Psychoactive Plant Database - Neuroactive Phytochemical Collection

1. Sci Rep. 2024 Jul 16;14(1):16360. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-67482-z.

A new leaf essential oil from the Andean species Gynoxys szyszylowiczii Hieron. 
of southern Ecuador: chemical and enantioselective analyses.

Maldonado YE(1), Malagón O(1), Cumbicus N(2), Gilardoni G(3).

Author information:
(1)Departamento de Química, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), Calle 
Marcelino Champagnat s/n, 110107, Loja, Ecuador.
(2)Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Técnica 
Particular de Loja (UTPL), Calle Marcelino Champagnat s/n, Loja, 110107, 
Ecuador.
(3)Departamento de Química, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), Calle 
Marcelino Champagnat s/n, 110107, Loja, Ecuador. gianluca.gilardoni@gmail.com.

The essential oil obtained from the dry leaves of Gynoxys szyszylowiczii Hieron. 
was described in this study for the first time. The chemical analysis, conducted 
on two stationary phases of different polarity, permitted to identify sixty-four 
compounds, that were quantified with at least one column. The main components, 
on a non-polar and polar stationary phase respectively, were germacrene D 
(21.6-19.2%), α-pinene (4.4-4.9%), n-tricosane (4.3% on both columns), 
(E)-β-caryophyllene (3.3-4.3%), 1-docosene (3.2-2.8%), α-cadinol (2.8-3.1%), and 
cis-β-guaiene (2.6-3.0%). This investigation was complemented by the 
enantioselective analysis of some major chiral compounds, carried out on two 
chiral selectors based on β-cyclodextrines. As a result, 
(S)-( +)-α-phellandrene, (S)-( +)-β-phellandrene, and 
(1S,2R,6R,7R,8R)-( +)-α-copaene appeared enantiomerically pure, whereas 
α-pinene, β-pinene, terpinen-4-ol, and germacrene D were detected as scalemic 
mixtures. Finally, linalool was practically racemic. The distillation yield, 
analytically calculated by weight of dry plant material, was 0.03%.

© 2024. The Author(s).

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67482-z
PMCID: PMC11252159
PMID: 39014058

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no competing interests.


2. J Oleo Sci. 2024;73(6):865-874. doi: 10.5650/jos.ess24027.

Unsaponifiable Compounds and Phenols Content, Antioxidant and Antitrypsin 
Activities of Prunus persica Kernel Oil.

Landolsi C(1), Salem-Berrabah OB(2), Feki M(1), Harrabi S(1), Hosseinian 
F(3)(4).

Author information:
(1)Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, LR99ES11, Faculty of Medicine Tunis.
(2)Laboratory of Environmental Science and Technologies, Higher Institute of 
Sciences and Technology of Environment, University of Carthage.
(3)Food Science Program, Carleton University.
(4)Institute of Biochemistry, Carleton University.

Although peach kernels are rich in oil, there is a lack of information about its 
chemical and biological properties. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to 
determine the lipid profile, antioxidant capacity, and trypsin inhibitory 
propriety of peach oil extracted from two varieties (sweet cap and O'Henry) 
cultivated in Tunisia. The investigated peach kernel oil contains significant 
amount of unsaponifiable (2.1±0.5-2.8±0.2% of oil) and phenolic compounds 
(45.8±0.92-74.6±1.3 mg GAE/g of oil). Its n-alkane profile was characterized by 
the predominance of tetracosane n-C24 (47.24%) followed by tricosane n-C23 
(34.43%). An important total tocopherol content (1192.83±3.1 mg/kg oil) has been 
found in sweet cap cultivar. Although rich in polyphenols and tocopherols, the 
tested oil did not display an inhibitory effect on trypsin. However, all peach 
oil samples showed effective antioxidant capacity and the highest values 
(86.34±1.3% and 603.50±2.6 μmol TE/g oil for DPPH test and ORAC assay, 
respectively) were observed for sweet cap oil. Peach oil has an excellent 
potential for application in the food and pharmaceutical industries as source of 
naturally-occurring bioactive substances.

DOI: 10.5650/jos.ess24027
PMID: 38825540 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


3. Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 May;268(Pt 1):131503. doi: 
10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131503. Epub 2024 Apr 23.

Tandemly expanded OR17b in Himalaya ghost moth facilitates larval food 
allocation via olfactory reception of plant-derived tricosane.

Tang R(1), Guo H(2), Chen JQ(1), Huang C(3), Kong XX(1), Cao L(1), Wan FH(4), 
Han RC(5).

Author information:
(1)Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, 
Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, 
Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510260, China.
(2)College of Life Science, Institute of life Science and Green Development, 
Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China.
(3)State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, 
Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 
100193, China.
(4)State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, 
Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 
100193, China; Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern 
Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, 
Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural 
Sciences, Shenzhen 518120, China; College of Plant Health and Medicine, Qingdao 
Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China.
(5)Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, 
Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, 
Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510260, China. 
Electronic address: hanrc@giz.gd.cn.

Herbivorous insects utilize intricate olfactory mechanisms to locate food 
plants. The chemical communication of insect-plant in primitive lineage offers 
insights into evolutionary milestones of divergent olfactory modalities. Here, 
we focus on a system endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to unravel the 
chemical and molecular basis of food preference in ancestral Lepidoptera. We 
conducted volatile profiling, neural electrophysiology, and chemotaxis assays 
with a panel of host plant organs to identify attractants for Himalaya ghost 
moth Thitarodes xiaojinensis larvae, the primitive host of medicinal 
Ophiocordyceps sinensis fungus. Using a DREAM approach based on odorant induced 
transcriptomes and subsequent deorphanization tests, we elucidated the odorant 
receptors responsible for coding bioactive volatiles. Contrary to allocation 
signals in most plant-feeding insects, T. xiaojinensis larvae utilize tricosane 
from the bulbil as the main attractant for locating native host plant. We 
deorphanized a TxiaOR17b, an indispensable odorant receptor resulting from 
tandem duplication of OR17, for transducing olfactory signals in response to 
tricosane. The discovery of this ligand-receptor pair suggests a survival 
strategy based on food location via olfaction in ancestral Lepidoptera, which 
synchronizes both plant asexual reproduction and peak hatch periods of insect 
larvae.

Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131503
PMID: 38663697 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of competing interest The authors 
declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal 
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this 
paper.


4. Cytotechnology. 2024 Feb;76(1):123-137. doi: 10.1007/s10616-023-00603-0. Epub 
2023 Nov 24.

Effects of wasp (Vespa crabro) nest extracts on virus replication of Autographa 
californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus on Spodoptera frugiperda cell culture.

Çaldaş A(1), Börçek Kasurka C(1), Ertürk Ö(1).

Author information:
(1)Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Art&Science, Ordu 
University, 52200 Ordu, Turkey.

The antiviral properties of the extracts of Vespa crabro nests collected from 
the Black Sea, Turkey have been investigated on Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf) cell 
cultures of Autographa californica multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus 
(AcMNPV). The effect of nests on cell viability and cytotoxicity analysis and 
the antiviral assay was studied, and the cytopathic effects of the virus were 
detected. The nest's viral content was identified. The impact of nest extracts 
on the protein synthesis of the virus was investigated. Also interaction with 
pUC18 plasmid DNA was investigated, to analyse the protective effects of the 
Vespa crabro nest extract againist to hydroxyl radical-mediated DNA damage. 
50 µg/ml concentration of ethanol, acetone, and petroleum ether extracts of the 
nests reduced the cytopathic effects of baculovirus on Sf cells. The extracts 
delayed infection above 25 µg/ml concentration. When the effects of nest 
extracts on virus titer were evaluated; the 50 µg/ml concentration of the 
acetone extract of the nest showed the highest effect (75%) reducing the virus 
titer. 25 µg/ml concentration of the ethanol extract of the nest showed the 
lowest effect (33.33%) with a reduction. The presence of polyhedrin protein was 
observed at 25 µg/ml concentrations of acetone and petroleum ether extracts. 
When the potential of the nest extracts to repair DNA damage, the nest extracts 
were found to have a concentration-dependent repair feature in different 
applications. As a result of bioactive component analysis, (Z) 9-Tricosane and 
(cis)-2-nonadecene (1.65%) were found to have the highest % areas. In other 
respects, 1H-Purine-6-amine, 2-dodecanol and hexadecanoic acid compaunds were 
Additionally, 1H-Purine-6-amine, 2-dodecanol and hexadecanoic acid compounds, 
which are associated with antiviral activity, also determined in the 
biocomponent analysis.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material 
available at 10.1007/s10616-023-00603-0.

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2023. Springer 
Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights 
to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other 
rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of 
this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and 
applicable law.

DOI: 10.1007/s10616-023-00603-0
PMCID: PMC10828140
PMID: 38304627

Conflict of interest statement: Competing interestsThe authors declare no 
competing interests.


5. Insects. 2023 Dec 27;15(1):13. doi: 10.3390/insects15010013.

Predation Risk Effects of Lady Beetle Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius) on the 
Melon Aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover.

Lin X(1), Cui X(1), Tang J(2), Zhu J(1), Li J(1).

Author information:
(1)Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and 
Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, 
Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
(2)Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on Tropical Crops of Ministry of 
Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Environment and Plant Protection Institute, 
Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China.

Predation risk posed by natural enemies can alter pest performance. In our 
previous study, we found Menochilus sexmaculatus provides risk cues to melon 
aphids, resulting in increased numbers of winged aphids. However, the effects of 
predation risk on multiple traits including behavior, physiology, growth rate, 
and reproductive capacity of pests are not clear. This study examined the 
effects of predation risk on host preference, the activities of two important 
defense enzymes (CAT and SOD), longevity, and offspring production. The Y-tube 
trial results showed that the risk of M. sexmaculatus significantly altered the 
host preference of the aphids, leading to avoidance behavior. When exposed to M. 
sexmaculatus for a long period (24 h), the reproductive period and offspring 
production were significantly decreased, and adult longevity was significantly 
shortened. The defense enzyme activities of SOD and CAT, as well as the MDA 
content (which is considered a marker of oxidative stress and cellular damage) 
in the aphids, significantly increased under M. sexmaculatus risk. The compounds 
of M. sexmaculatus extracted with n-hexane and volatile compounds collected with 
HS-SPME were analyzed by GC-MS, and when combined with the behavior response 
experiment, the results showed that the alkane compounds n-henicosane, 
n-docosane, n-tricosane, n-pentacosane, and n-hentriacontane may contribute to 
the impact of predation risk. The results will be helpful in the comprehensive 
evaluation of the ability of lady beetles to affect the aphid population, and 
provide new ideas for using these compounds in aphid control.

DOI: 10.3390/insects15010013
PMCID: PMC10816753
PMID: 38249019

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.