Antifungal flavonoids from Varthemia iphionoides

Abstract

Four Ravonoids 5,7,4'-trihydroxy-3,3'-dimethoxyflavone (3',3'-di-O-methylquercetin) (l), 5,4'-dihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyflavone (kumatakenin) (2), 5,4'-dihydroxy-6,7,8,-trimethoxyRavone (xanthomicrol) (3) and 5,7,4'-trihydroxy-3,6,3'-trimethoxyflavone Gaceidine) (4) were isolated and identified from the Jordanian Varthemia iphionoides. They have not previously been reported in this genus. The aqueous alkaline solution of these compounds showed little or no activity against the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Salmonella typhimurium. Compound 2 was active against the fungi Fusarium solani and Candida tropicalis while compounds 1 and 3 were much more active against F. solani, Aspergillus parasiticus and C. tropicalis.

Antitumor activities of extracts from selected desert plants against HepG2 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

“…The exact phytochemicals responsible for the observed antiproliferative effects are precisely not known at the present time. Nevertheless, previous investigations have identified various groups of phytoconstituents, including flavones (e.g., cirsiliol), flavonols (quercetin glycosides) and triterpenoids (1,8-cineole, fragranol and terpenen-4-ol), present in the desert plants we studied (Afifi et al, 1991;Al-Dabbas et al, 2006a;Barakat et al, 1991;Dudai et al, 2003;El-Shazly et al, 2004;Mustafa et al, 1992). Several aforementioned compounds have demonstrated potent antitumor activities in several in vitro and in vivo models of liver cancer Thoppil & Bishayee, 2011).…”

“…The aqueous extract of this herb is commonly used in Jordanian folk-medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments and diabetes mellitus (Afifi et al, 1997). Various extracts and pure compounds isolated from this plant have been shown to exert antioxidant (Al-Dabbas et al, 2006a,b;Al-Mustafa & Al-Thunibat, 2008), antibacterial (Al-Dabbas et al, 2005, 2006bAbu-Hijleh et al, 2009;Darwish & Aburjai, 2010), antifungal (Afifi et al, 1991), antiplatelet (Afifi & Aburjai, 2004) and antihyperglycemic (Afifi et al, 1997;Kasabri et al, 2011) activities. A solitary study has shown pronounced cytotoxic effects of hexane, chloroform and ethanol extracts of aerial parts of V. iphionoides against HL-60 human leukemia cells (Al-Dabbas et al, 2006b).…”

Essential oils of Varthemia iphionoides from Jordan

“…A series of flavonoids, new for the genus, have been in fact isolated from the plant and their biological activity determined. 2,3 Some of them showed antifungal effects. 3 In this paper we report on the isolation and analysis of the essential oils from the aerial organs from V. iphionoides collected from the Jordan Valley.…”

“…2,3 Some of them showed antifungal effects. 3 In this paper we report on the isolation and analysis of the essential oils from the aerial organs from V. iphionoides collected from the Jordan Valley. A previous preliminary screening 5 of the essential oil obtained from this plant, in combination with a pharmacological study on the in vitro relaxant effect of the extract on the isolated ileum of rabbits, only led to a partial identification of the oil constituents.…”

“…Previous studies on V. iphionoides [2][3][4] have dealt mainly with the characterization of its flavonoid constituents. A series of flavonoids, new for the genus, have been in fact isolated from the plant and their biological activity determined.…”