European Journal of Medicinal Plants

Hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is currently a real public health problem. This disease affects about one billion people worldwide and is responsible for more than 70% of cardiovascular related deaths. Recently, the World Health Organization reported that of the hypertensive cases detected in Congo, only 7% were controlled. Today, there is no lifetime treatment and existing drugs are less accessible by the African population. To treat the disease, the Congolese population uses more the medicinal plants. However, the majority of compounds responsible for the biological activity of these plants are not known. In order to bring out Congolese plants with antihypertensive properties, we focus our interest on Trema orientalis Blume (Canabaceae).

An ethanolic extract of the leaves of Trema orientalis was prepared after successive depletion of the organic solvents. Thereafter, a bio-guided fractionation on silica gel of the ethanol extract was carried out. Fractionation monitoring was done by TLC and the results of vasodilating activity measured. The fractions exhibiting the best biological activity allowed a second fractionation process to obtain five fractions which are characteristic of polyphenols, in particular flavonoids, and which exhibited good vasodilating activity on the isolated aorta of rats. Our future work will focus on the identification of these biologically active compounds.

Indium tin oxide was prepared by using simple co precipitation method with Neem extract as reducing agent and it was characterized by using X-ray diffractometer, with the applications of antioxidant effect, the prepared sample was directly calcined at 400ºC and then characterized. Morphological studies were analyzed by using Transmission Electron Microscopy and Selective area diffraction pattern. The crystal sizes were calculated and it value is nearly 12 nm. Here, Williamson-Hall (W–H) have been used to investigate the particle size and the intrinsic strain from the XRD peak broadening analysis.

The guava tree is the fruit of the guava tree of the species Psidium guajava L. belonging to the family of Myrtaceae a rustic fruit and adapts to the most varied types of soils. It is a fleshy fruit, thin-skinned, green, or when mature yellowish and very rich in soluble fibers. Seed germination is influenced by factors such as substrate, which can improve germination, resulting in the acquisition of more vigorous seedlings. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Tocantins, Gurupi/TO, in 2017. The seeds of guava Kumagai and Paluma (Psidium guajava L.) used in the experiment were taken directly from the fruit, which was collected in the urban region of Gurupi in March 2017. For the two varieties evaluated, both for the first emergence count and seedling emergence, the substrates stood out: organic compound + black earth + commercial substrate (55% and 37%) (67% and 49%), washed sand + rice straw + black earth (52% and 36%) (52% and 36 %) lower substrates: washed sand (46% and 10%) (66% and 35%) and rice straw + sawdust + black ground (47% and 7%) (59% and 31%), respectively. The substrates: organic compound + black earth + commercial substrate and washed sand + rice straw + black earth provided the highest values of viability and vigour in white and red pulp guava seeds.

Aims: To investigate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of ethyl acetate extract of  Moringa oleifera flowers.

Place and Duration of Study: The research work was carried out at Research laboratory, Department of chemistry, Periyar E.V.R College, Trichy-23, between April 2017 and January 2018.

Methodology: Extraction and fractionation were carried out from the solvents of ethanol, benzene, petroleum ether, diethyl ether and ethyl acetate.  The anti-inflammatory effect of the extract was investigated by HRBC membrane stabilization and Albumin denaturation methods. Anti-oxidant effect of the extract was determined by DPPH assay and ABTS method.

Results: The dry sample extracted from the ethyl acetate fraction of Moringa oleifera flowers possess highly anti-oxidant activity showed by the DPPH assay and ABTS method and also having anti-inflammatory activity is determined by human red blood cell (HRBC) membrane stabilization and Albumin denaturation methods. However, these effects need to be confirmed using in vivo models and clinical trials before its utilization as a therapeutic agent.

Conclusion: The present study was concluded that the dry sample of ethyl acetate fraction of Moringa oleifera flowers possesses effective anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

The present study was aimed to investigate the histochemical and phytochemical studies of four important medicinal plants. Leaf, stem and root sections were examined for alkaloid, protein and phenolic tests. Methanolic extracts of leaf, stem and root were analysed for the phytochemical screening of major bioactive constituents. Histochemical analysis reveals the presence of alkaloids, phenols and proteins in epidermis, cortex and vascular bundles of root, stem and leaf. Preliminary phytochemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenols, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, terpenoids, coumarins, quinone and proteins. The root extract of Catharanthus roseus recorded maximum content of phenols compared to other extracts. Costus pictus root and leaf extracts exhibited a significant amount of flavonoids and tannins respectively. Further studies were focused on isolation and characterization of each plant compounds.

Aim: To study the effect of shade net on the growth characteristics of two medicinal plants viz., Tulsi and Indian Borage in terms of plant height, number of leaves, leaf area and flowering in relation to open condition.

Place and Duration of Study: Lawspet, Puducherry, India between June 2018 and October 2018.

Methodology: Tulsi and Indian Borage plants were grown in similar type of soil. The potted plants were kept in open, 35% and 75% shade net conditions and studied for 3 months. The plant height, number of leaves, and leaf area were measured including number of inflorescence branches for Tulsi.

Results: The average air temperature was lower under shade net. Relative humidity was more in shade net conditions with maximum in 75% shade and least in open conditions. The number of leaves of Tulsi and Indian Borage recorded was maximum when grown under 35% shade and least in open conditions. Plant height was maximum in 75% shade for Tulsi and 35% shade in Indian Borage and least in open conditions on both the cases. Leaf area was maximum for both Tulsi and Indian Borage in 75% shade.

Conclusion: Growth of the two medicinal plants was influenced by the microclimate conditions. The present study shows that the medicinal plants can be grown in shade net conditions to increase the yield of medicinally useful parts.

Aims: Nilavembu kudineer chooranam is one of the best polyherbal formulations in Siddha tradition of medicinal practice. This formulation has nine herbs as ingredients. This research article explores the scientific analysis of the therapeutic and phytochemical potential of this herbal formulation.

Methodology: In this study, Nilavembu Kudineer Chooranam is extracted with hot ethyl acetate using a Soxhlet apparatus. This study focuses on the pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, physico-chemistry TLC analysis and antioxidant ability of Nilavembu Kudineer chooranam. High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) is used to analyze the extract of Nilavembu Kudineer Chooranam to screen for active principles. Antioxidant activity of Nilavembu Kudineer Chooranam was determined using DPPH assay. Gas Chromatogram Mass Spectrometric method (GCMS) was carried out in the ethyl acetate extract of NKC for phytochemical analysis.

Results: The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the ethyl acetate extract of Nilavembu Kudineer Chooranam reveals the presence of phytochemicals. The quantitative phytochemical estimations show the presence of 0.082 mg of alkaloid, 5.81 mg of flavanoid, 4.32 mg of tannin and 0.736 mg of phenolics in ethyl acetate extract. The HPTLC analysis confirmed the presence of such phytochemicals that are well known for their medicinal properties. The percentage of moisture content, total Ash, acid-soluble ash, and a water-soluble ash content of NKC were found to be 3.7%, 9.07%,1.66%, and 0.75% respectively. The fluorescence analysis of NKC powder with different chemical reagents revealed the presence of several active principles in the extract. The antioxidant ability of NKC extract was also assessed by FACS analysis using DCFDA assay in THP-I (human monocyte) cells.

Conclusion: In this in-vitro assay NKC extract significantly reduced the intracellular antioxidant levels in THP-I cells.  Thus the in-vitro assay further confirmed the antioxidant potential of NKC extract. It is apparent from the above results and discoveries that NKC makes a perfect health drink.

Introduction and Aim: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) has an important role in the biochemical studies indicating that AChE accelerates the formation of amyloid-β fibril and forms AChE-Aβ complexes in the brain. The medicinal plants of Curculigoorchioides Gaertn., and Oleo diox Roxb.  collected from Western Ghat region of Kodagu, Karnataka, India have many medicinal values such as antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic,  neuroprotective activity and anti-inflammatory property. Aim of the study was to check whether C. orchioides Gaertn. and Oleo diox Roxb. fractions significantly inhibit acetylcholinesterase in different concentration-dependent manner(1-3 mg/mL).

Results: Plant fraction concentrations resulted in >60%AChE inhibition as compared with the standard Galantamine. The IC₅₀ value was 0.15 mg/mL which was calculated from the equation of the percentage inhibition curve for the test or plant fraction. The Lineweaver-Burk plot indicated that the fraction followed competitive and non-competitive inhibition kinetics. Finally, we conclude that the type of plot exhibited by the C. orchioides Gaertn. and Oleo dioxRoxb. fractions has a possible therapeutic application for improving memory and other cognitive functions.The medicinal plant-based drugs are known to have limitations due to their fewer side effects and problems associated with bioavailability, which necessitates the interest in finding better AChE inhibitors from plant sources.

Both the plants Bacopa monnieri L. and Centella asiatica L. are known for their medicinal values for many years. These plants are being used to cure various diseases such as - ulcer, tumor, eczema and anemia etc. Most important use of these plants is as memory vitalizer. So, there is a need to analyse the morphometry of both the plants in their natural state. In the present study the morphometry of plants were recorded and soil test was done to know the quality of soil of different areas of Hazaribag, where these plants naturally grows. Result shows that plants has different morphometry in terms of plant length, root length, number of nodes, distance between nodes, number of leaves and area of leaves etc.

Fruits are highly nutritious, sources of vitamins, minerals, fibers etc. and these are part of our daily diet. However, during cultivation, harvesting, transportation, handling fruits get contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms which leads to severe problems to community. Owning to this point, in current research, bacteriological analysis was performed on Sofeda, Pineapple, Grape, Banana, Apple, Orange, Guava, papaya, Jujube and Starfruit. Total 50 samples were randomly collected from market and street vendors of Dhaka city. Higher numbers of rotten fruits were present in wholesale markets. 35 strains were isolated which included Salmonella spp., Acinetobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Staphylocoous aureus and E. coli. They were identified using biochemical test and antibiogram for selective isolates. In case of drug resistance of isolates, majority exhibited resistance against Erythromycin, Vancomycin and Amoxycillin and showing sensitivity against Ciprofloxacin and Ceftriaxone. It was observed in the current study that 100% isolates were resistant against Erythromycin, followed by Amoxycillin 90.63% and vancomycin 86.25%, where only 35.27% isolates were resistant against Ciprofloxacin. In case of sensitivity 64.73% isolates were sensitive against Ciprofloxacin followed by Ceftriaxone 66.25%. 

This study is the first report of a genetic stability analysis of a polyploid complex maintained in vitro for a long-time. Twenty-two accessions of Lippia alba, a medicinal species of economic importance, had been maintained under in vitro culture conditions for 7 years through sprouting of axillary buds. Four clones of each accession were analyzed, being three plants from in vitro bank and one cultivated in the field. We investigated the genetic stability of diploid, aneuploid, triploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid accessions. The investigation was carried out using flow cytometry, inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. No significant variation in nuclear DNA content was observed between the in vitro conserved plants and their respective field plant. Out of 23 ISSR primers screened, 8 primers were found to produce clear reproducible bands resulting in a total of 5456 bands. 86.36% of the analyzed plantlets (19 accessions) showed at least one polymorphic band. The polymorphic rate ranged from 1.61 to 33.87%. The SSR markers were used to confirm the absence or low occurrence of variation in accessions that showed no polymorphism or polymorphism for only one ISSR primer. The genetic instability detected in our study at the molecular level may be attributed to the natural instability of L. alba genome combined with the long-time in vitro maintenance.

Now a day’s green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from plants has an important role in biomedical science, drug discovery and also in biological field. In this investigation, we synthesize AgNPs using the aqueous solution of the leaf extract of 4 indigenous plant samples such as –Abroma augusta, Barringtonia acutangula, Dillenia indica & Eupatorium odoratum in room temperature (35±2°C). After that, formation of AgNPs were confirmed by UV-VIS spectrum, the answered (435, 445, 430 & 440 nm), respectively. The average size of the AgNPs also confirmed by Particle size analyser (PAS), the B. acutangular species showed the best quality of silver nanoparticles among the other plant extracts. FTIR analysis showed that five biomolecule groups like phenols, aromatic, alkyne, alkane and alkene were found in among these plant samples. Our findings suggest that the seed germination percentage, relative seed germination rate, relative shoot & root growth and germination index of the tested plant depends upon concentration gradient of synthesize AgNPs. At 0.6 mg/ml concentration, the tested plant samples give the best favorable growth condition.

As an titanium dioxide (TiO₂) with carbon supported materials, particularly in anatase phase, have been extensively investigated and utilized in many technological applications due to its excellent physicochemical properties. This article summarizes the recent progress in growing carbon supported anatase TiO₂ crystals from the perspectives of Bridgemen technique. The Bridgmen technique is used to grow this crystal with TiO₂ directly dissolved with carbon sources and 10 mL of Black Raspberry, as well as the performance in various applications are largely determined by external surfaces exposed, and thus crystal shape engineering is paramount for this type of materials. Furthermore, the antibody response against SRBC immunosuppressed with Hydrocortisone in Mice Model is explained here. This Crystal growth technique is also highlighted which would open a new field for the growth of single crystals with unique morphology. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of a antibody response against SRBC product containing on the induction of the Mice antibody response to various antigens, both systemically and in the gut. The Mice received subsequently were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to evaluate antibody responses in serum or with tetanus toxoid (TT) to measure the antibody response in gut contents. Control groups received phosphate-buffered saline. Overall, BSA and SRBC induced a detectable antibody response.

Composites of Telluride are an extremely rare element most commonly used in combination with other metals to increase their machinability and bioactivity due to its mild toxic nature. Bacteria are currently used to separate a number of elements from their sources, most notably in the bioleaching of Zinc and Silver from their ores. Using biosynthesis method Zn doped AgTe materials were synthesized and characterized by using X-ray Diffractometer, Fourier Transform Spectroscopy and its applications of bacterial results. From structural studies the crystal size was nearly 52 nm, and FTIR spectrometer shows the vibrational frequency of the Zn doped AgTe NPs. Five different bacterial strains both positive and negative and its bioactivity can be measured. The results that were obtained in this research including the Zones of Inhibition (mm) for all the gram positive and gram negative bacteria that were bio assayed in this research.

Objective: An ethnobotanical study of medicinal and aromatic plants was conducted in the region of Al-Hoceima (Morocco) to contribute to the knowledge of medicinal species used in traditional phytotherapy by the local population.

Methodology: Using 100 questionnaire sheets, a series of ethnobotanical surveys were carried out in the field during April and May 2019 among ordinary users of the plants. The ethnobotanical survey was carried out using a probability (random) sampling method.

Results: The results of this study showed that foliage is the most used part (46%) and the majority of the remedies are prepared as an infusion (46%). Medicinal plants are often used to treat digestive diseases (19%) and 42% of these plants are cultivated.

Conclusion: The surveys carried out made it possible to assemble information on medicinal and aromatic plants (the part used and the method of preparation) and on the profile of the informant (sex, age, academic level). Moreover, this study could have a great bibliographical value for scientific research in the fields of phytochemistry and pharmacology.

Aims: In the present study, the chemical constituents, antimicrobial and larvicidal potentials of hydrodistilled essential oil from the rhizome of Zingiber zerumbet were evaluated.

Study Design: The study was designed in different phases which are: collection of mature rhizomes of Zingiber zerumbet, hydrodistillation of essential oils, chemical analysis of the essential oils, determination of the antimicrobial potential and evaluation of larvicidal activity.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at School of Natural Science,              Vinh University, Vinh City, Nghệ An Province, Vietnam. The duration of the study was between August and December 2018.

Methodology: The rhizomes of Z. zerumbet were collected from Bến En National Park, Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam, in August 2018. The air-dry sample was subjected to hydrodistillation process using Clevenger-apparatus to obtained essential oils. We evaluated the larvicidal potential of the oil against Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes albopictus at 24 h and 48 h according to World Health Organisation protocol. The antimicrobial activity (MIC) was determined by microdilution broth susceptibility assay. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism (version 7.02). The LC₅₀ values, LC₉₀ values and 95% confidence limits were obtained by using XLSTAT v. 2018.5.

Results: The most abundant compound of the essential oil was zerumbone (51.3%). The essential oil showed mortality of 98.3% (24 h) and 100% (48 h) against the Ae. albopictus at concentration of 100 µg/mL. In the same vein, mortality of 100% was displayed against Cx. quinquefasciatus under the tested time and concentration. The essential oil exhibited larvicidal activity towards Cx. quinquefasciatus showing minimum lethal concentrations, LC_50, values of 33.28 mg/mL (24 h) and 21.81 mg/mL (48 h). The LC₅₀ values of 55.75 µg/mL and 36.22 µg/mL at 24 h and 48 h respectively were obtained against Ae. albopictus. The result of the antimicrobial test indicated that Z. zerumbet oil inhibited the growth of Aspergillus niger (ATCC 9763) with MIC of 50.0 µg/mL.

Conclusion: Results demonstrated that the essential oil of Z. zerumbet was effective in the control of tested mosquitoes, Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes albopictus and the microbe, Aspergillus niger.

The Urginea wightii is a well-established squill. The therapeutic activity is determined by the presence of pharmacological component present in the crude extract of Urginea wightii. To screen these active herbal components in a single plant material it requires a sophisticated, sensitive and a reliable analytical technique. As a preliminary screening study infrared spectrum provided information related to active functional groups of bulbous extract. This encouraging result evoked us for further accurate detailing of chemical components by advanced analytical techniques like liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The identified chemical constituents with possible molecular structures of pharmacological activity by LC-MS was found to be stigmasterol, hexadecanoic acid methyl ester and 1,3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2- hexadecenol. Similarly, when 1H NMR was performed an interesting molecule (2,3-dihydro-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one) having potential capability in destroying free radicals (antioxidant) was obtained. The comprehensive and qualitative characterization of these bioactive compounds present in Urginea wightii can be a useful in treating vast disease conditions. This investigation paves the way to explore researchers for further use of Urginea wightii as sources of medicinally interesting compound.