Phytochemical profile and some biological activities of three Centaurea species from Turkey

Purpose: To characterise the phytochemical profile of whole plants of Centaurea balsamita, C. depressa and C. lycopifolia with LC-ESI-MS/MS, and as well as their antioxidant, anticholinesterase and antimicrobial activities.Methods: Organic and aqueous extracts of the three Centaurea species were evaluated for DPPH free radical, ABTS cation radical scavenging and cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC). Acetyland butyryl-cholinesterase enzyme inhibition abilities of the extracts using petroleum ether, acetone, methanol and water were studied to determine anticholinesterase activity, while antimicrobial activity was determined by disc diffusion method using appropriate antimicrobial standards and organisms. The phytochemical components of the methanol extracts were assessed by LC-MS/MS.Results: The methanol extract of C. balsamita exhibited much higher DPPH free and ABTS cation radicals scavenging activities (with IC50 of 62.65 ± 0.97 and 24.21 ± 0.70 mg/ml, respectively) than the other extracts. The petroleum ether extracts of the plant species exhibited moderate inhibitory activity against butyrylcholinesterase enzymes while the acetone extract of C. balsamita showed good antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Quinic acid (17513 ± 813 μg/g, 63874 ± 3066 μg/g and 108234 ± 5195 μg/g) was the major compound found in the methanol extracts of C. balsamita, C. depressa and C. Lycopifolia, respectively.Conclusion: These results indicate quinic acid is the major compound in the three plant species and that Centaurea balsamita has significant antioxidant, anticholinesterase and antimicrobial properties. Further studies to identify the compounds in the extracts responsible for the activities are required.Keywords: Centaurea, LC-ESI-MS/MS, Anticholinesterase, Antioxidant, Antimicrobia

Volatile Composition of Trifolium and Medicago Species

The volatile compounds of Trifolium (Leguminosae) echinatum L., Trifolium stellatum var. stellatum L., Trifolium nigrescens subs. petrisavi (Celm) Holmboe, Medicago polymorpha var. vulgaris L., Medicago arabica (L.) Huds. and Medicago minima var. minima (L.) Grufbg. were obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus, and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. In total, seventy-one constituents (terpenoids, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, hydrocarbons, fatty acids and benzene compounds) were identified from Trifolium oils and Medicago oils. According to the chemical class distribution of the oils of Trifolium and Medicago species, the fatty acids (29.7 - 63.4 % and 61.9 - 83.7 %, respectively) are the most abundant class of volatile compounds of three Trifolium and Medicago species. The present work is the first report on these plants oil composition

Volatile composition of three Trifolium species

7th Joint Meeting of the Association-Francophone-pour-l'Enselgnement-et-la-Recherche-en-Pharmacognosie/American-Society-of-Pharmacognosy/Society-for-Medicinal-Plant-Research/Phytochem-Society-of-Europe/Societa-Italiana-di-Fitochimica -- AUG 03-08, 2008 -- Athens, GREECEThe volatile compounds of Trifolium (Leguminosae) echinatum L., Trifolium stellatum var. stellatum L., Trifolium nigrescens subs. petrisavi (Celm) Holmboe, Medicago polymorpha var. vulgaris L., Medicago arabica (L.) Huds. and Medicago minima var. minima (L.) Grufbg. were obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus, and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. In total, seventy-one constituents (terpenoids, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, hydrocarbons, fatty acids and benzene compounds) were identified from Trifolium oils and Medicago oils. According to the chemical class distribution of the oils of Trifolium and Medicago species, the fatty acids (29.7 - 63.4 % and 61.9 - 83.7 %, respectively) are the most abundant class of volatile compounds of three Trifolium and Medicago species. The present work is the first report on these plants oil composition.Assoc Francophone Enseignement Rech Pharmacognosie, Amer Soc Pharmacognosy, Soc Medicinal Plant Res, Phytochem Soc Europe, Soc Italiana Fitochi

Evaluation of the in vitro Anti-inflammatory Activity of Nerium oleander L. Flower Extracts and Activity-Guided Isolation of the Active Constituents

The in vitro anti-inflammatory activity profile of the Nerium oleander flower EtOH extract/its subextracts (n-hexane, CH 2Cl 2, EtOAc, remaining H 2O) were evaluated on LPS induced Raw 264.7 macrophages. The effects of the crude EtOH extract and its subextracts on nitric oxide (NO) production and cell viability were determined. The most active subextract was determined to be the EtOAc subextract without exerting any toxicity towards Raw 264.7 macrophages. This subextract significantly inhibited NO production of Raw 264.7 macrophages after LPS induction (62.56±1.91% at 200 µg/mL concentration). The levels of iNOS were reduced up to 67.50%. Moreover, this subextract slightly reduced the phosphorylation levels of MAP kinases (p-ERK, p-JNK, p-38). The highest inhibition was observed for ERK phosphorylation, which was inhibited by 20.53% at 200 µg/mL concentration. Through activity-guided fractionation procedures, kaempferol, kaempferol 3-O-β-glucopyranoside and chlorogenic acid were isolated as the main active components. The structures of the active compounds were determined by 2D-NMR techniques and HRMS analysis. All compounds significantly inhibited NO productions. Results of the present study supported the traditional use of N. oleander flowers to treat inflammatory complaints

Determination of sulfonamides in milk by ID-LC-MS/MS

In this study, an ID-LC-MS method was developed and validated for the determination of 14 sulfonamides in milk samples. Recovery results were found to be in the range of 91%-114% for milk samples. The relative measurement uncertainty was between 7.5%-12.7%. Validated method was performed on milk samples obtained from market and street vendors. The amount of sulfonamides in the analyzed samples was found to be below the legal limits (Sulfamethazine: 6.46 +/- 0.76 ng/g and sulfisoxazole: 7.3 +/- 0.71 ng/g)

Fatty acids and other lipid composition of five Trifolium species with antioxidant activity

The contents of fatty acids and other lipids of Trifolium balansae Boiss, Trifolium stellatum Lin., Trifolium nigrescens Viv. subsp. petrisavi (Clem) Holmboe, Trifolium constantinopolitanum Ser., and Trifolium resupinatum L. var. resupinatum L. (Leguminosae) were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The whole plant hexane extracts of five Trifolium species contained eight fatty acids consisting of linolenic (31.1%) and palmitic (18.9%) acids as the most abundant unsaturated and saturated fatty acids, respectively. The total unsaturation for the oils of five Trifolium species was 30.6-42.2%. In addition to fatty acids, some alkanes and phytol were also obtained. The antioxidant activity and contents of fatty acids and lipids of five Trifolium species T. balansae, T. stellatum, T. nigrescens subsp. petrisavi, T. constantinopolitanum, and T. resupinatum var. resupinatum are presented for the first time in this study

Essential oil compositions and anticholinesterase activities of two edible plants Tragopogon latifolius var. angustifolius and Lycopsis orientalis

This is the first report in the literature on essential oil compositions of Tragopogon latifolius var. angustifolius and Lycopsis orientalis which were analysed by using GC-FID and GC-MS techniques. The main constituents of T. latifolius var. angustifolius were identified as alpha-selinene (10.5%), 2,5-di-tert octyl-p-benzoquinone (9.5%) and valencene (7.0%); however, the main components of L. orientalis were identified as heptacosane (10.5%), tau-muurolene (9.6%) and tetratetracontane (9.4%). The essential oils of T. latifolius var. angustifolius and L. orientalis species exhibited moderate inhibitory activity against acetyl- and butyryl-cholinesterase enzymes at 200 mu g/mL