Chemical and spectroscopic investigation of the bulbs of resulted in the isolation of one known flavonol (), never isolated from this plant species, and of three previously described steroidal saponins (), but whose configuration at their stereogenic centres was not clearly determined. By mean of H NMR, C NMR, nuclear overhauser effects (NOE) and two-dimensional NMR spectra the full stereochemical structures of compounds were proved and all the H and C signals were assigned. Furthermore, the methanol and butanol extracts of were tested against adults of beetles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug resistance remains a major challenge in the treatment of cancer. The multiplicity of the drug resistance determinants raises the question about the optimal strategies to deal with them. Essential oils showed to inhibit the growth of different tumor cell types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug resistance is a major obstacle in antibiotic and antitumor chemotherapy. In response to the necessity to find new therapeutic strategies, plant secondary metabolites including essential oils (EOs) may represent one of the best sources. EOs in plants act as constitutive defenses against biotic and abiotic stress, and they play an important role in the pharmacology for their low toxicity, good pharmacokinetic and multitarget activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe genus Cyphostemma (Planch.) Alston (Vitaceae) includes about 150 species distributed in eastern and southern Africa and Madagascar. Some species are used in traditional medicine and their biological activities, including antiproliferative effects against cancer cell lines, have been demonstrated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexually deceptive orchid flowers use visual, tactile and olfactory cues of female insects in order to attract males of one or a few closely related species as pollinators. Ophrys L. is the most species-rich genus of sexually deceptive orchids in the Mediterranean Basin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIris species can adopt different pollination strategies to attract their pollinators, generalized shelter-mimicking, specialized deceptive sexual-mimicking or food-rewarding. As attractive stimuli, Iris flowers may use their colours, large-size, symmetry, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, relatively few studies investigated Iris floral olfactory cues in the context of plant-visitor/pollinator interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe biological properties of essential oils have been demonstrated in the treatment of several diseases and to enhance the bioavailability of other drugs. In natural habitats the essential oils compounds may play important roles in the protection of the plants as antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, insecticides and also against herbivores by reducing their appetite for such plants or by repelling undesirable others. We analyzed by gas-chromatography mass spectrometry the chemical composition of the essential oil of aerial parts of Glandora rosmarinifolia (Ten.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFloral scent in sapromyiophilous plants often consists of complex blends with not only fetid (e.g., sulfides) but also sweet (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe essential oils from the leaves and flowers of Chiliadenus lopadusanus growing on Lampedusa Island were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. The major component was camphor (39.4% in the leaves and 24.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe essential oils composition of the skin, pulp and seeds from fruits of two Sicilian cultivars of Opuntia ficus-indica (cv. Sanguigna and cv. Surfarina) has been obtained by hydrodistillation and the possible antioxidant, antimicrobial and semiochemical roles have been investigated comparing the data with those reported in the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe essential oil of the fruits of Periploca laevigata Aiton subsp. angustifolia (Labill.) Markgraf (Apocynaceae) from Lampedusa Island was obtained by hydrodistillation and its composition was analysed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe essential oil of the stems and fruits of Caralluma europaea (Guss.) N.E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe volatile constituents of the flowers of Caralluma europaea (Guss.) N.E.
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