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Species of Porophyllum are characterized by the presence of essential oils, with reports of the occurrence of thiophenes. Essential oils have most often been obtained by hydrodistillation while thiophenes are isolated from nonpolar extracts and also by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). In this study, essential oils from P. ruderale, P. lanceolatum, P. angustissimum and P. curticeps were obtained by hydrodistillation. Porophyllum lanceolatum, collected in greater quantity, was subjected to SFE under different pressures (90–250 bar). Except for P. lanceolatum, which showed high levels of aldehydes such as decanal (60.24%) and dodecadienal (12.14%), all species were rich in hydrocarbon monoterpenes. The fraction obtained by SFE at 90 bar, when analyzed by GC/MS, presented monoterpenes, with limonene as the main component (22.58%) while decanal constituted only 3% of the sample. All the fractions obtained by supercritical extraction contained compounds with chromatographic profile of thiophenes. The compounds, distinguished by intense fluorescence, were isolated by planar circular chromatography and subjected to 1H NMR analyses. The spectra exhibited the characteristic signals of thiophenes. The mass spectra also presented the fragments expected for these compounds. The present data confirm this genus as a producer of potentially active molecules that deserve deeper studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aimed to obtain and investigate the properties and composition of extracts from flowers of Acacia mearnsii; this tree is widely cultivated because the bark is used as a raw material for various industry segments, but the flowers are not yet explored. The essential oil was evaluated by GC/FID, GC/MS, and GC/O. The antioxidant activity (DPPH and phosphomolybdenum methods) and chemical composition were investigated for a water-soluble extract, a by-product of the extraction process. 85.8% of the compounds present in the essential oil were identified, 8-heptadecene being the major compound. The main scents detected by the olfactory analysis were roast nutty, coffee, sweet, and floral. The water-soluble extract showed antioxidant activity that may be related to phenolic compounds. Results obtained from the LC-qTOF/MS analysis have shown that 25 likely flavonoids, such as naringenin, myricetin, quercetin, and rutin are present in the extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The steam distillation applied to the aerial parts of Pterocaulon polystachyum DC (Asteraceae) afforded essential oil and an aqueous residue, which is a by-product usually considered a waste. In this study, the prospects for using both essential oil and aqueous waste were investigated, showing new directions for the industrial process. The essential oil had its composition determined and showed activity against Microsporum gypseum (Bodin) Guiart & Grigorakis. The residual distillation water, which also had some activity against the same fungus, showed the presence of phenolic acids and a small amount of coumarins, molecules with interest in the pharmaceutical and food industries. In addition, the extraction curve was modeled mathematically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to target vitamin D receptors (VDR) expressed in melanoma cells, vitamin D3 functionalized hybrid lipid-polymer nanoparticles (HNP-VDs) comprising a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) core and a lipid shell composed of hydrogenated soy phosphatidylcholine (HSPC), cholesterol (CHOL) and 1,2-disteroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphaethanolamine-N[succinyl(polyethyleneglycol)-2000 (DSPE-PEG2000) were synthesized. The nanocarriers were optimized to a lipid surface area coverage of 97%. In vitro drug release studies showed an initial burst release in the first 24 h followed by diffusive transport. Finally, cellular uptake experiments demonstrated that the HNP-VDs efficiently targeted B16 melanoma cells, thus resulting in a promising vehicle to deliver therapeutics for the melanoma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in female/male plant metabolism for dioecious species are poorly understood but relevant if the economic exploitation of such resources is the objective. In this work, the composition of Baccharis tridentata Vahl essential oil from the flowering aerial parts of male and female plants was analysed separately by GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; area percentage and internal standard), and CPGC-MS (chiral phase gas chromatography analysis using modified β-cyclodextrin), reporting the enantiomeric distribution of monoterpene hydrocarbons as a genuineness criterion. The results confirmed high qualitative similarities between the essential oils from both genders, but quantitative differences in the main components α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene and bornyl acetate. Regarding the CPGC-MS analysis of monoterpene hydrocarbons, both sexes presented both enantiomers in the same ratios, which is in contrast to the values reported in the literature for related plants. However, natural bornyl acetate (isolated from B. tridentata essential oil) demonstrated a 100% enantiomeric excess of the levogyre enantiomer, a fact that has chemotaxonomic relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essential oil of Achyrocline satureioides was obtained by steam distillation in four operating conditions (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 bar) and the aromatic profile of these essential oils was evaluated by gas chromatography/olfactometry (CG/O). It was observed that the relation between the aromatic intensities and the compounds concentration is not directly proportional, except for the α-pinene, which presented a high concentration and aromatic intensity. The essential oil compounds were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and a principal component analysis (PCA) was used to evaluate the pressure effect on the essential oil composition. Through the PCA, similarity of composition was observed between pressures of 2.0 and 2.5 bar. Furthermore, a mathematical modeling of extraction process and an essential oil theoretical fractionation process study by batch distillation of the major compounds were performed. In order to enhance its aromatic activity, the simulation methodology applied to fractionate the A. satureioides essential oil presented a high-purity (99.10%) α-pinene fraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Red propolis is a well-known potent antimicrobial source because of its various bioactive compounds. This work aims to submit a sample of Brazilian red propolis to supercritical CO2 extraction, with subsequent chemical characterisation by HPLC and UHPLC-MS, and to evaluate the antifungal activity against three strains of Candida glabrata. The method proved to be selective for the extraction of benzophenones. The results demonstrated a correlation between the presence of benzophenones and antifungal activity. The supercritical extract that seems to be the richest in benzophenones was the one obtained with a pressure of 300 bar and was the most active against the C. glabrata strains. Abbreviations: SFE, Supercritical Fluid Extraction; MIC, Minimal Inhibitory Concentration; SC, Supercritical; BZP, benzophenones [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The species of genusBaccharisspp. (Compositae) are an important natural resource in the search for new bioactive compounds. This article presents an investigation of volatile compounds of two species ofBaccharisthat are native to southern Brazil (Baccharis dentata(Vell.) G.M. Barroso andBaccharis uncinellaDC) collected in summer and autumn of 2011. The essential oils were extracted by steam distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), olfactometry analysis (GC-O) and qualitative assessment of the antimicrobial potential using the indirect bioautography method againstStaphylococcus aureus,Salmonella entericasubspecieentericaserovar Choleraesuis,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Candida albicans,Aspergillus niger,Candida parapsilosis,Cryptococcus neoformans,Rhizopus stolonifer,Fusarium solaniandAspergillus oryzae. The results demonstrated that the harvest period has an influence on the composition of the essential oils, but little influence on extraction yield. It can also be observed that the joint analysis of GC-MS and GC-O resulted in complementary information about the essential oils studied because the intensities of volatile compounds detected by both methods are significantly different. Regarding antimicrobial assays, it was found that the essential oil ofB. dentatawas effective againstS. aureus,A. niger,C. parapsilosisandR. stolonifer, whereas the essential oil ofB. uncinellawas effective againstS. aureus,S.Choleraesuis,C. albicans,A. niger,C. parapsilosis,R. stoloniferandF. solani. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genusEucalyptusis composed of hundreds of species with multiple important uses, making it one of the most valuable forest trees around the world. The genetic improvement ofEucalytpushas been studied especially to improve timber production, wood quality and disease resistance. One of the current approaches to improveEucalyptustree species is genetic engineering, and it is a common sense that transgenic plants must be submitted to detailed environmental and health risk assessments in order to guarantee their biosafety for future commercial release. This work aimed to characterize and compare the essential oil composition of leaves from genetically engineered (GE) and non-GEEucalyptustrees of the hybridE. grandis x E. urophyllaemployed in cellulose pulp and paper production. Our results allowed us to conclude that no significant differences in the content or chemical composition of leaf essential oils exist between GE and non-GEEucalyptustrees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chromenes extraction processes fromAgeratum conyzoidesby steam distillation and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) were studied. Essential oil was extracted by saturated steam at 1.0 to 2.0 bar and the SFE was performed at 40ºC and 90 to 200 bar to obtain non-volatile extracts. The essential oil presented two major compounds—precocene I (28.24%) and precocene II (28.55%). At 90 bar, the SFE resulted in higher yield and selectivity for precocene I and II (65.06%). The yield of chromenes varied according to pressure of SFE; however, this behavior was not observed in extracts obtained by steam distillation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]