Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.
1. Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Dec 7;17(12):2046. doi: 10.3390/ijms17122046. Comparative Study of Green Sub- and Supercritical Processes to Obtain Carnosic Acid and Carnosol-Enriched Rosemary Extracts with in Vitro Anti-Proliferative Activity on Colon Cancer Cells. Sánchez-Camargo AD(1), García-Cañas V(2), Herrero M(3), Cifuentes A(4), Ibáñez E(5). Author information: (1)Laboratory of Foodomics, Institute of Food Science Research, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Nicolas Cabrera 9, 28049 Madrid, Spain. andreap.sanchez@csic.es. (2)Laboratory of Foodomics, Institute of Food Science Research, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Nicolas Cabrera 9, 28049 Madrid, Spain. virginia.garcia@csic.es. (3)Laboratory of Foodomics, Institute of Food Science Research, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Nicolas Cabrera 9, 28049 Madrid, Spain. m.herrero@csic.es. (4)Laboratory of Foodomics, Institute of Food Science Research, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Nicolas Cabrera 9, 28049 Madrid, Spain. a.cifuentes@csic.es. (5)Laboratory of Foodomics, Institute of Food Science Research, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Nicolas Cabrera 9, 28049 Madrid, Spain. elena.ibanez@csic.es. In the present work, four green processes have been compared to evaluate their potential to obtain rosemary extracts with in vitro anti-proliferative activity against two colon cancer cell lines (HT-29 and HCT116). The processes, carried out under optimal conditions, were: (1) pressurized liquid extraction (PLE, using an hydroalcoholic mixture as solvent) at lab-scale; (2) Single-step supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) at pilot scale; (3) Intensified two-step sequential SFE at pilot scale; (4) Integrated PLE plus supercritical antisolvent fractionation (SAF) at pilot scale. Although higher extraction yields were achieved by using PLE (38.46% dry weight), this extract provided the lowest anti-proliferative activity with no observed cytotoxic effects at the assayed concentrations. On the other hand, extracts obtained using the PLE + SAF process provided the most active rosemary extracts against both colon cancer cell lines, with LC50 ranging from 11.2 to 12.4 µg/mL and from 21.8 to 31.9 µg/mL for HCT116 and HT-29, respectively. In general, active rosemary extracts were characterized by containing carnosic acid (CA) and carnosol (CS) at concentrations above 263.7 and 33.9 mg/g extract, respectively. Some distinct compounds have been identified in the SAF extracts (rosmaridiphenol and safficinolide), suggesting their possible role as additional contributors to the observed strong anti-proliferative activity of CA and CS in SAF extracts. DOI: 10.3390/ijms17122046 PMCID: PMC5187846 PMID: 27941607 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.