December 2010
Metabolic regulation and genetic engineering of pharmaceutical component tanshinone biosynthesis in Salvia miltiorrhiza
Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, called Dan shen in China, is a well-known traditional Chinese herb and has been used widely for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases due to its better performance and fewer side effects as confirmed in the long-time clinical use. Tanshinones, one class of lipid-soluble diterpene quinones from S. miltiorrhiza, were found to exhibit various pharmacological activities such as...
December 2010
Nutritional and medicinal importance of mushrooms
Mushrooms had long been used for medicinal and food purposes since decades. It is now increasingly recognized that correct diet, controls and modulates many functions of human body and consequently participates in the maintenance of state of good health, necessary to reduce the risk of many diseases. Modern pharmacological research confirms large parts of traditional knowledge regarding the medicinal effects of...
December 2010
Understanding and appreciating the need for biodiversity conservation in Nigeria
Biodiversity is becoming one of the major environmental issues of our times. The basic problem is the increased rate of extinction as a result of expanding human population, resource exploitation, land clearing and land use development. Biodiversity by definition refers to the life forms on earth and include the millions of plants, animals and micro-organisms, the genes they contain and the intricate ecosystems they...
December 2010
Medicinal plants used to induce labour and traditional techniques used in determination of onset of labour in pregnant women in Malawi: A case study of Mulanje District
Malawi has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world with 984 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Modern healthcare facilities are not readily accessible hence substantial child deliveries are home-based. The study investigated how labour onset is determined in a village set up, how labour is hastened and medicinal plants used to hasten labour. Focus group discussions, key informants, participant...
December 2010
Simultaneous determination of eight major constituents in the traditional Chinese medicine Shaoyao-Gancao -Tang by UPLC-PDA
An ultra performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection method was first developed for simultaneous determination of gallic acid, albiflorin, peoniflorin, glycyrrhizin, benzoic acid, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin and formononetin in traditional Chinese medicine prescription Shaoyao-Gancao-Tang. The chromatographic separation was performed on an Acquity BEH C18 column (100 × 2.1 mm i. d., 1.7...
December 2010
Salt stress enhancement of antioxidant and antiviral efficiency of Spirulina platensis
Cultivation of Spirulina platensis under salt stress conditions (0.02 M as control), 0.04 and 0.08 M NaCl led to a remarkable alteration of algal metabolism as well as an enhancement or induction of biologically active compounds. Concerning algal growth, salt stress caused a decrease in dry weight, chlorophyll a content as well as certain xanthophylls (neoxanthin and violaxanthin) while β-carotene...
December 2010
Enhanced dragon’s blood production in Dracaena cochinchinensis by elicitation of Fusarium oxysporum strains
Dragon’s blood is a traditional medicine broadly used in the world for many centuries. The objective of this work was to screen microorganisms to enhance and control its production. Twenty microbial strains were isolated from the stem xylem of Dracaena cochinchinensis. Compared with wounding alone, inoculation with living mycelia of isolates YM-2617 and YM-6113 on a fresh wound significantly...
December 2010
The effect of cytokinins on in vitro shoot length and multiplication of Hymenocallis littoralis
This study was performed to determine the effects of different cytokinins at various concentrations on the in vitro shoot formation of Hymenocallis littoralis. The bulb scales ofH. littoralis were used as explants to establish the cultures. The explants were grown on semi-solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2iP (2-isopentenyladenine), TDZ (thidiazuron) and Zeatin respectively at...
December 2010
Antimicrobial activity of Pelargonium endlicherianum Fenzl. (Geraniaceae) roots against some microorganisms
Pelargonium endlicherianum Fenzl. (Geraniaceae) is one of the important species of Pelargoniumgrowing in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of P. endlicherianum roots on medically important microorganisms. The antimicrobial activities of 11% ethanol and 70% methanol P. endlicherianum extracts against various bacteria and yeast were studied...
December 2010
Identification and characterization of Curcuma comosa Roxb., phytoestrogens-producing plant, using AFLP markers and morphological characteristics
‘Waan chak modlook’ (Curcuma comosa Roxb.) is an important medicinal plant of Thailand, but the high similarity in morphological characteristics observed amongCurcuma spp. may cause confusion in its utilization. The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) marker was used to identify and elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among 97 accessions of ‘Waan chak modlook’...
December 2010
Cytoprotective activities of Polygonum minus aqueous leaf extract on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats
Polygonum minus is a medicinal plant commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment of many aliments. The present study was performed to investigate anti-ulcer activity of P. minus aqueous leaf extract (PMALE) against ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats. Group 1 rats (ulcer control group) were pre-treated with vehicle (distilled water). Group 2 rats (reference group) were orally pretreated with...
December 2010
Extraction, characterization and antitumor effect of the polysaccharides from star anise (Illicium verum Hook. f.)
Polysaccharides production from star anise was carried out. The effects of extraction temperature, time, ratio of water to raw material and number of extraction were optimized by using an orthogonal L9(3)4 test design. The optimum extraction conditions were determined as follows: extraction temperature 100°C, time 4 h, number of cycle 2 and ratio of water to raw material at 11. Under optimized conditions, the...
December 2010
Chemical composition and antioxidant properties of ginger root (Zingiber officinale)
The chemical composition and antioxidant activity (in aqueous and solvent extracts) of Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) were determined. The antioxidant components analysed were polyphenols, vitamin C, β carotene, flavonoids and tannins. Antioxidant assays such as free radical scavenging activity, reducing power and total antioxidant activity were carried out for ethanol, methanol, acetone, 80% methanol...
December 2010
Traditional medicinal plants indigenous to Al-Rass province, Saudi Arabia
An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in different localities of Al-Rass province, Qassim area, Saudi Arabia. Information about the local and scientific names, parts used and therapeutic application of 47 medicinal plant species belonging to 28 families commonly used by local inhabitants and traditional practitioners of recognized competence were described. Key words: Medicinal plants, herbal...
December 2010
Hydrolysis of genistin and daidzin by a β-glucosidase purified from Lentinula edodes
We had studied the purification and characterization of β-glucosidase from Lentinula edodes, and its activity of hydrolyzing genistin and daidzin. The beta-glucosidase was extracted from an edible mushrooms L. edodes fruiting body and concentrated 26.5-fold by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation, followed by CM-Sephadex C-50 and Sephacryl S-300 HR chromatography. The purified enzyme showed a single 66 kd...
December 2010
Drought stress increases iridoid glycosides biosynthesis in the roots of Scrophularia ningpoensis seedlings
In China, Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl (Scrophulariaceae) has been cultivated for many years; however, the effects of drought on the content of secondary metabolites in Radix Scrophulariaceae are still unknown. The study investigated the medicinal components of S. ningpoensis including harpagoside, aucubin, catalpol, harpagide, and cinnamic acid in relation to drought stress. Three ecotypes...
December 2010
Comparative study of essential oil composition of leaves and rhizomes of Alpinia conchigera Griff. at different post- harvest drying periods
Essential oils from the leaves and rhizomes of Alpinia conchigera Griff. dried for different times (0 (fresh), 1, 2, 3 and 7 days of drying, respectively) were isolated using hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of oils was analyzed by using GC and GC-MS. The identified components constituted 95.06, 94.51, 94.64 and 91.60% of the leaf oil and 47.71, 64.19, 49.96, 94.47 and 91.56% of the rhizome oil...
December 2010
Authentication of Taxillus chinensis using DNA barcoding technique
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the five candidate DNA barcodes of rbcL,matK, psbA-trnH, ITS and ITS2 in order to distinguish Taxillus chinensis from adulterants. Of the five barcodes, the amplification and sequencing efficiencies ofrbcL and trnH-psbA were 100%. Meanwhile, the efficiency of matK, ITS and ITS2 regions was very low due to failure in PCR amplification...
December 2010
Optimization of root proliferation medium for Hyoscyamus niger L.
Untransformed root culture of Hyoscyamus niger could be induced from petiole explants on solid MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg l–1 IBA after four weeks of incubation under continuous light of 32.5 µmol m-2 s-1. However, liquid MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l–1 IBA was found to be better for root proliferation. Cultures at the third subculture cycle during root...
December 2010
Characterization and comparison of three transgenic Artemisia annua varieties and wild-type variety in environmental release trial
Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene isolated from Artemsisia annua L. (Chinese wormwood) is an increasingly popular drug against malaria. In this study, three transgenic A. annua varieties with increased artemisinin content were evaluated in an environmental release trial. First, because there were risks concerning genetically modified plants, the 3 transgenic varieties were compared with that of wild-type...
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