Pedologic Factors Affecting Virgin Olive Oil Quality of "Chemlali" Olive Trees (Olea europaea L.).

The aim of this study examined the characterization of extra virgin olive oil samples from the main cultivar Chemlali, grown in five olive orchards with different soil type (Sandy, Clay, Stony, Brown, Limestone and Gypsum). Volatile compounds were studied using headspace-solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technics. Moreover, the sterol profile was established using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 35 different volatile compounds were identified: alcohols, esters, aldehydes, ketones and hydrocarbons. The chemical composition of the volatile fraction was characterized by the preeminence of 2-hexenal (32.75%) and 1-hexanol (31.88%). Three sterols were identified and characterized. For all olive oil samples, ß-sitosterol (302.25 mg/kg) was the most abundant sterol. Interestingly, our results showed significant qualitative and quantitative differences in the levels of the volatile compounds and sterols from oils obtained from olive trees grown in different soil type.

The constituents of essential oil in leaves of Karaj accession of Trigonella foenum graecum.

The chemical composition of the essential oils of Karaj accession of Trigonella foenum graecum leaves was detected by hydro-distillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) apparatuses for first time. Thirty-six compounds representing 95.3% of the total components were identified. The patterns of the main compounds were (2E)-Hexenal (26.61%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (10.14%) and (E)-b-Ionone (7.99%). Other notable constituents were Thymol (4.79%), 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-Pentadecanone (4.59%), Carvacrol (3.40%), (E)-Nerolidol (3.32%) and (2E,6Z)-Nonadienal (3.30%). (2E)-Hexenal was found as the most dominant component in this study.

Separation strategy for acidic chiral pharmaceuticals with capillary electrochromatography on polysaccharide stationary phases.

The effect of five factors on the capillary electrochromatographic enantioseparation of acidic compounds was studied using an experimental design. The studied factors were pH, acetonitrile content in the mobile phase, temperature, buffer concentration, and applied voltage. These experiments allowed defining a generic separation strategy applicable on acidic compounds with chemical and structural diversity. The starting screening conditions consist of a 45 mM ammonium formate electrolyte at pH 2.9 mixed with 65% acetonitrile, an applied voltage of 15 kV, and a temperature of 25 degrees C. The screening phase occasionally can be followed by an optimization procedure. Evaluation of the proposed strategy pointed out that it allows achieving baseline resolution within a relatively short time when a beginning of separation is obtained at the starting conditions. This strategy revealed enantioselectivity for 11 compounds out of 15, of which 10 could be baseline-separated after the proposed optimization steps.

[Repellent effect of volatile oil from whitefly (Syngonium podophyllum) on aphids and its chemical constituents].

The interference effect of volatile oil from whitefly (Syngonium podophyllum) on aptera aphid, guard aphid (Aphis gossypii), mustard aphid (Lipaphis erysimi) and red peach aphid (Myzus persicae) was studied by using four arms olfraetometes. The results showed that the volatile oil had distinct repelling effect. The staying periods of test aphids in test areas were obviously shorter than in control areas, and the selecting frequencies were less than the control, too. The volatile oil did not show repelling effect on red peach aphid at the test concentrations. The components of the volatile oil from S. podophyllum were analysed by GC-MS. 43 constituents were identified.

Enantiomer separation by capillary electrochromatography on a cyclodextrin-modified monolith.

A chiral monolithic stationary phase was prepared by packing a capillary with bare porous silica and sintering the silica bed at high temperature. The resulting silica monolith was polymer-coated with Chirasil-Dex, a permethylated beta-cyclodextrin covalently linked via an octamethylene spacer to dimethylpolysiloxane. Subsequently, Chirasil-Dex was thermally immobilized on the silica support and a chiral monolith of very high stability (30 kV, more than 400 bar pressure) was obtained. The enantiomer separation of various chiral compounds by monolithic (rod) capillary electrochromatography (rod-CEC) was feasible. This method was compared with capillary liquid chromatography (LC) in a single-column mode using unified equipment. About two to three times higher efficiency was found in the rod-CEC mode as compared to rod-LC. The influence of pressure-driven flow support on efficiency, resolution, elution time and baseline stability was investigated. The amount and nature of organic modifier strongly influences efficiency and resolution.

Dual chiral recognition system involving cyclodextrin derivatives in capillary electrophoresis II. Enhancement of enantioselectivity.

The enantiomer separation of hexobarbital was investigated by open tubular electrochromatography (OTEC) using the chiral stationary phase (CSP) CHIRASIL-DEX (a permethylated beta-cyclodextrin covalently linked to a dimethylpolysiloxane) and by cyclodextrin-electrokinetic chromatogaphy (CD-EKC) using anionic beta-cyclodextrin-sulfo-n-propyl ether (SPE-beta-CD) and cationic beta-cyclodextrin-2-hydroxy-3-trimethylammoniumpropyl ether chloride (HTAP-beta-CD) added to the running buffer. By employing two chiral selectors, the enantiomer separation of hexobarbital was then studied simultaneously by OTEC with CHIRASIL-DEX and by CD-EKC with either SPE-beta-CD or HTAP-beta-CD in the dual chiral recognition mode. In conjunction with CHIRASIL-DEX, anionic SPE-beta-CD decreased the chiral separation factor alpha due to compensation of enantioselectivity whereas the cationic additive HTAP-beta-CD increased the chiral separation factor alpha due to enhancement of enantioselectivity. It is concluded that CHIRASIL-DEX imparts an opposite enantioselectivity to the enantiomers of hexobarbital as compared to the charged CDs SPE-beta-CD and HTAP-beta-CD. Unusual peak broadening phenomena are observed in the dual chiral recognition system comprised of CHIRASIL-DEX and HTAP-beta-CD. The possible consequences of accidental dual chiral recognition systems caused by wall stacking effects of the mobile phase additives onto the inner surface of the capillary column are discussed.

Enantiomer separation by gas and high-performance liquid chromatography with tripeptide derivatives as chiral stationary phases.

Excellent enantiomer separation of a variety of racemic compounds, including alcohols, amines, amino alcohols, carboxylic acids, hydroxy acids and amino acids, was achieved by GC and HPLC with tripeptide derivatives, containing L-valyl-L-valyl-L-valine isopropyl ester as a chiral selector, bonded to amino silicone oil (CSP-3) and N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl silica gel (CSP-4) via a triazine ring, respectively. These results show that the hydrogen bonding association between solutes and chiral stationary phases (CSPs) can play an important role in chiral recognition in both GC and HPLC. The joint use of two CSPs is promising for the direct separation of racemic compounds.

Application of Empore C-8 extraction disks for screening urine in systematic toxicological analysis.

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) by means of disposable columns has become a widely accepted technique for sample pretreatment in toxicology, both for directed analyses and for screening analyses. However, the sample capacity in SPE is usually limited to a few millilitres. Therefore, we have investigated to what extent these problems can be overcome by using Empore extraction disks, consisting of chemically modified C-8 reversed-phase silica, embedded in an inert polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) matrix. Human urine was selected as the matrix and dexetimide and mepyramine were initially used as test drugs because these drugs were available in tritiated form. Additional drugs investigated included codeine, hexobarbital, imipramine, methamphetamine, and nitrazepam. In these investigations, the sample capacity for untreated urine was at least 25 mL, and analyte quantities up to 250 micrograms could be retained by these filters. Washing with water/methanol mixtures was successful in removing substantial amounts of endogenous interferences, and methanol proved to be an acceptable eluent. Thus, these disks seem to have interesting potential for toxicological analysis in that sample concentration and cleanup can be achieved at the same time.

Preparation of four optical isomers of hydroxylated hexobarbital and activities of 3-hydroxyhexobarbital dehydrogenase from guinea pig and rabbit liver.

The preparation of four optical isomers of 3'-hydroxyhexobarbital [5-(3'-hydroxy-1'-cyclohexen-1'-yl)-1,5-dimethylbarbituric acid] is described. The absolute configuration of the four isomers were assigned as (3'S, 5 R) and (3'R, 5R) for alpha- and beta-isomers from (R)-(--)-hexobarbital, respectively. Some of these isomeric 3'-hydroxyhexobarbitals, which are formed in the reaction of hexobarbital with liver microsomal mono-oxygenase, are oxidized to 3'-oxohexobarbital [5-(3'-oxo-1'-cyclohexen-1'-yl)-1,5-dimethylbarbituric acid] by dehydrogenase localized in the soluble fraction of liver homogenates. Comparison of activities among the four isomers for 3-hydroxyhexobarbital dehydrogenase was made by use of enzymes from guinea pig and rabbit liver. It became evident that either enzyme had a quite different activity towards each optical isomer, and the configuration of the 3'-position of hydroxyhexobarbital was an important factor affecting the reactivity of enzyme; isomers with 3'S-configuration were preferentially dehydrogenated to enantiomers with 3'R-configuration. Both enzymes had the highest activity towards (3'S, 5R)-3'-(--)-hydroxy-(--)-hexobarbital, irrespective of their having specificity towards different types of substrates.