Seasonal Variation of Aromatic Plants under Cultivation Conditions.

In this study, five plant species, members of the Lamiaceae family, namely Salvia officinalis L., Salvia rosmarinus Spenn, Mentha × piperita L., Mentha spicata L. and Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum (Link) Ietswaart, were studied for the influence of harvesting time on the herb crop yield, the volatile compounds (EOs) content/yield and their chemical composition. EOs were isolated by means of hydro-distillation from different plant parts at different growth stages. Their components were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The highest yields of EOs were obtained at the full flowering stage and important changes were observed in their composition. The fluctuations in the percentage composition of the major compounds in the EOs, throughout harvesting time, were observed at camphor/α-thujone for S. officinalis, camphor/1,8-cineole for S. rosmarinus, linalool/linalyl acetate and carvone/limonene for M. × piperita and M. spicata, respectively. The chemotype of O. vulgare subsp. hirtum was identified as carvacrol. The optimization of harvesting time could lead to increased crop production and better EOs quality control, with numerous industrial benefits upon the commercial production of such products.

Chemical constituents isolated from the aerial parts of Helleborus cyclophyllus (A. Braun) Boiss. (Ranunculaceae), evaluation of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity in vitro and virtual screening of molecular properties and bioactivity score.

Chemical investigation of ethyl acetate extract from the aerial parts of Helleborus cyclophyllus (A.Braun) Boiss. led to the isolation of ten natural products, and their structures were identified to be: 2-deoxy-D-ribono-1,4-lactone (1), 2-O-feruloyl-L-malate (2), three flavonoids: quercetin 3-O-ß-D-galactopyranoside (3), quercetin 3-O-6''-(3-hydroxy-3-methyl-gloutaryl)-ß-D-glucopyranoside (4) and quercetin 3-O-(2‴-caffeoylsophoroside) (5), 6-O-caffeoyl-1-O-p-coumaroyl-ß-D-glucopyranoside (6), two ecdysteroids: 20-hydroxyecdysone (7) and polypodine B (8) and two bufadienolides: deglucohellebrin (9) and hellebrin (10), on the basis of MS and NMR spectra. This is the first report on the occurrence of compounds (2)-(6) in the genus Helleborus. The chemotaxonomic significance of these compounds was summarised. Bioactivity score, molecular and pharmacokinetic properties of the isolated compounds were calculated by online computer software program Molinspiration. Compounds showed promising bioactivity scores for drug targets. Moreover, some of the isolated phenolic compounds were tested for their antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities. Tested compounds presented antioxidant ability correlated to the presence of the phenolic hydroxyl groups.