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Heracleum persicum, commonly named Persian hogweed, is a principal native medicinal plant in Iran. Collecting H. persicum at the most appropriate growing stage is the key factor to achieve the high phytochemical quality to meet consumer's needs. In the present experiment, the aerial parts of this plant were harvested at up to six different developmental stages during the growing season to determine the phytochemical profiles. Our results indicated that the highest essential oil content was obtained in the mid‐mature seed stage (3.5%). The most elevated extract content was recorded in the floral budding stage (10.4%). In the vegetative stage, limonene (18.1%), in floral budding stage, caryophyllene (14.1%), anethole (14.6%), and β‐bisabolene (12.7%), in the full flowering stage, myristicin (15.0%), and hexyl butyrate (9.1%), in the early development of seeds stage, hexyl butyrate (32.1%), and octyl acetate (11.7%), in the mid‐mature seeds stage hexyl butyrate (38.8%), octyl acetate (14.5%), in the late‐mature/ripe seeds stage, hexyl butyrate (23.6%), and octyl acetate (10.5%) are recorded as the main components. The highest phenolic acids content was obtained in the floral budding stage (287.40 mg/g dried extract). The analysis of phenolic acids demonstrated cinnamic acid (8.0–225.3 mg/g extract), p‐coumaric acid (1.7–39.2 mg/g extract), p‐hydroxybenzoic acid (0.8–16.8 mg/g extract), and ferulic acid (2.4–15.8 mg/g extract) as the main phenolic acids. Cinnamic acid was found as the major phenolic compound in the vegetative stage following by floral budding, the full flowering stage, the early development of seeds, and late‐mature/ripe seeds stages. P‐coumaric acid was the most abundant phenolic compounds in the mid‐mature seeds stage. In this regard, the harvest time of H. persicum aerial parts can be selected to achieve the highest secondary metabolites of interest. The results of this study can be used as a guideline for grower to obtain the highest possible amount of desirable metabolites, beneficial in both food and pharmaceutical industries as well as their undeniable economical benefits.

Background: Herbal and natural medicines play significant roles in treatment of diseases and development of novel drugs. Salsola vermiculata is an annual plant which is broadly distributed in southwest of Asia, and is used for treatment of stomach disorders. Results: This present study aimed at identifying and comparing the metabolic profiles of different parts of Salsola vermiculata and to evaluate the inhibitory potential of their extracts and fractions towards acetylcholinesterase and α-glucosidase. LC-ESI-MS, GC, and GC-MS analytical methods were employed for metabolite profiling of the extracts, and their fractions. The α-glucosidase and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of the samples were determined by microplate colorimetric methods. Based on results, 44 metabolites were identified in different parts of S. vermiculata. In roots, vanillic acid, rutin, salsoline, salsoline A, palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, cumin aldehyde, and carvone; in seeds, vanillic acid, salsoline A, palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, carvone, and β-caryophyllene; in leaves, gallic acid, vanillic acid, caffeic acid, rosmaric acid, rutin, quercetin, limonene, and carvone, and in flowers, gallic acid, vanillic acid, cinnamic acid, rosmaric acid, rutin, kaempferol, limonene, linalool, and carvone were recorded as the main components. According to the inhibitory activities results, the ethyl acetate fractions of leaves and the aqueous-acid fraction of roots displayed highest inhibitory activity towards acetylcholinesterase (IC50: 17.24 µg/mL), and α-glucosidase (IC50: 62.37 µg/mL), respectively. Conclusion: Finally, the leaves and roots of S. vermiculata are rich of phenolic and alkaloids compounds and the findings of this study depict them as a promising acetylcholinesterase and α-glucosidase inhibitors, and therefore, can be utilized for the development of new drugs.

Dipsacoideae has always been problematic for taxonomic delimitation of the taxa because of their morphological similarities and diversity amongst the taxa. Phenolic compounds are found in various organs of plants and are important in terms of chemotaxonomy and pharmacognosy. In this study, the phenolic acid compounds of 12 species of Dipsacoideae were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography photodiode array detection (HPLC-PDA) and also evaluated their significances as chemotaxonomic markers. The main phenolic acids were found to be caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and salicylic acid. The principal components analysis (PCA) bi-plot indicated that ferulic acid, caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid and rosmaric acid were principal components in the studied species dispersion. The species were separated from each other in a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) plot in terms of their phenolic acid profile. Regarding the results, the high amount of caffeic acid and cinnamic acid could be considered a chemotaxonomic marker for genus Pterocephalus Vaill. and Cephalaria Schrad. respectively. The results indicated that Scabiosa koelzii Rech. and S. amoena Jacq. were placed as a distinct group regarding their phenolic acid profile and established the opinion supported by Greuter and Raus. Consequently, phenolic contents could be applied as a significant marker in the chemotaxonomy of Dipsacoideae. Considering it, we suggest the study of interaction among ecological and genetically factors as well as the studied chemical compounds.

The high demands for the consumption of edible oils have caused scientists to struggle in assessing wild plants as a new source of seed oils. Therefore, in this study, the oil yield, fatty acid and tocopherol compositions, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the oils obtained from Iran's two endemic plants (Pyrus glabra and Pyrus syriaca) were investigated. The obtained oil yields from the P. glabra and P. syriaca seeds were 33 ± 0.51 and 26 ± 0.28 w/w%, respectively. Oleic acid (C18:1) with the amount of 49.51 ± 1.05% was the major fatty acid in the P. glabra oil, while the main fatty acids in the P. syriaca seed oil belonged to linoleic acid (C18:2) and oleic acid (C18:1) with the amounts of 46.99 ± 0.37 and 41.43 ± 0.23%, respectively. The analysis of tocopherols was done by HPLC, and the results indicated that the P. glabra and P. syriaca seed oils were rich in α‐tocopherol (69.80 ± 1.91 and 45.50 ± 1.86 mg/100 g oil, respectively), constituting 86.24 and 89.01% of total detected tocopherols, respectively. The study on the reducing capacity of the oils indicated that the P. glabra oil had more reducing capacity than the P. syriaca oil. Moreover, the antioxidant activity of the P. glabra seed oil (43.4 ± 0.7 µg/ml) was higher than the P. syriaca seed oil (46.3 ± 1.2 µg/ml). Also, the investigation of the antibacterial activities indicated that the P. glabra and P. syriaca oils have an inhibitory effect on the studied bacteria. The results indicate that the oils of these plants can be appropriate sources of plant oils which can act as natural antibacterial agents., One of the most important findings of this study is the introduction of Pyrus glabra and Pyrus syriaca as a new source of plant oils. The significant amount of antioxidants, especially in P. glabra oil, may serve as a dietary source of natural antioxidants and increase the stability and quality of food products. The results showed that the P. glabra seed oil is rich in α‐tocopherol. Hence, the potential utilization of these seed oils as a raw material for food, chemical, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries could be favorable.

Ferulago angulata (Apiaceae), an important medicinal plant of Iran, has been considered to have different therapeutical effects and are widely used in the perfume and pharmacological industries. Considering capability of F. angulata essential oils, the present study was conducted to optimized microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) method for F. angulata fruit in order to improve the yield and biological activities of essential oils. Optimization of the yield was done through central composite design (CCD) of the response surface methodology (RSM) using three variable factors (hydrodistillation time, irradiation power and plant/liquid ratio). Based on the RSM results, the maximum essential oil yield was obtained with the microwave power of 980 W and plant/liquid ratio of 2 (g/100 mL) at 72 min. The results revealed that MAHD of F. angulata produced the highest essential oil yield (6.50%) as compared with essential oil prepared with hydrodistillation (HD) (2.65%). The essential oils extracted by MAHD and HD were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) and indicated the main constituents of them were limonene, α-Pinene, s-Phellandrene, α-Phellandrene, and Terpinolene. The antioxidant study revealed that MAHD essential oil had higher antioxidant activity than the HD essential oil. Furthermore, the essential oil obtained by MAHD demonstrated potent anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 with IC50 8.51 μg/mL. This research revealed that MAHD could be an effective method for hydrodistillation of essential oil in F. angulata in terms of shortening hydrodistillation time, reduction of energy consumption and increasing biological activities compared with the HD method.

In this study, the chemotaxonomic status and fatty acid compositions of eleven species of Scabiosa L., naturally growing in Iran, were determined using gas chromatography. The main compounds were found to be palmitic acid (16:0; 4.63–23%), behenic acid (22:0; 2.40–35.52%), lignoceric acid (24:0; 1.91–34.02%) and linoleic acid (18:3n6; 0.73–13.95%). Principal Component and Principal Coordinate analyses revealed the segregation of the studied Scabiosa species in two groups. This was consistent with the traditional classification presented by Rechinger. However, there is a lot of debate about the taxonomy of the Scabiosa species. Based on pitted epicalyx, Greuter and Raus have removed members of the Scabiosa sect. Asterocephalus to the genus Lomelosia. Our results showed that the fatty acid profiles of the species belonging to the sect. Scabiosa were distinct and confirmed the opinion supported by Greuter and Raus, that these species should be moved to the Lomelosia genus.

Oliveria decumbens Vent, an annual herb, belonging to the Apiaceae family, traditionally used to cure diseases such as gastrointestinal, infections, diarrhea and fever. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of ultrasonic pre-treatment prior to hydrodistillation (US-HD) on extraction of O. decumbens essential oil (EO). Optimization of three independent variables including ultrasonic temperature, ultrasonic duration, and ultrasonic power to obtain EO with high yield and biological activity was performed recruiting Box-Behnken design (BBD) of the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). According to the RSM results, the maximum yield of EO was achieved with the ultrasonic temperature of 38.63°C, duration of 25.61 min, and power of 149.71 W. The results showed that the UA-HD of O. decumbens produced the highest yield of EO (5.82 %) compared with conventional hydrodistillation (HD) method (as the yield is 4.40 %). EOs extracted using UA-HD and HD methods were analyzed hiring GC and GC–MS, and the findings showed that thymol and carvacrol were the main compounds which made up more than 60 % of EOs obtained by both methods. Moreover, the ultrasonic pre-treatment significantly increased the percentage of thymol, while the percentage of carvacrol underwent no change. The antioxidant study showed that the EO extracted by the UA-HD method (IC50 = 29.61 μg/mL) is of higher antioxidant activity than the EO of HD method (IC50 = 141.11 μg/mL). Also, no significant difference was observed with respect to the cytotoxic activities of the EOs extracted using UA-HD and HD methods. Moreover, the EO obtained via US-HD method had significantly high insecticidal activity with LD50 value of 32.69 μg/larva, compared to HD method (LD50 = 63.21 μg/larva). So, US-HD method is obviously an effective method to improve the EO yield, then to reduce the extraction time and energy consumption, and also increase antioxidant and insecticidal activities, comparing to HD method.

Background: Recent advances in nanotechnology-based drug delivery system have been shown to improve either antibacterial efficacy or pharmacokinetics behavior.The aim of this study was to design a rifampin nanoparticle (RIF-NP) which has a high loading capacity with the slow release profile. Material and Methods: The designed chitosan/gelatin/lecithin (Chg/L) RIF-NPs were prepared by multilamellar vesicle. Thereafter, the particle size, zeta potential, morphology, and release rate were investigated. To optimize the loading capacity and release profiles, different concentrations of lecithin were used. Results: Our results showed a correlation of lecithin concentration with size, zeta potential, and loading capacity of RIF-NPs. Increases in lecithin concentration (0.2–2.0 g) could cause a significant size reduction in NPs (250–150 nm); the amount of zeta potential (from 14 to 49 mV;P < 0.05) and loading capacity increases from 8% to 20% (P < 0.05). Designed NPs had slow drug release profile which was influenced by pH and lecithin concentration. The cumulative percentage of RIF released at pH 7.4 was approximately 93% up to 12 h. In overall, release profile was better than standard drug, even in various pH conditions (pH = 1, 3.4, and 7.4). The Chg/L-RIF NPs may be considered as a promising drug nanocarrier. Conclusions: These NPs release RIF in slow and constant rate, which effectively might eliminate the bacilli and prevent the formation of RIF-resistant bacilli.

Mentha pulegium L. is an aromatic herb belonging to the Lamiaceae family, a wild plant which is distributed in different areas of Iran. In this research, we evaluated the variability of essential oil content and compositions of 12 M. pulegium populations. Essential oils were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) methods. The essential oils content varied from 0.22 to 1.63% w/w within different populations. Twenty-nine compounds were identified which represent 83.4–98.7% of the total essential oil. The most significant essential oil compounds among the studied population were identified using the principal components analysis (PCA-biplot). According to the PCA-biplot, the major compounds were pulegone (2.5–51.7%), menthone (0.2–25.3%), limonene (0.0–35.4%), 1,8-cineol (0.0–33.4%), piperitenone oxide (0.2–55.2%), and trans-piperitone epoxide (0.0–28.5%). Besides, hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that the studied populations were classified into two main clusters based on the essential oil components. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that some environmental factors could influence the phytochemical constituents as well as the antioxidant activity. The temperature and altitude were effective environmental factors with regards to 1–8 cineol, limonene and menthone content, while average rainfall was the most effective factor with respect to trans-piperitone epoxide, piperitenone oxide, and pulegone content. Our results consequently showed that environmental factors had a significant effect on the essential oil content and its antioxidant activity in M. pulegium populations.

Different parts of the medicinal plants have different capacities for the production of natural compounds, and knowledge of which part of plant has high natural compounds content is necessary. So, the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of various parts of Ferulago angulata, collected from Sepidan in Fars Province, Iran, were investigated. The results indicated the highest yield of essential oil was related to the unripe seed (4.95%), while and the leaf had the lowest yield of essential oil (0.4%). The analysis of compounds of the essential oil revealed that the main components included α-pinene (23.30–45.63%), limonene (7–34%), linalool (3.40%–19.30%), and sabinene (4.35–13.70%). Limonene was the main compound in the essential oil of leaf, unripe and ripe seed, and α-pinene was the main component in the stem and flower parts. The results showed that the highest amount of total phenolic and flavonoid was obtained in the unripe seed (146.31 mg GAE/g and 18.46 mg QE /g of extract), and the leaf had the lowest phenolic and flavonoid contents (63.66 mg GAE/g and 5.49 mg QE/g of extract). The investigation of antioxidant activity revealed that the highest and lowest activities were achieved in the unripe seed and leaf as IC50=162 and 999 μg/mL, respectively. The analysis of phenolic acids by HPLC-PDA demonstrated that the main phenolic acids included vanillic acid, ferulic acid, cichoric acid, and gallic acid as (18.64% in the leaves and 17.25% in the unripe seed), (7.11% in the flowers), (16.80% in the leaves), and (4.82% in the stems), respectively. Generally, the unripe seed of F. angulata was the best parts in terms of essential oil yield, antioxidant capacity, and phenolic compounds. Therefore, F. angulata can be harvested in the seeding stage to be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

During recent years, the implication of nanoparticles (NPs) as drug delivery systems has gained much scientific attention. As drugs do not deliver themselves, a nanoparticle can act by optimizing drug delivery in the right place, at the right time and at the right dosage. In previous years, this research successfully developed and evaluated the ChPL-NPs nanoparticles (chitosan protein–lipid) [US patent pending 20140370500]. In the present investigation, rifampicin (RIF) ChPL-NPs nanoparticles were designed and developed. Consequently, the in vitro release of RIF ChPL-NPs nanoparticles was investigated. Material and methods Briefly, chitosan powder (90 KD and 90% degree of deacetylation) was dissolved (1% acetic-acid) and mixed with gelatin (3%). Then, the lipid and rifampin in ether was precipitated by rotary vacuum evaporator. Under high speed homogenizer (12,000 rpm), both solutions (chitosan–gelatin & rifampin–lipid) were mixed [US patent pending 20140370500]. The obtained RIF ChPL-NPs were put into a dialysis bag with cut-off 14 KD in phosphate buffer solution (pH = 7.4). The release of RIF was obtained by reverse phase HPLC using C18 (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column. The mobile phase consisted of 50:50 v/v acetonitrile and 10 mm potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH = 3.2) and flow rate 1 ml/min. The column temp was maintained at 25 °C with UV detection at 335 nm. Results and conclusions The average size of RIF ChPL-NPs was about 50–250 nm. The release of RIF from the dialysis bag started after 30 min which was 2400 ng/ml; after 16 h the release of RIF was 15,000 ng/ml; and at 40 h the concentration reached to 19,600 ng/ml. Therefore, these results showed a slow release of RIF from ChPL-NPs. Basically, the intensity of the surface charges in nanoparticle is important as it determines their interaction with bioactive compound. In RIF ChPL-NPs, lipid had negative charges, whereas chitosan and gelatin had positive charges. The electrostatic interaction between oppositely charged ions would ultimately cause an effective system drug delivery. RIF ChPL-NPs is not only suitable for intravenous administration, but it can be used as an inhalation aerosol, because this nanoparticle has a capacity to adhere to mucosal surfaces and transiently open the tight junction.