Ferula hermonis, a well-known species of the genus Ferula found in Lebanon and Syria, has a brilliant history in traditional medicine as it has been used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men and menopausal disturbances in women. Thanks to modern pharmacological and clinical investigations, is a valuable medicinal and condimental plant that may be used for the treatment of impotence and diabetes, the prevention of osteoporosis, and possesses anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. Phytochemical investigations have shown that this plant contains daucane aryl esters such as ferutinin, which has exhibited various biological activities including hypoglycemic and estrogenic activities. Ferutinin is one of the strongest natural phytoestrogen which has agonistic activity on estrogen receptors, particularly α receptor. It seems that ferutinin and its derivatives play an important role in biological activities, mainly the beneficial effects of this plant on impotence, diabetes and osteoporosis. The present review discusses the available data on the active constituents and biological activities of and their possible underlying mechanisms of action.

The thermal degradation of lutein is investigated in refined sunflower and olive oils at a selected temperature (40 °C) for 3 months. All experiments are performed with lutein (6 mg ml−1) that is obtained from marigold flowers. Samples of the pigment in oil are incubated at 40 °C for up to 3 months and each month, the amount of lutein is monitored by a spectrophotometric method. A kinetic analysis of the data shows that thermal degradation is in accordance with the first‐order kinetics. The k values of lutein degradation in sunflower oil and olive oil are estimated to be 44 × 10−4 and 186 × 10−4, respectively. In the presence of vitamin E (15 mg ml−1), the k values are decreased and reach 24 × 10−4 and 72 × 10−4 in sunflower and olive oils, respectively. These results suggest that lutein is approximately four times more stable in sunflower oil than olive oil. Practical Applications: The obtained degradation kinetics of lutein in olive oil and sunflower oil under different thermal conditions can be used for designing pharmaceutical formulations with high stability and bioavailability in the future. In order to assess the degradation behavior of the lutein in oily media, a treatment is performed at 40 °C for 3 months and UV‐visible spectroscopy is performed for qualitative analysis.