Volatiles of diethyl ether extract (DE), ethyl acetate extract (EE), and hexane extract (HE) of Artemisia scoparia Waldst. et Kit. were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In both DE and EE, the main compound was scoparone (24.0% and 86.1%, respectively) while in the HE, alkanes were dominant with nonacosane as the most represented (19.4%). Antimicrobial activity was tested against 4 bacterial strains and 1 fungal strain using disc-diffusion method. Tested samples were inactive against Gram-negative bacteria and they exhibited activity against Gram-positive bacteria and yeast Candida albicans. This is the first report on the chemical composition of volatile components and antimicrobial activity of DE, EE, and HE of A. scoparia Waldst. et Kit.

Headspace volatiles (HS) and hydrodistilled essential oils (EO) of fresh aerial parts of Artemisia annua L. and A. scoparia Waldst. et Kit., were analyzed by GC-MS/FID. Artemisia ketone was found to be the most abundant component among the EO volatiles (55.8 %), as well as among HS (52.1 %) of A. annua. Additionally, in both A. annua samples, EO and HS, ?-pinene (12.7 and 24.2 %, respectively) was found in high percentage. On the other hand, it has been determined that the dominant components of A. scoparia EO and HS were different; in the essential oil capillene (63.8 %) was found as the main constituent, while ?-pinene (26.1 %), (Z)-?-ocimene (23.8 %) and limonene (10.7 %) were the major components among the HS. This is the first report on the composition of HS volatiles of the A. annua and A. scoparia obtained by direct static headspace. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 451-03-68/2020-14/200124]

New and effective methods of water purification are necessary to minimize pollution. Many methods have been used in wastewater treatment, but sorption is considered as an easy and economic process. The efficiency of any sorption process mainly depends on the physicochemical properties of the used adsorbent. Since photocatalysts can initiate reactions of decomposition organic contaminants under ultraviolet or sunlight irradiation without using chemicals or producing chemical wastes, photocatalytic reactions are considered a sustainable way to remove a variety of environmental pollutants. Ultraviolet water purification became the most effective method of water disinfection and purification. Heterogeneous semiconductor photocatalysts have recently emerged as an efficient material for purifying water. The crystal structure is crucial for photocatalytic activity and efficiency of semiconductors, thus optimal parameters must be provided during the preparation of photocatalysts. To overcome problems with semiconductors usage, the use of co-catalysts and photocatalyst carriers is one of the solutions. Recently, much emphasis has been placed on using graphene oxide (GO) supported semiconductor photocatalysts. In this paper, a short review of composites of titanium dioxide and graphene oxide-based materials is given.

Since the ancient times, people have used essential oils as a cure because they have noticed their beneficial effects on the human mind and body. What they did not know was how these essential oils actually affected the human body, as well as exactly what component or more of them were responsible for the activity of a particular oil. Therefore, a lot of attention has recently been paid to the detailed identification of the constituents of essential oil and determination of the biological activity of the essential oil itself, as well as of those identified constituents. The aim of this paper is to systematize the most used, most accessible and easily feasible techniques for determining the biological activity of essential oils. For this purpose, the following tests are mentioned in this paper: fumigation, insecticidal, pediculi-cidal, nematicidal, larvicidal, ovicidal, cytotoxic and antinociception bioassay.

Five Artemisia species (seven A. alba Turra samples, and twelve samples of each four remaining species: A. absinthium L., A. annua L., A. vulgaris L., and A. scoparia Waldst. & Kit.) from the Republic of Serbia were studied from the aspect of essential oil chemical composition, and potential correlations between essential oil composition with soil type determined using World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB). A great variety in essential oil composition was observed for A. alba, A. absinthium, and A. vulgaris samples, while in the case of A. annua, as well as A. scoparia, the composition of the examined essential oils was more uniform. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) showed that there is no significant effect of soil type on the Artemisia essential oil composition while Mantel test showed that there is a correlation between samples within A. vulgaris, as well as A. scoparia and the geographical distances of the localities from which these samples were collected.