Role of γ-irradiated Rosemary against Ethanol Induced Liver Injury in Rats

Among natural antioxidants, rosemary contains several antioxidant oil and phenolic compounds that may be possessed hepatoprotective effect. This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with γ-irradiated rosemary on ethanol induced liver injury in rats. Rosemary essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results of biological study revealed that dietary supplementation of either raw or γ-irradiated rosemary following ethanol administration exerts remarkable modulating effect by reducing the level of total bilirubin, the activity of transaminases, gamma glutamyl transferase and serum alkaline phosphatase, decreasing the concentration of some lipid fractions and malondialdehyde content and xanthine oxidase activity. Also, supplementation of dietary rosemary induced an increase of high density lipoprotein and reduced glutathione content and enhances the activity of xanthine dehydrogenase, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities. Thus, gammairradiated rosemary could be incorporated to the diet as a nutritional supplement, to augment the liver's defenses against oxidative stress

Determination of scattering parameters of polyvinyl alcohol by static laser scattering

Static laser scattering (SLS) is one of the most efficient techniques used for the molecular weight determination of polymer. Among of all polymers, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer was selected. A polystyrene (PS) was used as a standard polymer. A polyvinyl alcohol was investigated for its importance in pharmaceutical, biomedical, and industrial applications. Different concentrations in the range (3–9) × 10−3 g mL−1 were prepared. SLS data were obtained by using a self-built of the laser scattering system. The angular behavior of those selected polymer solutions with different concentrations were studied by plotting the intensity of the scattered light against the scattering angle in the range of 40–140°. By using Zimm plot the weight-average molecular weight Mw, radius of gyration RG, and second virial coefficient A2 of the standard PS and PVA were determined

Nutraceutical Potential of Apiaceae

Apiaceae family is large, with over 3.000 species worldwide cultivated for many purposes. Some plants in this family such as carrots, parsley, parsnip and celery are common vegetable crops, while other members like anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, fennel, lovage, angelica and dill are famous for their medicinal and aromatic properties. Usage of these plants is very popular in everyday diet because of their documented health benefits. Apiaceae are a very important source of phytochemicals – chemicals with biological activity. However, phytochemicals are non-nutritive plant chemicals, also called nutraceuticals. They are widely used for prevention, treatment or cure of conditions or diseases. Bioactive compounds with nutraceutical potential are polyphenolic compounds, polyacetylenes and terpenoids. The aim of this review is to represent selected plants of Apiaceae family currently used as nutraceuticals and describe their nutritional benefits