Evolution of Phytochemical Variation in Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) Organs during Different Phenological Stages

Abstract

Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) is an important medicinal plant, of which all parts have pharmaceutical and nutritional applications and which is distributed throughout the southwest regions of Iran. The aerial parts of myrtle were collected at different phenological stages (vegetative, flowering, unripe fruit and ripening fruit stages, after the fully mature fruit dispersal stage) from Fars Province of Iran and were analyzed with GC–FID and GC–MS. All the data were submitted to multivariate statistical analysis, showing many differences among the various plant parts and their phenological stages. Monoterpene hydrocarbons (18.9–50.5%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (38.2–72.4%) were the most abundant class in the volatile emissions, with α-pinene, 1,8-cineole, limonene, linalool, α-terpineol, linalyl acetate and geranyl acetate being the main constituents in the majority of the examined samples. α-Pinene content ranged from 8.88% at the after fully mature fruit dispersal stage (leaves) to 32.84% at the flowering stage in the leaves. Limonene, which is the dominant component at the flowering stage, was 23.97% in the flowers, while the limonene amount was 0.14–1.42% at other harvest stages. The greatest 1,8-cineole amount was obtained prior to flowering, 45.98%, while the lowest amount was obtained at the flowering stage, in the flowers. The total phenol and flavonoid contents varied between different myrtle parts: the highest total phenol and flavonoid contents were obtained for the extract made of the before-flowering stage in leaves (66.52 mg GAE/g and 7.49 mg QE/g extracts). Overall, the study indicated that collecting myrtle at the vegetative and flowering stages, especially the leaves organs, would be of considerable importance.

Phytochemical studies and in vitro evaluation of the antioxidant activity of some medicinal and aromatic plants from Morocco

“…Finally, for the phenolic contents of M. Communis the results were between 89.47-100.3 mg GAE g -1 DM, which is higher compared to the results reported by Hazrati et al (2022) at 66.52 mg GAE g -1 DM using a 24-hour hydro-ethanol maceration extraction method. The best IC50 50 50 50 value in our study was 0.036 mg ml -1 (hydroethanol extract), which is consistent with the findings of Yangui et al (2021) of 0.038 mg ml -1 where they used a hydromethanol solvent.…”

Equine Crofton Weed (Ageratina spp.) Pneumotoxicity: What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?

“…The characteristic seasonal behavior of Crofton weed pneumotoxicity in horses has led to the consideration of two major non-mutually exclusive hypotheses to explain the higher toxicity of flowering plants: (1) a higher concentration of toxins in the leaves during flowering, and (2) the possible effect of pollen as a mechanical irritant during the flowering season. The first hypothesis is supported by the typical accumulation of specific phytochemicals in the foliage of several plants during or around the flowering period [ 90 , 91 , 92 ]. Specifically, the concentration of allelochemicals and defensive compounds in invasive plants varies across different reproductive stages and parts of the plant [ 55 , 93 ].…”

Unveiling the Chemical Profiling Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Algerian Myrtus communis L. Essential Oils, and Exploring Molecular Docking to Predict the Inhibitory Compounds against Cyclooxygenase-2

“…Thus, the remarkable fluctuations in the EO yield and variability in its chemical composition, even among the same specimens, could be due to the distillation method and analysis conditions [27], or many extrinsic factors like temperature and rainfall [53], the geographic source of the species and the season of harvest [52,54], the stage of ripening, storage conditions of the sample (exposure to light, relative humidity, etc. ), and genetic and growth factors [53,55,56].…”