Chemical Constituents and Insecticidal Activities of Ajania fruticulosa Essential Oil

Bioactivities and Synergistic Effect of Elsholtzia ciliata Essential Oil and Its Main Components against Lasioderma serricorne

Investigations have shown that storage bugs seriously harm grains during storage. In the interim, essential oils (EOs) have been proven to be a good botanical pesticide. The anti-Lasioderma serricorne properties of Elsholtzia ciliata essential oil, which was obtained by steam distillation, were evaluated using DL-limonene, carvone, and their two optical isomer components using contact, repelling, and fumigation techniques. Simultaneously, the fumigation, contact, and repellent activities of carvone and its two optical isomers mixed with DL-limonene against L. serruricorne were evaluated. The results showed that E. ciliata, its main components (R-carvone, DL-limonene), and S-carvone exhibited both fumigations (LC50 = 14.47, 4.42, 20.9 and 3.78 mg/L) and contact (LD50 = 7.31, 4.03, 28.62 and 5.63 µg/adult) activity against L.serricorne. A binary mixture (1:1) of R-carvone and DL-limonene displayed an obvious synergistic effect. A binary mixture (1:1) of carvone and its two optical isomers exhibited an obvious synergistic effect, too. Furthermore, the repellent activity of the EO, carvone, and its two optical isomers, DL-limonene, and a combination of them varied. To stop insect damage during storage, E. ciliata and its components can be utilized as bio-insecticides.

Phytotoxic, insecticidal, and antimicrobial activities of Ajania tibetica essential oil

The chemical profile of Ajania tibetica essential oil (EO) and its phytotoxic, insecticidal, and antimicrobial activities were assessed. Monoterpenes (79.05%) and sesquiterpenes (10.33%) were dominant in the EO, with camphor, (+/-)-lavandulol and eucalyptol being the major constituents, representing 55.06% of the total EO. The EO possessed potent phytotoxicity against Poa annua and Medicago sativa starting from 0.5 mg/mL, and when the concentration rose to 5 mg/mL, seed germination of both tested species was 100% suppressed. Ajania tibetica EO displayed significant pesticidal activity against Aphis gossypii with an LC50 value of 17.41 μg/mL; meanwhile, the EO also showed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Verticillium dahlia and Aspergillus niger using broth microdilution and disc diffusion methods. For the tested bacterial and fungal strains, the EO exhibited a repressing effect, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 0.3125 to 1.25 mg/mL for bacteria and from 1.25 to 2.5 mg/mL for fungi, whereas the minimum microbicidal concentrations (MMCs) were 5 mg/mL for bacteria and 2.5 mg/mL for fungi. Our study is the first report on the chemical profile as well as the phytotoxicity, insecticidal and antimicrobic activity of A. tibetica EO, indicating its potential value as an alternative synthetic pesticide.

The Current State and Prospects for the Use of Herbal Medicines for Wound-Healing and Anti-Inflammatory Action in Kazakhstan: A Literature Review

BACKGROUND: As dosage forms, oils, drops, ointments, solutions, films, and suppositories represent phytopreparations for external use. The use of the drug “Kyzyl mai” in clinical practice pursues the achievement of wound-healing (including anti-burn effect), anti-inflammatory, reparative, metabolic, antibacterial, antiviral, and analgesic effects. AIM: We aimed to analyze the range of soft dosage forms in the form of suppositories with herbal components in their composition, used as anti-inflammatory and wound-healing agents. METHODS: The design in this study was a literature review article. Search for articles using relevant ones obtained from data based on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar obtained 283 articles. RESULTS: There are 12 articles that are relevant and discuss their content and use in the health. CONCLUSION: This review presents new dosage forms have been created – medicinal film “Fiadent,” medicinal film “Normophyt,” medicinal film with Piyavit. On the basis of chamomile extract obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, the optimal composition and technological scheme for the production of anti-inflammatory suppositories for use in proctology have been developed. The article describes a literature review of suppositories of anti-inflammatory action based on essential oil of balsamic poplar buds which have been developed.

The sweet wormwood essential oil and its two major constituents are promising for a safe control measure against fall webworm

The fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Drury), is a harmful polyphagous global defoliator. The major chemical components of Artemisia annua essential oil (EO) was found to contain (±)-camphor (16.42%), 1,8-cineole (6.22%), α-pinene (6%), caryophyllene (5.19%), and α-selinene (5.17%). The highest toxicity was recorded for EO of A. annua (LD₅₀ = 305.05 μg/larva), followed by (±)-camphor (LD₅₀ = 465.03 μg/larva) and 1,8-cineole (LD₅₀ = 573.49 μg/larva). The binary mixtures of compounds expressed a weaker activity compared to individuals. The (±)-camphor was found to be antagonistic to 1,8-cineole. The biochemical compounds of treated larvae were also determined. The activity level of alanin and aspartate aminotransferase decreased sharply while acid and alkaline phosphatase increased. Activity of lactate dehydrogenase was significantly higher than the control group at 24 h, but decreased significantly after 48 h in all treatments. The activity of esterases were decreased in the treated larvae. The glutathione S-transferase significantly increased in all time intervals. Overall the current results suggest that the sweet wormwood (A. annua) EO and its components could be a safe and environmentally friendly approach in possible control of fall webworm (H. cunea).

Biogeographic and metabolic studies support a glacial radiation hypothesis during Chrysanthemum evolution

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) is an economically important plant species growing worldwide. However, its origin, especially as revealed by biogeographic and metabolomics research, remains unclear. To understand the geographic distribution of species diversity and metabolomics in three genera (Chrysanthemum, Ajania, and Phaeostigma), geographic information systems and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used in 19, 15, and 4 species respectively. China and Japan were two potential panbiogeographic nodes and diverse hotspots of Chrysanthemum, with species richness ratios of 58.97 and 33.33%. We studied different species from two hotspots which in similar geographical environments had closer chemotaxonomic relationships under the same cultivation conditions based on a cluster of 30 secondary metabolites. The average distribution altitude (ADA) differed significantly among Chrysanthemum, Ajania, and Phaeostigma in which it was 1227.49, 2400.12, and 3760.53 m.a.s.l. respectively, and the presence/absence of ray florets (RF) was significantly correlated with ADA (-0.62). Mountain landform was an important contributor to global Chrysanthemum diversity, playing a key role in the divergence and distribution pattern of Chrysanthemum and its allies. The Hengduan Mountains-Qinling Mountains (HDQ) in China was a potential secondary radiation and evolution center of Chrysanthemum and its related genera in the world. During the Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles, this region became their refuge, and they radiated and evolved from this center.

Chemical Constituents of the Essential Oil Extracted from Elsholtzia densa and Their Insecticidal Activity against Tribolium castaneum and Lasioderma serricorne

Storage pests pose a great threat to global food security. Here, we found that the essential oil (EO) extracted from E. densa possesses obvious effects against the insects that threaten stored-products. In this work, we investigated the chemical constituents of the essential oil extracted from Elsholtzia densa, and their insecticidal (contact and fumigant) toxicity against Tribolium castaneum and Lasioderma serricorne. A total of 45 compounds were identified by GC-MS, accounting for 98.74% of the total EO. Meanwhile, 11 compounds were isolated from the EO, including limonene, β-caryophyllene, ρ-cymene, trans-phytol, α-terpineol, linalool, acetophenone, 1,8-cineole, ρ-cymen-7-ol, 1-O-cerotoylgly-cerol, and palmitic acid. Furthermore, acetophenone, ρ-cymen-7-ol, and 1-O-cerotoylgly-cerol were isolated for the first time from Elsholtzia spp. The results of the bioassays indicated that the EO had the property of insecticidal toxicity against T. castaneum and L. serricorne. All of the compounds showed different levels of insecticidal toxicity against the two species of insects. Among them, 2-ethyl-1H-imidazole had no insecticidal toxicity against T. castaneum, but possessed fumigant and obvious contact toxicity against L. serricorne. ρ-Cymen-7-ol had beneficial insecticidal toxicity against the two species of insects, and fumigant toxicity against L. serricorne. ρ-Cymen-7-ol (LD₅₀ = 13.30 μg/adult), 1-octen-3-ol (LD₅₀ = 13.52 μg/adult), and 3-octanol (LD₅₀ = 17.45 μg/adult) showed significant contact toxicity against T. castaneum. Acetophenone (LD₅₀ = 7.07 μg/adult) and ρ-cymen-7-ol (LD₅₀ = 8.42 μg/adult) showed strong contact toxicity against L. serricorne. ρ-Cymene (LC₅₀ = 10.91 mg/L air) and ρ-cymen-7-ol (LC₅₀ = 10.47 mg/L air) showed powerful fumigant toxicity to T. castaneum. Limonene (LC₅₀ = 5.56 mg/L air), acetophenone (LC₅₀ = 5.47 mg/L air), and 3-octanol (LC₅₀ = 5.05 mg/L air) showed obvious fumigant toxicity against L. serricorne. In addition, the EO and its chemical compounds possessed different levels of repellent activity. This work provides some evidence of the value of exploring these materials for insecticidal activity, for human health purposes. We suggest that the EO extracted from E. densa may have the potential to be developed as an insecticidal agent against stored product insect pests.

An overview of research of essential oils by self-organizing maps: A novel approach for meta-analysis study

Essential oils (EOs) are commercially important products, sources of compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial activities considered indispensable for several fields, such as the food industry, cosmetics, perfumes, pharmaceuticals, sanitary and agricultural industries. In this context, this systematic review and meta-analysis, a novel approach will be presented using chemometric tools to verify and recognize patterns of antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal activities of EOs according to their geographic, botanical, chemical, and microbiological distribution. Scientific papers were selected following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses statement flow diagram, and the data were evaluated by the self-organizing map and hierarchical cluster analysis. Overall, this novel approach allowed us to draw an overview of antioxidants and antimicrobials activities of EOs reported in 2019, through 585 articles evaluated, obtaining a dataset with more than 10,000 data, distributed in more than 80 countries, 290 plant genera, 150 chemical compounds, 30 genera of bacteria, and 10 genera of fungi. The networks for geographic, botanical, chemical, and microbiological distribution indicated that Brazil, Asia, the botanical genus Thymus, species Thymus vulgaris L. "thyme," the Lamiaceae family, limonene, and the oxygenated monoterpene class were the most representative in the dataset, while the species Escherichia coli and Candida albicans were the most used to assess the antimicrobial activity of EOs. This work can be seen as a guide for the processing of metadata using a novel approach with non-conventional statistical methods. However, this preliminary approach with EOs can be extended to other sources or areas of food science.

Insecticidal Activities and Chemical Composition of the Essential Oils of Ajania nitida and Ajania nematoloba from China

In this work, we investigated insecticidal and repellent activities of the essential oils extracted from Ajania nitida and Ajania nematoloba against Tribolium castaneum and Lasioderma serricorne adults. The components of essential oils were analyzed by GC-MS. The main components of A. nitida oil were camphor (20.76%), thujone (18.64%), eucalyptol (13.42%), borneol (8.32%) and those of A. nematoloba oil were β-pinene (34.72%), eucalyptol (24.97%) and verbenol (20.39%). The results showed that the two essential oils possessed insecticidal and repellent activities against two species of insects. A. nitida oil possessed contact and fumigant toxicity against T. castaneum (LD₅₀ = 30.10 µg/adult and LC₅₀ = 21.07 mg/L air) and L.serricorne (LD₅₀ = 17.51 µg/adult and LC₅₀ = 11.23 mg/L air). A.nematoloba oil showed contact and fumigant toxicity against T. castaneum (LD₅₀ = 102.29µg/adult and LC₅₀ = 69.45 mg/L air) and contact toxicity against L.serricorne (LD₅₀ = 53.43 µg/adult), but no obvious fumigant effect was observed against L.serricorne. Both of essential oils possessed strong repellent activity against T. castaneum and certain repellent activity against L.serricorne. Especially, A. nematoloba oil showed the same level percentage repellency as DEET(the positve control) against T. castaneum. The results indicated that the essential oils of A. nitida and A. nematoloba had the potential to be developed as natural insecticides and repellents for the control of T. castaneum and L.serricorne.

Identification of Insecticidal Constituents from the Essential Oil from the Aerial Parts Stachys riederi var. japonica

The essential oil of Stachys riederi var. japonica (Family: Lamiaceae) was extracted by hydrodistillation and determined by GC and GC-MS. A total of 40 components were identified, representing 96.01% of the total oil composition. The major compounds in the essential oil were acetanisole (15.43%), anisole (9.43%), 1,8-cineole (8.07%), geraniol (7.89%), eugenol (4.54%), caryophyllene oxide (4.47%), caryophyllene (4.21%) and linalool (4.07%). Five active constituents (acetanisole, anisole, 1,8-cineole, eugenol and geraniol) were identified by bioactivity-directed fractionation. The essential oil possessed fumigant toxicity against maize weevils (Sitophilus zeamais) and booklice (Liposcelis bostrychophila), with LC₅₀ values of 15.0 mg/L and 0.7 mg/L, respectively. Eugenol and anisole exhibited stronger fumigant toxicity than the oil against booklice. 1,8-Cineole showed stronger toxicity, and anisole as well as eugenol exhibited the same level of fumigant toxicity as the essential oil against maize weevils. The essential oil also exhibited contact toxicity against S. zeamais adults and L. bostrychophila, with LC₅₀ values of 21.8 µg/adult and 287.0 µg/cm², respectively. The results indicated that the essential oil of S. riederi var. japonica and its isolates show potential as fumigants, and for their contact toxicity against grain storage insects.

Antagonistic activity of essential oils and their main constituents extracted from Ajania fruticulosa and A. potaninii against Ditylenchus destructor

The antagonistic activities of essential oils of Ajania potaninii and A. fruticulosa against Ditylenchus destructor were determined by the liquid soak method in 96-well microplates. The main constituents of A. potaninii essential oil were 1,8-cineole (22.19%), (+)-camphor (12.84%), (−)-verbenol (13.84%) and borneol (12.67%). The results showed that the essential oils of A. fruticulosa (EC50 = 0.17 mg ml−1) and A. potaninii (EC50 = 0.27 mg ml−1) have antagonistic activity against D. destructor. The results also showed that 1,8-cineole (EC50 = 0.49 mg ml−1), myrtenol (EC50 = 0.40 mg ml−1) (A. fruticulosa) and (−)-verbenol (EC50 = 1.09 mg ml−1) (A. potaninii) have antagonistic activity. 1,8-Cineole is a key element affecting the antagonistic activity that was found in both essential oils. Several main constituents found in the essential oils had antagonistic effects against D. destructor. These results provide the basis for future development and utilisation of a substance to control D. destructor.