Trends in Phytochemical Research
Volume:1 Issue: 3, Summer 2017

Damask rose is one of the most important aromatic plants over the world, although mostly cultivated in Bulgaria, Turkey, and Iran. Damask rose is used not only as an ornamental plant but also for extracting essential oils from petals and buds. From flowers is also obtained rose water, rose concrete and rose absolute for being applied in foodstuffs, perfumery and cosmetics (essential oil, concrete, absolute), and pharmaceutical industry. A brief review upon the chemical composition of Damask rose essential oils (EOs) and their biological properties (antimicrobial, antioxidant, relaxant, anti-inflammatory, insecticidal, among other properties) was made. The factors that influence the chemical composition of EOs is also reviewed.

Abstract Three polyphenolic compounds; 1,3,6-tri-O-galloyl-β-D-glucopyranose (TGG) (1), methyl gallate (2) and hydroxyquinol (3) have been isolated from the aerial parts of Fiddlewood Citharexylum spinosum L. The structure of the isolated compounds have been established on the basis of spectroscopic methods in addition to comparison with literature data. These compounds in addition to the methanol extract were tested against their antiallergic activity through inhibition of β-hexosaminidase enzyme. It was noticed that all tested compounds and methanol extract have good inhibition for β-hexosaminidase release without affecting the cell viability where the production of β-hexosaminidase was decreased to about 69%, 60% and 56% by compounds (1), (2) and (3) respectively. The antiallergic activity of Fiddlewood has been reported for the first time.

The various organic extracts from the leaves of Leucas aspera were screened for their antibacterial, antifungal and larvicidal activities against selected bacterial, fungal strains and mosquito larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus. Antimicrobial activity was carried out using disc-diffusion method and MIC of the extract was tested by the broth micro-dilution method. The results revealed that all the extracts showed antibacterial and antifungal activities against selected microbes at 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/disc concentrations. The maximum zone of inhibitions were recorded in dichloromethane (DCM) leaf extract of L. aspera against S. aureus (23.4 ± 2.90 mm), E. coli (20.3 ± 1.56 mm), B. subtilis (17.1 ± 2.04 mm), P. aeruginosa (16.5 ± 1.05 mm), P. vulgaris (16.1 ± 2.56 mm) and K. pneumonia (15.1 ± 3.66 mm) at 10 mg/disc concentration. The DCM extract of L. aspera exhibited significant growth inhibition against T. viride (29.2 ± 2.00 mm), C. albicans (24.4 ± 0.80 mm), A. flavus (22.8 ± 0.36 mm) and E. floccosum (19.5 ± 2.17 mm). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges between 75.5-425.5 µg/mL and 125-425 µg/mL against bacterial and fungal pathogens, respectively. In addition, DCM extracts of L. aspera showed 100% larvicidal activity against C. quinquefasciatus at 1000 ppm concentration. The biological activities could contribute to the medicinal properties of the plants, and also provide more scientific authentication of traditional medicinal plants to fight against the various infectious diseases

Lipid and volatile composition of Borago officinalis L. leaf was investigated. The results showed that α-linolenic acid was the major fatty acid followed by stearidonic acid. Total lipids were composed of neutral and polar lipids. Polar lipids were mainly composed of phosphatidylcholine as the major phospholipid, whereas monogalactosyldiacylglycerol was the major galactolipid. Quant to neutral lipids, they were mainly composed of triacylglycerols. The volatile composition exhibited the presence of many green note compounds such as hexanal, (E)-2-hexenal, hexanol, (Z)-3-hexenol, (E)-2-hexenol and nonanol. Borage leaf appears to be an important source of essential fatty acids, phospholipids, glycolipids and green note volatile compounds for food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.

Euphorbia plants displayed a wide range of biological activities including anticancer, antitumor, anti-diabetic, anticoagulant, antiproliferative, antioxidant, cytotoxic and modulation of multidrug resistance. Euphorbia boissierana Prokh. is one of the 45 species growing in Georgia. A new lupane triterpene glycoside (1) was isolated from the MeOH extract of the aerial parts of E. boissierana. The structure of 1 was elucidated as 3-[(O-β-D-fucopyranosyl-(12)-β-D-glucopyranosyl)oxy] lup-20(29)-en-3β, 28-diol. Structure elucidation was accomplished through the extensive use of 1D- and 2D NMR experiments including 1H–1H (COSY) and 1H–13C (HSQC, HMBC) spectroscopy along with ESI-MS and HR-ESI-MS.This is the first report of the isolation of betulin glycoside from the genus Euphorbia.

Indian folkloric and traditional medicinal systems are abundantly using medicinal plants or their decoctions for the treatment of various ailments. However, this traditional knowledge is on the verge of extinction, and there is an urgent necessity to conserve this oral traditional knowledge mainly by proper documentation and scientific authentication. The present ethnobotanical study was carried out among the inhabitants in the rural areas of Nainamalai, Namakkal District, in order to document the folkloric medicinal knowledge and the potential uses against various diseases. The survey was conducted among the villagers during the period of August 2015-February 2016 in the rural, foothill settlement areas of Nainamalai, Namakkal District. Direct observation and oral communications with villagers in this foothill region were adopted to collect valid information regarding the herbal formulations used to treat various ailments. This study enumerates a list of 245 plant species from 78 angiosperm families with various therapeutic potentials. The scientific, family and vernacular names of these plants, along with the parts used and their application modes are also enumerated in this communication. Plants are believed to be potent therapeutic agents from immemorial time and knowledge about their use is strictly conserved among inhabitants through generations without any recorded data. Therefore, it is an urgent need to document for scientific validation and come up with new potent drug compounds for the treatment of various diseases.

Currently, synthetic preservatives are added to foods to increase their microbiological safety, but the demand for foods free of these agents is on the rise. Butia odorata Barb. Rodr. is a tree native to southern South America, with fruits rich in bioactive compounds. In this investigation, hexane (BHE) and methanol (BME) extracts of B. odorata fruit were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against three Gram-positive (Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus) and three Gram-negative bacteria (Salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) by the agar diffusion method. Antibacterial activity of both B. odorata extracts was confirmed, with BHE showing inhibition zones significantly higher than BME, and with higher activity against Gram-negative bacteria. E. coli O157:H7 was the most sensitive microorganism, being inhibited at a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 3 mg.mL-1. Of the Gram-positive bacteria, S. aureus was the most susceptible (MBC 11 mg.mL-1). γ-sitosterol was the major compound, constituting 22% of the total composition.