Comparative studies for screening of bioactive constituents from various parts of Incarvillea emodi.

A comparative study was performed on various parts (shoots, roots and flowers) of Incarvillea emodi. The alcoholic extracts of different parts were fractionated with solvents of different polarity and studied for the determination of total polyphenol content and total antioxidant potential. Furthermore, we have isolated major iridoid glucosides from the dried flowers of I. emodi followed by the comparative cytotoxicity studies of these iridoids against five different human cancer cell lines. The results have demonstrated that ethyl acetate fraction of all parts have higher phenolic content (167.87-294.31 mg/g as gallic acid equivalent) and higher total antioxidant potential (252.95-384.64 mg/g as trolox equivalent). The results of in vitro cytotoxicity studies have indicated that boschnaloside (2) possesses promising anticancer potential against three human cancer cell lines, THP-1, A-549 and PC-3, which belong to leukaemia, lung and prostate cancers, respectively, while plantarenaloside (1) expressed relevant cytotoxic activity against THP-1 cell lines of leukaemia.

A new phenylethanoid glucoside from Jacaranda mimosifolia.

This study reports the isolation of a new phenylethanoid glucoside (1) from the leaves of Jacaranda mimosifolia along with jacaranone (2), followed by the comparative estimation of total antioxidant compounds, total polyphenols and total flavonoids from different solvent extracts of the leaves and flowers. The total antioxidant activity was evaluated by both DPPH and ABTS free-radical scavenging assay methods from different solvent extracts of J. mimosifolia leaves and flowers. The antioxidant activities of the purified compounds (1 and 2) were detected by DPPH-TLC method.

Isolation of two major iridoid glucosides from Incarvillea emodi.

Two major iridoid glucosides, namely plantarenaloside, a neurotrophic compound, and boschnaloside, an antibacterial iridoid glucoside, have been isolated from the shoots of Incarvillea emodi (a wild ornamental plant). The compounds are characterised by NMR spectral data and ESI mass spectrometery. This is the first ever report on the isolation of iridoid glucosides from I. emodi (Bignoniaceae).

Effects of extraction methods on phenolic contents and antioxidant activity in aerial parts of Potentilla atrosanguinea Lodd. and quantification of its phenolic constituents by RP-HPLC.

The effects of different solvent systems (methanol, ethanol, acetone, and their 50% aqueous concentrations) and extraction procedures (microwave, ultrasound, Soxhlet and maceration) on the antioxidant activity of aerial parts of Potentilla atrosanguinea were investigated by three different bioassays: 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS), 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assays and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP). The 50% aqueous ethanol extracts exhibited strong antioxidant activity measured in terms of Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) [(54.34 to 122.96, 29.82 to 101.22 and 13.64 to 41.43) mg of Trolox/g] with ABTS (*+), DPPH (*) and FRAP assays, respectively. In general, TEAC of Soxhlet extracts was found to be 1.8 and 3 times higher than ultrasound and maceration but slightly (1.2 times) higher than microwave. A positive correlation (r(2) = 0.931 to 0.982) was observed between total polyphenol (TPC) and total flavonoid (TFC) contents which ranged between 26.7 to 30.7 mg/g gallic acid equivalent and 16.8 to 20.8 mg/g quercetin equivalent respectively, with antioxidant activity. In addition, some of its bioactive phenolic constituents which contribute largely toward antioxidant potential such as chlorogenic acid, catechin, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and quercetin were also quantified in different extracts by RP-HPLC.