The Antioxidant Activity of Datura innoxia: New Antioxidant of Natural Origin in Food Industry

Introduction: The significance of medicinal plants as a source of active drugs emerged from the compounds that produces an obvious physiological action on the biological system. Phenolic compounds, alkaloids, tannins and flavonoids have been recognized as the most important bioactive compounds of plants. The present study is designed to evaluate the antioxidant ability of Datura innoxia petals in comparison with ascorbic acid. Materials and Methods: In this research, Datura innoxia petals were collected from Sabzevar city. Methanol extract was prepared by maceration method. Phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of methanol extract was assessed by 1,1-diphenyl-2picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Results: Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, reluctant carbohydrates, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, coumarins and free anthraquinones. The results indicated that the leaflets contained alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, coumarins and tannin without cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, free and combined anthraquinone and steroids. The results also showed that the methanolic extract of Petal parts of the Datura innoxia has antioxidant activity with half percent inhibition of free radicals (SC50) that is equal to 31.183 ± 0.302 µg/ml and 28.195 ± 0.259 µg/ml for 60 and 90 minutes. Conclusion: The results indicated that the methanolic extract of Datura innoxia has antioxidant activity that is due to the presence of flavonoids and polyphenols

A comparison between undrained shear strength of clayey soils acquired by “PMT” and laboratory tests

© 2020, Saudi Society for Geosciences. A pressuremeter test (PMT) is one of the in situ tests, which is used to evaluate deformation and strength parameters of soils for various projects, including subway projects. The limit pressure (PL) and undrained shear strength (Su) are the key parameters that are obtained directly and indirectly from the pressuremeter testing results. This research was carried out using geotechnical information obtained from a subway project in Qom city, Iran. Based on 44 PMT and uniaxial tests on very stiff to hard saturated clayey soils, a linear empirical equation between Su − PL and Su − PL* = (PL − σH) with R2 = 0.68 was proposed and it was found that σH had an insignificant effect on the proposed relationship. The effect of physical properties of soil, including plastic index (PI), liquid limit (LL), and water content (ω), was evaluated, and a multivariate equation was proposed between them. A comparison between the equations obtained in this research and those proposed by other researchers reveals that the empirical relationships between Su and PL are associated with the consistency of soils; the stiffer the soil is, the slope of relationship between Su and PL is less