Cause-specific mortality as a sentinel indicator of current socioeconomic conditions in Italy

This study aims to assess whether simple, widely available demographic indexes, like mortality measures, may serve as sentinel indicators of the economic development and the social wellbeing in Italy. We analyze and compare the geographical patterns of all-cause mortality indexes and those of the mortality rates for leading causes of death, with the spatial pattern found for a more complex index, the vulnerability index, recently introduced by the Italian National Institute for Statistics, at provincial level in the contemporary Italy. We show that mortality data are a straightforward and powerful tool for driving policy makers in planning appropriate interventions

Comparative Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Properties of the Essential Oils of three Sideritis libanotica Subspecies

The phytochemical composition of the essential oils of three Sideritis libanotica subspecies, namely S. libanotica ssp. libanotica, S. libanotica ssp. linearis and S. libanotica ssp. michroclamys, all collected in Lebanon, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The diterpene sideridiol was recognized as the main constituent of both S. libanotica ssp. libanotica (50.8%) and S. libanotica ssp. michroclamys (18.4%) oils, while hexadecanoic acid (10.5%) prevailed in S. libanotica ssp. linearis. The antioxidant activity of the oils was studied in two cell free systems by DPPH radical scavenging and ferric ion reduction (FRAP) assays; only S. libanotica ssp. linearis showed a moderate activity when assayed by the FRAP test (0.6 ± 0.01 mmol TE/mL)

Chemical composition of essential oils and in vitro antioxidant properties of extracts and essential oils of Calamintha origanifolia and Micromeria myrtifolia, two Lamiaceae from the Lebanon flora

There is a growing interest of industry to replace synthetic chemicals by natural products with bioactiveproperties from plant origin. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition of essen-tial oils of Calamintha origanifolia (Labill.) Boiss and Micromeria myrtifolia Boiss., two Lamiaceae speciescollected in Lebanon, and to characterize the in vitro antioxidant activities of their extracts and of theessential oils. The essential oils from aerial parts of the two plants were isolated by hydrodistillationtechnique using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The extracts were prepared with three solvents of differentpolarity (n-hexane, chloroform and methanol). A total of 97 constituents were identified in M. myrtifoliaand C. origanifolia oils using GC/MS; the main components detected were -caryophyllene together withcaryophyllene oxide and hexadecanoic acid in M. myrtifolia while isomenthone, menthone, pulegone and-bisabolol were the main compounds in C. origanifolia. The methanol extracts of both species exhibitedthe highest phenol content and were found to be significantly more active than chloroform and hexaneextracts when assayed by DPPH˙ radical scavenging and ferric ion reduction (FRAP) assays. The results ofthis study provide a clear picture of the volatiles of M. myrtifolia and C. origanifolia and demonstrate thatthese plant species have an huge potential as an alternative to chemical additives for the food industrydue to their antioxidant properties

Correlation among environmental factors, chemical composition and antioxidative properties of essential oil and extracts of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) collected in Molise (South-central Italy)

German chamomile is found growing wild in many countries, but the amount of drug required due to its both medicinal and industrial importance is produced also by large-scale cultivation. Environment variability always affects the crop yield; for reproducible drug quality, appropriate knowledge of the influence of environmental conditions seems to be necessary. We studied the effect of environment on crop yield and on the chemical composition of the essential oils of different chamomile samples, which were cultivated at thirteen experimental sites in South-central Italy (Molise) in different growing environments. GC/MS analysis of the essential oils revealed the presence of cis-tonghaosu, spathulenol, a-bisabolol oxide B and b-bisabolol oxide A as main compounds in all the samples but their percentages in each plant were greatly different. Antioxidant activities of the essential oils and methanol extracts were also evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing ability (FRAP) assay, along with the phenolic and flavonoid contents of the polar extracts. Our study demonstrates that the crop performance was greatly influenced by the pedo-climatic conditions, and particularly altitude and fertility of the environment and the crop management increased chamomile crop yield. The results of this study provide new knowledge to produce chamomile flowers of adequate qualit

3D Chitosan-Gallic Acid Complexes: Assessment of the Chemical and Biological Properties

Three-dimensional chitosan-gallic acid complexes were proposed and prepared for the first time by a simple adsorption process of gallic acid (GA) on three-dimensional chitosan structures (3D chitosan). Highly porous 3D devices facilitate a high GA load, up to 2015 mmol/kg at pH 4.0. The preservation of the redox state of GA released from 3D chitosan was confirmed by spectroscopic analyses. The antioxidant activity of 3D chitosan-GA complexes was assessed using the DPPH radical scavenging assay and was found to be dramatically higher than that of free chitosan. The mechanical property of 3D chitosan–GA complexes was also evaluated using a compression test. Finally, 3D chitosan–GA complexes showed a significant antimicrobial capacity against E. coli and S. aureus, selected, respectively, as a model strain for Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Our study demonstrated a new, simple, and eco-friendly approach to prepare functional chitosan-based complexes for nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical applications

Hybrid organic-inorganic nanotubes effectively adsorb some organic pollutants in aqueous phase

International audienceMethylimogolite nanotubes (Me-IMO NTs, chemical composition (OH)3Al2O3SiCH3) are characterized by having an inner hydrophobic (fully-methylated) surface. Conversely, the outer surface is hydrophilic and positively charged below the point of zero charge (at pH = 8.6), due to the Al(OH)Al + H+ = Al(OH)2+Al equilibrium occurring at the outer surface of the NTs when they are dispersed in water.In this work, adsorption of MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid) and of dichloromethane (DCM) on Me-IMO NTs was studied by means of both adsorption/desorption measurements in batch conditions (at room temperature and at different pH value) and Small Angle X-rays Scattering (SAXS).MCPA, which partially dissociates in water (pKa = 2.90), is mainly adsorbed at the outer surface of the NTs, although measurements in batch conditions show that other types of interaction occur (i.e. H-bond) at higher MCPA concentration. SAXS measurements confirm that MCPA has not entered the NTs inner pores.Interaction of the NTs with DCM, instead, is more complex: SAXS measurements show that DCM molecules interact with the NTs inner surface, whereas batch experiments indicate that additional interactions take place with the outer surface of the NTs

Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of anethole-rich oil from leaves of selected varieties of fennel [Foeniculum vulgare Mill. ssp. vulgare var. azoricum (Mill.) Thell]

The chemical composition and biological activity of the essential oils obtained from the leaves of two different cultivars of Florence fennel cropped under three different fertilization treatments (Control not fertilized; Mineral Fertilization; Compost from Municipal Solid Wastes) have been analyzed. All the oils were characterized by high anethole concentration and some showed also a good percentage of limonene. Thus, the leaves of Florence fennel, which are agricultural wastes, could be used for the recovery of anethole to be used for its flavoring and biomedical properties. The antimicrobial activity expressed by assays on the examined oils indicates an appreciable effect, generally higher on Gram-positive bacteria. The various samples of Florence fennel analyzed did not show any results with FRAP test. The DPPH test showed a weak capacity of the samples to catch the free radicals from the solution, attributable to their content in anethole