Biflavonoids from the twigs and leaves of Cephalotaxus oliveri Mast. and their α-glucosidase inhibitory activity

Three new biflavonoids, umcephabiovins C - E (1 - 3), along with fourteen known compounds were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Cephalotaxus oliveri. Their structures and configurations were elucidated by UV, IR, NMR, ECD, and HR-ESI-MS spectra. Compounds 1 - 3 exhibited significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 7.05 ± 2.66, 24.45 ± 4.73, and 1.84 ± 1.14 μM, respectively. Compound 11 showed moderate cytotoxicity against the BaF3/T315I cell line.

Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Taxifolin, Diosmin, and Quercetin from Abies nephrolepis (Trautv.) Maxim: Kinetic and Thermodynamic Characteristics

Extraction behaviors of the 3 flavonoids taxifolin, diosmin, and quercetin have been investigated in Abies nephrolepis leaves and bark. The following operation parameters—ethanol volume fraction, liquid–solid ratio, temperature, ultrasound irradiation power and time, and ultrasound frequency—were varied to study their effect on the yield of the 3 flavonoids during extraction. The results showed that a low extraction efficiency occurred at 293.15 K due to slow kinetics, while the situation was significantly improved at 333.15 K. The kinetic data for the extraction yields of the 3 flavonoids achieved good fits by the first-order kinetic model. From the thermodynamic analysis results, we realized that the ultrasound-assisted extraction of taxifolin, diosmin, and quercetin from the leaves and bark of A. nephrolepis was a spontaneous and endothermic process in which the disorder increased (ΔG⁰ < 0, ΔH⁰ > 0, and ΔS⁰ > 0). According to the response surface methodology (RSM) analysis, under the optimal operation conditions (ethanol concentration of 50%, liquid–solid ratio of 20 mL/g, frequency of 45 kHz, extraction time of 39.25 min, ultrasound irradiation power of 160 W and temperature of 332.19 K), the total yield of the 3 flavonoids were 100.93 ± 4.01 mg/g from the leaves of A. nephrolepis (with 31.03 ± 1.51 mg/g, 0.31 ± 0.01 mg/g, 69.59 ± 2.57 mg/g for taxifolin, diosmin, and quercetin, respectively), and under the optimal operation conditions (ethanol concentration of 50%, liquid–solid ratio of 20 mL/g, frequency of 45 kHz, extraction time of 36.80 min, ultrasound irradiation power of 150 W and temperature of 328.78 K), 16.05 mg/g ± 0.38 mg/g were obtained from the bark of A. nephrolepis (with 1.44 ± 0.05 mg/g, 0.47 ± 0.01 mg/g, 14.14 ± 0.38 mg/g for taxifolin, diosmin, and quercetin, respectively), which were close to the prediction values.

Metabolite Profiling of Eastern Teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens L.) Lipophilic Leaf Extracts with Hyaluronidase and Lipoxygenase Inhibitory Activity

The phytochemical profile and anti-inflammatory activity of Gaultheria procumbens dry lipophilic leaf extracts were evaluated. Forty compounds were identified by GC-MS, representing 86.36% and 81.97% of the petroleum ether (PE) and chloroform (CHE) extracts, respectively, with ursolic acid (28.82%), oleanolic acid (10.11%), methyl benzoate (10.03%), and methyl salicylate (6.88%) dominating in CHE, and methyl benzoate (21.59%), docosane (18.86%), and octacosane (11.72%) prevailing in PE. Three components of CHE were fully identified after flash chromatography isolation and spectroscopic studies as (6S,9R)-vomifoliol (4.35%), 8-demethyl-latifolin (1.13%), and 8-demethylsideroxylin (2.25%). Hyaluronidase and lipoxygenase inhibitory activity was tested for CHE (IC50 = 282.15 ± 10.38 μg/mL and 899.97 ± 31.17 μg/mL, respectively), PE (IC50 = 401.82 ± 16.12 μg/mL and 738.49 ± 15.92 μg/mL), and nine of the main constituents versus heparin (IC50 = 366.24 ± 14.72 μg/mL) and indomethacin (IC50 = 92.60 ± 3.71 μg/mL) as positive controls. With the best activity/concentration relationships, ursolic and oleanolic acids were recommended as analytical markers for the extracts and plant material. Seasonal variation of both markers following foliar development was investigated by UHPLC-PDA. The highest levels of ursolic (5.36-5.87 mg/g DW of the leaves) and oleanolic (1.14-1.26 mg/g DW) acids were observed between August and October, indicating the optimal season for harvesting.

Oxidative stability of chicken thigh meat after treatment of abies alba essential oil

In the present work, the effect of the Abies alba essential oil in two different concentrations on oxidative stability of chicken thigh muscles during chilled storage was investigated. In the experiment were chickens of hybrid combination Cobb 500 after 42 days of the fattening period slaughtered.  All the broiler chickens were fed with the same feed mixtures and were kept under the same conditions. The feed mixtures were produced without any antibiotic preparations and coccidiostatics. After slaughtering was dissection obtained fresh chicken thigh with skin from left half-carcass which were divided into five groups (n = 5): C - control air-packaged group; A1 - vacuum-packaged experimental group; A2 - vacuum-packaged experimental group with thylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution 1.50% w/w; A3 - vacuum-packaged experimental group with Abies alba oil 0.10% v/w and A4 - vacuum-packaged experimental group with Abies alba oil 0.20% v/w. The Abies alba essential oil was applicate on ground chicken things and immediately after dipping, each sample was packaged using a vacuum packaging machine and storage in refrigerate at 4 ±0.5 °C. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value expressed in number of malondialdehyde was measured in the process of first storage day of 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th and 16th day after slaughtering and expressed on the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) in 1 kg sample. The treatments of chicken things with Abies alba essential oil show statistically significant differences between all testing groups and control group, where higher average value of MDA measured in thigh muscle of broiler chickens was in samples of control group (0.4380 mg.kg-1) compared to experimental groups A1 (0.124 mg.kg-1), A2 (0.086 mg.kg-1), A3 (0.082 mg.kg-1) and A4 (0.077 mg.kg-1) after 16-day of chilled storage. Experiment results show that the treatment of chicken thigh with Abies alba essential oil positively influenced on the reduction of oxidative processes in thigh muscles during chilling storage and use of essential oil is one of the options increase shelf life of fresh chicken meat.

Chemical constituents of Abies nukiangensis

During a survey on chemical constituents of Abies nukiangensis, seven previously unreported compounds, including six triterpenes (1-6) and one phenol (7) were isolated and characterized, together with 37 known miscellaneous chemical constituents. The structures of compounds 1-7 were established mainly by extensive analysis of the 1D and 2D NMR, as well as HRMS data. The absolute configurations of compounds 1 and 8 were confirmed unambiguously by the Cu-Kα X-ray crystallography. Compounds 3 and 8-10 showed significant anti-hepatitis C virus effects with EC50 values of 3.73, 2.67, 1.33 and 2.25μM, respectively.

Phytochemical profile of Paulownia tomentosa (Thunb). Steud

Paulownia tomentosa, a member of the plant family Paulowniaceae and a rich source of biologically active secondary metabolites, is traditionally used in Chinese herbal medicine. Flavonoids, lignans, phenolic glycosides, quinones, terpenoids, glycerides, phenolic acids, and miscellaneous other compounds have been isolated from different parts of P. tomentosa plant. Recent interest in this species has focused on isolating and identifying of prenylated flavonoids, that exhibit potent antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiphlogistic activities and inhibit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus papain-like protease. They show cytotoxic activity against various human cancer cell lines and inhibit the effects of human cholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and bacterial neuraminidases. Most of the compounds considered here have never been isolated from any other species of plant. This review summarizes the information about the isolated compounds that are active, their bioactivities, and the structure-activity relationships that have been worked out for them.

Phenolic components from Rhus parviflora fruits and their inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages

Nine phenolic compounds, phloracetophenone-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), p-hydroxybenzoic acid-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), leonuriside A (3), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenol-1-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), cis-p-coumaric acid-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), trans-p-coumaric acid-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6), trans-p-coumaric acid-9-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (7), (-)-shikimic acid (8) and (-)-methyl shikimate (9), were isolated for the first time from the fruits of Rhus parviflora. Compounds 1, 3-6 and 8 inhibited lipopolysaccharide-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible NO synthase expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages with IC50 values of 9.24 ± 1.20, 21.37 ± 2.02, 23.07 ± 1.58, 9.86 ± 0.98, 19.05 ± 1.66 and 11.3 ± 1.54 μM, respectively. The results indicated possible use of compounds for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Two new compounds from Senecio cannabifolius

Chemical investigation of the water extracts from the Senecio cannabifolius Less. led us to find two new compounds (1 and 2), along with 12 known compounds (3-14). The two new compounds were determined as (E, 4R)-4-hydroxy-4,5,5-trimethyl-3-(3-oxobut-1-enyl)cyclohex-2-enone (1) and (E)-4-((1S, 3R, 4R)-1-hydroxy-4,5,5-trimethyl-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-yl)but-1-en-3-o-ne (2), respectively. The structures of other compounds were elucidated by extensive analysis of spectral data and in comparison with the literature values. Compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated for inhibitory activity against lipopolysaccharide-induced NO production in RAW 264.7 macrophages, and compound 1 showed potent inhibitory activity with IC(50) value of 30.65 μM.

Sesquiterpenoids and triterpenoids from Abies holophylla and their bioactivities

Six previously unreported and 11 known terpenoids were isolated from Abies holophylla. The structures of the six compounds were established as two unusual bisabolane sesquiterpenoids, three nortriterpenoids, and one 3,4-seco-triterpenoid based on the detailed analysis of their 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data. In addition, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations and molecular orbital (MO) analysis were used to assign the absolute configuration of one bisabolane sesquiterpenoid, abiesesquine A. Abiesesquine A showed the strongest inhibitory effects against LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7 macrophages with an IC(50) value of 113.1 μM. Lanosta-7,9(11),24-trien-26-oic acid showed potent cytotoxic activity against COLO-205, LOVO, and QGY-7703 tumor cells with IC(50) values of 0.9, 4.2, and 2.0 μM, respectively. (23R,25R)-3,4-seco-9βH-Lanosta-4(28),7-dien-26,23-olid-3-oic acid, exhibited a significant antiproliferation effect against A549 cells (IC(50)=14.7 μM).