Terpenoid and Fatty Acid Profiling along with Anti-Tyrosinase and Anti-Urease Potentials of Scorzonera pygmaea Sibth. & Sm. an Endemic Plant of Turkey.

Petroleum ether (PE), chloroform (CH), ethyl acetate (EA) and butanol (BU) fractions were obtained from ethanol extracts of the roots (SPR) and the above ground (SPH) parts of S. pygmaea. PE fractions were evaluated by GC/MS for profiling the terpenoids and the fatty acids of the plant. 29 compounds in total including saturated (major palmitic acid), unsaturated (major linoleic acid) fatty acids and triterpenes were tentatively determined. Short-term extraction methods might be preferred to avoid esterification of fatty acids. Phytochemical profiles of SPR-PE and SPH-PE were found to be similar to each other and to other few Scorzonera species reported previously. These results will contribute to the chemotaxonomic studies about the genus which is considered taxonomically complex genus. Activity studies were carried out using kojic acid (87.10 % inhibition) standard for tyrosinase and thiourea (95.83 % inhibition) standard for urease. SPR-CH was determined as the most potent fraction with 55.94 % and 55.10 % inhibition of tyrosinase and urease, respectively at the same concentration of the standards (200 microgram/mL). These moderate results might be considered encouraging for more detailed studies to determine the active compounds and to evaluate the plant's potential in pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries in terms of tyrosinase and urease inhibition.

Two new phenolic compounds and some biological activities of Scorzonera pygmaea Sibth. & Sm. subaerial parts.

Phytochemical composition of ethyl acetate fraction and total phenolic content, in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial activities of petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions of the ethanol extract obtained from the subaerial parts of Scorzonera pygmaea Sibth. & Sm. (Asteraceae) were investigated. Nine compounds; scorzopygmaecoside (1), scorzonerol (2), cudrabibenzyl A (3), thunberginol C (4), scorzocreticoside I (5) and II (6), chlorogenic acid (7), chlorogenic acid methyl ester (8), 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (9) were isolated and identified using spectroscopic methods. All substances were isolated for the first time from this species. Compounds 1 and 2 are new. The fractions showed high antioxidant capacity correlated with their phenolic content and no significant antimicrobial activity against tested bacteria and fungi. COX inhibition test was used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity and all the fractions showed low inhibition in comparison with indomethacin.

Phytochemical Investigations on Chemical Constituents of Taraxacum bessarabicum (Hornem.) Hand.-Mazz. subsp. bessarabicum (Hornem.) Hand.-Mazz.

Plants of the genus Taraxacum Wigg., have long been used as medicinal herbs. A phytochemical investigation of the aerial parts of Taraxacum bessarabicum (Hornem.) Hand.-Mazz. subsp. bessarabicum (Hornem.) Hand.-Mazz. (Asteraceae) yielded two coumarins [esculetin (1), cichoriin (2)], three flavonoids [ luteolin (3), luteolin 7-O-ß-D-glucoside (4), gossypetin (5)] and six phenolic acids and their derivatives [ p-coumaric acid (6), caffeic acid (7), ferulic acid (8), chlorogenic acid methyl ester (9), 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (10), 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid methyl ester (11)]. Their structures were established conclusively by UV, ESI-MS, 1-D and 2-D NMR spectra analyses and comparison with literature data. The presence of these compounds has been shown for the first time from this species. This is the first report of the isolation of compound 5 from the genus Taraxacum.

Antioxidant, Anti-acetylcholinesterase, Anti-inflammatory and DNA Protection Activities of Glaucium grandiflorum var. grandiflorum.

In this study, antioxidant, antiacetylcholinesterase, anti-inflammatory, and DNA protecting activities of the aerial parts of Glaucium grandiflorum var. grandiflorum were evaluated. The lyophilized methanolic extract of the aerial parts of G. grandiflorum var. grandiflorum was investigated for potential in-vitro antioxidant properties in thiobarbituric acid test using the lipid peroxidation of liposomes, ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl,2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) free-radicals and hypochlorous acid scavenging assays. The extract demonstrated antioxidant activity in all the assays. The (AChE) inhibition capacity of the lyophilized methanolic extract at 320 µg/mL (80.75 ± 1.59%) was found to be strong and almost equal to the inhibition capacity of the positive control, galantamine (82.23 ± 2.21%) at 25 µg/mL. The significant AChE inhibitory activity suggests that the extract may be beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The extract also showed inhibitory activity against plasmid DNA damage (94%), as well as COX-2 69.05%, which is a target for many anti-inflammatory and cancer-preventive drugs. These results indicate that G. grandiflorum var. grandiflorum methanolic extract is an excellent source of compounds with antioxidant, anti-acetylcholinesterase and anti-inflammatory properties that prevent DNA damage.

Phenolic compounds from Scorzonera latifolia (Fisch. & Mey.) DC.

A new 3-benzylphthalide, scorzoveratrin 4'-O-ß-glucoside (1), together with the known 3-benzylphthalides, scorzoveratrin (2) and scorzoveratrozit (3), the caffeoyl derivatives, chlorogenic acid methyl ester (4), 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (5), 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid methyl ester (6), 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (7) and caffeic acid (8) were isolated from the subaerial parts of Scorzonera latifolia (Fisch. & Mey.) DC. All secondary metabolites were assigned using physicochemical and spectroscopic data. The known compounds 2-8 were isolated for the first time from this species.

Two new 3-benzylphthalides from Scorzonera veratrifolia Fenzl.

A phytochemical investigation of Scorzonera veratrifolia Fenzl (Asteraceae) yielded two new 3-benzylphthalides, scorzoveratrin (1) and scorzoveratrozit (2), together with five known compounds, chlorogenic acid (3), chlorogenic acid methyl ester (4), cryptochlorogenic acid (5), 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (6) and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (7). All secondary metabolites were assigned using physicochemical and spectroscopic data. The known compounds 3-7 were isolated for the first time from this species.