Diterpenes: Advances in Neurobiological Drug Research

Islam MT, da Silva CB, de Alencar MV, Paz MF, Almeida FR, Melo-Cavalcante AA Phytotherapy research, 2016 ABSTRACT: A significant number of studies have been performed with diterpene effect on the brain. Our study aims to make a systematic revision on them. The initial purpose of this review was to screen diterpenes with neurological activity,… Read more »

Vetiver grass: An environment clean-up tool for heavy metal contaminated iron ore mine-soil

Banerjee R, Goswami P, Khanindra P, Mukherjee A Ecological Engineering, 2016 ABSTRACT: Aims Vetiver grass – Chyrsopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty is a known plant tolerant to heavy metals and its use as an alternative method for rehabilitation of iron ore mine-soil has been investigated. Methods A pot experiment was performed over a period of three… Read more »

On the ultrafast photo-induced dynamics of α-terpinene

Gao Y, Pemberton CC, Zhang Y, Weber PM The journal of chemical physics, 2016 ABSTRACT: The ultrafast relaxation pathway of α-terpinene was studied by photoionization-photoelectron spectroscopy for a range of excitation conditions. Time-resolved spectra were obtained upon optical excitation with ultrashort laser pulses at 5.56 eV, 4.96 eV, 4.76 eV, and 4.56 eV, followed by… Read more »

Secondary plant metabolites in phytoremediation and biotransformation

Singer AC, Crowley DE, Thompson IP Trends in biotechnology, 2003 ABSTRACT: For millennia, secondary plant metabolites have antagonized microorganisms, insects and humans alike, ultimately generating a complex and dynamic mixture of facultative and obligate interactions from symbioses to pathogenicity. Secondary plant metabolites have an important role in developing the myriad of organic pollutant-degrading enzymes found… Read more »

Herbal bioactivation: the good, the bad and the ugly

Zhou S, Koh HL, Gao Y, Gong ZY, Lee EJ Life sciences, 2004 ABSTRACT: It has been well established that the formation of reactive metabolites of drugs is associated with drug toxicity. Similarly, there are accumulating data suggesting the role of the formation of reactive metabolites/intermediates through bioactivation in herbal toxicity and carcinogenicity. It has… Read more »

Plant defense against herbivores: chemical aspects

Mithöfer A, Boland W Annual review of plant biology, 2012 ABSTRACT: Plants have evolved a plethora of different chemical defenses covering nearly all classes of (secondary) metabolites that represent a major barrier to herbivory: Some are constitutive; others are induced after attack. Many compounds act directly on the herbivore, whereas others act indirectly via the… Read more »

A review and synthesis of monoterpene speciation from forests in the United States

Gerona C, Rasmussenb R, Arntsc RR, Guentherd A Atmospheric Environment, 2000 ABSTRACT: The monoterpene composition (emission and tissue internal concentration) of major forest tree species in the United States is discussed. Of the 14 most commonly occurring compounds (α-pinene, β-pinene, Δ3-carene, d-limonene, camphene, myrcene, α-terpinene, β-phellandrene, sabinene, ρ-cymene, ocimene, α-thujene, terpinolene, and γ-terpinene), the first… Read more »

Factors affecting secondary metabolite production in plants: volatile components and essential oils

Figueiredo CA, Barroso JG, Pedro LG, Johannes J. C. Scheffer Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 2008 ABSTRACT: The presence, yield and composition of secondary metabolites in plants, viz. the volatile components and those occurring in essential oils, can be affected in a number of ways, from their formation in the plant to their final isolation. Several of the… Read more »

Regulation of monoterpene accumulation in leaves of peppermint

Gershenzon J, McConkey ME, Croteau RB Plant physiology, 2000 ABSTRACT: Plants synthesize numerous classes of natural products that accumulate during development and are thought to function as constitutive defenses against herbivores and pathogens. However, little information is available about how the levels of such defenses are regulated. We measured the accumulation of monoterpenes, a model… Read more »