Development of general approaches to spectrophotometric determination of phenolic compounds in medicinal plant raw materials and related pharmaceutical formulations

Regularities of spectrophotometric determination of phenolic compounds in medicinal plant raw materials are considered taking into account the effect of coexisting compounds. An algorithm for the development of a spectrophotometric procedure of analysis of biologically active compounds in medicinal plant raw materials and related pharmaceutical formulations was composed on the basis of generalized results of author´s own studies and literature data.     

Phytochemical Profiling,Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Plants Belonging to the Lavandula Genus

Lavender is a valuable medicinal plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family. Currently 39 species are known, but only Lavandula angustifolia is a pharmacopoeial raw material. Lavender has a long history of medicinal use and mainly exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, sedative, antidepressant, spasmolytic, anticholinesterases, antifungal and antibacterial properties. Used internally, it relieves symptoms of mental stress and insomnia and supports digestion. Topical use of lavender in aromatherapy, neuralgia and antiseptics is also known. The constant interest in lavender, and in particular in Lavandula angustifolia, in the field of medicine and pharmacy is evidenced by the growing number of publications. In view of so many studies, it seems important to review traditional and modern extraction techniques that determine the chemical composition responsible for the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of various extracts from the species of the Lavandula genus.     

Volatile organic compounds of Angelica gigas Nakai, Korean medicinal herb

The study was performed to find out the profile of volatile flavor components from the aromatic medicinal plant, Angelica gigas Nakai. The volatile organic compounds of A. gigas Nakai were extracted by simultaneous steam distillation and extraction (SDE) method, and identified by gas chromatograph/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analysis. A total of 116 compounds, including 40 hydrocarbons, 37 alcohols, 15 esters, 12 aldehydes, 7 ketones, and 5 miscellaneous were identified and quantified. Among them, 75 volatile organic compounds were detected which make up 90.52% of total volatile content. alpha-Pinene was detected as the prime volatile component which accounted for 30.89% of total volatile content and 2,4,6-trimethyl heptane, camphene, alpha-limonene, beta-eudesmol, vervenol, alpha-murrolene, and sphatulenol were detected as the major components of A. gigas Nakai.     

Volatile profile of Echinacea purpurea plants after in vitro endophyte infection

Abstract

The differences in volatile profile of Echinacea purpurea plants not-inoculated (EpC) and inoculated with their endophytes from roots (EpR) and stem/leaves (EpS/L) were analysed and compared by GC-FID/GC–MS in an in vitro model. Non-terpenes and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were the most abundant classes with an opposite behaviour of EpS/L showing a decreased emission of sesquiterpenes and an increase of non-terpene derivatives. The main compounds obtained from EpS/L were (Z)-8-dodecen-1-ol and 1-pentadecene, while germacrene D and β-caryophyllene were the key compounds in EpC and EpR. For the first time, this work indicates that bacterial endophytes modify the aroma profiles of infected and non-infected in vitro plants of the important medicinal plant E. purpurea. Therefore, our model of infection could permit to select endophytic strains to use as biotechnological tool in the production of medicinal plants enriched in volatile bioactive compounds.     

Characteristic Volatile Organic Compound Analysis of Different Cistanches Based on HS-GC-IMS

Cistanche is a medicinal and food homologous substance with a long history of consumption and medicinal use in China. In order to further understand the volatile organic compound differences between different cistanches, this study selected oil cistanche, blood cistanche and cistanche tubulosa in Xinjiang for HS-GC-IMS volatile organic compounds, and established the characteristic fingerprints of different cistanches for organic content and characteristic organic compound analysis. PCA and cluster analysis were used to study the similarity between different cistanches. After qualitative analysis, a total of 32 volatile organic compounds were identified, covering aldehydes (17), ketones (5), furans (1), alcohols (5), lactones (1) and esters (3), and the volatile organic compounds between samples a, b and c could be significantly distinguished, affecting the flavor of cistanche itself. It provides a basic theoretical basis for the study of cistanche flavor.     

Comparison of Headspace SPME with Hydrodistillation and SFE for Analysis of the Volatile Components of the Roots of Valeriana officinalis var. latifolia

Valeriana officinalis var. latifolia is a common medicinal and fragrant plant in China. The plant’s essential oil plays an important role in its sedative and hypnotic action. In this work, supercritical fluid extraction and headspace solid phase micro-extraction, with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, were used for analysis of the volatile components of the roots of V. officinalis var. latifolia. The results were compared with those obtained by hydrodistillation. Seventy-two compounds were isolated and identified by GC–MS. The results showed that the major volatile components of V. officinalis var. latifolia were significantly different from those of V. officinalis, and varied with different extraction methods. SFE co-extracted high-molecular-weight compounds that do not contribute to the aroma. Hydrodistillation extraction resulted in loss of some highly volatile fragrant components. The conditions (extraction temperature and pressure) used for SFE affected the extraction yield and the composition of the oil.     

A Comparative Study of Acetonitrile Fraction Marker Substances from Leaves and Fruits of Malus sylvestris

The new plant raw material from leaves and fruits of Malus sylvestris is analyzed. It is shown that the content of substances extracted with acetonitrile amounted to 4.7–5.4% for leaves and 2.3–2.8% for fruits. The obtained extracts were used to identify substances, the presence of which is specific for the plant’s raw material and can be used in the future to identify raw material in crushed and powdered form. It is found that acetonitrile extract of Malus sylvestris is characterized by the presence of 10 peaks for fruits and 22 peaks for leaves, which can be considered as markers for the identification of medicinal plant material.     

Headspace-solid-phase microextraction in the analysis of the volatile fraction of aromatic and medicinal plants

Headspace (HS)-solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has assumed an ever increasing importance as a technique for HS sampling to study the composition of the HS of medicinal and aromatic plants. HS-SPME has mainly been applied for (a) studying the composition of the volatile fraction, including in addition to or as an alternative to other sampling techniques; (b) monitoring the biological phenomena involved with the volatile fraction of a plant; (c) discriminating between species, subspecies, varieties, cultivars, or chemotypes; and (d) quality control of plant samples. A review of 108 articles published during 2000-2005 is presented covering the use of HS-SPME in the field of aromatic and medicinal plants, selection of the most effective fiber and sampling conditions, comparison of HS-SPME and other volatile fraction sample preparation techniques, and the advantages and limits of HS-SPME when applied to medicinal and aromatic plants.     

The recognition of similarities in trace elements content in medicinal plants using MLP and RBF neural networks

The objective of the paper was to verify if the content of some elements provides enough information for proper classification of the medicinal plant raw materials. Such information could be helpful in standardization process of herbal products. Four elements—zinc, copper, lead and cadmium were determined using inverse voltammetry in commercially available medicinal herbal raw materials. Initially, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to investigate the relationships among the analyzed trace elements. In the next stage of the study, two different types of feed-forward artificial neural networks (FANNs)—multilayer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function (RBF) were applied. The concentrations of the elements were used as input variables to neural networks models, which were to recognize the taxonomy of the plant and the anatomical part it originated from. Although full recognition of the samples with use of FANNs on the basis of some trace elements content was not achieved, it was possible to identify two elements—cadmium and lead as the most important in the classification analysis of medicinal plants.     

中国部分煤种二氯甲烷萃取液中极性和烃类有机物分布特性研究

利用高分辨气相色谱－低分辨质谱联用仪（HRGC／LRMS）检测原煤二氯甲烷萃取液中极性有机物和烃类有机物（脂肪烃和芳香烃）的浓度分布，研究了萃取液中这两类有机物和煤种、煤种成分（固定碳、挥发分、灰分、水分）之间的联系。研究发现萃取液中的有机物浓度和固定碳、挥发分关系密切；极性有机物分布较集中，主要为酯类和醇类；芳香烃以菲、二苯并蒽和苯并Bai为主，烟煤和贫煤多环芳烃含量和毒性当量（TEQ）相对较高，并发现煤的碳化程度越高，芳香化程度越大。本文的结果为将来进一步研究燃煤过程中有机污染物形成机理提供依据。     

Use of high-performance thin layer chromatography by the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia

TLC characterizations are among the key identity tests in most pharmacopoeial monographs. Pharmacopoeial standards are typically used by industry as a basis for meeting QC requirements and current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs). TLC is a relatively low-cost, highly versatile tool for developing specifications for raw materials, as well as for the various preparations for which pharmacopoeial standards are created. In addition to its use in the development of identity tests, TLC is a valuable tool for screening plant samples that pharmacopoeias must review in the development of monographs and botanical reference materials (BRMs). Specifically, HPTLC is the ideal TLC technique for these purposes because of its increased accuracy, reproducibility, and ability to document the results, compared with standard TLC. Because of this, HPTLC technologies are also the most appropriate TLC technique for conformity with GMPs. This article highlights the manner in which HPTLC is used by the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) in the development of AHP monograph identity standards, the identification of adulterating species, and the development of AHP-verified BRMs.     

Anodized aluminum wire as a solid-phase microextraction fiber for rapid determination of volatile constituents in medicinal plant

Headspace solid phase microextraction using anodized aluminum fiber in combination with capillary GC–MS was utilized as monitoring technique for the collection and detection of the volatile compounds of Echinophora platyloba DC. Experimental parameters, including the sample weight, extraction temperature, extraction time and humidity effect, desorption time and desorption temperature were examined and optimized. Using HS-SPME followed by GC–MS, 53 compounds were separated and identified in E. platyloba DC, which mainly included E-β ocimene (47.63%), R-D-decalactone (13.28%), α-pinene (7.43%) and nonane (6.71%). Compared with hydrodistillation (HD), HS-SPME, provides the advantages of a small amount of sample, timesaving, simplicity and cheapness. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on using anodized aluminum fiber in solid-phase microextraction coupled to headspace for the investigation of volatile fraction of medicinal plant.     

Application of a solvent‐free solid injection technique coupled with GC–MS for discrimination between the secondary metabolites of wild and cultivated South Korean medicinal foods

Solvent‐free solid injection was applied to differentiate between wild and cultivated South Korean medicinal foods, including dureup (Aralia elata ), deodeok (Codonopsis lanceolata ) and doraji (Platycodon grandiflorus ). A number of compounds were identified in wild and cultivated dureup (53 and 46), deodeok (47 and 51) and doraji (43 and 38). Secondary metabolites, including butanal,2‐methyl‐, β ‐caryophyllene, neoclovene, α ‐humulene, γ ‐curcumene, β ‐bisabolene, and phytol, were identified in dureup with significantly (P < 0.05) different amounts between both types. In deodeok, squalene and other main components such as acetic acid, methyl ester, furan‐methyl‐furfural, 2‐furan‐methanol, and 5‐methyl‐furfural, were statistically different between the two types. Doraji has significantly different compounds such as furfural, 5‐methyl‐furfural, 2‐methoxy‐phenol, 2‐methoxy‐4‐(1‐propenyl)‐phenol, and 1‐(4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl)‐2‐propanone. Although we failed to confirm the key compounds, a new compound, namely desaspidinol, was synthesized for the first time and its retention index determined under the experimental conditions. This solventless, easy technique can be used as a simple way to discriminate between wild and cultivated types of medicinal plants via identification of volatile markers or specific fingerprints.     

Analysis of Volatile Compounds from Different Parts of Houttuynia cordata Thunb.

Houttuynia cordata Thunb. is a medicinal and edible plant that has been commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. This study used headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and direct injection, combined with gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), to identify the volatile compounds in H. cordata. Extraction from different parts of the plant using different extraction techniques for the identification of volatile compounds were determined. A total of 93 volatile components were analyzed in the leaves, stems, rhizomes, and whole plant samples of H. cordata. The leaves contained more (Z)-3-hexenal, β-myrcene, (Z)-β-ocimene, and (4E,6E)-allo-ocimene; the stems contained more geranyl acetate and nerolidol; and rhizomes contained more α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, 2-undecanone, and decanoyl acetaldehyde. Among them, the essential oil extracted by HS-SPME could produce more monoterpenes, while direct injection could obtain higher contents of aliphatic ketones, terpene esters, sesquiterpenes, and was more conducive to the extraction of 2-undecanone and decanoyl acetaldehyde.     

Isolation and Identification of Novel Compounds from Mulgedium tatarica DC.

Our study focused on the chemical constituents of Mulgedium tatarica that was collected from Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China. It is not only a folk medicinal herb but also a wild vegetable. It was reported that this plant showed several bioactivities, such as diuretic action, stimulating milk secretion, analgesia and haemorrhoidolysis. [1 ] Fatty acids and other volatile components of Mulgedium tatarica were detected by GC-MS for the first time. [2] From the ethanol extract of the whole plant of Mulgedium tatarica DC., two new compounds, named tataricoside and mulgedin A, have been isolated and characterized. Their structures were identified by UV, IR,HRFABMS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HMQC, HMBC and 1H-1H COSY spectral analysis.     

Identification of volatile components in Angelica species using supercritical-CO2 fluid extraction and solid phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

As a part of our search for environmentally friendly solvents to extract the active components of medicinal plants, two sampling techniques, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using CO(2) and solid-phase microextraction (SPME) were compared for their efficacy in the analysis of volatiles rhizome components emitted from the medicinal herbs Angelica gigas NAKAI (Korean danggui), Angelica sinensis (Chinese danggui), and Angelica acutiloba (Japanese danggui). A total of 54 compounds released from all of these varieties of Angelica rhizomes were separated and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The composition of supercritical extracts from these plants was very different from the solid-phase microextraction products. More compounds were detected by SPME-GC-MS (41) than by SFE-GC-MS (17). The results of these analyses suggest that SFE may be useful for detecting the main components, decursinol angelate and decursin in Korean danggui, and butylidene dihydro-phthalide in both Chinese and Japanese danggui, whereas the results for SPME did not. The SFE method required specialized instrumentation, required little time to prepare the sample, and had a small sample size and no organic solvent. In sum, these results suggest that SFE is useful for extracting the volatile main components of danggui cultivars. Its simplicity, low cost and speed may allow SPME to increase the recovery of volatile components in general without disturbing the main components of the plant.     

南瓜籽烘烤前后化学成分的分析

对烘烤前后南瓜籽中的化学成分进行分析并对比。采用同时蒸馏萃取装置萃取南瓜籽中的挥发性成分,采取超临界CO2萃取技术萃取南瓜籽油脂,并将其分为酸、碱、中性三个部分,用气相色谱-质谱联用方法分析其中化学成分并进行对比。结果表明,南瓜籽挥发性成分中含有多种醛类和酯类化合物,烘烤后产生了大量的烷基吡嗪,其在碱性部分中的相对含量比烘烤前提高14倍多,不饱和醛类化合物含量也有明显提高。南瓜籽油脂中的主要化学成分是油酸、亚油酸及其酯类。还含有生物活性功能成分如植物甾醇、角鲨烯和维生素E等。烘烤后除角鲨烯含量有所降低,维生素E、植物甾醇、亚麻酸等均有提高。     

Evaluation of chemical profile and antioxidant activity of Tripleurospermum insularum,a new species from Turkey

This article presents the very first phytochemical investigation on new species Tripleurospermum insularum Inceer &; Hay?rl?oglu-Ayaz. The volatile profile of odorous parts of the plant was analysed by GC/MS, and compounds were identified in headspace and essential oil obtained from aerial parts, representing 70.81% and 92.44% in total, respectively. The major volatiles were n-alkanes (38.43–59.22%), while essential oil was also rich in globulol (13.45%) and β-sesquiphellandrene (9.29%). The content of phenolic compounds in methanolic extract and oil was 3621.62 and 14.4 mg GAE/100 g of dry plant, respectively. Moreover, potential medicinal effects were found in mean of antioxidant activity of this plant measured by using two different assays: radical-scavenging activity and ferric-reducing activity. Samples revealed values ranging from 0.33 to 146.80 μmol TE/100 g for DPPH assay, and from 2.29 to 5414.17 μmol AAE/100 g for FRAP assay.     

Secretory Products in Petals of Centaurea cyanus L. Flowers: A Histochemistry,Ultrastructure, and Phytochemical Study of Volatile Compounds

(1) Background: Centaurea cyanus L. is a medicinal plant whose flowers are widely used in herbal medicine. The aim of the study was to localise flower tissues that are responsible for the production of secretory products in petals and to analyse the volatile compounds. The volatile compounds of the flowers of this species have not been investigated to date. (2) Methods: Light, fluorescence, scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques were used in the study. Lipophilic compounds were localised in the tissues using histochemical assays. Volatile compounds were determined with the use of solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). (3) Results: The study showed production of secretion in the petal parenchyma, whose ultrastructure has features of a secretory tissue. The lipophilic secretion was localised in the cells and intercellular spaces of the parenchyma and in the walls and surface of epidermal cells, where it accumulated after release through cuticle microchannels. Sesquiterpenes were found to constitute the main group of volatile compounds, with the highest content of β-caryophyllene (26.17%) and α-humulene (9.77%). (4) Conclusions: Given the presence of some volatile components that are often found in resins (caryophyllene, delta-cadinene) and the abundant secretion residues on the epidermal surface, we suppose that the C. cyanus secretion released by the flowers is a resinaceous mixture (oleoresin), which is frequently found in plants, as shown by literature data. This secretion may play an important role in the therapeutic effects of C. cyanus flowers.