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Background: The essential oil from the Acantholimon genus have been an integral part of the traditional food additive in Middle East. Most of the plants in Acantholimon genus have not been studied scientifically. The aim of this study is... more
Background: The essential oil from the Acantholimon genus have been an integral part of the traditional food additive in Middle East. Most of the plants in Acantholimon genus have not been studied scientifically. The aim of this study is to investigate the chemical composition, antibacterial, insecticidal and anti-oxidant activities of three Acantholimon species including Acantholimon atropatanum, A. gilliatii and A. tragacanthium. Method: The essential oils of the aerial parts were extracted by hydrodistillation. Chemical constitutions were identified by gas chromatography- mass spectroscopy technique, also their toxicities were assessed against the two important grain products pests, Oryzeaphilus mercator and Tribolium castaneum. Antibacterial activity was assessed against the three foodborne bacteria that include Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus based on the disc diffusion assay. Free-radical-scavenging property was identified based on 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. Results: 2-hexahydrofarnesyl acetone was the main compound in A. gilliatii and A. tragacanthium, whilst farnesyl acetone, heptacosane and germacrene D were the principal components of A. atropatanum essential oil. These oils exhibited 40-90% mortality of O. mercator and/or T. castaneum at a dose of 12 μl/l air after 48h of exposure, and exhibited significant free-radicalscavenging property (RC50 = 3.7 × 10-3 - 8.3 × 10-3 mg/ml). The oils of A. tragacanthium and A. gilliatii showed a weaker antibacterial activity compared to A. atropatanum. Conclusion: A. atropatanum, A. gilliatii and A. tragacanthium essential oils had significant insecticidal and anti-oxidant properties. They also showed week to moderate antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus.
Abstract High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), also known as high pressure liquid chromatography, is one of the most popular, modern, powerful, and versatile chromatographic separation techniques that have been routinely used to... more
Abstract High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), also known as high pressure liquid chromatography, is one of the most popular, modern, powerful, and versatile chromatographic separation techniques that have been routinely used to separate the components in a mixture (e.g., an herbal extract or product), to identify each component (or at least as many components as possible), to quantify separated components, and to obtain the chemical profile or fingerprint of a crude mixture. This chapter focuses on the applications of HPLC techniques in the analysis of various herbal products, and it will present several specific examples of protocols of such analyses. A brief overview of available HPLC techniques and methods will also be presented.
Arbutin, a hydroquinone glucoside, has been detected in ca. 50 plant families, especially in the plants of the Asteraceae, Ericaceae, Proteaceae and Rosaceae families. It is one of the most widely used natural skin-whitening agents. In... more
Arbutin, a hydroquinone glucoside, has been detected in ca. 50 plant families, especially in the plants of the Asteraceae, Ericaceae, Proteaceae and Rosaceae families. It is one of the most widely used natural skin-whitening agents. In addition to its skin whitening property, arbutin possesses other therapeutically relevant biological properties, e.g., antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory, as well as anticancer potential. This review presents, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of the distribution of arbutin in the plant kingdom and critically appraises its therapeutic potential as an anticancer agent based on the literature published until the end of August 2022, accessed via several databases, e.g., Web of Science, Science Direct, Dictionary of Natural Products, PubMed and Google Scholar. The keywords used in the search were arbutin, cancer, anticancer, distribution and hydroquinone. Published outputs suggest that arbutin has potential anticancer properties a...
Objectives The recent emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic (caused by SARS-CoV-2) and the experience of its unprecedented alarming toll on humanity have shone a fresh spotlight on the weakness of global preparedness for pandemics,... more
Objectives The recent emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic (caused by SARS-CoV-2) and the experience of its unprecedented alarming toll on humanity have shone a fresh spotlight on the weakness of global preparedness for pandemics, significant health inequalities, and the fragility of healthcare systems in certain regions of the world. It is imperative to identify effective drug treatments for COVID-19. Therefore, the objective of this review is to present a unique and contextualised collection of antiviral natural plants or remedies from the West African sub-region as existing or potential treatments for viral infections, including COVID-19, with emphasis on their mechanisms of action. Evidence acquisition Evidence was synthesised from the literature using appropriate keywords as search terms within scientific databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Results While some vaccines and small-molecule drugs are now available to combat COVID-19, access to these t...
Plants produce a variety of chemical compounds, and plants have been the main source of new chemical entities and novel chemical scaffolds or templates, unfolding new challenges for organic synthetic chemists to explore appropriate... more
Plants produce a variety of chemical compounds, and plants have been the main source of new chemical entities and novel chemical scaffolds or templates, unfolding new challenges for organic synthetic chemists to explore appropriate synthetic routes for their total synthesis. Because of the unique chemical diversity offered by plants, it is often a tedious and complicated process when it comes to structure elucidation of phytochemicals. Recent advances in spectroscopic techniques, particularly in NMR and MS methodologies, have provided various tools that assist phytochemists with the structure elucidation of known or new phytochemicals. However, spectroscopic data interpretation manually requires significant experience and expertise, knowledge, intellectual ability and patience; often the manual process can be quite time consuming and even be frustrating. Over the last several decades, especially with the phenomenal progress in computation and applications of artificial intelligence ...
Bee pollen is a combination of plant pollen and honeybee secretions and nectar. The Bible and ancient Egyptian texts are documented proof of its use in public health. It is considered a gold mine of nutrition due to its active components... more
Bee pollen is a combination of plant pollen and honeybee secretions and nectar. The Bible and ancient Egyptian texts are documented proof of its use in public health. It is considered a gold mine of nutrition due to its active components that have significant health and medicinal properties. Bee pollen contains bioactive compounds including proteins, amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and polyphenols. The vital components of bee pollen enhance different bodily functions and offer protection against many diseases. It is generally marketed as a functional food with affordable and inexpensive prices with promising future industrial potentials. This review highlights the dietary properties of bee pollen and its influence on human health, and its applications in the food industry.
Background Endophytic fungi play a vital role in plant defense system by secreting various antimicrobial agents. To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the endophytic fungi of the mangrove plant Heritiera fomes (Buch. -Ham), plants... more
Background Endophytic fungi play a vital role in plant defense system by secreting various antimicrobial agents. To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the endophytic fungi of the mangrove plant Heritiera fomes (Buch. -Ham), plants were collected from the Sundarbans, Bangladesh. The endophytic fungi were subsequently isolated and identified. Results Fifty-five endophytic fungi were isolated from the leaves, root, and bark of H. fomes (Buch. -Ham). Genomic DNA was extracted for PCR (polymerase chain reaction) by specific primers to multiply ITS region and sequences were determined. Nucleotide sequence data were submitted to the Genbank and accession number for each fungal strain was obtained. Antimicrobial activity of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and methanolic extracts of eleven species from both fermentation and mycelium, respectively, were analyzed by microtiter plate-based antimicrobial assay incorporating resazurin as an indicator of cell growth against two Gram-positive bacteri...
The release of drugs from solid drug delivery materials has been studied intently in recent years. Quantitative analyses achieved from in vitro dissolution becomes easier if a zero-order mathematical model is used. Non-gelatin... more
The release of drugs from solid drug delivery materials has been studied intently in recent years. Quantitative analyses achieved from in vitro dissolution becomes easier if a zero-order mathematical model is used. Non-gelatin nutraceutical hard-shell capsules of zero size (approximately 0.7-0.8 cm) were produced from carrageenan-based natural polymers, namely carrageenan-alginate (CA) and carrageenan-starch (CS). Disintegration, dissolution and zero-order drug release kinetics of hard-shell capsules containing 100 mg of salicylamide were studied. The disintegration time of CA and CS were observed to be less than 30 min for both CA and CS. In vitro dissolution profile showed that the percentage dissolution of CA capsules was better at pH 4.5, while that of CS was poor at pH 1.2, 4.5 and 6.8. Determination of drug release kinetics profiles of carrageenan-based hardshell capsules utilized the Noyes-Whitney and Peppas-Sahlin modification rules for zero-order. The drug release from carr...
IntroductionNuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurement of 1JCC coupling by two‐dimensional (2D) INADEQUATE (incredible natural abundance double quantum transfer experiment), which is a special case of double‐quantum (DQ) spectroscopy... more
IntroductionNuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurement of 1JCC coupling by two‐dimensional (2D) INADEQUATE (incredible natural abundance double quantum transfer experiment), which is a special case of double‐quantum (DQ) spectroscopy that offers unambiguous determination of 13C–13C spin–spin connectivities through the DQ transitions of the spin system, is especially suited to solving structures rich in quaternary carbons and poor in hydrogen content (Crews rule).ObjectiveTo review published literature on the application of NMR methods to determine structure in the liquid‐state, which specifically considers the interaction of a pair of carbon‐13 (13C) nuclei adjacent to one another, to allow direct tracing out of contiguous carbon connectivity using 2D INADEQUATE.MethodologyA comprehensive literature search was implemented with various databases: Web of Knowledge, PubMed and SciFinder, and other relevant published materials including published monographs. The keywords used, in vari...
Ferredoxin-NADP+ reductases (FNRs, EC 1.18.1.2) were found in the plastids of Plasmodium and have been considered as a target for the development of new antimalarial agents. Croomine, epi-croomine, tuberostemonine, javastemonine A, and... more
Ferredoxin-NADP+ reductases (FNRs, EC 1.18.1.2) were found in the plastids of Plasmodium and have been considered as a target for the development of new antimalarial agents. Croomine, epi-croomine, tuberostemonine, javastemonine A, and isoprotostemonine are isolated alkaloids from the roots of Stemona sp. and their inhibitory effect on FNRs from Plasmodium falciparum (PfFNR) was investigated. Croomine showed the highest level of inhibition (33.9%) of electron transfer from PfFNR to PfFd, while tuberstemonine displayed the highest level of inhibition (55.4%) of diaphorase activity of PfFNR. Docking analysis represented that croomine is located at the middle position of PfFNR and PfFd. Croomine from S. tuberosa appeared to have potential as an antimalarial agent.
Liver fibrosis is a leading pathway to cirrhosis and a global clinical issue. Oxidative stress mediated tissue damage is one of the prime causes of hepatic dysfunction and fibrosis. Apocynin is one of many strong antioxidants. To evaluate... more
Liver fibrosis is a leading pathway to cirrhosis and a global clinical issue. Oxidative stress mediated tissue damage is one of the prime causes of hepatic dysfunction and fibrosis. Apocynin is one of many strong antioxidants. To evaluate the effect of apocynin in the CCl4 administered hepatic dysfunction in rats. Female Long Evans rats were administered with CCl4 orally (1mL/kg) twice a week for 2 weeks and were treated with apocynin (100mg/kg). Both plasma and liver tissues were analyzed for alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase activities. Oxidative stress parameters were also measured by determining malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), myeloperoxidase (MPO), advanced protein oxidation product (APOP). In addition, antioxidant enzyme activities such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities in plasma and liver tissues were analyzed. Moreover, inflammation and tissue fibrosis were confirmed by histological stainin...
Calanolides are tetracyclic 4-substituted dipyranocoumarins. Calanolide A, isolated from the leaves and twigs of Calophyllum lanigerum var. austrocoriaceum (Whitmore) P. F. Stevens, is the first member of this group of compounds with... more
Calanolides are tetracyclic 4-substituted dipyranocoumarins. Calanolide A, isolated from the leaves and twigs of Calophyllum lanigerum var. austrocoriaceum (Whitmore) P. F. Stevens, is the first member of this group of compounds with anti-HIV-1 activity mediated by reverse transcriptase inhibition. Calanolides are classified pharmacologically as non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI). There are at least 15 naturally occurring calanolides distributed mainly within the genus Calophyllum, but some of them are also present in the genus Clausena. Besides significant anti-HIV properties, which have been exploited towards potential development of new NNRTIs for anti-HIV therapy, calanolides have also been found to possess anticancer, antimicrobial and antiparasitic potential. This review article provides a comprehensive update on all aspects of naturally occurring calanolides, including their chemistry, natural occurrence, biosynthesis, pharmacological and toxicological as...
The composition of essential oil isolated from Salvia fruticosa, wild growing in Libya, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Forty-five compounds could be identified. The essential oil contained 1,8-cineole (49.34%), camphor (7.53%), ?-pinene... more
The composition of essential oil isolated from Salvia fruticosa, wild growing in Libya, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Forty-five compounds could be identified. The essential oil contained 1,8-cineole (49.34%), camphor (7.53%), ?-pinene (7.38%), myrcene (7.38%), ?-pinene (5.15%), ?-caryophyllene (4.13%) and ?-terpineol (3.25). Antioxidant activity was analyzed using the DPP H free radical scavenging method and low antioxidant activity was found (IC50 = 15.53 mg/ml). The oil was also screened for its antimicrobial activity against eight bacteria (four Gram-negative and four Gram-positive) and eight fungi. The essential oil of S. fruticosa showed minimal inhibitory activity (MIC) at 0.125-1.5 mg/ml and bactericidal (MBC) at 0.5-2.0 mg/ml. In addition, it exhibited fungistatic (MIC) at 0.125-1.0 mg/ml and fungicidal effect (MFC) at 0.125-1.5 mg/ml.
Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb., commonly known as “Alligator weed” in English, and “Malancha” in Bengali, is a leafy vegetable from the family Amaranthaceae A. L. de Jussieu. This species is native to China, particularly to... more
Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb., commonly known as “Alligator weed” in English, and “Malancha” in Bengali, is a leafy vegetable from the family Amaranthaceae A. L. de Jussieu. This species is native to China, particularly to the provinces around the Yangtze River, other Far East and South-East Asian countries, and countries from other continents (e.g., South America). This plant also grows in certain areas in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. While in Bangladesh the leaves of this plant are consumed as a vegetable, in China, this plant has been used widely as a traditional remedy for the treatment of various viral diseases (e.g., measles, influenza, and haemorrhagic fever). Flavonoids and saponins are the two largest groups of phytochemicals produced by this plant, and the antiviral property of this plant and its compounds has been studied extensively. This review article reviews all published literature on this plant and critically appraises its phytochemical profile...
Ruta L. is a typical genus of the citrus family, Rutaceae Juss. and comprises ca. 40 different species, mainly distributed in the Mediterranean region. Ruta species have long been used in traditional medicines as an abortifacient and... more
Ruta L. is a typical genus of the citrus family, Rutaceae Juss. and comprises ca. 40 different species, mainly distributed in the Mediterranean region. Ruta species have long been used in traditional medicines as an abortifacient and emmenagogue and for the treatment of lung diseases and microbial infections. The genus Ruta is rich in essential oils, which predominantly contain aliphatic ketones, e.g., 2-undecanone and 2-nonanone, but lack any significant amounts of terpenes. Three Ruta species, Ruta chalepensis L., Ruta graveolens L., and Ruta montana L., have been extensively studied for the composition of their essential oils and several bioactivities, revealing their potential medicinal and agrochemical applications. This review provides a systematic evaluation and critical appraisal of publications available in the literature on the composition and bioactivities of the essential oils obtained from Ruta species and includes a brief outlook of the potential applications of nanote...
Se ha evaluado la actividad antibacteriana y antioxidante de la umbelliprenina (1), una cumarina de sesquiterpenil, aislada como el componente principal presente en extractos de n-hexano y diclorometano de semillas de Angelica sylvestris... more
Se ha evaluado la actividad antibacteriana y antioxidante de la umbelliprenina (1), una cumarina de sesquiterpenil, aislada como el componente principal presente en extractos de n-hexano y diclorometano de semillas de Angelica sylvestris (Apiaceae). Tambien se ha evaluado la toxicidad general de 1 mediante el bioensayo de letalidad de gambas en salmuera (BSL).
Centaurea asutro-anatolica Hub.-Mor. and C. kizildaghensis Uzunh., E. Dogan & H. Duman, two indigenous perennial herbs from the Turkish flora, belong to the medicinally important genus Centaurea L. (fam: Asteraceae), which comprises ca.... more
Centaurea asutro-anatolica Hub.-Mor. and C. kizildaghensis Uzunh., E. Dogan & H. Duman, two indigenous perennial herbs from the Turkish flora, belong to the medicinally important genus Centaurea L. (fam: Asteraceae), which comprises ca. 600 species worldwide. While various Centaurea species are well-known for producing alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans and terpenoids, there is no report on any thorough phytochemical work on any of these two species available to date. In continuation of our phytochemical and bioactivity studies on the Turkish Centaurea species, four flavonoids apigenin (1), apigenin 7,4’-dimethyl ether (2), genkwanin (3) and quercetin (4) were isolated from the methanol extracts of the aerial parts of C. austro-anatolica and C. kizildaghensis, for the very first time. The structures of the flavonoids were elucidated conclusively by spectroscopic means, i.e., UV, MS and 1D and 2D NMR data analyses. The distribution of these flavonoids (1-4) within the genus Centaurea and...
Oxysporone, possessing a 4H-furo(2,3-b)pyran-2(3H)-one structure, is a fungal metabolite, first isolated from Fusarium oxysporum. Later, this compound was also reported from the fungal genera, Diplodia, Pestalotia and Pestalotiopsis.... more
Oxysporone, possessing a 4H-furo(2,3-b)pyran-2(3H)-one structure, is a fungal metabolite, first isolated from Fusarium oxysporum. Later, this compound was also reported from the fungal genera, Diplodia, Pestalotia and Pestalotiopsis. Oxysporone was patented as an antibiotic for the treatment of dysentery, and its phytotoxic property has been well-established. Interesting biological and chemical properties of oxysporone make this compound attractive for its potential biotechnological applications in agriculture, especially as a new agrochemical with a lower environmental impact. However, it requires further extensive bioactivity screening looking at beyond its established phytotoxicity and preliminary antifungal property. It has a simple chemical structure (C7H8O4), and the hydroxyl group at C-4 provides options for synthesising numerous analogues by simply incorporating various functionalities at C-4, whilst keeping the main skeleton intact. This mini-review provides a critical over...
Xylaria species associated with termite nests or soil have been considered rare species in nature and the few which have been reported upon have been found to act as a rich source of bioactive metabolites. This study evaluated 10 ethyl... more
Xylaria species associated with termite nests or soil have been considered rare species in nature and the few which have been reported upon have been found to act as a rich source of bioactive metabolites. This study evaluated 10 ethyl acetate extracts of five new Xylaria species associated with termite nests or soil for their antioxidant activity, and cytotoxicity against different cancer and normal cell lines. DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities of the extracts demonstrated strong capacity with low IC50 values. The highest observed activities belonged to X. vinacea SWUF18-2.3 having IC50 values of 0.194 ± 0.031 mg/mL for DPPH assay and 0.020 ± 0.004 mg/mL for ABTS assay. Total phenolic content ranged from 0.826 ± 0.123 to 3.629 ± 0.381 g GAE/g crude extract which correlated with antioxidant activities. The high total phenolic content could contribute to the high antioxidant activities. Cytotoxicity was recorded against A549, HepG2, HeLa and PNT2 and resulted in broad spect...
Chalcones belong to the flavonoid class of phenolic compounds. They form one of the largest groups of bioactive natural products. The potential anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antiparasitic properties of... more
Chalcones belong to the flavonoid class of phenolic compounds. They form one of the largest groups of bioactive natural products. The potential anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antiparasitic properties of naturally occurring chalcones, and their unique chemical structural features inspired the synthesis of numerous chalcone derivatives. In fact, structural features of chalcones are easy to construct from simple aromatic compounds, and it is convenient to perform structural modifications to generate functionalized chalcone derivatives. Many of these synthetic analogs were shown to possess similar bioactivities as their natural counterparts, but often with an enhanced potency and reduced toxicity. This review article aims to demonstrate how bioinspired synthesis of chalcone derivatives can potentially introduce a new chemical space for exploitation for new drug discovery, justifying the title of this article. However, the focus remains on critical apprais...
Cassia singueana L. is widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various ailments. The present work was set to investigate the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of this plant and its secondary metabolites. Three... more
Cassia singueana L. is widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various ailments. The present work was set to investigate the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of this plant and its secondary metabolites. Three bioactive compounds, lupeol, eugenol and octadecadienoic acid methyl ester, were isolated from the root extract of the plant using bioactivity-guided normal phase column chromatography. The antioxidant effect was studied using the in vitro assays, e.g., 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), superoxide anion and metal chelation methods. The compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activity against four bacteria, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumonia and a fungus, Candida albicans using the agar diffusion method. The MIC/MBC of the extracts were determined by the micro-dilution method. Chemical structures of the isolated compounds were determined using FTIR and NMR spectroscopy. Whilst all...
A phytochemical study of the root and bark of Brucea antidysenterica J. F. Mill. (Simaroubaceae) afforded three new compounds, including a stilbene glycoside bruceanoside A (1), and two canthinone alkaloids bruceacanthinones A (3) and B... more
A phytochemical study of the root and bark of Brucea antidysenterica J. F. Mill. (Simaroubaceae) afforded three new compounds, including a stilbene glycoside bruceanoside A (1), and two canthinone alkaloids bruceacanthinones A (3) and B (4), along with ten known secondary metabolites, rhaponticin (2), 1,11-dimethoxycanthin-6-one (5), canthin-6-one (6), 1-methoxycanthin-6-one (7), 2-methoxycanthin-6-one (8), 2-hydroxy-1,11-dimethoxycanthin-6-one (9), β-carboline-1-propionic acid (10), cleomiscosin C (11), cleomiscosin A (12), and hydnocarpin (13). The structures of all the compounds were determined using spectrometric and spectroscopic methods including 1D and 2D NMR, and HRSEIMS. The identities of the known compounds were further confirmed by comparison of their data with those reported in the literature. The root and bark methanolic extracts, the dichloromethane and ethyl acetate soluble fractions, and the isolated compounds (3–13), were assessed for their cytotoxicity against the ...
The current investigation was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant properties of ethanolic extract of Alternanthera bicolor and to assess the potential hypoglycemic effect of the extract in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. HPLC-DAD... more
The current investigation was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant properties of ethanolic extract of Alternanthera bicolor and to assess the potential hypoglycemic effect of the extract in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. HPLC-DAD method was used to determine polyphenolic compounds present in the extract. Different in vitro assays (i.e. DPPH radical scavenging activity test, reducing power test, NO radical inhibition assay and scavenging of hydrogen peroxide) were used to determine the antioxidant potential of the plant. Antidiabetic activity was evaluated in alloxan-induced diabetic mice by glucose tolerance test and standard biochemical analyses. HPLC-DAD analysis of the extract confirmed the presence of (+)-catechin hydrate, caffeic acid, quercetin and kaempferol. A. bicolor showed potent antioxidant activities in DPPH radical, hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide scavenging assays. Moreover, A. bicolor showed potent reducing power and dose-dependent increment of total antioxidan...
Three biflavonoids [cupressuflavone (1), amentoflavone (2), and sumaflavone (3)], four diterpenoids [13‐epi‐cupressic acid (4), imbricatholic acid (5), 3‐hydroxy‐sandaracopimaric acid (6), and dehydroabietic acid (7)], and one lignan... more
Three biflavonoids [cupressuflavone (1), amentoflavone (2), and sumaflavone (3)], four diterpenoids [13‐epi‐cupressic acid (4), imbricatholic acid (5), 3‐hydroxy‐sandaracopimaric acid (6), and dehydroabietic acid (7)], and one lignan [β‐peltatin methyl ether (8)] were isolated from the cytotoxic fractions of the extracts of the leaves of the Libyan Juniperus phoenicea L. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic means. Cytotoxicity of compounds 1–6 were assessed against the human lung cancer cell line A549 using the MTT assay. Compounds 1 and 3 showed cytotoxicity against the A549 cells (IC50 = 65 and 77 μM, respectively), whereas compound 2 did not show any activity. Diterpenes 4–6 exhibited weak cytotoxicity against the A549 cells with the IC50 values of 159, 263, and 223 μM, respectively. The cytotoxicity of each compound was compared with the anticancer drug, etoposide (IC50 = 61 μM). Cupressuflavone (1) was evaluated also for cytotoxicity against both t...
New clerodane diterpenes, 12--megalocarpodolide D () and an epimeric mixture of crotonolins A () and B (), were isolated from the bark of following a bioassay-guided isolation protocol. Known compounds, megalocarpodolide D (),... more
New clerodane diterpenes, 12--megalocarpodolide D () and an epimeric mixture of crotonolins A () and B (), were isolated from the bark of following a bioassay-guided isolation protocol. Known compounds, megalocarpodolide D (), 12--crotocorylifuran (), cluytyl-ferulate (), hexacosanoyl- ferulate (), vanillin (), acetyl-aleuritolic acid () and lupeol (), were also isolated. The structures of the isolated compounds (-) were elucidated by spectroscopic means. The cytotoxicity of compounds - was assessed against A549, MCF7, PC3 and PNT2 cell lines using the MTT assay. Compounds and showed moderate levels of activity against both A549 and MCF7 cells with being the most active with IC values of 63.8 ± 13.8 and 136.2 ± 22.7 µM against A549 and MCF7 cells, respectively. The epimeric mixture of and was moderately active against A549 and PC3 cells (IC = 128.6 ± 31.0 and 111.2 ± 2.9 µM, respectively).

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