The worldwide interest in the use of medicinal plants has been growing, and its beneficial effects being rediscovered for the development of new drugs. Based on their vast ethnopharmacological applications, which inspired current research in drug discovery, natural products can provide new and important leads against various pharmacological targets. This work pioneers an extensive and an updated literature review on the current state of research on Rosmarinus officinalis L., elucidating which compounds and biological activities are the most relevant. Therefore, a search was made in the databases PubMed, ScienceDirect and Web of Science with the terms ‘rosemary’, ‘Rosmarinus officinalis’, ‘rosmarinic acid’ ‘carnosol’ and ‘carnosic acid’, which included 286 articles published since 1990 about rosemary's pharmacological activities and their isolated compounds. According to these references, there has been an increasing interest in the therapeutic properties of this plant, regarding carnosic acid, carnosol, rosmarinic acid and the essential oil. The present manuscript provides an updated review upon the most reported activities on R. officinalis and its active constituents.

DHR seems to be a promising starting material with anticancer properties to further be explored.

Essential oils obtained from the NR (normal roots) and HR (hairy roots) of the medicinal plant Leonurus sibiricus root were used in this study. The essential oil compositions were detected by GC-MS. Eighty-five components were identified in total. Seventy components were identified for NR essential oil. The major constituents in NR essential oil were β-selinene (9.9%), selina-4,7-diene (9.7%), (E)-β-caryophyllene (7.3%),myli-4(15)-ene (6.4%), and guaia-1(10),11-diene (5.9%). Sixty-seven components were identified in HR essential oil, the main constituents being (E)-β-caryophyllene (22.6%), and germacrene D (19.8%). The essential oils were tested for cytotoxic effect, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. Both essential oils showed activity against grade IV glioma cell lines (IC50 = 400 μg/mL), antimicrobial (MIC and MFC values of 2500 to 125 μg/mL), and anti-inflammatory (decreased level of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ in LPS-stimulated cells).The essential oils exhibited moderate antioxidant activity in ABTS (EC50 = 98 and 88 μg/mL) assay. This is the first study to examine composition of the essential oils and their antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and anti-inflammatory activities. The results indicate that essential oils form L. sibiricus root may be used in future as an alternative to synthetic antimicrobial agents with potential application in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

The development of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) enclosing active pharmaceutical ingredients is of considerable interest, as their use in controlled drug release and delivery is very promising. Although nalidixic acid is an antibiotic with a broad spectrum of biological applications, effective mainly against Gram-negative infections, its oral bioavailability is low due to a poor solubility and slow dissolution. Herein, we report new metal–organic frameworks (BioMOFs) comprising nalidixic acid and divalent magnesium and manganese ions. These compounds showed an adequate cytotoxicity and improved antimicrobial activity, especially against Gram-negative bacteria. These BioMOFS are among the first examples containing active pharmaceutical ingredients as linkers. Importantly, it is shown that a remarkable increase of the antimicrobial activity of certain antibiotics may be achieved by delivering them in the form of BioMOFs.