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The composition of the epicuticular n-alkanes isolated from the leaves of ten populations of Juniperus communis L. var. saxatilis Pallas from central (continental) and western (coastal) areas of the Balkan Peninsula was characterized by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses. In the leaf waxes, 14 n-alkane homologues with chain-lengths ranging from C22 to C35 were identified. All samples were dominated by n-tritriacontane (C33 ), but differences in two other dominant n-alkanes allowed separating the coastal from the continental populations. Several statistical methods (ANOVA, principal component, discriminant, and cluster analyses as well as the Mantel test) were deployed to analyze the diversity and variability of the epicuticular-leaf-n-alkane patterns of the ten natural populations of J. communis var. saxatilis and their relation to different geographic and bioclimatic parameters. Cluster analysis showed a high correlation of the leaf-n-alkane patterns with the geographical distribution of the investigated samples, differentiating the coastal from the continental populations of this taxon. Several bioclimatic parameters related to aridity were highly correlated with this differentiation.

This study explored chemical profile of Ononis spinosa aerial parts and further investigated its biological activities. Chemical profiling of the extract revealed presence of 63 different compounds: phenolic acids, flavonoid...

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We investigated the total phenolic and flavonoid contents and the anthocyanin profiles in aqueous, ethanol and acetone extracts of Prunus spinosa (Rosaceae) fruit, and their antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic and antitumor properties. The contribution of polyphenol contents to the bioactivity of the extracts was calculated and observed through Pearson's coefficient of correlation. The acetone extract was the richest in phenols and anthocyanins and the ethanol extract in flavonoids. Cyanidin was the most abundant anthocyanin compound in all examined extracts. The ethanol extract showed the most promising antioxidant activity in DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays. Tested bacteria were more affected by the ethanol than by the aqueous extract. Both the ethanol and aqueous extracts exhibited potential antidiabetic effects, observed as inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase, enzymes linked with diabetes mellitus type II. The ethanol extract was a potent α-glucosidase-inhibitor with a significantly lower IC50 value than the positive control, glucobay, used to treat diabetes mellitus type II. Neither the ethanol nor the aqueous extracts had any effects on tested human malignant cell lines. Our results indicate that the ethanol extract showed the most pronounced in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial effects, and a potential antidiabetic activity, which can be ascribed to its high flavonoid content. Our results indicate that research of compounds, particularly of flavonoids present in the ethanol extract and their anti-diabetic properties should be examined further.

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The composition of the cuticular n-alkanes isolated from the leaves of nine populations of Juniperus deltoides R.P.Adams from continental and coastal areas of the Balkan Peninsula was characterized by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses. In the leaf waxes, 14 n-alkane homologues with chain-lengths ranging from C22 to C35 were identified. n-Tritriacontane (C33 ) was dominant in the waxes of all populations, but variations between the populations in the contents of all n-alkanes were observed. Several statistical methods (ANOVA, principal component, discriminant, and cluster analyses) were used to investigate the diversity and variability of the cuticular-leaf-n-alkane patterns of the nine J. deltoides populations. This is the first report on the n-alkane composition for this species. The multivariate statistical analyses evidenced a high correlation of the leaf-n-alkane pattern with the geographical distribution of the investigated samples, differentiating the coastal from the continental populations of this taxon.

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