Aromatic plant species present in the natural Park of Tuscany Archipelago are used as flavoring agents and spices, as dietary supplements and in cosmetics and aromatherapy. The plants are usually collected from wild stands, inducing a depletion of the natural habitat. Therefore, micropropagation of these aromatic plants can play a role in the protection of the natural ecosystem, can guarantee a massive sustainable production and can provide standardized plant materials for diverse economical purposes. The aim of this study is to compare the volatile organic compounds produced by the wild plants with those from in vitro plantlets using headspace solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) followed by capillary gas-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Typical plants of this natural area selected for this work were Calamintha nepeta L., Crithmum maritimum L., Lavandula angustifolia L., Myrtus communis L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Salvia officinalis L. and Satureja hortensis L. Different explants were used: microcuttings with vegetative apical parts, axillary buds and internodes. Sterilization percentage, multiplication rate and shoot length, as well as root formation were measured. The volatile aromatic profiles produced from in vitro plantlets were compared with those of the wild plants, in particular for C. maritimum, R. officinalis, S. officinalis and S. hortensis. This study indicated that the micropropagation technique can represent a valid alternative to produce massive and sterile plant material characterised by the same aromatic flavour as in the wild grown plants.
Pterocarpans from Bituminaria morisiana and Bituminaria bituminosa. -Bitucarpin A (Ia) and B (Ib) are isolated from the aerial parts of the papilionaceous plants Bituminaria morisiana and Bituminaria bituminosa along with known phenolics and a known isoflavonoid. The accumulation of pterocarpans at the expense of biogenetically more primitive shikimate metabolites like furanocoumarins or isoflavonoids supports the inclusion of this plant, once part of the genus Psoralea, into the distinct genus Bituminaria. -(PISTELLI*, L.; NOCCIOLI, C.; APPENDINO, G.; BIANCHI, F.; STERNER, O.; BALLERO, M.; Phytochemistry 64 (2003) 2, 595-598; Dip. Chim. Bioorg. Biofarm., Univ. Pisa, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; Eng.) -M. Bohle 02-233
Bituminaria bituminosa L. is known for producing several compounds with considerable pharmaceutical interest, such as phenylpropanoids, furanocoumarins and pterocarpans. In vitro cultures of seedlings, shoots, and callus have been produced to obtain plant materials useful for the production of these metabolites. The secondary metabolite profile was evaluated by HPLC-DAD. The extracts of all the in vitro material contained the flavonoid daidzein, while plicatin B, erybraedin C and bitucarpin A were found only in the extracts of the in vitro shoots and in wild shoots. The furanocoumarins angelicin and psoralen were found in in vivo and in vitro plants, but in the callus were not detectable. The extracts were also tested for cytotoxic activity in HeLa cell culture; the highest level of cytotoxicity was found in in vitro shoot extracts.
The essential oil and SPME samples of the leaves, flowers and seeds of Psoralea bituminosa L. were analysed by GC and GC-MS. We have investigated also the presence of monoterpene or aliphatic alcohol glucosides. The essential oils showed both qualitative and quantitative differences. The main constituents of the leaf and the flower essential oils were caryophyllene (23% and 18%, respectively), β-farnesene (15% and 6%, respectively), and germacrene D (24% and 18%, respectively). Significant amounts (7%) of the same compounds were also directed in the seed essential oil, but tricyclene (11%) and α-pinene (50%) were the most important constituents of this oil. The volatile fractions of remaining leaf aqueous extracts after treatment with β-glucosidase revealed qualitative differences in comparison with the composition of the corresponding essential oils, and high levels of 3-hexen-1-ol (37%) and 1-octen-3-ol (27%) were observed. The SPME analysis of the fresh leaves, flowers and seeds of P. bituminosa confirmed the qualitative composition of the volatile oils, even if we detected significative differences in the percentage ratio between monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in comparison with the oils, where sesquiterpenes were the main components. In fact the variation of the monoterpenes, tricyclene, α-pinene and camphene between the leaf oil and the corresponding headspace sample was remarkable: tricyclene increased from 0.1% to 8%, α-pinene from 0.1% to 16% and camphene from 0.3% to 10% in the SPME samples.
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