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Ferula assa-foetida L. is a major source of asafoetida, a foul-smelling gum-resin of dietary and medicinal relevance. Investigation of the roots and latex of F. assa-foetida yielded various mixed vinyl disulfides, including two novel asadisulfide-type esters. The reactivity of asadisulfide was investigated in the cysteamine NMR assay, where it behaved as disulfide shuffling agents due to the high mobility of the vinyl sulfide moiety. In accordance with their transthiolation capacity, these compounds potently activated TRPA1, the target of mustard oil and the pungent sulfur compounds from onion and garlic, qualifying S-alkyl-S-alkenyldisulfides, a rare class of natural products, as a novel class of dietary TRPA1 activators. These observations provide a mechanistic basis for rationalizing some of the sensory properties and potential beneficial health claims associated to the use of asafoetida as a spice and as a medicine., (© 2013.)

An acetone extract from the aerial parts of Euphorbia bungei afforded three new (2, 3 and 5) and one known (4) macrocyclic diterpenoids. Several cycloartane triterpenoids were also obtained, two of which (6a and 6b) were assayed for antiviral effects. The structures of all new compounds were elucidated using modern spectroscopic methods including 2D NMR and HRMS., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Euphorbia macroclada Boiss., a spurge endemic to the Iranian plateau, afforded four pre-myrsinane polyesters, three α-phorboids and one A-seco-phorboid, a type of compound so far unreported within natural products. All new compounds were structurally elucidated by spectroscopic methods, and especially 2D NMR measurements., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)