We isolated seven terpenes and five phenolic constituents from the aerial parts of Lactuca indica L. using column chromatographic separation of its MeOH extract. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods to be trans-phytol (1), 3beta-hydroxyglutin-5-ene (2), 5,6-epoxy-3-hydroxy-7-megastigmen-9-one (3), 11beta-13-dihydrolactucin (4), 2-phenylethyl beta-D-glucopyranoside (5), cich...

Complexes were prepared of horse heart myoglobin with derivatives of (bacterio)chlorophylls and the linear tetrapyrrole, phycocyanobilin. Structural factors important for binding are (i) the presence of a central metal with open ligation site, which even induces binding of phycocyanobilin, and (ii) the absence of the hydrophobic esterifying alcohol, phytol. Binding is further modulated by the s...

The essential oil of the leaves Solanium spirale Roxb. was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed for the first time using GC and GC-MS. Thirty-nine constituents were identified, constituting 73.36% of the total chromatographical oil components. (E)-Phytol (48.10%), n-hexadecanoic acid (7.34%), beta-selinene (3.67%), alpha-selinene (2.74%), octadecanoic acid (2.12%) and hexahydrofarnesyl ac...

Enzymatic hydrolysis of chlorophylls into chlorophyllides and phytol, and transesterification to the corresponding methyl and ethyl esters, was reported by WillstB;tter and Stoll in 1913 (1). Krossing (2) found such activity localized in the chloroplasts, while more recently Ardao and Vennesland (3) showed that spinach chloroplastin exhibits chlorophyllase activity. In these and other (4) inves...

Hyphenated techniques of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer were used to determine fatty acids in eleven species of seaweeds from Fernando de Noronha archipelago. The main compounds detected in all studied species were the alcohol phytol and the fatty acids 14 : 0; 15 : 0; 16 : 0; 18 : 0; 18 : 1 n(9); 18 : 2 Δ(9,12); 20 : 4; 20 : 5. These fatty acids are commonly found in seaweeds ...

Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess), the American serpentine leafminer fly, is a well-known serious pest in the world. This insect species attacks plants of more than 21 families including Solanaceae plants. A sweet pepper, Capsicum annuum (Solanaceae), on mature stage, however, shows resistance to this leafminer fly. This resistance is based on the ovipositional deterrent in the sweet pepper leaf aga...

Oxidative stress, a state characterized by imbalance between pro-oxidant molecules comprising reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and antioxidant defences, has been found to play an important in poultry reproduction in both male and female Increasing evidence suggests that vitamin E plays an important role in normal reproduction in animals and humans, and vitamin E supplementation is now reco...

The terpenoids constitute the largest class of natural products and many interesting products are extensively applied in the industrial sector as flavors, fragrances, spices and are also used in perfumery and cosmetics. Many terpenoids have biological activities and also used for medical purposes. In higher plants, the conventional acetate-mevalonic acid pathway operates mainly in the cytosol a...

Different extracts from 11 West African plants traditionally used against malaria in Ghana were tested against both the chloroquine-sensitive strain PoW and the chloroquine-resistant clone Dd2 of Plasmodium falciparum. Due to the promising in vitro activity of the lipophilic extract [IC50: 10.5 microg/ml (PoW); 13.1 microg/ml (Dd2)], Microglossa pyrifolia (Lam.) Kuntze (Asteraceae) was chosen f...