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Wild Amazonian basil Ocimum micranthum Willd. (O. campechianum Mill.) Labiatae essential oil was analyzed by GC and GC-MS: 31 compounds were identified. The main components were eugenol (46.55 +/- 5.11%), beta-caryophyllene (11.94 +/- 1.31%), and beta-elemene (9.06 +/- 0.99%), while a small amount of linalool (1.49 +/- 0.16%) was detected. The oil was tested for its in vitro food-related biological activities and compared with common basil Ocimum basilicum and Thymus vulgaris commercial essential oils. Radical scavenging activity was evaluated employing 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The oil exerted a good capacity to act as a nonspecific donor of hydrogen atoms or electrons when checked in the diphenylpicrylhydrazyl assay, quenching 76,61 +/- 0.33% of the radical, with values higher than those reported by reference oils. In the beta-carotene bleaching test, the oil provided an antioxidant efficacy comparable with that of O. basilicum and T. vulgaris essential oils. These data were confirmed by photochemiluminescence, where the oil showed a remarkable antioxidant capacity (2.39 +/- 0.1), comparable to that of Trolox and vitamin E, and higher than the other essential oils. Antibacterial activity of O. micranthum essential oil was evaluated against Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial strains. The oil showed a dose-dependent antifungal activity against pathogenic and food spoiling yeasts.

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Fourteen brands of resveratrol-containing nutraceuticals were evaluated in order to verify their actual resveratrol content and to control if their health-promoting properties are related to manufacturing quality. Products included pure resveratrol capsules or multi-ingredient formulations with standardized amounts of resveratrol and other phytochemicals. Samples were analyzed for total trans-resveratrol, flavonoids, procyanidin, polyphenol content and the results were compared with the content declared on-label. Only five out of 14 brands had near label values, compliant with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) requirements (95–105% content of active constituent), four products were slightly out of this range (83–111%) and three were in the 8–64% range. Two samples were below the limit of detection. The greater the difference between actual and labeled resveratrol content, the lower was the antioxidant and antiproliferative activity strength. Dietary supplements containing pure trans-resveratrol exhibited a greater induction of differentiation towards human leukemic K562 cells when compared to multicomponent products. Great differences currently exist among resveratrol food supplements commercially available and GMP-grade quality should not be taken for granted. On the other side, dosages suggested by most “pure”, “high-dosage” supplements may allow a supplementation level adequate to obtain some of the purported health benefits.

Juniperus excelsa fruit essential oil as well as J. oxycedrus, Cedrus libani, and Pinus pinea wood essential oils have been obtained with yields between 2.2 ± 0.3 % to 3.4 ± 0.5 % and analyzed by gas chromatography. Sesquiterpenes mainly characterized C. libani and J. oxycedrus essential oils, while in P. pinea and J. excelsa, monoterpenes were the most abundant compounds. In J. oxycedrus, cis-calamenene (7.8 %), cuparene (3.8 %), and cis-thujopsenal (2.0 %) have been detected for the first time. The cytotoxic activity of these essential oils against drug-sensitive CCRF-CEM and multidrug-resistant P-glycoprotein-expressing CEM/ADR5000 leukemia cells has been investigated (IC₅₀ values: 29.46 to 61.54 µg/mL). Remarkably, multidrug-resistant CEM/ADR5000 cells did not reveal cross-resistance, indicating that these essential oils might be useful to treat otherwise drug-resistant and refractory tumors.

Six lavender essential oils, L. angustifolia and five Lavandula x hybrida cultivars (Super Z, Abrialis, R.C., Alardii and Ordinario), were evaluated from a phytochemical and biological standpoint, and the results were computed by using multivariate data analysis. The essential oils were analysed by gas chromatography, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and headspace gas‐chromatography. Multivariate analyses (principal component analysis) identified three main phytochemical clusters among lavender essential oils, represented by 1,8‐cineole, linalyl acetate and linalool. Functional properties of the essential oils were checked by (1) estimating cytotoxicity and genotoxicity using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae D7 strain; (2) determining antifungal activity against three common phytopathogens (Pythium ultimum, Magnaporthe grisea and Botrytis cinerea), by performing an agar vapour bioassay; and (3) calculating the antioxidant capacity by using the 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β‐carotene bleaching tests. No mutagenic effects were detected, but multivariate analyses (PLS, partial least squares regression) showed that the essential oils belonging to the linalool cluster were the most cytotoxic. Antifungal activity against phytopathogens confirmed the predictive results of PLS. The differences among lavender essential oils regarding weak antioxidant capacity showed a positive relationship between the high polarity compounds and the DPPH method, as determined by PLS. The opposite effect was shown for the same type of compound and β‐carotene. Ketones and esters did not exert any significant antioxidant activity. In conclusion, taking lavender essential oils as a model and computing multivariate data of a reduced number of parameters, the proposed approach assured the description of the relationship between a phytocomplex, its constituents and bioactivities, and allowed a comprehensive, predictive approach to be defined, for which the chemical profile provides a possible synergic overall effort in terms of applicative perspectives. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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