Extracts (34) from eight plant species of the Peruvian Amazonia currently used in traditional Peruvian medicine, mostly as antileishmanial remedies and also as painkiller, antiseptic, antipyretic, anti-inflamatory, antiflu, astringent, diuretic, antipoison, anticancerous, antiparasitic, insecticidal, or healing agents, have been tested for their antileishmanial, antitrypanosomal, and cytotoxic activity. Plant species were selected based on interviews conducted with residents of rural areas. The different plant parts were dried, powdered, and extracted by maceration with different solvents (hexane, chloroform, and 70% ethanol-water). These extracts were tested on promastigote forms of Leishmania infantum strain PB75, epimastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi strain Y, and the mammalian CHO cell line. Parasite viability and nonspecific cytotoxicity were analyzed by a modified MTT colorimetric assay method. The isolation and identification of pure compounds from selected extracts were performed by column chromatography, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS; mixtures), spectroscopic techniques [MS, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV)], and mono and two-dimensional (1)H and (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR; COSY, HSQC, NOESY) experiments. Chondodendron tomentosum bark and Cedrela odorata were the most active extracts against Leishmania, while C. odorata and Aristoloquia pilosa were the most active against Trypanosoma, followed by Tabebuia serratifolia, Tradescantia zebrina, and Zamia ulei. Six compounds and two mixtures were isolated from Z. ulei [cycasin (1)], T. serratifolia {mixtures 1-2, and naphthoquinones 2-acetyl-4H,9H-naphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-dione (2) and 2-(1-hydroxyethyl)-4H,9H-naphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-dione (3)}, and C. tomentosum [chondrocurine (4); (S,S')-12-O-methyl(+)-curine (5); and cycleanine (6)]. Four compounds and the two mixtures exhibited significant activity.

The anti-inflammatory activities of the n-hexane extract of Sideritis javalambrensis and several purified fractions were investigated using the carrageenan mouse paw edema test. Progressive fractionation led to the isolation of the active principles ent-16-hydroxy-13-epimanoyl oxide [1] and esters of tyrosol with palmitic, stearic, behenic, and lignoceric acids.

Five fractions of Clematis flammula, a plant widely used in the Mediterranean traditional medicine, were isolated from the leaves using a selective extraction procedure and their total antioxidant capacity was measured by both the ABTS and ORAC tests. Furthermore, their capacities to inhibit microsomal lipid peroxidation and to scavenge the hydroxyl radical were assessed. The cytotoxic potential of the crude ethanolic extract and the aqueous fraction obtained from chloroform was also evaluated on three human hepatoma cell lines CHL, PLC and HuH7. The results showed a stronger antioxidant capacity for the two aqueous phases obtained from ethyl acetate and chloroform concerning ABTS (7.9 and 10.5 mmoles Trolox eq/g of plant extract, respectively), ORAC (487 and 387 mmoles Trolox eq/g of plant extract, respectively) and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (IC 50 = 56.5 and 48.4 µg/mL, respectively), compared to their organic counterparts which, however, inhibited microsomal lipid peroxidation more efficiently (IC 50 = 390.7 and 523.5 µg/mL, respectively). The ethanol crude extract exhibited a fairly good cytotoxic potential on the two cell lines CHL and PLC (IC 50 = 58.5 and 47.3 µg/mL, respectively), in contrast to the aqueous phase obtained from chloroform (IC 50 = 457.7 and 304.9 µg/mL, respectively). A positive correlation was also found between the phenol content and the different activities. These results provide experimental support for the therapeutic virtues of Clematis flammula leaf extracts.

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The volatile compounds of 18 samples from the western Balearic Islands belonging to three taxa of the Tmcrium marum L. complex (7: marum subsp. marum, 7: marum subsp. ocdmtub and I: marum subsp. dmsocabx) were fractionated by distillation-extraction and analysed by means of GC-MS. Seventeen components were characterized and the quantitative data were subjected to multivariate and clustering techniques. Two main groups appeared, one comprising I: marum subsp. occidmtuk samples and the other grouping I: marum subsp. marum and 7: marum subsp. dmsocahx accessions. Chemical data and taxonomic groupings generally agreed, but quantitative and qualitative differences within and between taxa were found. Specimens from Minorca and Cabrera islands showing intermediate morphological features between I: marum subsp. marum and I: marum subsp. ocdmtak were included within the TT: marum subsp. marum-I: marum subsp. dmsocabx group in the Principal Component Analysis. The origin of these intermediate specimens is discussed, and it is suggested that they are local variants of I: marum subsp. marum which had an independent origin throughout its area.8 2Mx) The Linnean Society of London ADDITIONAL KEY WORDS:-chemotaxonomyendemic plantsinfraspecific variation western Mediterranean.

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Several supervised (stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA), statistical isolinear multi category analysis (SZMCA) and nearest neighbour analysis ( K N N ) ) and unsupervised (principal components analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA)) classification techniques have been applied to analytical data jiom different whisky samples in order to distinguish between genuine whisky of a well known and expensive brand and other less expensive whiskies that could be used to replace the original contents of the bottle.