Comparison of herbarium label data and published medicinal use: herbaria as an underutilized source of ethnobotanical information

The use of herbarium specimens as vouchers to support ethnobotanical surveys is well established. However, herbaria may be underutilized resources for ethnobotanical research that depends on the analysis of large datasets compiled across multiple sites. Here, we compare two medicinal use datasets, one sourced from published papers and the other from online herbaria to determine whether herbarium and published data are comparable and to what extent herbarium specimens add new data and fill gaps in our knowledge of geographical extent of plant use. Using Brazilian legumes as a case study, we compiled 1400 use reports from 105 publications and 15 Brazilian herbaria. Of the 319 species in 107 genera with cited medicinal uses, 165 (51%) were recorded only in the literature and 55 (17%) only on herbarium labels. Mode of application, plant part used, or therapeutic use was less often documented by herbarium specimen labels (17% with information) than publications (70%). However, medicinal use of 21 of the 128 species known from only one report in the literature was substantiated from independently collected herbarium specimens, and 58 new therapeutic applications, 25 new plant parts, and 16 new modes of application were added for species known from the literature. Thus, when literature reports are few or information-poor, herbarium data can both validate and augment these reports. Herbarium data can also provide insights into the history and geographical extent of use that are not captured in publications

An insight into Cochlospermum planchonii extracts obtained by traditional and green extraction methods: Relation between chemical compositions and biological properties by multivariate analysis

In African traditional medicine Cochlospermum planchonii is used to manage various diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, jaundice, infections and inflammation, hence presents the potential to be a good source of bioactive compounds. In this study, traditional and green extraction techniques have been used namely green extraction (homogenizer assisted extraction (HAE) and Sonication (SON)) and conventional extraction (Maceration (MAC), and Soxhlet (SOX)). Extracts prepared from aerial parts were studied for the total phenolic, flavonoids, total antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory properties also relating their biological properties and chemical content by multivariate analysis. The total phenolic contents obtained were in the order of HAE (221.78 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g) > SON (202.64 mg GAE/g) > SOX (190.28 mg GAE/g) > MAC (187.45 mg GAE/g). The highest flavonoid content (rutin equivalent (RE)) was obtained by SOX (65.67 \ub1 0.43 mg rutin equivalent (RE)/g). The highest antioxidant activity was recorded for HAE. C. planchonii extracts showed inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase (8.46\u20138.56 mg galantamine equivalent (GALAE)/g), tyrosinase (165.76\u2013171.10 mg kojic acid equivalent (KAE)/g) and \u3b1-amylase (1.18\u20131.30 mmol acarbose equivalent (ACAE)/g) enzymes. It was found that the observed enzyme inhibitory properties was dependent on the type of extraction methods. Only SOX extract presented \u3b1-glucosidase inhibition (21.26 mmol ACAE/g) suggesting potential studies of this extract as antidiabetic. Liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-ESI-MSn) was used for the qualitative analysis of the samples, allowing the quantification of gallic acid, prodelphynidins and flavonol derivatives. Based on multivariate analysis, green extraction techniques (HAE and SON) were different from conventional techniques (MAC and SOX). Results showed the usefulness of green extraction techniques for obtaining bioactive enriched fractions and tend to highlight the need for additional investigations to fully explore the potential usefulness of C. planchonii as source of antioxidant, antidiabetic and whitening agent as well as cholinesterase inhibitors

Broad Absorption Line Quasars in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Early Data Release

International audienceBroad absorption line (BAL) quasars are characterized by gas clouds that absorb flux at the wavelength of common quasar spectral features, although blueshifted by velocities that can exceed 0.1c. BAL features are interesting as signatures of significant feedback, yet they can also compromise cosmological studies with quasars through their impact on accurate redshifts and measurements of the matter density distribution traced by the Lyman-alpha forest. The presence of BALs can also significantly contaminate the shape of the most prominent quasar emission lines and introduce systematic shifts in quasar redshifts. We present a catalog of BAL quasars discovered in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey Early Data Release, which were observed as part of DESI Survey Validation, as well as the first two months of the main survey. We describe our method to automatically identify BAL quasars in DESI data, the quantities we measure for each BAL, and investigate the completeness and purity of this method with mock DESI observations. We mask the wavelengths of the BAL features and recompute the quasar redshifts, and find the new redshifts differ by 243 km/s on average for the BAL quasar sample. These new, more accurate redshifts are important to obtain the best measurements of quasar clustering, especially at small scales. Finally, we present some spectra of rarer classes of BALs that illustrate the potential of DESI data to identify such populations for further study

Broad Absorption Line Quasars in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Early Data Release

International audienceBroad absorption line (BAL) quasars are characterized by gas clouds that absorb flux at the wavelength of common quasar spectral features, although blueshifted by velocities that can exceed 0.1c. BAL features are interesting as signatures of significant feedback, yet they can also compromise cosmological studies with quasars through their impact on accurate redshifts and measurements of the matter density distribution traced by the Lyman-alpha forest. The presence of BALs can also significantly contaminate the shape of the most prominent quasar emission lines and introduce systematic shifts in quasar redshifts. We present a catalog of BAL quasars discovered in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey Early Data Release, which were observed as part of DESI Survey Validation, as well as the first two months of the main survey. We describe our method to automatically identify BAL quasars in DESI data, the quantities we measure for each BAL, and investigate the completeness and purity of this method with mock DESI observations. We mask the wavelengths of the BAL features and recompute the quasar redshifts, and find the new redshifts differ by 243 km/s on average for the BAL quasar sample. These new, more accurate redshifts are important to obtain the best measurements of quasar clustering, especially at small scales. Finally, we present some spectra of rarer classes of BALs that illustrate the potential of DESI data to identify such populations for further study

Broad Absorption Line Quasars in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Early Data Release

International audienceBroad absorption line (BAL) quasars are characterized by gas clouds that absorb flux at the wavelength of common quasar spectral features, although blueshifted by velocities that can exceed 0.1c. BAL features are interesting as signatures of significant feedback, yet they can also compromise cosmological studies with quasars through their impact on accurate redshifts and measurements of the matter density distribution traced by the Lyman-alpha forest. The presence of BALs can also significantly contaminate the shape of the most prominent quasar emission lines and introduce systematic shifts in quasar redshifts. We present a catalog of BAL quasars discovered in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey Early Data Release, which were observed as part of DESI Survey Validation, as well as the first two months of the main survey. We describe our method to automatically identify BAL quasars in DESI data, the quantities we measure for each BAL, and investigate the completeness and purity of this method with mock DESI observations. We mask the wavelengths of the BAL features and recompute the quasar redshifts, and find the new redshifts differ by 243 km/s on average for the BAL quasar sample. These new, more accurate redshifts are important to obtain the best measurements of quasar clustering, especially at small scales. Finally, we present some spectra of rarer classes of BALs that illustrate the potential of DESI data to identify such populations for further study