Phyto-physicochemical, acute and subacute toxicity studies of Garcinia lanceifolia Roxb.- A rare ethnomedicinal plant of Assam, India

Garcinia lanceifolia; a small, glabrous, evergreen tree found in Northeast India belonging to the Clusiaceae family; has long, acuminate, lanceolate and fleshy leaves; tetramerous and polygamous inflorescence with both male and hermaphrodite flowers. A recent study has claimed that the bark contains antinociceptive, antihyperglycemic, and membrane stabilising activities. However, no reports on the pharmacognostic details and toxicity of the bark are reported. The bark was collected, dried and subjected to conventional organoleptic, microscopic evaluation, physicochemical evaluation and TLC methods. The powdered crude drug was examined for its physicochemical, fluorescence and microscopic characteristics. The extracts obtained after hot Soxhlet extraction were screened for their phytochemical constituents and the TLC fingerprints were also established. The toxicological profile of the hydroalcoholic extracts of G. lanceifolia, through acute and subacute toxicity tests, were performed. Male and female rats (Wistar) received 5000 mg/kg of hydromethanolic extract of G. lanceifolia (HAEGL) for the acute toxicity test and 500, 1000, 1500 or 2500 mg/kg of HAEGL for subacute toxicity test. This is the first study for the bark of G. lanceifolia which will serve as a standard for quality control and assurance thereby promoting further insights and conclusive studies on this plant

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF LITSEA CUBEBA ESSENTIAL OIL HARVESTED FROM ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA AND ESTIMATION OF MOSQUITO REPELLENT ACTIVITY WITH REFERENCE TO NETWORK ANALYSIS: CHEMICAL ANALYSIS MOSQUITO REPELLENT ACTIVITY LITSEA CUBEBA ESSENTIAL OIL ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Objective: Litsea cubeba is a medicinal plant indigenous to Southeastern Asia. The fruit of the plant is rich in essential oil. A study has been carried out to investigate on the chemical composition of essential oil of the plant harvested from Arunachal Pradesh and to find out its mosquito repellent activity. Methods: The essential oil has been isolated from the fresh fruits by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Compound-compound network analysis was carried out in SPSS software (IBM SPSS Statistics 20) followed by the construction of the network using Cytoscape 3.5.0. Mosquito repellent study was carried out using standard procedure. Results: Citronellal (17.32%), citronellol (13.85%), nimbiol (9.35%), and myrcenol (7.40%) were the major constituents of the essential oil and the essential oil illustrated 3 h mosquito repellent activity against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Conclusion: From this investigation, a significant difference could be observed in the essential oil composition from the previously reported data of other regional areas of Asia, and furthermore, the essential oil possesses significant mosquito repellent activity

Perspectives on the utilization of resistance mechanisms from host and nonhost plants for durable protection of Brassica crops against Alternaria blight

Background Alternaria brassicae, the causal organism of Alternaria blight, is a necrotroph infecting crops of the Brassicaceae family at all growth stages. To circumvent this problem, several disease management strategies are being used in the field, and disease-resistant varieties have also been developed. However, no strategy has proven completely successful, owing to the high variability in virulence among A. brassicae isolates, which causes a diverse spectrum of symptoms. Nonhost resistance (NHR) is a robust and broad-spectrum defense mechanism available in plants, and the exploitation of gene pools from plant species that are nonhost to A. brassicae could serve as novel sources of resistance. Methodology We searched the literature using key words relevant to this study in various search engines, such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, as well as certain journal websites. The literature was retrieved, sorted, and mined to extract data pertinent to the present review. Results In this review, we have comprehensively covered the recent progress made in developing Alternaria blight resistance in Brassica crops by exploiting host germplasm. We also enumerate the potential NHR sources available for A. brassicae and the NHR layers possibly operating against this pathogen. In addition, we propose different strategies for identifying NHR-related genes from nonhost plants and testing their relevance in imparting broad-spectrum resistance when transferred to host plants. Conclusion This review will help broaden the current knowledge base pertaining to the resistance sources available in host germplasm, the exploitation of NHR mechanisms, and their applications in protecting Brassica crops from Alternaria blight. The insights might also be applicable to a wider repertoire of plant pathogens

Pharmacognostic and preliminary phytochemical evaluation of Cinnamomum bejolghota (Buch.-Ham.) Sweet bark

Pharmacognostic, physico-chemical and preliminary phytochemical studies of Cinnamomum bejolghota (Buch.-Ham.) Sweet (Family Lauraceae) bark was carried out. Physico-chemical parameters such as total, acid insoluble and water soluble ash value were determined. In microscopic studies, transverse and longitudinal section of bark and its powder characters were studied and characteristic features were established. Different extracts obtained by successive solvent extraction were tested separately for the presence of various phytoconstituents, viz. alkaloids, amino acids, carbohydrates, fats and fixed oils, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, gums, lignins, proteins, steroids, triterpenoids, tannins and phenolic compounds. The present study of C. bejolghota bark will be useful in laying down standardization and pharmacopoeia parameters and information obtained can be used as markers in the identification

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: HI" lang="EN-GB">Pharmacognostic and preliminary phytochemical evaluation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">C<span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">innamomum bejolghota </span></i>(Buch.-Ham.) Sweet bark</span>

59-64<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" mangal;mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-GB">Pharmacognostic, physico-chemical and preliminary phytochemical studies of Cinnamomum bejolghota (Buch.-Ham.) Sweet (Family Lauraceae) bark was carried out. Physico-chemical parameters such as total, acid insoluble and water soluble ash value were determined. In microscopic studies, transverse and longitudinal section of bark and its powder characters were studied and characteristic features were established. Different extracts obtained by successive solvent extraction were tested separately for the presence of various phytoconstituents, viz. alkaloids, amino acids, carbohydrates, fats and fixed oils, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, gums, lignins, proteins, steroids, triterpenoids, tannins and phenolic compounds. The present study of C. bejolghota bark will be useful in laying down standardization and pharmacopoeia parameters and information obtained can be used as markers in the identification.</span

Phyto-physicochemical, acute and subacute toxicity studies of <em>Garcinia lanceifolia</em> Roxb.- A rare ethnomedicinal plant of Assam, India

360-369Garcinia lanceifolia; a small, glabrous, evergreen tree found in Northeast India belonging to the Clusiaceae family; has long, acuminate, lanceolate and fleshy leaves; tetramerous and polygamous inflorescence with both male and hermaphrodite flowers. A recent study has claimed that the bark contains antinociceptive, antihyperglycemic, and membrane stabilising activities. However, no reports on the pharmacognostic details and toxicity of the bark are reported. The bark was collected, dried and subjected to conventional organoleptic, microscopic evaluation, physicochemical evaluation and TLC methods. The powdered crude drug was examined for its physicochemical, fluorescence and microscopic characteristics. The extracts obtained after hot Soxhlet extraction were screened for their phytochemical constituents and the TLC fingerprints were also established. The toxicological profile of the hydroalcoholic extracts of G.lanceifolia, through acute and subacute toxicity tests, were performed. Male and female rats (Wistar) received 5000 mg/kg of hydromethanolic extract of G.lanceifolia (HAEGL) for the acute toxicity test and 500, 1000, 1500 or 2500 mg/kg of HAEGL for subacute toxicity test. This is the first study for the bark of G. lanceifolia which will serve as a standard for quality control and assurance thereby promoting further insights and conclusive studies on this plant

Pharmacognostic and preliminary phytochemical studies on shoot of <i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Calamus leptospadix </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Griff.- An ethnomedicinal plant of Assam </span>

320-325Calamus leptospadix Griff. belonging to family Arecaceae, is an ethnomedicinal plant of Assam used by the folks of state for many medicinal properties like anthelmintic, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic. Its vernacular names include Betgaj,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> Lejaibet, Bet, Bethas, Rattan palm,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> Cane, Tangtangma, Titipi,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> Jeyying and Ayyagoomi. Since there are no reports of systemic pharmacognostic and phytochemical studies on the shoot, the present work was planned to study the detailed macroscopical, microscopical, quantitative standards, physicochemical and chromatographic characteristics of the shoot. Preliminary phytochemical investigation indicated the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, glycosides, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, tannins and phenolic compounds. Fluorescent characteristics were analysed for the powdered crude drug and TLC profile was developed for petroleum ether, chloroform and methanolic extract of the shoot. Thus these conventional parameters would serve as a standard reference for identification, authentication and for distinguishing the plant from its adulterants. </span

Pharmacognostic and preliminary phytochemical studies on shoot of Calamus leptospadix Griff.- An ethnomedicinal plant of Assam

Calamus leptospadix Griff. belonging to family Arecaceae, is an ethnomedicinal plant of Assam used by the folks of state for many medicinal properties like anthelmintic, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic. Its vernacular names include Betgaj, Lejaibet, Bet, Bethas, Rattan palm,Cane, Tangtangma, Titipi, Jeyying and Ayyagoomi. Since there are no reports of systemic pharmacognostic and phytochemical studies on the shoot, the present work was planned to study the detailed macroscopical, microscopical, quantitative standards, physicochemical and chromatographic characteristics of the shoot. Preliminary phytochemical investigation indicated the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, glycosides, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, tannins and phenolic compounds. Fluorescent characteristics were analysed for the powdered crude drug and TLC profile was developed for petroleum ether, chloroform and methanolic extract of the shoot. Thus these conventional parameters would serve as a standard reference for identification, authentication and for distinguishing the plant from its adulterants