Essential oils (EO) extracted from Achillea filipendulina, Prangos ferulacea, and Pelargonium graveolens were investigated for their extraction yields and antimicrobial activity. Aerial parts of the plants were harvested during the flowering or early flowering stages from different regions of Armenia and subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The yield of essential oils reached 0.5% for A. Filipendulina, approximately 4% for P. Ferulacea and 0.1–0.2% for P. graveolens. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated using disk-diffusion assays against a panel of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli strains, as well as yeast species and presented by their minimum inhibitory concentration values (MIC). All tested EOs exhibited bactericidal activity with effective MIC values, although their efficacy was strain dependent. Among the investigated oils, P. graveolens EO showed the broadest antimicrobial spectrum, demonstrating strong antibacterial activity and exclusive anti-yeast effects. Growth kinetics analysis further confirmed the inhibitory impact of the EOs on both antibiotic-sensitive and resistant E. coli strains, as evidenced by reduced specific growth rates and prolonged generation times. Overall, these findings indicate that the studied essential oils, particularly P. graveolens, represent promising natural antimicrobial agents and warrant further investigation.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is often associated with deficit levels of neurotransmitters acetylcholine (ACh) due to hydrolysis by acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Oxidative damage is also found to contribute to AD. Since neurons are vulnerable to high amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS), damaged neurons lead to declined cognitive and learning abilities. In addition, the current medications for AD pose worrying side effects to AD patients. Hence, more efforts have been made to discover the potential of plants in providing safer alternatives for AD treatment since they are rich with bioactive compounds like phenolics and flavonoids. The scope of this review is narrowed to Asteraceae family plants: Achillea filipendulina, Achillea millefolium, Artemisia herba-alba, Calendula officinalis, Enhydra fluctuans and Hertia cheirifolia. In the present study, the relationship between total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant property have been investigated in these plants subjected to different extraction techniques, plant parts, solvent polarity, type of extracts and plant harvesting period. Effects of these factors in anti-AChE activity were also discussed. Besides that, the possible synergistic effects between antioxidant and anti-AChE in the plants have been identified. The summarised results have proven that different extraction parameters bring about different bioactivity intensities. Next, results showed a strong, positive relationship between TPC, TFC and antioxidant activity except for C. officinalis where its root methanolic extract demonstrated an opposite trend. Furthermore, possible dual effects in plants were detected in four out of five plants reviewed except for A. herba-alba methanolic extract whereby the plant exhibited greater antioxidant properties while its essential oil demonstrated stronger anti-AChE properties. This study emphasized the paramount importance of considering all factors that influence the composition of bioactive compounds and their desired biological activities. Moreover, our findings on the knowledge of possible dual effects in selected plants could advance the development of therapeutic drugs in AD treatment.

Achillea filipendulina is a flowering perennial herb belonging to Asteraceae family that grows in meadows and roadsides. It is used in traditional medicine and is reported to have antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Deep eutectic solvent (DES) is considered as alternative-systems due to its non-toxic structure. This study aimed to compare the antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of DES and ethanol extracts of flowers of A. filipendulina. In antibacterial assays, MIC values of DES and ethanol extracts were found to be 12.5 and 6.25 mg/mL for E. coli, 25 and 12.5 mg/mL for S. aureus, respectively. In the disk diffusion method, ethanol extracts are more effective than DES extracts. The IC50 value of ethanol extract was 239.1±2.6 μg/mL while that of DES extract was 1272.6±101.3 μg/mL in T24 bladder cancer cell line after 48 h. In the healthy BJ dermal fibroblast cell line, the IC50 values of ethanol and DES extracts were 426.7±9.8 and 1304.3±102.8 μg/mL, respectively after 48 h. The cytotoxic effect of both extracts on T24 cells is greater than BJ cells. Although ethanol extracts have higher cytotoxic and antibacterial activities, there is potential for different results to be obtained after extractions using different DES components due to their properties.

Antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer effects of Achillea filipendulina L. against colon cancer

ABSTRACT Achillea filipendulina is a native aromatic plant with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. This research aimed to determine and compare the essential oil content and composition of different populations of this plant in farm condition. Seeds provided by the Natural Resources Gene Bank of Iran were sown in a field experiment over two years. Essential oils from the aerial parts of all populations, at full flowering stage, were obtained by hydro-distillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The oil yields ranged from 0.13% to 1.20%. Twenty-six compounds were identified with 1,8-cineole (2.0–73.5%), santolina alcohol (14.2–35%) and borneol (0.6–20.4%) as major components. Cluster analysis divided all accessions into two clusters. The main compounds in cluster 1 (two populations) were santolina alcohol, borneol, cis-chrysanthenyl acetate, bornyl acetate and α-pinene. The oils in Cluster 2 contained borneol, cis-chrysanthenyl acetate and high amount of 1,8-cineole (22.6–73.5%) as main components.

ABSTRACT Achillea filipendulina is a ornamental plant with various biological and pharmaceutical properties. Essential oil (EO) yield and composition, polyphenolic content, antioxidant activity and anatomical traits were assessed during four developmental phases viz. five leaves appearance, sprouting, 50% and 100% flowering. The yield of EOs ranged from 0.22% to 0.78% at five leaves appearance stage and 100% flowering stage, respectively. Samples collected at 100% flowering possessed the highest monoterpenes and the lowest sesquiterpenes derivatives compounds. 2,7-dimethyl-4(E),6-octadiene-2-ol was the most prominent component. The highest EO antioxidant activity was also observed at full-flowering stage. Also, 50% flowering stage contained the highest antioxidant capacity in comparison to the other phases. Finally, 50% flowering phase can be suggested as the optimal harvesting time for gaining high antioxidant capacity of phenolic extracts, while 100% flowering stage was more suitable in respect to favorite EO components and their antioxidant activity in this species.

The paper deals with the results of introduction studies of herbaceous perennials of the family Asteraceae Centaurea dealbata Willd., Helenium hoopesii Gray, Achillea filipendulina Lam; family Hemerocallidoideae Hemerocallis fulva L.; family Scrophulariaceae Penstemon digitalis Nutt. ex Sims in Surgut State University Botanical Garden. It has been established that their seasonal development is characterized by long vegetation; phenorithmotype has been identified as spring-summer-autumn-green, with a flowering period starting in late summer and autumn periods. The quantitative determination of pigments of the introduced species leaves has been carried out by a spectrophotometric method. As a result, it has been revealed that the pigment composition of the leaves of experimental perennials indicates their relatively high physiological status, species specificity and dependence on the phase of plants vegetation. It has been noted that the content of yellow pigments during the growing season was stable and several times inferior to the level of chlorophylls. An increase in the concentration of carotenoids and flavonoids of most of the experimental plants has been observed during the formation of generative organs and fruits ripening. The data obtained highlight the relevance of analyzed species as a source of decorative perennials stable in culture, characterized with long vegetation and flowering periods.

Abstract Plants of one or two cultivars of 16 annuals and 14 herbaceous perennials were evaluated based on desirability and anecdotal evidence of resistance to Phytophthora root or crown rot. Six plant cultivars served as susceptible controls. Three landscape beds were established in North Carolina and each was infested with three species of Phytophthora: P. nicotianae, P. drechsleri, and P. tropicalis. Plants were regularly rated for disease incidence and symptomatic plants were assayed to determine the presence of Phytophthora species. Ten cultivars of annuals and seven cultivars of herbaceous perennials did not exhibit symptoms of Phytophthora root or crown rot or other disease throughout the season (June 4 to October 15, 2018). Phytophthora spp. were recovered from seven and six cultivars of the evaluated annuals and herbaceous perennials, respectively. Phytophthora nicotianae, P. drechsleri, or P. cryptogea were recovered from a susceptible host in each landscape bed. P. tropicalis was recovered from one plant cultivar evaluated. Phytophthora cryptogea was recovered from three plant cultivars, although this species was not intentionally introduced in the landscape beds. We identified 22 plant cultivars within 13 herbaceous plant species that grew vigorously in landscape beds infested with species of Phytophthora. Index words: bedding plants, disease resistance, herbaceous perennials, landscape plants, Phytophthora nicotianae, Phytophthora drechsleri, Phytophthora tropicalis. Species used in this study: yarrow (Achillea millefolium L. ‘Desert Eve Red'), fernleaf yarrow (Achillea filipendulina Lam. ‘Moonshine Yellow'), angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia Benth. ‘ArchAngel Pink', ‘Serenita White'), annual vinca (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don ‘Cora Apricot', ‘Cora Strawberry', ‘Pacifica Raspberry'), celosia (Celosia argentea L. ‘New Look'), tickseed (Coreopsis auriculata L. ‘Nana', ‘Yellow Jethro Tull'), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench ‘Cheyenne Spirit', ‘PowWow Wild Berry'), blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora Hort. ‘Goblin', ‘Mesa Bi-color'), Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus ex Hooker f. ‘Crazy Daisy'), verbena (Glandularia canadensis ‘Homestead Purple'), >dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima (L.) Pelser & Meijden ‘Silver Dust'), New Guinea impatiens (Impatienshawkeri W.Bull ‘Hamony', ‘Sunpatiens Compact Orchid', ‘Sunpatiens Lilac'), sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. ‘Ace of Spades', ‘Bright Idea Tri-color'), West Indian lantana (Lantana camara L. ‘Miss Huff'), lantana (Lantana x hybrida ‘New Gold'), shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum (Bergmans ex J.W. Ingram) Bergmans ex Kent. ‘Becky', ‘Snow Lady'), bee balm (Monarda didyma L. ‘Petite Delight', ‘Jacob Cline'), ornamental grass (Panicum virgatum L. ‘Rotstrahlbusch', ‘Shenandoah'), geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum L.H. Bailey (pro. sp.) ‘Bullseye Cherry', Calliope Dark Red'), calibrachoa (Petunia x calibrachoa ‘Super Cal'), petunia (Petunia x hybrida (Hooker) Vilmorin ‘Easy Wave Red', ‘Easy Wave White', ‘Wave Purple', ‘Yellow Madness', Violet Picotee'), annual phlox (Phlox drummondii Hook. ‘Intensia Red Hot', ‘Phlox Star'), garden phlox (Phlox paniculata L. ‘Amethyst True Gal'), black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta L. ‘Indian Summer', ‘Prairie Sun'), mealy blue sage (Salvia farinacea Benth. ‘Victoria Blue'), African marigold (Tagetes erecta L. ‘Inca Yellow', ‘Proud Yellow'), French marigold (Tagetes patula L. ‘Disco Mix', ‘Disco Yellow'), narrowleaf zinnia (Zinnia angustifolia Kunth. ‘Star Orange', ‘Star White'), Phytophthora nicotianae Breda de Haan, Phytophthora cryptogea Pethybr. and Laff, Phytophthora drechsleri Tucker, Phytophthora tropicalis Aragaki and J.Y. Uchida, zinnia (Zinnia elegans Jacq. ‘Magellan Orange').

Achillea species (Asteraceae) are important medicinal foods widely used as traditional medicine, herbal tea, and food additives. In the present study, the chemical composition, antioxidant, cytotoxicity, and enzyme inhibitory activities (α-amylase, α-glucosidase, cholinesterase, and tyrosinase) of the essential oils (EOs) and ethanolic (EtOH) extracts from flowers and leaves of Achillea filipendulina were investigated. The EOs were characterized by the presence of 35 and 38 volatile constituents, representing 98.88% and 97.26% of the flowers and leaves oils, respectively. Chrysanthenyl acetate (19.11% and 16.26%), 1,8-cineole (17.18% and 12.01%), borneol (9.70% and 7.66%), and α-pinene (9.60% and 8.77%) were identified as the major compounds. Phenolics profiling showed 11 phenolic acid and flavonoids are presented in this herb flower and leaves EtOH extracts of which chlorogenic acid (214.95 and 154.54 mg/100 g extract), cinnamic acid (116.67 and 90.41 mg/100 g extract), and apigenin (204.89 and 228.28 mg/100 g extract) were the major ingredients. Moreover, the extracts contained significant amounts of total phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, and saponin compounds. All samples showed moderate to high inhibitory effects against key enzyme linked to Alzheimer’s and diabetes diseases. Furthermore, the extracts exhibited promising antityrosinase activity. Evaluation of antiproliferative activity exerted that flower of the plant had the highest effect on MCF-7 and Hep-G2 cell lines, while the plant essential oil didn’t have significant effect. Overall, our findings indicated that A. filipendulina has great potential for designing novel industrial formulations including pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals.

In this study, we extracted the essential oils of the stem, leaf, and flower of Achillea filipendulina, analyzed them, and studied their antibacterial properties. Of 16, 53, and 35 compounds identified in the stem, leaf, and flowers, respectively, only five are present in all three segments of the plant. The essential oil of the stem was mainly composed of neryl acetate, spathulenol, carvacrol, santolina alcohol, and trans-caryophyllene oxide. However, the main identified components of leaf were 1,8-cineole, camphor, ascaridole, trans-isoascaridole, and piperitone oxide and the main components of the flower oil were ascaridole, trans-isoascaridole, 1,8-cineole, p-cymene, and camphor. The extracted oil from different segments demonstrated varying antibacterial properties against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, demonstrated by disk, minimum inhibitory concentration, and minimum bactericidal concentration methods. These suggest that the application of all segments of aerial parts of A. filipendulina may have a better therapeutic effect in fighting pathogenic systems.

Oil extraction is one of the causes of soil contamination with the total petroleum hydrocarbons. The objective of this study was to clarify the effect of Asteraceae plants on the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon in contaminated soil. Initial soils with 40 and 90gkg-1 of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) were prepared. There were three treatments: (1) no addition, (2) addition of FeCl3 and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) solution, and (3) addition of FeCl3 + NTA and the cultivation of nine Asteraceae plants. The concentration of TPH was measured using infrared spectrophotometer, 2 and 3months after transplanting (MAT). Shoot and root dry weights were measured 3 MAT. The concentration of TPH in soil cultivated with Cosmos caudatus was lower than that of the initial soil (40gkg-1 TPH), 2 MAT. The concentrations of TPH in soils cultivated with Calendula officinalis, Callistephus chinensis, C. caudatus, and Tagetes sp. were also lower than that in the initial soil, 3 MAT. The concentrations of TPH in soils cultivated with Achillea filipendulina, Anthemis tinctoria, Tagetes erecta, Chrysanthemum coronarium, C. officinalis, C. chinensis, and C. caudatus were lower than that in the initial soil (90gkg-1 TPH), 2 MAT. The concentrations of TPH in soils cultivated with T. erecta, A. tinctoria, Zinnia elegans, C. chinensis, C. caudatus, and Tagetes sp. were lower than that in the initial soil, 3 MAT. A. filipendulina and C. coronarium died at both 40 and 90kg-1 TPH soils. These results suggest that the roots of Asteraceae plants degrade petroleum hydrocarbon in contaminated soil and C. chinensis and Z. elegans are more suitable for using TPH remediation. Plant survival and extensive root system are important factors for the remediation of TPH in contaminated soil.

In order to identify the endophytic fungi of some plants of the family Asteraceae, samples of Achillea filipendulina Lam. were collected from Golestan province (Iran) in spring 2016. The plants were rinsed gently with running water, and then were cut into 0.5–1 cm pieces. The surface sterilization was done by sodium hypochlorite (1.5–2.5% NaOCl), followed by 75% ethanol. The surface sterilized samples were placed on Potato-Dextrose-Agar (PDA, Merck, Germany) containing 50 ppm tetracycline, and incubated at 25±2 oC for 30 days. After purification, endophytic fungi was cultured on PDA and OMA (Oat Meal Agar) and exposed to 12 hr cycles of UV light and daylight for 14 days to stimulate sporulation. Their identification was based on morphological studies (Ahmed & Cain 1972, Arenal et al. 2005, Asgari & Zare 2010, Kornerup & Wanscher 1989). The method for measuring asci and ascospores and the terminology used for the descriptions are those used by Ahmed & Cain (1972).

A new perspective on evaluation of medicinal plant biological activities: The correlation between phytomics and matrix metalloproteinases activities of some medicinal plants

Plants from Asteraceae family have been reported with cytotoxic and apoptotic properties. In the present study, Achillea filipendulina, a member of this family was selected for assessment of its toxic potential on cancerous cell lines. Methanol extract of A. filipendulina was evaluated for cytotoxicity by MTT assay in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cell lines. The ability of the extract to induce programmed cell death was examined with annexin V assay. The alterations in SubG1 fraction in the breast cancer cell cycle were also evaluated. A. filipendulina demonstrated cytotoxicity on both cell lines with IC50 values of 386 and 248 μg/mL against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468, respectively. The early and late apoptotic cells were detected in annexin V assay and; increase in subG1 was observed in the cell cycle analysis for both breast cancer cell lines. Our results revealed that A. filipendulina is capable of inducing cell death via apoptosis.

The genus Nepeta (Lamiaceae) and Achillea (Asteraceae) are widely distributed in Turkey. In this study, the essential oils of Nepeta italica L. and Achillea filipendulina LAM. collected from Dicle district in Diyarbakir province in the Southeast Anatolia and from Hakkari province in East Anatolia of Turkey, were obtained by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts. The essential oils from Nepeta italica and Achillea filipendulina obtained by hydrodistillation were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry GC Clarus 600-MS Clarus 600 C (Perkin Elmer) and microelements were analyzed by Perkin Elmer Optima 2100 DV ICP OEMS, and also antioxidant activity analyzed by DPPH radical scavenging assay. Achillea filipendulina and Nepeta italica essential oils showed similar antioxidant activity with inhibition of 55.3 % and 51.3 %, respectively, which are higher than BHT synthetic antioxidant with 23 % inhibition.

The study was aimed to evaluate the anticancer activity of the essential oils from selected aromatic plants growing wild in Tajikistan against HeLa cells. The essential oils of Anethum graveolens (AG), Foeniculum vulgare (FV), Galagania fragrantissima (GF) (Apiaceae), Achillea filipendulina (AF), Artemisia absinthium (AAb), Artemisia annua (AAn), Artemisia rutifolia (AR), Artemisia scoparia (AS) (Asteraceae), Hypericum perforatum (HP) (Clusiaceae) and Hyssopus seravschanicus (HS), Melissa officinalis (MO), Mentha longifolia (ML), Origanum tyttanthum (OT), Salvia sclarea (SS), and Ziziphora clinopodioides (ZC) (Lamiaceae) have been obtained from fresh plant material by hydrodistillation. The cytotoxicity of the essential oils was determined using the MTT assay. IC50 values of cytotoxicity ranged between 0.09 and 0.96 mg/ml (Table 1). Their activity was in descending order: AG > AAb > AAn > FV > GF > HP > MO > OT > ML > ZC > SS > AS > AR > AF > HS. The essential oil of Anethum graveolens L. exhibited the strongest effect with an IC50 of 0.09 mg ml-1, while the weakest effect was noted for the essential oil of Hyssopus seravschanicus (IC50 0.96 mg ml-1).

<p>The study is devoted to investigations on bioecological features and corrective properties of two species from the family Asteraceae Dumort. (Achillea filipendulina Lam. and Calendula officinalis L.) and one species from the family Hypericaceae Juss. (Hypericum perforatum L.) which are growing in the flora of Azerbaijan. It has revealed that the extract obtained from the collection of these plants shows corrective influence.</p>

Several drying methods including freeze drying (FD), air drying (AD), and blanched or unblanched vacuum microwave drying (BVMD and UVMD) were applied to fresh flowers or leaves of Achillea filipendulina “Gold Plate”. The major headspace volatile components of fresh and dried samples were determined by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Spectrophotometric changes of total phenolics (TP) and tartaric esters (TE) in the samples were measured in their ethanolic extraction (80 % v/v). Hunterlab method was used for color determination of dried samples. VMD was the fastest among methods. Drying treatments affected the volatiles in both leaves and flowers and by using analysis of variances followed by Tukey’s pairwise comparison test, significant (p < 0.5) changes for the contents of TP and TE in dried samples was observed. However, either total volatile components or TP and TE were more concentrated in leaves compared to flowers in all treatments as well as fresh tissues. Hunterlab values revealed that FDflowers and leaves had the least darkened samples and followed by unblanched VMD treatment. Among the treatments, freeze drying method showed the best for aroma volatiles and phenolics retention, particularly, for dried leaves.

There are 19 Achillea species available in the Iranian flora and 7 of them are endemic. Various part of different species of the genus Achillea are widely used in folk medicine due to numerous pharmacological properties, such as antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, antiallergic and antioxidant activities. The antimicrobial activities of the essential oils and various extracts from several Achillea species have been reported before. As far as our literature survey confirms, the antimicrobial activities of leaves and flowers essential oil of Achillea filipendulina Lam. (Asteraceae) have not been studied before. Although there was a report concerning the chemical analysis of flowers essential oil, the chemical composition of leaves oil has not been investigated previously.

Invasive species can handle higher leaf temperature under water stress than Mediterranean natives