55 research outputs found
Eucalyptus essential oils: chemical profiling and pharmacological potential for sustainable forest cultivation
No full textEucalyptus stands out as a crucial species for forest cultivation, particularly due to its widespread industrial applications particularly the production of essential oils (EOs). Given the international significance of Eucalyptus EOs and their potential to enhance environmental and socioeconomic conditions, the aim of this work is to investigate the chemical composition and pharmacological activities of EOs from nine understudied Eucalyptus species. Results showed that oxygenated monoterpenes dominated the chemical profiles, with 1,8-cineole being the predominant component in most species. E. wandoo, E. punctata, and E. diversifolia exhibited the most effective antiradical actions. All EOs demonstrate α-glucosidase inhibitory effects with IC50 values ranging from 1.86 to 3.11 mg/mL. In cytotoxicity assessments, E. wandoo displayed a remarkable 28-fold higher IC50 against Vero than MCF-7. Results highlighted potent anti-inflammatory properties surpassing the positive control for all studied species, with E. punctata exhibiting the best IC50 value of 4.42 μg/mL. The tested major compounds, α-pinene and eucalyptol, demonstrated lower efficacy compared to the EOs across all tested activities. This research provides valuable insights for selecting Eucalyptus species and underlines the importance of this natural product in order to preserve its natural habitats and implementing reforestation efforts in other areas
Variation in chemical profile of leaves essential oils from thirteen Tunisian Eucalyptus species and evaluation of their antioxidant and antibacterial properties
No full textPhenolic composition and antioxidant activities of thirteen Eucalyptus species cultivated in North East of Tunisia
No full textTowards the use of Cupressus sempervirens L. organic extracts as a source of antioxidant, antibacterial and antileishmanial biomolecules
No full textCupressus sempervirens L. is largely used in traditional medicine as an antimicrobial agent. The present study investigated the antioxidant, antibacterial and antileishmanial activities of C. sempervirens organic extracts at different phenological stages. Antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazylradical) scavenging assay, ferric reducing power and total antioxidant capacity. The antibacterial activity was evaluated against five clinical strains by disk diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The antileishmanial activity was determined against promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania (L.) infantum and L. major. Results of antioxidant activity showed that methanolic extract from vegetative stage had the most important activity. The ethyl acetate extract of C. sempervirens from flowering stage was the most active against Bacillus cereus (ATCC 14579) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) with MIC of 100 μg/mL and 50 μg/mL, respectively. Interestingly, this extract exhibited high antileishmanial activity against promastigote form of L. infantum and L. major (IC50 = 1.47 and 2.8 μg/mL, respectively) and amastigote form (IC50 = 3.61 and 5.42 μg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, ethyl acetate extract showed low cytotoxicity on macrophage cells Raw264.7 with selectivity index of 34.15 and 17.93 for L. infantum and L. major, respectively. The identification by HPLC and HPLC-MSn of active extracts of C. sempervirens revealed that major compounds of methanolic extract from vegetative stage and ethyl acetate extract from flowering stage were cupressuflavone and amentoflavone. Based on these results, C. sempervirens extracts could be used as an alternative to chemical drugs for the treatment of oxidative stress and infectious diseases
Chemical and biological evaluation of essential oils from cardamom species
No full textTo highlight the importance of the spices in the Mediterranean diet, the aim of the paper was to study the essential oil compositions and to clarify the potential differences in the biological activities of the three cardamom species. In the study, we compared the phytochemical profiles and biological activities of essential oils from Elettaria cardamomum, Aframomum corrorima and Amomum subulatum. The oils were analyzed using the GC and GC/MS techniques and were mainly constituted of the oxygenated monoterpenes which represents 71.4%, 63.0%, and 51.0% of all compounds detected in E. cardamomum, A. corrorima and A. subulatum essential oils, respectively, 1,8-cineole was the main common compound between the tree tested volatile oil. The essential oils showed significant antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms tested especially the fungal strains. The Ethiopian cardamom was the most active essential oil with fungal growth inhibition zone ranging from 12.67 to 34.33 mm, MICs values ranging from 0.048 to 0.19 mg/mL, and MBCs values from 0.19 to 1.75 mg/mL. The three tested essential oils and their main component (1,8-cineole) significantly increased the production of elastase and protease production, and motility in P. aeruginosa PAO1 in a dose dependent manner. In fact, at 10 mg/mL concentration, the three essential oils showed more than 50% of inhibition of elastolytic and proteolytic activities in P. aeruginosa PAO1. The same oils inhibited also the violacein production in C. violaceum strain. It was also noticed that at high concentrations, the A. corrorima essential oil significantly inhibited the germination of radish. A thorough knowledge of the biological and safety profiles of essential oils can produce applications of economic importance
EFFECT OF DROUGHT ON SAFFLOWER NATURAL DYES AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES
No full textABSTRACT Drought is the main abiotic constraint that affects crop species behaviour regarding biochemical responses. The current study was conducted to examine the effect of water deficit on growth, phenolic and carotenoid contents as well as the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of two Carthamus tinctorius varieties (Jawhara and 104) flowers. Hence, plants were treated with different levels of water deficit: control (100 %), moderate water deficit (50 %) and severe water deficit (25 %). Obtained results showed that plant growth was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced under 50 %. Drought increased flower phenolic acids contents especially gallic acid where they increased significantly (p < 0.05) by 2.73 fold (104) and by 2.87 fold (Jawhara) with respect to controls under 50 %. However, the amounts of this major compound were reduced at 25 % by 9.66 % (104) and 3.83 % (Jawhara). Similar to phenolic compounds, total carotenoid content was at its highest level especially for Jawhara with an increase by 35.19 % at 50 %. On the other hands, C. tinctorius flowers extracts exhibited high antiradical activity as compared to BHT. A gradual increase by 35.29 % (Jawhara) and 33.33 % (104) especially under 25 % was observed. Moreover, under 50 %, the antimicrobial activity increased significantly (p < 0.05) by 30 % and 10.05 % against Aspergillus carbonarus and Pseudomonas aerogenosa, respectively. Taken together, our findings suggest that C. tinctorius could be a raw material for production of natural dyes under moderate salinity conditions
Biochemical Characterization of Coriander Cakes Obtained by Extrusion
No full textThis study was designed to examine the effect of operating conditions such as nozzle diameter on fatty acid, sterol, and tocol composition of coriander cakes. Eight fatty acids were identified, with petroselinic acid accounting for 75–77% of the total fatty acids, followed by linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acids, accounting for 12-13%, 5%, and 3%, respectively, of the total fatty acids. β-Sitosterol was the major sterol in all oils with 33–35% of total sterols. The next major sterols in all oils were stigmasterol (24% of total sterols) and Δ7-stigmasterol (15% of total sterols). Coriander cake contained higher amounts of total tocotrienol where γ-tocotrienol was the main compound
Antimicrobial activity and keratinocyte cytotoxicity of methanolic leaf extracts of Hibiscus tiliaceus (L.)
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