HPLC–DAD–ESI-MS/MS screening of bioactive components from Rhus coriaria L. (Sumac) fruits

This research was partly funded by the European Union under the ENPI CBC MED Program and is a collaborative international project ref. no. I-B/1.1/288. This work was also supported by the project AGL2011-29857-C03-02 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation), as well as P10-FQM-6563 and P11-CTS-7625 (Andalusian Regional Government Council of Innovation and Science), and A1/041035/11 (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation).Rhus coriaria L. (sumac) is an important crop widely used in the Mediterranean basin as a food spice, and also in folk medicine, due to its health-promoting properties. Phytochemicals present in plant foods are in part responsible for these consequent health benefits. Nevertheless, detailed information on these bioactive compounds is still scarce. Therefore, the present work was aimed at investigating the phytochemical components of sumac fruit epicarp using HPLC–DAD–ESI-MS/MS in two different ionisation modes. The proposed method provided tentative identification of 211 phenolic and other phyto-constituents, most of which have not been described so far in R. coriaria fruits. More than 180 phytochemicals (tannins, (iso)flavonoids, terpenoids, etc.) are reported herein in sumac fruits for the first time. The obtained results highlight the importance of R. coriaria as a promising source of functional ingredients, and boost its potential use in the food and nutraceutical industries.European Union (EU)Spanish Government AGL2011-29857-C03-02Andalusian Regional Government Council of Innovation and Science P10-FQM-6563 P11-CTS-7625Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation A1/041035/1

Traditional knowledge of wild edible plants used in Palestine (Northern West Bank): A comparative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A comparative food ethnobotanical study was carried out in fifteen local communities distributed in five districts in the Palestinian Authority, PA (northern West Bank), six of which were located in Nablus, two in Jenin, two in Salfit, three in Qalqilia, and two in Tulkarm. These are among the areas in the PA whose rural inhabitants primarily subsisted on agriculture and therefore still preserve the traditional knowledge on wild edible plants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on the use of wild edible plants were collected for one-year period, through informed consent semi-structured interviews with 190 local informants. A semi-quantitative approach was used to document use diversity, and relative importance of each species.</p> <p>Results and discussion</p> <p>The study recorded 100 wild edible plant species, seventy six of which were mentioned by three informants and above and were distributed across 70 genera and 26 families. The most significant species include <it>Majorana syriaca, Foeniculum vulgare, Malvasylvestris</it>, <it>Salvia fruticosa, Cyclamen persicum, Micromeria fruticosa, Arum palaestinum, Trigonella foenum-graecum</it>, <it>Gundelia tournefortii</it>, and <it>Matricaria aurea</it>. All the ten species with the highest mean cultural importance values (mCI), were cited in all five areas. Moreover, most were important in every region. A common cultural background may explain these similarities. One taxon (<it>Majoranasyriaca</it>) in particular was found to be among the most quoted species in almost all areas surveyed. CI values, as a measure of traditional botanical knowledge, for edible species in relatively remote and isolated areas (Qalqilia, and Salfit) were generally higher than for the same species in other areas. This can be attributed to the fact that local knowledge of wild edible plants and plant gathering are more spread in remote or isolated areas.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Gathering, processing and consuming wild edible plants are still practiced in all the studied Palestinian areas. About 26 % (26/100) of the recorded wild botanicals including the most quoted and with highest mCI values, are currently gathered and utilized in all the areas, demonstrating that there are ethnobotanical contact points among the various Palestinian regions. The habit of using wild edible plants is still alive in the PA, but is disappearing. Therefore, the recording, preserving, and infusing of this knowledge to future generations is pressing and fundamental.</p

Downy Lavender Oil: A Promising Source of Antimicrobial, Antiobesity, and Anti-Alzheimer’s Disease Agents

Lavandula pubescens Decne (LP) is one of the three Lavandula species growing wildly in the Dead Sea Valley, Palestine. The products derived from the plant, including the essential oil (EO), have been used in Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine (TAPHM) for centuries as therapeutic agents. The EO is traditionally believed to have sedative, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antidepressive, antiamnesia, and antiobesity properties. This study was therefore aimed to assess the in vitro bioactivities associated with the LP EO. The EO was separated by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of LP plants and analyzed for its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticholinesterase, and antilipase activities. GC-MS was used for phytochemical analysis. The chemical analysis of the EO composition revealed 25 constituents, of which carvacrol (65.27%) was the most abundant. EO exhibited strong antioxidant (IC50 0.16–0.18 μL/mL), antiacetylcholinesterase (IC50 0.9 μL/mL), antibutyrylcholinesterase (IC50 6.82 μL/mL), and antilipase (IC50 1.08 μL/mL) effects. The EO also demonstrated high antibacterial activity with the highest susceptibility observed for Staphylococcus aureus with 95.7% inhibition. The EO was shown to exhibit strong inhibitory activity against Candida albicans (MIC 0.47 μL/mL). The EO was also shown to possess strong antidermatophyte activity against Microsporum canis, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Epidermophyton floccosum (EC50 0.05–0.06 μL/mL). The high antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, and antimicrobial potentials of the EO can, therefore, be correlated with its high content of monoterpenes, especially carvacrol, as shown by its comparable bioactivities indicators results. This study provided new insights into the composition and bioactivities of LP EO. Our finding revealed evidence that LP EO makes a valuable natural source of bioactive molecules showing substantial potential as antioxidant, neuroprotective, antihyperlipidemic, and antimicrobial agents. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that LP EO might be useful for further investigation aiming at integrative CAM and clinical applications in the management of dermatophytosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and obesity

Molecular Characterization of Watermelon Chlorotic Stunt Virus (WmCSV) from Palestine

The incidence of watermelon chlorotic stunt disease and molecular characterization of the Palestinian isolate of Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus (WmCSV-[PAL]) are described in this study. Symptomatic leaf samples obtained from watermelon Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.), and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants were tested for WmCSV-[PAL] infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA). Disease incidence ranged between 25%–98% in watermelon fields in the studied area, 77% of leaf samples collected from Jenin were found to be mixed infected with WmCSV-[PAL] and SLCV. The full-length DNA-A and DNA-B genomes of WmCSV-[PAL] were amplified and sequenced, and the sequences were deposited in the GenBank. Sequence analysis of virus genomes showed that DNA-A and DNA-B had 97.6%–99.42% and 93.16%–98.26% nucleotide identity with other virus isolates in the region, respectively. Sequence analysis also revealed that the Palestinian isolate of WmCSV shared the highest nucleotide identity with an isolate from Israel suggesting that the virus was introduced to Palestine from Israel

Antiobesity and Antioxidant Potentials of Selected Palestinian Medicinal Plants

We evaluated the antioxidant and porcine pancreatic lipase inhibition (PPLI) activities of 90 plants extracts. The antioxidant activity was measured using the free-radical scavenging capacity (DPPH) and reducing power (RP) assays. The pancreatic lipase inhibition assay was used to determine the PPLI activity of plant extracts. Among the 90 plant extracts examined, 41.0 % crude extracts showed antilipase activity of more than 50%. The most active plants by means of IC50 value were Camellia sinensis (0.5 mg/ml), Ceratonia siliqua (leaves) (0.8 mg/mL), Curcuma longa (0.8 mg/mL), Sarcopoterium spinosum (1.2 mg/mL), and Mentha spicata (1.2 mg/mL). The antioxidant activity of plant extracts using the DPPH and RP assays reveals comparable results. The most active antioxidant extracts using both assays were the leaves and fruit epicarp of Rhus coriaria, areal parts of Sarcopoterium spinosum, and leaves of Ceratonia siliqua. Our results suggest natural resources that possess strong antioxidant and pancreatic lipase inhibitory activities with potential applications in the treatment and prevention of obesity and overweight. The extracts of Camellia sinensis, Ceratonia siliqua, Curcuma longa, Sarcopoterium spinosum, and Mentha spicata were proved to have a great potential as antioxidants and antiobesity agents

Molecular Characterization of Watermelon Chlorotic Stunt Virus (WmCSV) from Palestine

The incidence of watermelon chlorotic stunt disease and molecular characterization of the Palestinian isolate of Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus (WmCSV-[PAL]) are described in this study. Symptomatic leaf samples obtained from watermelon Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.), and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants were tested for WmCSV-[PAL] infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA). Disease incidence ranged between 25%–98% in watermelon fields in the studied area, 77% of leaf samples collected from Jenin were found to be mixed infected with WmCSV-[PAL] and SLCV. The full-length DNA-A and DNA-B genomes of WmCSV-[PAL] were amplified and sequenced, and the sequences were deposited in the GenBank. Sequence analysis of virus genomes showed that DNA-A and DNA-B had 97.6%–99.42% and 93.16%–98.26% nucleotide identity with other virus isolates in the region, respectively. Sequence analysis also revealed that the Palestinian isolate of WmCSV shared the highest nucleotide identity with an isolate from Israel suggesting that the virus was introduced to Palestine from Israel

Characterizing Palestinian snake melon (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) germplasm diversity and structure using SNP and DArTseq markers

Abstract Background Crop landraces embody a source of beneficial genes potentially providing endurance to environmental stress and other agronomic qualities including yield. Our study included 88 snake melon accessions (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) collected from 9 districts in the Palestinian West-Bank. These accessions represent four landraces of Palestinian snake melon: Green, and White Baladi, and Green, and White Sahouri. Results This is the first report on successful application of genotyping by sequencing in snake melon. Nine thousand seven hundred fifty single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and 7400 DArTseq genetic markers were employed to evaluate genetic biodiversity and population structure of Palestinian snake melon germplasm collection. Clustering based on neighbor-joining-analysis, principle coordinate and Bayesian model implemented in Structure showed that patterns of genetic diversity of snake melon landraces depends on their geographical source and unraveled the presence of two major local landraces (Sahouri, and Baladi) with accessions from each group clustering together. A significant correlation was observed between both types of markers in Mantel correlation test. A significant association between genetic and geographic matrices (P < 0.0001) was also detected. AMOVA indicated that majority of variation (90%) was due to the difference within accessions. Conclusion The Palestinian landraces seem to have unique genes that may allow the enhancement of the global snake melon gene pool and developments of the plant production worldwide. Our subsequent objective is to detect genotypes with promising qualities and to conduct association mapping studies concentrating on Fusarium-wilt resistance, yield, and environmental stresses