Phytochemical Analysis and Pharmacological Screening of Quercus Infectoria

Traditional Indian medicinal herbs have been used in the treatment of different diseases in the country for centuries. There have been claims that some traditional healers can successfully treat cancer using herbal drugs. The seeds of Quercus infectoria were selected and authenticated for the present study on the basis of ethanobotanical information. Literature survey revealed that not much work has done in this plant. So I felt it worthwhile to validate scientifically, the folkclaim for its therapeutic activity. The detailed preliminary phytochemical investigations proved its appropriate identification and rationalized its use as a drug of therapeutic importance. This plant have many phytoconstituents like flavonoids, phenolic compounds, saponins, tannins and so on. The phytoconstituents are found to possess pharmacological activities like antioxidant, antiulcer, antiinflammatory, antimicrobial, wound healing activities. So it was planned to isolate active constituent from ethanol extract of seeds of Quercus infectoria. The present study concluded that the phytoconstituent was isolated from the seeds of ethanol extract of Quercus infectoria and characterized systematically with IR, H1 NMR and mass spectroscopy. The spectral datas of the isolated compound suggested that EEQI I showed the structural similarities with Gallic acid. Cancer is a complex multifactorial cell disease characterized by abnormal cellular proliferation. Cancer development is normally caused by oncogene, tumor suppressor gene, and microRNA gene alterations. It imposes a serious burden on the public health system, and its treatment and cure are scientifically challenging. Cancer is expected to claim nine million lives worldwide by 2015. Approximately 60% of anticancer agents are derived from medicinal plants and other natural resources; however, there are still a number of plants that have an anticancer potential but they have not yet been fully investigated. The MTT assay is used in screening the crude extracts as well as in the isolated compounds to assess the toxicity. It could also provide an indication of possible cytotoxic properties of the tested plant extracts. MTT assay is based on the reduction of MTT by mitochondrial dehydrogenase by purple formazan product. It is frequently used as an in vitro model system to measure cytotoxic effects of variety of toxic substances and plant extracts against cancer cell lines. Ethanol extract of seeds of Quercus infectoria was screened for in vitro anticancer activitities in three different cell lines such as HeLa, Hep G2 and MCF-7 by MTT assay method. HepG2 produced more significant in vitro anticancer activity than other two cell lines. The present study concluded that the antioxidant potentials like phenolic compounds, tannins, flavonoids present in extract might be responsible for the anticancer activities. In conclusion, it was observed that the plant seeds of Quercus infectoria contains a wide variety of secondary metabolites that hold strong antioxidant capacity based on the experiments performed which add scientific evidence to conduct further studies, investigate the lead compounds present in the plant, to evaluate its anticancer potential on in vivo animal models and put forward an attempt to carry out trials on human beings

Documentation of fungal endophytes of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and their seed transmission studies

The present study envisaged to document the endophytic fungal association with black pepper through a series of in vitro and in planta investigations. Black pepper was found to harbour endophytic fungal flora belonging to the genera Alternaria, Acremonium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Chaetomium, Curvularia, Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Humicola, Paecilomyces, Rhizoctonia, Phoma and non-sporulating forms. Further, it was found that the endocarp of black pepper seed is free from culturable endophytic fungi. This was evident from the absence of culturable fungi in in vitro grown black pepper seedlings. The growth of fungi from the seedlings grown under green house conditions reveal that the fungal endophytes establish from fungal propagules falling on the (test) plants that may enter the plant tissues as back ground inoculum and grow as endophyte. This was also supported by the study that the type of endophytic fungi that harbour black pepper plants varied with geographical locations from where the samples were collected

A Novel Componentless Power Quality Improvement Technique for Renewable Energy Sources

The main aim in power distribution system is to provide uninterrupted flow of energy at smooth sinusoidal voltage at the contracted magnitude level and frequency. However in wind power generation have numerous non linear loads, which significantly affect the quality of the power supplies. As the power of the non linear loads, the purity of the waveform of supplies is lost. In this proposed work, multiple port choppers is used to handle power quality issues such as voltage sags, harmonic distortion, in addition to normal wind turbine supplying to the customer during normal operation. The wind generation with micro turbine provides the flexibility of operation to the customer. The micro turbine based DVR can recover voltage sags in the supply voltage during abnormal load. On the other hand, it will operate as a separate DG when the wind power supply fails to supply the desired power

Virulence of Phytophthora isolates from Piper nigrum L. and their sensitivity to metalaxyl-mancozeb

Foot rot disease caused by Phytophthora capsici in black pepper is the most destructive disease. A total of 82 isolates from the National Repository of Phytophthora at ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research were evaluated for their sensitivity to metalaxylmancozeb and also tested for their virulence. Of the 82 isolates studied, 19 (23.2%) were highly sensitive to metalaxyl-mancozeb and six (7.3%) were comparatively insensitive (EC90 value >40 ppm; range 41.3 to 68.5 ppm). The isolates also varied in the degree of virulence, viz., 34 (41.5%) were highly virulent, 39 (47.6%) moderately virulent, 4 (3.7%) mildly virulent, and 5 (6.1%) non-virulent. There was neither any significant correlation between sensitivity to metalaxyl-mancozeb and virulence nor with the geographical location.Â

A cross sectional study on screening for depression among elderly in rural areas of Puducherry, India

Background: Depression among elderly has been a neglected health issue. Various factors hinder its early diagnosis. The objectives of this study are to screen for depression among elderly using geriatric depression scale-15 and to determine its influencing factors.Methods: A community based cross sectional study on geriatric depression was done in villages catered by a primary health centre in Puducherry. Permanent residents of the study setting, aged ≥60 years consenting for the study were included. Line listing of elderly individuals in the study setting was done and subjects were selected by simple random sampling. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and clinic-psychological variables. Hindi mental state examination scale was used to screen for cognitive impairment (score 5) among geriatric individuals. Appropriate statistical tests of significance were done.Results: Among the 360 elderly individuals screened using GDS-15 tool, 41.4% of them were found to be at a higher risk of developing depression. Significant factors for risk of depression in univariate analysis include being female, illiterate, unemployed, widow/single, having sleep problems, dependency in activities of daily living and cognitive impairment. Predictors for risk of depression evident by multivariate analysis include presence of unemployment, sleep problems and cognitive impairment.Conclusions: A higher proportion of elderly was observed to be at risk of depression.  Primary care physicians may consider screening for depression in elderly with identified risk factors and act accordingly

Diseases of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and their management

Among the diseases reported on black pepper (Piper nigrum L.), blight, root rot and basal wilt in the nursery; foot rot, slow decline and anthracnose in the field are important. Stunted disease, phyllody and leaf spots are also becoming serious. The symptomatology, causal organisms and control measures of major diseases are outlined in this paper and future lines of work suggested. &nbsp

Enhancing shelf life of Trichoderma harzianum by conidial storage in sterile deionized water

In this study T. harzianum conidial suspension was made in different concentrations of cryoprotectants viz., glycerol, glucose, DMSO and deionized distilled water and stored at two different temperatures viz., 25± 1oC and 28-32ºC for more than 720 days for evaluating the shelf life in order to develop a ready to use liquid carrier formulation. The results showed that submerged conidia formulation in cryoprotectants like glycerol, glucose and DMSO preserved the viability for 75 days only when compared to the formulation in sterile deionized water which at 28-32°C retained the viability for 480 days with a viable count of loge= 6.671 (3.2 × 106) and for more than 720 days with a viable count of loge=5.54 (2 × 105) and in 480 days at 25±1°C with a viable count of loge=6.3911 (6.5 × 106) and with a viable count of loge =5.40 (2 × 105) for more than 720 days. The viability was tested in vitro by recovery in TSM and effectiveness was tested in vivo by drenching the suspension on plants and challenge inoculating with Phytophthora capsici after seven days. Challenge inoculation of black pepper plants with P. capsici after drenching with diluted stored suspension gave a disease reduction of 66.67%. Hence, sterile deionized water can be used as a liquid storage medium for the long term storage of T. harzianum culture without loosing the viability and effectiveness of the spores. &nbsp

Effect of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza on rooting of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)

Incorporation of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) fungus Glomus fasciculatum in the rooting medium of sand enhanced rooting of black pepper (Piper nigrum) cuttings. The rooting was reduced when the commercial rooting hormone (Ceradix B) was also added in addition to VAM. Rooting enhancement could be used as a cirterion to identify efficient strains of VAM for black pepper. &nbsp

Native multi-trait rhizobacteria promote growth and suppress foot rot in black pepper

In this study, 74 PGPR isolates from different varieties of black pepper were characterized for morphological, biochemical and nutrient mobilization traits as well as inhibition of Phytophthora capsici (causing foot rot) under in vitro conditions. Based on the multiple traits, two PGPR [(Micrococcus luteus Schroeter (1872) Cohn 1872 (BRB3) and Enterobacter aerogenes Hormaeche and Edwards 1960 (AL) (BRB13)] were shortlisted for further growth promotion studies. For biocontrol studies, three PGPR [(Burkholderia cepacia (Palleroni & Holmes 1981) Yabuuchi et al. (1993) (BRB21), Pseudomonas aeruginosa Schröter (1872) Migula 1900 (BRB28) and Serratia marcescens Bizio 1823 (AL) (BRB49)] which showed >70% inhibition of P. capsici were shortlisted. The results from green house study on growth promotion indicated that application of M. luteus (BRB3) + 75% recommended dose (RD) of N + 100% RD of PK produced taller plants, longer roots, greater fresh biomass, more number of leaves and nodes in black pepper. This suggested a 25% reduction in chemical N fertilizer in the presence of M. luteus (BRB3). In the green house study on biocontrol, lowest foot rot (32.77%) and taller plants (332.0 cm) were observed with B. cepacia (BRB 21), which was on par with chemical treatment. This is the first report on the potential of PGPR like M. luteus for growth promotion and B. cepacia for management of P. capsici in black pepper. &nbsp

Molecular identification of scale insect (Eulecanium giganteum) in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is a widely grown evergreen valuable medicinal, ornamental species planted in India. Scale insects are small herbivorous insects found on all continents and they are serious sap sucking pests of many ornamental plants. These scale insects are undetectable due to their tiny size, basic morphology, and polyphagous feeding nature. Hence, the management of these tiny insects become a serious concern across the globe. To afford a prospective solution to the problem, an accurate, simple, and developmental-stage-independent identification method is required, hence this study attempted the molecular identification of scale insect in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis using mitochondrial gene Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I (mtCOI) sequencing. The experiment was carried out by isolating insect DNA using a modified CTAB method. Through two or three rounds of error-prone PCR followed by a steady procedure to amplify a mtCOI region. This region of mtCOI has been used as a standard DNA barcode for a diverse array of taxa. The confirmation has been done by sequencing of mtCOI which suggest the highest similarities with Eulecanium giganteum. This study addresses the questions of biodiversity and molecular characterization of scale insects. Further, the information obtained in this study provides baseline data for future crop improvement programs and integrated pest management strategies