Phytochemical And Biological Activity Studies Of Garcinia Hombroniana

This study is the first report describing the phytochemical investigation and biological activities of the bark of G. hombroniana. The dichloromethane and ethyl acetate extracts of the bark of Garcinia hombroniana were separated by column chromatography to yield 4 new (DN8, DN9, EN2 and EN5) and 14 known (DN1-DN7, DN10, EN1, EN3, EN4, EN6-EN8) compounds. The structures of the new compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as UV, IR, and 1D and 2D NMR, together with EI and ESI-MS spectrometric methods. The known compounds were identified and confirmed by comparison of their spectroscopic data with the reported literature

Nutritional composition, vitamins, minerals and toxic heavy metals analysis of Trianthema portulacastrum L., a wild edible plant from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

This study aimed at analyzing the nutritional potential of a wild edible plant, Trianthema portulacastrum L. widely used in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The nutritional composition, vitamins, minerals and heavy elements were analyzed following the standard methods of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). The nutritional assessment included determination of moisture, ash, lipid, fiber, protein, carbohydrate and energy. Among the nutrient values, fiber was found to be the highest (430.0 mg/g), followed by ash (348.0 mg/g), total protein (91.9 mg/g), moisture (80.0 mg/g), carbohydrate (30.2 mg/g) and total lipid (20.0 mg/g). The vitamins analyzed were found to have greater value for riboflavin (2.02 mg/g), than retinol (0.81 mg/g). Among the macro minerals, potassium was present in high concentration (51.6 mg/g) than sodium (44.0 mg/g). The trace elements were assessed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and their decreasing order was Fe>Zn>Mn>Ni>Cu. Two toxic metals, Pb and Cd were present in very minute quantities of 0.08 and 0.0006 mg/g, respectively. The results suggest that T. portulacastrum L. is a good source of fiber, proteins, riboflavin, potassium, sodium and iron.Keywords: Peshawar, Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC), Trianthema portulacastrum L., nutritional composition, vitamins, minerals.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(42), pp. 6079-608

Bacteriological investigation of ground water sources in selected urban areas of district Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Microbial contamination of ground water sources is a common problem in all the big cities, which endangers health and impairs quality of living . To assess this, 39 water samples were collected from highly populated 13 union councils from the urban area of district Mardan. Faecal coliform and Escherichia coli were investigated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative study showed that faecal coliform was found in 90% samples and E. coli in 56% samples. Quantitatively, faecal coliform most probable number (MPN) was ranging from 1601 to 2400 for about 28% samples, followed by 551 to 1600 and 201 to 550 for 20% samples each, 40 to 200 for 18% samples and less than 40 for about 13% samples. The major cause of the bacteriological contamination was found to be the extent of susceptibility of the water sources to intrusions from the nearest contamination source.Keywords: Mardan, urban area, microbial contamination, faecal coliform, ground water, Escherichia col

In vivo carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatoprotective and in vitro cytotoxic activities of Garcinia hombroniana (seashore mangosteen)

Background: Garcinia hombroniana, known as "manggis hutan" (jungle mangosteen) in Malaysia, is distributed in tropical Asia, Borneo, Thailand, Andaman, Nicobar Islands, Vietnam and India. In Malaysia, its ripened crimson sour fruit rind is used as a seasoning agent in curries and culinary dishes. Its roots and leaves decoction is used against skin infections and after child birth. This study aimed to evaluate in vivo hepatoprotective and in vitro cytotoxic activities of 20% methanolic ethyl acetate (MEA) G. hombroniana bark extract. Materials and methods: In hepatoprotective activity, liver damage was induced by treating rats with 1.0 mL carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)/kg and MEA extract was administered at a dose of 50, 250 and 500 mg/kg 24 h before intoxication with CCl4. Cytotoxicity study was performed on MCF-7 (human breast cancer), DBTRG (human glioblastoma), PC-3 (human prostate cancer) and U2OS (human osteosarcoma) cell lines. 1H, 13C-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), and IR (infrared) spectral analyses were also conducted for MEA extract. Results: In hepatoprotective activity evaluation, MEA extract at a higher dose level of 500 mg/kg showed significant (p<0.05) potency. In cytotoxicity study, MEA extract was more toxic towards MCF-7 and DBTRG cell lines causing 78.7% and 64.3% cell death, respectively. MEA extract in 1H, 13C-NMR, and IR spectra exhibited bands, signals and J (coupling constant) values representing aromatic/phenolic constituents. Conclusions: From the results, it could be concluded that MEA extract has potency to inhibit hepatotoxicity and MCF-7 and DBTRG cancer cell lines which might be due to the phenolic compounds depicted from NMR and IR spectra

Untapped potential of food waste derived biochar for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater

: The presence of heavy metals in water pose a serious threat to both public and environmental health. However, the advances in the application of low cost biochar based adsorbent synthesize from various feedstocks plays an effective role in the of removal heavy metals from water. This study implies the introduction of novel method of converting food waste (FW) to biochar through pyrolysis, examine its physiochemical characteristics, and investigate its adsorption potential for the removal of heavy metals from water. The results revealed that biochar yield decreased from 18.4 % to 14.31 % with increase in pyrolysis temperature from 350 to 550&nbsp;°C. Likewise, increase in the pyrolysis temperature also resulted in the increase in the ash content from 39.87 % to 42.05 % thus transforming the biochar into alkaline nature (pH 10.17). The structural and chemical compositions of biochar produced at various temperatures (350, 450, and 550&nbsp;°C) showed a wide range of mineralogical composition, and changes in the concentration of surface functional groups. Similarly, the adsorption potential showed that all the produced biochar effectively removed the selected heavy metals from wastewater. However a slightly high removal capacity was observed for biochar produced at 550&nbsp;°C that was credited to the alkaline nature, negatively charged biochar active sites due to O-containing functional groups and swelling behavior. The results also showed that the maximum adsorption was recorded at pH 8&nbsp;at adsorbent dose of 2.5&nbsp;g&nbsp;L-1 with the contact time of 120&nbsp;min. To express the adsorption equilibrium, the results were subjected to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms and correlation coefficient implies that the adsorption process follows the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. The findings of this study suggest the suitability of the novel FW derived biochar as an effective and low cost adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals form wastewater

Cholinesterase inhibitory triterpenoids from the bark of <i>Garcinia hombroniana</i>

<div><p></p><p><i>Context</i>: <i>Garcinia hombroniana</i> Pierre, known as manggis hutan in Malaysia is a rich source of xanthones and benzophenones.</p><p><i>Objectives</i>: This study was aimed to isolate and characterize potential cholinesterase inhibitors from the extracts of <i>G. hombroniana</i> bark and investigate their interactions with the enzymes.</p><p><i>Materials and methods</i>: The dichloromethane extract afforded five triterpenoids which were characterized by NMR and mass spectral techniques. Cholinesterase inhibitory assay and molecular docking were performed to get insight of the inhibitory activity and molecular interactions of the compounds. The compounds were also tested for their antioxidant capacity.</p><p><i>Results</i>: The isolated triterpenoids were identified as: 2<i>β</i>-hydroxy-3<i>α-O</i>-caffeoyltaraxar-14-en-28-oic acid (<b>1</b>), taraxerol (<b>2</b>), taraxerone (<b>3</b>), betulin (<b>4</b>) and betulinic acid (<b>5</b>). Compound <b>1</b> was the most active dual inhibitor of both AChE and BChE. Compound <b>1</b> also showed good antioxidant activities.</p><p><i>Conclusion</i>: Compound <b>1</b> had dual and moderate inhibitory activity on AChE and BChE worthy for further investigations.</p></div

Hymenaea courbaril resin-mediated gold nanoparticles as catalysts in organic dyes degradation and sensors in pharmaceutical pollutants

In this study, green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using aqueous extract from Hymenaea courbaril resin (HCR) is reported. The successful formation, functional group involvement, size, and morphology of the subject H. courbaril resin mediated gold nanoparticles (HCRAuNPs) were confirmed by Ultra Violet-Visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) techniques. Stable and high yield of HCRAuNPs was formed in 1:15 (aqueous solution: salt solution) reacted in sunlight as indicated by the visual colour change and appearance of surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) at 560 nm. From the FT-IR results, the phenolic hydroxyl (–OH) functional group was found to be involved in synthesis and stabilization of nanoparticles. The TEM analysis showed that the particles are highly dispersed and spherical in shape with average size of 17.5 nm. The synthesized HCRAuNPs showed significant degradation potential against organic dyes, including methylene blue (MB, 85 %), methyl orange (MO, 90 %), congo red (CR, 83 %), and para nitrophenol (PNP, 76 %) up to 180 min. The nanoparticles also demonstrated the effective detection of pharmaceutical pollutants, including amoxicillin, levofloxacin, and azithromycin in aqueous environment as observable changes in color and UV–Vis spectral graph

A bioactive cycloartane triterpene from <i>Garcinia hombroniana</i>

<p>The dichloromethane bark extract of <i>Garcinia hombroniana</i> yielded one new cycloartane triterpene; (22<i>Z</i>,24<i>E</i>)-3<i>β</i>-hydroxycycloart-14,22,24-trien-26-oic acid (<b>1</b>) together with five known compounds: garcihombronane G (<b>2</b>), garcihombronane J (<b>3</b>), 3<i>β</i> acetoxy-9<i>α</i>-hydroxy-17,14-friedolanostan-14,24-dien-26-oic acid (<b>4</b>), (22<i>Z</i>, 24<i>E</i>)-3<i>β</i>, 9<i>α</i>-dihydroxy-17,14-friedolanostan-14,22,24-trien-26-oic acid (<b>5</b>) and 3<i>β</i>, 23<i>α</i>-dihydroxy-17,14-friedolanostan-8,14,24-trien-26-oic acid (<b>6</b>). Their structures were established by the spectral techniques of NMR and ESI-MS. These compounds together with some previously isolated compounds; garcihombronane B (<b>7</b>), garcihombronane D (<b>8</b>) 2,3’,4,5’-tetrahydroxy-6-methoxybenzophenone (<b>9</b>), volkensiflavone (<b>10</b>), 4’’-<i>O</i>-methyll-volkensiflavone (<b>11</b>), volkensiflavone-7-<i>O</i>-glucopyranoside (<b>12</b>), volkensiflavone-7-<i>O</i>-rhamnopyranoside (<b>13</b>), Morelloflavone (<b>14</b>), 3’’-<i>O</i>-methyl-morelloflavone (<b>15</b>) and morelloflavone-7-<i>O</i>-glucopyranoside (<b>16</b>) were evaluated for cholinesterase enzymes inhibitory activities using acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase. In these activities, compounds <b>1–9</b> showed good dual inhibition on both the enzymes while compounds <b>10–16</b> did not reasonably contribute to both the cholinesterases inhibitory effects.</p

Biogenic Salvia species synthesized silver nanoparticles with catalytic, sensing, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties

Salvia (Lamiaceae family) is used as a brain tonic to improve cognitive function. The species including S. plebeia and S. moorcroftiana are locally used to cure hepatitis, cough, tumours, hemorrhoids, diarrhoea, common cold, flu, and asthma. To the best of authors’ knowledge, no previous study has been conducted on synthesis of S. plebeia and S. moorcroftiana silver nanoparticles (SPAgNPs and SMAgNPs). The study was aimed to synthesize AgNPs from the subject species aqueous and ethanol extracts, and assess catalytic potential in degradation of standard and extracted (from yums, candies, and snacks) dyes, nitrophenols, and antibiotics. The study also aimed at AgNPs as probe in sensing metalloids and heavy metal ions including Pb2+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Ni2+, and Zn2+. From the results, it was found that Salvia aqueous extract afforded stable AgNPs in 1:9 and 1:15 (quantity of aqueous extract and silver nitrate solution concentration) whereas ethanol extract yielded AgNPs in 1:10 (quantity of ethanol extract and silver nitrate solution concentration) reacted in sunlight. The size of SPAgNPs and SMAgNPs determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were 21.7 nm and 19.9 nm, with spherical, cylindrical, and deep hollow morphology. The synthesized AgNPs demonstrated significant potential as catalyst in dyes; Congo red (85 %), methylene blue (75 %), Rhodamine B (<50 %), nitrophenols; ortho-nitrophenol (95–98 %) and para-nitrophenol (95–98 %), dyes extracted from food samples including yums, candies, and snacks. The antibiotics (amoxicillin, doxycycline, levofloxacin) degraded up to 80 %–95 % degradation. Furthermore, the synthesized AgNPs as probe in sensing of Pb2+, Cu2+, and Fe3+ in Kabul river water, due to agglomeration, caused a significant decrease and bathochromic shift of SPR band (430 nm) when analyzed after 30 min. The Pb2+ ions was comparatively more agglomerated and chelated. Thus, the practical applicability of AgNPs in Pb2+ sensing was significant. Based on the results of this research study, the synthesized AgNPs could provide promising efficiency in wastewater treatment containing organic dyes, antibiotics, and heavy metals