The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) extract on the inflammation of human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) and blood lipid improvement in hypercholesterolemic mice fed a high cholesterol diet. The lettuce extract (100% ethanol extract) inhibited the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in HUVEC treated with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The lettuce extract suppressed the adhesion of THP-1 to TNF-α-treated HUVEC. The lettuce extract decreased the TNF-α-stimulated production of proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and chemokine monocyte chemotactic protein 1. In hypercholesterolemic mice, the lettuce extract reduced serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level, while the lettuce extract elevated high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level, resulting in the decrease of atherogenic index and cardiac risk factor level. These results suggested that lettuce extract can be an useful resource to show an anti-inflammatory effect and improve lipid metabolism

This study was to evaluate the growth potential of E. coli O157:H7 in lettuce leaf extracts and on lettuce leaf surface at various temperatures. The pathogen can survive and multiply in the extracts and leaf surface of lettuce. The population of E. coli O157:H7 in the lettuce extracts reached to 4.79 log CFU/mL at 37℃. The multiplication of pathogen in lettuce extracts initiated within 10 hours of inoculation over 15℃ conditions. And it can survive in the lettuce leaf extracts at 4℃ for 100 hours at least. And this pathogen can multiply on lettuce leaf surface and the population of pathogen on the lettuce leaf surface increased to 1.82 log CFU/g at 25℃. At 37℃, the pathogen density increased to 1.53 CFU/g within 3 days after inoculation. At all temperature, irrespective of the inoculation level, similar trends in growth of E. coli O157:H7 were observed. These results emphasize the growth potential of E. coli O157:H7 in lettuce leaf extract and on lettuce leaf surface. To reduce the risk of outbreak, it is important to maintain the cold chain system during storage before the consumption.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of fresh-cut lettuce after a washing treatment with aqueous thyme extracts of differing concentration. Four different concentrations of thyme extract were employed: 0.001% (w/v, TEA), 0.005% (w/v, TEB), 0.01% (w/v, TEC), 0.05% (w/v, TED), while distilled water was used as a control. Measurements of O2 concentration, CO2 concentration, total aerobic bacteria, CIE L*, a*, b*, browning index, total phenolic contents and enzymatic activities were investigated on day 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 at 10 . The O2 concentration in TEB were higher than those in other samples during storage, and the CO2 concentration in TEB and TEC were significantly lower than in other samples on day 7. There was no significant difference in the total aerobic bacteria counts between treatments (p<0.05). The samples treated with TEB and TEC showed higher L* (lightness) values, but lower browning indexes, total phenolic compound levels, and enzymatic activities (polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase) than other samples during storage. Specifically, on day 7, the browning index of Cont reached 0.25, while those in the TEB and TEC were about 0.15. The L* in Cont decreased from 69.50 to 58.92, while TEB and TEC were values of 65.61 and 63.20, respectively. These results reveal that 0.005-0.01% thyme extract was effective as a washing treatment inhibited the browning of fresh-cut lettuce and is thus expected to be a useful natural extract for maintaining the quality of fresh-cut lettuce.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is known to contain water-soluble substances that are biologically active. Aqueous or methanol extracts and residues from leaves of lettuce plants were assayed to determine their allelopathic effects, and the causative allelochemicals from fractions were quantified by means of HPLC analysis and bioassayed. Extracts from oven-dried leaf samples were more phytotoxic than those from freeze-dried samples. Leaf extracts of 40 g L-1 were completely inhibitory on root growth of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), while root growths of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) were less sensitive. Early seedling growth of both alfalfa and barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) was significantly reduced by methanol leaf extracts. The major allelopathic substances analyzed by HPLC were coumarin, trans-cinnamic acid, o-coumaric acid, p-coumaric acid and chlorogenic acid. Of them p-coumaric acid was found as the greatest amount (8.9 mg 100 g-1 ) in the EtOAc fraction; only coumarin was found in all the fractions. Hexane and EtOAc fractions of L. sativa reduced alfalfa root growth more than did BuOH and water fractions. These results suggest that lettuce had potent herbicidal activity, and that its activity differed depending on type and amount of causative compounds by fraction.