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The chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils obtained from leaves of two Myrtaceae species–Eugenia uniflora L. and Plinia trunciflora (O. Berg) Kausel–were determined. Analysis by GC/MS as well as determination of Kovatz indexes indicated atractylone (26.78%) and curzerene (17.96%) as major constituents of E. uniflora oil and α-cadinol (19.15%), apiole (11.15%) and cubenol (5.43%) as main components in P. trunciflora oil. Both essential oils were tested for antimicrobial activity against yeasts and bacteria. E. uniflora and P. trunciflora essential oils were active towards two Gram-positive bacteria, Streptococcus equi and Staphylococcus epidermis. In addition, biological activity of both essential oils was detected for pathogenic yeasts of the genus Candida and Cryptococcus. E. uniflora was active towards all yeast tested and exhibited interesting minimal inhibitory concentrations (0.11 to 3.75 mg/mL) across a broad spectrum of activity.

Aedes aegypti is the main transmitter of several arboviruses, mainly dengue. It occurs, recently, in more than 100 countries and majority of the world population lives in areas of mosquito incidence, marking its control relevant and necessary. Presently, the main form of vector control is the use of synthetic insecticides; however, its continuous application has led to inefficiency due to resistance development. Based on this fact, the insecticides from natural sources appear as a friendly alternative for man and the environment. This study provides an overview of the larvicidal compounds isolated from plant extracts while controlling A. aegypti, in the previous 6 years (2013-2018), and aims to impart more knowledge regarding the described metabolites and to encourage the search for new bioactive compounds. In addition, the proposals for mechanisms of action and structure-activity relationships that may justify the larvicidal potential are also discussed.

Mixture of two catalysts in one reactor for ethylene/α-olefin copolymerization in the solution process can result in the combination of microstructures related to both catalysts in the polymer framework. Thus, novel polymer configuration is synthesized, which is characterized by containing sequences of monomers produced with each catalyst in the same polymer chain. Adding a reversible transfer agent (CSA) to the binary system enables the production of new block copolymers with enhanced properties. Late transition metal catalysts, such as α-diimine nickel catalyst when activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO) show high activity towards olefin polymerization and produces highly branched homopolymers. On the other hand, C 2 symmetry metallocene catalysts produce linear polyethylenes. This paper describes the synthesis of ethylene homopolymer with amorphous and crystalline blocks using a binary mixture containing a nickel catalyst with α-diimine ligand, which produces ф highly branched polyethylene (soft PE) and a metallocene (rac-ethylene bis(H 4-indenyl)ZrCl 2) that converts ethylene into polyethylene with high activities and melting temperatures (hard PE). The influence of polymerization temperature and CSA concentration were investigated. The polymeric materials were characterized by density, thermal properties, X-ray diffractometry and dynamic-mechanical properties.

Terpenes are one of the most abundant classes of secondary metabolites produced by plants and can be divided based on the number of isoprene units (C5) in monoterpenes (2 units—C10), sesquiterpenes (3 units—C15), diterpenes (4 units—C20), triterpenes (6 units—C30), etc. Chemically, triterpenes are classified based on their structural skeleton including lanostanes, euphanes, cycloartanes, ursanes, oleananes, lupanes, tirucallanes, cucurbitanes, dammaranes, baccharanes, friedelanes, hopanes, serratanes etc. Additionally, glycosylated (saponins) or highly oxidated/degraded (limonoids) triterpenes could be found in nature. The antiinflammatory effect and action as immunomodulators of these secondary metabolites have been demonstrated in different studies. This review reports an overview of articles published in the last 15 years (from 2006 to 2021 using PubMed and SciFinder database) describing the antiinflammatory effects of different triterpenes with their presumed mechanism of action, suggesting that triterpenes could be appointed as natural products with future pharmaceutical applicability.

Background: The Zanthoxylum monogynum species belongs to the family Rutaceae and is found in Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast Brazil. For this genus several biological activities have been described. Methods: The essential oil (EO) was obtained from the leaves of Zanthoxylum monogynum by hydro-distillation and was analyzed by gas chromatograph and gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry (GC and GC/MS). Also the EO of Z. monogynum was evaluated for in vitro cytotoxic activity against six tumor cell lines and for antimicrobial activity, performing disk diffusion and MIC assays with yeast and bacterial strains. Results: The chemical analysis afforded the identification of 18 components (99.0% of the EO). The major components were found to be citronellol (43.0%) and farnesol (32.0%). The in vitro cytotoxic activity against tumor cell lines, resulted in IC50 values ranging from 11–65 µg/mL against all tested cell lines. Antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was also tested and oil was effective, especially against Cryptococcus sp. yeast. All the tested yeast strains showed at least 90% growth inhibition. Conclusions: the essential oil from leaves of Z. monogynum has a different qualitative and quantitative composition when compared to the composition previously described. Also this EO has significant cytotoxic activity and moderate activity against Cryptococcus sp. and Saccharomyces cereviseae yeasts.

RESUMO:O óleo essencial extraído de Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Staf, Poaceae, é rico em citral sendo amplamente empregado na indústria química e farmacêutica. Os objetivos desse estudo foram avaliar o conteúdo de citral entre populações de C. citratus coletados em duas regiões diferentes (Ibiúna e Pindamonhangaba, Estado de São Paulo). O óleo essencial extraído de uma população cultivada em Pindamonhangaba-SP apresentou uma concentração alta de citral (aproximadamente 96,0%), enquanto que o óleo extraído da população de Ibiúna-SP apresentou, além de citral, proporções elevadas de outro monoterpeno, o geraniol. Adicionalmente, os óleos essenciais obtidos desta população de C. citratus foram extraídos e analisados ao longo de 24 h (a cada 3 h), sendo que o teor de citral foi maior no período da noite, o que mostra a importância de estudos que avaliam as diferenças químicas associadas às mudanças circadianas. Os componentes dos óleos essenciais foram identificados por RMN de 13 C, CG/EM e CG através do índice de Kovats. Unitermos:Cymbopogon citratus, constituintes voláteis, citral.ABSTRACT: "Variation in the amounts of volatile constituents of Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Staf, Poaceae, collected in different regions of São Paulo State." The essential oil extracted from Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Staf, Poaceae, is rich in citral and it has many applications in chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The aims of this study were to evaluate the amount of citral in populations of C. citratus collected in two different regions (Ibiúna and Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo State). The essential oil extracted of a cultivated population in Pidamonhangaba-SP, showed a high content of citral (approximately 96.0%), while the essential oil from Ibiuna-SP, showed citral and high amounts of another monoterpene, geraniol. Additionally, the essential oils from this population of C. citratus were extracted and analyzed during 24 h (each 3 h), being the major concentration of citral in the night period, indicating that studies which evaluated the chemical differences associated to circadian changes. The components of essential oils were identified through 13 C NMR, GC/MS, GC and Kovat's index.