Published by De Gruyter

Volume 71 Issue 3-4

Issue of Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C

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Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available April 19, 2016

Frontmatter

Page range: i-iii

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March 1, 2016

Acute toxicity, antiedematogenic activity, and chemical constituents of Palicourea rigida Kunth

Vanessa G. Alves, Elisa A. da Rosa, Laura L.M. de Arruda, Bruno A. Rocha, Ciomar A. Bersani Amado, Silvana M.O. Santin, Armando M. Pomini, Cleuza C. da Silva

Page range: 39-43

Abstract

The phytochemical study of the leaves, roots, and flowers of Palicourea rigida led to the isolation of the triterpenes betulinic acid ( 1 ) and lupeol ( 2 ), the diterpene phytol ( 3 ), and the iridoid glycosides sweroside ( 4 ) and secoxyloganin ( 5 ). These compounds were identified using NMR 1 H and 13 C and comparing the spectra with published data. We studied the antiedematogenic activity of crude extracts from the organs, and of different fractions, in mice and found that the n- hexane fraction of the leaf extract significantly inhibited the ear edema resulting from croton oil administration. The crude extract from leaves was not acutely toxic to the mice.

March 9, 2016

Fatty acid composition of achenes of Cirsium taxa (Asteraceae, Carduoideae) from Turkey

Melahat Ozcan, Faik Ahmet Ayaz, Yesim Ozogul, Robert Glew, Fatih Ozogul

Page range: 45-54

Abstract

The fatty acid compositions and total oil contents in achenes of 22 Cirsium taxa collected from different natural habitats in Turkey were investigated. The range of total fat in the taxa varied from 1.7% to 13.3%. The taxa contained palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1n-9), linoleic (C18:2n-6), and α-linolenic (C18:3n-3) acid. Polyunsaturated fatty acids had the highest level, ranging from 52.1% to 75.2% (C18:2n-6) and 0.5%–17.3% (C18:3n-3). Total saturated (6.9%–17.4%), monounsaturated (11.7%–28.9%), and polyunsaturated (57.4%–79.9%) fatty acids varied substantially, whereas total unsaturated fatty acids ranged from 70.6% to 91.3%. Considerable variation was observed (P<0.05) within each taxon for these fatty acids, especially α-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3). Fatty acid compositions of the 22 taxa were compared by cluster analysis (UPGMA) and principle component analysis (PCA) based on six major fatty acids. This is the first report on the lipid content and fatty acid composition of achenes of Cirsium taxa growing in different areas of Turkey. Fatty acid profiles, relative proportions and levels of fatty acids can be used as additional biochemical markers in the taxonomy of Cirsium .

March 14, 2016

Characterization of the cardiac glycoside and lipid profiles of Strophanthus kombé Oliv. seeds

Diana N. Knittel, Peter Lorenz, Ursula Huber, Florian C. Stintzing, Dietmar R. Kammerer

Page range: 55-64

Abstract

The seeds of Strophanthus kombé Oliv. are known to contain high levels of cardioactive compounds. However, the therapeutic use of Strophanthus in the treatment of cardiopathy requires more detailed knowledge of the compound profile to profit from the full potential of Strophanthus preparations. Therefore, the objective was to characterize the cardenolide profile and lipophilic constituents in S. kombé seeds using methods applicable in routine quality control. Freshly prepared S. kombé seed extracts were analyzed without previous sample clean-up using a novel HPLC-DAD-MS n method. In addition, seed oils were analyzed by GC-MS following derivatization of the lipids. More than 20 cardenolides were tentatively assigned in the seed extracts including strophanthidin, strophanthidol, periplogenin and strophanthidinic acid aglycones, carrying various saccharide moieties. The findings revealed the presence of eight novel cardenolides, which have not been described for S. kombé so far. The occurrence of strophanthidinic acid derivatives was verified by comparison with synthesized strophanthidinic acid-cymaropyranoside. GC-MS characterization of the oils mainly revealed the presence of fatty acids, especially oleic acid and linoleic acid, as well as phytosterols, the latter representing intermediates of cardenolide biosynthesis. In summary, these findings broaden our knowledge on the secondary metabolism of Strophanthus .

March 9, 2016

Thonningiiflavanonol A and thonningiiflavanonol B, two novel flavonoids, and other constituents of Ficus thonningii Blume (Moraceae)

Patrick Y. Ango, Deccaux W.F.G. Kapche, Ghislain W. Fotso, Christian D. Fozing, Elizabeth M.O. Yeboah, Renameditswe Mapitse, Ibrahim Demirtas, Bonaventure T. Ngadjui, Samuel O. Yeboah

Page range: 65-71

Abstract

A phytochemical study of Ficus thonningii has led to the isolation of two previously unreported compounds, thonningiiflavanonol A and thonningiiflavanonol B together with 16 known compounds: shuterin, naringenin, syringic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, genistein, 5,7,3′,4′,5′-pentahydroxyflavanone, luteolin, methylparaben, aromadendrin, garbanzol, dihydroquercetin, 5,7,3′-trihydroxyflavanone, β-sitosterol, sitosterolglucoside, lupeol acetate, and taraxerol. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. The new compounds and extracts displayed potent antioxidant activity.

March 26, 2016

Some rape/canola seed oils: fatty acid composition and tocopherols

Bertrand Matthaus, Mehmet Musa Özcan, Fahad Al Juhaimi

Page range: 73-77

Abstract

Seed samples of some rape and canola cultivars were analysed for oil content, fatty acid and tocopherol profiles. Gas liquid chromotography and high performance liquid chromotography were used for fatty acid and tocopherol analysis, respectively. The oil contents of rape and canola seeds varied between 30.6% and 48.3% of the dry weight (p<0.05). The oil contents of rapeseeds were found to be high compared with canola seed oils. The main fatty acids in the oils are oleic (56.80–64.92%), linoleic (17.11–20.92%) and palmitic (4.18–5.01%) acids. A few types of tocopherols were found in rape and canola oils in various amounts: α-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, δ-tocopherol, β-tocopherol and α-tocotrienol. The major tocopherol in the seed oils of rape and canola cultivars were α-tocopherol (13.22–40.01%) and γ-tocopherol (33.64–51.53%) accompanied by α-T3 (0.0–1.34%) and δ-tocopherol (0.25–1.86%) (p<0.05). As a result, the present study shows that oil, fatty acid and tocopherol contents differ significantly among the cultivars.

March 26, 2016

The physico-chemical properties of some citrus seeds and seed oils

Fahad A.L. Juhaimi, Bertrand Matthäus, Mehmet Musa Özcan, Kashif Ghafoor

Page range: 79-85

Abstract

The chemical properties, mineral contents, fatty acid and tocopherol contents of seed and seed oils of some citrus genus provided from several locations in Turkey and Saudi Arabia were determined. While Ca contents of seeds were between 5018 mg/kg (Kütdiken lemon) and 7619 mg/kg (kinnow mandarin), K contents of seeds varied between 7007 mg/kg (Orlando orange) and 10334 mg/kg (kinnow mandarin). Glucose and fructose contents of citrus seed samples varied between 3.75 g/kg and 5.75 g/kg, and 4.09 g/kg and 6.03 g/kg. Palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids were established as dominant fatty acids. Palmitic, oleic and linoleic acid contents of citrus seed oils varied between 19.6% (Kütdiken lemon) and 26.2% (pineapple orange), 21.3% (kinnow mandarin) and 31.4% (Kütdiken lemon) and 32.3% (Kütdiken lemon) and 43.7% (kinnow mandarin), respectively. The total amount of tocopherols of Turkish citrus oil varied between 0.5 mg/100 g (Fremont mandarin) and 18.8 mg/100 g (bitter orange).

March 17, 2016

Chemical constituents and antiproliferative effects of cultured Mougeotia nummuloides and Spirulina major against cancerous cell lines

Ramazan Erenler, Koksal Pabuccu, Ayse Sahin Yaglioglu, Ibrahim Demirtas, Fatih Gul

Page range: 87-92

Abstract

In this study, the effect of Mougeotia nummuloides and Spirulina major on Vero cells (African green monkey kidney), C6 cells (rat brain tumor cells) and HeLa cells (human uterus carcinoma) was investigated in vitro . The antiproliferative effect of the methanol extract of M. nummuloides and S. major compared with 5-fluorourasil (5-FU) and cisplatin was tested at various concentrations using the BrdU Cell Proliferation ELISA. Both M. nummuloides and S. major extracts significantly inhibited the proliferation of Vero, HeLa and C6 cancer cell lines with IC 50 and IC 75 values. The M. nummuloides extract exhibited higher activity than 5-FU and cisplatin on Vero and C6 cells at high concentrations. The S. major extract revealed better antifproliferative activity than standards against Vero cells at 500 μg/mL. The compounds of methanol extracts were determined by GC-MS after the silylation process. Trehalose, monostearin and 1-monopalmitin were detected as major products in the M. nummuloides extract where as in the S. major extract; monostearin, 1-monopalmitin and hexyl alcohol were the main constituents.

About this journal

Objective

A Journal of Biosciences: Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C (ZNC) is an international scientific journal and a community resource for the emerging field of natural and natural-like products.

The journal publishes original research on the isolation (including structure elucidation), bio-chemical synthesis and bioactivities of natural products, their biochemistry, pharmacology, biotechnology, and their biological activity and innovative developed computational methods for predicting the structure and/or function of natural products.

A Journal of Biosciences: Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C (ZNC) welcomes research papers in fields on the chemistry-biology boundary which address scientific ideas and approaches to generate and understand natural compounds on a molecular level and/or use them to stimulate and manipulate biological processes.

Topics

Bio-chemical synthesis and bioactivities of natural products
Isolation (including structure elucidation)
Biochemistry
Biotechnology
Pharmacology
Chemistry
Biology

Article formats

Original research articles, research notes, letters and review articles

Please have a look at the call for papers for two upcoming Special Issues:

Special Issue on CAZymes

Special Issue on Chitin Structures and Pathways as Targets for Biopesticides and Drugs