H. Askin Akpulat

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil and methanol extracts of Achillea millefolium subsp. millefolium Afan. (Asteraceae)

The in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extracts of Achillea millefolium subsp. millefolium Afan. (Asteraceae) were investigated. GC-MS analysis of the essential oil resulted in the identification of 36 compounds constituting 90.8% of the total oil. Eucalyptol, camphor, alpha-terpineol, beta-pinene, and borneol were the principal components comprising 60.7% of the oil. The oil strongly reduced the diphenylpicrylhydrazyl radical (IC(50)=1.56 micro g/ml) and exhibited hydroxyl radical scavenging effect in the Fe(3+)-EDTA-H(2)O(2) deoxyribose system (IC(50)=2.7 micro g/ml). It also inhibited the nonenzymatic lipid peroxidation of rat liver homogenate (IC(50)=13.5 micro g/ml). The polar phase of the extract showed antioxidant activity. The oil showed antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Clostridium perfringens, Candida albicans, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Acinetobacter lwoffii and Candida krusei while water-insoluble parts of the methanolic extracts exhibited slight or no activity. This study confirms that the essential oil of Achillea millefolium possesses antioxidant and antimicrobial properties in vitro.

Chemical Composition and In Vitro Cytotoxic, Genotoxic Effects of Essential Oil from Urtica dioica L.

The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition of Urtica dioica essential oil, and to evaluate its cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, using cytogenetic tests such as the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay and chromosomal aberration analysis in human lymphocyte cultures in vitro. GC–MS analysis of U. dioica essential oil identified 43 compounds, representing 95.8% of the oil. GC and GC–MS analysis of the essential oil of U. dioica revealed that carvacrol (38.2%), carvone (9.0%), naphthalene (8.9%), (E)-anethol (4.7%), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (3.0%), (E)-geranyl acetone (2.9%), (E)-β-ionone (2.8%) and phytol (2.7%) are the main components, comprising 72.2% of the oil. A significant correlation was found between the concentration of essential oil and the following: chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei frequency, apoptotic cells, necrotic cells, and binucleated cells.

Phenolic acid contents, essential oil compositions and antioxidant activities of two varieties of Salvia euphratica from Turkey.

This study was designed to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activities of n-hexane (Hex), dichloromethane (DCM), methanol (MeOH) and essential oils (EO) extracts obtained from Salvia euphratica var. euphratica and Salvia euphratica var. leiocalycina and to determine their essential oil and phenolic acid compositions. The samples were screened for their antioxidant activity by using DPPH and β-carotene/linoleic acid assays. Methanol extracts of both varieties exhibited strong antioxidant activities. Our results showed that rosmarinic acid was dominant phenolic acid of MeOH extracts (39.4 and 55.8 µg mg−1, respectively). The chemical compositions of essential oils of two varieties were analysed and their main components were determined as eucalyptol (18.4%) and trans-pinocarvyl acetate (24.9%), respectively. It can be said that these varieties could be used as natural antioxidant

Chromosome numbers, karyotypes and 4C DNA contents of Achillea sipikorensis Hausskn. and Bornm. and Achillea sintenisii Hub.-Mor. (Asteraceae)

Abstract The cytological features including chromosome numbers, detailed chromosome measurements and 4C DNA values were reported in Achillea sipikorensis and A. sintenisii from Turkey. Total chromosome lengths, relative lengths, long/short arm ratios and centromeric index of mitotic chromosomes were calculated. Somatic chromosome numbers were found to be 2n=2x=18 in A. sipikorensis and 2n=4x=36 in A. sintenisii for the first time. The mean of chromosome length ranged from 6.92±0.08 to 9.23±0.58 μm in A. sipikorensis and from 6.54±0.91 to 9.62±0.79 μm in A. sintenisii. The karyotype consists of six pairs metacentric chromosomes, two submetacentric pairs and a subte-locentric pairs in A. sipikorensis and of fifteen pairs metacentric chromosomes, a submetacentric pairs and two sub-telocentric pairs in A. sintenisii. The nuclear DNA C-value was estimated to be 4C= 24.63±0.01 pg of A. sipikorensis and 4C= 35.73±0.05 pg of A. sintenisii.