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The essential oils from leaves of Pinus koraiensis, P. merkusii, P. palustris, P. parviflora, P. petula, P. ponderosa, P. pumila, P. rigida and P. rudis and cones of P. densiflora, P. rigida and P. taeda were investigated by GC-MS. Yields of the oils were 0.08-2.33 (w/w). α α α α α-Pinene (0.2-51.8%) and β β β β β-pinene (0.1-38.2%) were contained in both the leaf and cone oils of Pinus species. The monoterpene fractions of Pinus leaf oils comprised mainly pinanes and menthanes. Pinanes were present in greater amounts than menthanes in the leaf oils of all the species except P. petula. The leaves of P. pumila contained caranes as major components, whereas those of P. parviflora contained camphanes as major components. As for sesquiterpenes in the leaf oils, caryophyllane and/or the cadinane group were the major components. The leaf oils of P. merkusii, P. petula and P. rudis contained larger amounts of caryophyllanes than those of the cadinane group. The sesquiterpenes of these three species were mainly caryophyllanes, while in the sesquiterpene fraction of other Pinus species the content of the cadinane group was larger than that of caryophyllanes. Concerning cone oils, P. rigida and P. taeda cones were mainly composed of monoterpenes, while P. densiflora contained sesquiterpenes as the main components.

Pyroligneous acids (PA) from hardwood, softwood, and bamboo significantly disinfected encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV). Twenty-five kinds of phenolic derivatives in the PAs were identified and quantified. The total amounts of phenolic compounds in bamboo PA is higher than those in the PAs from softwood and hardwood. Phenol, 2-methoxyphenol, 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, and 2-methoxy-4-ethylphenol are the most abundant compounds in the PAs examined. The activities of all the phenolic compounds against the encephalomyocarditis virus were assessed. The number of phenolic hydroxyl groups significantly affects the antiviral activity, and catechol and its derivatives exhibit higher viral inhibition effects than other phenolic derivatives. In addition, substituents affect the antiviral activity of the compounds. Phenolic compounds with a methyl group show higher activities than with a methoxyl group (e.g., 2-methylphenol > 2-methoxyphenol). Moreover, the relative position of functional groups also plays a key role in the viral inhibition activity (e.g., 2,6-dimethoxyphenol > 3,4-dimethoxyphenol). Thus, PAs contain phenol derivatives with considerable structural diversity and viral inhibition activities, providing a new strategy for virus-inactivation treatment through the optimization of PA-derived phenol structures.

Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) of paclitaxel and related compounds from Taxus cuspidata (Japanese yew) bark has been investigated under various conditions. In ASE, pressure is applied to the sample extraction cell to maintain the heated solvent in a liquid state during the extraction. This method is able to shorten the extraction time and to increase the recovery of target compounds. In this study, ASE of paclitaxel, baccatin III, and 10-deacetylbaccatin III produced amounts of these compounds that were higher than those from ordinary solvent extraction at room temperature. The conditions providing the highest recovery of paclitaxel were as follows: solvent, MeOH-H2O (90:10); temperature, 150 degrees C; and pressure, 10.13 MPa (0.128% w/w recovery based on oven-dried sample powder). ASE does not require chlorinated solvents and can reduce solvent consumption because of its strong dissolving power. Moreover, with water alone, the recovery of paclitaxel and related compounds using ASE is much higher than with other extraction methods.

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