Physicochemical properties of some honeys produced from different plants in Morocco

Abstract Seventy-three Moroccan honey samples were collected between 2005 and 2008. In this study, water content, pH, acidity (free, lactone and total acidity), electrical conductivity (EC), colour, diastase, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and sugar content were all determined in different types of bee honey which include multifloral, honeydew and nine types of unifloral honeys ( Euphorbia resinifera , Euphorbia echinus , Citrus , eucalyptus, carob, thyme, lavender, Ziziphus and rosemary). The moisture shows values of 14.3% and 20.2%, pH between 3.52 and 5.13, the total acidity ranges between 11.94 and 58.03 meq kg −1 , hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content shows values between 0.09 and 53.38 mg kg −1 ; diastase values were between 4.3° and 24.6° Gothe; electrical conductivity between 119.9 and 1741 μs cm −1 and fructose, glucose and sucrose values range between 35.07–46.26%, 23.7–39.3% and 0.42–2.98%. A statistical analysis was carried out to classify 10 types of honeys, and identified the most significant parameters, using analysis of variance, principal component analysis (PCA) and stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA). PCA showed that the cumulative variance was 74.97% and about 88.9% of samples was correctly classified. The principal aim of this study was to contribute more to the knowledge of the Moroccan honeys by means of the analysis of chemical composition and of physical parameters. Seventy-three Moroccan unifloral, multifloral and honeydew honey samples, including types that have never been studied before, produced in different regions in Morocco ( Table 1 , Table 2 ), were analysed to define its main features. As a consequence, we present data on water content, electrical conductivity, pH, free acidity, lactone acidity, total acidity, diastase, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde (HMF) amounts, fructose, glucose and sucrose

North African Medicinal Plants Traditionally Used in Cancer Therapy

Background: Cancer is a major cause of mortality worldwide with increasing numbers by the years. In North Africa, the number of cancer patients is alarming. Also shocking is that a huge number of cancer patients only have access to traditional medicines due to several factors, e.g., economic difficulties. In fact, medicinal plants are widely used for the treatment of several pathologies, including cancer. Truthfully, herbalists and botanists in North African countries prescribe several plants for cancer treatment. Despite the popularity and the potential of medicinal plants for the treatment of cancer, scientific evidence on their anticancer effects are still scarce for most of the described plants.Objective: Bearing in mind the lack of comprehensive and systematic studies, the aim of this review is to give an overview of studies, namely ethnobotanical surveys and experimental evidence of anticancer effects regarding medicinal plants used in North Africa for cancer therapy.Method: The research was conducted on several popular search engines including PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science. The research focused primarily on English written papers published between the years 2000 and 2016.Results: This review on plants traditionally used by herbalists in North Africa highlights that Morocco and Algeria are the countries with most surveys on the use of medicinal plants in folk medicine. Among the plethora of plants used, Nigella sativa and Trigonella foenum-graecum are the most referred ones by herbalists for the treatment of cancer. Moreover, a plethora of scientific evidence qualifies them as candidates for further drug development. Furthermore, we report on the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms.Conclusion: Overall, this review highlights the therapeutic potential of some medicinal plants as anticancer agents. The North African flora offers a rich source of medicinal plants for a wide array of diseases, including cancer. The elucidation of their modes of action represents an indispensable condition for the rational development of new drugs for cancer treatment. Furthermore, testing the anticancer activity in vivo and in clinical trials are warranted to explore the full therapeutic potential of North African plants for cancer therapy

Phytochemical study and biological effects of the essential oil of <i>Fraxinus dimorpha</i> Coss & Durieu^§

<p>The present study describes the phytochemical study, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of <i>Fraxinus dimorpha</i> essential oil, obtained from the leaves collected in the High Atlas Mountains. Forty compounds representing 86.2% with (E)-nerolidol as a major constituent and 29 compounds corresponding to 80.3% with eugenol as main components were identified from Ait M’hamed and from Siti Fadma, respectively. The <i>F. dimorpha</i> essential oil presents IC50 using DPPH varying from 5.33 to 6.03 mg/mL and EC50 using FRAP varying from 0.83 to 1.21 mg/mL. The antimicrobial activity of the oil was evaluated for ten microorganisms showed that the oil had a moderate potential activity. Fungal strains are more sensitive to the investigated oils, with a MIC varied between 1.8 and 3.8 mg/mL.</p

Effect of sliding wear on Tribocorrosion behaviour of stainless steels in 0.5M H2SO4 with and without addition of Thymus zygis subsp. gracilis essential oil

status: accepte

Comparative study of the chemical profiling, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oils of different parts of <i>Thymus willdenowii</i> Boiss & Reut

<p>The analysis of <i>Thymus willdenowii</i> Boiss & Reut essential oils (TW EOs) shows 33 components accounting for (96.3–97.7%) of all identified. The main constituents of TW EOs were thymol (35.5–47.3%), p-cymene (13.9–23.8%), γ-terpinene (8.9–20.3%). The antioxidant assays revealed that all TW EOs tested showed strong activities, the antimicrobial effect of TW EOs has been tested against isolated clinical strains of <i>Proteus mirabilis</i> (ATCC 35659), <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ATCC 25922), <i>Candida albicans</i> (ATCC 10231), <i>Bacillus cereus</i> (ATCC 10876), and <i>Aspergillus brasilliensis</i> (ATCC 16404). The antimicrobial test indicates that TW EOs show an inhibition effect against all the tested bacteria with a MIC of 6.9 to 27.6 μg/mL⁻¹. These results proving that the essential oils extracted from <i>Thymus willdenowii</i> Boiss & Reut may be a new potential source of natural antimicrobial applied in pharmaceutical and food industries.</p

Optimization of Physicochemical Parameters during the Electrocoagulation Cadmium Elimination

The increased use of fertilizers from phosphates in agriculture generates water pollution by heavy metals contained in these phosphates at levels higher than the standards. In our study, we used a cadmium nitrate Cd(NO3)2 solution to simulate artificially polluted water, whose decontamination efficiency will be evaluated by an electrocoagulation/flotation process. During this work, we aimed to optimize the electrocoagulation process according to the following factors: initial pH of the solution, density of the electrolysis current, cell time, and nature of the supporting electrolyte and its concentration. The criteria adopted during the optimization of the process are relatively different from those used in similar studies. Indeed, we have tried to achieve maximum efficiency and also seeking to minimize costs and facilitate implementation. We achieved a 98% Cd removal efficiency from the solution at pH = 7, J = 6.25 A/m2, t = 10 min, and [K2SO4] = 0.01 M. In addition, during the characterization of the flocs obtained as a supernatant, we first highlighted the presence of Cd in this gelatinous body and then the relatively easy volatility of Cd as well as that of aluminum oxide (Al2O3)