Study of Opuntia humifusa: phytochemical analysis of aqueous fruit extract and green synthesis of Ag2O nanoparticles.

Ag2O nanoparticle synthesis was carried out via co-precipitation technique based on using AgNO3 and secondary metabolites present in the aqueous extract of Opuntia humifusa fruit for the first time. The amount of measured total phenol, flavonoid content, flavone, and flavonol content, and anthocyanin were 38.46 µg eq gallic acid mg-1 extract, 8.34 µg eq quercetin mg-1 extract, 0.614 µg eq quercetin mg-1 DW, and 3.1 mmol L-1, respectively. Moreover, the predominant phenolic compound was gallic acid. Catechin and chlorogenic acid were found in both fruit juice and fruit aqueous extract. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of Ag2O-NPs showed the average particle size was 10.58 nm. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction Spectroscopy, and UV/visible spectrometry also confirmed the synthesis. This study then focuses on IC50 and NO amount differences before and after the synthesis of Ag2O-NPs which were 448.29 and 101.38 µg mL-1 for IC50 and 35.7% and 62.6% for NO, respectively.

Bioactive compounds analysis in ethanolic extracts of Citrus maxima and Citrus sinensis exocarp and mesocarp.

The composition of phenolic compounds of ethanolic extract taken from mesocarp and exocarp parts of Citrus maxima and Citrus sinensis peels cultivated in Iran have been identified. The Phenolic compounds in ethanolic extracts were quantified using HPLC-DAD. Different amounts of phenolic compounds were detected in the samples including hesperidin, t-ferulic acid, catechin, sinapic acid, vanillin, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid. The most represented compound in both plants was hesperidin. It was the main phenolic compound detected in both exocarp and mesocarp parts of both species, with the maximum amount belonging to mesocarp of C. sinensis. The average amount of hesperidin detected in mesocarp and exocarp of C. maxima was 15.04 and 7.42 mg g-1 dry weight, while it was 17.34 and 7.63 mg g-1 dry weight for C. sinensis.

Lagoecia cuminoides L., its antioxidant activity and polyphenolic constituents from Iran.

Lagoecia cuminoides L. belongs to the family of Umbelliferae (Apiaceae), and known also as common wild cumin. The aerial parts of L. cuminoides were collected at the flowering stage and dried, then the methanolic extract was analyzed for polyphenol compounds identified by HPLC-DAD and antioxidant activity (DPPH(2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assay). It was found that the predominant phenolic constituents were chlorogenic acid, hesperidin, rosmarinic acid, hesperetin and vanillin. The antioxidant activity of methanolic extract from L. cuminoides was found 1597 µg/mL in DPPH scavenging assay. There is no strict positive relationship between the polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity of extracts.

Gontscharovia popovii, a new source of carvacrol, its polyphenolic constituents, essential oil analysis, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity.

The experiment was carried out using the shadow-dried aerial parts including leaves and shoots of Gontscharovia popovii collected in Fars province in order to investigate the polyphenolic compositions, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and essential oil constituents. The result showed IC50 of 395.77 µg mL-1 and total phenolic content of about 20.01 mg g-1 gallic acid equivalent dry weight. It also showed a wild range of polyphenols such as; Gallic acid, catechin, chloregenic acid, rutin, vanillin, trans-Ferulic acid, sinapic acid, coumarin, hesperedin, quercetin, hesperetin, eugenol and carvacrol as the main detected polyphenols. Some major compounds were also detected through essential oil analysis, such as; 76.7% carvacrol, 4.25% γ-Terpinene, 3.8% p-Cymene and 2.4% (E)-Caryophyllene. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of chemical compounds of G. popovii was performed using HPLC, GC, GC/MS and microplate reader.

The constituents of essential oil in leaves of Karaj accession of Trigonella foenum graecum.

The chemical composition of the essential oils of Karaj accession of Trigonella foenum graecum leaves was detected by hydro-distillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) apparatuses for first time. Thirty-six compounds representing 95.3% of the total components were identified. The patterns of the main compounds were (2E)-Hexenal (26.61%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (10.14%) and (E)-b-Ionone (7.99%). Other notable constituents were Thymol (4.79%), 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-Pentadecanone (4.59%), Carvacrol (3.40%), (E)-Nerolidol (3.32%) and (2E,6Z)-Nonadienal (3.30%). (2E)-Hexenal was found as the most dominant component in this study.

Essential oil composition, free radical scavenging activity and polyphenolic content of Gaillonia eriantha Jaub. & Spach from Iran.

Gaillonia eriantha is a member of family Paederieae (Rubiaceae). The essential oil of G. eriantha growing wild in south of Iran was obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Antioxidante activity and polyphenolic content were identified by DPPH microplate method and HPLC-DAD, respectively. Twenty-two compounds were identified in the oil. The major volatile compounds were camphor (14.8%), octyl formate (14.7%), 1,8-cineole (10.9%), n-decane (8.1%), n-undecane (6.8%), n-dodecane (6.1%), n-nonane(5.4%) and α-agarofuran (5.2%). The antioxidant activity of the extract of G. eriantha was found to be 786.57 µg/mL. It was found that the predominant phenolic constituents were chlorogenic acid (2.23 mg/g), catechin (0.37 mg/g), hesperidin (0.13 mg/g), trans-ferulic acid (0.12 mg/g), caffeic acid (0.051 mg/g), carvacrol (0.028 mg/g) and vanillin (0.021 mg/g), respectively.