The Aronia genus (Rosaceae family, Maloideae subfamily) includes two species of native North American shrubs: Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Ell. (black chokeberry) and Aronia arbutifolia (L.) Pers. (red chokeberry). The fruits of A. melanocarpa have been traditionally used by Potawatomi Native Americans to cure colds. In the first half of the 20(th) century, cultivars of black chokeberry were introduced to the Soviet Union and other European countries, providing fruits used by food industry. At present, it is used mainly for juice, jam, and wine production, as well as an ornamental plant. Among other substances, the berries of A. melanocarpa contain anthocyanins and procyanidins, possessing strong antioxidative potential. Numerous health-promoting activities-namely, antioxidative, antimutagenic, anticancer, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, gastroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, radioprotective, and immunomodulatory-have been demonstrated for black chokeberry extracts by both in vitro and in in vivo studies. The presented review summarizes the information concerning botany, cultivation, chemical composition, and pharmacological activities of Aronia plants.

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neochlorogenic acid, and rosmarinic acid (max. 724.2, 482.7, 154.7 mg/100 g DW, respectively). Of the examined materials, A. arbutifolia leaves were characterized by the highest total phenolics content (9148.2 mg gal. ac. Eq./100 g DW) and showed the highest antioxidant activity in DPPH and FRAP assays. The results demonstrate that fruits of A. arbutifolia and A. ×prunifolia are a rich source of antioxidants and can be used as plant raw materials, alternatively to A. melanocarpa berries. Leaves of the investigated species are of potential therapeutic and dietary interest because of their high flavonol and phenolic acid content.

Schisandra chinensis plant in vitro cultures were maintained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 3 mg/l 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 1 mg/l 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) in an agar system and also in two different liquid systems: stationary and agitated. Liquid cultures were grown in batch (30 and 60 days) and fed-batch modes. In the methanolic extracts from lyophilized biomasses and in the media, quantification of fourteen dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans identified based on co-chromatography with authentic standards using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and/or liquid chromatography with diode array detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-ESI-MS) methods. For comparison purposes, phytochemical analyses were performed of lignans in the leaves and fruits of the parent plant. The main lignans detected in the biomass extracts from all the tested systems were schisandrin (max. 65.62 mg/100 g dry weight (DW)), angeloyl-/tigloylgomisin Q (max. 49.73 mg/100 g DW), deoxyschisandrin (max. 43.65 mg/100 g DW), and gomisin A (max. 34.36 mg/100 g DW). The highest total amounts of lignans in the two tested stationary systems were found in extracts from the biomass harvested after 30 days of batch cultivation: 237.86 mg/100 g DW and 274.65 mg/100 g DW, respectively. In the agitated culture, the total content reached a maximum value of 244.80 mg/100 g DW after 60 days of the fed-batch mode of cultivation. The lignans were not detected in the media. This is the first report which documents the potential usefulness of S. chinensis shoot cultures cultivated in liquid systems for practical purposes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00253-015-7230-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Verbena officinalis (common vervain) is a medicinal plant species widely distributed in the world and commonly used in folk medicine of different countries, including traditional Chinese medicine. Monographs on “Verbenae herba” have been included in the European Pharmacopoeia since 2008, and in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia since 1995. This work presents botanical characteristics of this species. It reviews the current knowledge of its chemical composition, which is a rich source mostly of iridoids, phenylpropanoid glycosides, phenolic acids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and essential oil. A large part of this article summarizes traditional medicinal uses and professional pharmacological in vitro and in vivo studies that prove new important applications, e.g., antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective anticancer, analgesic, or anticonvulsant of verbena herb extracts and individual metabolites. Moreover, emphasis is put on the use of V. officinalis in the food and cosmetics industries, especially due to its antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties, and the presence of essential oil with an attractive fragrance composition. This paper also presents the state of biotechnological studies of this species.