Essential Oils of Artemisia frigida Plants (Asteraceae): Conservatism and Lability of the Composition.

Plants of arid regions have adapted to harsh environments during the long span of their evolution and have developed a set of features necessary for their survival in water-limited conditions. Artemisia frigida Willd. (Asteraceae) is a widely distributed species possessing significant cenotic value in steppe ecosystems due to its high frequency and abundance. This study examines different patterns of formation of essential oil composition in A. frigida plants under the influence of heterogeneous factors, including climate and its integral characteristics (HTC, Cextr, SPEI and others). The work is based on the results of our research conducted in Russia (Republic of Buryatia, Irkutsk region), Mongolia, and China, from 1998 to 2021. A total of 32 constant compounds have been identified in the essential oil of A. frigida throughout its habitat range in Eurasia, from Kazakhstan to Qinghai Province, China. Among them, camphor, 1,8-cineol and bornyl acetate are the dominant components, contained in 93-95% of the samples. Among the sesquiterpenoids, germacrene D is the dominant component in 67% of the samples. The largest variability within the composition of the essential oils of A. frigida is associated with significant differences in the climatic parameters when plants grow in high-altitude and extrazonal conditions.

Chemical Diversity of Artemisia rutifolia Essential Oil, Antimicrobial and Antiradical Activity.

This paper presents the results of the study of the composition of the essential oil (EO) of Artemisia rutifolia by the GC/MS method as well as its antimicrobial and antiradical activities. According to the PCA-analysis, these EOs can be conditionally divided into "Tajik" and "Buryat-Mongol" chemotypes. The first chemotype is characterized by the prevalence of α- and ß-thujone, and the second chemotype by the prevalence of 4-phenyl-2-butanone, camphor. The greatest antimicrobial activity of A. rutifolia EO was observed against Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. The EO showed high antiradical activity with an IC50 value of 17.55 µL/mL. The presented first data on the composition and activity of the EO of A. rutifolia of the Russian flora indicate the prospects of the species as a raw material for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.

The Comparison of Fatty Acid Composition and Lipid Quality Indices of Roach, Perch, and Pike of Lake Gusinoe (Western Transbaikalia).

This paper describes the study of the fatty acid (FA) composition of three fish species (roach, perch, and pike) from Lake Gusinoe (western Transbaikalia). Using principal component analysis, the fatty acid composition of the studied fish species was shown to be species specific. The muscle tissue of roach, perch, and pike was found to contain high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), including essential docosahexaenoic (DHA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA), and arachidonic acids. Indicators of nutritional quality based on the fatty acid composition showed that the values of the hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic (HH) ratio indices were sufficiently high. The atherogenicity (AI) and thrombogenicity (TI) indices, which are indicators for the nutritional value, were less than 1 in the studied fish. In terms of flesh lipid quality (FLQ), pike and perch had the highest proportion of total EPA + DHA. According to the obtained data for the composition of fatty acids in the muscle tissue of the studied fish from Lake Gusinoe, the anthropogenic load exerted on Lake Gusinoe has not yet statistically significantly affected the fish muscle quality.

Composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Artemisia annua L.

Artemisia annua L. is an annual Eurasian desert-steppe plant. The composition of essential oils found in Artemisia annua from Russian (Buryatian) flora was analyzed in this work using gas chromatography mass-spectrometry method. Artemisia ketone, ß-selinene, caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, germacrene D were the main components of the analyzed essential oils. The comparison of own and literature data showed that the essential oils of A. annua conditionally could be divided into "Asian" and "European" groups. Our samples, referring to "Asian" profile, exhibited higher antiradical activity in comparison with data from previously published studies.