Herbs for horses

The aim of this study was to find out how many and which of the herbs used for horses that have been scientifically studied with results to justify the use. In order to find out which herbs that are commonly used by horse-owners a phone interview was performed where six companies selling herbs for horses was contacted and asked to provide information on the most sold herbs for horses in Sweden. Devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), chamomile (Matricaria recutita), dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis), nettle (Urtica dioica) and monk's pepper (Vitex agnus-castus) where the most sold herbs, followed by marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), burdock (Arctium lappa), marigold (Calendula officinalis), purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia/purpurea), cleavers (Galium aparine), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), rose hip (Rosa canina), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and vervain (Verbena officinalis), in no particular order. Of the most used herbs, research with focus on the use for horses was found for purple coneflower, licorice, devil's claw, monk's pepper, rose hip, thyme, and vervain. These studies did not cover the whole range of traditional use for the mentioned herbs, and more studies are needed to be able to claim that these herbs have, or have not, scientific support for use in equine management

Symbiotic and genetic diversity of Rhizobium galegae isolates collected from the Galega orientalis gene center in the Caucasus

This paper explores the relationship between the genetic diversity of rhizobia and the morphological diversity of their plant hosts. Rhizobium galegae strains were isolated from nodules of wild Galega orientalis and Galega officinalis in the Caucasus, the center of origin for G. orientalis. All 101 isolates were characterized by genomic amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting and by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the rRNA intergenic spacer and of five parts of the symbiotic region adjacent to nod box sequences. By all criteria, the R. galegae bv. officinalis and R. galegae bv. orientalis strains form distinct clusters. The nod box regions are highly conserved among strains belonging to each of the two biovars but differ structurally to various degrees between the biovars. The findings suggest varying evolutionary pressures in different parts of the symbiotic genome of closely related R. galegae biovars. Sixteen R. galegae bv. orientalis strains harbored copies of the same insertion sequence element; all were isolated from a particular site and belonged to a limited range of chromosomal genotypes. In all analyses, the Caucasian R. galegae bv. orientalis strains were more diverse than R. galegae bv. officinalis strains, in accordance with the gene center theory

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF THREE ESSENTIAL OILS FROM PORTUGUESE FLORA

The present work reports on the evaluation of chemical composition and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oils of three aromatic herbs, growing wild in the south of Portugal, used in traditional food preparations: Foeniculum vulgare, Mentha spicata and Rosmarinus officinalis. The principal components of essential oils were anethole (41.2%) for F. vulgare, carvone (41.1%) for M. spicata and myrcene (23.7%) for R. officinalis. Essential oils showed antioxidant activity either by DPPH radical scavenging method and system β- carotene/acid linoleic method. Antimicrobial activity of essential oils was observed against pathogenic bacteria and yeasts and food spoilage fungi. F.vulgare essential oil showed bacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enteritidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum with MICs of 0.25-0.75mg/mL. M. spicata oil was active against E.coli, S.aureus, C.albicans, A. niger and F. oxysporum with MICs ranging between 0.25 and 0.75mg/mL. R. officinalis essential oil showed activity against E.coli and C.albicans with MICs of 0.5-1.0mg/mL. Having in account the important antioxidant and antimicrobial properties observed in present work, we consider that these essential oils might be useful on pharmaceutical and food industry as natural antibiotic and food preservativ

LIBS-Based Detection of Antioxidant Elements in Seeds of Emblica officinalis

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of the elements of the extract of seed from Emblica officinalis on antioxidant enzymes and osmotic fragility of erythrocytes membrane in normal as well as streptozotocin-induced severely diabetic albino Wister rats. The results revealed that the untreated diabetic rats exhibited increase in oxidative stress as indicated by significantly diminished activities of free radical scavenging enzymes such as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 37.5% (p

Biomass production and concentration of rosmarinic acid in Melissa officinalis L. established under Prunus avium L.

N/

Micrografía cuantitativa y perfiles de HPLC y FTIR de Melissa officinalis y Nepeta cataria (Lamiaceae) de Argentina

Melissa officinalis L., so called "Melissa" or "Toronjil", is a perennial aromatic herb, whose leaves are used in traditional medicine as a carminative, digestive and sedative, both in simple as in mixtures. Meanwhile, Nepeta cataria L., commonly called "Cat mint" or "Toronjil", with some similar properties, often replacing M. officinalis in the market, although their chemical composition is not completely matched, and contains an iridoid potentially toxic (nepetalactone). It is therefore necessary to establish diacritic parameters to differentiate these species, both at crude drug level, mixtures and extracts. Samples from various sources in Argentina were studied and documental specimens are preserved in the Herbarium UNSL. Anatomical sections were analyzed, and quantitative micrographic parameters were obtained, together with HPLC and FTIR spectra from methanolic and aqueous lyophilized extracts. Significant differences were detected in the prevailing smell foliage, morphology of leaves and inflorescences, trichomata type, palisade ratio, veinlet termination number, rosmarinic acid concentration (with distinctive HPLC profiles), and the CO/CH relationships obtained by FTIR from the extracts, that together allow adequate differentiation of both drugs, even when they were ground or powdered.Melissa officinalis L., llamada vulgarmente "melisa" o "toronjil", es una hierba perenne, aromática, cuyas hojas son empleadas en medicina popular como carminativo, digestivo y sedante, tanto en droga simple como en asociación. Por su parte Nepeta cataria L., llamada vulgarmente "menta de los gatos" y también "toronjil", con algunas propiedades similares, sustituye con frecuencia a M. officinalis en el mercado, aunque su composición química no es del todo coincidente y contiene un iridoide potencialmente tóxico (nepetalactona). Por ello es necesario establecer parámetros diacríticos para diferenciar ambas especies, a nivel de droga cruda, mezclas y extractos. Fueron estudiados especímenes de diversas procedencias en Argentina, y los ejemplares documentales son conservados en el Herbario UNSL. Se analizaron cortes anatómicos, se registraron los parámetros micrográficos cuantitativos y se obtuvieron espectros de HPLC y FTIR a partir de extractos metanólicos y acuosos liofilizados. Fueron detectadas diferencias significativas entre ambas especies en cuanto al aroma prevaleciente del follaje, la exomorfología de hojas e inflorescencias, los tipos tricomáticos, la relación de empalizada, el número de terminales de nerviación, la concentración de ácido rosmarínico (con perfiles HPLC distintivos), y las relaciones CO/CH obtenidas por FTIR a partir de los extractos, caracteres que en conjunto permiten una diferenciación adecuada de ambas drogas, aún cuando se presenten molidas o reducidas a polvo.Fil: Petenatti, Marta E.. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Gette, Maria de Los Angeles. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Camí, Gerardo Enrique. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Popovich, Mariana C.. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Marchevsky, Eduardo Jorge. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Química de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Química de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: del Vitto, Luis Angel. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Petenatti, Elisa Margarita. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentin

Seasonal Variation of Essential Oil Yield and Composition of Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) Grown in Castilla - La Mancha (Central Spain)

Links between phenology, yield and composition of the essential oil of common sage, Salvia officinalis L., grown in Guadalajara (Central Spain) were determined in the different phases of the biological cycle during one year. Data showed an average yield about 1.0%. The analysis of the oil components was carried out by GC-FID and GC/MS. The main oil constituent was alpha thujone (40.1 - 46.5%). Other identified compounds are beta pinene (2.6 - 4.5%), cineole (3.5 - 8.7%), beta thujone (4.1 - 5.6%), camphor (4.1 - 8.0%), borneol (1.3 - 3.7%), alpha humulene (3.8 - 7.3%), viridiflorol (3.4-12.6%) and manool (0.1-4.5%). The highest yield of oil was obtained in the period of full flowering and the highest concentration of alpha thujone in the period of initial flowering

Comparative study of total phenolic content and radical scavenging activity of conventionally and organically grown herbs

The aim of the present study was to measure the relative phenolic content in commonly available conventionally and organically grown herbs and to evaluate their antioxidant capacity. Sage (Salvia officinalis), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and peppermint (Mentha x piperita) leaves, corriander (Corriandrum sativum) and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) seeds were used in the present investigation. Total phenolic content (TPhC), measured by Folin-Ciocalteu method, and radical scavenging activity (RSA), using DPPH method were determined in infusions prepared from above mentioned herbs. TPhC ranged from 75.9 to 1126.5 gallic acid equivalents (GAE) mg/l infusion and RSA – from 7.03 to 91.65%. The obtained data also showed that infusions prepared from organically grown sage, peppermint and lemon balm were slightly higher than those obtained from conventionally grown herbs