Characterization of mineral composition of leaves and flowers of wild-growing Sambucus nigra.

The objective of this study was to determine the mineral content in the leaves and flowers of wild-grown Sambucus nigra collected from eleven different locations in Kosovo. The samples were digested in a microwave system using the wet digestion method. The minerals were determined by the application of inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A total of 31 elements were determined, 15 elements by the ICP-AES method (Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Sr, V, and Zn) and 16 elements by the ICP-MS method (Ag, As, Be, Bi, Cd, Co, Cs, Ga, Hg, In, Li, Ni, Pb, Rb, Tl, and U). The leaves of S. nigra show a higher content of minerals compared to the flowers, except for the flower of the sample SN-FL10, which is characterized by a high concentration of Fe, Al, Pb, Be, and Tl. The concentration of heavy metals and toxic elements (Pb, Cd, and Hg) was within the permissible concentrations according to Eur. Ph.

Phenolic Compound Composition of Sambucus nigra L. Wild-Growing Plants from Kosovo.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the phenolic components in the flowers and leaves of wild-growing Sambucus nigra L. Materials and Methods: Plant materials were collected from eleven localities in Kosovo. Before LC-DAD-ESI-MSn analysis, an ultrasonic-assisted method with 70% methanol for 30 min extraction was used. Results: In total, 34 and 37 phenolic compounds were identified in flower and leaf extracts, respectively, with a total content of 61321.82-85961.64 mg/kg dry weight (DW) and 36136.62-93890.37 mg/kg DW. In all of the analyzed extracts, 15 phenolic acids, 20 flavonoids, one lignan, and one coumaroyl iridoid were detected. The major components were flavonoids, especially flavonols (quercetin-3-rutinoside, caffeoyl-kaempferol, and isorhamnetin-3-rutinoside), followed by phenolic acids (dicaffeoylquinic acid isomer, caffeic acid derivative, dicaffeoylquinic acid isomer, and dicaffeoylquinic acid isomer). Conclusion: In general, the methanolic extracts of flowers have shown higher polyphenolic content than those found in leaves. The multivariate statistical analysis of the phenolic content of the samples resulted in PLS-DA models with appropriate correlation coefficients of 0.903 and 0.921 for flower and leaf extracts, respectively. The models revealed distinctive clustering patterns, and the loading scatter plots depicted the unique phenolic compounds specific to each sample group.

Environmentally Friendly Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Rosa canina L. fruits Using Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) as Green Extraction Media.

In this study, the green extraction of Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity from Rosehip (Rosa canina L.) fruits was investigated using ultrasound-assisted extraction combined with deep eutectic solvents (DES). A deep eutectic solvent-based on citric acid has been specially designed. Hydrogen bond donors (HBD) such as glycerol and ethylene glycol were used and a hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) like citric acid was used. After choosing the best option of DES, extraction of the bioactive ingredients, optimal extraction conditions of the ultrasonic-assisted extraction have been optimized through the Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology (RSM). Total phenolics content (TPC), total anthocyanins content (TAA), and antioxidant activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) have been found as 103.37 mg GAE/g DW in DES2, 92.23 mg GAE/g DW in DES1, 3.25mg C3G/100g-DW in DES2,1.31 mg C3G/100g-DW in DES1, and 101.85% Inhibition in DES2, 94.32 %. The results showed that this method is a competitive sustainable, green, and effective extraction of bioactive compounds from Rosehip (Rosa canina L.) fruits.

Aroma compounds of mountain tea (Sideritis scardica and S. raeseri) from western Balkan.

The composition of the volatile aroma components was defined in the dried and fresh aerial parts of Sideritis scardica Griseb. from R. Macedonia and S. raeseri Boiss. & Heldr. from R. Macedonia, Albania and Greece. Analysis was made by gas chromatography (GC/FID/MS) equipped with a headspace (HS) sampler. Thirty-two components (15 monoterpenes representing 33.2- 62.8% and 17 sesquiterpenes representing 25.2- 51.2% of the entire volatiles) were identified as aroma components of dried plant material of S. scardica. Thirty components {14 monoterpenes (19.3-74.2%), 2 alcohols (6.2- 38.4%) and 14 sesquiterpenes (18.2- 33.5%)} were identified as aroma components in the fresh aerial parts of S. scardica. The predominant components were trans-caryophyllene, ß-pinene, α-pinene and 1-octen-3-ol, which were found only in the fresh samples. In the aerial parts of S. rteseri, 43 components were identified in the dried samples {22 monoterpenes (65.7-94.3%) and 21 sesquiterpenes (5.4- 27.8%)} and 29 components {15 monoterpenes (77.3-90.7%) and 14 sesquiterpenes (6.3- 18.2%)} in the respective fresh samples. Prevailing components in all tested samples of S. raeseri were ß-pinene, α-pinene, α-copaene, sabinene and limonene. Only minor differences were revealed in the qualitative composition of the aroma volatiles between the dried and fresh plant material of both species. Furthermore there was almost no difference in the chemical profiles of the aroma compounds between S. scardica and S. raeseri, except for 1- octen-3-ol, which was present only in fresh S. scardica.