The plants of the genus Phyllanthus (Euphorbiaceae) are widely distributed in most tropical and subtropical countries, and have long been used in folk medicine to treat kidney and urinary bladder disturbances, intestinal infections, diabetes, and hepatitis B. In recent years, the interest in the plants has increased considerably. Substantial progress on their chemistal and pharmacological properties, as well as a few clinical studies of some Phyllanthus species have been made. This review discusses the current knowledge of their chemistry, the in vitro and in vivo pharmacological, biochemical, and clinical studies carried out on the extracts, and the main active constituents isolated from different species of plants of the genus Phyllanthus. These studies carried out with the extracts and purified compounds from these plants support most of their reported uses in folk medicine as an antiviral, in the treatment of genitourinary disorders, and as antinociceptive agents. However, well-controlled, double-binding clinical trials are lacking. Several compounds including alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans, phenols, and terpenes were isolated from these plants and some of them interact with most key enzymes. Together this data strongly supports the view that the plants belonging to the genus Phyllanthus have potential beneficial therapeutic actions in the management of hepatitis B, nefrolitiase, and in painful disorders.

A review of the plants of the genus Phyllanthus: their chemistry, pharmacology, and therapeutic potential.

Structure and occurrence of unusual fatty acids in minor seed oils

Twenty-five odor-active compounds were quantified in hand-squeezed juices of Valencia late and Navel oranges using stable isotope dilution assays. Odor activity values (OAVs, ratio of the concentration to odor thresholds) based on odor thresholds in water were calculated for the entire set of aroma compounds in both varieties. It was shown that due to their high OAVs, the fruity-smelling esters ethyl 2-methylpropanoate, ethyl butanoate, (S)-ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, and 3a,4,5,7a-tetrahydro-3,6-dimethyl-2(3H)-benzofuranone (wine lactone), the grassy smelling (Z)-hex-3-enal, and the citrus-like decanal were the most potent odorants in both juices. The weaker fruity note in the Navel oranges was clearly correlated with significantly lower OAVs of all fruity-smelling esters but a higher OAV of (Z)-3-hexenal compared to Valencia late. Model solutions simulating the odor of both orange varieties confirmed the findings of the quantitation studies.

Evaluation of aroma differences between hand-squeezed juices from Valencia late and Navel oranges by quantitation of key odorants and flavor reconstitution experiments.

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn) is a herbal shrub plant reported native to tropical Africa and grown in warm countries including Malaysia. This plant is grown for the calyces or petals of the flower which are mainly used to prepare herbal drink, beverages, jam and jellies. After removing the calyces, the velvety capsules containing the seeds are disposed as a by-product. In addition, it is a waste if the seeds are left untouched, without effort to exploit its usefulness and benefits. Moreover, with limited research on the usefulness of roselle seeds, no review paper on this topic has ever published. Thus, we took the initiative to prepare a review on this subject based on findings from most of our work from 2003-2007. In this paper, the most important aspects namely, nutritional composition, including antioxidant properties, protein quality and the effect of seeds on lipid profiles of hypercholesterolemic rats have been reviewed. Based on the compositional analysis, roselle seeds are rich in nutritional components especially proteins, oil and dietary fiber. The seeds are rich in lysine, arginine, leucine, phenylalanine and glutamic acid. The antioxidative effect of roselle seed extract increases when combined with other antioxidant compounds compared to when used alone. The protein quality of roselle seed powder prepared from dried and boiled seeds is similar. Roselle seeds were also reported to possess anti-hypercholesterolemia effects tested using an animal model. To exploit the seeds which contain high value health-promoting components as functional ingredients, their possible application in food products should be studied.

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Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) seeds - nutritional composition, protein quality and health benefits.

The headspace flavor compounds of orange juice were isolated by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coated with 100 μm of poly(dimethylsiloxane) and separated by gas chromatography. The effects of the orange juice temperature from 25 to 80 °C and the adsorption time from 5 to 40 min on the equilibrium of flavor compounds between the SPME coating and the orange juice indicated that the equilibrium time decreased as the sample temperature increased. The equilibrium of the flavor compounds between the SPME coating and the orange juice required 30 min at 40 °C or 20 min at 60 °C. The amount of orange flavor compounds adsorbed by SPME coating decreased as the orange juice temperature increased from 25 to 80 °C. The resolution of the gas chromatogram increased as the inside diameter of the injection port liner decreased from 1 to 0.75 mm. The concentrations of ethyl butyrate, octanal, decanal, α-pinene, and limonene in orange juice were 0.4, 1.1, 1.0, 1.4, and 254 ppm, respectively. The coefficients of var...

Optimization of Solid-Phase Microextraction Analysis for Headspace Flavor Compounds of Orange Juice

Due to controversial reports on the component acids of Hibiscus sabdariffa seed fat and in anticipation of the co-occurrence of cyclopropene and epoxy acids in the seed oils of Malvaceae (especially in the genus Hibiscus)5,6 it was considered worthwhile to re-examine the seed oil of H. sabdariffa. Seed oil of H. sabdariffa (Malvaceae) contains myristic (2.1%), palmitic (35.2%), palmitoleic (2.0%), stearic (3.4%), oleic (34.0%), linoleic (14.6%) and three unusual HBr-reacting fatty acids. These acids are cis-12,13-epoxy-cis-9-octadecenoic (12,13-epoxyoleic), 4.5 %; sterculic, 2.9%; and malvalic, 1.3%. Acetolysis of epoxide in the presence of cyclopropenes was effected by room temperature treatment with acetic acid-10% sulphuric acid. Seed oils of Vernonia anthelmintica and Sterculia foetida were used as reference standards.

Hibiscus sabdariffa Seed Oil: A Re-investigation†

Seed oils of Mucuna pruriens (Leguminosae) and Urena lobata (Malvaceae) were found to contain HBr-reacting acids to the extent of 1.3 and 10.8% respectively. Acetylation of the M. pruriens seed oil, followed by saponification and separation of the acids, gave 12,13-dihydroxyoleic acid. From this and other evidence it is concluded that 12,13-epoxyoleic (vernolic) acid is present as a constituent of the glycerides. On the other hand, the cyclopropenoid material in U. lobata oil was characterised as a mixture of malvalic (4.8%) and sterculic (6%) acids by the gas-liquid chromatography (g.l.c.) of the silver nitrate-methanol treated methyl esters. Seed oils of Vernonia anthelmintica and Sterculia foetida were used as reference standards.

The characterisation and measurement of Hbr-reacting acids in Mucuna pruriens and Urena lobata seed oils

Seed oil ofPhyllanthus niruri (Euphorbiaceae) contains 1.2% ricinoleic (12-hydroxy-cis-9-octadecenoic) acid, previously unknown in the genusPhyllanthus. Identification is based on thin layer and gas liquid chromatography, infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry analysis as well as chemical methods. Other major components of the oil are linoleic acid (21%) and linolenic acid (51.4%).

Ricinoleic acid inPhyllanthus niruri seed oil

Seed oils ofSida acuta andSida rhombifolia were found to contain sterculic (110, 108%) and malvalic (17, 20%) acids respectively, in addition to the normal fatty acids Co-occurrence of these acids was established by gas liquid chromatography of the silver nitrate-methanol-treated methyl esters usingSterculia foetida esters as a reference standard This gas liquid chromatography technique of quantitation was found most suitable to estimate these acids in low level cyclopropenoid acid-containing seed oils

Cyclopropenoid fatty acids in seed oils ofSida acuta andSida rhombifolia (malvaceae)

The seed oil of Malva parviflora L (Malvaceae) is known to contain glycerides of cyclopropene (malvalic and sterculic), cyclopropane (dihydromalvalic and dihydrosterculic), epoxy, and conjugated dienol acids By preparative thin layer chromatography, the epoxy and conjugated dienol acids were isolated as their methyl esters These were characterised as cis-12, 13-epoxy-cis-9-octadecenoic (vernolic) acid, and 13-hydroxy-cis-9, trans-11-octadecadienoic (coriolic) acid

Syed K. Husain

Papers

Hibiscus sabdariffa Seed Oil: A Re-investigation†

The characterisation and measurement of Hbr-reacting acids in Mucuna pruriens and Urena lobata seed oils

Ricinoleic acid inPhyllanthus niruri seed oil

Cyclopropenoid fatty acids in seed oils ofSida acuta andSida rhombifolia (malvaceae)

The nature of the oxygenated fatty acids present in Malva parviflora seed oil