. It depends on an oxidation-reduction reaction in which Folin-Ciocalteu reagent is added to a sample containing phenols. The presence of the oxidizable phenol groups in the sample will cause a color change of the reaction mixture from yellow to blue. The intensity of the blue color can then be determined using a spectrophotometer at 765 nm wavelength. Quantitation can be done by analyzing a calibration curve made from the absorbance of gallic acid (a known polyphenol which is often used as a standard) at varying concentrations (absorbance versus mg/L gallic acid). This standard curve is used to relate the absorbance of the samples to gallic acid equivalents.

Free radical: Molecules made of oxygen that result in cell damage.

Hardwood: A deciduous or flowering tree.

Incubator: A controlled environment system which is used to keep a bacterial culture at a set temperature for a certain amount of time.

Microbe: A microorganism.

MTT Assay: The MTT assay is a colorimetric assay for measuring cell proliferation and determining the cytotoxicity of potential medical agents. It is done by adding the cells and medium to the wells and incubated for one day. The test agents are then added and incubated for two days. MTT solution is then added and  purple formazan is formed in the mitochondria of living cells and after four hours a stop/solubilization solution is added to dissolve the purple formazan into a colored solution. The absorbance of this solution can be quantified by measuring at 570 nm by a spectrophotometer. The amount of purple formazan produced by cells treated with an agent is then compared with the amount of formazan produced by untreated control cells and expressed as the percentage of cell viability or cell mortality.

Pathogenic: A biological substance that can cause disease or illness.

Polyphenol: A  type of antioxidant characterized by the presence of several phenol functional groups.

RPM: Short for rotations per minute.

Separatory Funnel: A funnel used to separate different solvents.

Softwood: A coniferous tree.

Spectrophotometer: An analytical device that can measure the absorbance of light at certain wavelengths.

Vacuum Evaporator: A device that can evaporate solvents at lower temperature with the aid of reduced pressure.

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