Search

In this study, the essential oils from the rhizomes of six species belonging to the Zingiberaceae family, including Zingiber zerumbet, Curcuma pierreana, Globba macrocarpa, Alpinia conchigera, Stahlianthus campanulatus and Amomum sp., collected in Binh Chau-Phuoc Buu Nature Reserve were isolated using hydrodistillation, and their constituents were identified via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. A total of 91 constituents have been identified from essential oils. These compounds were classified into 4 clusters by Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) analysis. The principal constituents of the essential oils isolated from four species, C. pierreana, S. campanulatus, A. conchigera, and Z. zerumbet contained camphene (18.82%), α-copaene (11.75%), p-xylene (21.86%), and α-santalene (17.91%), which were significantly different from those in previous reports. Furthermore, this study revealed the chemical constituents of essential oils of G. macrocarpa and Amomum sp. for the first time. Accordingly, artemisia triene (22.21%), β-pinene (13.57%), 4,6,8-trimethylazulene (11.1%), 2-tert-butylquinoline (9.86%), β-patchoulene (7.06%), α-elemene (6.93%), and β-ocimene (6.0%) were the major compounds in essential oils of G. macrocarpa rhizomes whereas the oil of Amomum sp. was found to be rich in 2-carene (21.82%), fenchyl acetate (14.26%), 3-carene (8.28%), bornyl acetate (7.7%), and D-limonene (7.13%).

In this review, the chemical compositions and bioactivities of the essential oils isolated from Arisaema and Homalomena species, two large genera belonging to the Araceae family, have been reported for the first time. Accordingly, the essential oils isolated from the plants of two genera consisted of some chemical groups, including monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, and oxygenated sesquiterpenes, etc. In addition, the essential oils and their major compounds isolated from Arisaema and Homalomena plants possessed biological activities, including antimicrobial, insecticidal, nematicidal, antiproliferative, larvicidal and anthelmintic activities. This review mainly provides information on the Arisaema and Homalomena oils which are able to use as a guide for the collection of the species with the best chemical composition and biological activities.

Jasminum annamense subsp. annamense is a rare subspecies of Jasminum annamense belonging to the Oleaceae family. The aims of this study were to address the chemical profiles, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of acetone extract isolated from branches and leaves Jasminum annamense subsp. annamense for the first time. The chemical constituents of acetone extracts of studied samples were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. There were a total of 24 components identified from the leaf extract, including lup-20(29)-en-3-one (27.93%), levodopa (19.68%), trans-cinnamic acid (7.58%), linolenic acid (6.35%) as the major compounds. Meanwhile, 26 components were reported from the branch extracts which are sorbitol (25.74%), lupeol (13.3%), cis-vaccenic acid (6.97%), glycerin (6.35%) and n-hexadecanoic acid (5.86%) were the main components. The two acetone extracts of J. annamense subsp. annamense exhibited antibacterial effect against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus based on disk diffusion assay. In addition, leaf and branch extracts of the studied species also display notable antioxidant activity in the ABTS assay with IC50 values of 311.75±3.39 and 664.46±3.732 µg/ml, respectively. This is the first report on the chemical and biological properties of J. annamense subsp. annamense and provides a promising perspective for developing good sources of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds against both Gram positive and negative bacteria.

Ganoderma lucidum (an Oriental fungus, known as lingzhi) is commonly used in Vietnam and other Asian countries with excellent beneficial health effects. Lingzhi has potential applications as a functional product with polysaccharides and many other healthy components. Lingzhi is a common mushroom in Vietnam, growing almost all year round. The spore of this mushroom contains high levels of healthy polysaccharides. The polysaccharide extraction from spores of lingzhi was analysed and the enzymatic method of extraction was optimised. The experiment was conducted with the following variables: spore of lingzhi-to-waterratio (S/W, 2:40-2:80); solvent temperature (ST, 40-60°C); enzyme concentration (EC, 1.7-2.9%), and extraction time (ET, 60-180 min). Spores of lingzhi were mixed with the solvent, treated with enzyme, filtered and evaluated for polysaccharide contents. The polysaccharide extraction parameters were optimised. The results showed that the best extraction conditions were S/W, 2:70; ST, 50°C; EC, 2.3%; and ET, 150 min. At such conditions, 6.7285% polysaccharide was extracted. The method is simple and can be applied readily in industry.

Single clove garlic is the product of atypical bulbing process of garlic under specific conditions. Therefore, the number of researches on single clove garlic bioactivity is limited. Recently, the hepatoprotective effect of single clove garlic has been demonstrated. In this study, we investigated amelioration of single clove black garlic aqueous extract, a processed product from single clove garlic, on dyslipidemia and hepatitis induced by chronic administration of CCl4. Mice were randomly divided into four groups: control, extract control, CCl4 intoxication, and coadministrated CCl4 and extract group. Mice were orally given a dose of 1 ml/kg body weight of CCl4 for 28 days twice a week to establish chronic liver injury model. To evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of single clove black garlic, mice were cotreated with CCl4 and single clove black garlic extract (200 mg/kg body weight) via gastric gauge for 30 days. Cotreatment with CCl4 and extract could improve the changes of body weight, liver weight, and relative liver weight as compared to CCl4 intoxicated mice. Single clove black garlic ameliorated dyslipidemia and the elevation of ALT and AST levels induced by chronic CCl4 intoxication. Histological studies revealed that single clove black garlic could prevent mononuclear cells infiltration and hepatocyte necrosis.

Several herbal remedies have been used as topical agents to cure burn wound, one of the most common injuries in worldwide. In this study, we investigated the potential use ofCleistocalyx operculatusessential oil to treat the burn wound. We identified a total of 13 bioactive compounds of essential oil, several of which exhibited the anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. Furthermore, the essential oil showed the antibacterial effect againstS. aureusbut not withP. aeruginosa.The supportive effect of essential oil on burn wound healing process also has been proven. Among three groups of mice, wound contraction rate of essential oil treated group (100%) was significantly higher than tamanu oil treated (79%) and control mice (71%) after 20 days (0.22±0.03versus0.31±0.02 cm2, resp.,p<0.05). Histological studies revealed that burn wounds treated with essential oil formed a complete epidermal structure, thick and neatly arranged fibers, and scattered immune cells in burn wound. On the contrary, saline treated burn wound formed uneven epidermal layer with necrotic ulcer, infiltration of immune cells, and existence of granulation tissue. This finding demonstratedCleistocalyx operculatusessential oil as promising topical dermatological agent to treat burn wound.