Bioactive terpenoids in cannabis: A critical review

Terpenoids, also referred as terpenes have been used extensively in drug related industry due to pharmaceutical properties. These have driven the emergence of studies on terpenoid from plant. Cannabis sativa plant is one of the common natural sources of terpenoids and cannabinoids. The cannabis produces and accumulates terpenoids in grandular trichomes. The grandular trichomes are abundant on the surface of female inflorescence. About 140 terpenoids are known in cannabis and some of them have medicinal potential in treatment of pain, inflammatory, cognition, epilepsy and immune functioning. The biological effect of terpenoid from cannabis is mainly attributed to limonene, myrcene, pinene, linalool, R-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, nerolidol and phytol. The different composition of terpenoids are responsible in exhibit the unique organoleptic properties and influence the medicinal qualities of difference cannabis strains and varieties. This article aims to review the cannabis plant for terpenoid, terpenoid biosynthesis and its pharmacological activities. The terpenoids from cannabis could be valuable natural resources for drug development

Antiproliferative Activity of Xanthones Isolated from Artocarpus obtusus.

An investigation of the chemical constituents in Artocarpus obtusus species led to the isolation of three new xanthones, pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (1), dihydroartoindonesianin C (2), and pyranocycloartobiloxanthone B (3). The compounds were subjected to antiproliferative assay against human promyelocytic leukemia (HL60), human chronic myeloid leukemia (K562), and human estrogen receptor (ER+) positive breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines. Pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (1) consistently showed strong cytotoxic activity against the three cell lines compared to the other two with IC 50 values of 0.5, 2.0 and 5.0 μg/mL, respectively. Compound (1) was also observed to exert antiproliferative activity and apoptotic promoter towards HL60 and MCF7 cell lines at respective IC 50 values. The compound (1) was not toxic towards normal cell lines human nontumorigenic breast cell line (MCF10A) and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with IC 50 values of more than 30 μg/mL

Beyond conventional biomass valorisation: pyrolysis-derived products for biomedical applications

Biomass valorisation is conventionally associated with the production of green biofuels. However, this could extend beyond the conventional perception of biomass application into other domains such as medical sciences. Acid condensate (AC) obtained from pyrolysis promises a good potential for biomedical applications, notably for its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, concentrated AC extract (CACE) obtained from microwave-assisted pyrolysis of palm kernel shells was fractionated, and the resulting fractions were pooled according to similar thin layer chromatography profiles into combined fractions (CFACs). CFACs were evaluated for total phenolic content, antioxidant level, cytotoxicity, and wound healing activities toward human skin fibroblast cells (HSF 1184). CFAC-3 showed the highest total phenolic content (624.98 ± 8.70 µg GAE/mg of sample) and antioxidant activities (DPPH IC50 of 29.47 ± 0.74 µg/mL, ABTS of 1247.13 ± 27.89 µg TE/mg sample, FRAP of 24.26 ± 0.71 mmol Fe(II)/mg sample, HFRS of 257.74 ± 1.74 µg/mL) compared to CACE (DPPH IC50 of 81.76 ± 2.81 µg/mL, ABTS of 816.95 ± 30.49 µg TE/mg sample, FRAP of 9.22 ± 0.66 mmol Fe(II)/mg sample, HFRS of 689.30 ± 36.00 µg/mL), no cytotoxic properties at =50 µg/mL, and significantly faster wound closure (at 1.25 µg/mL) compared to the control 12 h after treatment. The phosphorylation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT) were upregulated, thus indicating that wound healing of CFAC-3 followed through this signalling pathway. To conclude, phenolic-rich CFAC-3 obtained from the pyrolysis of palm kernel shells demonstrated potential biomedical application as an alternative wound healing agent with high antioxidant and wound-healing activity. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first study to report on the wound healing activity of AC and its wound healing mechanism

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of xanthones isolated from artocarpus obtusus F.M. Jarrett

One of the most promising plants in biological screening test results of thirteen Artocarpus species was Artocarpus obtusus FM Jarrett and detailed phytochemical investigation of powdered dried bark of the plant has led to the isolation and identification of three xanthones; pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (1), dihydroartoindonesianin C (2) and pyranocycloartobiloxanthone B (3). These compounds were screened for antioxidant, antimicrobial and tyrosinase inhibitory activities. Pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (1) exhibited a strong free radical scavenger towards DPPH free radicals with IC50 value of 2 μg/mL with prominent discoloration observed in comparison with standard ascorbic acid, a-tocopherol and quercetin, The compound also exhibited antibacterial activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC3359) and Bacillus subtilis (clinically isolated) with inhibition zone of 20 and 12 mm, respectively. However the other two xanthones were found to be inactive. For the tyrosinase inhibitory activity, again compound (1) displayed strong activity comparable with the standard kojic acid

Cannabis-derived ingredients: Trends for a promising future cosmetic

The world market has been introduced with cannabis industry since long ago before the start of the Common Era. Since a century ago, this industry has been overwhelmed with controversial legal battles and debates. However, recently, the legitimate cannabis market has been growing rapidly and is highly potential to significantly boost the world's economy. This intensive review is organised to elaborate on the indirect cost and profit potentials associated with the industrial-scale cannabis and hemp cultivation and processing as well as its formulation for cosmetics applications. The search for new alternatives for hemp and to help local farmers expanding their current practices is highly on demand for the improvement of the worldwide hemp markets. Summarizing all the data from various studies and countries, this review presents a comprehensive discussion focusing on cosmetics applications starting from the therapeutic potentials of the cannabis and hemp, regulatory resources, its safety and effectiveness, mechanism in treating skin diseases and the future prospect of cannabis in cosmetics industries. The current stigma of the world hemp industry has somehow prevented farmers from switching to large scale cultivation of the cannabis. It is proposed for the state governments to allocate high economic incentives especially for the farmers to willingly taking the challenge in introducing cannabis into their agriculture practices. These additional investment and in-depth research focus could lead to a positive competition to the current products in multiple industries

α-Mangostin from cratoxylum arborescens (Vahl) blume demonstrates anti-ulcerogenic property : a mechanistic study

Cratoxylum arborescens (Vahl) Blume is an Asian herbal medicine with versatile ethnobiological properties including treatment of gastric ulcer. This study evaluated the antiulcerogenic mechanism(s) of α-mangostin (AM) in a rat model of ulcer. AM is a prenylated xanthone derived through biologically guided fractionation of C. arborescens. Rats were orally pretreated with AM and subsequently exposed to acute gastric lesions induced by ethanol. Following treatment, ulcer index, gastric juice acidity, mucus content, histological and immunohistochemical analyses, glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and nonprotein sulfhydryl groups (NP-SH) were evaluated. The anti-Helicobacter pylori, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitory effect, and antioxidant activity of AM were also investigated in vitro. AM (10 and 30 mg/kg) inhibited significantly (P < 0.05) ethanol-induced gastric lesions by 66.04% and 74.39 %, respectively. The compound induces the expression of Hsp70, restores GSH levels, decreases lipid peroxidation, and inhibits COX-2 activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AM showed an effective in vitro anti-H. pylori activity. The efficacy of the AM was accomplished safely without presenting any toxicological parameters. The results of the present study indicate that the antioxidant properties and the potent anti-H. pylori, in addition to activation of Hsp70 protein, may contribute to the gastroprotective activity of α-mangostin

Chemical constituents and biological activities of Glycosmis macrantha merr. and Cratoxylum arborescens (vahl) blume

Phytochemical and biological activity studies of Glycosmis macrantha (family Rutaceae) and Cratoxylum arborescens (family Guttiferae) were carried out. The stem barks of Glycosmis macrantha and Cratoxylum arborescens were collected from Sabah and Sarawak, respectively. These two species were subjected to detail phytochemical investigation which involved extraction using three organic solvents of different polarity and isolation of the compounds by using common chromatographic techniques such as gravity column chromatography, vacuum column chromatography, chromatotron, preparative thin layer chromatography and gel filtration column chromatography using Sephadex LH20. The structural elucidations of the isolated compounds were carried out using spectroscopic techniques such as NMR, MS, IR, UV and by comparison with literature data. The phytochemical investigations have led to the isolation of several compounds of different classes including alkaloids, xanthones, flavonoids and triterpenoids. The crude extracts and some of the isolated compounds were tested for antioxidant, cytotoxic and antimicrobial activity using DPPH, MTT and disc diffusion methods, respectively. The cell line used in cytotoxic assay was the human breast cancer (MCF7) cell line. The antimicrobial activity was tested against eight microbes namely Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes and Candida albican. The phytochemical study of Glycosmis macrantha has led to the isolation of two new acridone alkaloids, macranthanine (116), 7-hydroxynoracronycine (117); one known acridone alkaloid, namely atalaphyllidine (118), two flavonoids, dihydroglychalcone A (32) and epicatechin (58); and a sterol, β-sitosterol (119). Similar isolation work on Cratoxylum arborescens has yielded three xanthones, α-mangostin (36), β-mangostin (37) and fuscaxanthone C (103) together with stigmasterol (120). Among the pure compounds, only macranthanine (116) and 7-hydroxynoraconycine (117) exhibited significant activities towards antioxidant assay with IC50 values 63.3 and 80.2 μg/ml, respectively. The study on antiproliferative activity against human breast cancer (MCF7) cell line displayed that α-mangostin (36) and β-mangostin (37) exhibited significant activity with IC50 values of 12.48 μg/ml and 28.42 μg/ml respectively. Meanwhile, only α-mangostin (36) exhibited strong inhibition on the growth of B. subtilis, B. cereus, S. typhimurium and S. aureus with inhibition zone 16, 20, 17 and 20 mm, respectively

Utilization of oil palm fiber and palm kernel shell in various applications

The agro-industrial sector in Malaysia generates a significant amount of biomass solid wastes, particularly from palm oil mills which produce enormous amount of biomass that includes empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm kernel shells (PKS), oil palm fibers (OPF), and palm oil mill effluents (POME). Oil palm fronds (leaves stem) are available from the plantation during trimming process, and oil palm trunks are available when the plantation are removing old palm trees for new oil palm cultivation. At present, the fibers and shells are utilized (in weight ratio) in boilers for steam generation in most palm oil mills, whereas empty fruit bunches are being utilized as organic fertilizer and mulching purposes. Thus, there are huge challenges as well as opportunities on the development to utilize these abundant biomass resources. The oil palm biomass appears to be the most promising and potential renewable feedstock for the recovery of various fuels and chemicals

Green tea: A biofactory for antioxidant compounds

Green tea (Camellia sinensis)is one of the most popular and widely consumed beverages in the world second to water. Although most consumer does not aware that green tea contains variety of bioactive compounds that provide health benefits such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-carcinogenic, anti-hypertensive, anti-proliferative, anti-thrombogenic, and lipid-lowering effects. However, so far most of the health benefits of green tea based on the antioxidant activities of the detected compounds. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from catechins is the most active polyphenols of green tea. Since this plant is famous and some consumed it to improve their health, efficient extraction techniques of high yield and short time are needed. The process from obtaining raw materials and extraction process must not alter the efficacy and potency of the green tea bioactive compounds. Currently, ultrasound assisted techniques with combination of agitation system are used the extraction yield. In addition, bioavailability and mode of deliveries to body are important to ensure effective absorption and delivery to targeted part