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Seventy-nine species and three hybrids of Labiatae have been examined for the presence of betaines, which were isolated from and characterised for all the plants tested in six of the eight subfamilies (Ajugoideae, Teucrioideae, Viticoideae, Lamioideae, Pogostemonoideae and Scutellarioideae). However, unlike the Lamioideae, all species of which had relatively high betaine levels, those members tested of the other major subfamily, the Nepetoideae, either gave low betaine yields or these compounds were not detected. The three species examined representing the Chloanthoideae contained compounds which reacted with Dragendorff's reagent, but their structures could not be determined because of the small quantities isolated. The betaines found in different species of the same genus were very similar, supporting the view that these compounds have taxonomic significance at the generic level.

The essential steps of displacement thin-layer chromatography and its applications for separation of ecdysteroids are outlined. Finding adequate conditions of displacement thin-layer chromatography for plant ecdysteroids is detailed including the optimisation of mobile phase composition, mobile phase flow rate, and preelution before displacement development. Application of preelution before displacement chromatography has an importance in the case of planar chromatography, both exploring and achieving the displacement separations by HPLC.

Sage (Salvia officinalis L., Lamiaceae) is a common medicinal and aromatic plant widely used in foods and in herbal medicinal products. Aerial parts of this plant were gathered in July 1999 in the Botanical Garden of the Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Vacratot, Hungary (VBI), where a voucher specimen (L 963/A) has been retained in the Herbarium.

The chloroform extract of Asclepias syriaca stem were investigated. Three triterpenes were isolated by TLC, VLC, and preparative chromatography, and their structures established by one and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. Lupenyl acetate has been isolated for the first time from A. syriaca; this is thefirst representative of a triterpene bearing a lupane skeleton in this species. In addition, alpha-amyrin acetate and alpha-amyrin butyrate were isolated.

Although Artemisia gmelinii Webb. ex Stechm. has long been used in south and south-east Asia to treat many kinds of inflammatory diseases, up until now its bioactivity-coupled phytochemical characterization has not been reported. We identified one fraction of the methanolic extract of A. gmelinii as a hit in our antioxidant screening (DPPH) campaign. In order to identify the active radical scavenger components of the extract, a DPPH-HPLC spiking assay was carried out. Out of six detected known compounds caffeic acid (1) and scopoletin (4) had already been identified in the plant, but four of them, namely chlorogenic acid (2), 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid (3), luteolin-7-O-glucoside (5), and apigenin-7-O-glucoside (6) are first described here. Moreover, the two most active compounds of the mixture, 3,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid (7) and its ethyl ester derivative (8) were isolated with preparative HPLC. The spectroscopic identification of 7 and 8 presented a surprising challenge due to literature ambiguities. These questions are discussed in detail.

The root and leaf essential oils, present in trace amounts in Amsonia illustris Woods. (Apocynaceae), were isolated by steam distillation and their chemical constituents identified by GC-FID and GC-MS. More than 80% of the thirty volatile compounds in the leaf oil were identified, the major constituents being mainly sesquiterpenes like a-humulene (14.5%), beta-caryophyllene (12.4%) and guaiol (11.6%). The volatile ingredients of the root oil were pinocampheol, methyl salicylate, (2E,4E)- decadienal, eugenol and trans-isoeugenol.

The antiinflammatory activities of aqueous extracts prepared from the aerial parts of ten Hungarian Stachys species were investigated in vivo in the carrageenan-induced paw oedema test after intraperitoneal and oral administration to rats. Some of the extracts were found to display significant antiphlogistic effects when administered intraperitoneally and orally; in particular, the extracts of S. alpina, S. germanica, S. officinalis and S. recta demonstrated high activity following intraperitoneal administration. At the same dose of 5.0 mg/kg, these extracts exhibited similar or greater potency than that of the positive control diclofenac-Na. The main iridoids present in the investigated extracts, ajugoside, aucubin, acetylharpagide, harpagide and harpagoside, were also assayed in the same test, and high dose-dependent antiphlogistic effects were recorded for aucubin and harpagoside. These results led to the conclusion that most probably iridoids are responsible for the antiinflammatory effect of Stachys species, but other active constituents or their synergism must also be implicated in the antiinflammatory effect.

The protective effects of eleven Salvia species native to Europe against enzyme-dependent and enzyme-independent lipid peroxidation were evaluated. The 50% aqueous methanolic extracts of the leaves of all tested plants were found to be more effective than the positive control alpha-tocopherol acid succinate. The extracts of S. candelabrum, S. ringens, S. tomentosa, S. nemorosa, and S. glutinosa displayed considerable concentration-dependent antioxidative effects that were comparable to those of the medicinal and aromatic plant S. officinalis. The concentrations of flavonoids, hydroxycinnamic acids and total phenolic compounds in each extract were quantified with the aim of clarifying the connection between activity and chemical composition.

The antioxidant effects of aqueous methanolic extracts from three medicinal Lamiaceae species were investigated in enzyme-dependent and enzyme-independent lipid peroxidation systems. All these extracts caused a considerable concentration-dependent inhibition of lipid peroxidation. Phenolic components present in the plant extracts were evaluated for antioxidant activity and were found effective in both tests. Their concentrations in each extract were determined by TLC-densitometry.

Aqueous and organic extracts of 25 selected species from four tribes of Hungarian Asteraceae were screened in vitro for antiproliferative activity against HeLa (cervix epithelial adenocarcinoma), A431 (skin epidermoid carcinoma) and MCF7 (breast epithelial adenocarcinoma) cells, using the MTT assay. Twenty five of the 228 tested extracts from different parts of the species of Astereae (6), Inuleae (3), Heliantheae (5) and Anthemideae (11) demonstrated a substantial antiproliferative effect (at least 50% inhibition of cell proliferation) at 10 microg/mL against one or more of the cell lines. Complete dose-response curves were generated and IC(50) values were calculated for these active extracts, and their direct cytotoxic effects were determined. In summary, 11 of the tested 25 plants were found to be active and 4 of them (Anthemis ruthenica, Erigeron canadensis, Erigeron annuus and Inula ensifolia) had not been studied previously for either active compounds or anticancer properties.

Aconitum species accumulate highly toxic diterpene alkaloids, which have attracted considerable interest because of their complex structure, interesting chemistry and noteworthy physiological effects. The authors carried out phytochemical analysis of two Aconitum species native to the Carpathian Basin, aiming the isolation of diterpene alkaloids. The multistep chromatographic purification of the extracts of A. vulparia whole plant and A. toxicum root resulted in the isolation of 16 alkaloids. Structure elucidation by means of spectroscopic investigations revealed the presence of 3 (acovulparine, vulparine, acotoxinine) new and 13 already known compounds (anthranoyllycoctonine, delectinine, delcosine, finetiadine, lycoctonine, N-methyl-N-deethyllycocotine, septentriodine, aconitine, aconosine, dolaconine, neoline, songorine, songo-ramine). Alkaloids isolated from A. vulparia are C19 diterpene alkaloids possessing aconitane skeleton, whilst from A. toxicum two C20 diterpene alkaloids with napelline and five diterpene alkaloids with aconitane skeleton were identified. The pharmacological testing of the majority of the isolated compounds has not been reported in the literature yet. Since some of the diterpene alkaloids are structurally very similar to compounds which were active in different in vitro or in vivo experiments, the pharmacological testing of the alkaloids reported in this article seems to be reasonable. The investigation of the compounds may help to reveal structure-activity relationships as well.

Comparative studies on the volatile and non-volatile fractions of 6 species. i.e. Salvia officinalis, S. tomentosa, S. fruticosa, S. candelabrum, S. ringens, S. lavandulifolia of the Section Salvia (Lamiaceae) have been carried out. Both fractions provide the chemical pattern matches to the chemotaxonomic character of Subfamily Nepetoideae in Erdtmanr two subfamiliar system. S. lavandulifolia had the highest essential oil content, followed by S. fruticosa, S. tomentosa, S. officinalis and S. candelabrum. S. ringens contains volatile oil only in traces. The neurotoxin thujone content was the highest in the S. officinalis oils and in that of S. fruticosa. No thujone was detected in S. lavandulifolia. The other species, e.g.: S. tomentosa contain this compound only in moderate concentrations (less than 10%). Among the non-volatile fractions of the plant ingredients the triterpene ursolic and oleanolic acids had the highest concentration in the leaves. Despite some rare cases, ursolic acid dominates the tritepene fraction. Rosmarinic and caffeic acids were measured in similar concentrations, in all species. As the case of S. officinalis shows, these compounds vary significantly in all organs during the vegetation period. Caffeic acid is also ubiquitous in the genus Salvia but as our data suggest it occurs in an order of magnitude lower concentration than rosmarinic acid. The isolation of phenylethanolid martynoside, though obtained in a rather small concentration, is of great chemotaxonomic significance, as this is the first phenylethanolid type glycoside isolated not only from the Salvia genus but also from the entire Subfamily Nepetoideae. As pheylethanolids are rather common and accumulate in significant concentrations in plants of the Subfamily Lamioideae, our opinion that the chemical differences between the two subfamilies are less qualititative than quantitative, is confirmed. This holds true of other chemical markers like monoterpenes, ursolic and oleanolic acids, caffeic acid and now phenylethanolids. Diterpenes i.e. 7-methyl carnosoate, rosmanol 7- methylether, sageon from S. officinalis, 7alpha-acetoyroyleanone, 7alpha-hydroxyroyleanone, royleanone, 6,7-dehydroroyleanone from S. tomentosa and candesalvoquinone, candelabroquinone, 12-O-methylcandesalvone, candesalvone B methyl ester and candelabrone have been isolated from Salvia candelabrum. All of the compounds belong to the abietane type of diterpenoids and have pronounced antioxidant effect.

A new lathyrane diterpene (1) has been isolated and characterized from a CH2Cl2 extract of the roots of Euphorbia lathyris. Detailed spectral analysis revealed that the structure of 1, including relative stereochemistry, is that of a diester of a hitherto unknown, polyfunctional diterpene parent alcohol.

Sidisterone (1), the first C24 ecdysteroid, has been isolated from two species of the Caryophyllaceae in the genus Silene (S. dioica and S. otites) and identified through 1H-, 13C-, and multidimensional NMR and molecular modeling techniques.

The new diterpenoids, candesalvoquinone, 12-0-methylcandesalvone B, candesalvone B methyl ester with the 3,4-secoabietane skeleton, and candelabroquinone with the abietane skeleton were isolated from the aerial parts of Salvia candelabrum, together with the known compound candelabrone. The structures were established by mass spectroscopy and advanced two-dimensional NMR methods, including 1 H-NMR, JMOD, 1 H- 1 H COSY, HSQC, HMBC and NDESY experiments.

A new natural compound, 9alpha,20-dihydroxyecdysone (1), and two known related compounds, 20-hydroxyecdysone and ecdysone, were isolated from the herb Silene italica ssp. nemoralis. Compound 1 is the first C-9 hydroxylated ecdysteroid with a cis-fused A/B ring junction to have been isolated from a plant source, and its structure was determined using a combination of spectroscopic techniques.

A new norditerpene alkaloid was isolated, 18-demethylpubescenine (1), in addition to four known compounds, 14-demethyltuguaconitine (2), takaosamine (3), gigactonine (4), and delcosine (5), from fresh, whole plants of Consolida orientalis. The structure of 1 was established by spectroscopic methods, including various 2D NMR techniques and HRESIMS. As a result of a detailed NMR study, complete 1H NMR chemical shift assignments for alkaloids 1-5 are presented herein, and some 13C NMR signal assignments for 2-4 have been revised.

Two minor plant ecdysteroids, 22-epi-20-hydroxyecdysone (1) and gerardiasterone (2), were isolated from Serratula tinctoria L. (Compositae). The first compound, a new natural product, was characterized by an unusual stereochemistry at C-22 (i.e., 22S). The second compound was identified as (20R,23S)-20,23-dihydroxyecdysone, a compound previously isolated from the Zooanthid Gerardia savaglia.

The object of our work was the identification and quantification of inorganic elements in Ginkgo biloba L. leaves (Ginkgonis folium, Ginkgoaceae) by X-ray fluorescence analysis. The plant material was obtained from a 50-years-old female tree at the Comenius University Botanical Garden (Bratislava, Slovakia). Leaves were collected from early May to late September, with the last sample consisting of fallen leaves. The elements analyzed were: phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, calcium, scandium, iron, zinc, yttrium, molybdenum, tellurium, samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, iridium, thallium and lead. The amounts of the monitored heavy metals were below the limits specified in Ph. Eur. 7 and PhS 1.

The chloroform extract of Asclepias syriaca stem were investigated. Three triterpenes were isolated by TLC, VLC, and preparative chromatography, and their structures established by one and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. Lupenyl acetate has been isolated for the first time from A. syriaca; this is the first representative of a triterpene bearing a lupane skeleton in this species. In addition, α-amyrin acetate and α-amyrin butyrate were isolated.

The hydrodistilled essential oil obtained by steam distillation of the aerial parts of Teucrium stocksianum Boiss., collected in the United Arab Emirates, was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Forty-one components were identified, but the major compounds were α-cadinol (12.0–14.6%) and δ-cadinene (12.4–13.8%).

The cytotoxic activities of the n-hexane, chloroform and aqueous methanolic fractions prepared from the methanolic extract of the leaves of 23 Salvia taxa were studied for their cell growth-inhibitory activity against human cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa), skin carcinoma (A431) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) cells using the MTT assay. The n-hexane fractions of six Salvia taxa (S. hispanica, S. nemorosa, S. nemorosa l. albiflora, S. pratensis, S. recognita and S. ringens) and the chloroform fraction of S. officinalis l. albiflora produced over 50% growth inhibition of the skin carcinoma cell line. None of the tested extracts showed substantial (above 50%) antiproliferative effects against HeLa and MCF7 cells. S. ringens was the most powerful among the studied Salvia species with a 61.8% cell growth inhibitory activity on A431 cells. In the case of S. ringens, other plant parts were also tested for antiproliferative effect, and the highest activities were recorded for the root extract. This was subjected to bioactivity-guided fractionation, which yielded four abietane diterpenes (royleanone, horminone, 7- O-methyl-horminone and 7-acetyl-horminone), one triterpene (erythrodiol-3-acetate) and β-sitosterol. Horminone, 7-acetyl-horminone and erythrodiol-3-acetate displayed marked concentration-dependent antiproliferative effects, while royleanone and 7 -O-methyl-horminone produced weaker activities.

The root and leaf essential oils, present in trace amounts in Amsonia illustris Woods. (Apocynaceae), were isolated by steam distillation and their chemical constituents identified by GC-FID and GC-MS. More than 80% of the thirty volatile compounds in the leaf oil were identified, the major constituents being mainly sesquiterpenes like α-humulene (14.5%), β-caryophyllene (12.4%) and guaiol (11.6%). The volatile ingredients of the root oil were pinocampheol, methyl salicylate, (2 E,4 E)- decadienal, eugenol and trans-isoeugenol.

The essential oil of Pulicaria glutinosa Jaub. was examined by GC and GC/MS. The oil was characterized by its high proportion of sesquiterpenes. Of the 37 components detected, the most abundant were β-elemene (11.8–16.4%), τ-cadinol (12.4–14.2%) and α-cadinol (8.4–10.5%). Minor differences were detected between the oils isolated from samples collected in different years.

Ascophyllum nodosum, and to a lesser extent, Laminaria digitata, L. hyperborea and Fucus serratus, are marine algal species utilized in the commercial production of seaweed extracts used in agriculture. Betaines have been shown to be important constituents of these extracts, but there appears to have been no study made on whether there are variations in the betaine contents of these species based on either the place or date of collection. Samples of each of the four species were collected from widely separated areas at different times of the year. Also, in the case of A. nodosum, approximately monthly collections were made from one location. The betaines detected in the various collections of the same species showed little variation, although in the case of A. nodosum, glycinebetaine was found as a minor constituent in some samples, but was not detected in others. Trigonelline was found in all the tested samples of the two Laminaria species; this is, to our knowledge, the first record of this betaine in marine algae. With the exception of trigonelline in the Laminaria species, the betaine yields from the various samples of L. digitata, L. hyperborea and F. serratus showed little variation, regardless of either the place or date of collection. The trigonelline contents of the Laminaria species collected at one location (Finavarra, Ireland), in particular of L. hyperborea, was substantially greater than those from the other places of collection. In the case of A. nodosum, the betaine yields from samples collected at one site (Dale, Pembrokeshire, UK) were significantly higher than those from the other places of collection, which were very similar to each other. There was no clear indication of seasonal variation in betaine yields from A. nodosum.

The essential oils of four lines of Origanum vulgare L. subsp. hirtum (Link) Ietswaart cultivated in Hungary were analysed by GC and GC-MS methods. These oils were found to contain carvacrol, γ-terpinene and p-cymene as main constituents. The antimicrobial activities of the various oils and their authentic individual components were tested on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, two Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and two Candida albicans strains. No difference in sensitivity was found between Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis and the yeast strains tested, but there were marked differences in sensitivity between the proton pump-deficient mutant of E. coli and its wild type as regards the growth inhibition and MIC values.

The analysis of the essential oil of Lasiocephalus longipenicillatus by GC-MS, yielded α-pinene (48.3%), α-humulene (15.8%) and germacrene-D (15.5%) as major constituents. The essential oil showed a strong antibacterial activity against important human pathogenic bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis.

From the aerial parts of Galium verum in flower, asperuloside and V 1 iridoid were isolated. From the mother liquor obtained on recrystallizatio