Principi di spontaneizzazione di Diospyros kaki (Ebenaceae) in Sicilia

A spontaneous group of plants of Diospyros kaki is reported in a rural area near Menfi, in the province of Agrigento. This is the first record of naturalization of this Asian species – after long time cultivated in various countries of the Mediterranean Basin - observed in Italy

A new species of Smyrnium (Apiaceae) related to S. perfoliatum

On the basis of plant collections recently carried out in Sicily as well as the study of the herbarium material kept in PAL and PAL-Gr, a new species of Smyrnium (Apiaceae) is described here. This new taxon, named Smyrnium dimartinoi, is related to S. perfoliatum and is presently known from Sicily, Crete and realistically elsewhere in the Mediterranean. In such range it occurs in open woods and clearings of the Mediterranean-temperate and submontane belt

Molecular and taxonomic characterization of a endophytic fungus isolated from Helleborus bocconei subsp. intermedius (Ranunculaceae)

A non-sporulating fungus was isolated from different organs of Helleborus bocconei subsp. intermedius (Ranunculaceae) endemic to southern Italy and Sicily, known for the traditional use of dried roots in the treatment of lung diseases of cattle and horses. Molecular characterization of endophytic fungus based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rRNA gene sequences was done. The DNA sequence of full length ITS region of the studied fungus was a 100% match to that of Chaetomium strumarium strain dH 21642 (GenBank accession number JX280851.1). The morphological characters of colony and mycelium of this microfungus are reported here

Vascular flora evolution in the major Mediterranean islands

Characteristics of Mediterranean island floras are analyzed with stress on endemic units. On these bases the main relationships between the major Mediterranean areas and the inland territories with the strongest floristic affinities are analyzed. Finally the role of aliens in Mediterranean island floras and threats are discussed

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF CLADANTHUS SCARIOSUS(ASTERACEAE) WILD GROWN IN MOROCCO

Cladanthus Cass. [Syn. Ormenis (Cass.) Cass.] is a genus of the family Asteraceae, endemic to the Mediterranean region and related to the tribe Anthemideae (1). It comprises 15 species including C. scariosus (Ball) Oberpr. & Vogt [Bas. Santolina scariosa; Syn. Ormenis scariosa Litard. & Maire] from Morocco where is concentrates 1/3 of the species of the genus (2). Some of these are perennial, suffruticose and strongly aromatic plants. C. mixta (L.) Chev. is used in Morocco as chamomile and this is commonly called Moroccan chamomile. In the same country, C scariosus is fairly common in open places, on sandstone substrates (3) and is characterized by a strong aromatic character, this has motivated the authors – some of which were previously occupied by other species of the same genus (4) – to undertake such study phytochemical. In this study, the authors present the results of chemical composition of the essential oil of Cladanthus scariosus wild grown in many regions of Morocco (5). Hydrodistillation of C. scariosus aerial parts, collected on the thermo-mediterranean belt of the central High Atlas – Oukeimeden, from Marrakech to Quarzazate – during the flowering phase gave a pale yellow oil. Overall, sixty-four compounds were identified, representing 92.7% of the total components. The main class of the oil was represented by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (39.8%) with germacrene D (20.7%) as the most abundant component of the class and of the oil. Monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and oxygenated sesquiterpenes were present in similar amount (14.8%-15.1%). In these classes the main products were α-pinene (4.8%) and sabinene (6.9%) among the monoterpene hydrocarbons, (E)-chrysanthenyl acetate (8.3%) among the oxygenated monoterpenes and τ –muurolol (4.2%) and (E,E)-farnesyl acetate (3.9%) among the oxygenated sesquiterpenes. It is also noteworthy the good presence of chamazulene (7.1%)

Metabolites from the aerial parts of the Sicilian population of Artemisia alba.

Phytochemical investigation of the CH2Cl2 extract of the aerial parts of Artemisia alba Turra afforded one new irregular sesquiterpenoid, artemiric acid, and five known metabolites: hydroxydavanone, the coumarins isofraxidin and scopoletin, (6 S*,7 S*,10 R*)–6,10-dimethyl-7,10-epoxyocta-11-enoic acid and artalbic acid. From the MeOH extract three flavonoids were identified: chrysoeriol, quercetin and isorhamnetin. The possible biogenetic pathways of artemiric and artalbic acids are discussed

Cytotoxic effect of eudesmanolides isolated from flowers of Tanacetum vulgare ssp. siculum

A phytochemical analysis of the dichloromethane extract from the flowers of a subspecies of Tanacetum vulgare growing in Sicily was carried out. Five known sesquiterpene lactones with the eudesmane skeleton have been isolated and the cytotoxic activity of these compounds was tested in vitro on A549 (human lung carcinoma epithelial-like) and V79379A (Chinese hamster lung fibroblast-like) cells using the tetrazolium salt reduction (MTT) assay. All of tested compounds induced high time- and concentration-dependent cytotoxic effects

Phytochemical Profile and Antioxidant Activity of the Aerial Part Extracts from Matthiola incana subsp. rupestris and subsp. pulchella (Brassicaceae) Endemic to Sicily

As part of a project aimed at investigating the Matthiola taxa endemic to Sicily (Italy), this study focused on Matthiola incana, an edible species used in the traditional medicine of various countries. Herein, the characterization of phenolic and volatile compounds, the antioxidant capacity in vitro (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil (DPPH), reducing power and Fe2+ chelating activity assays) and the toxicity test (Artemia salina lethality bioassay) of the hydroalcoholic extracts from the aerial parts of M. incana subsp. rupestris from Mt. Pellegrino (Palermo) and Mt. Erice (Trapani), and of M. incana subsp. pulchella are reported. The results are compared with those previously shown for M. incana subsp. incana, to achieve a comprehensive overview of the three subspecies. The HPLC-PDA/ESI-MS and SPME-GC/MS analyses led to the identification of 13 phenolics and 54 volatile compounds. Differences in the qualitative-quantitative profile of these phytochemicals have been highlighted between the M. incana subspecies. The antioxidant tests showed different activity for the extracts, which were found to possess better chelating properties. At last, none of the tested extracts displayed toxicity against brine shrimp larvae. These findings enrich the knowledge on the Matthiola taxa growing wild in Sicily, both from the strictly systematic point of view and for the possible applications as sources bioactive compounds that can be used in the nutraceutical field