ANALYSIS OF FICUS CARICA L. – VOLATILE COMPONENTS AND MINERAL CONTENT

Ficus carica L. is a well-known Mediterranean plant, its fructus - the fig- is consumed widely, mostly in the southern region of Europe. It’s a member of the Moraceae family, one of the earliest crops. It can be consumed raw, dried or even as jam as a part of the Mediterranean diet. One part of our research was to determine the volatile components of Ficus carica L. The composition of volatile components are important for the determination of fruit quality. We compared two extraction methods, examined by SPME-GC/MS. Two preparation methods were used: directly measured by SPME, and also samples made by steam distillation. Figs has an important role as phytonutrition. Mineral element content was determined by ICP. Fig is a good source of elements for Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn and Mo, since eating 5 dkg of dried fig covers more than 15% of the Recommended Dietry Allowances

In-situ Clean-up and OPLC Fractionation of Chamomile Flower Extract Searching Active Components by Bioautography

Bioassay-guided isolation of antibacterial components of chamomile flower methanol extract was performed by OPLC with on-line detection, fractionation combined with sample clean-up in-situ in the adsorbent bed after sample application. The antibacterial effect of the fractions and the separated compounds remained on the adsorbent layer (do not overrun during OPLC separation) was tested with direct bioautography (DB) against the bioluminescent Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. maculicola and Vibrio fischeri. The fractions with great biologically activity were analysed by SPME-GC-MS and LC-MS/MS and the two active uneluted compounds were characterized by OPLC-MS using interface. Mainly essential oil components, coumarins, flavonoids, phenolic acids and fatty acids were identified in the fractions

Role of direct bioautographic method for detection of antistaphylococcal activity of essential oils.

The aim of the present study was the chemical characterization of some traditionally used and therapeutically relevant essential oils (thyme, eucalyptus, cinnamon bark, clove, and tea tree) and the optimized microbiological investigation of the effect of these oils on clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). The chemical composition of the oils was analyzed by TLC, and controlled by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The antibacterial effect was investigated using a TLC-bioautographic method. Antibacterial activity of thyme, clove and cinnamon oils, as well as their main components (thymol, carvacrol, eugenol, and cinnamic aldehyde) was observed against all the bacterial strains used in this study. The essential oils of eucalyptus and tea tree showed weak activity in the bioautographic system. On the whole, the antibacterial activity of the essential oils could be related to their most abundant components, but the effect of the minor components should also be taken into consideration. Direct bioautography is more cost-effective and better in comparison with traditional microbiological laboratory methods (e.g. disc-diffusion, agar-plate technique)

Bioassay-guided isolation and identification of antimicrobial compounds from thyme essential oil by means of overpressured layer chromatography, bioautography and GC-MS

A simple method is described for efficient isolation of compounds having an antibacterial effect. Two thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oils, obtained from the market, were chosen as prospective materials likely to feature several bioactive components when examined by thin layer chromatography coupled with direct bioautography as a screening method. The newly developed infusion overpressured layer chromatographic separation method coupled with direct bioautography assured that only the active components were isolated by means of overrun overpressured layer chromatography with online detection and fractionation. Each of the 5 collected fractions represented one of the five antimicrobial essential oil components designated at the screening. The purity and the activity of the fractions were confirmed with chromatography coupled various detection methods (UV, vanillin-sulphuric acid reagent, direct bioautography). The antibacterial components were identified with GC-MS as thymol, carvacrol, linalool, diethylphthalate, and alpha-terpineol. The oil component diethyl-phthalate is an artificial compound, used as plasticizer or detergent bases in the industry. Our results support that exploiting its flexibility and the possible hyphenations, overpressured layer chromatography is especially attractive for isolation of antimicrobial components from various matrixes

Detection of antibacterial activity of essential oil components by TLC-bioautography using luminescent bacteria

The aim of the present study was the chemical characterization of some medically relevant essential oils (tea tree, clove, cinnamon bark, thyme and eucalyptus) and the investigation of antibacterial effect of the components of these oils by use of a direct bioautographic method. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was combined with biological detection in this process. The chemical composition of the oils was determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Eucalyptol (84.2%) was the main component of the essential oil of eucalyptus, eugenol (83.7%) of clove oil, and trans-cinnamic aldehyde (73.2%), thymol (49.9%) and terpinen-4-ol (45.8%) of cinnamon bark, thyme and tea tree oils, respectively. Antibacterial activity of the separated components of these oils, as well as their pure main components (eucalyptol, eugenol, trans-cinnamic aldehyde and thymol) was observed against the Gram-negative luminescence tagged plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola (Psmlux) and the Gram-negative, naturally luminescent marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri. On the whole, the antibacterial activity of the essential oils could be related to their main components, but the minor constituents may be involved in this process. Trans-cinnamic aldehyde and eugenol were the most active compounds in TLC-bioautography. The sensitivity of TLC-bioautographic method can be improved with using luminescent test bacteria. This method is more cost-effective and provides more reliable results in comparison with conventional microbiological methods, e.g. disc-diffusion technique

Comparative investigation of sesquiterpene components of essential oils originating from intact plants and hairy root chamomile cultures

The importance of chamomile (Chamomilla recutita) inflorescence is widely known in classical and folk medicine, with the largest group of its effective constituents forming the essential oil (chamazulene, a-bisabolol, α-farnesene, trans-β-farnesene, spathulenol, cis/trans-en-in-dicycloethers). Among cultivated species, the Hungarian BK-2 contains more chamazulene in its essential oil than the German Degumil type, which is mainly cultivated for its a-bisabolol. Both components have important antiinflammatory activities. Wild populations can be easily distinguished from cultivated ones by their high amount of bisaboloides, particularly the flower of Hungarian Szabadkígyós wild type, which contained on average 48 % of the biologically active (-)-a-bisabolol. The population of Szabadkígyós has good salt tolerance which is important owing to global warming, because the proportion of saline areas is increasing worldwide. To keep the genome of Szabadkígyós having high (-)-a-bisabolol content, Szőke and research team used biotechnological methods. Sterile plantlets, were infected by Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains #A-4, #15834, #R-1601. The hairy root clones possessing the best growing and biosynthetical potential were multiplied for phytochemical investigations. Pharmacologically important compounds of their essential oils were followed in great detail. The amount of in vitro cultured terpenoids and polyin compounds was compared with that of in vivo plants. GC-MS studies showed that sterile chamomile cultures generated the most important terpenoid and polyin compounds characteristics of the mother plant. Berkheyaradulene, geranyl-isovalerat and cedrol as new components were identified in these sterile cultures. The main component of hairy root cultures (D/400, D/1, D/100 and Sz/400) was tr-b-farnesene and in addition one new compound: a-selinene was identified. Hairy root culture originated from chamomile collected in Szabadkígyós was intensive increased the essential oil content and pharmacological active compounds: (-) -α-bisabolol and β-eudesmol was also synthetized in large quantity. Furthermore, in vitro organized cultures were made from this population to obtain propagation material containing numerous active substances

Terpenoids in genetically transformed cultures of chamomile

By naturally occurring gene-transformation Ri-plasmids of Agrobacterium rhizogenes have been integrated into the plant genome of Chamomillo recutita, thereby inducing the formation of hairy roots. Clones with the best biosynthetic potential were multiplied for phytochemical investigations. The amounts of terpenoid and polyene compounds in the genetically transformed cultures were compared with those in in-vivo plants. In Hungary a wild chamomile population was found which contained significant amount of (-)-alpha-bisabolol in the oil from the inflorescence. We used biotechnological methods to preserve the genome of this wild type. Transformed chamomile root cultures were obtained by infection of sterile organized cultures with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains #A-4,# 15834, and #R-1601. Hairy roots freed from bacteria were cultivated on solid medium and then in liquid, hormone-free, B5 and MS media. The qualitative and quantitative composition of the essential oil was examined by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The volatile compounds were identified by comparing their retention times with those of authentic standards and of essential oils of known composition, and by peak enrichment. Confirmation of identity was achieved by comparison of mass spectra with those reported in the literature and those of reference compounds. The amount of each component as a percentage of the total was determined by area normalization. GC and GC-MS studies showed that genetically transformed chamomile cultures generated the terpenoid and polyene compounds most characteristic of the parent plant. The main components of hairy root cultures were trans-beta-farnesene, alpha-farnesene, geranyl isovalerate, and cedrol. We identified beta-selinene as a new component of the genetically transformed cultures

Chemical composition of the essential oil of Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. by GC, GC/MS methods

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