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Hypogymnia physodes is known as dye source, as human food and as medicine. Since it is used as a food it is important to know are there any more beneficial effects on human organism and which compounds are responsible for these activities. Therefore, in this study the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of H. physodes methanol extract (ME) and its constituents: depsidones, physodalic acid (I), physodic acid (II), 3-hydroxy physodic acid (III), and depside atranorin (IV) were investigated. To the best of our knowledge this would be the first information of antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of physodalic acid (I). All the tested components and extract showed antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Antifungal activity was not observed for the tested depsidones. The most sensitive, among bacteria was S. aureus and the highest resistance was shown by E. coli and P. aeruginosa. Only ME and atranorin were active toward C.albicans while A. niger was resistant on all tested samples. Among the analysed samples, compound III has the highest antioxidant capacity in all antioxidant experiments. Compound III showed higher antioxidant activity than commercial antioxidant BHT. The hydroxyl group in position 4 of dibenzo[b,e][1,4] dioxepine core can be of importance for its potent antioxidant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential oils of many plants are widely used with a bias to have only positive effects on the body. Considering that terpenes are dominant ingredients of many essential oils, the influences of selected terpenes (geraniol, nerol, linalool, carvacrol) on the activities of the most important enzymes in clinical practice (creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, amylase, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase) are examined in this study. The survey was conducted in vitro with solutions of terpenes at concentrations in the range of 1.82-4.63 mmol/l and in commercial control human serum. Activities are measured by the standard clinical biochemical procedures. A decrease in activity of the enzyme to varying degrees was noted and it was ranged from 1/6 to slightly less than half of the enzyme activity, depending on the type of terpenes, the concentration of their solution, as well as the type of enzyme. The best inhibitor, in the described in vitro conditions, proved to be linalool (lavender), carvacrol (basil, oregano), geraniol (geranium) and the last nerol (orange). The results of this study confirm the initial hypothesis that the terpenes are, undoubtedly, those components of the essential oils that lead to significant inhibition of the clinical enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silene baccifera is widespread plant species in Europe, Asia and North Africa, registered in the list of medicinal plants of India. Insufficiently known, biological activities of juice obtained from fresh fruits of this plant were investigated in this study. Antimicrobial activity of juice was tested against pathogenic gastrointestinal microbial strains, using microwell-dilution method, while antioxidant properties were evaluated employing DPPH and total phenolic and flavonoid content assays. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the juice from fruits of this plant species.

In 2007 catastrophic fire on Vidlič Mountain had been occurred. It had been burned down nearly 1000 hectares of forest. That year vegetation was totally destroyed. Ecosystems affected by fire are those with great changes in variety of ecological parameters and they can recover by natural succession. Post fire areas are being occupied by pioneer plants which start one natural cycle. Total organic acids content in plants from fire affected forest was studied and the same plant species from forest which had not been affected by fire were taken as a control. Total organic acids content for all plants from forest affected by fire was higher than for plants from fire non affected forest except one plant (Aegopodium podagraria).

The results of study of medicinal plants from Pirot County (E Serbia), have been presented. The presence of a large number of plant species that are of accepted application in official and also in traditional medicine has been registered. The period of harvesting and collection of plant material by months related to natural characteristics of the area has been shown. For each species, plant drugs that are produced from have been listed, the type of habitat has been noted, as well as an overview of main active ingredients that effect remedial action. The representatives of the rare medicinal species are separately reviewed which is essential for their protection and management of resources of medicinal plants in the area.

In the present investigation, effects of Ramalina capitata acetone extract on micronucleus distribution on human lymphocytes, on cholinesterase activity and antioxidant activity (by the CUPRAC method) were examined, for the first time as well as its HPLC profile. Additionally, total phenolic compounds (TPC), antioxidant properties (estimated via DPPH, ABTS and TRP assays) and antibacterial activity were determined. The predominant phenolic compounds in this extract were evernic, everninic and obtusatic acids. Acetone extract of R. capitata at concentration of 2 μg mL -1 decreased a frequency of micronuclei (MN) for 14.8 %. The extract reduces the concentration of DPPH and ABTS radicals for 21.2 and 36.1 % (respectively). Values for total reducing power (TRP) and cupric reducing capacity (CUPRAC) were 0.4624 ± 0.1064 μg ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE) per mg of dry extract, and 6.1176 ± 0.2964 μg Trolox equivalents (TE) per mg of dry extract, respectively. The total phenol content was 670.6376 ± 66.554 μg galic acid equivalents (GAE) per mg of dry extract. Tested extract at concentration of 2 mg mL -1 exhibited inhibition effect (5.2 %) on pooled human serum cholinesterase. The antimicrobial assay showed that acetone extract had inhibition effect towards Gram-positive strains. The results of manifested antioxidant activity, reducing the number of micronuclei in human lymphocytes, and antibacterial activity recommends R. capitata extract for further in vivo studies.

The chemical composition and in vitro antimicrobial activities of Dittrichia graveolens (L.) Greuter essential oil was studied. Moreover, using agglomerative hierarchical cluster (AHC) and principal component analyses (PCA), the interrelationships of the D. graveolens essential-oil profiles characterized so far (including the sample from this study) were investigated. To evaluate the chemical composition of the essential oil, GC-FID and GC/MS analyses were performed. Altogether, 54 compounds were identified, accounting for 92.9% of the total oil composition. The D. graveolens oil belongs to the monoterpenoid chemotype, with monoterpenoids comprising 87.4% of the totally identified compounds. The major components were borneol (43.6%) and bornyl acetate (38.3%). Multivariate analysis showed that the compounds borneol and bornyl acetate exerted the greatest influence on the spatial differences in the composition of the reported oils. The antimicrobial activity against five bacterial and one fungal strain was determined using a disk-diffusion assay. The studied essential oil was active only against Gram-positive bacteria., (Copyright © 2016 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG, Zürich.)

In vitro antioxidant activity of two cyclodidepsipeptides, 3-(2-methylpropyl)-6-(propan-2-yl)-4-methyl-morpholine-2,5-dione and 3,6-di(propan-2-yl)-4-methyl-morpholine-2,5-dione, was investigated. Our data indicate moderate antioxidant potentials of the two studied cyclodepsipeptides. A high correlation between 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical scavenging capacity and total reducing power were found. According to the density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the most probable mechanism of antioxidant action is hydrogen atom abstraction from the activated C-H group at 3-position in the morpholinedione ring. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report about the antioxidant properties of morpholine-2,5-diones derivatives.

Rationale: Azaphilones, belonging to the class of mitorubrins usually produced in Hypoxylon fragiforme, react easily with amino groups, giving amine derivatives, mitorubramines. These secondary metabolites exhibit a wide range of biological activities. Finding new secondary metabolites from fungi is important, and electrospray ionization (ESI) high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) coupled with sequential MS(n) experiments has become a method of choice for the chemotaxonomic classification of fungi., Methods: High-performance liquid chromatography of methanol extracts coupled to positive electrospray ionization, high resolving power for accurate mass measurements and resonant excitation for selective ion collision-induced dissociation (CID) have been conducted with the aim of resolving the structures of possible novel compounds., Results: Soft desolvation conditions in the ESI source enabled the detection of intact mitorubramines present in the extract. HRMS provided unambiguous information about the elemental composition of the mitorubramines and their product ions, while sequential MS(3) experiments were essential for the structural discernment of already reported mitorubrins and newly discovered mitorubramines. Indeed, specifically from the latter, a series of consecutive dissociations takes place under CID conditions that are useful for structural elucidation., Conclusions: A distinctive method for two families of secondary metabolites has been developed. Information observed using HRMS and sequential MS(n) experiments gave unambiguous information about the structure of mitorubramines, especially the position of the nitrogen atom, which was strengthened by proposed unusual fragmentation mechanisms, such as the rearrangement yielding the release of CO(2) from the hydroxyl-diketone structures. These experiments demonstrated that the fragmentations are facilitated by the nitrogen electron lone-pair in mitorubramines, which does not occur in mitorubrins., (Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Azaphilones represent numerous groups of wild fungal secondary metabolites that exhibit exceptional tendency to bind to nitrogen atoms in various molecules, especially those containing the amine group. Nitrogenized analogues of mitorubrin azaphilones, natural secondary metabolites of Hypoxylon fragiforme fungus, have been detected in the fungal methanol extract in very low concentrations. Positive electrospray ionization interfaced with high-resolution mass spectrometry was applied for confirmation of the elemental composition of protonated species. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments have been performed, and fragmentation mechanisms have been proposed. Additional information regarding both secondary metabolite analogue families has been reached by application of gas-phase proton/deuterium (H/D) exchanges performed in the collision cell of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. An incomplete H/D exchange with one proton less than expected was observed for both protonated mitorubrin azaphilones and their nitrogenized analogues. By means of the density functional theory, an appropriate explanation of this behavior was provided, and it revealed some information concerning gas-phase H/D exchange mechanism and protonation sites., (Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Fire has been considered as an improving factor in soil quality, but only if it is controlled. Severe wild fire occurred in the summer 2007 on the Vidlic Mountain (Serbia) overspreading a huge area of meadows and forests. Main soil characteristics and content of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn) in different fractions obtained after sequential extraction of soil from post-fire areas and from fire non disturbed areas were studied. In four plant species of Lamiaceae family (Ajuga genevensis L., Lamium galeobdolon (L.) L., Teucrium chamaedrys L., Acinos alpinus (L.) Moench.), that grow in typical habitats of the mountain, distribution of heavy metals in aerial parts and roots was investigated too. For all samples from post-fire area cation exchange capacity and soil organic matter content are increased while rH is decreased. Fire caused slightly increased bioavailability of the observed metals but more significant rise happened in metal amounts bound to oxides and organics. The plants showed variable behavior. T. chamaedrys collected on the post-fire area contained elevated concentrations of all analyzed metals. A. alpinus showed higher phytoaccumulation for Zn and Cd, while the other two plant species for Pb and Cd in the post-fire areas., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)