Although it is known that the accumulation of methylglyoxal (MGO) and advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs) results in oxidative injury, the comparison between caffeic acid (CA) and chlorogenic acid (CGA) against oxidative damage remains unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the effects of CA and CGA using PC12 cells and Caenorhabditis elegans. The antioxidant regulatory targets for CA and CGA were primarily detected in the NRF2 pathway as predicted by network pharmacology. First, CA exerted higher effects than CGA in increasing cell viability and mitochondrial membrane potential, reducing ROS production and apoptosis, and promoting the expression of NRF2 translocation and downstream genes, which were consistent with the results of molecular docking, molecular dynamics, and covariance matrix simulations. Second, treatment with ML385 (Nrf2 inhibitor) eliminated the anti-cytotoxic effect and ROS accumulation reduction effect of CA and CGA. Third, CA exhibited stronger capacities in extending lifespan, inhibiting ROS production, and increasing SKN-1 proportion than CGA in C. elegans. Multi-spectroscopy analysis also revealed a stronger inhibitory effect of CA on the formation of AGEs than that of CGA, which might be related to the alteration of the protein α-helix. Therefore, considering the higher antioxidant effects of CA, it can be used as a promising antioxidant natural drug resource.

In order to investigate the changes in volatile components and quality of prepared chicken soup under different storage conditions, nitrite content, peroxide value, fatty acid contents, amino nitrogen content, microbial counts, sensory quality, and odor were determined in prepared chicken soup stored at refrigerated (4 ℃ for 0, 2, 4 and 6 d) and ambient ((25 ± 1) ℃ for 0, 12, 24 and 36 h) temperatures and volatile flavor substances were analyzed by gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS). The results showed that the sensory score and amino nitrogen content gradually decreased with storage time, and the nitrite content showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. The maximum nitrite content of (8.33 ± 0.04) and (4.46 ± 0.58) mg/kg was observed in chicken soup with ginseng after 12 h of storage at normal temperature and 4 d of cold storage, respectively, and the maximum nitrite content of (5.93 ± 0.98) and (4.36 ± 0.17) mg/kg in chicken soup with pork tripe after 24 h of storage at normal temperature and 6 d of cold storage, respectively. None of these values exceeded the limit (30 mg/kg) stipulated by the National food safety standard for food additive use (GB 2760-2014). The peroxide value and the number of fatty acids gradually increased. Forty-one volatile components were identified by GC-IMS from the two kinds of prepared chicken soups stored for 0 and 36 h, including nine alcohols, six ketones, 11 aldehydes, five esters, and ten other compounds. Cluster analysis revealed that the volatile components of the chicken soups changed significantly after 36 h of storage at ambient temperature. Pungent odorants such as (E)-2-octanal, 2-methylpropanol, propyl acetate, benzaldehyde, and (E)-2-pentanal could be used as markers for identifying the spoilage and deterioration of prepared chicken soup during storage.