Evaluation of anti-oxidant and acetylcholinesterase activity and identification of polyphenolics of the invasive weed Dittrichia viscosa.

Introduction: The bioactive metabolites derived from weeds have attracted the interest of the food and pharmaceutical industries due to their health benefits.

Objective: To evaluate the anti-oxidant and acetylcholinesterase activity of Dittrichia viscosa extracts and characterise the polyphenolic metabolites using the LC coupled with diode-array detection (DAD) and positive mode electrospray ionisation (ESI) MS method with a view to evaluating the exploitation potential of this invasive weed.

Materials And Methods: Roots and aerial parts of D.

Origanum species native to the island of Crete: in vitro antioxidant characteristics and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry identification of major polyphenolic components.

Extracts from three Origanum species, including Origanum microphyllum, Origanum dictamnus and Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum, native to the island of Crete (southern Greece), were partly fractionated through successive partition with ethyl acetate and n-butanol. All the fractions obtained were profiled with regard to their major polyphenolic constituents, using liquid chromatography-diode array-mass spectrometry.

Evaluation of anti-oxidant activity and identification of major polyphenolics of the invasive weed Oxalis pes-caprae.

Introduction: Phytochemical analyses of weeds, many of which have been used in traditional medicine worldwide, could lead to the identification of secondary metabolites with significant biological activity.

Objective: To perform an assessment of the chemical composition and exploitation potential of the invasive weed Oxalis pes-caprae. To evaluate the anti-oxidant activity of its extracts and isolate and characterise polyphenolic metabolites using LC-DAD-MS (ESI+) and NMR methods.