Polyphenolic Composition of Carlina acaulis L. Extract and Cytotoxic Potential against Colorectal Adenocarcinoma and Cervical Cancer Cells.

Carlina acaulis is highly valued in the traditional medicine of many European countries for its diuretic, cholagogue, anthelmintic, laxative, and emetic properties. Moreover, practitioners of natural medicine indicate that it has anti-cancer potential. However, its phytochemistry is still little known. In the present study, the polyphenolic composition of the plant was investigated using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a high-resolution/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UHPLC-HR/QTOF/MS-PDA). The fractionation of the extract was carried out using liquid-liquid extraction and preparative chromatography techniques. Cytotoxicity was assessed based on neutral red and MTT assays. The obtained data showed that the species is rich in chlorogenic acids and C-glycosides of luteolin and apigenin. The total amount of chlorogenic acids was 12.6 mg/g. Among flavonoids, kaempferol dihexosidipentose and schaftoside were the most abundant, reaching approximately 3 mg/g, followed by isoorientin, vitexin-2-O-rhamnoside, and vicenin II, each with a content of approximately 2 mg/g. Furthermore, the cytotoxic potential of the plant against human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29) and human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells was investigated using the normal epithelial colon cell line (CCD 841CoTr) as a reference. It has been demonstrated that the ethyl acetate fraction was the most abundant in polyphenolic compounds and had the most promising anticancer activity. Further fractionation allowed for the obtaining of some subfractions that differed in phytochemical composition. The subfractions containing polyphenolic acids and flavonoids were characterized by low cytotoxicity against cancer and normal cell lines. Meanwhile, the subfraction with fatty acids was active and decreased the viability of HeLa and HT29 with minimal negative effects on CCD 841CoTr. The effect was probably linked to traumatic acid, which was present in the fraction at a concentration of 147 mg/g of dried weight. The research demonstrated the significant potential of C. acaulis as a plant with promising attributes, thus justifying further exploration of its biological activity.

Sustainable synthesis of rose flower-like magnetic biochar from tea waste for environmental applications.

Introduction: Biochar utilization for adsorption seems to be the most cost-effective, easy/fast approach for pollutants removal from water and wastewater. Due to the high adsorption properties, magnetic biochar proved to be efficient in the sorption of heavy metals and nutrients. Although there are several studies on development of magnetic biochars, there is a lack of research on development of high-performance magnetic biochar from food waste for removal applications. Objectives: This study aimed at preparing new classes of magnetic biochar derived from tea waste (TBC) for removal of heavy metals (Ni2+, Co2+), and nutrients (NH4+ and PO43-) from water and effective fertilizer (source of NH4+ and PO43-). Methods: Standard carbonization process and ultrafast microwave have been used for fabrication of TBCs. The removal of nickel, cobalt as the representatives of heavy metals, and over-enriched nutrients (NH4+ and PO43-) from water were tested and the removal kinetics, mechanism, and the effect of pH, dissolved organic matter and ionic strength were studied. Simultaneously, possible fertilizing effect of TBC for controlled release of nutrients (NH4+ and PO43-) in soil was investigated. Results: Up to 147.84 mg g-1 of Ni2+ and 160.00 mg g-1 of Co2+ were adsorbed onto tested biochars. The process of co-adsorption was also efficient (at least 131.68 mg g-1 of Co2+ and 160.00 mg g-1 of Ni2+). The highest adsorbed amount of NH4+ was 49.43 mg g-1, and the highest amount of PO43- was 112.61 mg g-1. The increase of the solution ionic strength and the presence of natural organic matter affected both the amount of adsorbed Ni2++Co2+ and the reaction mechanism. Conclusions: The results revealed that magnetic nanoparticle impregnated onto tea biochar, can be a very promising alternative for wastewater treatment especially considering removal of heavy metals and nutrients and slow-release fertilizer to improve the composition of soil elements.

Applicability of a Monolithic Column for Separation of Isoquinoline Alkalodis from Chelidonium majus Extract.

Isoquinoline alkaloids are the main group of secondary metabolites present in Chelidonium majus extracts, and they are still the object of interest of many researchers. Therefore, the development of methods for the investigation and separation of the alkaloids is still an important task. In this work, the application potential of a silica-based monolithic column for the separation of alkaloids was assessed. The influence of the organic modifier, temperature, salt concentration, and pH of the eluent on basic chromatographic parameters such as retention, resolution between neighboring peaks, chromatographic plate numbers, and peak asymmetry were investigated. Based on the obtained results, a gradient elution program was developed and used to separate and quantitatively determine the main alkaloids in a Chelidonium majus root extract.

Methodological approach to determine carlina oxide - a main volatile constituent of Carlina acaulis L. essential oil.

In this work, a fast and low-cost voltammetric methodology for determination of carlina oxide in plant extracts was developed. The best results were obtained using a boron-doped diamond electrode (BDDE). The voltammetric measurements of carlina oxide were performed in a 0.1 mol/L solution of sulphuric acid. After 30 s of stirring the solution, differential pulse voltammograms (DPVs) were recorded from 0.5 to 1.8 V. The amplitude was 75 mV and the scan rate was 175 mV/s. Measurements were recorded in non-deaerated solutions. The background current was subtracted from each registered voltammogram; then they were cut from 0.5 to 1.5 V. The detection and quantification limits were 0.28 and 0.93 µg/L, respectively, and repeatability expressed as the relative standard deviation of 0.1 mg/L of carlina oxide was 1.9% (n = 5). The results were compared with those obtained using gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector and high performance liquid chromatography with a photodiode array detector.