Metabolic profiling of Kaempferia galanga leaf and rhizome extract using GC-MS

Kaempferia galanga Linn. is an endangered rhizomatous medicinal plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family. It has evolved as an emerging industrial crop and dominates pharma as well as aroma sector. Though the extracts of this species have been extensively used in herbal medicine across the globe for the treatment of numerous diseases, but still the composition of the extract is not characterized properly. Thus, methanol extracts of K. galanga leaves and rhizomes were subjected to phytochemical screening, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) to analyze the phytoconstituents. Leaf extract contained more TPC and TFC values as compared to rhizome extract. A total of eight and ten compounds were identified in the leaf and rhizome extract accounting for 61.44% and 96.97% of the total peak area respectively. Ethyl p-methoxycinnamate was found as the main constituent in rhizome extract covering 80.39% of the total area. Other important compounds like ethyl cinnamate (9.61±0.45%), pentadecane (3.12±0.2%) were also found in the rhizome extract, whereas leaf extract contained 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-7-hydroxy-3-methoxy-4H-chromen-4-one (18.26%), 2-(3-hydroxy-4- methoxyphenyl)-3,7-dimethoxy-4H-chromen-4-one (14.01%), octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (11.79%). The study indicated that K. galanga is a good source of phytoconstituents which can be used at the industrial level to produce pharmaceuticals, perfumes and flavouring agents

Pharmacological activity and biochemical interaction of zingerone: a flavour additive in spice food

Zingerone (4-(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-butanone) is one of the non-volatile and nontoxic compounds of ginger. It is also called vanillylacetone with a crystalline solid form which is sparingly soluble in water and more soluble in ether. The contribution of this compound in ginger is about 9.25%. The chemical structure is made of a phenolic ring with methoxy group attached to benzene ring. Gingerol can be heated to form zingerone by retroaldol reaction. It has been reported that zingerone has multiple pharmacological activities. It is effective against diarrhoea causing enterotoxigenic bacteria that leads to infant death. It is also used against intestinal gastric, oxidative stress, weak immunity, obesity. During its activity against cancer, it governs the expression of different cell cycle protein and TGF-?1 expression. Antioxidant response is controlled by inducing the activity of ROS neutralising enzymes like superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione reductase. It can also reduce various inflammations by restricting the activity of interleukins. This review summarizes the multiple pharmacology activities of zingerone against various important diseases like cancers, tumors, inflammations, oxidative conditions, microbial infections, biofilm formations, thrombosis and other diseases. In addition, the molecular regulation of these pharmacological responses by zingerone is also critically discussed

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ESSENTIAL OIL AND EXTRACT OF ALPINIA MALACCENSIS ROSCOE (ZINGIBERACEAE)

Objective: The present study was conducted to examine the chemical composition, in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of both the essential oil and methanolic extract of Alpinia malaccensis leaves. Methods: The essential oils obtained from the leaves of Alpinia malaccensis were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to determine chemical compositions. Antioxidant activity of both oil and extract were determined using DPPH and ABTS assay whereas the antimicrobial effects were tested by inhibition zone diameter and minimum inhibitory concentration.  Results: The GC–MS analysis of the essential oil identified 10 components comprising 92.7% of the oil. The major constituents of the oil are α-phellandrene (43.9%), β-cymene (31.7%), β-pinene (4.6%). Total phenolic content of the leaf extract of A. malaccensis was found to be 76.25 mg GAE/g of the extract. Essential oil and methanolic extract displayed significant antioxidant activities with IC50 values of 18.26μg/ml and 22.5μg/ml in DPPH and 20μg/ml and 26.23μg/ml in ABTS respectively. Oil and extract showed very good activity against all four microbial strains. Conclusion: The result showed that the essential oil has better activity than extract. Thus it could be served as potential source of natural antioxidant, natural antimicrobial as well as natural preservative ingredient in cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical industry

In-silico structural modelling of cytochrome complex proteins of white turmeric (Curcuma zedoaria)

Curcuma zedoaria (Christm.) Roscoe (white turmeric) is a perennial herbaceous plant of family Zingiberaceae and mainly found in the wild areas of tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. The cytochrome proteins in plants play important roles in promoting their growth and development, as well as protecting them from stresses and diseases. Cytochrome proteins like psbF, psbE, petB, petD, petN, petG, and ccsA play important roles in degradation of mis-folded proteins, ATP formation, cyclic electron flow and biogenesis of c-type cytochrome of C. zedoaria. However, due to lack of structural availability of these C. zedoaria cytochrome proteins in structural databases, the physiochemical parameters of sequences were estimated using Expasy ProtParam web tool. Self-Optimized Prediction Method with Alignment (SOPMA) server and MODELLER version 9.23 were used for modelling along with Qualitative Model Energy Analysis (QMEAN) and Protein Structure Analysis (ProSA) servers were implemented for validating the secondary and tertiary structures of these proteins. The obtained QMEAN4 values of the modelled cytochrome proteins were -2.04, -1.20, -3.01, -1.57, -2.11, -1.74 and -12.87. The Z-scores obtained from ProSA server were 0.5, -0.83, -1.5, -0.58, -0.02, 0.14 and -3.73. All seven modelled structures have been submitted to protein model database (PMDB). The derived results will be helpful in further investigations towards determining the crystal structure of the hypothetical proteins, structural motifs, physiochemical properties, and also protein-protein interaction studies of various cytochrome proteins

GC-MS ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF BIOACTIVITIES OF KAEMPFERIA PARISHII - A NATURAL SOURCE OF TOTAROL

Objective: The present study was aimed for phytoconstituent analysis, in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of leaf and rhizome extracts of an unexplored plant, Kaempferia parishii (Zingiberaceae).Methods: The extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to determine volatile chemical constituents. Antioxidant activity of extracts was determined using DPPH assay whereas the antimicrobial effects were tested by inhibition zone diameter and minimum inhibitory concentration.Results: GC/MS analysis revealed the presence of 7 and 8 identified components accounting for 92.1% and 82.86% of the leaf and rhizome extract of Kaempferia parishii respectively. In leaf extract phytol (72.55±0.5%), hexadecanoic acid methyl ester (4.94±0.2%), hexahydro farnesyl acetone (3.78±0.2%), dibutyl phthalate (3.31±0.2%) were found to be the major constituents and those of rhizome extract were totarol (74.96±0.86%), cembrene (2.83±0.2%), borneol (1.23±0.15). Both the extracts exhibited low to moderate antioxidant activity. They possess very weak activities against some tested microorganisms while the extracts had no activity against some microorganisms.Conclusion: Totarol, an antimicrobial agent, was found to be the major constituent of Kaempferia parishii rhizome extract. Thus, Kaempferia parishii can be used as a natural source of totarol. This is the first report on the unexplored plant, Kaempferia parishii.Keywords: Kaempferia parishii, GC-MS analysis, Totarol, Phytol, Antioxidant activity, Antimicrobial activit

EVALUATION OF DRUG YIELDING POTENTIAL OF MICROPROPAGATED CURCUMA AROMATICA

Objective: GC MS analysis and antioxidant activity of micropropagated and conventionally grown Curcuma aromatica essential oil and extract was done for their large scale commercial cultivation. Molecular marker based studies were performed to know their genetic fidelity as well as to trace any somaclonal variation existing between the regenerants.Methods: In vitro regeneration and multiplication were done using Murashige and Skoog media with various combinations of growth regulators. Component identification was done by GC MS analysis. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used for molecular profiling. Antioxidant activity was performed using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH).Results: Molecular marker-based analysis revealed uniform banding patterns similar to those of the mother plants. Gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy (GC MS) analysis showed the presence of 10 major components accounted for 95.5% of the total compounds. The major components in micropropagated and field grown mother plants were found to be alpha phellandrene (41% and 38%), 4-carene (23% and 25%) and terpeneol etc. Antioxidant activity of leaf oil (IC50-29.3 µg/ml) and methanolic extract (IC50-101.25 µg/ml) of in vitro grown plants showed increased free-radical scavenging activity. Conclusion: Absence of any type of remarkable polymorphism in the essential oil quality and antioxidant activity the present protocol could be used commercially for large scale propagation of C. aromatica. The present report bears immense potential for the future improvement, conservation and domestication of C. aromatica to explore its high prized secondary metabolites.Â

ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF HALOPHILA OVALIS AND HALOPHILA BECCARII (HYDROCHARITACEAE): TWO IMPORTANT SEAGRASS SPECIES OF CHILIKA LAGOON, INDIA

Objective: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the total phenolic and flavonoid content and the antioxidant property of two important seagrass species namely, Halophila ovalis and Halophila beccarii occurring in Chilika lagoon, Odisha, India. Methods: Total Phenolic Content (TPC) of the extracts of Halophila species was determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method with little modifications and the total flavonoid content (TFC) was measured by aluminum chloride colorimetric assay. The antioxidant activity of different extracts was investigated by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity. IC50 values were calculated for the DPPH and ABTS methods. Result: The study revealed that the methanol extract of H. ovalis has greater antioxidant activity than H. beccarii. Methanol extract of both the species (H. ovalis and H. beccarii) was found to possess high phenolic content at value of 70.25 mg GAE/g of extract and 48.53 mg GAE/g of extract respectively. Similarly flavonoid contents was found highest in methanol extract for both H. ovalis (76.82 mg quercetin equivalent/ g of extract) and H. beccarii (64.28 mg quercetin equivalent/ g of extract). The antioxidant activity of different extracts of these two species were evaluated using DPPH and ABTS radical assay. The methanol extract of both H. ovalis and H. beccarii showed high radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 37.77 μg/ml and 52.25 μg/ml for DPPH and 25.62 μg/ml and 45.45 μg/ml for ABTS respectively. Conclusion: The study revealed the potential of the Halophila species as natural sources of antioxidants having considerable commercial importance

Biosensors in Health Care: The Milestones Achieved in Their Development towards Lab-on-Chip-Analysis

Immense potentiality of biosensors in medical diagnostics has driven scientists in evolution of biosensor technologies and innovating newer tools in time. The cornerstone of the popularity of biosensors in sensing wide range of biomolecules in medical diagnostics is due to their simplicity in operation, higher sensitivity, ability to perform multiplex analysis, and capability to be integrated with different function by the same chip. There remains a huge challenge to meet the demands of performance and yield to its simplicity and affordability. Ultimate goal stands for providing point-of-care testing facility to the remote areas worldwide, particularly the developing countries. It entails continuous development in technology towards multiplexing ability, fabrication, and miniaturization of biosensor devices so that they can provide lab-on-chip-analysis systems to the community

Transcriptome profiling of Curcuma longa L. cv. Suvarna

Turmeric is an economically valued crop, because of its utility in the food, pharmaceutical industries and Ayurvedic medicine, attracts the attention in many areas of research work. In the present study, we executed resequencing through transcriptome assembly of the turmeric cultivar Suvarna (CL_Suv_10). Resequencing of Suvarna variety has generated 5 Gbases raw data with 75 bp paired-end sequence. The raw data has been submitted to SRA database of NCBI with accession number SRR4042181. Reads were assembled using Cufflinks-2.2.1 tool which ended up with 42994 numbers of transcripts. The length of transcripts ranged from 83 to15565, with a N50 value 1216 and median transcript length 773. The transcripts were annotated through number of databases. For the first time transcriptome profiling of cultivar Suvarna has been done, which could help towards identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between Suvarna and other turmeric cultivars for its authentic identification

Resequencing of Curcuma longa L. cv. Kedaram through transcriptome profiling reveals various novel transcripts

Curcuma longa L. (Turmeric), of the family Zingiberaceae, is one of the economically as well as medicinally important plant species. It is a sterile, polyploid and vegetatively propagated spice crop cultivated usually in Southeast Asia. In the current study, we carried out re-sequencing through transcriptome profiling of Curcuma longa cv. Kedaram (Cl_Ked_6). We acquired a total of 1 GB raw data by resequencing through paired-end sequencing using Nextseq 500 platform. The raw data obtained in this study can be accessible in NCBI database with accession number of SRR3928562 with bioproject accession number PRJNA324755. Cufflinks-2.2.1 tool was used for transcriptome assembly which resulted in 39,554 numbers of transcripts. The transcript length ranged from 76 to 15,568, having N50 value of 1221 and median transcript length of 860. We annotated the transcripts using multiple databases. This data will be beneficial for studying sequence variations particularly SNPs between cultivars of turmeric towards authentic identification and discovery of novel functional transcripts in Kedaram