Phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of leaves and stem bark extracts of Garcinia imberti - an endangered Plant.

Garcinia imberti Bourd. a critically endangered tree belongs to the family Clusiaceae found only in India. The phytochemicals and antioxidant studies were carried out for the methanolic extracts of Garcinia imberti leaves and stem bark using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assay. Preliminary phytochemical screening of methanolic extracts of Garcinia imberti revealed the presence of various bioactive components like alkaloids, flavanoids, steroids, glycosides, phenols, saponins, terpenoids, resins, carbohydrates and tannins in both leaves and stem bark. The quantitative analysis of phytochemicals of the extracts showed the presence of high amount of tannins (0.92 ± 0.23mg/gm) and alkaloids (0.83 ± 0.48mg/gm) in leaf and high concentration of flavanoids (0.65±0.16mg/gm) and tannins (0.78±1.12mg/gm) in bark extract. The result of the present study concluded that the methanolic extracts of Garcinia imberti leaves and stem bark possess significant antioxidant activity due to the presence of significant amount of phenolic compounds which are the major contributors of antioxidant activity. The finding of this study suggests that the studied plant is a potential source of natural antioxidant that could have great importance as therapeutic agents in preventing or slowing the progress of oxidative stress related degenerative diseases

In-Vitro Cytotoxicity of Indian Bee Propolis on Cancer Cell Lines

Propolis is a natural resinous hive product collected by honeybees from exudates of plant sources. It has been used in folk medicine due to its various chemical compounds with biological properties since ancient times. The aim of this study was to compare the chemical constituents and to evaluate the in-vitro cytotoxicity and hemolytic activity of Indian propolis against human breast cancer (MCF 7), colon cancer (HCT 116), and prostate cancer (PC 3) cell lines by MTT assay. The propolis extracts were incubated with cancer cell lines for 24 hours, cytotoxicity was measured colorimetrically and the IC50 value was calculated. Propolis samples were analyzed by GC-MS and 44 compounds were identified. The results indicated that inspite of the differences in the chemical composition of propolis collected from different geographic locations all the samples exhibited significant cytotoxic activity and did not affect normal cells. It is concluded that the Indian propolis is a potential natural source of chemopreventive agen

Assessment of heavy metals in honey by atomic absorption spectrometer

Heavy metals in honey are of interest mainly for quality control and nutritional aspect along with the determination of environmental contamination.The objective of this work was to determine distribution of the levels of selected heavy metals like Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Arsenic (As), Mercury (Hg) and Lead (Pb) in honey samples by Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). A total of 20 samples were collected from different regions in Karnataka of which 15 samples were multifloral and five unifloral. The analysis revealed the presence of Lead (4.2ppm), Chromium (0.14ppm) and Cadmium (0.76ppm) in the collected samples. Contamination by Mercury and Arsenic was found to be below detection level. The presence of these toxic metals in bee honey is an evidence of micropolluting agents in the environment. These findings helped us to conclude that the acceptable level of heavy metals present in the honey of the study area has no negative impact on the living organisms. Honey produced in different regions of Karnataka state do not completely lack heavy metals but they are at satisfactory level and good quality for human consumptio

Chemical Constituents, Antioxidant, and Antimicrobial Activity of Allium chinense G. Don

Background Allium chinense G. Don is a medicinal and aromatic herb belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae, characterized by a high saponin content. The previous report has mostly been focused on the bulb, and there is very limited work on the leaf. The information about biological and chemical constituent of A. chinense leaf is still inadequate in contrast to the investigations reported on the bulb. To the best of our knowledge, there is no report on the hexane extract of both bulb and leaf extract. Therefore, the present investigation was focused on identifying and characterization of the hexane extracts of A. chinense bulb and leaf quantitatively and by using the GC-MS method and to know its scavenging, antibacterial, and antifungal activity. Results Twenty-eight bioactive compounds were identified in the bulb and nine in the leaf extract by GC-MS analysis. The versatile compounds present in the bulb are 2-methyloctacosane (21.30%), tetracontane (14.05%), eicosane, 10-methyl (12.06%), heneicosane (8.46%), octadecyl trifluoroacetate (6.48%), and 1-heneicosanol (5.76%), whereas in the leaf, it was phytol (35.76%), tetratetracontane (18.49%), perhydrofarnesyl acetone (14.76%), and heptadecane, 2,6-dimethyl (10.79%). In quantitative estimation, saponins were estimated to have the highest with 375.000 ± 0.577 mg/g in the leaf and 163.750 ± 0.433 mg/g in the bulb. The DPPH antioxidant scavenging activity was found to be minimum in both the bulb (IC50 = 678.347 μg/ml) and leaf (IC50 = 533.337 μg/ml). A. chinense extracts of both leaf and bulb exerted potential antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Leaf extract exhibited greater antifungal activity than the bulb against Aspergillus niger. Conclusion From the analysis, the hexane leaf extract exhibited higher antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activity than the bulb. Their superior activity might be due to the higher content of total saponin and terpenes. This result will lead to further in-depth research towards the potential use of this plant; the bio-constituents can be further isolated and used in medical and therapeutic applications

Melissopalynological, physicochemical and antioxidant properties of honey from West Coast of Malaysia

Stingless bees are native to tropical region and produce honey which are high in moisture content. Compared to honey from honeybees, there are limited studies on honey derived from stingless bees. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and antioxidant activities of stingless bee honey. Fifteen types of honey were collected from six states in West Coast of Malaysia and pollen analyses were carried out. Four types of unifloral honey samples produced by stingless bees were selected to determine their physicochemical and antioxidant activities including total phenolic, total flavonoid and ascorbic acid contents. Melissopalynological study of 15 honey samples collected from different states showed presence of both unifloral and multifloral origins. Honey samples collected from Apis mellifera (honeybee) combs had lower number of total pollen compared to samples collected from Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica (stingless bees). Jambul Merak honey contains the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents with greatest color intensity and has the highest antioxidant potential. This study highlights the chemical composition and biological activity of honey from stingless bees which may increase its commercial value or to be utilised as potential functional food ingredient

Phytochemical analysis and free radical scavenging potential of Baliospermum montanum (Willd.) Muell. leaf

Baliospermum montanum (Willd.) Muell. is used in India for reducing oxidative stress. The main objective of the study was to investigate phytochemical and antioxidant activities to justify the use of this plant in medicines. Antioxidant activity of different concentrations of methanolic leaf extract was evaluated with the determination of total phenolic, DPPH* radical scavenging assay, and ABTS+ decolouration assay. The total phenolic content was higher in this extract. The antioxidant potential of the extract was well established with DPPH*, which provide a basis for the traditional use of this plant in medicines

Antioxidant and antibacterial activity of different floral honeys from Western Ghats of Karnataka

Honey has a wide range of therapeutic properties which depend largely on floral sources. In this study six honey samples collected from different locations of Western Ghats of Karnataka were screened for total phenolic and flavonoid content, potential antioxidant activity and antibacterial effects. The total phenol and flavonoids content was determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and Aluminum chloride method respectively and also honeys were analysed by HPLC. The antioxidant properties of these samples were assessed by DPPH* (2, 2-diphenyl -1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS+ radical scavenging activity. The antibacterial tests were done by using gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Eschiershea coli) bacteria. The result of the study suggests that, these honeys are not only interesting source for antibacterial activity but also potential source of antioxidant. All the 6 honey samples did not show the bacterial growth inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus. The difference between honey samples in terms of antioxidant and antibacterial activity could be attributed to the natural variation in composition and also to different floral sources of nectar