Selection and characterization of peat and plant materials for biocidal preparations

Sphagnum moss and peat formed on its basis is estimated by experts as ecologically pure raw material resource for development of new effective medicines as their structure contains a wide set of biologically active compounds of different classes: polysaccharides, uronic acids, flavonoids, phenocarboxylic acids, aldehydes, coumarins, triterpene compounds, organic acids, mineral salts, and in peat also humic substances. The objects of the study were sphagnum magellanicum and sphagnum fuscum peat and 4 samples of sphagnum moss: Sph. magellanicum, Sph. fuscum, Sph. angustifolium and Sph. apiculatum which in the future is supposed to be used as a raw material for preparation of biocidal agents. The geobotanical and physico-chemical characteristics of the selected samples was carried out. All of them are characterized by low ash content (1.32–3.59 %), high content of organic substances and their active acidity is within the range 3.8–4.4 units, which is typical for sphagnum-type raised peat and sphagnum moss. In the infrared spectra of all samples observed absorption bands due to valence and strain vibrations of hydroxyl, carboxyl, carbonyl, amide and other functional groups of carbohydrates, phenols, alcohols, organic acids, esters of aliphatic and aromatic nature, typical for plants-peat formers and upper peats of low degree of decomposition. It has been established that samples of sphagnum mosses and sphagnum peat are labile hemicellulose-containing raw materials; the amount of easily hydrolyzable polysaccharides in mosses reaches 55 %, in peats – 45 % of organic matter. The content of reducing substances in hydrolysates of hemicelluloses of mosses is 55–59 %, that of peat is 53–54 %. The mass fraction of cellulose in the organic matter of sphagnum mosses is 23–26 %, in peat 22–24, in humic substances 17.7–20.9 %. All samples contain small amounts (0.8–2.3 %) of extractive substances extracted by organic solvents and 7.1–13.0 % of lignin. Literature data, as well as the performed spectral and chemical characteristics of the selected samples showed that among the biologically active substances found in their composition, the most interesting are polysaccharide and phenolic complexes, since the pharmacological properties of sphagnum mosses and low-degradation peat can be attributed to the presence of these compounds.

1. Podterob A. P. Istoriya primeneniya rastenij roda Sphagnum v medicine [History of application of plants of genus Sphagnum in medicine]. Himiko-farmacevticheskij zhurnal = Chemico-Pharmaceutical J., 2002, no. 36 (4), pp. 7–29. (in Russian)

2. Babeshina L. I., Kapus N. I. Istoriya i perspektivy ispol'zovaniya sfagnovyh mhov v medicine [History and prospects for the use of sphagnum mosses in medicine]. Tomsk, Science Publ., 2016, 189 p. (in Russian)

3. Dmitruk V. N., Belousov M. V., Babeshina L. G. Farmakologicheskoe issledovanie rastenij roda Sphagnum [Pharmacological study of plants of the genus Sphagnum]. Germany, Lambert Publ., 2011, 261 p. (in Russian)

4. Fed'ko I. V. Himiko-farmakologicheskoe issledovanie specificheskih organicheskih veshchestv torfa. Diss. cand. farmatsevt. nauk [Chemico-pharmacological study of specific organic substances of peat. Cand. pharm. sci. diss.]. 2006, 128 p. (in Russian)

5. Naumova G. V., Thomson A. E., Zhmakova N. A., Makarova N. L., Ovchinnikova T. F. Biologicheski aktivnye soedineniya razlichnyh vidov sfagnovogo torfa [Biologically active compounds of various kinds of sphagnum peat]. Himiya tverdogo topliva = Chemistry of Solid Fuels, 2015, no. 3, pp. 8–13. (in Russian)

6. Naumova G. V., Zhmakova N. A., Makarova N. L., Ovchinnikova T. F. Fenol'nye soedineniya sfagnovogo torfa [Phenolic compounds of sphagnum peat]. Himiya tverdogo topliva = Chemistry of Solid Fuels, 2013, no. 1, pp. 24–27. (in Russian)

7. Babeshina L. G., Gorina Y. V., Kolokolova A. P., Krasnov E. A., Karpova M. R. Issledovanie polisaharidov nekotoryh vidov roda Sphagnum L. [Study of polysaccharides of some species of the genus Sphagnum L.]. Zhurnal Sibirskogo federal'nogo universiteta. Himiya = J. of Siberian Federal University. Chemistry, 2011, no. 3, pp. 413–422. (in Russian)

8. Korsun V. F., Korsun E. V., Kozin V. M. Ob ispol'zovanii torfa v onkologicheskoj praktike [On the use of peat in oncological practice]. Soprovoditel'naya fitoterapiya = Companion phytotherapy. Moscow, 2015, pp. 58–67. (in Russian)

9. Belousov M. V., Akhmedjanov P. P., Yusubov M. S., Dmitruk V. N., Babeshina L. G., Dmitruk S. E. Farmakologicheskaya aktivnost' etanol'nogo ekstrakta iz sfagnuma burogo (Sphagnum fuscum (Shimp) Klinggr) [Pharmacological activity of ethanol extract of brown sphagnum (Sphagnum fuscum (Shimp) Klinggr)]. Himiya rastitel'nogo syr'ya = Chemistry of vegetable raw materials, 2008, no. 3, pp. 129–134. (in Russian)

10. Pimenova A. A., Anan'ina I. V., Samohvalova N. V., Otshamov D. Yu., Leonov V. V. Sredstvo antibakterial'noe na osnove ekstrakta mha sfagnuma [Antibacterial remedy based on an extract of sphagnum moss]. Patent RF, no. 2 706 218, 2017. (in Russian)

11. Dmitruk S. E., Babeshina L. G., Dmitruk V. N. Sredstvo, obladayushchee protivovospalitel'nym i boleutolyayushchim dejstviem, sposob ego polucheniya [Means having anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect, the method of its production]. Patent RF, no. 2 396 973, 2008. (in Russian)

12. GOST 11305–2013. Torf i produkty ego pererabotki. Metody opredeleniya vlagi [State Standard 11305–2013 Peat and products of its processing. Methods of moisture determination]. Moscow, Standartinform Publ., 2013, 7 p. (in Russian)

13. Lishtvan I. I., Korol' N. T. Osnovnye svojstva torfa i metody ih opredeleniya [Basic properties of peat and methods of their determination]. Minsk, 1975, pp. 183–194. (in Russian)