Laurus

Camphor, Cj HjgO, occurs in the wood of the camphor tree Laurus camphora) as dextro-camphor. This is the ordinary camphor of commerce, known as Japan camphor, whilst the less common laevo-camphor is found in the oil of Matricaria parthenium. Camphor can also be obtained by the oxidation of borneol or isoborneol with nitric acid. Camphor may be prepared from turpentine in numerous ways, and there are many patents existing for its artificial preparation. Artificial camphor, however, does not appear to be able to compete commercially with the natural product. Amongst the methods may be enumerated the following —... 

Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. (Litsea citrata BL, Laurus cubeba Lour., Daphnidium cubeba), or pokok myuniak kayah puteh (Malay, Indonesian), is a shrub which grows wild in China, Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The stems are smooth the leaves are aromatic, simple, and exstipulate. The petiole is about 1 cm long. The blade is lanceolate, thinly coriaceous, 12—4 cm X 3-1 cm and shows six to eight pairs of secondary nerves. The fruits are globose and 3 mm in diameter (Fig. 26). 

Fagus sylvatica (beech nuts) Mentha species (mints) Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) Laurus nobilis (laurel)... 

BaP Laurel evergreen, Laurus nobilis leaves Florence, Italy 1994 0.03-0.5 DW 22... 

Laurie acid (12 0) from Laurus nobilis, the bay tree. 

Fiorini, C. et al., Acylated kaempferol glycosides from Laurus nobilis leaves. Phytochemistry, 47, 821, 1998. 

Laurel leaf oil is obtained by steam distillation of leaves from Laurus nobilis L. (Lauraceae), an evergreen tree cultivated primarily in Mediterranean countries. The oil is a light yellow to yellow liquid with an aromatic, spicy odor. 

Butyric acid is one of the simplest fatty acids. Fatty acids, which are the building units of fats and oils, are natural compounds of carbon chains with a carboxyl group (-COOH) at one end. Most natural fatty acids have an unbranched carbon chain and contain an even number of carbon atoms because during biosynthesis they are built in two carbon units from acetyl coenzyme A (CoA). Butyric acid is an unsaturated fatty acid, which means all carbon-carbon bonds are single bonds. Common names for fatty acids stem from their natural sources. In addition to butyric acid, some other common saturated fatty acids include lauric acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid. Lauric acid was first discovered in Lauraceae (Laurus nobilis) seeds, palmitic oil was prepared from palm oil, and stearic acid was discovered in animal fat and gets its name from the Greek word stear for tallow. 

The family Lauraceae consists of 50 genera and 2000 species of trees, shrubs, and herbs, of which 70 are of medicinal value in the Asia-Pacific region. Lauraceae are well-known for elaborating isoquinoline alkaloids and sesquiterpenes, the latter most likely representing a vast source of material for the search for NOS. Examples of such compounds are costunolide and dehydrocostunolide found in the leaves of Laurus nobilis (bay leaf, laurel), the leaves of which are widely used as a spice, antiseptic, stomachic, and to treat rheumatism in traditional European medicine (58). The potential of Neolitsea zeylanica Nees (Merr.) as a potential source of NOS inhibitor is discussed here. 

Glossocalyx brevipes (Monimiaceae) jnp 48,833 85 Guatteria goudotiana (Annonaceae) phy 30,2781 91 Laurus nobilis (Lauraceae) jnp 45,560 82 Xylopia danguyella (Annonaceae) jnp 44,551 81... 

Bay leaf Laurus nobilis L. Leaf Turkey, USA, Portugal... 

Kilic, A., Hafizoglu, H., Kollmannsberger, H. and Nitz, S. (2004) Volatile constituents and key odorants in leaves, buds, flowers, and fruits of Laurus nobilis L. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52(6), 1601-1606. 

AndronikashviIi, M. and Reichmuth, C. (2003) Repellency and toxicity of essential oils from Ocimum gratissi-mum (Lamiaceae) and Laurus nobilis (Lauraceae) from Georgia against the rust-red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum Herbst) (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae). Proceedings of 8th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection, York, UK, 22-26 July 2002, pp. 749-762. 

Beis, S.H. and Dunford, N.T. (2006) Supercritical fluid extraction of daphne (Laurus nobilis L.) seed oil. journal of the American Chemical Society 83, 953-957. 

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