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Gracilariopsis Persica (Rhodophyta) is one of the most abundant algae, introduced newly from the Indian Ocean. In this study, the main sterols of the algae have been isolated and identified. Separation and purification of the compounds was carried out on silica gel and sephadex LH20 column chromatography (CC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to obtain five pure compounds 1-5. Structural elucidation of the compounds was based on the data obtained from H-NMR, (13)C-NMR, DEPT and Mass spectroscopy. The separated compounds from Gp. Persica were identified as 22-dehydrocholesterol (1), cholesterol (2), stigmasterol (3), β-sitosterol (4) and fucosterol (5) based on the spectral data compared to those reported in literatures. Most of these sterols are noteworthy for their effectiveness in decreasing the plasma cholesterol, glucose and inflammation. The results of Brine Shrimp Cytotoxicity Assay indicated that the ethyl acetate extract of Gp. Persica showed a high cytotoxic effect against A. salina nauplii (LC50 = 4 μg/mL). The methanol extract was no effective but the aqueous methanol extract was moderately effective (LC50 = 40 μg/mL) compared to berberine hydrochloride as a positive control (LC50 = 26 μg/mL).

Vitexagnus-castusL. is a medicinal plant which is used in several dosage forms for women hormonal disorders and standardized according to the iridoids or flavonoids content. Aucubin, an iridoid glycoside, considered as a marker in some formulations. In this research, a thin layer chromatographic method with densitometric detection has been developed for quantitative determination of aucubin in chaste tree fruits. Chromatographic separation was performed using silica gel high performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) plates with ethyl acetate-methanol-water 77 : 15 : 8 as mobile phase. Chromatograms were visualized using p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde as reagent. Aucubin RF-value was about 0.5 and spots were scanned at 580 nm through a mercury lamp. By using this method, the amount of aucubin was found 43.5 mg/100 g of dried plant fruits. The method was validated for selectivity, linearity (r(2) = 0.997, 20-100 μg/mL), precision (intra-day < 4.9, inter-day < 7.2) and accuracy measured via determination of recovery (95-98%). The limit of detection and limit of quantization were found 6.6 and 20 μg/mL, respectively. This methodology was found to be precise with respect to the validation parameters. It is simple and convenient and could be applicable to the routine determination of aucubin in different Vitexagnus-castusL. samples.

Salvia genus, which is generally called Maryam-Goli in the Persian language, belongs to Lamiaceae family and comprises 58 species in Iran. Four flavonoids plus a steroid compound were isolated from the ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of the aerial parts of Salvia macrosiphon Boiss, using different chromatographic methods on the silica gel and sephadex LH20. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined to be apigenin-7, 4'-dimethyl ether (1), β-sitosterol (2), salvigenin (3) apigenin-7-O-glucoside (4) and luteolin-7-O-glucoside (5) using the (1)H, (13)C-NMR and MS spectra in comparison with those reported in the literature.