The antioxidant properties and polyphenol content of some selected aromatic plants grown in Greece were studied. Plants were refluxed with 60% methanol after acid hydrolysis. The phenolic substances were quantified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Detector (HPLC-DAD). The antioxidant capacity of the extracts was determined with the Rancimat test using sunflower oil as subst...

In humans, a deficiency in Phe hydroxylase activity results in phenylketonuria, a metabolic disorder that is characterized by the accumulation of Phe. Phe hydroxylase belongs to the iron-containing aromatic amino acid hydroxylase (AAH) family, whose members catalyze the hydroxylation of Phe, Trp, or Tyr in a reaction that depends on the donation of electrons by tetrahydropterin (reviewed in Fit...

Predicting the yield of various aromatic plants with the help

The international trade in medicinal and aromatic plants for the period 1991-2003 was investigated. For this purpose the foreign-trade statistics of 110 countries, compiled in the COMTRADE database of the UN Statistics Division and reporting an external trade of the commodity groups HS 1211 and SITC.3 292.4 pharmaceutical plants, respectively, have been evaluated. Based on this, the main featur...

The aim of the work is to investigate the ability of higher plants to absorb and detoxify environmental pollutants - aromatic compounds via aromatic ring cleavage. Transformation of 14C specifically labelled benzene derivatives, [1-6-14C]-nitrobenzene, [1-6-(14)C]-aniline, [1-(14)C]- and [7-(14)C]-benzoic acid, in axenic seedlings of maize (Zea mays L.), kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), pea...

The shikimate pathway is often referred to as the common aromatic biosynthetic pathway, even though nature does not synthesize a11 aromatic compounds by this route. This metabolic sequence converts the primary metabolites PEP and erythrose-4-P to chorismate, the last common precursor for the three aromatic amino acids Phe, Tyr, and Trp and for p-amino and p-hydroxy benzoate (Fig. 1). The shikim...

“The shikimate pathway links metabolism of carbohydrates to biosynthesis of aromatic compounds. In a sequence of seven metabolic steps, phosphoenolpyruvate and erythrose 4phosphate are converted to chorismate, the precursor of the aromatic amino acids and many aromatic secondary metabolites. All pathway intermediates can also be considered branch point compounds that may serve as substrates for...

Transgenic exploitation of bacterial degradative genes in plants has been considered a favorable strategy for degrading organic pollutants in the environment. The aromatic ring characteristic of these pollutants is mainly responsible for their recalcitrance to degradation. In this study, a Plesiomonas-derived chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase (TfdC) gene (tfdC), capable of cleaving the aromatic ri...