Trends in Phytochemical Research
Volume:2 Issue: 1, Winter 2018

In this work, the first phytochemical analysis ever performed on the fruits of Styrax officinalis L. (Styracaceae) collected from a population vegetating in the Mounts Lucretili National Park (Italy) was reported. Fifteen compounds were identified: tri-α-linolenoyl-sn-glycerol (1), 1,2-di-α-linolenoyl-3-linoleoyl-sn-glycerol (2), 1-α-linolenoyl-2-palmitoyl-sn-glycerol (3), 1,2-di-α-linolenoyl-sn-glycerol (4), egonol (5), demethylegonol (6), homoegonol (7), 1,5-anhydro-D-mannitol (8), glucose (9), sucrose (10), 6''''-O-benzoyl-sucrose (11), raffinose (12), lactic acid (13), succinic acid (14) and glutamic acid (15). These compounds belong to seven different classes of natural metabolites and most of them have chemotaxonomic relevance. Moreover, S. officinalis might be an useful source of enantiopure 1,5-anhydro-D-mannitol which has several medicinal potentialities and is a versatile building block in organic synthesis, in particular for what concern the “Green” approaches, of valuable and potentially biologically active molecules. The presence of compounds (1-15) provides also a phytochemical rationale for the ancient ethnopharmacological uses of the species and affords evidences on its nutraceutical potentialities even for their consumption as food in human nutrition as it actually happens for animals.

The aim of this study was to quantify the amount of phenolic compounds and flavonoids in extracts from Thymus vulgaris and Origanum vulgare L. and to evaluate the antioxidant activity of these extracts. Extracts were obtained by employing three different techniques: low pressure solvent extraction, Soxhlet, and ultrasound methods. The effects of phenolic and flavonoid concentrations on the percentage of inhibition of free radical activity were also analyzed. The highest amounts of phenolic compounds were obtained with Soxhlet and Low Pressure Solvent Extraction (LPSE) for thyme and oregano respectively. The highest flavonoid levels were obtained by the Soxhlet extracts for both species. All extracts showed strong antioxidant activities.

A survey of phytochemical and biological investigation of Vicia faba L. flowers resulted in isolation of polyphenolic and nitrogenous compounds; Kaempferol -3-O-α-D-galactopyranosyl 7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside 1, kaempferol 3-O-(3"-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside 2, kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→6)-β-D-galactopyranoside-7- O-α-L -rhamnopyranoside 3, allantoin 4 and adenosine 5. For 1-3, it is the first report of their isolation from Vicia faba L. The structure of the isolated compounds has been characterized on the basis of spectroscopic methods in addition to comparison with literature data. These compounds along with methanol extract were tested to evaluate their antioxidant activity estimated by oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) assay and anti-allergic activities through inhibition of β-hexosaminidase enzyme. For the antioxidant activity, both methanolic extract and the isolated compounds exhibited a high activity ranged from 3.1 - 9.6 mg TE/mg extract. For the antiallergic activity, it was noticed that all the tested compounds and methanol extract have good inhibition for β-hexosaminidase release without affecting the cell viability where the production of β-hexosaminidase was decreased to about 69 - 82 %. These results revealed that the methanol extract and its isolated compounds of Vicia faba L. flowers had high antioxidant and high anti-allergic activities. It is expected that Vicia faba L. flowers could be used for the treatment of oxidative stress and will find new and high-value-added uses in cosmetics.

This study aims to identify and analyze the non-volatile fraction (chemicals, polyphenols, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and triterpenes) and volatile fraction (essential oil and crude extracted aroma fractions) present in the leaves of “Plovdiv 7” oriental tobacco variety (N. tabacum L.). The results show that the nicotine content in leaves reaches 2.3% (DW) and chemicals such as betulin (2340.7 g/g), carnosic acid (845.2 µg/g) and ursolic acid (596.0 µg/g) (595.95 g/g ), are also present. In terms of free phenolic acids, chlorogenic acid (2545.0 g/g), ferulic acid (1561.8 g/g), and vanillic acid (4461.9 g/g) are found to be dominant. The flavonoid profile is dominated by myricetin (134.2 g/g), quercetin (334.1 g/g), apigenin (493.0 g/g) and luteolin (445.6 g/g). In the volatile fraction, nineteen volatile components were identified (92.3%) where (E)-phytol (53.4%) was the major compound followed by solanone (6.8%), cis-5-butyl-4-methyldihydrofuran-2(3H)-one (6.4%) and dihydro-β-ionone (5.2%). In addition, the antimicrobial activity of “Plovdiv 7” tobacco leaf aroma extracts (concrete and resinoid extract) are tested against nine microbial strains. The results show a weak antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis bacteria, whereas no activity is recorded for the other seven microbial strains tested.

In an alternative medicine, aqueous extracts and decoctions of a ginger root (Ginger –Zingiber officinale Roscoe L., Ginger family – Zingiber aceae) are used as antibacterial, diaphoretic, analgesic, anti-emetic, anti-inflammatory drugs. The aim of our study was to determine the optimal technological conditions of total polyphenolic compounds extraction under different extraction conditions from ginger roots. Ethanol extracts of the plant were obtained by maceration method, Soxleted apparatus and ultrasonic method. Polyphenol compounds and flavonoids were determined with the standard spectrophotometric methods using the Folin-Ciocalteu and differential spectrophotometry (complexation with AlCl3), respectively. It was found that the highest content of polyphenolic compounds and flavonoids from the raw material into the solvent system are determined after sonication followed by subsequent maceration during 10 (total polyphenolic compounds) and 7 days (flavonoids). Their concentration was 2.48 ± 0,029% and 1.3±0,08 %, respectively.

Abstract Centella asiatica (L.) Urban (Apiaceae) is a small perennial, prostrate herb indigenous to India, south-eastern Asia, United States and Africa. It is used to treat anxiety, asthma, blood circulation, cancer, colds, cough, elephantiasis, epilepsy, fevers, gastrointestinal problems, hepatic, skin and urinary tract diseases, hydrocele, hypertension, hysteria, insomnia, rheumatism, scleroderma, strangury, ulcers and wounds. Plants have an enormous potential for the management and treatment of different kind of illness. The active constituents of this plant induce the healing and regeneration of the lost tissue by multiple mechanisms. Plants gives us phytomedicines and these phytomedicines are not only cheap and affordable but are also safe as hyper sensitive reactions are rarely encountered with the use of these agents. The presence of various life-sustaining constituents in plants has urged scientist to examine these plants with a view to determine potential wound healing properties Phytochemical investigation of a methanolic extract of the leaves resulted in the isolation of five new compounds characterized as urs-12-en-3β-ol-28-oic acid-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-2′- arachidate (ursolic acid glucosidic arachidate (1), urs-12-en-3β-ol-28-oic acid 3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(2′→1′′)-O-β-D- xylopyranoside (ursolic acid 3-O-β-D-dixyloside (3), n-dodecanoyl-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(6′→1′′)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(6′′→1′′′)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-6′′′→1′′′′)- O-β-D-glucopyranoside (lauroyl tetraglucoside (5), n-octanoyl-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(6a→1b)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(6b→1c)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(6c→1d)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(6d→1e)–O-β-D-gluco- pyranoside (caproyl pentaglucoside (6) and ursan-3β-ol-28-al-3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(2a→1b)-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(2b→1c)-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(2c→1d)-O-α-L-glucopyranosyl-(2d→1e)-O-α-L-glucopyranosyl-(2e→1f)-O-α-L-glucopyranoside (ursolic aldehyde 3-O-α-L-hexaglycoside (7) along with two known phytoconstituents identified as n-decanoyl-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl- (6′→1′′)-O-β-D- glucopyranoside (n-capryl diglucoside (2) and glyceryl 1-decanoyl –2- phosphate (4), The structures of these phytoconstituents have been elucidated on the basis of spectral analysis and chemical reactions. Keywords: Centella asiatica, Leaves, Triterpenic glycosides, Acyl glucosides, characterization, Structure elucidation.

There have been concerns expressed on the biological activities of certain essential oils following long term storage. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the composition and antimicrobial activities of samples of stored and freshly extracted essential oil of Ocimum gratissimum Linneo (Lamiaceae) in order to provide comparison of these properties in the oils. The essential oils were obtained from steam distillation of fresh leaves of O. gratissimum collected in Ile-Ife (Nigeria) in the early morning hours in April 2005 and March 2013. These essential oils were then stored in amber coloured bottle in a refrigerator at 4 oC. GC-MS analyses of the stored and fresh essential oils identified twelve and five constituents respectively. The proportions in the stored and fresh essential oils were: thymol (46.2 and 76.0%, respectively), linalool (14.0 and 7.0%), neral (8.4 and 6.7%), eucalyptol (3.9 and 5.3%), terpinen-4-ol (1.8 and 2.4%), geranial (11.7 and 0%), α-terpineol (2.1 and 0%) and nerol (1.8 and 0%). The antibacterial activities of the two essential oils were comparable, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of which were from 0.25%v/v to 4.0%v/v. On the other hand, the stored essential oil showed higher antifungal effects with MIC and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of <0.0625%v/v against Candida spp. Both essential oils completely killed 1.0 x 108cfu/ml bacterial innoculum within three hours. The differences in the antimicrobial activities obtained for the fresh and stored essential oil of O. gratissimum were presumably due to different proportion of constituents.

The chemical constituents of essential oil of Amomum villosum Lour stem grown in Vietnam was investigated by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation. The yield of the essential oil was 0.21% (v/w) calculated on a dry weight basis. The GC/MS analysis of the essential oil revealed the identification of 36 compounds in which β-pinene (48.1%), α-pinene (16.9%) and methyl chavicol (7.0%) were the main constituents of the essential oil. The present result is the first of its kind aimed at the characterization of the chemical composition essential oil from the stem of A. villosum.