European Journal of Medicinal Plants

Aims: As the world nowadays is turning towards the research of biologically active natural compounds, this work aimed at assessing the antioxidant potential of compounds contained in the aqueous extracts of three common Cameroonian pharmacopoeia plants, namely Millettia laurenti (Wengé) seeds, Lophira alata (Azobé) leaves and Milicia excelsa (Iroko) barks and the associated bioactive compounds.

Methodology: After being dried and ground, they were macerated in water and the polyphenols, tannins, flavonoids, and alkaloids quantified. The antioxidant potential of the extracts was evaluated through DPPH free radical scavenging, NO scavenging, phosphomolybdate method (TAC), and iron-reducing power (FRAP).

Results: The mean concentrations obtained ranged between 527 and 1213 µg GAE/g DM for polyphenols, 0.39 and 0.65 µg GAE/g DM for tannins, 19.79 and 27.06 µg QE/g DM for flavonoids, 15.72 and 16.02 µg QuE/g DM for alkaloids. Aqueous extracts of Wengé (AE-WG) and Azobé (AE-AZ) exhibited the highest and significantly similar contents. AE-AZ presented the highest iron reducing power (0.015 µg AAE/g DM at 10 mg/mL) and NO scavenging (IC₅₀=3.63 mg/mL) while AE-WG showed the highest DPPH scavenging activity (IC₅₀ = 4.20 mg/mL) and total antioxidant capacity (0.39 µg AAE/g DM at 10 mg/mL). No significant correlation was observed between studied bioactive compounds and the different antioxidant responses except flavonoids and tannins with TAC (p<0.05).

Conclusion: AE-AZ and AE-WG exhibited different antioxidant mechanisms and are therefore of high interest for potential use in the food industry and medicine with reserves to toxicological studies.

Aim: The study aimed to characterize phenolic acids, flavonoids, and determine their antimicrobial activities in fruits of Vangueria madagascariensis (Tamarind of Indies).

Study Design: The design of the study included picking of Vangueria madagascariensis fruits from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) botanical garden and analysis for their antimicrobial activities at the Botany department research laboratory, JKUAT. Characterization of phenolic acids and flavonoids were conducted at MacEwan University Canada.

Place and Duration: JKUAT, Kenya and MacEwan University, Edmonton, Alberta Canada between June 2013 and June 2016.

Methodology: Phenolic acids and flavonoids from Tamarind of Indies were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSN). The antimicrobial assay was determined using the disk diffusion method.

Results: Based on the retention time, the UV spectrum, and the tandem MS behavior, the results revealed a profile composed of 25 phenolic compounds. Some of the identified phenolic compounds included: 3-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-caffeoylquinic acid, 4-caffeoylquinic acid, 4-feruloyl quinic acid, quercetin 3-O-galactoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, quercetin, 3,4-di-caffeoylquinic acid, 4, 5-di-caffeoylquinic acid, kaempferol, diosmetin, caffeic acid, epicatechin, kaempferol 3-O-glucoside. The fruit extracts had a probable presence of quercetin 3-O-6’-malonylglucoside, ikarisoside C, epimedin C, unknown epigallocatechin-3-gallate and quercetin conjugate derivatives. Furthermore, the fruit extracts from Vangueria madagascariensis showed appreciable antimicrobial properties against human pathogen strains. Strong antimicrobial activity was observed for Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. The Vangueria madagascariensis was found to be highly potent against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis even at low concentrations of 0.1 mg/mL.

Conclusion: The research findings may suggest value of the use of Vangueria madagascariensis fruits as a rich source of antioxidants with therapeutic and nutraceutical value.

Amaryllidaceae include plant species that present alkaloids with analgesic, anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-malarial activities. Due to this pharmacological value, several species of this family have been widely studied and among them is White lilly, Crinum americanum. The objective of this work was to induce callogenesis on leaf explants of C. americanum cultivated in vitro for future production of alkaloids. Leaf explants were grown on a culture medium (solid) Murashige and Skoog (1962) supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators, auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine and their effect on callogenesis assessed for percentage oxidation and explants responsive to callus induction. Callus formation started 10 days after hormone inoculation, and within 30 days after inoculation the best callogenesis and callus biomass growth were observed in medium containing 2.5 mg L^-1 of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 10 mg L^-1 of 6-benzylaminopurine. The lowest percentage of oxidation was observed on explants cultivated on medium containing 5 mg L^-1 of 6-benzylaminopurine and 2.5 mg L^-1 of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. The calli obtained were compact and embryogenic. This work contributes not only to future studies on in vitro callogenesis of this species, but also to a possible protocol for the production of alkaloids of interest from cell suspension cultures produced in vitro. This is the first report of callus formation in Crinum americanum explants.

Background: Skin cancer is the most aggressive form of cancer with a high mortality rate. Different medications of skin cancer are accessible, yet because of improvement of multi-drug resistance, flow and rising chemotherapies have a generally low achievement rate. This emphasize the importance of discovering new compounds that are both safe and effective against skin cancer. This study used and compared different routes of administration of a natural compound curcumin to investigate the anti-cancer effect.

In this investigation it has been resolved that the curcumin expands CAT and SOD levels alongside decline in the TBARS levels.

Methods: The hindrance of tumour rate Curcumin was assessed in mice on two phase procedure of skin carcinogenesis incited by single utilization of DMBA/7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]-anthracene (100 µg/100 µl of CH3)2CO), and after 2 weeks advanced by rehashed use of croton oil (1% CH3)2CO/thrice in seven days) till the finish of the trial (i.e. 16 weeks). Oral administration of drug at a dose of 500 mg/kg body weight/day at the pre-initiation stage (i.e. 7 days prior and 7 days after DMBA application), promotional stage (for example from the time of croton oil application) and at both the stages (i.e. 7 days before DMBA application and proceeded till the finish of investigation) to the mice Treatment were started 1 week before the exposure to the carcinogen and continued till 25 weeks daily. At the end of experimental period all the animals were sacrificed and observed for various parameters.

Results: The following parameters (body weight, biochemical studies, haematological studies) were observed and data was collected time to time and calculated statistically to evaluate the anticancer effect of curcumin was found to effective against the skin cancer.

Fruit is a ripened ovary usually developed as a result of flower being pollinated. Plants are cultivated as well as wild, mainly cultivated fruits are grown by farmers for economical value while utility of wild fruits are occurring only in their natural habitat. As population increases the areas of plantation and forest used for human welfare, so wild edible plants lost their identity and decrease in their number. The objective of the study is to analyse ethnobotanically important edible fruits of Vitaceae in Kerala. Wild fruiting plants are major in numbers in Kerala which are not affected by human interaction due to their difficult geographic and climatic conditions which is not suitable for human survival. Vitaceae family includes 5 genus belonging to Kerala that are ethnobotanically very significant and edible.

Medicinal plants are moving from border to mainstream use with a more number of people seeking treatment and health approaches free from side effects caused by synthetic chemicals. India officially recognizes over 3500 plants for their medicinal value. It is generally estimated that over 6000 plants in India are in use in folk, traditional and herbal medicine. This review article aims to provide a comprehensive review on the phytochemical and various pharmacological aspects of Acalypha indica. This plant widely used in traditional medicinal system of India and many other countries has been reported to possess anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, antifungal hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and also used to check anti-ulcers and wounds healing. It is known as a rich source of glycosides, flavanoids and tannins. The medicinal properties and therapeutic uses of Acalypha indica and its secondary metabolites investigations prove its importance as a valuable medicinal plant.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is not endemic in Brazil; however, it is a symbolic plant for traditional peoples and was present in ancestral cultural resistance. Several species were introduced to Brazil through the slave trade on the Africa-Brazil transatlantic route. In addition, the active constituents of basil are of great pharmaceutical and biological importance, and the plant has been used for therapeutic purposes by a wide variety of people, from quilombola communities to the pharmaceutical industry. Thus, based on African ethnobotany and modern science, this review article aimed to contextualize the endemic and epistemic importance of the origin, traditional, ancestral, medicinal and therapeutic uses of basil, consumed en masse in Brazil (during and after) the slavery period. The bibliographic review was carried out by consulting historical books and Scopus scientific databases. Scielo, transatlantic slave traffic database and Web of Science. The results showed that traditional communities, quilombos and terreiros, already made medicinal and liturgical uses of basil, before its use by the pharmaceutical industry. And that after the period of slavery, several studies carried out by researchers with basil proved that this species has several therapeutic properties, already reported by traditional communities. Thus, it is concluded that O. basilicum L. is an endemic species of the African continent, introduced in Brazil on the transatlantic route and that the traditional and ancestral knowledge for therapeutic use and application was already present in the territory, before the studies of proof of activity, post slavery period. Currently, the species is widely applied in the pharmaceutical and biological industry. However, there is a need for strategies that recognize, value and integrate the knowledge of the traditional peoples of the African diaspora, scientific productions.