One of the principal etiological agents associated with losses in horticultural crops is the fungus Colletotrichum sp. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro effectiveness of the essential oil (EO) from Cymbopogon citratus in chitosan... more
One of the principal etiological agents associated with losses in horticultural crops is the fungus Colletotrichum sp. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro effectiveness of the essential oil (EO) from Cymbopogon citratus in chitosan supports for the control of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides isolated from sweet pepper plants. Methods: The extraction and phytochemical analysis of the EO of C. citratus were performed along with its encapsulation in chitosan-agar in order to compare it with other techniques and determine its effect on C. gloeosporioides. Results: The EO from the citral chemotype (58%) encapsulated in the chitosan-agar, with an 83% encapsulation efficiency in mass percentage, resulted in the total inhibition of mycelial growth at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 1370 ppm. This concentration was effective in controlling the disease under greenhouse conditions. The effectivity of the capsules containing EO was superior to that of other controls using EO evaluated in vitro. The capsules demonstrated an effective period of 51 days, with an additional 30 days of effectiveness after a reinfection cycle, thus providing similar results to the control with Trichoderma sp. Conclusions: Chitosan capsules present a promising strategy in the use of C. citratus EO on C. gloeosporioides, and they are highly effective and stable under in vitro and field conditions
In the present research, the chemical composition of aerial parts of cultivated citral chemotype of Thymus pannonicus All. (Lamiaceae), growing at different soil conditions was studied. Two plant lineages were un-fertilized or treated... more
In the present research, the chemical composition of aerial parts of cultivated citral chemotype of Thymus pannonicus All. (Lamiaceae), growing at different soil conditions was studied. Two plant lineages were un-fertilized or treated using either nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizers at different concentration levels. Essential oil (EO) content, EO composition, and composition of hydromethanol extracts (MEs) were compared to the results obtained for wild growing plants in order to evaluate the potential of T. pannonicus for its industrial production. EO content (%, V/m) in cultivated samples varied between 0.32-0.75% and 0.62-1.05% within two examined lineages, whereas the herbs from the natural habitat contained 0.49-1.29% of EO. GC-FID/MS analysis showed that citral, i.e. mixture of isomers geranial and neral, was the most abundant constituent in all EOs (51.90-81.96%). HPLC analysis revealed that total caffeic acid derivatives, with rosmarinic acid (RA) as the most abundant compound in all extracts, as well as total apigenin glycosides contents were significantly higher in the extracts originating from the cultivated herbs (112.15-184.94 mg/g and 5.08-15.29 mg/g, respectively), in comparison to the extracts of the herbs from the natural habitats (67.61-98.75 mg/g and 1.17-1.32 mg/g). In general, the composition of cultivated herbs varied less than that of samples originating from natural habitats, indicating that controlled cultivation of citral chemotype of T. pannonicus can provide herbal drug with favourable characteristics. Only minor differences were observed between cultivated samples treated with different fertilizers.
Citral is a natural compound that has shown cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects on breast and hematopoietic cancer cells; however, there are few studies on melanoma cells. Oxidative stress is known to be involved in all stages of... more
Citral is a natural compound that has shown cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects on breast and hematopoietic cancer cells; however, there are few studies on melanoma cells. Oxidative stress is known to be involved in all stages of melanoma development and is able to modulate intracellular pathways related to cellular proliferation and death. In this study, we hypothesize that citral exerts its cytotoxic effect on melanoma cells by the modulation of cellular oxidative status and/or intracellular signaling. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of citral on B16F10 murine melanoma cells evaluating its effects on cellular oxidative stress, DNA damage, cell death, and important signaling pathways, as these pathways, namely, extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2), AKT, and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, are involved in cell proliferation and differentiation. The p53 and nuclear factor kappa B were also investigated due to thei...
The ambiguity of whether aldose reductase, an enzyme of polyol pathway, is linked to diabetes and its complication has been receded based on the recent studies made on the inhibition of its (Aldose reductase) activity. In our current... more
The ambiguity of whether aldose reductase, an enzyme of polyol pathway, is linked to diabetes and its complication has been receded based on the recent studies made on the inhibition of its (Aldose reductase) activity. In our current study, we have used an in silico approach (molecular docking) to analyze the effect of essential phytochemicals obtained from Cymbopogon citratus on the aldose reductase activity. C.citratus is grown extensively in tropical countries including India for perfumery and pharmaceuticals. The essential phytochemicals of C.citratus like Myrcene, Citral, and Geraniol have been used as ligand for the molecular docking analysis with Aldose reductase as receptor. The docking analysis showed Myrcene, with binding energy of-8.76 Kcal/mol is best amongst Citral and Geraniol which are having binding energies of-7.24 Kcal/mol and-7.93 Kcal/mol respectively for inhibiting the activity of Aldose reductase.
