No abstract

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oils and methanol extracts of needles of Pinus mugo native to R. Macedonia were investigated. Plant material was collected on Karadzica Mountain during two seasons. Essential oil was obtained by steam distillation and was analyzed by GC/FID/MS. 8 major constituents were identified:  3 -carene, -pinene, limonene+-phellandrene, germacrene D, transcaryophyllene, -cadinene, bicyclogermacrene and -cadinol. Identification of flavonoids and phenolic compounds in methanol extracts was made by LC-DAD/ESI-MS n . 14 compounds were identified (2 phenolic acids, 2 procyanidins, 7 flavonol glycosides and 3 flavonol acylated glycosides). Total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were measured by Folin-Ciocalteau and aluminum chloride assay, respectively. TPC and TFC values ranged from 11.41-12.17 mgGAE/g and from 4.65-6.03 mgCE/g for dried plant material, respectively. Evaluation of antioxidant activity was made using DPPH and TBARS test. IC50 values for the methanol extract ranged from 11.58-16.01 mg/mL for DPPH and from 9.41-15.76 mg/mL for TBARS assay. IC50 values for the essential oil ranged from 2.51-4.26 mg/mL and 2.59-4.14 mg/mL for DPPH and TBARS assay, respectively. The needles from Macedonian P. mugo could be considered as a potential plant source for isolation of essential oil as well as flavonoids and other phenolics as they exhibit promising antioxidant activity. Additionally, further investigation and evaluation of chemical composition as well as biological activity should be done in order to provide more data for their possible medicinal, pharmaceutical and commercial utilization.

Flavonoids and other phenolic compounds in young needles of four pine species, Pinus peuce, P. nigra, P. mugo and P. sylvestris from the Macedonian flora were investigated. The amount of total phenols and total flavonoids were determined using Folin-Ciocalteau and aluminum chloride assay, respectively. The obtained results revealed that the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) varied among different pine species ranging from 9.8 to 14.0 mg GAE/g and from 3.3 to 7.2 mg CE/g of dried plant material, respectively. Qualitative analysis of flavonoids and other phenolic components was made by a LC-DAD/ESI-MSn optimized chromatographic method. A total of 17 phenolic components were identified and classified as: acids (2), procyanidins (2) and flavonoid glycosides (13). The most prevalent components were flavonoid glycosides, especially flavonols and methylated flavonols (9). Additionally, 3 components were found as acylated flavonol glycosides with ferulic and p-coumaric acid. The last one was found not only in esterified form but also in the free form. Only one flavone-apigenin glycoside was detected. Procyanidins were identified as catechin derivatives, both dimers and trimers.

Cannabis is gaining increasing attention due to the high pharmacological potential and updated legislation authorizing multiple uses. The development of time- and cost-efficient analytical methods is of crucial importance for phytocannabinoid profiling. This review aims to capture the versatility of analytical methods for phytocannabinoid profiling of cannabis and cannabis-based products in the past four decades (1980–2021). The thorough overview of more than 220 scientific papers reporting different analytical techniques for phytocannabinoid profiling points out their respective advantages and drawbacks in terms of their complexity, duration, selectivity, sensitivity and robustness for their specific application, along with the most widely used sample preparation strategies. In particular, chromatographic and spectroscopic methods, are presented and discussed. Acquired knowledge of phytocannabinoid profile became extremely relevant and further enhanced chemotaxonomic classification, cultivation set-ups examination, association of medical and adverse health effects with potency and/or interplay of certain phytocannabinoids and other active constituents, quality control (QC), and stability studies, as well as development and harmonization of global quality standards. Further improvement in phytocannabinoid profiling should be focused on untargeted analysis using orthogonal analytical methods, which, joined with cheminformatics approaches for compound identification and MSLs, would lead to the identification of a multitude of new phytocannabinoids.

An HPLC method for the separation of six target alkaloids from Papaver somniferum L. (morphine, codeine, oripavine, thebaine, papaverine, and noscapine) was developed, optimized, and validated. The chromatographic behavior of these alkaloids was investigated using a reversed-phase chromatography at acidic and alkaline pH. The effects of ion-pairing agents, pH value of the mobile phase, concentration of the buffer components, mobile phase organic modifier, and column temperature were studied. Regardless of the large differences in their pKa values, all alkaloids were separated within a close retention window, and good peak shape was achieved for each of the six alkaloids. The proposed method has adequate selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision, and reproducibility and is applicable for poppy straw.