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Sarcopoterium spinosum fruits have been used to get extracts of different nature; two fixed oils were obtained by means of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with CO2 at 250 bar and 40°C and using n-hexane in a Soxhlet extraction (SE) apparatus. Aqueous solutions: an aromatic water (AW) and a residual water (RW) were obtained by hydrodistillation (HD). In the RW, following have been identified: quercetin glucuronide, luteolin 7-O-glucuronide, isorhamnetin 3-O-glucuronide, quercetin sulfate and quercetin. Among all tested plant extracts, the RW had the highest content of polyphenol (378 mg GAE/g of weight) and of flavonoids (26 mg QE/g of weight), and the highest antioxidant activity, comparable to that of Trolox. It was also the most active extract of this series (IC50 = 0.292 mg/mL) in the tyrosinase activity assays performed with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) as substrate.

This article reports the results concerning the qualitative and quantitative composition of the volatile oil obtained from the aerial parts of Tanacetum vulgare, collected in Lithuania, by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with CO2 at 90 bar and 40 °C and by hydrodistillation (HD). GC-MS and GC-FID analysis revealed that the oils mainly consisted of 1,8-cineole, trans-thujone, cis-chrysanthenol, borneol and myrtenol. Oils obtained by HD displayed, with respect to the SFE volatile oil, a higher amount of hydrocarbon monoterpenes. The hydrodistilled oil was particularly active against dermatophyte strains and Cryptococcus neoformans, with MIC values in the range of 0.16–0.64 μL/mL. The oil revealed a significant inhibitory effect on germ tube formation in Candida albicans at sub-inhibitory concentrations. At the concentration of 1/16 MIC, the inhibition of filamentation was more than 80% in comparison to untreated control cells.

Spontaneous plants used in Sardinian folk medicine for the treatment of musculoskeletal system diseases. In this work the authors propose de results of an ethnobotanical survey developed in some villages of central-eastern Sardinia. The 482 interviews allowed to enumerate 52 plants, attributed to 49 genera and 36 families, utilized in folk medicine for the treatment of musculoskeletal system diseases.

In this contribution the authors present the results of an ethnopharmacobotanical survey developed from 1982 to 2004 while they point out the different endemic plants used in Sardinian folk medicine.

In questo lavoro gli autori mettono in correlazione le concentrazioni aeropolliniche di Ailanthus altissima(Miller) Swingle (Simaroubaceae) rilevate nell’atmosfera della città di Cagliari (Sardegna meridionale, Italia) e del suo hinterland, con le sindromi allergiche causate, in alcuni pazienti atopici, dai pollini di questa pianta. Dalle indagini aerobiologiche è stato possibile mettere in evidenza come le più alte concentrazioni aeropolliniche di ailanto sono state riscontrate nel periodo tra aprile e giugno. Su un campione significativo di 74 pazienti, di sesso ed età diversa, ben 21 soggetti sono risultati positivi ai test allergologici.