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Blumea balsamifera L. essential oil (EO) has been known for its diverse antimicrobial activities. This study aimed to determine the antibacterial activity of Blumea balsamifera EO against two strains of pathogenic bacteria (Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae) through in vitro and in silico methods. The phytochemical screening of the EO and other physicochemical properties (DFT, ADMET, and drug-likeness) were determined using standard protocols. In vitro results show that the EO possesses promising antibacterial properties with inhibition zone diameters (IZDs) of 10 ± 2 and 18 ± 2 mm, respectively, for S. pyogenes and S. pneumoniae; MICs 2.50 and 1.25 μL.mL-1; MBC/MIC ratios 1 and 2. GC-MS characterization of the EO identified 17 constituents (1-17). The binding affinity of the compounds against the target proteins are in the following order: 16-P0C0C7 (-9.4 kcal.mol-1) > 4-P0C0C7 (-9.3 kcal.mol-1) > 15-P0C0C7 ≈ 17-P0C0C7 (-9.2 kcal.mol-1); 3-Q8DQF8 (-9.0 kcal.mol-1) > 4-Q8DQF8 (-8.9 kcal.mol-1) > 15-Q8DQF8 (-8.7 kcal.mol-1); 16-6LU7 (-9.0 kcal.mol-1) ≈ 17-6LU7 (-9.1 kcal.mol-1). The phytochemicals potentiality derived from quantum calculation were 3 (3.40 Debye), 15 (2.47 Debye), and 5 (2.03 Debye). The suitability for physicochemical and pharmacokinetic applications was assessed via reference to Lipinski's rule of five and Pires' interpretations, respectively. The analysis shows that (+)-2-Bornanone (3; 58.00 %) was the primary bioactive component responsible for the observable antibacterial activities given by its predominant content and favorable predictions. Compound 3 could further be investigated for its antibacterial activity by isolating and characterizing its pure form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyphenols are ubiquitous plant metabolites that demonstrate biological activities essential to plant–environment interactions. They are of interest to plant food consumers, as well as to the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. The class of the plant metabolites comprises both widespread (chlorogenic acids, luteolin, quercetin) and unique compounds of diverse chemical structures but of the common biosynthetic origin. Polyphenols next to sesquiterpenoids are regarded as the major class of the Inuleae-Inulinae metabolites responsible for the pharmacological activity of medicinal plants from the subtribe (Blumea spp., Dittrichia spp., Inula spp., Pulicaria spp. and others). Recent decades have brought a rapid development of molecular and analytical techniques which resulted in better understanding of the taxonomic relationships within the Inuleae tribe and in a plethora of data concerning the chemical constituents of the Inuleae-Inulinae. The current taxonomical classification has introduced changes in the well-established botanical names and rearranged the genera based on molecular plant genetic studies. The newly created chemical data together with the earlier phytochemical studies may provide some complementary information on biochemical relationships within the subtribe. Moreover, they may at least partly explain pharmacological activities of the plant preparations traditionally used in therapy. The current review aimed to systematize the knowledge on the polyphenols of the Inulae-Inulinae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential oils from plants have been widely used in the prevention and treatment of numerous human diseases in many parts of the world for thousands of years.. Plants of the genus Blumea comprise about 80 species and are distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and Oceania; thirty of which are distributed in the southern provinces of China. The genus has been used locally in the treatment of bronchitis, blood diseases, fevers, and to alleviate a burning sensation. Over the last years, Blumea species have attracted great interest due to the variety of their essential oils, bioactive compounds, and pharmacological activities. This work provides comprehensive information regarding the essential oils from Blumea species concerning their medicinal uses, chemical composition, and bioactivities. The relevant information about the genus Blumea was gathered through electronic databases from 1989 to 2022, including Pubmed, SciFinder, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. Based on existing studies of the genus Blumea, a total of eighteen species have been reported on the composition of the essential oil. The essential oils are mainly composed of β-caryophyllene, germacrene D, and borneol as the most abundant components. Moreover, essential oils also possess a wide spectrum of pharmacology such as larvicidal, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxicity, and fumigant toxicity. As a source of traditional folk medicine, the Blumea genus has high medicinal value, and they are widely used in medicine. Therefore, further systematic, and comprehensive research on the genus Blumea is still required to provide a scientific basis for its clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. (Asteraceae) has been a traditional therapeutic method for centuries, yet limited research has addressed its potential toxicity. This study aims to evaluate the in vivo toxicity of ethanol extract from Blumea balsamifera leaves (EEBB) through acute and sub-chronic toxicity tests in mice. In the acute test, single doses of EEBB (1000, 3000, and 5000 mg/kg) were orally administered and monitored for 14 days, extended to 42 days (satellite treatments). Subchronic toxicity involved EEBB doses (100, 300, and 5000 mg/kg) administered for 90 days, with further monitoring up to day 118 (satellite treatments). Results, EEBB contained various phytochemical compounds, including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, and terpenoids, etc. No clinical abnormalities were observed in both acute and sub-chronic toxicity experiments. However, a significant increase in body weight and weight gain was consistently noted in the experiments (p < 0.05), and food and water consumption were affected upon EEBB exposure (p < 0.05). After an extended observation period (42 and 118 days), alterations in hematological parameters (p > 0.05), biochemical evaluations (p > 0.05), urine composition (p > 0.05), relative organ weights (p > 0.05), and tissue structure in the heart, liver, and kidneys of satellite treatments with EEBB returned to normal. Despite initial observations of some transient adverse effects, the body appeared to adapt over time, resulting in no significant long-term changes (p < 0.05). These findings suggest the safety and potential benefits of the B. balsamifera leaf extract in mitigating potential adverse effects associated with its use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyphenols are ubiquitous plant metabolites that demonstrate biological activities essential to plant–environment interactions. They are of interest to plant food consumers, as well as to the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. The class of the plant metabolites comprises both widespread (chlorogenic acids, luteolin, quercetin) and unique compounds of diverse chemical structures but of the common biosynthetic origin. Polyphenols next to sesquiterpenoids are regarded as the major class of the Inuleae-Inulinae metabolites responsible for the pharmacological activity of medicinal plants from the subtribe (Blumea spp., Dittrichia spp., Inula spp., Pulicaria spp. and others). Recent decades have brought a rapid development of molecular and analytical techniques which resulted in better understanding of the taxonomic relationships within the Inuleae tribe and in a plethora of data concerning the chemical constituents of the Inuleae-Inulinae. The current taxonomical classification has introduced changes in the well-established botanical names and rearranged the genera based on molecular plant genetic studies. The newly created chemical data together with the earlier phytochemical studies may provide some complementary information on biochemical relationships within the subtribe. Moreover, they may at least partly explain pharmacological activities of the plant preparations traditionally used in therapy. The current review aimed to systematize the knowledge on the polyphenols of the Inulae-Inulinae.

The pollen morphology of 20 species from Blumea and Cyathocline Cass. was investigated using a light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to explore their taxonomic significance. This study showed that pollen grains of these species were usually tricolporate, rarely tetracolporate (B. sinuata). Nine pollen types were distinguishable through the exine sculpture characters and the number of apertures. It was easily distinguished Cyathocline from species of Blumea s. str. by its much smaller size (15.04 μm × 15.07 μm) and sparse and longer spines (24 spines, spine length 4.23 μm) with acute apex, which suggest that C. purpurea might not belong to the genus Blumea s. str. The palynological characteristics indicated that Section Macrophllae and Section Paniculatae of Blumea were not monophyletic groups. The pollen morphology differentiation of B. lacera clade is consistent with the interspecific relationship revealed by the molecular phylogenetic tree. However, the pollen morphology of the Blumea densiflora clade is inconsistent with the interspecific relationship based on molecular phylogenetic analysis. This palynology research can only partly support the previously published molecular phylogeny of Blumea s. str. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences from the plastid gene ndhF from a large number of species of the Asteraceae tribe Inuleae reveal the need for some taxonomic and nomenclatural changes. The genera Laggera, Pentanema and Pluchea as presently understood are all polyphyletic. It is concluded that the old name Vicoa should be used for three species of Pentanema, and a new species of the genus is described. Two species of Cyathocline (previously recognized as a genus in the tribe Astereae) are confirmed to be close to Blumea of the Inuleae–Inulinae and are included here in the latter genus, requiring a new combination. The new genus Galgera, sister to Antiphiona, is described for a former Laggera species. Citation: Anderberg A. A. & Bengtson A. 2022: Taxonomic novelties in the Asteraceae–Inuleae with the description of a new genus, Galgera separate from Laggera. – Willdenowia 52: 373–386. Version of record first published online on 27 December 2022 ahead of inclusion in December 2022 issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollen morphology of 20 species from Blumea and Cyathocline Cass. was investigated using a light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to explore their taxonomic significance. This study showed that pollen grains of these species were usually tricolporate, rarely tetracolporate (B. sinuata). Nine pollen types were distinguishable through the exine sculpture characters and the number of apertures. It was easily distinguished Cyathocline from species of Blumea s. str. by its much smaller size (15.04 μm × 15.07 μm) and sparse and longer spines (24 spines, spine length 4.23 μm) with acute apex, which suggest that C. purpurea might not belong to the genus Blumea s. str. The palynological characteristics indicated that Section Macrophllae and Section Paniculatae of Blumea were not monophyletic groups. The pollen morphology differentiation of B. lacera clade is consistent with the interspecific relationship revealed by the molecular phylogenetic tree. However, the pollen morphology of the Blumea densiflora clade is inconsistent with the interspecific relationship based on molecular phylogenetic analysis. This palynology research can only partly support the previously published molecular phylogeny of Blumea s. str.

Abstract The genus Blumea (Asteroideae, Asteraceae) comprises about 100 species, including herbs, shrubs, and small trees. Previous studies have been unable to resolve taxonomic issues and the phylogeny of the genus Blumea due to the low polymorphism of molecular markers. Therefore, suitable polymorphic regions need to be identified. Here, we de novo assembled plastomes of the three Blumea species B. oxyodonta, B. tenella, and B. balsamifera and compared them with 26 other species of Asteroideae after correction of annotations. These species have quadripartite plastomes with similar gene content, genome organization, and inverted repeat contraction and expansion comprising 113 genes, including 80 protein‐coding, 29 transfer RNA, and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. The comparative analysis of codon usage, amino acid frequency, microsatellite repeats, oligonucleotide repeats, and transition and transversion substitutions has revealed high resemblance among the newly assembled species of Blumea. We identified 10 highly polymorphic regions with nucleotide diversity above 0.02, including rps16‐trnQ, ycf1, ndhF‐rpl32, petN‐psbM, and rpl32‐trnL, and they may be suitable for the development of robust, authentic, and cost‐effective markers for barcoding and inference of the phylogeny of the genus Blumea. Among these highly polymorphic regions, five regions also co‐occurred with oligonucleotide repeats and support use of repeats as a proxy for the identification of polymorphic loci. The phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship between Blumea and Pluchea within the tribe Inuleae. At tribe level, our phylogeny supports a sister relationship between Astereae and Anthemideae rooted as Gnaphalieae, Calenduleae, and Senecioneae. These results are contradictory to recent studies which reported a sister relationship between “Senecioneae and Anthemideae” and “Astereae and Gnaphalieae” or a sister relationship between Astereae and Gnaphalieae rooted as Calenduleae, Anthemideae, and then Senecioneae using nuclear genome sequences. The conflicting phylogenetic signals observed at the tribal level between plastidt and nuclear genome data require further investigation.

Borneol is a precious monoterpenoid with two chiral structures, (-)-borneol and (+)-borneol. Bornyl diphosphate synthase is the key enzyme in the borneol biosynthesis pathway. Many (+)-bornyl diphosphate synthases have been reported, but no (-)-bornyl diphosphate synthases have been identified. Blumea balsamifera leaves are rich in borneol, almost all of which is (-)-borneol. In this study, we identified a high-efficiency (-)-bornyl diphosphate synthase (BbTPS3) from B. balsamifera that converts geranyl diphosphate (GPP) to (-)-bornyl diphosphate, which is then converted to (-)-borneol after dephosphorylation in vitro. BbTPS3 exhibited a Km value of 4.93 ± 1.38 μM for GPP, and the corresponding kcat value was 1.49 s-1. Multiple strategies were applied to obtain a high-yielding (-)-borneol producing yeast strain. A codon-optimized BbTPS3 protein was introduced into the GPP high-yield strain MD, and the resulting MD-B1 strain produced 1.24 mg•L-1 (-)-borneol. After truncating the N-terminus of BbTPS3 and adding a Kozak sequence, the (-)-borneol yield was further improved by 4-fold to 4.87 mg•L-1. Moreover, the (-)-borneol yield was improved by expressing the fusion protein module of ERG20F96W-N127WYRSQI- t14-BbTPS3K2, resulting in a final yield of 12.68 mg•L-1 in shake flasks and 148.59 mg•L-1 in a 5-L bioreactor. This work is the first reported attempt to produce (-)-borneol by microbial fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer continues to be a disease that is difficult to cure and the current therapeutic regimen is associated with severe side effects and the issue of emerging drug resistance. According to the World Health Organization fact sheet 2017, cancer is the second major cause of morbidity and death and a 70% rise in new cases is expected over the next 20 years. The quest for new anticancer chemical entities is a thrust area identified by many government agencies and industry research and development groups. Nature‐derived entities have played a very important role in therapeutics especially cancer Asteraceae is a large family consisting of around 1700 genera and more than 24,000 species. Several genera belonging to this family have ethnopharmacological uses such as cytotoxicity, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective and antioxidant. This review highlights the cytotoxic potential of structurally novel flavonoids and sesquiterpenes isolated from some selected species of Asteraceae plants native to Asia, Europe, parts of Africa and America. The existing literature suggests that sesquiterpenes and flavonoids from various species of Asteraceae represent a viable class of secondary metabolites with strong cytotoxic potential. These have demonstrated potent activity in cell cycle arrest, inhibition of neoangiogenesis and induction of apoptosis. The sesquiterpenoids exhibiting potent cytotoxic activity were found to contain an α‐ methylene‐butyrolactone conjugated with an exomethylene group and the flavonoids obtained from various plant species of Blumea suggest that a dihydroxy ring system present in structure is essential for activity. Most of the published literature contains in vitro data of extracts/secondary metabolites with very few in vivo studies. Additionally, there is dearth of knowledge on mechanisms of cytotoxic activity and molecular targets impacted by the active secondary metabolites. This review hopes to fuel interest in researchers to take up detailed investigations on these scaffolds that could contribute significantly as potential leads in anticancer drug development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the morphology of Leydig cells in hyperlipidemic wistar rats after having administered with sembung (Blumea balsamifera) extract orally. This study utilised a randomized post-test only control group design. The sample in this study were 16 adult male wistar rats (Rattus novergicus) aged 3-4 months with a body weight of 150-200 grams, which were equally and randomly divided into two groups, namely control group (hyperlipidaemia and sterile aquadest) and treatment group (hyperlipidaemia and sembung leaf extract). Hyperlipidaemia was induced with lard administration for 50 days. Data were analysed statistically using the Independent t-test. The results showed that the number of Leydig cells in the treatment group was higher than the control group with 68.13 ± 1.89 and 55.63 ± 1.92 cells respectively (P <0.05). In addition, the mean Leydig cell core diameter of the control group, 5.00 ± 0.34 µm, was smaller compared to the treatment group which was 5.80 ± 0.20 µm (P <0.05). It can be inferred that sembung leaf extract provides a protective effect against damage to Leydig cells due to hyperlipidaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blumea balsamifera is a traditional Chinese medicine containing various bioactive caffeoylquinic acids and usually used for the treatment of rheumatism, eczema, and dermatitis. An accurate and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography method was established for simultaneous determination of 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 1,3-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, and 4,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid in B. balsamifera. The method was rigorously verified and was successfully applied to simultaneous quantification of seven caffeoylquinic acids in four ecotypes of B. balsamifera at five life stages. The results showed that the highest concentrations of seven compounds were present in September, October, and November, indicating that the optimal harvest time of B. balsamifera is in the autumn. Therefore, this method is suitable for the quantification of the seven compounds and quality control for B. balsamifera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our continuous search for new nitric oxide (NO) inhibitory substances as anti-neuroinflammatory agents for AD resulted in the isolation of one new labdane diterpenoid and three new guaiane sesquiterpenoids, as well as ten known compounds from Blumea balsamifera . Their structures were elucidated by NMR spectroscopic data analysis and the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. The anti-neuroinflammatory effects were examined by inhibiting NO release in LPS-induced murine microglial BV-2 cells. The possible mechanism of NO inhibition of some bioactive compounds was also investigated using molecular docking, which revealed the interactions of bioactive compounds with the iNOS protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese herbalmedicine (CHM) evolved through thousands of years of practice and was popular not only among the Chinese population, but also most countries in the world. Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. as a traditional treatment for wound healing in Li NationalityMedicine has a long history of nearly 2000 years. This study was to evaluate the effects of total flavonoids fromBlumea balsamifera (L.) DC. on skin excisional wound on the back of Sprague-Dawley rats, reveal its chemical constitution, and postulate its action mechanism. The rats were divided into five groups and the model groups were treated with 30% glycerol, the positive control groups with JingWanHong (JWH) ointment, and three treatment groups with high dose (2.52 g·kg-1), medium dose (1.26 g·kg-1), and low dose (0.63 g·kg-1) of total flavonoids fromB. balsamifera. During 10 consecutive days of treatment, the therapeutic effects of rateswere evaluated. On day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, and day 10 after treatment, skin sampleswere taken fromall the rats for further study. Significant increases of granulation tissue, fibroblast, and capillary vessel proliferationwere observed at day 7 in the high dose and positive control groups, comparedwith themodel group, with themethod of 4% paraformaldehyde for histopathological examination and immunofluorescence staining. To reveal the action mechanisms of total flavonoids on wound healing, the levels of CD68, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and hydroxyproline were measured at different days. Results showed that total flavonoids had significant effects on rat skin excisional wound healing compared with controls, especially high dose ones (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the total flavonoid extract was investigated phytochemically, and twenty-seven compounds were identified from the total flavonoid sample by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry/diode array detector (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/DAD), including 16 flavonoid aglucons, five flavonoid glycosides (main peaks in chromatogram), five chlorogenic acid analogs, and 1 coumarin. Reports showthat flavonoid glycoside possesses therapeutic effects of curingwounds by inducing neovascularization, and chlorogenic acid also has anti-inflammatory and wound healing activities; we postulated that all the ingredients in total flavonoids samplemaybe exert a synergetic effect onwound curing. Accompaniedwith detection of four growth factors, the upregulation of these key growth factors may be the mechanism of therapeutic activities of total flavonoids. The present study confirmed undoubtedly that flavonoids were the main active constituents that contribute to excisional wound healing, and suggested its actionmechanismof improving expression levels of growth factors at different healing phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blumea balsamifera (Ai-na-xiang) is used as an important plant source of natural borneol, which is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this study was to establish the methods based on near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for determining the geographical origin of B. balsamifera, as well as developing a method for the quantitative rapid analysis of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). A total of 109 samples were collected from China in 2013 and arbitrarily divided into calibration and prediction sets using the Kennard-Stone algorithm. The l-borneol and total flavone contents of the samples were measured by gas chromatography and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, respectively. The NIR spectra were acquired using an integrating sphere and a partial least squares (PLS) model was built using the optimum wavelength regions, which were selected using a synergy interval partial least-squares (SiPLS) algorithm. The root mean square errors of prediction of the l-borneol and total flavone models were 0.0779 and 2.2694 mg/g, with R² of 0.9069 and 0.8013, respectively. A discriminant model to determine the geographical origin of B. balsamifera (Guizhou and Hainan) was also established using a partial least squares discriminant analysis method with an optimum pretreatment method. The prediction accuracy rate of the model was 100%. NIR spectroscopy can be used as a reliable and environmentally friendly method to determine the API and the origin of different B. balsamifera samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objectives] To study the variation in main chemical composition of Blumea balsamifera in different growth stages, and to provide a theoretical basis to determine appropriate harvest period. [Methods] The l-borneol of the plant was determined by gas chromatography (GC) with methyl salicylate as internal standard, and total flavonoids were determined by the Aluminum nitrate colorimetry method of Ultraviolet-Visible spectrophotometry. The analysis of variance was used for statistical analysis of the l-borneol and total flavonoids of B. balsamifera in different months and different plant age. [Results] There were differences in chemical ingredients of B. balsamifera in different months of the year. The content of l-borneol in October was the highest, but there was no significant difference from August to December in l-borneol content (P > 0.05 ). l-borneol content of B. balsamifera in three ages was the highest compared with other ages, and there was a significant difference with B. balsamifera in one year or less (P<0.05). Relatively speaking, total flavonoids in June, August and November were higher; total flavonoids content of B. balsamifera in two ages was the highest compared with other ages, and there was a significant difference with other ages ( P <0. 05 ). [Conclusions] If l-borneol is taken as an indicator, for extracting Aipan (l-borneol), it can be harvested from September to mid-December , but October is the best. And it can be harvested at least three years. If the content of total flavonoids is taken as an indicator, it should be harvested in November. And it can be harvested 2-3 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective and environmentally sustainable control of mosquitoes is a challenge of essential importance. This is due to the fact that some invasive mosquitoes, with special reference to the Aedes genus, are particularly difficult to control, due to their high ecological plasticity. Moreover, the indiscriminate overuse of synthetic insecticides resulted in undesirable effects on human health and non-target organisms, as well as resistance development in targeted vectors. Here, the leaf essential oil (EO) extracted from a scarcely studied plant of ethno-medicinal interest, Blumea eriantha (Asteraceae), was tested on the larvae of six mosquitoes, including Zika virus vectors. The B. eriantha EO was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The B. eriantha EO showed high toxicity against 3rd instar larvae of six important mosquito species: Anopheles stephensi (LC=41.61 μg/ml), Aedes aegypti (LC=44.82 μg/ml), Culex quinquefasciatus (LC =48.92 μg/ml), Anopheles subpictus (LC=51.21 μg/ml), Ae. albopictus (LC=56.33 μg/ml) and Culex tritaeniorhynchus (LC=61.33 μg/ml) . The major components found in B. eriantha EO were (4 E,6 Z)-allo-ocimene (12.8%), carvotanacetone (10.6%), and dodecyl acetate (8.9%). Interestingly, two of the main EO components, (4 E,6 Z)-allo-ocimene and carvotanacetone, achieved LC lower than 10 μg/ml on all tested mosquito species. The acute toxicity of B. eriantha EO and its major constituents on four aquatic predators of mosquito larval instars was limited, with LC ranging from 519 to 11.431 μg/ml. Overall, the larvicidal activity of (4 E,6 Z)-allo-ocimene and carvotanacetone far exceed most of the LC calculated in current literature on mosquito botanical larvicides, allowing us to propose both of them as potentially alternatives for developing eco-friendly mosquito control tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blumea balsamifera, also named Ainaxiang, is widely used as an ancient medicinal herb in tropical and subtropical Asia. It is rich in essential oils. In this work the essential oils of B. balsamifera from different plant organs and in different months were extracted, and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that essential oil yield of young leaves was the highest (0.65 mL/100 g), followed by mature leaves (0.57 mL/100 g), and the oil yield was higher in October (0.47 mL/100 g) than other months. A total of 44 compounds were identified, representing 92.64%-96.71% of the oil. Eighteen common chemical components were found among the six plant organs, representing >80% of the oil constituents. l-borneol was the main ingredient in leaves, and its content was the highest in senescent leaves and in December. In the essential oils of young shoots and young stems, the main component was dimethoxydurene. Antioxidant activity was also determined using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene bleaching (BCB) assays. The results indicated that the β-carotene bleaching activity was far stronger than the DPPH radical-scavenging capacity, and the young leaves and young shoots showed stronger antioxidant activity. Dimethoxydurene, β-caryophyllene, and α-caryophyllene play a positive role in good antioxidant activity, while β-eudesmol, phytol, and tetradecanal play a negative role. The antioxidant activity revealed in this study might help in developing this promising bioresource for use in the medicinal and cosmetic industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The one-year-old seedlings of Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. were applied with CaCl2-H20 that supplied Ca in slow growth period of winter three times. The heights, ground diameters, leaf lengths, leaf widths and biomasses of B. balsamifera plants were measured. In addition, the relative contents of total flavones in different parts of B. balsamifera were determined by UV spectrophotometry, and the absolute contents of total flavones were calculated. The relative contents of L-borneol in leaves of B. balsamifera were determined by GC, and the absolute contents of L-borneol were calculated. The results showed that calcium element significantly increased the biomasses in leaves, stems and roots of B. balsamifera in slow growth period of winter. The leaf biomass of B. balsamifera in the 5 g/L CaCl2.H20 treatment group was significantly higher than those in the other three treatment groups. The leaf biomasses of B. balsamifera in the 10 and 15 g/L CaCl2-H20 treatment groups were significantly higher than that in the CK, with 3.03 and 2.65 times, respectively. The application of Ca inhibited the accumulation of total flavones relative contents, but significantly increased the total flavones absolute contents in different parts of B. balsamifera. The relative and absolute contents of L-borneol in the 5 g=L CaCl2-H20 treatment group were 0.22% and 0.22 g, which were increased by 37.50%, 22.22%, 37.50% and 100%, 100%, 450%, respectively compared with those in the 0, 10 and 15 g/L CaCl2-H20 treatment groups. The Ca element could significantly promote the accumulation of biomasses in leaves, stems and roots, as well as the absolute contents of total flavones and L-borneol in B. balsamifera! in slow growth period of winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally Blumea lacera DC is used to treat inflammation and bowel ailments. Lack of specific, curative treatment for IBD enticed us to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of ethanolic extract of aerial parts of Blumea lacera DC (EEBL) against indomethacin-induced enterocolitis. Male Wistar rats were divided into six groups ( n = 5) and different doses of EEBL (100 and 200 mg/kg, p.o) and sulphasalazine (100 mg/kg, p.o) were administered for seven days. Enterocolitis was induced by two subsequent doses of indomethacin (7.5 mg/kg, s.c) on 7th and 8th day. Treatments were continued up to 12th day and sacrificed. The protective effect was assessed on the basis of macroscopic scores of ileum strips, changes in biochemical parameters such as serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO), lipid peroxidation (LPO), and total thiols (TT). Further, activity was ascertained by histopathological evaluations. HPLC fingerprinting profiling of EEBL was also carried out. Pre-treatment with EEBL or sulphasalazine significantly attenuated the indomethacin-induced proximal ileal damage, elevated levels of serum LDH, tissue MPO, LPO and lower levels of TT. Further, observed activity of EEBL was well correlated with histopathological alterations. The results revealed the protective action of the title plant against the indomethacin-induced enterocolitis in rats, which might be attributed by its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and membrane-stabilizing properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objectives] The aim was to study the antioxidant activity of different solvent extracts of Blumea Megacephala in vitro. [Methods ] The removal rates of DPPH free radicals and ABTS free radicals and the reduction capacity of Fe3+ by ethanol extract (EE), acetone extract (AE) and ethyl acetate extract (EAE) of Blumea Megacephala were detected. [Results] The three extracts of Blumea Megacephala had cerain antioxidant activity, of which the antioxidant activity of ethyl acetate extract was the strongest and has great potential for development. [Conclusions] The study can provide scientific reference for the deep research on te antioxidant activity of Blumea Megacephala. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blumea balsamifera oil (BBO) is a main extract obtained from Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC (Ainaxiang) leaves, which are widely used as a traditional medicine by the Miao and Li Nations to promote skin trauma or burn injury healing. This study was initiated to investigate the healing efficacy in deep second-degree burn model in rats. The rats were treated by BBO for 21 consecutive days. The rate of healing, scabs dropped time and re-epithelialization time were observed every three days for 21 days after burn injury. The samples were collected from different treated rats by sacrificing the animals on the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 9th, 14th, and 21st day post-burn creation. Then, the water content of burn tissue was measured. Plasma interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels were evaluated, and the tissue expressions of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) were determined along with skin histopathology. The results showed that the water content of tissue was significantly reduced, the scabs dropped time shortened, and healing accelerated after treatment with BBO in the burn injury rats. Furthermore, the expressions of growth factors were significantly increased in the tissue; however, the levels of inflammatory factors on plasma decreased. This study confirms the efficacy of BBO consumption on burn injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indiscriminate use of synthetic pesticides to control the pests causes negative effects on non-target organisms. Some of the chemicals under B and C categories are carcinogenic to humans. The present study was aimed to assess the antifeedant, larvicidal and pupicidal activities ofHygrophila schulii(syn.H. auriculata) andBlumea mollisagainstHelicoverpa armigera. Maximum antifeedant activity of 70.01% was observed in ethyl acetate extract ofH. schuliiat 5.0% concentration with LC50value of 2.0%.B. mollisethyl acetate extract at 5.0% concentration showed antifeedant activity of 35.40% with LC50value of 8.38%. The data for antifeedant activity showed homogeneity of variances in Levene Statistics and normality in Shapiro–Wilk test. Ethyl acetate extract ofH. schuliiat 5.0% concentration showed 68.66% larvicidal activity with LC50value of 2.97%. It also showed 73.33% pupicidal activity and was statistically significant from other treatments. No pupicidal activity was observed in ethyl acetate extract ofB. mollis. All concentrations of ethyl acetate extract ofH. schuliishowed promising biological activities which differed statistically from other treatments. Ethyl acetate extract ofH. schuliicould be used to develop new botanical formulations to manage agricultural pests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was applied to perform a rapid elemental analysis and provenance study of Blumea balsamifera DC. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were implemented to exploit the multivariate nature of the LIBS data. Scores and loadings of computed principal components visually illustrated the differing spectral data. The PLS-DA algorithm showed good classification performance. The PLS-DA model using complete spectra as input variables had similar discrimination performance to using selected spectral lines as input variables. The down-selection of spectral lines was specifically focused on the major elements of B. balsamifera samples. Results indicated that LIBS could be used to rapidly analyze elements and to perform provenance study of B. balsamifera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blumea balsamifera (L) DC, known in the Philippines as sambong, is an herb valued for its health benef its especially in the management of urolithiasis. Various phytochemicals, including flavonoids such as quercetin, have been determined in sambong leaves. A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method (RP-HPLC) was developed for the quantitative determination of quercetin in the methanol extract of sambong leaves obtained from Leyte, Cotabato, and Nueva Ecija, Philippines. The methanol extracts of sambong were prepared by maceration followed by rotary evaporation. The solid phase extraction (SPE) for the sample cleanup involved the use of a C18 SPE packing, a 0.5-mL sample load (50 mg/mL solution), and elution with 4-mL of 80:20 Methanol:0.5% H3PO4. The HPLC conditions for the determination of quercetin involved the use of a C18 4.6-mm x 250-mm column maintained at 30°C, 254-nm UV detection, and a mobile phase composition of 25 parts methanol and 75 parts mixture of 0.5% H3PO4 and 0.2% triethylamine with a 1 mL/min flow rate in gradient elution. A good linearity at the concentration range of 3.72-124 μg/mL of quercetin standard (r²=0.9989) was observed with the limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) at 0.68 ng/mL and 2.28 ng/mL, respectively. The intra-day (n=5-) and inter-day (n=3) precision values were satisfactory (%RSD <2%). The recovery eff iciency of the SPE sample cleanup step, which was checked by spiking sambong solution with quercetin standard, was 102.41%. The quercetin contents are 0.2337mg, 0.1350mg, and 0.2940mg per gram of the powdered dried leaves of sambong from Nueva Ecija, Cotabato, and Leyte, respectively. This is the f irst report of quercetin content in the leaves of sambong collected from the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main components of sambong (Blumea balsamifera) are listed in this article. The whole plant and its crude extracts, as well as its isolated constituents, display numerous biological activities, such as antitumor, hepatoprotective, superoxide radical scavenging, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammation, anti-plasmodial, anti-tyrosinase, platelet aggregation, enhancing percutaneous penetration, wound healing, anti-obesity, along with disease and insect resistant activities. Although many experimental and biological studies have been carried out, some traditional uses such as rheumatism healing still need to be verified by scientific pharmacological studies, and further studies including phytochemical standardization and bioactivity authentication would be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel and simple process for the preparative extraction, separation, and purification of high-purity (–)-borneol and xanthoxylin, synchronously, from the leaves ofBlumea balsamifera(L.) DC was developed. Simultaneous distillation and extraction, silica gel column chromatography, and recrystallization were applied to the preparation. Two objective compounds with the purity of 98% were obtained, and the losses were minimal during the whole procedure. It is the first time that the preparation of high-purity (–)-borneol and xanthoxylin at the same time were achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyathocline, a small genus, has been treated as a member of subtribe Grangeinae of tribe Astereae (Asteraceae), but has been neglected in molecular phylogenetic analyses of Astereae. Plastid trnL-F and nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS sequences were used to carry out phylogenetic analyses of Cyathocline (represented by C. purpurea) through maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses. In addition, its karyotype, morphology and micromorphology were also investigated. The results show that in our three phylogenetic trees, C. purpurea is deeply nested within the Blumea clade and/or the Inulinae clade, and is closest to Blumea balsamifera (Inuleae, Inulinae). C. purpurea is similar to Blumea in chromosome size bimodality and to Inulinae in one single large oxalate crystal within each cell of the cypsela epidermis, which, together with molecular evidences, suggests strongly that Cyathocline should be transferred from Astereae to Inuleae subtribe Inulinae. Although C. purpurea has many anomalous features, its most characters still are within a wide range of morphological variations of Blumea. DNA data and the karyotypic character support to merge C. purpurea into Blumea. As a result, the new combination Blumea purpurea (O. Kuntze) W.P. Li was made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To develop a simple and low cost process for the preparation of high-purity (-)-borneol from leaves of Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. Methods: An improved hydrodistillation (IHD) equipped with a vertical condenser tube was designed for extracting the volatiles (crude (-)-borneol) without solvent, and comparing with hydrodistillation-solvent extraction (HDSE) and simultaneous distillation and extraction (SDE). The sublimation was used to separated high-purity (-)-borneol. The purities of (-)-borneol products were quantitatively analyzed by gas chromatography (GC), and the (-)-borneol product was analyzed by optical activity and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and the antimicrobial activity was evaluated. Results: The (-)-borneol content of the volatiles was 82 % in IHD, and much higher than that of HDSE (45 %) and SDE (44 %). After sublimation, the purity of separated (-)-borneol was 92 %, and the recovery was 96 %. The NMR spectral data confirmed that the product was (-)-borneol, and the specific rotation was -36.4° (20 °C, ethanol). Meanwhile, the performances of the (-)-borneol product and standard (-)-borneol were the same in antimicrobial activity. Conclusion: The work provides a green, efficient and solvent-free process for preparation of high-purity natural (-)-borneol from B. balsamifera leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]