Ferula species

This oiJ is usually obtained l>v distilling thi gum resin of Dojemn with water. I ei Sian ammonlacum is derived from this plant, hut a certain amount of ammouiscum from other sources is derived frotii Ferula species. The yield of oil is very small, usually about 3 per eent. The oil Las lbe following characters -... 

Asafetida is the oleogum resin exudate obtained from certain Ferula species. It has a characteristic strong odor and is used as a flavoring in a variety of foods. The volatile oil obtainable by steam distillation is abundant in sulfur compounds. The flavor of asafetida is largely due to 2-butyl 1-propenyl disulfane, 1-methylthiopropyl 1-propenyl disulfane and 2-butyl 3-methylthioallyl disulfane, but in addition the four tri- and tetrasulfanes mentioned in Table 5 have been identified as minor components by GC/MS analysis. ... 

S-butyl, and isobutyl. They are considered to be the compounds which give peas their characteristic flavor (and odor) and are estimated to be present to the extent of one part in 10 to 10 parts. They have also been detected in oil from Ferula species (Umbelliferae) and the last-mentioned was detected in bellpeppers (Solanaceae). Their biogenetic origin is reasoned to be analogous to their laboratory syntheses from simple derivatives of known amino acids and glyoxal (210). 

Occurs in essential oil from Dorema cmmo-naiacum, D. Don. and many Ferula species. B.p. 124r-6°/0-7 mm. D " 0-8698. 1-48423. 

Source Ferula gummosa Boiss. (syn. F. galbaniflua Boiss. et Buhse) and other Ferula species (Family Umbelliferae or Apiaceae). 

Ashraf, M., R. Ahmad, S. Mahood, and M. K. Bhatty. Studies of the essential oils of the Pakistani species of the family Umbelliferae. XLV. Ferula assa-foetida, Linn (Herra Hing) gum oil. Pak J Sci Ind Res 1980 23 68-69. Ashraf, M., R. Ahmad, S. Mahood, and M. K. Bhatty. Studies of the essential oils of the Pakistani species of the family Umbelliferae. Part XXXV. Ferula assafoetida, Linn (Hing) seed oil. Pak J Sci Ind Res 1979 22(6) 308-310. Kleiman, R., and G. E. Spencer. Search for new industrial oils 16. Umbelliflorae-seed oils rich in petroselinic acid. J Amer OU Chem Soc 1982 59 29-32. Rajanikanth, B., B. Ravindranath, and M. L. Shankaranarayana. Volatile polysulphides of asafoetida. Phytochemistry 1984 23(4) 899—900. Shankaranarayana, M. L., B. Raghavan, and C. P. Natarajan. Odorous compounds of asafetida. VII. Isolation and identification. Indian Food Pack 1982 36(5) 65-76. 

This is now considered, continues the last-named authority, to be the genuine asafoctida plant but there is reason to believe that a gum-resin like asafeetida has been procured from other species of ferula. Ferula Perska has been described by Dr. Pope as the true asafeetida plant, and the Edinburgh Collega of Physicians admitted it as being probably one source of the gum-resin. That it really does yield asafeetida seems likely, moreover, from the strong odor of the drug which pervades the entire plant.—Pereira. 

A number of plant extracts and compounds have potent antimycobacterial properties. Examples of the species that appear to be among the most active include Allium sativum, Borrichia frutescens, Ferula communis, Heracleum maximum, Karwinskia humboldtiana, Leucas volkensii, Moneses uniflora, Oplopanax horridus, Salvia multicaulis, and Strobilanthus cusia. (Newton et al 2000). 

Besides the Drimys winteri, drimenol (2) was also found in many other natural sources [3, 4]. For example, it has been isolated from some species of the plants of the Warburgia [9] and Porella [10] families, from Polygonum hydropiper [11], some liverworts [12], Ferula ceratophylla [13] and fungi [14]. 

The discoveries of the isomeric dihydric phenols were as old as that of phenol itself. Catechol,(1,2-benzenediol, 1,2-dihydroxybenzene, o-dihydroxybenzene) was first obtained in 1839 essentially from the dry distillation of tannin. Resorcinol (1,3-dihydroxybenzene), was isolated in 1864 from the alkaline fusion of galbanum, and of asafoetida, resins, repectively from Iranian species of Ferula and Narthex asafoetida. In 1820 hydroquinone was recovered from the dry distillation of quinic acid although it was not investigated structurally until 1844 by Wohler. 

C24H30O3, Mr 366.50, colorless cryst., mp. 61 °C. 3-Famesyl-4-hydroxycoumarin from Ferula communis, an Umbelliferous species occurring in the Mediterranean region has significance for homeopathic medicine. Its high toxicity for domestic animals is a frequent cause of problems in the animal breeding industry I... 

Fenchane derivatives occur as fenchones and fenchols in several ethereal oils. Oil of fennel, obtained from the dried fruit of Foeniculum vulgare (Umbelliferae), contains up to 20 % (+)-fenchone, and is associated with limonene, phellandrene and a-pinene. (-)-Fenchone is isolated from the tree of life Thuja occidentalis (Cu-pressaceae), which is cultivated as hedges. The dextrorotatory enantiomer of a-fenchol with an endo OH, requested in perfumery, as well as its stereoisomers are found in fresh lemon juice, in oil of turpentine obtained from Pinus palustris (Pina-ceae), in ethereal oils originating from the Lawson white cedar Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Cupressaceae) and other plant families such as Ferula, Juniperus, and Clausena species... 

The Laboratory of Lactones, Coumarins, and Terpenoids (headed by Prof. G.P Sidyakin) studied various plants for lactone content, particularly for the lactones leucomisine and austricine, which were isolated from Artemisia leucodes. Both lactones possess pronounced anti-inflammatory action. As a compound possessing pronounced angio-protective, hypolipidemic, hypo-cholesterolemic, and anti-inflammatory actions, leucomisine has passed medical tests and has been introduced into medical practice under the preparation name Oligvon. Since 1970, systematic studies of chemical compounds found in various species of the genus Ferula, which grows in the territory of Uzbekistan and adjacent republics, have been conducted. As a result, more than 50 species of Ferula have been investigated, from which more than 250 new terpenoids, coumarins, and esters have been isolated and their chemical structures determined. Natural esters of mono- and sesquiterpene alcohols with aromatic acids were discovered for the first time in this lab (Kurmukov and Akhmedkhodzhaeva 1994). 

The Mm resin of certain species of Ferula, chiefly, in all probability, Ferula Narthex, and Ferula scorodosma, both perennial herbs, indigenous to Turkestan, Bokhara, Western Afghanistan, and Cashmii, yields, when distilled with water, about 3 to 20 per cent, of a somewhat foul-smelling oil. The oil has the following characters... 

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