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The morphological characters of Southeast Asia's indigenous Peperomia species are very similar, especially in their flower structures. The flowers are simple, hermaphrodite and lack a perianth. Therefore, many species are hard to distinguish using morphological characters alone. Here, we apply chemometric data for species identification and classification, gathered using multiwavelength detection combined with the colour scale High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) fingerprinting procedure and chemical compounds determined by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Fourteen taxa were investigated using hexane, ethyl acetate and ethanol solvent extractions. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used with the colour scale fingerprints to classify the Peperomia species. The PCA and HCA using the chromatogram profile from hexane divided the taxa into six groups compared to the profile from ethyl acetate and ethanol, which each detected seven groups. The chromatogram from the combined dataset of all three solvents can differentiate all the species. The GC-MS data detected a total of 40 compounds from the hexane extract, and these differed among Peperomia species. This approach based on HPTLC fingerprinting and GC-MS analysis can therefore be used as a tool for authentication and identification studies of Peperomia species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the culinary and ethnopharmacological use of Acmella oleracea (L.) R.K. Jansen, this study aimed to unveil new chemical compounds from its essential oil (EO). Acmella oleracea, known for its anesthetic and spicy properties, has been used in traditional medicine and cuisine, particularly in Northern Brazil. Through a detailed GC-MS analysis, 180 constituents were identified, including 12 tentatively identified long-chain α-keto esters of various acids. Additionally, 18 new esters were synthesized for structural verification. This research expands the known chemical diversity of A. oleracea EO, providing a basis for potential pharmacological applications. The identification of new natural products, including homologs and analogs of acmellonate, underscores the EO's rich chemical profile and its potential for novel bioproduct development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although ethnopharmacologically renowned, wax constituents of Dianthus species were sporadically studied. A combination of GC-MS analysis, synthesis, and chemical transformations enabled the identification of 275 constituents of diethyl-ether washings of aerial parts and/or flowers of six Dianthus taxa (Dianthus carthusianorum, D. deltoides, D. giganteus subsp. banaticus, D. integer subsp. minutiflorus, D. petraeus, and D. superbus) and one Petrorhagia taxon (P. prolifera) from Serbia. Seventeen of these constituents (nonacosyl benzoate, additional 12 benzoates with anteiso-branched 1-alkanols, eicosyl tiglate, triacontane-14,16-dione, dotriacontane-14,16-dione, and tetratriacontane-16,18-dione) and two additional synthesized eicosyl esters (angelate and senecioate) represent completely new compounds. The structures of the tentatively identified β-ketones were confirmed by analysis of the mass fragmentation of the corresponding pyrazoles and silyl enol ethers obtained by transformations of crude extracts and extract fractions. Silylation allowed the identification of 114 additional constituents, including a completely new natural product (30-methylhentriacontan-1-ol). The results obtained by multivariate statistical analyses showed that the chemical profile of Dianthus taxa's surface waxes is subject to both genetic and ecological factors, whereas the latter seemingly takes a more important role for the studied Dianthus samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the ethnopharmacological use of Pulicaria dysenterica, in the present study, the antimicrobial potential of the extracted essential oil was investigated against a panel of eighteen microorganism strains. Additionally, anti-acetylcholinesterase and antispasmodic (isolated rat distal colon) activities, general acute toxicity (Artemia salina model), and immunomodulatory properties (cytotoxicity on isolated mouse macrophages) were studied. Detailed analyses of the essential oil led to the identification of 3-methoxycuminyl 2-methylbutanoate (a new natural product) and 3-methoxycuminyl 3-methylbutanoate (a rare natural product). The obtained esters and intermediates in the synthesis of the starting alcohol (3-methoxycuminol) were subjected to a battery of 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments. The synthesized esters were additionally characterized by GC–MS, IR, and UV–Vis. The synthesized compounds (ten in total) were biologically tested in the same way as the extracted P. dysenterica essential oil. The obtained low acute toxicity and promising antimicrobial potential suggest that the P. dysenterica essential oil might partially explain the ethnopharmacological application of P. dysenterica plant material for the treatment of gastrointestinal infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, GC and GC–MS analysis of the essential oil obtained from the leaves of Saudi Arabian Capparis cartilaginea Decne. (CC) allowed for the identification of 41 constituents, comprising 99.99% of the total oil composition. The major compounds identified were isopropyl isothiocyanate (31.0%), 2-methylbutanenitrile (21.4%), 2-butyl isothiocyanate (18.1%), isobutyronitrile (15.4%), and 3-methylbutanenitrile (8.2%). The chemical composition of the derived oil and 12 additional oils obtained from selected Capparis taxa were compared using multivariate analyses including principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis (AHC). The results of the statistical analyses of this particular data set pointed out that isopropyl isothiocyanate could be potentially used as a valuable infrageneric chemotaxonomical marker for CC. Moreover, the results distinctly separate CC from other members of its genus on the basis of its components. In addition, environmental and geographical stressors may be implicated in the essential oil profile of plants found within the genus Capparis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicobacter pylori is the most common cause of gastritis and peptic ulcers, and the number of resistant strains to multiple conventional antimicrobial agents has been increasing in different parts of the world. Several studies have shown that some essential oils (EO) have bioactive compounds, which can be attributed to antimicrobial activity. Therefore, EOs have been proposed as a natural alternative to antibiotics, or for use in combination with conventional treatment for H. pylori infection. Campomanesia lineatifolia is an edible species found in the Brazilian forests, and their leaves are traditionally used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. Anti-inflammatory, gastroprotective, and antioxidant properties are attributed to C. lineatifolia leaf extracts; however, studies related to the chemical constituents of the essential oil and anti-H. pylori activity is not described. This work aims to identify the chemical composition of the EO from C. lineatifolia leaves and evaluate the anti-H. pylori activity. The EO was obtained by hydrodistillation from C. lineatifolia leaves and characterized by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses. To assess the in vitro anti-H. pylori activity of the C. lineatifolia leaf's EO (6 μL/mL–25 μL/mL), we performed broth microdilution assays by using type cultures (ATCC 49503, NCTC 11638, both clarithromycin-sensitive) and clinical isolate strains (SSR359, clarithromycin-sensitive, and SSR366, clarithromycin-resistant). A total of eight new compounds were identified from the EO (3-hexen-1-ol (46.15%), α-cadinol (20.35%), 1,1-diethoxyethane (13.08%), 2,3-dicyano-7,7-dimethyl-5,6-benzonorbornadiene (10.78%), aromadendrene 2 (3.0%), [3-S-(3α, 3aα, 6α, 8aα)]-4,5,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-3,7,7-trimethyl-8-methylene-3H-3a,6-methanoazulene (2.99%), α-bisabolol (0.94%), and β-curcumene (0.8%)), corresponding to 98.09% of the total oil composition. The EO inhibited the growth of all H. pylori strains tested (MIC 6 μL/mL). To our knowledge, the current study investigates the relation between the chemical composition and the anti-H. pylori activity of the C. lineatifolia EO for the first time. Our findings show the potential use of the C. lineatifolia leaf EO against sensitive and resistant clarithromycin H. pylori strains and suggest that this antimicrobial activity could be related to its ethnopharmacological use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue of I Plants i , dedicated to Ethnobotany and Phytochemistry, received 27 manuscript submissions from almost all world regions. Monari et al. (2022) analysed published Italian studies involving Ethnobotany and medicinal plants and collected data from 1117 species from 75 papers. Prance once defined Ethnobotany as an interdisciplinary Science combining Anthropology and Botany [[1]]. [Extracted from the article]