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Giuliani C, Pieraccini G, Santilli C, Tani C, Bottoni M, Schiff S, Fico G, Papini A, Falsini S. Anatomical Investigation and GC/MS Analysis of 'Coco de Mer', Lodoicea maldivica (Arecaceae). Chem Biodivers 2020; 17:e2000707. [PMID: 33025751 DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.202000707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Lodoicea maldivica (J.F.Gmel.) Pers. (Arecaceae), 'Coco de Mer', is a palm, growing as endemic in the Seychelles islands. Its fruit weighs up to 20 kg and is characterized by a fleshy and fibrous envelope surrounding the nutlike portion. The present work combines a morpho-anatomical and a phytochemical analysis of the fruit exocarp and mesocarp. The exocarp is composed by a layer of palisade cells. The mesocarp is characterized by vascular bundles and by sclereids. In the aerenchyma, the internal zone of the mesocarp, cells aggregates were positive to phenols, while idioblasts were positive to terpenes. We performed a GC/MS analysis with a semi-quantitative relative amount calculation of the recorded compounds. The GC/MS essential oil profile revealed the dominance of acyclic sesquiterpenoids (53.95 %), followed by bicyclic sesquiterpenoids (31.69 %), monoterpenes (11.89 %) and monocyclic sesquiterpenoids (2.44 %). The terpenes detected in higher amounts, β-caryophyllene and bicyclogermacrene, are known for activity against insect larvae, but have been proposed as antiviral candidates against SARS-CoV-2. The third compound in amount, aromadendrene, is active against bacteria and, again, known to possess insecticidal properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Giuliani
- Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche - DISFARM, Università di Milan, Via Mangiagalli 25, 20133, Milano, Italy.,Orto Botanico hirardi, Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche - DISFARM, Università di Milano, Via Religione 25, 25088, Toscolano Maderno, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Pieraccini
- Centro di servizi di Spettrometria di Massa, Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Viale G. Pieraccini 6, 50139, Firenze, Italy
| | - Carolina Santilli
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via Micheli 3, 50121, Firenze, Italy
| | - Corrado Tani
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via Micheli 3, 50121, Firenze, Italy
| | - Martina Bottoni
- Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche - DISFARM, Università di Milan, Via Mangiagalli 25, 20133, Milano, Italy.,Orto Botanico hirardi, Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche - DISFARM, Università di Milano, Via Religione 25, 25088, Toscolano Maderno, Italy
| | - Silvia Schiff
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via Micheli 3, 50121, Firenze, Italy
| | - Gelsomina Fico
- Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche - DISFARM, Università di Milan, Via Mangiagalli 25, 20133, Milano, Italy.,Orto Botanico hirardi, Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche - DISFARM, Università di Milano, Via Religione 25, 25088, Toscolano Maderno, Italy
| | - Alessio Papini
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via Micheli 3, 50121, Firenze, Italy.,CSET Centro Studi Erbario Tropicale, Università di Firenze, Via La Pira 4, 50121, Firenze, Italy
| | - Sara Falsini
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via Micheli 3, 50121, Firenze, Italy
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