Paola Vita Finzi

Low-molecular weight substances from the resurrection plant Sporobolus stapfianus

Abstract Sporobolus stapfianus Gandoger is a typical desiccation-tolerant or resurrection plant, which survives almost total dehydration. Samples of fresh,

The chemistry of lactarius fuliginosus and lactarius picinus

Abstract Intact fruit-bodies of the Basidiomycetes Lactarius fuliginosus and L. picinus have been found to contain the stearic acid ester 4b . When the mushrooms are injured 4b is rapidly converted to the acrid free phenol 4a which is then gradually oxidized to a mxiture of red pigments, benzofuran 9 and chromenes 8 , 10–13 (or 14 ), 15 , 20 and 22 . These chemical transformations are involved in the change of taste and colour of the latex and flesh of the mushrooms. Compounds 4a–b , 8–12 and 20 were obtained also by synthesis.

Fungal metabolites xxii(: the unprecedented structure of saponaceolide a, a cytotoxic c-30 terpenoid from

Abstract The structure of saponaceolide A, a new cytotoxic C-30 terpenoid from Tricholoma saponaceum has been established by spectroscopic methods, including single crystal X-ray analysis. Its biogenetic origin is discussed.

Flavonols and quinones in stems of aframomum giganteum

Abstract Three rare naturally occurring flavonol 3-methyl ethers have been isolated from stems of Aframomum giganteum : kaempferol 3,7,4′-trimethyl ether, quercetin 3,7,4′-trimethyl ether (ayanin) and quercetin 3,7,3′,4′-tetramethyl ether (retusine). The following compounds have also been isolated: chrysophanol, physcion, 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone and β-sitosterol. Phytochemical aspects of the flavonoids occurring in the Zingiberaceae are discussed.

Galactinol in the leaves of the resurrection plant Boea hygroscopica

Abstract The content of low molecular weight substances was analysed in leaf samples of the resurrection plant Boea hygroscopica F. Muell. submitted to dehydration. Drying treatment caused a variation in the carbohydrate pool, with a decrease of all sugars except sucrose which notably increased, becoming the prevalent one in dried leaves. Rehydration almost restored the pre-treatment sugar composition. Along with more common sugars galactinol and some higher oligosaccharides of the raffinose family were detected. Their structures were assigned by NMR and GC–MS analyses after acetylation. To our knowledge, this is the first finding in resurrection plants of significant amounts of the galactosyl donor galactinol and of higher galactosyl oligosaccharides, which may have a role in restoring the pre-drying functions upon rehydration.

Sugar biotransformations by fungi on leaves of the resurrection plant Sporobolus stapfianus

Abstract Fresh, dried and rehydrated leaf samples of the resurrection plant, Sporobolus stapfianus , were analysed for their contents of low- M r substances. Glucose, fructose and sucrose were the prevailing sugars in aqueous extracts from fresh leaves, whereas sucrose accumulated in dried leaves. After 72 hr rehydration, an unusual content of mannitol and trehalose was observed. The involvement of fungal species, able to perform sugar biotransformations in rehydrated leaves, is reported.

Phytochemical researches and antimicrobial activity of Clinopodium nubigenum Kunth (Kuntze) raw extracts

The essential oil of the species Clinopodium nubigenum (Kunth) Kuntze, Lamiaceae, was analyzed by GC-MS and GC-FID, taking into account the more recent literature. Among the seventy compounds identified, the majority are oxygenated monoterpenoids. The essential oil, tested for antimicrobial activity, resulted effective in vitro against Candida albicans. From the aqueous MeOH extract of the aerial parts of the plant two nonvolatile compounds, named schizonepetoside A and schizonepedoside C, have been isolated. They are rare glycosyl terpenoids, which were previously isolated from only one plant, but never found before in the genus Clinopodium.

Ethnobotanical Research at the Kutukú Scientific Station, Morona-Santiago, Ecuador

This work features the results of an ethnobotanical study on the uses of medicinal plants by the inhabitants of the region near to the Kutukú Scientific Station of Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, located in the Morona-Santiago province, southeast of Ecuador. In the surroundings of the station, one ethnic group, the Shuar, has been identified. The survey hereafter reports a total of 131 plant species, with 73 different therapeutic uses.

New 3,4‐Secocycloartane and 3,4‐Secodammarane Triterpenes from the Ecuadorian Plant Coussarea macrophylla

Coussarea macrophylla (Mart.) Müll.Arg. (Rubiaceae) was collected in Ecuador, and the bark was extracted with AcOEt. Chromatographic separation afforded six novel 3,4‐secocycloartane and 3,4‐secodammarane triterpenes, named macrocoussaric acids A–F, together with the known metabolites secaubryenol and 3,4‐secodammara‐4(28),20,24‐triene‐3,26‐dioic acid. The structures of the new compounds were determined on the basis of their spectroscopic data. This is the first report of 3,4‐secocycloartane and 3,4‐secodammarane triterpenes occurring in a Coussarea species. Macrocoussaric acids A and B (2 and 3, resp.) were found to be moderately cytotoxic against five different tumor cell lines.