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Mentha piperita , as a species of the mint family, is used in various medical, cosmetic, industrial and culinary products. The effect of different concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) (0. 0.5, 1 mM) on phytochemical activity and antimicrobial potential of Mentha piperita essential oil against six human pathogenic bacteria ( Streptococcus agalactiae , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes ) were investigated. According to the results to prevent the growth of L. monocytogenes and S. agalactiae, Gram-positive bacteria, peppermint , essential oil treatment with 1 mM salicylic acid is suggested. But to prevent the growth of Gram-negative bacteria P. aeruginosa and E. coli , peppermint essential oil of control plants is proposed. These results showed that salicylic acid elicitor changed the type and amount of peppermint essential oil compounds. Probably, salicylic acid elicitor improved antimicrobial properties of peppermint essential oil with a change in essential oil components. The inhibitory activity of essential oil depends on the type of microorganism, the concentration of essential oil and the concentration and time of salicylic acid treatment.

Plectranthus L'Hér is a large genus of Lamiaceae family comprising of ca. 300 species distributed through the tropical and warm regions of the Old-World, including Africa, from Ethiopia to Tanzania, Asia and Australia. Several species are edible, and some ones have been also used as traditional medicinal of several countries. Phytochemical investigations on non-volatile metabolites of species of this genus indicated them of source of diterpenoids with abietane, phyllocladanes, kaurene skeleton. Plectranthus ornatus Codd. is an invasive, ornamental and traditional medicinal plant native of Central-East Africa, which was spread around the world by Portuguese, especially in the Americas. In the present communication, the aerial parts of P. ornatus , identified wild for the first time in Israel, were analysed for the composition of its essential oil, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Considerations with respect to all the other essential oils of P. ornatus accessions were carried out.

Jacobaea is a small genus of plants belonging to Asteraceae family, formerly joint to Senecio genus, that includes more than 60 species and sub-species. Several taxa of this genus have been extensively studied both for their non-volatile and volatile metabolites. In the present study the chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) from aerial parts of Jacobaea delphiniifolia (Vahl) Pelser & Veldkamp, collected in Sicily, was analyzed by GC-MS. No one report has been previously published on the EO of this species. The result showed the presence of a large quantity of two metabolites, namely 1-undecene (63.57%) and thymol methyl ether (13.65%). Chemotaxonomic considerations were carried out by comparing the other oils of Jacobaea taxa studied so far.

Chamomile essential oil is used in the food and medicinal industries. Gallic acid has been identified as one of the most significant biological elicitors. At dosages of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mg/L, Gallic acid was sprayed on chamomile plants. The yield of flowers and essential oils in dry flowers were assessed. The averages of data were examined statistically using one-way analysis of variance. Oxygenated sesquiterpenes were a major chemical group, while α-bisabolol oxide A, α-bisabolol and chamazulene were the three main components of essential oil. When administered 15 mg/L Gallic acid, plants produced their most flowers and had the highest quantities of the essential oil, α-bisabolol oxide A, α-bisabolol and chamazulene. Essential oil extracted from untreated control plants had the highest concentration of oxygenated sesquiterpenes. It can be infer that Gallic acid increases the production of essential oil and alters its chemical constituents which alter its biological activity.

This study was performed to evaluate the chemical constituents of the essential oils (EOs) from the leaves and stems of different accessions of Dorema ammoniacum D. Don and Dorema aucheri Boiss. collected in Iran. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were identified as the major fractions in EOs of stem (65.58-87.48%) and leaves (59.41-84.33%) samples. β-caryophyllene was identified as the major component in the EOs of leaves samples in all accessions of D. aucheri . Aromadandrene and tetradecane were identified as the major compound in stem and leaves samples of Dorema ammoniacum D. Don, respectively. The highest number of chemical constituents for leaves (27) and stem (28) samples were identified in D.au4 and D.au3 genotypes, respectively. The least number of chemical constituents for both leaves (18) and stem (19) samples were specified to D. ammoniacum species ( D.am 1 and D.am 2). These results suggest the use of enriched-sesquiterpene hydrocarbons accessions of Dorema for future medicinal purposes.

Virgin Olive Oil (VOO) shelf life is determined by the varietal-specific chemical composition and principally by the of phenolic composition. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in fatty acid profile, phenolic composition, and quality parameters of nine Italian monovarietal VOOs obtained under the same pedoclimatic, agronomic and technological conditions and stored for 12 months at 15 °C in the dark. The varieties with medium-high concentrations of secoiridoids and balanced values between the individual molecules were those with the highest stability. Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures (OPLS) regression revealed that oleuropein derivatives and phenolic alcohols had the highest antioxidant activity. OPLS discriminant analysis separated well fresh and stored oils. PV, K270, tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol, and oxidated oleacein were the most effective indicators of VOO ageing. Oleacein and oleocanthal decreased after storage, phenolic alcohols, oleacein and ligstroside aglycon increased.

Response surfaces methodology was established in order to optimize ultrasound-assisted aqueous alkaline protease extraction parameters of Pinus koraiensis nuts oil (PNO) in this short communication. On the oil yield, the impacts of single factors were studied. The solid-liquid ratio, enzyme concentration, enzyme hydrolysis temperature, and enzyme hydrolysis duration were chosen for further optimization of the extraction process utilizing a Box-Behnken design based on statistical significance analysis. Under ideal extraction conditions, a maximum oil recovery of 68.35% was achieved: solid-liquid ratio, enzyme concentration, enzyme hydrolysis temperature, and enzyme hydrolysis duration were 1:5 (g/mL), 3.23 mg/g, 44 °C, and 2.84 h, respectively. Furthermore, physicochemical properties testing revealed that the oil was of higher quality than other approaches. Meanwhile, the DPPH radical-scavenging activities increased with increased content compared to olive oil, with an IC 50 value of 0.082 mg/mL. The method has a lot of potential when it comes to extracting oils from plants.

Solvent-free hydrodistillation adsorption apparatus (HDA) and normal clevenger hydrodistillation (NC) were applied to obtain Juniperus communis , Valeriana jatamansi and Hedychium spicatum essential oils (EOs). The yields, chemical compositions and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the EOs were investigated. Obtained EOs were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instruments. Recovery improvement was observed in HDA method (30.4%, 27.3% and 29.0% more recovery of EOs than NC method for V. jatamansi , H. spicatum and J. communis , respectively). Present results demonstrated NCV ( V. jatamansi EO (essential oil) by NC method) had highest α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) values of 8.20 μg/mL. As a result, HDA method is considered to be the promising theme for producing EOs with high production recovery. Furthermore, current findings demonstrated that the selected EOs may be a good natural antidiabetic.

Tanacetum fisherae Aitch. & Hemsl. is an endemic plant growing wild in some brackish regions of Iran. Since there are not enough reports concerning the quantitative and qualitative analyses of its essential oil, it was decided to characterise the respective water-distilled oils obtained from the flowers and leaves of this medicinal plant. Characterisation of the corresponding essential oil profiles revealed that in both of the analysed oils, oxygenated monoterpenes constituted most of the chemical profiles. In this sense, the most prevailing natural compounds in the flower oils were cis - p -2-menthen-1-ol (11.2%), trans-p -2-menthen-1-ol (10.7%), trans- piperitol (7.8%), 1,8-cineole (6.1%), cis -piperitol (3.8%), α-terpineol (3.7%) and terpinene-4-ol (2.1%), whereas the main constituent components of the leaves oils were, respectively, 1,8-cineole (16.7%), cis - p -2-menthen-1-ol (14.6%), trans-p -2-menthen-1-ol (10.4%), trans- piperitol (12.8%), α-terpineol (5.4%), cis -piperitol (2.9%), borneol (2.7%), and terpinene-4-ol (2.1%). In addition, the second rank of natural compound constituting groups was due to oxygenated sesquiterpenes, as well.[Formula: see text].

Acinos is a small genus of economically important plants belonging to Lamiaceae family whose botanical collocation is quite problematic due to the disagreement among the botanists and the presence in literature of several names and synonyms from different sources. In the present study the chemical composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of Acinos alpinus subsp. nebrodensis (Strobl) Brullo & Brullo collected in Central Sicily was analyzed by GC-MS. The result showed the presence of large quantity of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons with germacrene D (37.9%) as the most abundant component followed by ( E )- β -caryophyllene (5.1%). Among the oxygenated monoterpenes thymol (8.3%) was the most abundant; good quantity of hexadecanoic acid (6.8%) was also observed. Chemotaxonomic considerations with respect all the other oils of Acinos taxa, studied so far, were carried out.

In the present study, the chemical compositions of the essential oils from roots, stems, leaves and fruits of Foeniculum vulgare subsp. piperitum collected in Sicily were evaluated by GC and GC-MS. The main components of the roots were terpinolene (33.15%), γ -terpinene (12.18%) and fenchyl acetate (11.23%). Stems and leaves were very rich in α -phellandrene (36.85% and 41.59%, respectively) and β -phellandrene (19.68% and 25.79%, respectively), whereas the main components of fruits were terpinolene (20.10%) and limonene (17.84%)These results were compared with those of the EOs of the same vegetative parts of Foeniculum vulgare subsp. vulgare , collected in the same station and in the same days. The oils of F. vulgare subsp. vulgare showed completely different compositions, with estragole, ( E )-anethole and α -pinene as main compounds, clearly indicating the differentiation of the two subspecies. Our results were also compared with those reported in literature for other accessions of Foeniculum vulgare subsp. piperitum .

In this study, the phytochemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oils isolated from the rhizomes and the aerial parts of Homalomena cochinchinensis were analysed for the first time using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and disk diffusion method. Consequently, 36 constituents were reported from H. cochinchinensis rhizomes, including linalool (57.4%), terpinen-4-ol (10.6%), α-sabinene (4.2%) as major compounds. Meanwhile, 30 compounds have been identified in the essential oil of the aerial parts of H. cochinchinensis , which myrcene (41.1%), sabinene (8.2%), D-limonene (9.1%) were the main constituents. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of the essential oil from the rhizomes of the studied species could inhibit the growth of all six tested bacterial strains, including Bacillus cereus , Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium whereas the essential oil from the aerial parts was proved to be able to inhibit the growth of five bacterial strains except S. enteritidis.

The supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of volatile and fixed oil from milled parsley ( Petroselinum crispum L.) seeds, using CO 2 as solvent, is presented in this study. Extraction experiments were carried out in two steps: at pressures of (90 or 300) bar and temperature of 40 °C. The first extraction step, performed at 90 bar, produced a volatile fraction mainly formed by apiole (82.1%) and myristicin (11.4%). The volatile oil yield was 2.6% by weight of the charge. The second extraction step, carried out at 300 bar produced a fixed oil at a yield of 0.4% by weight. The most represented fatty acids in P. crispum fixed oil were 18:1 n-12 (49.9%), 18:2 n-6 (18.2%), 18:1 n-9 (11.8%), and 16:0 (7.4%). In particular, the unsaturated fatty acids 18:1 n-12 and 18:1 n-9 averaged 182.2 mg/g and 92.1 mg/g of oil extract, respectively. The quality of the oils extracted by SFE, in terms of its chemical composition, was compared to the oils obtained by hydrodistillation (HD) in a Clevenger apparatus and by solvent extraction (SE) using n -hexane in a Soxhlet apparatus. The antioxidant properties were determined by means of the ABTS assay. The results indicated that the fixed oil possessed low antioxidant activity (EC 50 = 0.4 mg/mL) and the volatile oil had no antioxidant activity. The total phenolic content, expressed as concentration of gallic acid (gallic acid equivalent, GAE), of the fixed oil was 1.5 mg/g. The fixed oil found to have inhibitory effects against α-glucosidase, the volatile oil is active on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), tyrosinase, and α-glucosidase. Both samples have weak inhibitory activity on α-amylase and no activity on butyrylcholinesterase (BChE).

We studied the chemical composition and the nutritional properties of fixed oils extracted from seeds and pericarps of the medicinal plant Whitania somnifera . W. somnifera wild germplasm was collected in Sardinia (Italy) and cultivated in Campidano subregion (Southern Sardinia). The main fatty acids of seed oil were 18:2 n-6 (53%, 73.6 mg/g of dry weight), 18:1 n-9 (21%, 29.3 mg/g of dry weight), 16:0 (19%), and 18:0 (4%). Trilinolein and dilinolein derivatives represented the main seed oil triacylglycerols. Linoleic (40%, 67.7 mg/g of dry weight), oleic (29%, 48.7 mg/g of dry weight), palmitic (22%), stearic (4%) and α-linolenic (3%), were the main fatty acids in pericarp oil, with higher total level of monounsaturated fatty acids than seed oil, while monolinolein and dilinolein derivatives represented the main triacylglycerols. The results of this study qualify Sardinian W. somnifera berries as an interesting source of oils with nutritional properties.

The root and stem bark essential oils from Isolona dewevrei (Annonaceae), growing wild in Côte d'Ivoire, were investigated for the first time, using a combination of chromatographic [CC, GC(RI)] and spectroscopic [MS, 13 C-NMR] techniques. A new natural germacrone was isolated by repetitive column chromatography carried out on a stem bark oil sample. Its structure was elucidated as germacra-1(10),4(15),5-trien-8-one by 1 D, 2 D-NMR and QTOF-MS. Ninety-six components accounting for 95.5 ± 0.8% and 95.8 ± 1.0%, respectively, for the root and stem bark essential oil samples were identified. The major compounds of root oil were cyperene (19.7 ± 1.6%) and camphene (10.1 ± 2.1%), followed by 5-isopentenylindole (6.4 ± 2.4%), β-elemene (3.9 ± 0.3%), ( Z )-α-bisabolene (3.2 ± 1.2%) and γ-gurjunene (3.2 ± 0.3%). The stem bark oil was also dominated by cyperene (29.2 ± 4.1%), followed by β-elemene (6.2 ± 1.1%), ( Z )-α-bisabolene (3.8 ± 1.0%), ( E )-β-caryophyllene (3.3 ± 0.7%) and α-copaene (2.8 ± 1.1%).

The essential oils of leaf, flower, immature and mature fruit from Ferula pseudalliacea (Apiaceae) which grow wildly in Iran as an endemic plant were obtained by hydro-distillation and subsequently analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The oils obtained in yields 0.4-4.0% (w/w) and the analysis of GC-MS/FID chromatogram was resulted in the identification of 43-47 compounds, representing 90.9 - 96.7% of the total oils. α-Pinene was the main compound in all samples. The oils exhibited mild activity against Bacillus pumilus , Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus with or more than 15 mm zones of growth inhibition and MIC values of 9-15 mg/ml. Essential oil of immature and mature fruits showed potent antioxidant activity with IC 50 values of 35.4 ± 0.4 and 39.1 ± 0.4 µg/mL, respectively. So, this plant as an antibacterial and antioxidant agent can be useful in food and medicine industry. [Formula: see text].

The yield of essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of Cymbopogon citratus fresh leaves ranged from 0.15% to 0.46% w/w; being the highest in spring and the lowest in winter. The oil sample obtained in winter exhibited a moderate acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity (IC 50 2.86 ± 0.17 mg/mL), compared to physostigmine (IC 50 0.012 mg/mL), while other samples were relatively weak (IC 50 values of 2.86-5.40 mg/mL). In all samples, oxygenated monoterpenes were predominating (73.22-89.32%). GC-MS identified a total of 61, 25, 50 and 63 components in oil samples obtained in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. Citral content was the highest in autumn and summer samples (82.02% and 80.01% citral; respectively) and the lowest in winter sample (60.01%). Citral, isolated from the oil demonstrated a relatively potent anticholinesterase activity (IC 50 0.21 ± 0.01 mg/mL).

Ferula assa-foetida gum oleoresin (FAGO) is traditionally used for treatment of different ailments. The subject of this article was to evaluate the chemical composition and antibacterial effects of the different types of bitter FAGO essential oils in the natural habitat of Southwest Iran. α-pinene (38.2%), and ( Z )-propenyl sec-butyl disulfide (12.4%) were the main components of F. assa-foetida tear type essential oil, with high antibacterial, anti-biofilm and cytotoxic activities, followed by paste and mass types, respectively. α-pinene (27.8%), and ( Z )-propenyl-sec-butyl disulfide (24.2%) were identified as main components of paste type. α-pinene (33.4%), β-pinene (16.3%), and ( Z )-propenyl sec-butyl disulfide (16.1%) were the main components of asafoetida mass type gum oleoresin essential oil. FAGO essential oil specially tear one could serve as suitable candidate for further studies.

In this work was to develop an inedited nanocapsule with tucumã oil ( Astrocaryum vulgare ). The oil presents of phytosterols (squalene and β-sitosterol), all - trans -beta-carotene, acids oleic and palmitic. Antioxidant activity showed a good performance in DPPH and ABTS assays. The nanocapsules were prepared and demonstrated in their characterization particle size (206 ± 0.69 nm). The cytogenotoxicity evaluation was performed using the MTT, dichlorofluorescein, nitric oxide and dsDNA PicoGreen® assays. Antitumor efficacy assays in MCF-7 cells demonstrated that free oil and tucumã nanocapsules had IC 50 of 130 and 50 μg/mL, respectively. Thus, previous studies of toxicity are relevant, as they generate future subsidies, aiming at the potential application of nanostructures and in addition, the promising effect of NCs of tucumã oil on the antiproliferative effect in breast adenocarcinoma cells was evidenced.

Glycyrrhiza echinata L. is a perennial plant of considerable commercial importance in medicine, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and tobacco industries and the production of food additives as flavoring and sweetening agent. This study, variation on composition and yield of essential oil from the underground parts of five accessions of G. echinata growing wild in northern Iran was investigated. Results showed high variability for the main constituents of essential oil among accessions of G. echinata . The presence of α -pinene and myrcene in two accessions suggests that these volatiles could serve as chemotaxonomic markers and also might be considered as potentially relevant for taste. The presence of β -caryophyllene and α - caryophyllene in three accessions could be strong potential for being used in medical applications (anticancer and analgesic properties). Generally, the essential oils from G. echinata and other species could be very competitive targets for phytochemical and food studies.

In this study the physicochemical characterization of the pulp and almond fixed oil was carried out; their antibacterial activity and aminoglycoside antibiotic modifying action against standard and multiresistant Gram-positive and -negative bacteria were investigated using the broth microdilution assay. Physical properties such as moisture, pH, acidity, peroxide index, relative density and refractive index indicate stability and chemical quality of the oils. In the GC/MS chemical composition analysis, a high unsaturated fatty acid content and the presence of oleic and palmitic acids were observed in the oils. In the antibacterial assay, more significant results were obtained for Escherichia coli , while other standard and multi-resistant strains presented MIC values ≥ 1024 μg/mL. Furthermore, the fixed oils in association with antibiotics were able to significantly improve antibacterial activity against S. aureus with a reduction in MICs.

The volatiles from a rare and endemic plant Bupleurum plantagineum Desf collected from Béjaia (Algerian National Park) were analyzed using HS-SPME-GC/MS. The main factors affecting this extraction technique, including fibre coating, ionic forces (salt adding), temperature and time of extraction were performed in order to reach a maximum of sensitivity. The best results were obtained by PDMS fiber using the powdered leaves at specific temperatures for 25 min, without salt adding. On the other hand, the volatile composition of leaves, stems and roots were determined with a clear prevalence of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons of 45.66, 31.99 and 70.28% respectively. A qualitative comparison with essential oil from hydrodistillation was also performed showing differences essentially in minor components.

Chemical composition of the headspace volatiles and essential oils isolated from different parts of Ferulago sylvatica was determined by GC and GC/MS analyses. The results showed that headspace volatiles obtained from the aerial parts and roots were similar regarding the number of identified compounds and main components. However, essential oils obtained from different plant organs showed significant differences in chemical composition. Myrcene was the most abundant component of the inflorescences and shoots volatiles, while α-pinene make up over 50% of the root volatiles. Only three components were identified in the root essential oil with 2,3,6-trimethyl benzaldehyde (92.7%) as the main component. In the shoots sample the terpenoid fractions represented 56% of the oil, unevenly distributed between monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids with germacrene D (32.5%) recognized as the main constituent. On the other hand, more than 94% of the inflorescences oils were monoterpenoids with myrcene as the most abundant contributor (29.2%).

Chemical characteristics of novel seed oils, yet not investigated, from three endemic Arecaceae (palm) species from Reunion Island are described. Fatty acid profiles are performed using two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Carotenoid contents are determined by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results of the investigations emphasize the particular composition of the unconventional red seed oil from Hyophorbe indica . Characteristic features of this oil reveal a high degree of unsaturation (50% of polyunsaturated fatty acids, with a high content (17%) of omega-3), which is possibly a unique fatty acid composition in the Arecaceae family. The two other palm oils from Dictyosperma album and Latania lontaroides contain high level of saturated fatty acids very similar to that of the edible palm oil. H. indica oil is also very rich in valuable carotenoids; in particular, lutein, β-carotene and lycopene are detected in a high content (respectively 45, 23 and 35 mg.kg -1 in oil).

Tephrosia apollinea is a legume species, native to southwest Asia and northeast Africa, rich in bioactive flavonoids (hydrophilic compounds). T. apollinea seeds were not considered previously as a potential source of lipophilic compounds such as: essential fatty acids, tocopherols, sterols, and squalene, hence, the present study were performed. The oil yield in T. apollinea seeds amounted to 11.8% dw. The T. apollinea seed oil was predominated by the polyunsaturated fatty acids - linoleic (26.8%) and α-linolenic (22.7%). High levels were recorded also for oleic (27.6%) and palmitic (14.9%) acids. Four tocopherols and one tocotrienol, with the domination of γ-tocopherol (98%) were identified in T. apollinea seed oil. The β-sitosterol (59%), Δ5-stigmasterol (21%) and campesterol (9%) were detected as main sterols in T. apollinea seed oil. The total content of tocochromanols, sterols, carotenoids and squalene in the T. apollinea seed oil was 256.7, 338.1, 12.5 and 1103.8 mg/100 g oil, respectively. T. apollinea seeds oil, due to the high concentration of lipophilic bioactive compounds can find a potential application in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.

Paeonia daurica subsp. tomentosa (Lomakin) D.Y.Hong is an herbaceous perennial and flowering plant from the Paeoniaceae family. In this research, the roots, stems, leaves and fruits of P. daurica subsp. tomentosa were investigated for a comparative identification of essential oil composition. The essential oils constituents were identified by GC/MS and then compared. The study leads to the identification of 31, 57, 66, and 57 components in the essential oils obtained from the roots, stems, leaves and fruits, respectively. These chemicals make up more than 99% of the essential oil. Some of the identified compounds ( α -Pinene, 4-ethyloctane, 5-methylnonane, benzaldehyde, myrtanal, 4,7-dimethyl benzofuran , n -decane, cuminaldehyde, cis-p -mentha-6,8-diene-2-ol, salicylaldehyde, tetradecane, tetradecanal, and n -tricosane) occurred in all parts of the plant. The existence of compounds such as cembrene (1.1%), 13- epi -manool (1.5%), 2-hydroxy methyl benzoate (10.1%), and tridecanal (0.7%), however, were confirmed exclusively in the fruit, stem, root, and leaf, respectively. The antibacterial activities (MIC) of the oils obtained from the four studied Paeonia parts against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was studied. Staphylococcus aureus was the most sensitive microorganism to the oil obtained from the fruits of P. daurica subsp. tomentosa with the value of 0.04 ± 0.005 mg mL -1 .

Root and flower essential oils of Cyanthillium cinereum (L.) H. Rob. (Synonym Vernonia cinerea (L.) Less.) (Asteraceae) collected in Southern Côte d'Ivoire was investigated using a combination of chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. The root oil composition was dominated by trans -β-bergamotene (20.7%), β-elemene (19.0%), cyperene (10.6%), germacrene A (7.1%) and β-pinene (3.8%), whereas γ-humulene (31.0%), ( E )-β-caryophyllene (17.0%), trans -β-bergamotene (7.7%), β-pinene (7.5%) and ( E )-β-farnesene (6.0%) were the major components of flower oil. Two new compounds bearing the trans -β-bergamotene framework were identified: trans -β-bergamotenone and ( E )- trans -β-bergamotenol.

The analysis of Thymus willdenowii Boiss & Reut essential oils (TW EOs) shows 33 components accounting for (96.3-97.7%) of all identified. The main constituents of TW EOs were thymol (35.5-47.3%), p-cymene (13.9-23.8%), γ-terpinene (8.9-20.3%). The antioxidant assays revealed that all TW EOs tested showed strong activities, the antimicrobial effect of TW EOs has been tested against isolated clinical strains of Proteus mirabilis (ATCC 35659), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Candida albicans (ATCC 10231), Bacillus cereus (ATCC 10876), and Aspergillus brasilliensis (ATCC 16404). The antimicrobial test indicates that TW EOs show an inhibition effect against all the tested bacteria with a MIC of 6.9 to 27.6 μg/mL -1 . These results proving that the essential oils extracted from Thymus willdenowii Boiss & Reut may be a new potential source of natural antimicrobial applied in pharmaceutical and food industries.

Dracocephalum kotschyi is one of the medicinal and fragrant herbs that can be found in natural locations of mountainous areas. In this investigation the hydrodistilled essential oils obtained from aerial parts of two populations of D. kotschyi collected from Siahbisheh and Baladeh were analysed by capillary GC-FID and GC-MS. Essential oil analysis led to the identification of 48 compounds that represented 85.9 and 90.0% of the total oil compositions, respectively. As the major group of compounds, oxygenated monoterpens comprised 45.5 and 57.4% in the essential oils of compounds as the main group in the essential oils of Siahbisheh and Baladeh samples, respectively. Disagreement in the major contents of the essential oils of these two samples may be ascribed to differences in the ecological, climatic and genetically factors.

This study utilised response surface methodology to optimise the conditions for the extraction of A. rugosa seeds oil (ARO). Single-factor experiment and response surface methodology (RSM) were performed to identify the extraction time, liquid-solid ratio and extraction temperature that provided the highest yield of ARO. The optimal extraction time, liquid-solid ratio and extraction temperature were 8 h, 4:1 mL/g and 55 °C. The fatty acids (FAs) content and oil yield obtained through the optimised impregnation-extraction process were 19.67 mg/g and 32.1%. These values matched well with the predicted values. Linolenic acid was identified to be the main active ingredient of ARO. The high-performance liquid chromatography-charged aerosol detection method presented here is fast and does not require derivatisation. Therefore, it could be used to quantitatively analyse the FAs present in ARO and applied to detect compounds with low or no ultraviolet response.

Mustard oil cake (MOC) is widely used as biofertilizer in the field of agriculture and aquaculture. Channa punctatus was exposed to 0.42 g.L -1 sublethal concentration for 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Due to such exposure, body growth and histological changes in liver were observed. It was revealed that weight, length and breadth of fish were gradually increased with the days of exposure in compare to control fish, whereas, liver showed an increase in sinusoidal space and lipidosis during early days, followed by a recovery from the stress of MOC on the 28th day.

Essential oils from flowers and leaves of Grindelia integrifolia DC. were investigated for the first time in terms of chemical composition and antimicrobial activity. The GC-FID/MS analysis allowed for the identification of 58 and 72 volatiles, comprising 92.4 and 90.1% of the oils, respectively. The major components of the flower oil were α -pinene (34.9%) and limonene (13.1%), while myrcene (16.9%), spathulenol (12.3%), β-eudesmol (11.9%) and limonene (10.1%) dominated among the leaf volatiles. The antimicrobial activity, evaluated against 12 selected bacteria and fungus, was found moderate, with the strongest effect of both oils observed against C. albicans (MIC = MBC: 0.63 and 0.31 mg/mL for flower and leaf oil, respectively) .

Chemical diversity of the essential oils of twenty wild populations of Tanacetum polycephalum Sch. Bip., was investigated. The aerial parts of T. polycephalum were collected at full flowering stage from West Azerbaijan Province of Iran, air-dried; hydrodistilled to produce essential oils. The essential oils were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. A total of forty compounds were identified accounting for 96.4-99.9% of the total oils. The most principal compounds were cis-thujone (0-82.3%), trans-thujone (0-79.8%), camphor (1.3-75.0%), 1,8-cineole (4.5-43.3%), borneol (1.0-36.2%) and bornyl acetate (0-26.8%). Hierarchical cluster analysis based on the percentages (>0.5%) of the essential oils components was carried out to determine the chemical diversity among the populations studied. The cluster analysis resulted in the identification of four main chemotypes namely: 'camphor + 1,8-cineole', 'mixed', 'cis-thujone' and 'trans-thujone'.

In the present study, the chemical composition of the essential oil from the aerial parts of Anthemis secundiramea Biv. subsp. secundiramea L. collected in Sicily was evaluated by GC and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The main components of A. secundiramea were (Z)-lyratyl acetate (14.6%), (Z)-chrysanthenyl acetate (9.9%), (Z)-chrysanthenol (8.7%) and (E)-chrysanthenyl acetate (7.7%). The comparing with other studied oils of genus Anthemis belonging to the same clade is discussed. Antibacterial and antifungal activities against some micro-organisms infesting historical art craft, were also determined.

Two new monoterpene Ducrosin A (1) and sesquiterpene Ducrosin B (2) were isolated along with three known compounds, stigmasterol (3) and two furanocoumarins (4 and 5), from the dichloromethane extract of the seeds of Ducrosia anethifolia (DC.) Boiss. Their structures were determined using extensive 1D and 2D NMR, (ES)-HRMS and IR spectroscopic analyses and by comparison with literature data. Gas chromatography analysis of the fatty acids (FAs) of D. anethifolia seed oils (DAOs) showed high percentages of elaidic acid (C18:1 Δ9t) 65% and oleic acid (C18:1 Δ9c) 15%. The total tocopherol (tocols) content in DAOs was found to be 164 mg/100 g. The cytotoxic effect of the isolates was also evaluated using the MTT assay against the HCT-116 and SKOV-3 cell lines. The results showed that compound 2 was the most cytotoxic agent followed by compounds 1 and 4, which has an epoxide moiety that most likely contributes to its activity.

Alpha-santalol is a naturally occurring sesquiterpene that is derived from sandalwood oil. Its wide range of health benefits have been attributed to the modulation of various signalling pathways involved in the development of a particular disease. For example, the antitumour and cancer preventive properties of alpha-santalol have been shown to involve cell death induction through apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in various cancer models. A marked decrease in inflammatory markers have also been shown with alpha-santalol administration in skin tissue models. The current review is aimed at bringing the most recent advances of alpha-santalol against various disease-specific models and highlighting its associated mechanistic details.

The present study investigated the essential oil obtained from Campomanesia guazumifolia (Cambess.) O. Berg, an aromatic plant used in Brazilian folk medicine. The chemical composition was performed by GC×GC/qMS. The antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were evaluated by DPPH and BCB and, MIC assays, respectively. Sixty-eight compounds were identified in the oil, where the major compounds were bicyclogermacrene (15%), globulol (5%) and spathulenol (5%). Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (29 compounds) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (20 compounds) were the most representative classes of terpenes. DPPH (IC 50 value 26.1 ± 0.5 μg/mL) and BCB (68.3 ± 1.5%) values indicated a significant antioxidant activity. The essential oil strongly inhibited Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 15 ± 0.1 μg/mL), Escherichia coli (MIC 25 ± 0.2 μg/mL) and Candida albicans (MIC 5 ± 0.1 μg/mL). The results give a deeper understanding of the chemical composition and report for the first time the antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of the C. guazumifolia essential oil.

Physicochemical characteristics and fatty acid composition of Lasiococca comberi Haines (Euphorbiaceae), an endangered forest tree species, were determined for the first time. The oil, protein, crude fibre and carbohydrate contents in seeds were 41.5, 13.8, 22.2 and 11.6%, respectively. The refractive index, pH, specific gravity, saponification value, iodine value, peroxide value and p-anisidine value of seed oil were 1.4781, 6.4, 0.9, 178.4 mg KOH/g, 196 g I 2 /100 g of oil, 5.1 mEq O 2 /kg and 188.4, respectively. The predominant fatty acids were linolenic acid (65.3%), oleic acid (13.8%), linoleic acid (7.1%) and palmitic acid (5.3%). HPLC analysis revealed the presence of α-tocopherol (13.2 mg/100 g) and γ-tocopherol (6.3 mg/100 g) as the major tocopherols. The results indicated that L. comberi seed oil can be classified as drying oil having possible applications in different industries and as an important dietary source of omega-3 fatty acids.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of 0.1% thyme oil (TO), trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC), ferulic acid (FA), p-coumaric acid (p-CA), caffeic acid (CA), lavender essential oil (LO), geranium essential oil (GO) and tee tree oil (TTO) to control biofilms formed by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains. Depending on the strains, TO reduced 59.7-85% of biofilm mass, while TC 52.9-82.4% after 48 h of treatment. Reduction of metabolic activity of biofilms in ranges 79.3-86% and 85.9-88.7% was observed after 48 h of TC and TO of treatment, respectively. In the case of some strains, reduction of biofilm mass in the presence of FA, CA, GO, LO and TTO was not observed. This study showed that TO and TC might have therapeutic potential as an inhibitory agents for use in MRSA biofilm-related infections.

The influence of natural, hot-air and infrared drying on chemical composition and bioactivity of lemon peel essential oil are investigated in this study. The results showed that drying resulted in losses or increases of some components or production of some new substances, but the d-limonene (59.52-70.01%) was found as the main component of essential oil. Drying brought about decreases in the yield, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of essential oil. However, the natural drying had little effect, while the hot-air and infrared drying resulted in significant decreases in these parameters, especially at the higher temperature. The yield was the lowest under hot-air drying (60 °C) and decreased by 78%, while infrared drying (60 °C) sample exhibited the lowest antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Infrared drying was easier to lead to the decrease in bioactivity than hot-air drying at the same temperature. These results provided the theoretical basis for drying lemon peel.

The chemical composition and seasonal variation of the essential oil from the aerial parts of Plectranthus hadiensis grown during the rainy and summer seasons in the Western Ghats of India was analysed by GC-MS technique. The analysis of rainy season oil led to the identification of 31 compounds, representing 96.4% of the essential oil and the winter season oil led to 25 compounds, representing 95.1% of the oil. Most of the compounds were sesquiterpenes and oxygenated monoterpenes. The major components of the rainy season oil were L-fenchone (30.42%), β-farnesene (11.87%), copaene(11.10%), 2,3-dimethyl hydroquinone (10.78%), α-caryophyllene(8.41%) and piperitone oxide (3.94%) and of the summer season oil are L-fenchone (31.55%), copaene(11.93%), β-farnesene (10.45%), 1,8-naphthalenedione, 8a-ethylperhydro (10.06%), α-caryophyllene(6.36%), piperitone oxide (5.79%) and limonene(4.63%). Antibacterial activity of the essential oil of P. hadiensis was tested using zone of inhibition and minimum inhibition concentration methods. Both the oils inhibited the organisms and showed the zone of inhibition in the range of 20-35 mm with MIC values between 32 and 64 mg/dL.

Aiming detection of circadian variation in the chemical composition of volatiles from Piper regnellii, the leaves were collected during four different periods (8, 12, 16 and 20 h) in the same day. After extraction by hydrodistillation and GC/MS analysis, no significant variation was observed for the main compounds: germacrene D (45.6 ± 1.5-51.4 ± 3.1%), α-chamigrene (8.9 ± 1.3-11.3 ± 2.7%) and β-caryophyllene (8.2 ± 0.9-9.5 ± 0.3%). Evaluation of in vitro cytotoxicity against several cancer and non-tumourigenic cells indicated promising activity, especially to HeLa (human cervical carcinoma) with IC 50 ranging from 11 ± 3 to 17 ± 3 μg/mL. The obtained volatile oils were pooled and subjected to fractionation to afford pure β-caryophyllene, α-chamigrene and germacrene D, being this last compound the more active against HeLa cells with IC 50 of 7 ± 1 μg/mL (34 ± 5 μM). Therefore, the predominance of germacrene D in all analysed oils could justify, at least in part, the activity observed for the volatile compounds from P. regnellii leaves.

Extraction of oil from Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss seeds using supercritical carbon dioxide was designed using central composite design to evaluate the effect of various operating parameters including pressure, temperature, particle size and extraction time on the oil yield. Maximum extraction yield predicted from response surface method was 71.53% under the process conditions with pressure of 220 bar, temperature of 35 °C, particle diameter of 0.61 mm and extraction time of 130 min. Furthermore, broken and intact cells model was utilised to consider mass transfer kinetics of extracted natural materials. The results revealed that the model had a good agreement with the experimental data. The oil samples obtained via supercritical and solvent extraction methods were analysed by gas chromatography. The most abundant acid was linolenic acid. The results analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the fatty acid contents of the oils obtained by the supercritical and solvent extraction techniques.

The chemical constituents identified in the essential oils hydrodistilled from the leaves of Amomum gagnepainii T.L.Wu, K.Larsen and Turland and Amomum repoense Pierre ex Gagnep (Zingiberaceae) of Vietnam origin are reported. The chemical analyses were performed by means of gas chromatography-flame ionisation detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main compounds of A. gagnepainii were farnesyl acetate (18.5%), zerumbone (16.4%) and β-caryophyllene (10.5%). On the other hand, Amomum repoense comprised of monoterpenes dominated by β-pinene (33.5%), (E)-β-ocimene (9.6%), γ-terpinene (9.1%) and α-pinene (8.4%). This is the first report on the essential oils of A. gagnepainii and A. repoense grown in Vietnam or elsewhere.

Oil extraction from onion was performed by steam distillation. Response surface methodology was applied to evaluate the effects of ratio of water to raw material, extraction time, zymolysis temperature and distillation times on yield of onion oil. The maximum extraction yield (1.779%) was obtained as following conditions: ratio of water to raw material was 1, extraction time was 2.5 h, zymolysis temperature was 36° and distillation time was 2.6 h. The experimental values agreed well with those predicted by regression model. The chemical composition of extracted onion oil under the optimum conditions was analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technology. The results showed that sulphur compounds, like alkanes, sulphide, alkenes, ester and alcohol, were the major components of onion oil.

Sarcopoterium spinosum fruits have been used to get extracts of different nature; two fixed oils were obtained by means of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with CO 2 at 250 bar and 40°C and using n-hexane in a Soxhlet extraction (SE) apparatus. Aqueous solutions: an aromatic water (AW) and a residual water (RW) were obtained by hydrodistillation (HD). In the RW, following have been identified: quercetin glucuronide, luteolin 7-O-glucuronide, isorhamnetin 3-O-glucuronide, quercetin sulfate and quercetin. Among all tested plant extracts, the RW had the highest content of polyphenol (378 mg GAE/g of weight) and of flavonoids (26 mg QE/g of weight), and the highest antioxidant activity, comparable to that of Trolox. It was also the most active extract of this series (IC 50  = 0.292 mg/mL) in the tyrosinase activity assays performed with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) as substrate.

This study was designed to evaluate the antifungal activity of Foeniculum vulgare essential oil; concomitantly, the safety of bioactive doses was also unveiled, for the first time, in several mammalian cells. The chemical characterisation was made by GC and GC-MS. Antifungal activity was evaluated against yeasts, dermatophytes and Aspergillus strains and germ tube inhibition assay was evaluated using Candida albicans. Cell viability was assessed by the MTT assay. The main constituents of the oil are E-anetol (47%), α-phellandrene (11%), α-pinene (10.1%) and fenchone (10.8%). The oil was more active against Cryptococcus neoformans and C. albicans (MICs 0.32-0.64 μL/mL) and the filamentation of C. albicans was totally inhibited with 0.08 μL/mL. The oil is safe for keratinocytes, hepatocytes and fibroblasts in concentrations up to 1.25 μL/mL, and to macrophages up to 0.64 μL/mL. These findings highlight safe bioactive concentrations that should be deeper investigated for further application in pharmaceutical industry.

Commercial thyme and lavender essential oils were analysed by GC/MS. Sixty-six compounds accounting for 98.6-99.6% of total essential oil were identified. Thymol (52.14 ± 0.21%), followed by p-cymene (32.24 ± 0.16%), carvacrol (3.71 ± 0.01%) and γ-terpinene (3.34 ± 0.02%), were the main compounds in thyme essential oil, while large amounts of oxygenated monoterpenes linalool acetate (37.07 ± 0.24%) and linalool (30.16 ± 0.06%) were found in lavender one. In vitro antifungal activity of the essential oils was evaluated at 200 and 300 μg/mL against 10 phytopathogenic and post-harvest fungi, which significantly affect agriculture. Micelial growth inhibition was calculated for each tested fungus and dose. Thyme essential oil showed satisfactory results with 90-100% growth inhibition in almost all the assayed fungi at 300 μg/mL, while lavender essential oil showed no noteworthy inhibition data at either dose, and its growth was even enhanced. Thyme essential oil represents a natural alternative to control harvest and post-harvest fungi, and to extend the shelf-life of agriculture products.

The first phytochemical investigation of the aerial parts of Bituminaria basaltica, an endemic species from the Aeolian Islands, led to the isolation and identification of eight compounds including plicatin B (3), two furanocoumarins: angelicin (1), psoralen (2), three pterocarpans: erybraedin C (4), 3,9-dihydroxy-4-isoprenyl-pterocarpan (5), bitucarpin A (8) and two flavonoid glycosides: isoorientin (6), daidzin (7). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscospic techniques and compared with data reported in the literature. Sesquiterpenes characterised the essential oil composition of the title plant where β-caryophyllene and germacrene D were the main constituents.

The separately distilled flowers (F) and leaves' (L) essential oils of Inula britannica L. were investigated using capillary gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 83 constituents, representing 96.91% (F) and 96.73% (L) of the total oils, were registered. The oils were rich in terpenoids (57.85% and 77.28%), of which sesquiterpenoids dominated. The main constituents of the essential oils were viridiflorol (7.17%-8.20%) and himachalol (3.45%-8.71%) followed by 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-pentadecanone (5.43%-2.95%), 13-tetradecanolide (3.93%-4.87%) and 3-methyl-4-propyl-2,5-furandione (4.06%-0.29%).