[Phytochemical evaluation of essential oils, medicinal plants and their preparations]. / Illóolajok, illóolajtartalmú gyógynövények és készítményeik fitokémiai értékelése.

A surway is presented on the authors' work in the field of volatile oil research. The gas chromatographic method previously used for analysis of essential oils was transformed to capillary gas chromatographic conditions. The method is also suitable for separation of compound-pairs frequently occurring in essential oils (peppermint, rosemary, lavender, sage, clary sage, thyme oils). Beside the gas chromatographic analysis of essential oils, which was necessary for their standardization and qualification, the influence of different extraction methods and some biological facts e.g. the ontogenesis on the change of essential oil composition are also discussed. It has been established that the water steam distillation from acidic medium can be more advantageous than the traditional one, if the volatile terpene derivatives were bound in form of glycosides or dimeric quajazolide lactons were present in plant (oregano, Sideritis, wormwood oils). Comparing the composition of essential oil obtained by water steam distillation and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) it was found that the SFE fractions are richer in ester constituents because the possibility of hydrolysis is reduced, and the oils are more valuable than the classic oils. On the other hand, when the transformation processes are important (chamomile), the distillation is the better method. The change of essential oil composition of Ocimum basilicum L. and Anthriscus cerefolium L. was also studied during the vegetation period. It has been established that in budding and early flowering stages the basil oil was rich in monoterpenes; the quantity of sesquiterpenes and phenylpropane derivatives increased only in later stadiums. Finally the extraction and analytical processes are discussed which are used for standardization of complex plant preparations which contained essential oil as active agent and represented various medicinal forms.

[Plant anatomical and phytochemical evaluation of Salvia species]. / Zsálya-fajok anatómiai és fitokémiai vizsgálata.

Plant-anatomical and phytochemical investigations were carried out on three Salvia species: S.officinalis L., S.sclarea L., S.pratensis L. It was established that the structure of the glandular hairs of the three species doesn't differ from each other but the characteristics of the covering hairs are different. The covering hairs of sage (Salvia officinalis) consist of 1-4 cells and have protective function. The hairs of the other two Salvia species are bristle hairs. The highest essential oil content was found in sage and the lowest one in S. pratensis. The qualitative and quantitative composition of the essential oils of Salvia species was also various but the qualitative composition of leaf, calix and petal of the same Salvia species was characteristical standard; significant differences were found only in their quantitative composition. Sclareol diterpene alcohol was the main component of the hexane extract obtained from clary sage flowering herb. In polyphenol ingredients Salvia officinalis was the richest. The results demonstrated that the 20% ethanol is the best of the 20, 40, 70% alcoholic solvents, for the extraction of polyphenol compounds. It was established that the rosmarinic acid depside was the main component of polyphenols. Mineral elements were also analysed in the Salvia species leaves as well in the alcoholic and wateric extracts of sage. The magnesium content was considerable in S. pratensis, the zinc content was the highest in S. officinalis.