FORMULATION OF AN ANTI-BACTERIAL CREAM FROM PLANTOXALIS CORNICULATA ANDITS EVALUATION

Objective: Even in areas where modern medicine is available, the interest on herbal medicines and their utilization have been increasing rapidly in recent years. Plant-derived substances and herbal medicines have recently attracted the great interest towards their versatile application as medical plants are the rich source of bioactive compounds used in traditional and modern medicine. The present work is to formulate and evaluate the antibacterial cream of oxalis corniculata extract. Methods: The ethanolic extracts were prepared by using the maceration method. Results: The agrochemical potential of methanolic extract, n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate,and n-butanol soluble sfractions showed excellent activites against Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi, and Bacillus subtilis. Similarly the crude n-hexane and chloroform fractions were also found to have significant activity against fungal strains including Fusarium solani, Aspergillus flexneri, and Aspergillus flavus. Conclusion: Oxalis corniculata is a common medicinal plant widely used against numerous infectious diseases. The two isolated compounds 5-hydroxy-6,7,8,4’-tetra methoxy flavone and 5,7,4’-trihydroxy-6,8-dimethoxyflavone were evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activities. The results showed that latter compound was more active than that of the former

Studies on Physiological and Biochemical Changes in Relation to Seed Viability in Aged Onion Seeds

Rapid loss in viability of onion seeds during seed storage is a major problem. Not much information concerning the physiological and biochemical changes is available. In the present investigations, seeds were aged artificially by exposure to 45°C+75% RH for a period of fifteen days. Samples were collected at three day intervals and physiological and biochemical changes in the aged seeds were compared to those in fresh seeds. Results revealed that ageing affected seed viability and vigour significantly and this effect was more pronounced with increase in duration of exposure to artificial ageing. Marked reduction in germination to an extent of 4,16 and 75% was noticed in three, six and nine day artificially aged (DAA) seeds, respectively, when compared to fresh seeds. Further increase in ageing duration to twelve and fifteen days resulted in total loss of germination. Increase in ageing duration decreased a amylase and dehydrogenase activities but increased peroxidase activity up to nine days of ageing. Lipid peroxidation increased consistently with increase in duration of ageing. At 15 DAA, 26.2% increase in malondialdehyde content over the control was observed. SDS PAGE protein profile and esterase zymograms of aged seeds showed alteration in banding pattern when compared to that of fresh seeds

Biochemical investigations on vigour enhancement in aged seeds upon seed priming in onion

Loss in seed quality that occurs during all process, from maturation in the field to storage, leads to seed deterioration. Storage of onion seeds under ambient, hot and humid conditions is very problematic since these conditions deteriorate seed quality faster. Seed deterioration is associated with many metabolic defects that occur due to changes in enzymes and protein levels. This deterioration can be rectified to the extent possible by the technique of seed priming. The results clearly indicated that priming will restore the lost seed vigour in aged seeds due to reactivation of enzyme activity in old seeds. The germination percentage improved from 60% to 79.5% and 72.5% in GA3 and hydroprimed, respectively. Priming will also restore the lost seed vigour in aged seeds due to reactivation of proteins in old seeds and expression of these proteins in priming treatments are related to priming induced proteins in contrast to their absence in the aged seeds which are necessary for germination and longevity of seeds

Genetic diversity analysis using molecular marker in Terminalia chebula

Terminalia chebula is an important medicinal plant, extensively used in Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathic medicines. The present study was aimed to reveal its genetic diversity based on molecular markers from twelve T. chebula accessions. Molecular diversity was studied using RAPD markers. A total of 8 polymorphic primers produced 314 polymorphic bands and 195 monomorphic bands. Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPMGA) dendrogram divided the accessions into 2 major clusters. Accession IIHRTc2 and IIHRTc10 showed maximum genetic diversity with 55% similarity. This characterization based on molecular markers will help in identification of economically useful accessions for further crop improvement programme

Seed Quality Improvement in Okra through Specific Gravity Separation

A study was conducted to assess the efficiency of specific gravity separator in removing partially filled/chaffy seeds of okra during 2007 and 2008. Bulk seed, after extraction, was first subjected to an air screen cleaner with three screens. Then, the good seed fraction obtained was subjected to specific gravity separation. Three fractions were obtained, viz., heavy, medium and light and they were assessed for quality, along with ungraded seed. Test weight, germination percentage, first count, seedling vigour indices I&II and field emergence were significantly higher in the heavy seed fraction than in ungraded seed. Black seed content in heavy seed fraction was significantly low, thereby improving seed quality. Rejection percentage in terms of light and medium seed fractions put together was 3.5% and 12% in 2007 and 2008, respectively. By removal of these fractions, percentage of field emergence improved from 63% to 82% in 2007, and 62.8 to 76.4% in 2008, respectively

Influence of seed treatment and packaging materials on seed longevity of cluster bean [Cyamopsistetra gonoloba (L.) Taub.]

An experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of packaging materials and seed treatments on storability of cluster bean under ambient conditions of Bengaluru. The experiment consisted of six treatments viz. control (T1), bavistin @ 2 g kg-1 (T2), spinosad @ 0.04 ml/kg (T3), neem leaf powder @ 1:20 ratio (T4), Acorus calamus@ 10 g kg-1 (T5) and cow dung powder @ 10 g kg-1 (T6) and three packaging materials viz., cloth bag (C1) super grain bag (C2) and poly lined cloth bag (C3). Treated seed samples were stored in three containers under ambient storage conditions up to the duration of which seeds maintain minimum seed certification standards and samples were drawn at bimonthly intervals for ascertaining the seed quality parameters. The study suggested that seed treat-ment could be useful to prolong the storage life of cluster bean seeds. The seeds treated with spinosad (0.04 ml/kg) and stored in super-grain bag were better for maintenance of higher seed quality parameters [germination (80.00%), root length (11.70 cm), shoot length (13.60 cm), mean seedling dry weight (152 mg), seedling vigour index I and II (2024&12140) and TDH activity (1.224) with low electrical conductivity (0.368 dSm-1)] up to 18 months under ambient conditions of Bengaluru (room temperature). Super-grain bag proved to be better storage container with higher seed quality attributes viz., germination (72.38 %), seedling vigour index-I (1726), total dehydrogenase activity (1.201) and other seed quality parameters compared to cloth bag. The study suggested that use of appropriate packaging material and seed treatment could be useful to prolong the storage life of cluster bean seeds

Perl module and PISE wrappers for the integrated analysis of sequence data and SNP features

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Erythrocyte aldose reductase activity and sorbitol levels in diabetic retinopathy

PurposeActivation of polyol pathway due to increased aldose reductase (ALR2) activity has been implicated in the development of diabetic complications including diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading cause of blindness. However, the relationship between hyperglycemia-induced activation of polyol pathway in retina and DR is still uncertain. We investigated the relationship between ALR2 levels and human DR by measuring ALR2 activity and its product, sorbitol, in erythrocytes.MethodsWe enrolled 362 type 2 diabetic subjects (T2D) with and without DR and 66 normal subjects in this clinical case-control study. Clinical evaluation of DR in T2D patients was done by fundus examination. ALR2 activity and sorbitol levels along with glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels in erythrocytes were determined.ResultsT2D patients with DR showed significantly higher specific activity of ALR2 as compared to T2D patients without DR. Elevated levels of sorbitol in T2D patients with DR, as compared to T2D patients without DR, corroborated the increased ALR2 activity in erythrocytes of DR patients. However, the increased ALR2 activity was not significantly associated with diabetes duration, age, and HbA1C in both the DR group and total T2D subjects.ConclusionsLevels of ALR2 activity as well as sorbitol in erythrocytes may have value as a quantitative trait to be included among other markers to establish a risk profile for development of DR

Effect of Temperature and Period of Storage on Breaking Dormancy in Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus Hort.) Corms

An experiment was conducted in 2010-2011 at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, on three gladiolus cultivars viz., 'Arka Amar', 'Darshan' and 'Kum Kum' to study effects of storage temperature (4°C and room temperature 27±2°C) and length of storage (50, 70 and 90 days) on dormancy of corms. Cv. 'Kum Kum' registered minimum number of days for sprouting (42.71 days), spike emergence (116 days) and days to opening of first floret (128 days). Corms stored at 4°C resulted in lowest number of days for-sprouting (45.24 days), days to spike emergence (114.63 days) and days to opening of first floret (126.60 days) and resulted in highest sprouting percentage (58.7%). Interaction effects revealed that cv. 'Kum Kum' stored at 4°C for 90 days after harvest took minimum number of days to sprouting (25.07 days), days to spike emergence (90.38 days) and days to opening of first floret (102.38 days) resulting in 100% sprouting