Sara Ferri

BOTANICAL DRUGS AND PREPARATIONS IN THE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE OF WEST AZERBAIJAN (IRAN)

We present the results of an investigation of the traditional ethnobotany and ethnomedicine of West Azerbaijan (Iran). In this region medicinal plants are often the only easily accessible health care alternative for most of the population in rural areas and in fact folk herbal medicine is the most used remedy to cure common diseases. In this paper we present the most frequently used native species and the most common preparations made from them, in order to preserve the plant popular knowledge, which has traditionally been only an oral one.

Distribution of hyoscyamine and scopolamine in Datura stramonium.

The production of hyoscyamine and scopolamine in Datura stramonium has been investigated in the different plant parts, at different stages of their life cycle. Maximum contents were found in the stems and leaves of young plants, hyoscyamine being always the predominant component.

High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic Quantitative Analysis of Picrocrocin and Crocetin, Active Principles of Saffron (Crocus sativusL.‐Iridaceae): A New Method

A new high performance thin layer chromatographic method has been developed for the quantitative analysis of the active principles (picrocrocin and crocetin) of saffron (Crocus sativusL.). The method is easily applied, shows good reproducibility and is rapid and sensitive. The technique overcomes the problems usually found with other analytical approaches to saffron determination which generally are not repeatable and deal with identification of adulterations more than with the analysis of constituents.

High performance liquid chromatography analysis of the furanochromones khellin and visnagin in various organs of Ammi visnaga (L.) Lam. at different developmental stages

The content of the furanochromones khellin and visnagin, in the organs of Ammi visnaga (L.) Lam. at different developmental stages, has been examined. Determinations have been performed by means of a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique which allows both the separation and the quantitative determination of these chromones. Unripe fruits are the richest in both chromones, but the collection of ripe dry fruits--as it occurs in Egyptian folk-medicine--seems more reasonable because they might not undergo degradation processes during desiccation and storage.

Santonin: a new method of extraction from, and quantitative determination inArtemisia caerulescens ssp.cretacea (fiori) br.-catt. & gubell. by high-performance liquid chromatography

Santonin, a sesquiterpene lactone characteristic of many species of the genus Artemisia, has hitherto been quantitatively determined by long and complicated gravimetric procedures. A new, rapid, simple and accurate extraction and analytical procedure has been established. This high-performance liquid chromatographic method employs a Licrospher 100-RP column and a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile:water in a gradient programme. Copyright

Identification of Volatile Constituents from the Flower Oil of Spartium junceum

Abstract The essential oil, isolated by hydrodistillation from fresh flowers of Spartium junceum L., was investigated by GC and GC/MS. The 24 main constituents of the samples were identified; the main components of the oil were kairomonal compounds, tricosane (22.9%), tetracosane (8.9%) and pentacosane (16.1%), constituting altogether almost 48% of total composition. These hydrocarbons constitute an important aspect governing the sensitivity of the insects in plant host selection.

Artemisia Caerulescens l. var. Cretacea Fiori: Indagine Morfologica, Anatomica ed Analitica

Abstract ARTEMISIA CAERULESCENS L. var CRETACEA Fiori: its morphology, anatomy and santonin content. — Artemisia caerulescens L. var. cretacea Fiori, endemic of the loamy soils of Romagna and Tuscany, has been collected near Siena and specimens have been submitted to morphological, anatomical, systematic researchs. The names of previous botanists who have collected this plant in the surroundings of Siena have been listed. The big underground apparatus of Artemisia and the variable morphological characters of the species, expecially for the inflorescence, have been put in evidence. The most outstanding anatomical characters of var. cretacea are the following: 1) in the overground stem (that means in the inflorescence axis) glandular hairs and T hairs are present, persisting also when the cork tissue is formed; the collateral vascular bundles are surrounded by a sclerenchymatic cap, outside the phloem; the parenchyma cells of the protoxylem area in the primary and secondary structure are not lignified; some...

Composition of the oils from Artemisia coerulescens L. subsp. cretacea (Fiori) Br.-Catt. et Gubell. grown in different areas of Italy.

Abstract The essential oil, isolated by hydrodistillation from flowering tops of Artemisia coerulescens L. subsp. cretacea (Fiori) Br.-Catt. et Gubell., was investigated by GC/MS. The analyses were carried out on oils obtained from plants collected in Romagna and in Tuscany (Central Italy) in three different stages of growing cycle. The oil yield was higher from plants collected in Romagna than in those collected in Tuscany. The main components of the Romagna and Tuscan oils were α-thujone (59.6–71.0% and 32.9–39.7%), β-thujone (17.8–18.7% and 10.0–10.8%) and camphor (4.2–6.2% and 35.6–45.3%), respectively.

Essential Oil from Artemisia coerulescens L. subsp. cretacea (Fiori) Br.-Catt. et Gubell.: Analytical Composition and New Constituents

Abstract The essential oil, isolated from the flowering tops of the Tuscan endemic Artemisia coerulescens L. subsp. cretacea (Fiori) Br.-Catt. et Gubell. by hydrodistillation, was investigated by GC/MS. Fifty compounds were identified, constituting altogether 88.6% of total composition; the presence of 25 compounds in A. coerulescensssp. cretacea oil is reported for the first time. The main components of the oil were αthujone (19–0%), β-thujone (7.7%), camphor (10.4%) and borneol (11.5%). If the oil content is compared with those of other Artemisia species, A. coerulescens ssp. cretacea was found to be extremely rich in oil.

Ammi Visnaga (L.) Lam.: Occurrence of Khellin and Visnagin in Primary Rib Channels and Endosperm, and Emptiness of Vittae, Revealed by U.V. Microscopy*

AbstractSections of Ammi visnaga (L.) Lam. ripe fruits were examined by U.V. microscopy under U.V. 365 nm light and under mixed U.V. 365 nm and visible light. The examination revealed a substance with blue autofluorescence inside the primary rib channels; a blue colour was shown also by the endosperm, whilst vittae were empty. In sections extracted with a selective method for the furanochromones khellin and visnagin, the substance filling primary rib channels was completely dissolved, and the colour of endosperm faded. The extract was analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography: the solubilized materials were composed almost exclusively of khellin and visnagin. These data are in contrast with the previous consensus which considered coumarins and coumarin-like compounds to be located in the vittae of Umbelliferae fruits, and never present in endosperms, whilst primary rib channels were thought empty in ripe fruits.