COMPOSITION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF CRUDE EXTRACTS AND ESSENTIAL OIL OF Callistemon viminalis LEAVES

Antimicrobial activity of crude extracts and essential oil of Callistemon viminalis against several pathogenic bacteria and one yeast (Candida albicans) were assessed using sensitivity test and MIC determination test. Hexane extract showed the strongest antibacterial activity compared with other crude extracts. While essential oil of C. viminalis  in particular showed strong anticandidal activity. GC-MS analysis of crude hexane extract and essential oil have identified the presence of eucalyptol, α-pinene, α-phellandrene and D-limonene as active antimicrobial compounds in all analyzed samples.

Efficacy of different parts of Tridax procumbens as a potential biolarvicide against Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus

The epidemic of dengue and Zika outbreak transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes has been a global issue and plenty of preventive measurements are being used. Due to environmental awareness, people are opting on bioinsecticide. The objective of this research is to study on the effectiveness of different parts of Tridax procumbens plant on Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus larvae. Tridax procumbens are endemic plants in Malaysia. Using WHO standard larval bioassay, third instar larvae of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus were exposed to different concentrations, ranging between 250ppm-2500ppm for three different parts of T. procumbens plant extracts obtained from Soxhlet extraction. Larval mortality was observed after 24-hour exposure. The highest toxicity for Ae. aegypti was recorded by T. procumbens stem extract with the LC50 of 799.78ppm. The pairwise comparison showed, the highest mean mortality value for stem did not show any significant difference with leaves; however, it did show a significant difference with flowers when tested on Ae. aegypti (P<0.05). Meanwhile for Ae. albopictus, the highest toxicity recorded with the LC50 of 583.63ppm was by the T. procumbens flower extract. The mean mortality value for flower showed significant differences from other plant parts when tested on Ae. albopictus (P<0.05). This indicates that T. procumbens is effective in killing both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus

Antioxidant, Antimicrobial Activity and Toxicity Test of Pilea microphylla

A total of 9 plant extracts were tested, using two different kinds of extracting methods to evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities from Pilea microphylla (Urticaceae family) and including toxicity test. Antioxidant activity were tested by using DPPH free radical scavenging, also total phenolic contents and total flavonoid contents were determined. Toxicity assay carried out by using brine shrimps. Methanol extract of method I (ME I) showed the highest antioxidant activity at 69.51 ± 1.03. Chloroform extract of method I (CE I) showed the highest total phenolic contents at 72.10 ± 0.71 and chloroform extract of method II (CE II) showed the highest total flavonoid contents at 60.14 ± 0.33. The antimicrobial activity of Pilea microphylla extract was tested in vitro by using disc diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The Pilea microphylla extract showed antibacterial activity against some Gram negative and positive bacteria. The extracts did not exhibit antifungal and antiyeast activity. The hexane extract of method I (HE I) was not toxic against brine shrimp (LC50 value was 3880 μg/ml). Therefore, the extracts could be suitable as antimicrobial and antioxidative agents in food industry

Bioactivity Guided Fractionation And Antioxidant Evaluation.

The leaves of Mimosa pigra were extracted by boiling in 80%o methanol. The FTC(Ferric thiocyanate) and TBA (Thiobarbituric acid) methods were used to determine the antioxidant activities.2,6-ditert-butylphenol 99.0% (BHT) and a-tocopherol were used as positive controls

Cytotoxic Activities of Physalis minima L. Chloroform Extract on Human Lung Adenocarcinoma NCI-H23 Cell Lines by Induction of Apoptosis

Physalis minima L. is reputed for having anticancer property. In this study, the chloroform extract of this plant exhibited remarkable cytotoxic activities on NCI-H23 (human lung adenocarcinoma) cell line at dose- and time-dependent manners (after 24, 48 and 72 h of incubation). Analysis of cell-death mechanism demonstrated that the extract exerted apoptotic programed cell death in NCI-H23 cells with typical DNA fragmentation, which is a biochemical hallmark of apoptosis. Morphological observation using transmission electron microscope (TEM) also displayed apoptotic characteristics in the treated cells, including clumping and margination of chromatins, followed by convolution of the nuclear and budding of the cells to produce membrane-bound apoptotic bodies. Different stages of apoptotic programed cell death as well as phosphatidylserine externalization were confirmed using annexin V and propidium iodide staining. Furthermore, acute exposure to the extract produced a significant regulation of c-myc, caspase-3 and p53 mRNA expression in this cell line. Due to its apoptotic effect on NCI-H23 cells, it is strongly suggested that the extract could be further developed as an anticancer drug

Antidepressant-like effect of extracts from Urtica dioica in mice model of depression

Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle) leaves have been used as a traditional medicine to treatrheumatoid arthritis, to alleviate rheumatic pain benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), diuretic and prevention of kidney stones by local people in Middle East region especially in Iran, Turkey and East Europe. Hence, this investigation evaluates the antidepressant effect of selected crude extracts in the forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST), two models predictive of antidepressant activity. The acute treatment of mice with extracts by intra-peritoneal (i.p.) route significantly reduced the immobility time in the FST (50 and 100 mg/kg) and TST (50 and 100 mg/kg), as compared to positive controls (haloperidol and fluoxetine) at 1 and 10 mg/kg, respectively. On the third day of experiment, a significant decrease of mobility was observed for chloroform extract (CE I) and butanol extract (BE II) compared to first day. CE I and BE II led to reduction of immobility time, as the selected extracts with two doses administered were different compared to the control, in the FST method by 65.37% and53.92% for 100 mg/kg, respectively. However, CE I showed the best result compared to our positive controls. Similar results of increased antidepressant effect, that was, of immobility time depending on the concentration administered, were obtained with the TST method. Also our data showed that there was no significant differences between doses (50 and 100 mg/kg). The results suggested that the antidepressant action of the butanol extract and of U. dioica its fraction (BE II2) was mediated by an interaction with 5-hydroxytrptamine (5-HT). U. dioica showed a potential source for the isolation of important natural products with antidepressant-like properties. However, further studies are still require

Establishment Of Protocol For Producing High Yield Of Antioxidant Active Flavonoids From Mimosa Pigra.

A study was carried out to determine a procedure for producing high yield of bioactive flavonoids from Mimosa pigra as antioxidant. Various parts of Mimosa pigra were extracted using various solvents such as methanol, 80% methanol, ethanol, 70% ethanol and ethyl acetate in two ways: (1) eluted in the solvents overnight; (2) boiled the Mimosa pigra in the solvents for l-2 hours and left it overnight

Bioprospecting medicinal plants for antioxidant components

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate antioxidant activities of seven medicinal plant species and their fractions, and to identify their phenolic compounds.MethodsTwo extractions were processed and further fractionated by column chromatography to evaluate the concentration that inhibit 50% of 2,2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-suslfonic acid, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl radicals, and their ferric reducing antioxidant power. The identification of the fractions of phenolic compounds was done by ultra performance liquid chromatography.ResultsThe aqueous-acetone extracts of Feretia apodanthera and Ozoroa insignis exhibited the highest antioxidant potentials comparable to those of the standard quercetin. Their subsequently silica gel column fractionation showed three most active fractions from which the major constituents quercetin, myricetin, kampferol, rutin and isoquercetin were identified.ConclusionsThese plant species have potent antioxidant profiles and polyphenol compounds that may help to manage with radical related disease and aging