Water Extract of Cryphaea heteromalla (Hedw.) D. Mohr Bryophyte as a Natural Powerful Source of Biologically Active Compounds

Bryophytes comprise of the mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. Cryphaea heteromalla, (Hedw.) D. Mohr, is a non-vascular lower plant belonging to mosses group. To the date, the most chemically characterized species belong to the liverworts, while only 3.2% and 8.8% of the species belonging to the mosses and hornworts, respectively, have been investigated. In this work, we present Folin–Ciocalteu and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) data related to crude extracts of C. heteromalla obtained by three di erent extraction solvents: pure water (WT), methanol:water (80:20 v/v) (MET), and ethanol:water (80:20 v/v) (ETH). The water extract proved to be the best solvent showing the highest content of biophenols and the highest ORAC value. The C. heteromalla-WT extract was investigated by HPLC-TOF/MS (High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Time of Flight/Mass Spectrometry) allowing for the detection of 14 compounds, five of which were phenolic compounds, derivatives of benzoic, caffeic, and coumaric acids. Moreover, the C. heteromalla WT extract showed a protective effect against reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBH) on the murine NIH-3T3 fibroblast cell line.This work was supported by the European Social Funding (FSE Sicilia 2020 Project ID: 2014.IT.05.SFOP.014/ 3/10.4/9.2.10/0014)

Informazione floristica e qualità ambientale: analisi delle brioflore di alcune aree verdi dello spazio urbano di Palermo

The results of a study on the bryofloras of three historical gardens (Villa Giulia, Parco d'Orléans and Giardino Garibaldi) and other four smaller green areas (at Niscemi, Stazione Lolli, Castelnuovo e Kalsa squares) of Palermo are provided. These bryofloras (including 65 taxa) are analyzed from the taxonomic, ecological and chorological point of view and compared with Botanical Garden one. Bryofloristic indices, used as instrument of environmental evaluation, show that bryophyte flora of smaller green areas is more affected by building and traffic density of surrounding zon

Analysis of the epiphytic bryophyte diversity of Sicily

Sicilian epiphytic bryophyte diversity, based on literature and unpublished data, is assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The total number of taxa found on trees or shrubs is 133 (116 mosses and 17 liverworts). Among them, 38 are customary epiphytic, 21 cortico-saxicolous, 13 are indifferent and 61 occasionally epiphytic taxa. The most represented families are Orthotrichaceae (19.1%), which consists above all of several typically corticicolous species, Pottiaceae (19.1%) and Brachytheciaceae (12.6%) which both include many taxa that mainly colonize rock or ground substrates. From the chorological point of view, temperate taxa (33.8%) prevail, followed by oceanic-Mediterranean taxa (22.6%). An analysis of variations in species diversity along an altitudinal gradient (0-2000 m a.s.l.) shows that the number of taxa is more elevated between 800 and 1100 m. This range is especially rich in customary epiphytes. The geographical distribution of taxa highlights that the majority of taxa is found on main mountainous systems, bryoflora of which also has a high degree of diversification. The northern ranges of the Madonie and Nebrodi are particularly rich territories; however some isolated mounts also present a considerable species diversity. These areas, therefore, are of notable interest for the conservation of epiphytic bryophytes