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Background: Artemisia aerial parts are well known for antimicrobial activities including anti malaria. Objectives: This study was carried out to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of essential oil from the seeds of Artemisia aucheri Boiss (Asteraceae). Materials and Methods: Essential oil was extracted from the powdered seeds of Artemisia aucheri by hydrodistillation. Antimicrobial activity against five bacterial species was tested using the disc diffusion method, and the chemical composition of the essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results: The essential oil of Artemisia aucheri seed showed activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes. The essential oil constituents identified by GC-MS were as follows: decane, ρ-cymene, 1,8-cineole, linalool, ρ-mentha-8-ol, triene, borneol, lavandulol, bornyl acetate, chrysanthenyl acetate, dehydro aromadenderene, and caryophyllene oxide. Most of these compounds are also found in the aerial parts of Artemisia aucheri. Conclusions: Variation in the compositions of essential oils from Artemisia aucheri, and thus variation in the antimicrobial activity of these oils, may be due to the plant parts used for essential oil prepration.

Background: Perovskia abrotanoides Karel. is a medicinal plant used in Iranian folk medicine as a pain killer. Forty-one components have been identified in P. abrotanoides samples collected from Baluchistan Province, and 29 components have been recognized in samples collected from Khorasan Province. The leaves of P. abrotanoides have glandular trichomes (capitates and peltate) on both sides of the lamina. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the variation of oil constituents of the plant and illustrate the glandular trichomes types and then show the influence of environment on oil constituents and glandular trichomes. Materials and Methods: The essential oil of the plant was obtained using hydrodistillation and the analysis of oils carried out using GC-MS. The anatomical analysis of leaves was done by fixing, coloring, and photoing the sections. Results: Glandular trichomes composed of capitates and peltate trichomes. The essential oil composition differs. Viridiflora and neryl acetate were not identified in yellow glandular trichomes. Conclusions: It seems that there is no relation between anatomical characteristics of the plant leaves and its essential oil composition.

Background The production of nanoparticles using a biosystem is considered green chemistry. Application of plant extracts as a biological process has been proven to be suitable for synthesis of nanoparticles. Objectives This study designed in order to evaluate the production of silver nanoparticles using Juglans regia leaf extract and to compare the outcome of different preparation methods of plant extracts (ethanolic extract, boiling water extract and plant powder) for the generation of nanoparticles. Materials and methods THE REACTION MIXTURE CONTAINED THE FOLLOWING INGREDIENTS: AgNO3 (10 mM) as the biotransformation substrate, plant extract or powder as the biocatalyst, glucose (560 mM) as the electron donor, phosphate buffer (pH = 7, 100 mM) and ethanol 70% as the solvent in the reaction mixture. The samples were taken from the reaction mixtures at different times, and the absorbance (450 nm) of the colloidal suspensions of silver nanoparticle hydrosols was recorded immediately following dilution (1:80) so as to preserve its freshness. Results UV-visible spectrophotometer analysis revealed that the direct application of powder of the walnut leaf was the most efficient technique. TEM (Transmission electron microscopy) micrograph obtained by using this method revealed the generation of aggregated polydisperse, quasi-spherical nanoparticles in sizes of 10-50 nm. Ethonolic extract resulted in single silver nanoparticles which were nearly monodisperse, spherical, and individual nanoparticles ranged in size from 1-5 nm. Therefore, using direct powder of Walnut created more particles but applying ethanolic extract synthesized particles with smaller dimensions and no aggregation. Conclusions Different preparation methods of Juglans regia influence silver nanoparticles formation.