Ibrahim Nehal, Moussa Ashaimaa Y
Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
Food Funct. 2021 Mar 1;12(4):1498-1515. doi: 10.1039/d0fo02897e.
The genus Foeniculum is known for its wide ethnobotanical use in the Mediterranean region. Herein, we explored the compositional differences of volatile oils and headspace aroma of Florence fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum (Mill.) Thell.) based on its different organs and various geographical origins via gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Sixty-seven volatile components were detected with phenylpropenes and monoterpenes, including trans-anethole, limonene, α-pinene, trans-β-ocimene, fenchyl acetate, and fenchone, as major constituents. Phenylpropenes were dominant in fennel hydro-distilled oils, whereas monoterpenes were dominant in most of the headspace aroma. The infraspecific variability was assessed using the unsupervised multivariate data analysis tools PCA and HCA, resulting in segregate clustering of accessions from different organs and locations with trans-anethole, limonene, trans-β-ocimene, fenchone, myristicin, and apiole as major phytomarkers contributing to this segregation. The antiviral activities of samples against hepatitis A and C viruses were investigated using the plaque reduction assay, HAV 3C proteinase and HCV NS5B polymerase inhibitory assays with a percentage inhibition between 66% and 85% and IC50 values from 1.8 to 26.7 μg mL-1. In silico molecular docking scores in latter enzyme binding pockets revealed key allosteric interactions with trans-β-ocimene and β-fenchyl acetate showing the best Gibb's free energy. Florence fennel exhibited interesting new perspectives for medicinal and industrial applications.
茴香属植物在地中海地区有着广泛的民族植物学用途。在此，我们通过气相色谱-质谱联用（GC-MS），基于不同器官和不同地理来源，探究了佛罗伦萨茴香（Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum (Mill.) Thell.）挥发油和顶空香气的成分差异。共检测到67种挥发性成分，主要成分包括苯丙烯类和单萜类，如反式茴香脑、柠檬烯、α-蒎烯、反式-β-罗勒烯、乙酸小茴香酯和小茴香酮。苯丙烯类在茴香水蒸馏油中占主导，而单萜类在大多数顶空香气中占主导。使用无监督多变量数据分析工具主成分分析（PCA）和聚类分析（HCA）评估种下变异性，结果显示来自不同器官和地点的种质聚为不同类别，反式茴香脑、柠檬烯、反式-β-罗勒烯、小茴香酮、肉豆蔻醚和芹子烯为导致这种分类的主要植物标志物。使用蚀斑减少试验、甲型肝炎病毒3C蛋白酶和丙型肝炎病毒NS5B聚合酶抑制试验研究了样品对甲型和丙型肝炎病毒的抗病毒活性，抑制率在66%至85%之间，IC50值为1.8至26.7μg/mL。在后者酶结合口袋中的计算机模拟分子对接分数显示与反式-β-罗勒烯和乙酸β-小茴香酯有关键的变构相互作用，显示出最佳的吉布斯自由能。佛罗伦萨茴香在医药和工业应用方面展现出有趣的新前景。
