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In this study, biological properties of the essential oil isolated from seeds of Foeniculum vulgare ( F. vulgare ) were evaluated. GC-MS analysis revealed Trans-Anethole (80.63%), L-Fenchone (11.57%), Estragole (3.67%) and Limonene (2.68%) were the major compounds of the essential oil. Antibacterial activity of the essential oil against nine Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains was studied using disc diffusion and micro-well dilution assays. Essential oil exhibited the antibacterial activity against three Gram-negative strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli , and Shigella dysenteriae . The preliminary study on toxicity of seed oil was performed using Brine Shrimp lethality test (BSLT). Results indicated the high toxicity effect of essential oil (LC50 = 10 μg/mL). In vitro anticancer activity of seed oil was investigated against human breast cancer (MDA-Mb) and cervical epithelioid carcinoma (Hela) cell lines by MTT assay. Results showed the seed oil behave as a very potent anticancer agent with IC50 of lower than 10 μg/mL in both cases.

In order to determine the morphophysiological and phytochemical properties of various Ducrosia anethifolia populations, the plant samples were collected from 20 locations in native regions. Current study indicated significant differences in the morphophysiological and phytochemical characteristics of D. anethifolia populations collected from 20 locations in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. The highest value of plant height and the number of lateral stems, node per plant, umbellate per umbel, seeds per umbellate and the roots fresh and dry weight were related to the location with relatively high rainfall (130-161 mm) and low altitude (up to 1165 m) compared with others. Based on the essential oil components, D. anethifolia populations were divided into five different chemotypes. Chemotypes I, II and III were characterized by high amounts of methyl chavicol, chrysanthenyl acetate and decanal, respectively. Moreover, the populations with high amounts of decanal, anethole and dodecanal were placed in chemotype IV. Chemotype V was attributed to the Naserabad population with 1-decanol as the major compound., (© 2018 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

Pycnocycla bashagardiana is a rare endemic and endangered species that has been used in folkloric medicine in Southern Iran. This study aimed to evaluate the essential oil constituents and antimicrobial activity of wild and cultivated p. bashagardiana. The aerial parts of wild and cultivated plants were collected from two provinces of Iran. The essential oil was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by a combination of capillary GC and GC-MS. The main components in wild plants were myristicin (39.12%), (E)-β-ocimene (21.97%), sabinene (15.0%) and cis-iso-miristicin (2.67%) and in cultivated plants, (E)-β-ocimene (55.40%), myristicin (18.27%), (Z)-β-ocimene (12.47%) and cis-iso-miristicin (2.94%) were the main constituents in essential oil. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of P. bashagardiana were studied against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans for the first time. The results showed that the oil exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against all the tested pathogens.

The main goal of the present study was to describe the volatile profile of three different basil genotypes (Genovese and Green and Purple Iranian), and the impact that water stress (75% and 50% field capacity) and storage time (up to 7days) have under mild refrigerated conditions. The chromatographic profile pointed to three different chemotypes: linalool/eugenol, neral/geranial, and estragol, for Genovese, Green, and Purple genotypes, respectively. Water stress depleted the volatile profile of these three landraces, due to a reduction in the absolute concentrations of some of the components related to fresh aroma (linalool, nerol, geraniol and eugenol). The stability of the basil volatile profile during storage varied depending on the water stress that had been applied. Concentration reductions of close to 50% were quantified for most of the components identified in the Purple genotype., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

GC-MS analyses of the essential oils of leaves, stems and flower of Nasturtium officinale resulted in the identification of 9, 8 and 15 compounds, representing 97%, 100% and 94.7% of the oils, respectively. The main compounds of the oil of leaves were myristicin (57.6%), α-terpinolene (8.9%) and limonene (6.7%). Caryophyllene oxide (37.2%), p-cymene-8-ol (17.6%), α-terpinolene (15.2%) and limonene (11.8%) were the main components in stems, whereas limonene (43.6%), α-terpinolene (19.7%), p-cymene-8-ol (7.6%) and caryophyllene oxide (6.7%) were the major constituents in the oil of flowers. All the samples were subjected to a screening for their possible antioxidant activities using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene-linoleic acid assays. In the above tests, methanol extracts of leaves showed higher antioxidant activity than the oils and methanol extracts of stems and flowers.