Records of Natural Products Articles

Three new 2-pyranone derivatives, namely Norcardiatones A (1), B (2) and C (3), were isolated from the agar cultures of the strain Nocardiopsis sp. A00203, a mangrove endophytic actinomycete. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic and mass-spectrometric analyses, including 1D-, 2D-NMR and HR Q-TOF-MS. Compound 1 showed week cytotoxicity against HeLa cells in MTT assay.

The in vitro antioxidant activity and the total phenolic content (Folin−Ciocalteu method) of three successive extracts of three varieties of Ceratonia siliqua L. leaves ( grafted female, spontaneous female, spontaneous male) grown in Morocco were investigated by using in-vitro antioxidant models including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay, reducing power and total antioxidant capacity . T he global polyphenols concentration ranged from 0.45 to 2.64 (g/L GAE) in the three categories of the extracts . In each variety, ethyl acetate fraction exhibited the highest antioxidant activity compared to other fractions. Grafted female trees globally showed a higher polyphenols concentration than the spontaneous female and spontaneous male ones. Our results clearly demonstrate that all extracts have antioxidant capacity. Among the categores, the ethyl acetate extracts of carob tree leaves exhibited strong scavenging effect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) than the diethyl ether and dichloromethane extracts. Carob leaf extracts contain high amounts of polyphenols with strong antiradical, antioxidant capacity and reducing properties which might constitute an important source of natural antioxidants.

The e ssential oil of Illicium simonsii f ruit w as obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 40 components of the essential oil were identified. The principal compounds in I. simonsii fruit essential oil were β-caryophyllene (10.30%), δ-cadinene (9.52%), methyl eugenol ( 8 .94), β-elemene (5.84%), and α-amorphene (5.20%). The essential oil possess ed strong fumigant toxicity against S itophilus zeamais adults with a LC 50 value of 14.95 mg/ L air. The essential oil also show ed contact toxicity against S. zeamais adults with a LD 50 value of 112.74 µg/adult.

The volatile constituents identified from the leaves of two Nigerian plants are being reported. The oil samples were obtained from the studied plant species by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus and then subsequently analyzed for their constituents by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The quantitatively significant constituents of the leaf oil of Cassia alata (Linn.) Roxb., (Fabaceae) were 1, 8-cineole (39.8%), β-caryophyllene (19.1%) and caryophyllene oxide (12.7%). Limonene (5.2%), germacrene D (5.5%) and α-selinene (5.4%) constituted the other significant compounds present in the oil. T he sunflower oil, Helianthus annuus L., (Asteraceae) was rich in α-pinene (16.0%), germacrene D (14.4%), sabinene (9.4%) and 14-hydroxy-α-muurolene (9.0%).

 A comparative study on the free amino acids of 15 wild edible mushroom species belonging to the genus Boletus (phylum Basidiomycota) was developed. The major amino acids in the fruit bodies were arginine , alanine, glutamine, and glutamic acid. The most abundant fatty acids were oleic ( 9-18:1), linoleic acid (9,12-18:2) , and palmitic acid (16:0), but a great variation of the ester composition from one to another one was found. Chemical constituents were characterized by GC-MS, and other chemical methods.

Oleoresin samples collected from Pinus sylvestris L. trees from Acıpayam, Çal and Çamlıbel, three different locations in Denizli-Turkey. The constituents of the turpentine oil, obtained by hydrodistillation of oleoresin of Pinus sylvestris L., were identified by GC-MS. Fifty four constituents were detected from the turpentine oil, which constituted about between 96.2% and 98.2% of the total amount. Major constituents of the oil were a-pinene, b-pinene, camphene, longifolene, D3-carene, limonene and b-caryophyllene.

The objective of this study was to determine the antimicrobial and the insecticidal activities of essential oils (EOs) extracted from the leaves of Thymus broussonetii and Thymus maroccanus . These two endemic plants of Morocco, which are traditionally used in medicinal remedies, were collected from Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region. The EOs were extracted by direct steam distillation and their chemical constituents were analyzed and quantified by gas GC-MS and GC. The dominant components identified were p-cymene (21.0%), borneol (16.5%), α-pinene (11.8%) and thymol (11.3%) for T. broussonetti and carvacrol (33.0%), p-cymene (25.3%) and α-pinene (11.6%) for T. maroccanus . The investigation by the agar-diffusion method of the antibacterial activity of EOs proved that they have antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus , Salmonella sp. , Escherichia coli, Non-O1 Vibrio cholerae and Bacillus subtilis . The obtained results showed that T. maroccanus EOs possessed higher antibacterial effects on some studied bacteria than T. broussonetti EOs. The EOs of T. broussonetii and T. maroccanus also presented insecticidal activity against the fourth instar larvae of Culex pipiens .

The fresh fruits from Licania tomentosa Benth. (Chrysobalanaceae) , were submitted to hydrodistillation in a modified Clevenger-type apparatus. Analysis of volatile oil were performed by GC and GC-MS. Comparison of results with literature data allowed the chemical characterization of 83% of compounds of mixture. Thirteen compounds were identified, three monoterpenes, five aliphatic esters, two alcohols, two ketones and one aldehyde. The alcohols were the major compounds (35.6%), but the esters showed great diversity.

The study of the chemical constituents of the whole plant of Phlomis cashmeriana ( Lamiaceae) has resulted in the isolation and characterization of twelve compounds. These twelve compounds were identified as apigenin 7,4'-dimethyl ether (1), luteolin-7-methyl ether (2), bitalgenin (3), kaempferol 3-O-3'''-acetyl- α -L-arabinopyranosyl-(1'''-6''')- β -D-glucopyranoside (4), glutinol (5), oleanolic acid (6), β -amyrin (7), ursolic acid (8), 3-O-p-coumaroylshikimic acid (9), 3 β -hydroxycycloart-24-one (10), and a mixture of β -sitosterol (11), and stigmasterol (12) . The above compounds were individually identified by spectroscopic analyses and comparisons with reported data. The chemotaxonomic studies of isolated compounds have been discussed. This study constitutes the first phytochemical work on P. cashmeriana