Oleoresin

TERPENOIDS

INTRODUCTION

Terpenoids (or isoprenoids), a subclass of the prenyllipids (terpenes, prenylquinones, and sterols), represent the oldest group of small molecular products synthesized by plants and are probably the most widespread group of natural products.
Terpenoids can be described as modified terpenes, where methyl groups are moved or removed, or oxygen atoms added. Inversely, some authors use the term "terpenes" more broadly, to include the terpenoids.

More than 50,000 terpenoids have been isolated from both terrestrial and marine plants, and fungi. In contrast, only some compounds have been identified in prokaryotes. The first study of bacterial terpenes grew out of an investigation of the characteristic odor of freshly plowed soil reported in 1891 by the famous French chemist M. Berthelot (Berthelot M, et al., C R Acad Sci 1891, 112, 598). They noted that a volatile substance apparently responsible for the typical earthy odor of soil could be extracted from soil by steam distillation but they could not assign a structure to the odor constituent.
Some 75 years later M.N. Gerber studied the characteristic odor of cultures of Actinomycetales microorganisms, which are widely distributed in soil, and determined the structure of a C12 degraded sesquiterpene alcohol, the geosmin (means earth odor), likely detected by Berthelot (Gerber NN, et al., Appl Microbiol 1965, 13, 935). Later, numerous volatile terpenes have been detected in streptomycetes. The three most commonly detected are geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol and the tricyclic a,b-unsaturated ketone albaflavenone. The two terpene alcohols are the most frequently found secondary metabolites in actinomycetes, filamentous Cyanobacteria, and Myxobacteria, and also in a small number of fungi. Enzymatic studies have suggested that genes encoding terpene synthases are widely distributed in bacteria and that these genes represent a fertile source for discovery of new natural products (Yamada Y et al., PNAS 2015, 112, 857).

All terpenoids may be defined as a group of molecules whose structure is based on a various but definite number of isoprene units (methylbuta-1,3-diene, named hemiterpene, with 5 carbon atoms). 

Terpenoids are extraordinarily diverse but they all originate through the condensation of the universal phosphorylated derivative of hemiterpene, isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) giving geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP).

In higher plants, IPP is derived from the classic mevalonic acid pathway in the cytosol but from the methylerythritol phosphate pathway in plastids. It is generally accepted that the cytosolic pool of IPP serves as a precursor of sesquiterpenes, triterpenes, sterols and polyterpenes whereas the plastid pool of IPP provides the precursors of mono-, di- and tetraterpenes (Bohlmann J et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1998, 95, 4126). Some exceptions have been described showing that interactions between the two biosynthetic pathways may exist (Dudareva N et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005, 102, 933). 
A metabolic map giving the products of isoprene metabolism  and their pathways may be found at the Prof Nicholson web site

A rational classification of the terpenes has been established based upon the number of isoprene (or isopentane) units incorporated in the basic molecular skeleton:

Mono-, sesqui-, di-, and sesterterpenes contain the isoprene units linked in a head to tail fashion. The triterpenes and carotenoids (tetraterpenes) contain two C15 and C20 units respectively linked head to head. 
Many terpenes are hydrocarbons, but oxygen-containing compounds such as alcohols, aldehydes or ketones are also found. These derivatives are frequently named terpenoids.

Isoprenoid units are also found within the framework of other natural molecules. Thus, indole alkaloids, several quinones (vitamin K), alcohols (vitamin E, vitamin A formed from b-carotene), phenols, isoprenoid alcohols (also known as terpenols or polyprenols) also contain terpenoid fragments. The origin of the ubiquitous isoprene unit and its conversion into various compound has been extensively studied.The biogenesis, molecular regulation and function of plant terpenoids has been extensively reviewed by Bouvier F et al. (Prog Lipid Res 2005, 44, 357).
According to Bohlmann J et al. (PNAS 1998, 95, 4126), there are in excess of 1000 monoterpenes, more than 7000 sesquiterpenes and more than 3000 diterpenes.

MONOTERPENES

RUBBER

HISTORY

Terpenes history spans various civilizations. As they are largely found in essential oils, they were used in the Ancient Egypt for various religions aims. Camphor was introduced in Europe from the East by the Arabs around the 11th century.
The process of obtaining plant essential oils by fatty extraction was known by the early Middle Ages. In the 12th century, Arnaud de Villanosa described distillation of oils from rosemary and sage. He made an "oleum mirabile" from oils of turpentine and rosemary. It is noticeable that some 60 oils were described in the Nuremberg edition of "Dispensatorium valerii cordi" written in 1592.
Analyses of oils of turpentine were made in 1818 by JJ Houston de la Billardière. Dumas proposed in 1866 the name "terpene", derived from turpentine, instead of camphor for crystalline oxygenated substances extracted from essential oils. In 1887, Wallach O proposed that one isoprenic unit of 5 carbon atoms (C₅H₈) is always present in the molecule of terpenes (Justus Lieb Ann Chem 1887, 238, 78). 
The structure of camphor was established by Bredt in 1893, that of pinene by Wagner in 1894 and that of citral by Tiemann in 1895. b-Carotene was isolated in 1837 by Wackenrodder from carrots, and its correct molecular form was determined in 1907 by Willstätter.
The period since 1945 has seen an extensive explosion in natural product chemistry due to the advent of chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. The discovery of the isoprene unit is the basis of the concept of the "isoprenic rule" edicted in 1953 by Ruzicka L (Experientia, 1953, 9, 357) and completed by Lynen F et al. (Angew Chem 1958, 70, 738) and Bloch K et al. (J Biol Chem 1959, 234, 2595).
Mevalonic acid was shown in 1956 to be a biosynthetic precursor of cholesterol (Tavormina PA et al., J Am Chem Soc 1956, 78, 4498) and later, its incorporation into a number of terpenoids has been demonstrated. Actually, an increasing number of terpenoids are described in the plant kingdom and many of them were shown to have important biological activities. Thus, several sesquiterpenes and diterpenes have antibiotic properties, some sesquiterpenes and diterpenes are insect and plant hormones, respectively.