Context: Almond oil is used in traditional and complementary therapies for its numerous health benefits due to high unsaturated fatty acids content.Objectives: This study investigated the composition and in vitro anticancer activity of almond oil from Northern Cyprus and compared with almond oil from Turkey.Materials and methods: Almond oil from Northern Cyprus was obtained by supercritical CO2 extraction and analyzed by GC-MS. Almond oil of Turkey was provided from Turkish pharmacies. Different concentrations of almond oils were incubated for 24 and 48 h with Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells. Cell growth and cytotoxicity were measured by MTT assays. Anticancer and antiprolifetarive activities of almond oils were investigated by immunocytochemistry using antibodies directed against to BMP-2, β-catenin, Ki-67, LGR-5 and Jagged 1.Results: Oleic acid (77.8%; 75.3%), linoleic acid (13.5%; 15.8%), palmitic acid (7.4%; 6.3%), were determined as the major compounds of almond oil from Northern Cyprus and Turkey, respectively. In the MTT assay, both almond oils were found to be active against Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells with 1:1 dilution for both 24 h and 48 h. As a result of immunohistochemical staining, while both almond oils exhibited significant antiproliferative and anticancer activity, these activities were more similar in Colo-320 cells which were treated with Northern Cyprus almond oil.Discussion and conclusion: Almond oil from Northern Cyprus and Turkey may have anticancer and antiproliferative effects on colon cancer cells through molecular signalling pathways and, thus, they could be potential novel therapeutic agents.

In recent years, people have become more conscious about the side-effects of fluoride toothpastes and herbal products have drawn attention as alternatives in the struggle against caries. Studies have focused on the benefits of essential oils obtained from herbs because of their antibacterial effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the antibacterial activity of Origanum dubium and Cinnamomum cassia oils combined with herbal toothpastes against Streptococcus mutans. The antibacterial activity of the test materials was determined using the agar well diffusion method before and after the addition of essential oils. We tested the efficacy of Splat Organic and Splat Biocalcium against S. mutans (12 mm and 11 mm, respectively) doubled in combination with Origanum dubium (23 mm for both toothpastes) and tripled with Cinnamomum cassia (38 mm and 36 mm, respectively). Jack N’ Jill toothpaste, which did not initially show any antibacterial effect, exhibited the largest inhibition zones after the addition of the essential oils (38 mm for Origanum dubium and 39 mm for Cinnamomum cassia). The results of this study pointed out that herbal toothpastes exhibit statistically higher antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans (p < 0.05) than their initial forms after the addition of essential oils.

Non-polar and polar compounds were isolated from the leaves and chemical composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of Sideritis cypria endemic in Northern Cyprus was also determined. The structures of all the isolated compounds were elucidated by means of spectroscopic (UV, NMR: 1D and 2D-NMR: 1 H, 13 C, COSY, HSQC, HMBC) methods and comparison with literature data. The essential oil composition of the plant material was analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS, simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, secondary metabolites of this endemic species were determined for the first time. As a result, two mixtures of four entkaurane diterpenes; sidol (1) and isosidol (2), linearol (3) and isolinearol (4); four phenylethanoid glycosides; verbascoside (5), lavandulifolioside (6), leonoside A (7), leucoseptoside A (8); four flavone glycosides, apigenin-7-O-glucopyranoside (9), isoscutellarein-7-O-[6'''-O-acetyl-allopyranosyl-(12)-glucopyranoside] (10) and a mixture of apigenin-7-O-(4''-O-p-coumaroyl)-glucopyranoside (11) and apigenin-7-O-(3''-O-p-coumaroyl)glucopyranoside (12) were elucidated. 7-O-acetyl-8-epi-loganic acid (13), an iridoid glycoside, was reported herein for the first time for genus Sideritis. In addition, major compounds of the essential oil were determined as -pinene (14.73±0.15%), -pinene (16.60±0.20%), -phellandrene (17.83±0.23%) and epi-cubebol (7.70±0.20%), respectively.

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In this study the volatile oils constituents of the inflorescence and unripe fruits of Crataegus azarolus L. and Crataegus pallasii Grisb. were investigated. Fifty-four compounds were identified by GC and GC-MS analysis. The major outstanding constituents of the essential oil in all samples (dried and fresh C. azarolus and dried C.