Ricerc@Sapienza

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Biofilm resistance to antimicrobials is a complex phenomenon, driven not only by genetic mutation induced resistance, but also by means of increased microbial cell density that supports horizontal gene transfer across cells. The prevention of biofilm formation and the treatment of existing biofilms is currently a difficult challenge; therefore, the discovery of new multi-targeted or combinatorial therapies is growing.

Due to renewed interest in the cultivation and production of Italian Cannabis sativa L., we
proposed a multi-methodological approach to explore chemically and biologically both the essential
oil and the aromatic water of this plant. We reported the chemical composition in terms of
cannabinoid content, volatile component, phenolic and flavonoid pattern, and color characteristics.
Then, we demonstrated the ethnopharmacological relevance of this plant cultivated in Italy as a

An experimental investigation on essential oil of a Montenegrin Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don fil. (Asteraceae) is reported. The essential oil was analysed in both liquid and vapour phases. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the liquid oil showed the predominance of sesquiterpenes with β-eudesmene (21.65%) and β-bisabolene (19.90%) as the major ones. Monoterpene fraction was mainly represented by α-pinene (16.90%) and neryl acetate (10.66%). Head-space technique revealed the vapour phase enriched of monoterpenes with α-pinene (78.76%) predominance.

In the last decade essential oils have attracted scientists with a constant increase rate of more than 7% as witnessed by almost 5000 articles. Among the prominent studies essential oils are investigated as antibacterial agents alone or in combination with known drugs. Minor studies involved essential oil inspection as potential anticancer and antiviral natural remedies. In line with the authors previous reports the investigation of an in-house library of extracted essential oils as a potential blocker of HSV-1 infection is reported herein.

In this work, nanotechnology was applied to the development of nanoformulations of essential oil (EO) and hydrolate from Lavandula x intermedia the formulations were appropriately designed to enhance properties and effectiveness of EO and hydrolate in order to widen their application in pharmaceutical, cosmetics or food fields. In particular, nanoemulsions were investigated to evaluate the impact of the formulation process on the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the encapsulated EO and hydrolate.

Origanum vulgare L. samples, marketed in different geographic locations, were characterized by their organic and inorganic chemical composition. A total of 35 commercial samples were collected from various sites and analyzed to determine the qualitative and quantitative profile of essential oils, phenolic compounds and some inorganic elements. The variation in the content and composition of the essential oil was assessed by GC and GC-MS analyses, the phenolic fraction was investigated by UPLCVR /PDA, and the inorganic elements were determined by ICP-MS.

In this work, an interesting application of phytochemistry for ethnopharmacological purposes was reported. In particular, the total phytochemical analysis of a single sample of Ajuga reptans L. (Lamiaceae) collected in Central Italy was carried out in order to provide a rationale for the use of this plant in folk medicine. This analysis was conducted on the volatile oil fraction by gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and on the polar one by means of classical column chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance and MS.