GC-MS analysis of Ornithogalum procerum

Ornithogalum procerum Stapf. [Family: Liliaceae] is an Iranian medicinal plant found mainly in the east Azarbaiijan province of Iran. As part of our on-going phytochemical and bioactivity studies on medicinal plants from Iranian flora, various extracts and essential oils of this plant were analysed by GC-MS. The hydrodistillation of the ground aerial parts of O. procerum, Soxhlet-extraction of the dried and ground bulbs, and the hydrolysis of the methanol extract of the bulbs yielded, the essential oils, n-hexane extrcat and the hydrolysed methanolic extract respectively, which were analysed by the GC-MS. A total of 23 compounds were identified from the essential oils of the the aerial parts. The identified compounds represented 70.27% of the total essential oils. The main components of the aerial parts were phenylacetaldehyde [7.57%], hexahydrofarnesyl acetone [8.13%], docosan [5.52%] and 5-methyl octadecane [4.63%]. From the n-hexan extract of the bulbs, seven hydrocarbons representing 99.39% of the total extract, were identified. Finally, from the hydrolyzed methanolic extract of the bulbs, four polysterol-type compounds accounting for 59.81% of the extract, were detected. The GC-MS analyses reavealed that the essential oils are mainly composed of oxygenated hydrocarbons, the n-hexane extract contains predominatly hydrocarbons, and the hydrolyzed methanolic extract comprises polysterol-type compounds

Bioactivity of the extract and isolation of lignansand a sesquiterpene from the aerial parts of centaurea pamphlica[Asteraceae]

Centaurea pamphylica Boiss. and Heldr. [Family: Asteraceae], commonly known as "pamphylia daisy", is a Turkish endemic species of the genus Centaurea that comprises ca. 500 species, many of which have been used as traditional medicines. The n-hexane, dichloromethane [DCM] and methanol [MeOH] extracts of the aerial parts of C. pamphylica were assessed for antioxidant activity and general toxicity using, respectively, the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl [DPPH], and the brine shrimp lethality assays. The reversed-phase preparative HPLC and PTLC were used to isolate compounds from the extracts. The structures of these compounds [1-4] were elucidated by spectroscopic means, and also by direct comparison with the respective published data. Both the DCM and the MeOH extract showed significant levels of antioxidant activities with the RC[50] values of 72.6 x 10[-2] and 47.3 x 10[-2] mg/mL, respectively. The MeOH extract exhibited low levels of toxicity towards brine shrimps [LD[50] = 125.0 x 10[-2] mg/mL]. Three major bioactive components of the MeOH extract were matairesinoside [1], arctiin [2] and matairesinol [3]. An eudesmane-type sesquiterpene, pterodontriol [4], was also isolated from the DCM extract. Since reactive oxygen species are important contributors to various ailments, the antioxidant properties of the extracts as well as the isolated compounds may be of medicinal significance. This is the first report on the occurrence of 1-4 in C. pamphylica, and 4 in the genus Centaurea