Abstract The essential oils from fresh plant material of Salvia officinalis L. (sage) were subjected to GC/MS analysis in order to determine the impact of the locality altitudes and seasonal variations on their volatile constituents. The sage plant material was collected from two different localities (altitudes 110 and 400 m) in central Herzegovina near Mostar and at four different stages of development: vegetative period (leaves and stalks, January 2003), prior to flowering (leaves and stalks, April 2003), in the course of flowering (flowering tops, leaves and stalks, May 2003) and after flowering (leaves and stalks, August 2003). The oil yields varied from 0.29% to 1.07%. The qualitative composition of the components appeared to be constant. However, there were notable differences in the amounts of several compounds depending on the stages of plant development. The main components were α-thujone (9.3–35.6%), camphor (6.9–29.1%) and viridiflorol (6.0–24.0%). Other important components were α-humulene (3.1–13.6%), manool (3.0–13.3%), 1,8-cineole (8.6–12.7%) and borneol (2.0–5.5%).

This study is related to the St. Ilija locality where S. brachyodon and S. officinalis grow together in the same habitat. The aim of present work is to provide the data on genome size and chromosome number of those two species, and to identify volatile constituents from the wild growing plants. 2C DNA values for both species and analysis of content and chemical composition of the essential oil of S. brachyodon Vandas of Croatian origin have not been reported to date.

In the present work, five aromatic species belonging to the Salvia genus were examined for the content and chemical composition of their essential oils. The materials used in this study originates from the plants growing wild in Bosnia.

The application of amyloglucosidase immobilized on the macroporous co-polymer of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and glycidyl methacrylate (poly (GMA-co-EGDMA)) in an enzyme reactor was shown. The higher thermostability of immobilized glucoamylases than the soluble one was demonstrated. Immobilized amyloglucosidase obtained by the periodate method shows two times higher thermo stability than the soluble form. Glucoamylases immobilized on poly (GMA-co-EGDMA) have good mechanical and chemical features in the reactor and when applied in a continuous flow reactor for 28 days no changes are observed. In this period periodate immobilized amyloglucosidase shows no decrease in activity. It showed potential for the continuous production of glucose from starch over a prolonged period of time.

Artemisia annua L., annual wormwood, is an aromatic herb of Asiatic and Eastern European origin that has also become naturalised worldwide. The plant is known as the only source of the traditional Chinese herbal medicine Qing Hao, which has been used for over 2000 years to alleviate fevers (1). The species received considerable attention because of its antimalarial properties. The plant activity has been established to be due to artemisinin (qinghaosu) a cadinene – ; ; ; type sesquiterpene lactone endoperoxide, present in the aerial parts. A. annua is also valued for its essential oil of which the characteristic sweet aroma has been described as grassy, fresh and bitter with camphoraceous nuance. The essential oil composition has been studied thoroughly and about 60 components were identified. Artemisia ketone, camphor, germacrene D and 1, 8-cineole are usually the main components. If the oils are grouped according to geographical origin the following groups can be established: chemotype 1, with 33-75% artemisia ketone and 15-56% artemisia alcohol, chemotype 2, with 9-22% camphor and 4-19% germacrene D, chemotype 3, with 64% artemisia ketone, 5-15% 1, 8-cineole, 4-16% a-pinene and germacrene D, and chemotype 4 with 37-53% artemisia ketone.

Mass spectrometry has been applied for the structural study of some new unsymmetrically 3,5-disubstituted 4-isoxazolecarboxylic acids prepared by a modification of the general procedure of Quilico and Fusco. The new glucoside, 3-[2-(β-D-glucopyranosiloxy)-5-chlorophenyl]-5-methyl-4-isoxazolecarboxylic acid (1) and 3-(2-hydroxy-3,5-dichlrophenyl)-5-methyl-4-isoxazolecarboxylic acid (2) have been prepared starting from the glucoside helicin, 2-(β-D-glucopyranosiloxy) benzaldehyde or the corresponding aglucon, the salicylaldehyde, respectively. Fragmentation patterns of 2 and its analogue 3-(2-hydroxy-5-chlorophenyl)-5-methyl-4-isoxazolecarboxylic acid (3), obtained by the cleavage of the glycosidic linkage of 1 are discussed. The principal fragmentation routes of these compounds are formulated to occur via azirine intermediates.