Chemical Composition of Volatiles of Eight Geranium L. Species from Vlasina Plateau (South Eastern Serbia).

Geranium species are widely used in traditional medicine of Balkan. The aim of this work was to investigate and compare chemical composition of volatile fractions obtained by hydrodistillation from aerial parts of G. macrorrhizum, G. phaeum, G. sanguineum, G. robertianum, G. palustre, G. pyrenaicum, G. columbinum and G. lucidum as well as from underground parts of G. macrorrhizum and G. phaeum, originated from Vlasina plateau in South Eastern Serbia. The volatiles were analyzed using GC/MS and GC-FID. G. palustre volatiles have been studied for the first time with ß-selinene (18.6 %) as a characteristic compound. The cluster analysis revealed separation of volatiles into two main groups. Volatile fractions of G. macrorrhizum were separated from all other samples due to high sesquiterpene content (92.3 % in aerial and 94.6 % in underground parts). The volatile fractions of other samples were mainly composed of sesquiterpenes (10.8-61.8 %), diterpenes (12.9-43.0 %) and fatty acids and their derivatives (6.6-21.6 %) with the exception of volatile fraction of G. phaeum underground parts which was dominated only by fatty acids and their derivatives (76.6 %). The results presented in this article contribute to the knowledge on the chemistry of this genus and advances the knowledge on flora of southeast Serbia.

Variability of the root essential oils of Seseli rigidum Waldst. & Kit. (Apiaceae) from different populations in Serbia.

The chemical compositions of the essential oils of seven natural populations of Seseli rigidum were analyzed. The essential-oil yield ranged from 0.16 to 2.09%. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in the mean essential-oil yields between the populations, and no significant influence of the climate or soil type on the oil yield was observed. In all 67 analyzed samples, the polyacetylene falcarinol was the main compound, followed by octanal, methyl linoleate, α-muurolene, 3-butylphthalide, falcarinone, muurola-4,10(14)-dien-1ß-ol, ß-sesquiphellandrene, salvial-4(14)-en-1-one, δ-amorphene, spathulenol, and isospathulenol. The principal component analysis (PCA), the canonical discriminant analysis (CDA), and the cluster analysis (CA) revealed differentiation between the populations based on the climate. Three groups of populations were formed; the first group was composed of samples growing in regions with a humid climate, with oils having high falcarinol and low sesquiterpene contents, and the second and third groups comprised samples exposed to semi-arid climate, with oils characterized by a lower falcarinol and higher α-muurolene, δ-amorphene, ß-sesquiphellandrene, and salvial-4(14)-en-1-one contents. The semi-arid populations were divided into two groups, which were distinguished based on the oil contents of sesquiterpenes, falcarinone, and 3-butylphthalide. On the other hand, no clear separation between populations based on the different soil types could be observed.

3,5-Nonadiyne isolated from the rhizome of Cachrys ferulacea inhibits endogenous nitric oxide release by rat peritoneal macrophages.

3,5-Nonadiyne, in vitro, selectively inhibits endogenous nitric oxide release (IC(50)=6.7+/-0.8 microM) by rat peritoneal macrophages at doses that do not inhibit T cell proliferation. 3,5-Nonadiyne was isolated from root essential oil of Cachrys ferulacea (L.) CALESTANI, synonym Prangos ferulacea (L.) LINDLEY, obtained by hydrodistillation and spectrometricaly identified unambiguously.