Tryptophan and sterols from salvia limbata

Salvia limbata is an aromatic herbaceous plant and grows widely in Iran Turkey and Afghanistan. In the previous study, six flavones together with rosmarinic acid were isolated from the ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of S. limbata. In this report, we focused on the isolation and identification of the glycosylated sterols and the main accumulated amino acid of the species S. limbata, which has not been previously reported. Aerial parts of the plant were dried, cut into small pieces and extracted with ethyl acetate and methanol by percolation at room temperature. The separation process was carried out using several chromatographic methods. Structural elucidation was based on NMR data, in comparison with those reported in the literature. The isolated compounds [Figure 1] from the ethyl acetate and MeOH extracts of S. limbata were identified as beta-sitosterol [1], stigmasterol [2], daucosterol [3], stigmasterol 3- O-glucoside [4] and tryptophan [5] by comparison of their NMR spectral data with those reported in the literature S. limbata can accumulate the tryptophan as a major free amino acid together with sterols and their glucosides. Therefore, consumption of S. limbata [as a herbal tea or other preparations], which contains the essential amino acid tryptophan, might be useful for dietary deficiency of tryptophan

Brine shrimp cytotoxicity of some medicinal plants Belongs to Lamiaceae, Asteracea, Rosaceae and Boraginaceae Families

In this report, we evaluated the cytotoxic activity of the hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and aqueous methanol extracts of the aerial parts of some species belongs to Lamiaceae, Boraginaceae, Asteraceae and Rosaceae families. In order to examine the cytotoxicity of the plant extracts, Brine Shrimp Cytotoxicity Assay was used against Artemia salina larva. Results showed that Scutellaria Tornefortii indicated cytotoxic activity against the larva of Artemia salina. The minimum lethal concentration of its aqueous methanol extract, as the most effective extract, was 6 g/ml compared to berberine hydrochloride as the positive control [LC[50]=26 microg/ml]. EtOAc extract of Rubus hyrcanus was also a potent cytotoxic extract [LC[50]=28 microg/ml]. In addition to those mentioned plants, Echium amoenum, Onosma bulbotrichum, Stachys byzanthina and Rubus discolor could be the potential sources of cytotoxic components. Some of the medicinal plants, growing widely in north part of Iran, are effective against the larvae of A. salina, so they could be a promising source of anti-cancer and anti-tumor compounds

Cytotoxic flavonoid from Achillea talagonica Bioss

Achillea talagonica [Asteraceae] is an endemic herbaceous plant in Iran with small yellow flowers and several times pinnately divided leaves in worm shape. The plant was found to be cytotoxic in our previous studies. A. talagonica was collected in May 2005 from Talegan in north of Iran during the full flowering stage. Dried aerial parts of the plant were reduced in to small pieces and percolated with ethyl acetate for 72 hours. The extract obtained was filtered and then concentrated under reduced pressure and completely dried by a freeze dryer. Column chromatography of the extract on silica gel and sephadex LH-20 yielded in isolation of three main components. Cytotoxic activity was evaluated against the Artemia salina larvae by the Brine Shrimp Cytotoxicity Bioassay. Isolated compounds were identified as alpha-sitosterol [1], salvigenin [5- hydroxy 4', 6, 7- three methoxy flavone] [2] and santoflavon [5- hydroxy 4', 3', 6, 7- tetra methoxy flavone] [3]. NMR data of all the isolated compounds showed good agreement with literature data. In our previous studies ethyl acetate extract of A. talagonica showed cytotoxic activity in brine shrimp lethality assay. The results of BST assay indicated that only santoflavone [3] showed a good cytotoxic activity [LC[50]=15 micro g/ml] against A. salina larvae so this compound seems to be responsible for the extract toxicity of A. talagonica against Artemia nauplii