To define the extraction process, main components and antioxidative and antimicrobial activities of volatile oil from fenugreek(Trigonella foenum-graecum) leaves and its active substance basis. Response surface methodology was used for optimum supercritical CO_2 extraction conditions of essential oil from fenugreek leaves. The main components of volatile oil were analyzed by GC-MS, its antioxidant activity was evaluated by measuring the scavenging ability of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) and 2, 2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid, ABTS) free radical, and the antimicrobial effect of volatile oil was evaluated by K-B paper AGAR diffusion method. The results showed that the optimal extraction temperature was 50 ℃, the extraction time was 89 min, and the extraction pressure was 35 MPa. Under the conditions, the optimum extracting yield of volatile oil was 1.72%,which was about 1.5 times higher than that of the conventional steam distillation. A total of 52 compounds were found based on reference substance retention time and GC-MS fragmentation information or the existing literatures, and the major compounds were oleic acid(9.65%), carveol(9.41%), n-hexadecanoic acid(9.1%), linoleic acid(6.95%), methyl linolenate(5.4%), petroselinic acid(5.3%), testosterone(3.4%), sotolon(1.75%). The volatile oil of fenugreek showed moderate antioxidant activities in DPPH assay(IC_(50) value of 0.473 mg·mL~(-1)) and ABTS test(IC_(50) value of 0.107 mg·mL~(-1)). The oil had a stronger antimicrobial activity in vitro. MIC of the volatile oil ranged from 0.375 to 1.5 mg·mL~(-1). The results showed that the optimized volatile oil extraction process was stable, and the extraction yield was high. Fenugreek leaves contained a variety of volatile components, with obvious antioxidant and antibacterial activities. This study provides a certain theoretical basis for the comprehensive development and utilization of fenugreek.
Antioxidants ; Distillation ; Oils, Volatile ; Plant Leaves ; Trigonella

The essential oils are fragrant products whose complex compositions are obtained from various parts of plants by dry or steam distillation. Plants with variable biological activities have been explored worldwide. The presence of a large number of phenols, terpenes and other aromatic compounds make essential oils more precise in their mode of action. Because of this, they are known to possess many biological activities like antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory etc. In this article, we will review the published literature summarizing the chemistry of essential oils and their important biological activities.
Aromatherapy ; Chemistry ; Distillation ; Oils, Volatile ; Phenol ; Phenols ; Steam ; Terpenes

Volatile oil is the main effective component and an important quality indicator of Artemisia argyi leaves. In this study, 100 germplasm resources of A. argyi were collected from all the related habitats in China. The total volatile oils in A. argyi leaves were extracted by steam distillation and the content was determined by GC-MS. The result demonstrated that the content of total volatile oils was in the range of 0.53%-2.55%, with the average of 1.43%. A total of 39 chemical constituents were identified from the volatile oils, including 13 shared by the 100 germplasm resources. Clustering analysis of the 39 constituents showed that the 100 A. argyi samples were categorized into groups Ⅰ(9), Ⅱ(2), Ⅲ(66) and Ⅳ(23), and group Ⅲ had the most volatile medicinal components, with the highest content. Five principal components(PCs) were extracted from 13 shared constituents, which explained 73.454% of the total variance. PC1, PC2, and PC3 mainly reflected the pharmacological activity of volatile oils and the rest two the aroma information. The volatile oils identified in this study lay a foundation for variety breeding of and rational utilization of volatile oils in A. argyi leaves.
Artemisia ; Distillation ; Oils, Volatile ; Plant Breeding ; Plant Leaves

The antifungal effect of pine needle extract prepared by a distinguishable extraction method and the dry distillation method, was examined. The effect of this extract itself was insignificant. The chemical components of pine needle extract were then investigated by gas chromatographic analysis, and four chemical components, acetol, furfural, 5-methyl furfural, and terpine-4-ol, were identified. The antifungal effects of those four chemical components against Alternaria mali (A. mali), an agent of Alternaria blotch of apple, were then examined. It was observed that the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were 6.25, 0.78, 0.78, and 12.5 (mg/ml) of acetol, furfural, 5-methyl furfural, and terpine-4-ol, respectively. MICs of furfural and 5-methyl furfural had the same order of magnitude as that of an antifungal agrochemical, chlorothalonil. Although furfural itself can not be completely substituted for an antifungal agrochemical, a partial mixture of furfural and antifungal agrochemical may be used as a substitute. The use of agrochemicals for the prevention of plant disease caused by pathogenic fungus such as A. mali could be partially reduced by the application of this mixture.
Agrochemicals ; Alternaria* ; Distillation ; Fungi* ; Furaldehyde* ; Mali* ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Needles* ; Plant Diseases ; Plants*

Cyanogenic glycosides are HCN-producing phytotoxins; HCN is a powerful and a rapidly acting poison. It is not difficult to find plants containing these compounds in the food supply and/or in medicinal herb collections. The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution of total cyanide in nine genera (Dolichos, Ginkgo, Hordeum, Linum, Phaseolus, Prunus, Phyllostachys, Phytolacca, and Portulaca) of edible plants and the effect of the processing on cyanide concentration. Total cyanide content was measured by ion chromatography following acid hydrolysis and distillation. Kernels of Prunus genus are used medicinally, but they possess the highest level of total cyanide of up to 2259.81 CN-/g dry weight. Trace amounts of cyanogenic compounds were detected in foodstuffs such as mungbeans and bamboo shoots. Currently, except for the WHO guideline for cassava, there is no global standard for the allowed amount of cyanogenic compounds in foodstuffs. However, our data emphasize the need for the guidelines if plants containing cyanogenic glycosidesare to be developed as dietary supplements.
Chromatography ; Dietary Supplements ; Distillation ; Flax ; Food Supply ; Ginkgo biloba ; Glycosides ; Hordeum ; Hydrolysis ; Manihot ; Phaseolus ; Phytolacca ; Plants, Edible ; Plants, Medicinal ; Prunus

To reveal the extraction regularity of volatile oil from galangal by GC-MS analysis. The volatile oil in galangal was extracted by steam distillation. The extract was collected every 30 min, the oil part and the water part were separated. GC-MS was used to analyze the extraction liquid collected at different time periods. A total of 140 volatile components were obtained by GC-MS analysis. Among them, the main components were eucalyptus oil alcohol, alpha-pine oil alcohol and 4-terpene alcohol; 22 special components were dissolved in water, 77 special components were dissolved in oil and 41 components were dissolved in both oil and water. With the increase of specific components in water, the content of Eucalyptus in water increased in a linear manner. The increase of eucalyptus oil further promoted the dissolution or dispersion of alpha PN in water, and the change of specific components in oil was positively correlated with the content of Eucalyptus and alpha-terpilenol in oil. The results of principal component analysis show that the physical and chemical properties of the compounds were important factors affecting the distribution of components. PC1 (molecular weight, melting point, boiling point positive correlation), PC2 (negative correlation of refractive index) and PC3 (positive correlation of water solubility) were the main components that lead to the differences in composition distribution. The process of extracting volatile oil from galangal through steam distillation was affected by the physical and chemical properties of volatile components. Some components were specifically distributed in the fragrance and volatile oil system. The endemic components of aromatic water increased the content of the main components in the water system, which may lead to the "emulsification", reduction of the yield and low quality of the volatile oil.
Distillation ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Kinetics ; Oils, Volatile ; isolation & purification ; Plant Oils ; isolation & purification ; Steam ; Zingiberaceae ; chemistry

Agarwood is a traditional and precious medicinal material and natural spice in China and other southeast Asian countries.As the head of all spices,agarwood has many pharmacological activities such as analgesia,antidiarrheal,anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. Due to its high price and scarce resources,there were just a few previous studies on it,mainly focusing on the chemical compositions of the agarwood essential oil and solvent extract mixture. The components of agarwood oils obtained by supercritical extraction and steam distillation were analyzed by using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer( GC-MS),and then the agarwood oils compositions and contents were compared between the traditional extraction method and the recently emerging supercritical extraction method. Antioxidant experiments of scavenging DPPH,ABTS,hydroxyl radical,total reducing power and MIC experiments of five kinds of tester strains such as staphylococcus aureus were combined to illustrate the differences between these two kinds of agarwood oils in terms of antioxidant and bacteriostatic activities. The results showed that the main components of agarwood oil were sesquiterpenoids( 68. 68%) in steam distillation extraction method,but sesquiterpenoids( 23. 78%) and chromones( 29. 42%) in supercritical extraction method. Fourteen common components included benzyl acetone,α-santalol,γ-eudesmol,agarospirol and guaiol etc. The antioxidant activity and inhibitory MIC of agarwood oils in supercritical extraction method were better than those in steam distillation method,and the inhibitory effect of agarwood oil on the growth of bacillus subtilis was found for the first time.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology* ; Antioxidants/pharmacology* ; China ; Distillation/methods* ; Oils, Volatile/pharmacology* ; Plant Oils/pharmacology* ; Steam ; Thymelaeaceae/chemistry* ; Wood/chemistry*

Smoke water and distillation liquid were used to treat the seeds of Trichosathes kirilowii and to study the effects of smoke water and distillation liquid on the seed germination and seedling growth of T. kirilowii. The results showed that germination rate, germination index and germination vigor of T. kirilowii all were significantly improved with the treatment of SW and DL treatment. The activity of α-amylase were significantly increased with the treatment of SW and DL at 1:2,000. SW and DL treatment showed no significant effects on the activity of SOD. The activity of POD were markedly enhanced under the treatment of SW (1:000) and DL (1:2,000). CAT activity were increased with the treatment of SW and DL at 1:2,000 while were inhibited by SW and DL at 1:500. Seedling height and root length were increased with the treatment of SW and DL (1:1,000, 1:2,000). SW and DL treaments improved the content of chlorophyll, and moreover with the concentration of SW and DL, the stimulatory were also increased. This work demonstrated that smoke water and diatillation liquid at 1:2,000 could stimulate the seed germination and seedling growth of T. kirilowii, and it provided the references for the study of seed germination technology.
Agriculture ; instrumentation ; methods ; Distillation ; Germination ; Seedlings ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Seeds ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Smoke ; analysis ; Trichosanthes ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Water ; chemistry ; metabolism

To improve the oil yield of Chuanxiong volatile oils and keep their quality same as that of oils prepared by steam distillation (SD) for short), a new technology of coupling water extraction and rectification (WER for short) was applied to isolate Chuanxiong volatile oils. The oil yield, as well as GC-MS chromatogram of the volatile oils extracted by WER and SD were compared. The oil yield of WER (0.50%) was that of SD (0.20%). There were 21 common constituents in the two kinds of volatile oils, which occupied 98.94% of the oils extracted by SD, 98.80% of that by WER, respectively. Moreover, the relative percentage of the common constituents was almost the same. The results indicate that WER could not only increase the oil yield of Ligusticum chuanxiong, but also keep the quality of the oils accord with that extracted by SD.
Distillation ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Ligusticum ; chemistry ; Oils, Volatile ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Plant Oils ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Water ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo research the preparation technology and dissolution of Blumea volatile oil suppository.

METHODIn order to establish the content determination and methodology inspection method of Blumea volatile oil plug, the extraction process of Blumea volatile oil was optimized by using orthogonal test. Optimization on the investigation to the suppository matrix by melting time, appearance and dissolution was carried on. The best prescription craft was determined by determining the best molding temperature, dosage of the matrix and complementary makings. The determination method of dissolution was established by investigating different dissolution method and its impact on the preparation of dissolution.

RESULTThe best conditions of steam distillation extracted Blumea volatile oil was as followed, the ratio of gardenia to liquor 1:6, 2.5% drug amount of sodium, 8 hours of extracting time. The optimum temperature for mold was 60-65 degrees C. Preparation technique of Blumea volatile oil suppository was stable, which after 45 minutes and 3 h in pH 4.5 PBS released at least 70% and 90%.

CONCLUSIONBlumea volatile oil suppository with rational prescription, simple preparation and good stability.

Asteraceae ; chemistry ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Distillation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Oils, Volatile ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Oils ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Solubility ; Temperature