Hypericum sp.: essential oil composition and biological activities

Phytochemical composition of Hypericum genus has been investigated for many years. In the recent past, studies on the essential oils (EO) of this genus have been progressing and many of them have reported interesting biological activities. Variations in the EO composition of Hypericum species influenced by seasonal variation, geographic distribution, phenological cycle and type of the organ in which EO are produced and/or accumulated have also been reported. Although many reviews attributed to the characterization as well as biological activities of H. perforatum crude extracts have been published, no review has been published on the EO composition and biological activities of Hypericum species until recently (Crockett in Nat Prod Commun 5(9):1493–1506, 2010; Bertoli et al. in Global Sci Books 5:29–47, 2011). In this article, we summarize and update information regarding the composition and biological activities of Hypericum species EO. Based on experimental work carried out in our laboratory we also mention possible biotechnology approaches envisaging EO improvement of some species of the genus.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - project PTDC/AGR AAM/70418/2006, SFRH/BD/ 13283/2003

The essential oil of Hypericum perforatum L., Hypericum tetrapterum Fries and Hypericum olympicum L. growing in Greece

The composition of the essential oils of the Hypericum perforatum L., Hypericum tetrapterum Fries and Hypericum olympicum L. is reported. GC-MS analyses showed α-pinene (21.0%) and 2-methyl-octane (12.6%) as the most abundant components of H. perforatum, whilst α-copaene (11.3%) and α-longipinene (9.7%) were the major constituents of H. tetrapterum; those of H. olympicum oil were germacrene D (16.0%) and (E)-caryophyllene (7.4%)

Needle volatiles from five Pinus species growing in Greece

The chemical composition of the volatile metabolites from needles of Pinus attenuata Lemmon, P. heldreichii Christ, P. peuce Griseb., P. pinaster Ait. and P. radiata D. Don, growing in natural habitats of Greece, was analysed. By means of GC-MS and comparison with authentic reference standards and Kovats indices, 43 compounds were identified. The chemical variability of the terpenoid constituents is discussed. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Volatile constituents of four Helichrysum species growing in Greece

The essential oils obtained by steam distillation from the aerial parts of 38 populations of four Helichrysum species were analysed by GC-MS. The oil of Helichrysum orientale notably contained four linear hydrocarbons, including nonacosane (11.1%), and also caryophyllene epoxide (4.4%), while the oil of H, heldreichii was dominated by E-caryophyllene (38,5%). By contrast, the oil of H. italicum ssp microphyllum was characterised by beta-selinene (17.2%) and gamma-curcumene (13.7%), while that of H. doerfleri had a mixture of four eudesmol isomers (31.4%), Analysis of oils before and after anthesis showed some significant quantitative differences. In H. doerfleri carvacrol increased noticeably, while in H. italicum ssp microphyllum the content of alpha-pinene reduced from 5.2% to a trace. Besides showing species-specific patterns in volatile oils, these four Mediterranean species differed from other Helichrysum analysed in the dominance of sesquiterpenes over monoterpenes. Furthermore, two of the four species contained aliphatic hydrocarbons nor previously recorded in the genus. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved