Explore the vast range of titles available.

The aim of this work is to provide a critical review of plant furanocoumarins from different points of view, including their chemistry and biosynthetic pathways to their extraction, analysis, and synthesis, to the main biological activities found for these active compounds, in order to highlight their potential within pharmaceutical science. The limits and the possible improvements needed for research involving these molecules are also highlighted and discussed.

The metabolites from the coumarin class, present in tissues of plants belonging mainly to the Rutaceae and Apiaceae families, included compounds with high chemical diversity such as simple coumarins and furocoumarins. These health-promoting components are recognized for their valuable biological activities in herbal preparations but also for their phototoxic effects. In this work, a targeted liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS2) was developed for the screening of 39 reference standards of coumarins and furocoumarins in essential oils and plant extracts. Chromatographic separation was accomplished on reversed phase column using water/acetonitrile as the mobile phase and detection was performed on a hybrid QqQ/linear ion trap spectrometer fitted with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source operating in positive ion mode. This analytical approach was applied to investigate the coumarin compositions of fruit essential oils and methanolic extracts obtained from separated parts (fruit, leaf, stem, trunk, and root) of Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides. Ten coumarins and six furanocoumarins were reported in this species and data analyses were used to assess the suitability of these compounds to the metabolomics-based differentiation of plant organs. The quantification criteria of the metabolites in extract samples included linearity, limit of quantification, limit of detection, and matrix effect were validated. As reported for other species of the Rutaceae family, the concentration of coumarins was drastically higher in Z. zanthoxyloides fruits than in other plant organs.

Furocoumarins are a group of plant phytoalexins exhibiting various bioactive properties; the most important of which are photosensitization and alteration of P450 cytochrome activity. Supercritical fluid extraction with carbon dioxide has been proposed as a green alternative for an organic solvent extraction of the furocoumarins. Four plant matrices rich in furocoumarins were extracted with CO2 at a temperature of 80 °C and pressure of 40 MPa, as these conditions were characterized by the highest solubility of furocoumarins. The extracts collected were analyzed using the HPLC method and the results obtained were used for the mathematical modeling of the observed phenomena. The total content of the furocoumarins in the matrices was 4.03–26.45 mg g−1 of dry weight. The impact of the process parameters on the solubility was consistent with the Chrastil equation. The broken plus intact cell model proved to be suitable to describe extraction curves obtained. The research proved the possibility of supercritical carbon dioxide utilization for the extraction of the furocoumarins from plant material and provided valuable data for prospective industrial-scale experiments.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, health agencies worldwide have recommended frequent handwashing and sanitizing. A variety of hand gel products were made available on the market, often with fragrances added to curtail the strong smell of alcohol. Commonly used Citrus fragrances contain volatile aroma constituents and non-volatile oxygen heterocyclic compounds (OHCs), consisting mostly of polymethoxyflavones, coumarins, and furocoumarins. The latter have long been investigated for their phototoxic properties, and their safety as cosmetic product ingredients has been debated recurrently. To this concern, twelve commercial Citrus -scented products were investigated in this study. An extraction method was optimized for thirty-seven OHC compounds, obtaining absolute mean recovery values in the 73.5–116% range with only few milliliters of solvent consumption. Analysis by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection evidenced that three samples did not conform to the labeling requirements for fragrance allergens (coumarin) laid down by the European Union Regulation on Cosmetic Products. The total furocoumarin (FC) content of the samples investigated was in the 0.003–3.7ppm range, with some noteworthy exceptions. Specifically, in two samples, the total FCs were quantified as 89 and 219 ppm, thus exceeding the safe limits recommended up to a factor of 15. Finally, the consistency of the volatile fingerprint attained by gas chromatography allowed drawing conclusions on the authenticity of the Citrus fragrances labeled, and several products did not conform to the information reported on the label concerning the presence of essential oils. Besides the issue of product authenticity, analytical tools and regulatory actions for widespread testing of hand hygiene products are urgent, to protect consumers’ health and safety. Graphical Abstract

The post-column reaction method enables the evaluation of the antiradical capacity of individual components in a mixture by separating the components using HPLC and measuring stable free radical (e.g., DPPH●) scavenging that occurs after the chromatography column. The equipment typically consists of two detectors. The first records signals of the analytes leaving the column. The second records radical scavenging by the analytes, which appears as a negative band. The recorded signals are found on two separate chromatograms, which must be combined to interpret the results. In this study, a single DAD detector was used behind the post-column reactor, enabling the simultaneous recording of the analyte bands and negative signals, indicating radical scavenging. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antiradical capacity of key compounds found in two herbal raw materials used in traditional Chinese medicine. Saposhnikovia divaricata roots contain phenolic acids, chromones, and furanocoumarins. Chlorogenic acid, rosmarinic acid, and imperatorin demonstrated strong radical scavenging, while prim-O-glucoslocimifugin showed a weaker response, both in standards and in root extracts. However, scavenging was not observed for cimifugin and 4′-O-β-D-glucosyl-5-O-methylvisamminol. Astragalus mongholicus roots contain astragalosides I-IV (triterpene saponins). None of these showed DPPH● scavenging. Furthermore, additional signals were observed, indicating the presence of unidentified radical scavenging compounds.

Pure methoxyfuranocoumarins were isolated from a crude petroleum ether extract (CPE; Soxleth extraction efficiency 12.28%) from fruits of Peucedanum tauricum MB. (Apiaceae) by counter-current chromatography in a hydrostatic equilibrium system (centrifugal partition chromatography—CPC). The optimized biphasic solvent system composed of n-heptane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:2:5:2; v/v/v/v) in the ascending mode of elution was used (3 mL/min, 1600 rpm). In the single run, peucedanin (P), 8-methoxypeucedanin (8MP), and bergapten (5MOP) were obtained as pure as 95.6%, 98.1%, and c.a. 100%, respectively. The carefully optimized and developed CPC was effectively transferred from the analytical to the semi-preparative scale (where 20 mg and 150 mg of CPE were loaded, respectively). Identification and quantitative analysis of methoxyfuranocoumarins was carried out in the plant material, in the CPE, and in individual CPC fractions by use of validated high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS). For the separation steps, the extraction/isolation recovery was calculated. In this case, CPC proved to be an effective tool for the simultaneous isolation and separation of P, 8MP, and 5MOP from a multicomponent plant matrix, without additional pre-purification steps. The high purity of the obtained plant metabolites makes it possible to consider their use in pharmacological or biological studies.

Pancreatic beta-cell death is known to be the cause of deficient insulin production in diabetes mellitus. Oxidative stress is one of the major causes of beta-cell death. In this study, we investigated the effects of Psoralea corylifolia L. seed (PCS) extract on beta-cell death. Oral administration of PCS extract resulted in a significant improvement of hyperglycemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. PCS extract treatment improved glucose tolerance and increased serum insulin levels. To study the mechanisms involved, we investigated the effects of PCS extract on H2O2-induced apoptosis in INS-1 cells. Treatment with PCS extract inhibited cell death. PCS extract treatment decreased reactive oxygen species level and activated antioxidative enzymes. Among the major components of PCS extract, psoralen and isopsoralen (coumarins), but not bakuchiol, showed preventive effects against H2O2-induced beta-cell death. These findings indicate that PCS extract may be a potential pharmacological agent to protect against pancreatic beta-cell damage caused by oxidative stress associated with diabetes.

Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) have gained increasing popularity in modern society. However, the profiles of TCMs in vivo are still unclear owing to their complexity and low level in vivo. In this study, UPLC-Triple-TOF techniques were employed for data acquiring, and a novel pre-classification strategy was developed to rapidly and systematically screen and identify the absorbed constituents and metabolites of TCMs in vivo using Radix glehniae as the research object. In this strategy, pre-classification for absorbed constituents was first performed according to the similarity of their structures. Then representative constituents were elected from every class and analyzed separately to screen non-target absorbed constituents and metabolites in biosamples. This pre-classification strategy is basing on target (known) constituents to screen non-target (unknown) constituents from the massive data acquired by mass spectrometry. Finally, the screened candidate compounds were interpreted and identified based on a predicted metabolic pathway, well - studied fragmentation rules, a predicted metabolic pathway, polarity and retention time of the compounds, and some related literature. With this method, a total of 111 absorbed constituents and metabolites of Radix glehniae in rats’ urine, plasma, and bile samples were screened and identified or tentatively characterized successfully. This strategy provides an idea for the screening and identification of the metabolites of other TCMs.

Various implementations of two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography are increasingly being developed and applied to the analysis of complex materials, including those encountered in the analysis of foods, beverages, and nutraceuticals. Previously, we introduced the concept of selective comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (sLC × LC) as a hybrid between the more conventional, but extreme opposite sampling modes of heartcutting (LC–LC) and fully comprehensive (LC × LC) 2D separation. The sLC × LC approach breaks the link between first dimension ( 1 D) sampling time and second dimension ( 2 D) analysis time that is faced in LC × LC and allows very rapid (as low as 1 s) sampling of highly efficient 1 D separations, while at the same time allowing efficient 2 D separations on the timescale of tens of seconds. In this paper, we improve upon our previous sLC × LC work by demonstrating the ability to perform the processes of 1 D sampling and 2 D separation in parallel. This significantly improves the flexibility of the technique and allows targeted analysis of analytes that elute close together in time in the 1 D separation. To demonstrate the value of this added capability, we have developed a sLC × LC method using multi-wavelength ultraviolet absorbance detection for the quantitative analysis of six target furanocoumarin compounds in extracts of celery, parsley, and parsnips. We show that 2 D separations of 1 D effluent containing the target compounds of interest reveal the presence of unanticipated interferent peaks that would otherwise compromise the quantitative accuracy of the method. We also demonstrate the application of the chemometric method iterative key set factor analysis with alternating least-squares to sLC × LC to mathematically resolve target compounds that are only slightly separated chromatographically but not sufficiently resolved for accurate quantitation.

Due to differences in the structure of communities in which interactions are embedded, the intensity of interactions between species may vary with location; thus, what results from differences in outcomes and in degree of specialization is a geographic mosaic, which provides the raw material for divergent coevolutionary trajectories. Where selection intensity is great, reciprocal responses are likely in so-called \"hotspots\"; in contrast, where selection pressures are relaxed, reciprocal responses in \"coldspots\" are far less likely to occur. There are few if any studies examining how a gradient of increasing trophic complexity might influence the probability of phenotype matching and, correspondingly, the \"temperature\" of the coevolutionary interaction. This study was conducted to compare outcomes of the interaction between wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) and parsnip webworm (Depressaria pastinacella) in its indigenous area, Europe, to its area of introduction, the midwestern United States. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that increasing trophic complexity, represented by alternate host plants or the presence of natural enemies, reduces the selective impact of parsnip webworms and hence diminishes linkage between host plant chemistry and webworms that would be expected in coevolutionary hotspots. This comparison of a two-species interaction in its area of introduction and its area of indigeneity revealed common patterns that are more reflective of interaction temperature than of continental origin. Where webworms are rare, parsnips produce lower levels of xanthotoxin and bergapten in both the midwestern United States and Netherlands populations. However, the most striking result from this intercontinental comparison is that what is a ubiquitous two-species interaction in North America is in fact exceptional in Europe; webworms could more reliably be found infesting H. sphondylium even where P. sativa was available as well. This preference for H. sphondylium exists despite the comparatively high probability of parasitism associated with this host plant and may reflect the overall lower furanocoumarin content of H. sphondylium. The interaction of parsnip webworms and wild parsnips at home and away demonstrates clearly the potential for rapid contemporary evolution of chemical traits upon re-association with a coevolved enemy, a potential evolutionary outcome that should be considered in the design and implementation of future weed biological control programs.