Preliminary phytochemical screening and In vitro antioxidant activities of the aqueous extract of Helichrysum longifolium DC

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many oxidative stress related diseases are as a result of accumulation of free radicals in the body. A lot of researches are going on worldwide directed towards finding natural antioxidants of plants origins. The aims of this study were to evaluate <it>in vitro </it>antioxidant activities and to screen for phytochemical constituents of <it>Helichrysum longifolium </it>DC. [Family Asteraceae] aqueous crude extract.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We assessed the antioxidant potential and phytochemical constituents of crude aqueous extract of <it>Helichrysum longifolium </it>using tests involving inhibition of superoxide anions, DPPH, H₂O₂, NO and ABTS. The flavonoid, proanthocyanidin and phenolic contents of the extract were also determined using standard phytochemical reaction methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Phytochemical analyses revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, steroids and saponins. The total phenolic content of the aqueous leaf extract was 0.499 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of extract powder. The total flavonoid and proanthocyanidin contents of the plant were 0.705 and 0.005 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of extract powder respectively. The percentage inhibition of lipid peroxide at the initial stage of oxidation showed antioxidant activity of 87% compared to those of BHT (84.6%) and gallic acid (96%). Also, the percentage inhibition of malondialdehyde by the extract showed percentage inhibition of 78% comparable to those of BHT (72.24%) and Gallic (94.82%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings provide evidence that the crude aqueous extract of <it>H. longifolium </it>is a potential source of natural antioxidants, and this justified its uses in folkloric medicines.</p

Antibacterial activity of Artemisia nilagirica leaf extracts against clinical and phytopathogenic bacteria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The six organic solvent extracts of <it>Artemisia nilagirica </it>were screened for the potential antimicrobial activity against phytopathogens and clinically important standard reference bacterial strains.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The agar disk diffusion method was used to study the antibacterial activity of <it>A. nilagirica </it>extracts against 15 bacterial strains. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the plant extracts were tested using two fold agar dilution method at concentrations ranging from 32 to 512 μg/ml. The phytochemical screening of extracts was carried out for major phytochemical derivatives in <it>A. nilagirica</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All the extracts showed inhibitory activity for gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria except for <it>Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis </it>and <it>Staphylococcus aureus</it>. The hexane extract was found to be effective against all phytopathogens with low MIC of 32 μg/ml and the methanol extract exhibited a higher inhibition activity against <it>Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, Salmonella typhi</it>, <it>Enterobacter aerogenes</it>, <it>Proteus vulgaris</it>, <it>Pseudomonas aeruginosa </it>(32 μg/ml), <it>Bacillus subtilis </it>(64 μg/ml) and <it>Shigella flaxneri </it>(128 μg/ml). The phytochemical screening of extracts answered for the major derivative of alkaloids, amino acids, flavonoids, phenol, quinines, tannins and terpenoids.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>All the extracts showed antibacterial activity against the tested strains. Of all, methanol and hexane extracts showed high inhibition against clinical and phytopathogens, respectively. The results also indicate the presence of major phytochemical derivatives in the <it>A. nilagirica </it>extracts. Hence, the isolation and purification of therapeutic potential compounds from <it>A. nilagirica </it>could be used as an effective source against bacterial diseases in human and plants.</p

Analyzing factors that influence the folk use and phytonomy of 18 medicinal plants in Navarra

BACKGROUND: This article analyzes whether the distribution or area of use of 18 medicinal plants is influenced by ecological and cultural factors which might account for their traditional use and/or phytonymy in Navarra. This discussion may be helpful for comparative studies, touching as it does on other ethnopharmacological issues: a) which cultural and ecological factors affect the selection of medicinal plants; b) substitutions of medicinal plants in popular medicine; c) the relation between local nomenclature and uses. To analyze these questions, this paper presents an example of a species used for digestive disorders (tea and camomile: Jasonia glutinosa, J. tuberosa, Sideritis hyssopifolia, Bidens aurea, Chamaemelum nobile, Santolina chamaecyparissus...), high blood pressure (Rhamnus alaternus, Olea europaea...) or skin diseases (Hylotelephium maximum, H. telephium, Anagallis arvensis, A. foemina). METHODS: Fieldwork began on January 2004 and continued until December 2006. During that time we interviewed 505 informants in 218 locations in Navarra. Information was collected using semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews, and we subsequently made maps using Arc-View 8.0 program to determine the area of use of each taxon. Each map was then compared with the bioclimatic and linguistic map of Navarra, using the soil and ethnographic data for the region, and with other ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies carried out in Europe. RESULTS: The results clearly show that ecological and cultural factors influence the selection of medicinal plants in this region. Climate and substrate are the most important ecological factors that influence the distribution and abundance of plants, which are the biological factors that affect medicinal plant selection. CONCLUSION: The study of edaphological and climatological factors, on the one hand, and culture, on the other, can help us to understand why a plant is replaced by another one for the same purposes, either in the same or in a different area. In many cases, the cultural factor means that the use of a species is more widespread than its ecological distribution. This may also explain the presence of synonyms and polysemies which are useful for discussing ethnopharmacological data

Pharmaciens français à la cour d'Angleterre au Moyen-Âge

Trease G. E. Pharmaciens français à la cour d'Angleterre au Moyen-Âge. In: Revue d'histoire de la pharmacie, 43ᵉ année, n°145, 1955. pp. 57-63

De la connaissance des plantes à la « pharmacognosie » : leçon inaugurale du cours de M. le Professeur Trease à Nottingham

Trease G. E., Collard Édouard. De la connaissance des plantes à la « pharmacognosie » : leçon inaugurale du cours de M. le Professeur Trease à Nottingham. In: Revue d'histoire de la pharmacie, 46ᵉ année, n°158, 1958. pp. 348-351

Question XLII, (posée par M. E. Segers). A quoi servaient exactement les Delft pill tiles, dont un exemplaire reproduit pl. XXXIV ?

Trease G. E., Brans P. H. Question XLII, (posée par M. E. Segers). A quoi servaient exactement les Delft pill tiles, dont un exemplaire reproduit pl. XXXIV ? . In: Revue d'histoire de la pharmacie, 44ᵉ année, n°151, 1956. pp. 465-466