Limonene, a monocyclic monoterpene, is present in orange peel and other plants and has been shown to have chemopreventive activities. (+)- and (-)-Limonene enantiomers were incubated with human liver microsomes and the oxidative metabolites thus formed were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Two kinds of metabolites, (+)- and (-)-trans-carveol (a product by 6-hydroxylation) an...

--We investigated the hypotheses that two different varieties of Arabidopsis thaliana show differences in physiology and terpene production. The two varieties of A. thaliana used in this study were wild-type (WT) and transgenic line (CoxIV-FaNES I) genetically modified to emit nerolidol with linalool/nerolidol synthase (COX). Photosynthetic rate, electron transport rate, fluorescence, leaf vola...

(+)-limonene is a lipophilic antimicrobial compound, extracted from citrus fruits' essential oils, that is used as a flavouring agent and organic solvent by the food industry. A recent study has proposed a common and controversial mechanism of cell death for bactericidal antibiotics, in which hydroxyl radicals ultimately inactivated cells. Our objective was to determine whether the mechanism of...

The essential oils of peppermint and spearmint are distinguished by the position of oxygenation on the constituent p-menthane monoterpenes. Peppermint produces monoterpenes bearing an oxygen at C3, whereas spearmint produces monoterpenes bearing an oxygen at C6. Branching of the monoterpene biosynthetic pathways in these species is determined by two distinct cytochrome P450s that catalyze the r...

Terpene composition of needle and cortical oleoresin from lateral shoots were analyzed by GC/MS for four Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) populations scattered in natural species range in Albania. More than sixty compounds were detected in the needle oleoresin, which was characterized by a high content of alpha-pinene, camphene, beta-pinene, limonene and bornyl acetate. Three monoterpenes, alpha-p...

We studied the effects of natural essential oil on neurite outgrowth in PC12m3 neuronal cells to elucidate the mechanism underlying the action of the oils used in aromatherapy. Neurite outgrowth can be induced by nerve growth factor (NGF), where ERK and p38 MAPK among MAPK pathways play important roles in activating intracellular signal transduction. In this study, we investigated whether d-lim...

Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) of gall bladder stones leaves residual fragments that need to be dissolved by chemical solvents. In this study we compared the in vitro dissolving capacity of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), mono-octanoin, limonene, and limonene/mono-octanoin (70%/30%). From nine sets of five human gall stones obtained at cholecystectomy, four stones were used for dis...

Plant essential oils (EOs) and a wide range of their individual components are involved in a variety of biological interactions with insect pests including stimulatory, deterrent, toxic and even hormetic effects. Both the beneficial and toxic properties of citrus EOs on the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) have been experimentally evidenced over the last years. However, no information is availa...

BACKGROUND The burden of liver disease in the UK has risen dramatically and there is a need for improved diagnostics. AIMS To determine which breath volatiles are associated with the cirrhotic liver and hence diagnostically useful. METHODS A two-stage biomarker discovery procedure was used. Alveolar breath samples of 31 patients with cirrhosis and 30 healthy controls were mass spectrometric...