Ricerc@Sapienza

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) phenols represent a significant part of the intake of antioxidants and bioactive compounds in the Mediterranean diet. In particular, hydroxytyrosol (HTyr), tyrosol (Tyr), and the secoiridoids oleacein and oleocanthal play central roles as anti-inflammatory, neuro-protective and anti-cancer agents. These compounds cannot be easily obtained via chemical synthesis, and their isolation and purification from EVOO is cumbersome. Indeed, both processes involve the use of large volumes of organic solvents, hazardous reagents and several chromatographic steps.

In this work, the first phytochemical analysis on Cephalanthus glabratus (Spreng.) K.Schum. regarding its composition in iridoids was reported. The analysis was carried out by following current usual methodologies in the extraction, separation and identification procedures. Four compounds were isolated, i.e., the iridoid loganin (1) and the seco-iridoids sweroside (2), secologanin (3) and secoxyloganin (4). Their presence allowed to provide important confirmations about the chemotaxonomy of the genus and the family this species belongs to.

This paper reports on the first phytochemical analysis ever performed on Jasminum tortuosum Willd. This analysis, mainly carried out by means of column chromatography separation, NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, led to the isolation and the identification of four compounds, namely the lignans ginkgool (1) and olivil-4'-O-beta-glucopyranoside (2) and the secoiridoids oleoside dimethyl ester (3) and oleoside 11-methyl ester (4).