Records of Natural Products Articles

 A Oxytropis is an important genus of the family Leguminosae and subfamily Papillionoideae, also known as “Locoweed”. About 350 species distribute in many zones of the world. There are about 150 species found in China, and more than 80 species mainly distributed in the northwest and northeast parts. More than 127 chemical constituents have been isolated from the genus Oxytropis, including flavonoids, f lavonones , chalcones , isoflavones , isoflavanone s, dihydroflavones, alkaloids, saponins, lignans and others compounds. Many plants have been used as folk medicine for the treatment of colds, inflammation of carbuncle swelling, pain and different types of bleeding. Meanwhile, has been proven to possess efficacy on anti-tumor, antisepticise, anti-inflammatory, hemostasis, neuroendocrine system effects, immune suppression activities.

A new sesquiterpene guaianolide (1) and two known compounds matricarin (2) and 5-hydroxy-5,6-secocaryophyllen-6-one (3) were isolated from the methylene chloride/methanol (1:1) extract of the aerial parts of Achillea ligustica All. The structure was determined on the basis of comprehensive 1D and 2D (COSY, NOESY, HMQC, HMBC) NMR and MS analyses.

Eleven compounds belonging to eight structure types, namely cyclopentenedione (1), diketopiperazines (2, 9, 10), lactone (3), benzophenone (4, 5), terpene (6), anthraquinone (7), diphenyl ethers (10), and alkaloid (11) were isolated from the cultivation extract of the strain Aspergillus sp. CM9a, which was isolated from the stems of Cephalotaxus mannii. Among them, compounds 1, 2, and 3 were determined to b e new ones on the basis of spectroscopic data including 1D- and 2D - NMR experiments and HR Q-TOF MS. The structures of the eight known compounds were characterized based on their NMR data and by comparison with those reported.

The scavenging of free radicals and superoxide anion, the inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase and the antiacetylcholinesterase activities of essential oils and decoction waters of eight aromatic plants (Dittrichia viscosa , Foeniculum vulgare, Origanum vulgare, Salvia officinalis, Thymbra capitata , Thymus camphoratus, Thymus carnosus and Thymus mastichina) were studied. The essential oils were dominated by 1,8-cineole in S. officinalis (59%), T. mastichina(49%) and T. camphoratus (21%); borneol (20%) in T. carnosus; carvacrol in Thymbra capitata (68%); γ -terpinene (49%) in O. vulgare; α -pinene (26%) in F. vulgare; and trans-nerolidol (8%) +  β -oplopenone (7%) in D. viscosa. O. vulgare decoction waters had the highest amount of phenols (4 5 ± 3 mg GAE/mL) while F. vulgare only had 5 ± 0 mg GAE/mL. The decoction waters showed higher radical scavenging activity than the essential oils. O. vulgare decoction water showed the best antioxidant activity (IC 50= 3 ± 0  m g/mL), while the most effective essential oils were those of Thymbra capitata(IC 50=61 ± 2  m g/mL) and O. vulgare (IC 50=15 6 ± 5  m g/mL). Thymbra capitata (IC 50= 6 ± 0  m g/mL) decoction water showed the best superoxide anion scavenging activity. F. vulgare decoction water and essential oil revealed the best 5-lipoxygenase inhibition capacity (IC 50=2 7 ± 1  m g/mL and IC 50=6 8 ± 2  m g/mL, respectively). T. mastichina (IC 50=4 6 ± 4  m g/mL), S. officinalis (IC 50=5 1 ± 4  m g/mL), Thymbra capitata (IC 50=5 2 ± 1  m g/mL) and T. camphoratus (IC 50=13 7 ± 2  m g/mL) essential oils showed the best antiacetylcholinesterase activity.

The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of extraction methods on yield and chemical composition of the essential oil of Vicia dadianorum Somm. & Lev. The volatiles of V. dadianorum have been isolated by hydro and microwave distillations (HD and MD). The compositions of the essential oils were characterized by GC-FID and GC-MS. A total of seventy-six and fifty-six compounds were identified, constituting over 90.9%, and 80.1% of oil composition of V. dadianorum, respectively. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were shown to be the main group of volatiles (HD: 26.2% and MD: 15.9%). The major terpene constituent of the essential oils of V. dadianorum was γ-elemene (HD, 13.7% and MD, 8.4%). Comparative study showed that the amount of total volatiles (90.9%) and the major constituent (26.2%) were found to be better in HD of V. dadianorum. The antimicrobial activity of the isolated essential oils of the plant was also investigated, and it showed moderate antimicrobial and antifungal activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus cereus , Mycobacterium smegmatis and Candida albicans .

Nine secondary metabolites have been isolated from the aerial parts of Halostachys caspica C. A. Mey. (Chenopodiaceae). By means of physicochemical and spectrometric analysis, they were identified as betaine (1), diphenylamine (2), benzyl-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), β-sitosterol (4), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzoic acid (5), 4-hydroxy benzoic acid (6), 2-hydroxy benzoic acid (7), 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxy benzoic acid (8), and 3,4-dihydroxy benzeneacrylic acid (9). All compounds were isolated from this plant species for the first time. They were screened to exhibit antimicrobial and antioxidant activities to some extent except for the compounds 1 and 3. The results indicated that the isolated phenol acids and diphenylamine (2) could be the main bioactive components in the crude ethanol extract of H. caspica.

The water extract of M. aurea exhibited strong scavenging effect on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil ( DPPH), nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide (SO) radicals. The free radical scavenging effect of the extract was found comparable to that of reference antioxidants, 3-t-butyl-4-hydroxyanizole (BHA) and ascorbic acid (AA, vitamin C). Cytotoxic activity of the extract was also investigated against three different cancer cell lines, Hep-2 (human larynx epidermoid carcinoma), RD (human rhabdomyosarcoma), L-20B (transgenic murine L-cells) and one non-cancerous cell line (VERO- African green monkey kidney epithelial cell ) using 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenytetrazolium bromide (MTT) assayty. While dose dependent cytotoxic activity was observed against cancer cell lines, no cytotoxic effect on VERO cell line was found in the tested expe In addition, phochemical investigations to identify chemical content of the plant were resulted to the isolation of (+)-syringaresinol-4′-O- b -glucopyranoside (1), p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (2), quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (Rutine, 3) and isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside (4) on the basis of different spectroscopic techniques (UV, IR, 1D and 2D NMR, HR ESI-MS).

The essential oil composition of the aerial parts of Nepeta raphanorhiza is reported for the first time. Capillary GC-FID & GC-MS analysis of the essential oil led to the identification of 16 components accounting for 97.5% of the total oil. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons dominated the oil composition accounting for 65.3 % followed by monoterpene hydrocarbons constituting 19.5 % of the total oil composition. The major components were (Z) β-farnesene (49.2%), δ-3-carene (12.3%), α bisabolene (9.4%) and germacrene D 4 ol (5.8%).

Alkaloid profile of the aerial parts of Genista sandrasica Hartvig & Strid. (Fabaceae) growing in Turkey was studied by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Ten quinolizidine alkaloids were identified in the alkaloid extract of G. sandrasica . The main alkaloids were: sparteine (13.68%), N-acetylcytisine (6.48%), 13-methoxylupanine (13.12%), anagyrine (40.49%) and baptifoline (10.76%). In addition, antibacterial and antifungal activities of the alkaloid extract of G. sandrasica were tested against standard strains of the bacteria (Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) as well as the fungi (Candida albicans and Candida krusei). The alkaloid extract of G. sandrasica showed significant activity against B. subtilis and S. aureus with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 31.25 and 62.5 µg/mL.

The essential oil from the aerial parts of Salvia sclarea L., growing wild in Tajikistan, were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. A total of 59 compounds were identified representing 94.2% of total oil composition. Major components of the essential oil were linalyl acetate (39.2%), linalool (12.5%), germacrene D (11.4%), α-terpineol (5.5%), geranyl acetate (3.5%), and (E)-caryophyllene (2.4%). The chemical composition, the large concentrations of linalool and linalyl acetate, and a cluster analysis based on principal components; of Tajik S. sclarea oil reveal it to be comparable to commercial S. sclarea oils.

The composition of the essential oil produced from the flowering aerial parts of Haplophyllum megalanthum Bornm. (Rutaceae), endemic to Turkey, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Among the fifty-eight compounds constituting about 91.7 % of the essential oil, the main components were characterized as palmito- g -lactone (45.8 %), octadecatrienoic acid (10.7 %), linoleic acid (6.5 %), octadecatetraenoic acid (6.3 %) and nonacosane (4.8 %).

 Radical scavenging and antibacterial properties of thyme extracts isolated from the two different Thymus × oblongifolius Opiz samples (TO1 and TO2) were studied. The oil of the TO1 was constituted mainly of hydrocarbon terpenes (83.4%), while the oil of the TO2 was composed mainly of oxygenated compounds with a -terpenyl acetate (37.9%) being the major one. The extracts isolated with hexane, acetone and ethanol from the whole and deodorized herb were tested for their radical scavenging capacity (RSC) in the model reaction systems containing stable radical DPPH • and cation radical ABTS •+. The extracts isolated with ethanol from undeodorized herb possessed the strongest RSC, while hexane extracts were not active. Undeodorized acetone extracts of the TO1 possessed higher RSC than those of the TO2, while undeodorized ethanol extracts of the TO2 were stronger radical scavengers than similar extracts of the TO1. The antibacterial activity of the extracts tested by using seven food pathogenic species depended on the species, extract concentration and extract type. Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and St. epidermidis were more sensitive to plant extracts than Micrococcus luteus, Esherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Enterobacter aerogenes.

of essential oil was obtained. The chemical composition of the oil was identified by using capillary Gas Chromatography (GC) and GC/MS simultaneously. In total 68 constituents were identified, representing 87.6 % of the total oil. The essential oil was dominated by isovaleric acid (28.6%), which is followed by δ-guaiane (7.2%), α-humulene (4.7%), hexadecanoic acid (4.3%), valeric acid (3.7%) and humulene epoxide-II (3.6%) as the major components.