Gochnatia polymorpha: macro- and microscopic identification of leaf and stem for pharmacognostic quality control

AbstractGochnatia polymorpha (Less.) Cabrera, Asteraceae, is popularly known as cambará and cambara-de-folha-grande in Brazil. It is used in traditional medicine to treat respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders. Pharmacological studies revealed antiinflammatory, antispasmodic, antibacterial and antiviral activities. The goal of this paper was to carry out morphological and anatomical studies in order to describe the aerial parts of G. polymorpha. The botanical material was collected, fixed, and prepared according to usual light and scanning electron microtechniques. The leaves are simple, oblong-lanceolate to elliptical-lanceolate in form with mucronate acute apex, rounded base, entire or slightly toothed margin, and short petiole. In transection, the epidermis is uniseriate along the leaf blade. A subepidermal layer next to the adaxial side is present. Anomocytic stomata are seen only on the abaxial surface. Capitate glandular trichomes and T-shaped non-glandular trichomes occur on the leaves. The mesophyll is dorsiventral and minor collateral vascular bundles are enclosed by a sheath of thickwalled parenchymatic cells. The midrib is biconvex and the petiole has a circular shape. The epidermis of the stem consists of a single layer of cells with glandular and nonglandular trichomes. The vascular cylinder shows typical structure and perivascular fiber caps are next to the phloem

Insecticidal and biting deterrent activities of magnolia grandiflora essential oils and selected pure compounds against aedes aegypti

© 2020 by the authors. In our natural products screening program for mosquitoes, we tested essential oils extracted from different plant parts of Magnolia grandiflora L. for their insecticidal and biting deterrent activities against Aedes aegypti. Biting deterrence of seeds essential oil with biting deterrence index value of 0.89 was similar to N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET). All the other oils were active above the solvent control but the activity was significantly lower than DEET. Based on GC-MS analysis, three pure compounds that were only present in the essential oil of seed were further investigated to identify the compounds responsible for biting deterrent activity. 1-Decanol with PNB value of 0.8 was similar to DEET (PNB = 0.8), whereas 1-octanol with PNB value of 0.64 showed biting deterrence lower than 1-decanol and DEET. The activity of 1-heptanol with PNB value of 0.36 was similar to the negative control. Since 1-decanol, which was 3.3% of the seed essential oil, showed biting deterrence similar to DEET as a pure compound, this compound might be responsible for the activity of this oil. In in vitro A & K bioassay, 1-decanol with MED value of 6.25 showed higher repellency than DEET (MED = 12.5). Essential oils of immature and mature fruit showed high toxicity whereas leaf, flower, and seeds essential oils gave only 20%, 0%, and 50% mortality, respectively, at the highest dose of 125 ppm. 1-Decanol with LC50 of 4.8 ppm was the most toxic compound

Microscopic diagnosis of the leaf and stem of Lucilia nitens Less., Asteraceae

Lucilia nitens is a herb used in folk medicine for treating diarrhoea and popularly called in Brazil "erva-pombinha". Aiming to expand the knowledge on this medicinal plant, this work has dealt with anatomical analysis of the leaf and stem for microscopic diagnosis. Standard procedures of light and scanning electron microscopy were carried out. The leaf is amphistomatous and has abundant non-glandular trichomes and few glandular ones. The mesophyll is isobilateral and the midrib, in transection, is planoconvex. It is traversed by a collateral vascular bundle presenting sclerenchymatic caps. The stem has onelayered epidermis, lacunar collenchyma and parenchymatic pith. Among the sieve elements and parenchymatic cells, there are strips of fibres in the phloem. The xylem is wholly lignified and the tracheary elements are aligned in rows. These combined characters, with emphasis on the peculiar type of the non-glandular trichomes, are useful for anatomical diagnosis of the species for pharmacognostical purposes.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Schinus molle: anatomy of leaves and stems, chemical composition and insecticidal activities of volatile oil against bed bug (Cimex lectularius)

© 2019 by the authors The investigation of the constituents that were isolated from Turnera diffusa (damiana) for their inhibitory activities against recombinant human monoamine oxidases (MAO-A and MAO-B) in vitro identified acacetin 7-methyl ether as a potent selective inhibitor of MAO-B (IC50 = 198 nM). Acacetin 7-methyl ether (also known as 5-hydroxy-40, 7-dimethoxyflavone) is a naturally occurring flavone that is present in many plants and vegetables. Acacetin 7-methyl ether was four-fold less potent as an inhibitor of MAO-B when compared to acacetin (IC50 = 50 nM). However, acacetin 7-methyl ether was \u3e500-fold selective against MAO-B over MAO-A as compared to only two-fold selectivity shown by acacetin. Even though the IC50 for inhibition of MAO-B by acacetin 7-methyl ether was ~four-fold higher than that of the standard drug deprenyl (i.e., SelegilineTM or ZelaparTM, a selective MAO-B inhibitor), acacetin 7-methyl ether’s selectivity for MAO-B over MAO-A inhibition was greater than that of deprenyl (\u3e500- vs. 450-fold). The binding of acacetin 7-methyl ether to MAO-B was reversible and time-independent, as revealed by enzyme-inhibitor complex equilibrium dialysis assays. The investigation on the enzyme inhibition-kinetics analysis with varying concentrations of acacetin 7-methyl ether and the substrate (kynuramine) suggested a competitive mechanism of inhibition of MAO-B by acacetin 7-methyl ether with Ki value of 45 nM. The docking scores and binding-free energies of acacetin 7-methyl ether to the X-ray crystal structures of MAO-A and MAO-B confirmed the selectivity of binding of this molecule to MAO-B over MAO-A. In addition, molecular dynamics results also revealed that acacetin 7-methyl ether formed a stable and strong complex with MAO-B. The selective inhibition of MAO-B suggests further investigations on acacetin 7-methyl as a potential new drug lead for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease

Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil from bark of Ocotea puberula (Rich.) Ness

Ocotea puberula (Rich.) Nees, known as canela-guaicá and canela-sebo, is a native woody species from Brazil. O. puberula has been used by indigenous communities to treat skin diseases and tumours. The aim of this work was to evaluate the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from barks of O. puberula. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis showed spathulenol, β-pinene, bicyclogermacrene, germacrene D and α-pinene as the major volatile components. In the antibacterial activity, a very low response was demonstratedColegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Comparative morpho-anatomical study of Baccharis curitybensis Heering ex Malme and Baccharis spicata (Lam.) Baill.

The genus Baccharis L. belongs to Asteraceae and comprises several medicinal species. Both Baccharis spicata (Lam.) Baill. and Baccharis curitybensis Heering ex Malme are traditionally known as "vassoura" (broom) in Brazil. The species B. spicata has antibacterial, antioxidant and trypanocidal activities. Despite of B. curitybensis shows an external morphology quite similar to B. spicata, no chemical and pharmacological study is available about B. curitybensis. Therefore some confusion and/or problems can occur during popular use. In order to differentiate these taxa, the morpho-anatomy of their leaves and stems were investigated according to the usual light and scanning electron microtechniques. The species B. curitybensis reveals smooth and revolute margin, alternate leaf arrangement and non-capitate uniseriate glandular trichomes. Otherwise, dentate and flat margin, opposite leaf arrangement and uniseriate flagelliform non-glandular trichomes are observed in B. spicata. Morphological and anatomical data can be useful for differentiating B. curitybensis and B. spicata.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Estudo farmacobotânico de partes vegetativas aéreas de Baccharis anomala DC., Asteraceae

O gênero Baccharis pertence à família Asteraceae e se destaca por incluir espécies medicinais. Baccharis anomala DC., conhecida como "uva-do-mato" e "cambará-de-cipó", é utilizada popularmente como diurético e estudos fitoquímicos constataram a presença de taninos e saponinas. Este trabalho objetivou realizar estudo farmacobotânico de folha e caule dessa espécie. O material foi submetido a microtécnicas fotônica e eletrônica de varredura usuais. A lâmina foliar possui epiderme uniestratificada revestida por cutícula delgada e estriada. Estômatos anomocíticos ocorrem somente na face abaxial. Em ambas as faces aparecem dois tipos de tricomas tectores pluricelulares unisseriados, um com ápice agudo e outro com célula apical flageliforme. O mesofilo é isobilateral e a nervura central é plano-convexa, sendo percorrida por um feixe vascular colateral. O pecíolo mostra três feixes vasculares que se dispõem em arco aberto. O caule tem secção circular e epiderme unisseriada, com tricomas similares aos da folha. Colênquima angular e clorênquima alternam-se no córtex e fibras perivasculares apõem-se ao floema. Evidencia-se uma zona cambial, cujas células formam xilema no sentido centrípeto e floema, centrifugamente, e a medula compõe-se de células parenquimáticas. Dutos secretores acompanham o sistema vascular na folha e no caule