ABSTRACT
Thymus is a widely used medicinal plant in food and pharmaceutical industries. Among different species of Thymus, T. vulgaris is used more than other species in therapeutic dosage forms. This study was conducted to differentiate various Thymus species by TLC fingerprint. In order to identify and differentiate various species of Thymus, TLC fingerprints of essential oil, dichloromethane, ethylacetate and n-butanol extracts of four available species named T. vulgaris, T. pubescens, T. citriodorus and T. daenensis were obtained and compared with each other. The results showed that the TLC chromatograms of essential oil and n-butanol extract cannot be used as differential identification for the above-mentioned species; while the ethylacetate and dichloromethane extracts are more reliable to be used for TLC fingerprints. TLC-chromatogram of ethylacetate extract is specific for identification of T. pubescens and T. vulgaris while T. citriodorus and T. daenensis can be best identified by their TLC fingerprints obtained from dichloromethane extract. For best differentiation of various Thymus species, different extracts of the plants should be used
Subject(s)
Chromatography, Thin Layer , Plant Extracts , Methylene Chloride , Oils, Volatile , 1-ButanolABSTRACT
Artemisia absinthium L. [common wormwood] has been widely used in traditional medicine. The plant contains toxic components: a and beta-thujone, therefore, it should be used with caution. Since common wormwood is considered to be a toxic plant, we decided to evaluate toxic compounds quantities in those used in Iranian folk market. Five samples were purchased from Tehran markets. Essential oil of the flowers was obtained by water distillation. Essential oils were injected to gas chromatograph and their thujone content were determined according to the calibration curve. The results showed that alpha-thujone is absent in all samples and p-thujone content in the essential oils is much less than its amount reported from other countries. Since the quantity of toxic compounds are low in the plant growing in Iran, it is proposed that Artemisia absinthium L. can be studied for its some medical uses
ABSTRACT
Broccoli inflorescences are rich in health promoting compounds such as vitamin C which may contribute to the high antioxidant capacity found in freshly- harvested broccoli. However, high looses of this essential compound has been reported after harvesting. Modified atmosphere packaging has been shown to be potentially useful in storability and quality retention of Broccoli florets; however, supplemental methods of extending shelf life are desirable because of the high fermentation product. In this way florets were treated post harvest with benzyl adenine at 50 ppm before packaging in polymeric bags [polyethylene and polypropylene] and storage at 1°C. Factors including ethylene production, chlorophyll, vitamin C, fermentation product, appearance, pH and titrable acidity were measured every three day intervals. During storage of cytokinin treated florets under MAP, all changes related with loss of quality were reduced and delayed with time. Additionally vitamin C remained almost unchanged. This improved retention was mainly due to decreased ethylene production. Cytokinin treatment significantly reduced fermentation product in packaged broccoli