Pharmaceutically important plants used in traditional system of Arab medicine for the treatment of livestock ailments in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia

A study on the pharmaceutical importance of some medicinal pants used for the treatment of livestock ailments was conducted during summer 2010 in different parts of Saudi Arabia, where no such study has been conducted so far. The aim of the study was to identify and document the medicinal plants used for the treatment of different livestock ailment in the traditional system of Arab medicine. Ethnoveterinary information was collected through the show-and-tell/semi-structured method and personal interviews during field trips. The methodology is largely based on the Sustainable Livelihood Framework, which is based on the premise that livelihood is not about resource productivity but it is about people and their lives. The study revealed 24 plants species of ethno-veterinary importance. These were used for the curing of various livestock ailments such as gastrointestinal disorders, fever, cough, respiratory tract infection, urinary tract diseases, promote lactation, wound healing, placenta removal, deworming, carminative, paralysis and flatulence in Arab system of medicine. Some plants were used singly while many others were used in combination with other plants or edible items. Similarly, few plants species are considered for the treatment of only one specific disease while several other have multiple such uses. The detail local uses, local recipe preparation, application and disease treated were reported for each species. The study concluded that, the medicinal plant knowledge of the people is strongly influenced by Arab system of traditional medicine and that medicinal plants have exerted and continue to exert, a strong influence on the standardization of plant knowledge among rural populations in Saudi Arabi. However, distinct local use of plants also exists; indicating that plant knowledge specific to the local Badous is alive and practiced. The study recommends scientific validity and toxicity tests of the medicinal plants used in traditional Arab system of medicine.Key Words: Medicinal plants, livestock, diseases, traditional system of medicine, local recipes

Phenolic Profile, Nutritional Composition, Functional Properties and Antioxidant Activity of Newly Grown Parthenocarpic and Normal Seeded Tomato

The aim of the study was to compare the physico-chemical parameters, sugar, vitamin C, and phenolic profiles in five genotypes of local indeterminate tunnel tomato hybrid (LITTH) (LITTH-778, LITTH-784, LITTH-786, LITTH-788 and LITTH-790) of natural parthenocarpic tomato (NPT) and normal seeded tomato (NST). Samples were collected from the experimental fields of Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Physical parameters (fruit shape, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width, number of seeds per fruit, shelf life), chemical composition (moisture, ash, crude fat, crude fibre, total carbohydrate, crude protein, vitamin C), ofNPT and NST were analyzed by reported methods. The methanolic extracts of tomato pulp were prepared by shaking and extracts were assayed for antioxidant activity. Sugars contents and phenolic profile of NPT and NST were estimatedusing HPLC method.Weight and size of NPT were less and smaller than the NST. Moreover, NPT were seedless with longer shelf-life and had more phenolic and flavonoid contents than the NST.HPLC analysis revealed that chlorogenic acid, gallic acid, p-coumeric acid were major phenolics in methanol (polar solvent) extracts of NST whereas, caffeic acid, gallic acid, p-coumeric acid in NPT extract.NPT contained higher concentration of sugar contents, but lower concentration of vitamin C than NST. In 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) free-radical-scavenging assay, NPT fruits extracts showed high scavenging activity with the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50)value of 22.56 µg/mL than NSTfruit extracts having IC50 29.49 µg/mL. This study provided useful information for farmers and nutritionists