The genus Lavandula includes about thirty species plus a number of intraspecific taxa and hybrids which are distributed in the Mediterranean area. The traditional use of lavender both as perfume or medicinal plant is known since antiquity. Nowadays several species are extensively cultivated for the extraction of their essential oils (EOs) which are used in manufactured products like cosmetics and perfumes or in phytotherapy. Lavandula pinnata L. f. is a rare species native to the Canary Islands used in folk medicine as relaxant and also a valuable remedy against bites. To the best of our knowledge, EOs from L. pinnata have been very little studied. The present paper reports on the quali- and quantitative compositional profile of the EOs distilled from the aerial parts (flowers and leaves) of this species. Chemical analyses have indicated that oxygenated monoterpenes are the main constituents of both the flowers (68.30%) and the leaves (83.65%). Carvacrol is the main compound which characterizes the EOs of this species. The compositional profile allows some consideration on the taxonomy and on the pharmacological potential of L. pinnata.

The genus Lavandula includes about thirty species plus a number of intraspecific taxa and hybrids, which are distributed in the Mediterranean area. The traditional use of lavender both as perfume or medicinal plant is known since antiquity. Nowadays several species are extensively cultivated for the extraction of their essential oils (EOs) which are used in manufactured products like cosmetics and perfumes or in phytotherapy. Lavandula pinnata L. f. (syn L. pinnata Lundmark) is a rare species native to the Canary Islands used in folk medicine as relaxant and also a valuable remedy against bites. To the best of our knowledge, EOs from L. pinnata have been very little studied. The present paper reports on the quali- and quantitative compositional profile of the EOs distilled (by a Spring type apparatus) from the aerial parts (flowers and leaves) of this species cultivated in soilless conditions. Chemical analyses by means of GC and GC-MS techniques have indicated that oxygenated monoterpenes are the main constituents of both the flowers (68.30%) and the leaves (83.65%). Carvacrol is the main compound which characterizes the EOs of this species. In addition, discrete amounts of spathulenol (12.22%) and caryophyllene oxide (14.62%) have been detected in flowers EOs, while leaves EOs contained small amounts of carvacrol methyl ether (2.52%).

Plants of the Brassicaceae family are widespread in the Mediterranean regions where they are widely consumed cooked (cauliflowers, broccoli, turnips) or as salads or condiments. These plants are a good source of bioactive compounds of nutraceutical relevance1,2. Among them the glucosinolates (GLS), responsible for the plant pungent aroma and bitter taste, are of particular interest. GLS are the most studied bioactive compounds in the Brassicaceae family and epidemiological studies have shown an inverse correlation between consumption of brassica plants and risk of cancer3. We have focused our attention on three Brassicaceae, B. oleracea, B. rapa, and Eruca sativa traditionally eaten in Puglia. The edible inflorescences of B.oleracea var italica, locally called “mugnolo” and traditionally cultivated in Salento, are characterized by the presence of the aliphatic GLSs glucoraphanin (1.79 μmol/g), glucoiberin, glucoerucin, and sinigrin, and by a good content of the aromatic GLSs glucobarberin (0.56 μmol/g) and gluconasturtin, and of the indole GLSs glucobrassicin (3.51 μmol/g), neoglucobrassicin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin, and 4- hydroxyglucobrassicin2. In the leaves of Eruca sativa, particularly consumed as salad, the most abundant GLS is glucoraphanin. In the aerial parts of B.rapa there are three predominant GLSs: two indole GLS neoglucobrassicin (1.65 μmol/g) and glucobrassicin (0.97 μmol/g) and the aliphatic GLS gluconapin (1.13 μmol/g). Given the importance of Brassicaceae for their content in GLSs, we have also studied the accumulation of these metabolites during the different stages of growth taken B. rapa as plant model. The aerial parts of B. rapa have been found to contain more GLS during the budding stage. Moreover we have observed that at budding indole GLSs are dominant while at flowering there are more aliphatic GLSs. This gives an added value to B. rapa since it’s known that hydrolysis products from the indole GLSs have anticarcinogenic properties by induction of phase I or phase II detoxification enzymes4.

Glucosinolates (GLSs) from a variety of Brassica oleracea, known locally as "mugnolo" and widely distributed in southern Italy, were studied. It was found that "mugnolo" inflorescences are characterized by the presence of the aliphatic GLSs glucoraphanin (1.79 mu mol/g), glucoiberin, glucoerucin, and sinigrin, of the aromatic GLSs glucobarberin (0.56 mu mol/g) and gluconasturtin, and of the indole GLSs glucobrassicin (3.51 mu mol/g), neoglucobrassicin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin, and 4-hydroxyglucobrassicin. Indole GLSs were predominant, while aliphatic and aromatic GLS were found in lower quantities. The metabolic profile of "mugnolo" leaves was also studied. It was found that 4-hydroxyglucobrassicin (0.13 mu mol/g) and glucoraphanin (0.11 mu mol/g)are the predominant GLSs. Vegetables of the Brassicaceae family are seldom consumed raw; therefore we also analyzed the GLS profile of "mugnolo" after cooking in water. The results showed variations in the GLSs content with a fall in concentration of 50%.

Brassicaceae Burnett (syn. Cruciferae A. L. de Jussieu) include many important economic plants used as edibile or ornamental. They are commonly known as the “mustard” plant family due to the sharp, potent flavour of their main metabolites, the glucosinolates (GLSs) which contain sulfur. Glucosinolates coexist in vivo with glycosylated thioglucosidases, myrosinase(s), responsible of their hydrolysis with the production of bioactive cognate isothiocyanates (ITC). GLSs and ITCs function as defence bioactive metabolites against plant pathogens, insects and herbivores. The present review paper focus on GLSs role as bionematicides. The current knowledge on the efficacy of these phytochemicals against the most common phytoparasitic nematodes affecting crops of agriculture importance such as tomato, potato and grapevine is reported. Data from our ongoing research on the in vitro biocidal activity of glucosinolate extracts, and their main components, against the virus-vector nematode Xiphinema index Thorne & Allen and the carrot cyst nematode Heterodera carotae Jones are also described.

The paper describes the flavonoid composition of the aerial parts (young leaves, YL; adult leaves, AL; stems, ST) of Passiflora loefgrenii Vitta, a rare species native to Brazil, where it is traditionally used as food. Antioxidant potential has also been evaluated. To the best of our knowledge, no phytochemical and biological study on this species has been reported previously.

Abstract Strategies to control diffusion of malaria needs to account for the increase of resistance of the parasite to the conventional antimalarial drugs. It has been proposed that a traditional aqueous preparation from Artemisia annua, with a low content of the active compound, artemisinin, may reduce the risk of resistance of the protozoa and be relatively more effective in the treatment of the disease. The solubility properties of the molecule have been the matter of concern about the therapeutic usefulness of herbal teas from A. annua. The present study aimed at analysing the chemical profile of a tea infusion from A. annua. Tea from A. annua was prepared through infusion of the plant aerial parts in water for 1, 24 and 48 h. Content of artemisinin was determined by HPLC-ELSD. Overall chemical characterization of the extracts was carried out by a combination of metabolomic techniques. The artemisinin content varied only slightly in the three different extracts (about 0.12%). A series of mono-caffeoyl- and mono-feruloyl-quinic acids, di-caffeoyl- and di-feruloyl-quinic acids was identified as main components of the tea infusion, together with some flavonoids. Reconstitution of the same extracts in less polar or apolar solvents resulted in a different composition with no phenolics and a much lower concentration of artemisinin.

plants of Capparales (or Brassicales) are widespread in the Mediterranean region where they are widely consumed cooked or as salad vegetables (cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli) or as condiments (horseradish, mustard, capers). these plants are a good source of bioactive compounds such as glucosinolates, vitamins, flavonoids, minerals. glucosinolates are responsible for pungent and bitter taste of Brassicaceae and are the most extensively studied bioactive compounds for their potential as anticarcinogens due to their hydrolysis products, the isothiocyanates. this study describes the chemical profile of a poorly studied variety of Brassica oleracea, traditionally cultivated in Southern italy and locally called “mugnolo”, and of Capparis spinosa subsp rupestris. it was found that “mugnolo” inflorescences are characterized by aliphatic, aromatic and indole glucosinolates. among them the indole glucosinolates (7.68 μmol/g) are predominant, while aliphatic and aromatic glucosinolates are found in low quantities, 2.63 μmol/g and 0.83 μmol/g respectively. chemical composition of seeds and aerial parts of C. spinosa subsp rupestris was also determined. it was found that the principal glucosinolate of the seeds is the glucocapparin, moreover the seeds oil is rich in unsaturated and rare lipids such as cis-vaccenic acid. the aerial parts are characterized by rutin as predominant flavonoid.

Vitis vinifera cv. uvalino is an old native grape vine from Piedmont which has been recently rediscovered for the production of wine. Chemical studies have shown that the cultivar has the highest content of resveratrol (Borsa D. et al 2003) which is consistent with the high antioxidant activity displayed in in vitro experiments (Bertelli A. et al 2004). As a continuation of the chemical study on Vitis vinifera cv. uvalino we aimed to characterize the composition of the oil from its seeds. Grape seeds are considered to be a left-over product from the wine making process whose utilization is however of economic relevance for waste reduction. Grape seed oil, “olio di vinaccioli”, is a high-quality edible oil with beneficial health properties mainly due to its content of unsaturated fatty acids. In our study, chemical profiling of the seed oil from V. vinifera cv uvalino has been obtained by a combination of spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques such as GC, GC-MS, NMR and ESI-MS/MS. Uvalino’s grape seed oil was found to consist of triacylglycerols (TAG) as in the case of seed oils from other grape cultivars (Bail S. et al 2008). Analysis of TAG fatty acid composition indicated that the two unsaturated linoleic acid (72.87 %) and oleic acid (13.20%) are dominant, whereas palmitic acid (9.59%) is the most abundant saturated fatty acid. Moreover, ESI-MS/MS allowed to disclose the most abundant TAG species which include components at m/z 901 (OLO), 898 (LLL) and 877 (LSP). In addition to the above, an analytical method based on HPLC-ELSD detection has been developed for identification of TAG species in grape seed oils and it will be presented here.