ESSENTIAL OIL COMPOSITION OF SALVIA VERBENACA L. GROWING WILD IN TUNISIA

The essential oil of aerial parts of Salvia verbenaca L., collected in three different locations in Tunisia, were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry. The oil yields of dried plants (w/w) were 0.09, 0.10 and 0.12% in Sabelet Ben Ammar, Sers and Somaa, respectively. Seventy-seven compounds were identified. The monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated sesquiterpenes had the highest contributions. The major constituents in Sabelet Ben Ammar were viridiflorol (21.8%), camphene (17.6%), methyl eugenol (9.4%) and β-caryophyllene (7.1%), while those of essential oil collected from Somaa, were tricyclene (18.8%), nonane (10.3%), methyl eugenol (7.7%) and terpinolene (7.3%). In samples collected from Sers, essential oil consists mainly of (Z)-β-ocimene (29.5%), β-phellandrene (8.2%), β-thujone (7.9%) and α-pinene (5.5%).

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

In this study, it has been found that the oils of wild-growing Salvia verbenaca L. in Tunisia are rich in oxygenated sesquiterpenes and monoterpene hydrocarbons with great economical values. The plant family Labiatae contains several species with potential therapeutic activity due to their essential oils. Pharmacology, pharmaceutical botany, medical and clinical microbiology, phytopathology and food preservation are some fields in which essential oils can be applied. Many Salvia spp. are used as herbal tea and for food flavoring, as well as in cosmetics, perfumery and the pharmaceutical industry. It has shown that essential oil of S. verbenaca have strong antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal, anti-inflammatory activities and peripheral analgesic properties.     

LIPID AND AROMA COMPOSITION OF BLACK CUMIN (NIGELLA SATIVA L.) SEEDS FROM TUNISIA

The chemical composition of Tunisian Nigella sativa L. seeds was investigated. The results showed that linoleic acid (C18:2) was the major fatty acid with 65.1% of total fatty acids (TFAs) followed by oleic acid (C18:1) with 12.7% of TFAs. Neutral lipids (NLs) were mainly composed of triacylglycerols with 98.4% of total NLs. Polar lipids were mainly composed of phosphatidylcholine as the major phospholipid subclass, whereas digalactosyldiacylglycerol was the major galactolipid. Total sterols (TSs) represented 2.2% of the fixed oil and were composed of (-sitosterol as the major sterol representing 60.2% of the TSs. The results indicated that the sterols were mainly present in the esterified and in the free forms with 51.2 and 36.1%, respectively, of TS content. Finally, the aroma composition of the volatile oil from oleoresin exhibited the presence of many bioactive compounds such as p-cymene as the major component followed by ocimene, α -thujene, octen-3-ol with appreciable rates of 1,8-cineole and thymol.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The results obtained showed that Nigella sativa L. seeds were a good source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), phytosterols (PSs) and phospholipids (PhLs) for the human diet. These seeds could be used by the food industry for formulating functional foods enriched with PUFAs and PSs. For pharmaceutical applications, N. sativa L. conjugated sterols could be used as precursors for the hemisynthesis of many hydrosoluble steroids. Also, N. sativa L. seeds are a good source of PhLs and aroma compounds, and therefore, they could be utilized in biscuit manufacturing and in food flavoring. The presence of many bioactive compounds in N. sativa L. essential oil (p-cymene, limonene, α-pinene, linalool and thymol), known for their powerful antimicrobial function, could support the utilization of the essential oil bactericidal agents.     

Spectroscopic Studies and Luminescence Spectra of Dy<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> Doped Lead Phosphate Glasses

Dy^3 +-doped lead phosphate glasses were prepared by a melt quenching technique and investigated through Infrared absorption spectra (IR), photoluminescence (PL), and UV-Visible optical absorption measurements (UV-Vis). The luminescence spectra show two intense bands at 483 and 575 nm, which are attributed to ⁴FH_15/2 (blue) and ⁴FH_13/2 (yellow) transitions, respectively. The optical spectra data was used to evaluate the values of indirect allowed transitions. It was found that the optical band gap increases with Dy₂O₃ content. Variation in optical gap energy with the variation in localized state tails, confirms the theories for localized states in the energy gap of amorphous semiconductors. The characteristic infrared absorption bands of these glasses due to the stretching and bending vibrations were identified and analyzed by the increasing of the Dy₂O₃ content. This fact allowed us to identify the specific structural units which appear in these glasses.     

Short term protective effect of digitoxin in sepsis-induced acute lung injury

Purpose: Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside used in the treatment of heart failure. Inspired by its known anti-inflammatory effect, this study aims to investigate the effect of digoxin in a sepsis model and to bring to light its effect and underlying mechanism in acute lung injury (ALI). Method: 28 wistar albino rats were divided into 4 groups. Sepsis model is performed by the feces intraperitoneal-injection procedure (FIP). Results: TNF-a, CRP, IL-6, IL 1-Beta, lactic acid, and MDA values were significantly decreased in the FIP+digitoxin group compared to the FIP+Saline group. When the same groups were examined, histological improvements such as decrease in alveolar inflammation and decrease in septal thickening in the digitoxin group and thorax CT were found to be significantly higher in the Hounsfield unit digitoxin group compared to the Saline group. Conclusion: Digitoxin has shown biochemical improvement in sepsis with all known mechanisms of action, and healing effects in both computerized tomography and histology in the lung.     

Photothermal microscopy: optical detection of small absorbers in scattering environments

Photothermal microscopy enables detection of nanometer‐sized objects solely based on their absorption. This technique allows efficient observation of various nano‐objects in scattering media notably gold nanoparticles in cells. The extreme sensitivity of the method and the stability of the signals open numerous applications in spectroscopy, analytical chemistry and bioimaging. This review briefly describes the principle and the main characteristics of photothermal microscopy, with its major advantages and limitations, and exposes the principal applications that have been carried out since its first implementation.