A Short Note on Designing Curriculum for Medicinal Phytochemistry

Phytochemistry is defined as study of chemical composition of medicinal plants or phyto-drugs. Phytochemistry is significant subject of Pharmacognosy curriculum. Today we can witness explosive growth of herbal drug industry. Standardized herbal extracts and phytochemicals are in high demand for applied research as well as commercial use. The phytochemistry course taught in pharmacy schools deals with process of isolation, purification and pre-clinical studies of herbal extracts and phytochemicals

Structural characterization of phytotoxic terpenoids from Cestrum parqui.

Isolation, chemical characterization and phytotoxicity of nine polyhydroxylated terpenes (five C13 nor-isoprenoids, two sesquiterpenes, a spirostane and a pseudosapogenin) from Cestrum parqui LHerr are reported. In this work we completed the phytochemical investigation of the terpenic fraction of the plant and described the structural elucidation of polar isoprenoids using NMR methods. All the configurations of the compounds have been assigned by NOESY experiments. Four new structures have been identified as (3S,5R,6R,7E,9R)-5,6,9-trihydroxy-3-isopropyloxy-7-megastigmene, 5a-spirostan-3b,12b,15a-triol, and 26-O-(30-isopentanoyl)-b-Dglucopyranosyl- 5a-furost-20(22)-ene-3b,26-diol, and as an unusual tricyclic sesquiterpene. The compounds have been assayed for their phytotoxicity on lettuce at the concentrations ranging between 104 and 107 M. The activities of some compounds were similar to that of the herbicide pendimethalin

Phytochemistry Predicts Habitat Selection by an Avian Herbivore at Multiple Spatial Scales

Animal habitat selection is a process that functions at multiple, hierarchically structured spatial scales. Thus multi-scale analyses should be the basis for inferences about factors driving the habitat selection process. Vertebrate herbivores forage selectively on the basis of phytochemistry, but few studies have investigated the influence of selective foraging (i.e., fine-scale habitat selection) on habitat selection at larger scales. We tested the hypothesis that phytochemistry is integral to the habitat selection process for vertebrate herbivores. We predicted that habitats selected at three spatial scales would be characterized by higher nutrient concentrations and lower concentrations of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) than unused habitats. We used the Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an avian herbivore with a seasonally specialized diet of sagebrush, to test our hypothesis. Sage-Grouse selected a habitat type (black sagebrush, Artemisia nova) with lower PSM concentrations than the alternative (Wyoming big sagebrush, A. tridentata wyomingensis). Within black sagebrush habitat, Sage-Grouse selected patches and individual plants within those patches that were higher in nutrient concentrations and lower in PSM concentrations than those not used. Our results provide the first evidence for multi-scale habitat selection by an avian herbivore on the basis of phytochemistry, and they suggest that phytochemistry may be a fundamental driver of habitat selection for vertebrate herbivores

Cassane diterpenoids from lonchocarpus laxiflorus

This article examines cassane diterpenoids from lonchocarpus laxiflorus

Phytochemical Content and Antioxidant Activity in Tradisional Balinese Babi-guling Spices

The traditional Balinese richly spiced swine-grill (Babi-guling) has been increasingly popular even among both the domestic and foreign tourists. The traditional grill is very unique in taste as it contains two main components, i.e. the pork and the unique Balinese spices, which probably could work antagonistically one against the other in affecting people health. The pork because of its rich content of saturated fatty acid is a risk of atherosclerosis, while the spices appear to be rich in antioxidatns. This is a preliminary atherosclerosis experimental study designed to screen qualitatively the phytochemical contents of the spices and to test their antioxidant activity and strength in different concentrations in vitro. The methods used included Willstater test, NaOH 10% test, Meyer test, Leiberman-Burchard test, test for saponin, and test for phenol. The antioxidant activity was estimated by using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-pricrylhydrazyl) test. The treatment applied to the spice before testing was raw and cooked by heating it inside the pig's body cavity. The concentrations of spices tested were 100, 1000 and 8000 ppm. The results of our study revealed that the phytochemical content of the spices were flavonoids, terpenoids and phenolic compounds, but saponin and alkaloids were not detected. The antioxidant activity was ineffective in concentration of 100 ppm (percentage of reduction < 50%), effective in concentration of 1000 ppm (percentage of reduction 50-60%), and too thick in concentration of 8000 ppm (percentage of reduction >100%. We inferred that the traditional Balinese richly spiced swine-grill contains flavanoids, terpenoids and phenol which can act as antioxidants in vitro, and the most effective concentrations to decrease the free radicals were between 1000-8000 ppm

Exploring the Phytochemical Landscape of the Early-Diverging Flowering Plant Amborella trichopoda Baill.

Although the evolutionary significance of the early-diverging flowering plant Amborella (Amborella trichopoda Baill.) is widely recognized, its metabolic landscape, particularly specialized metabolites, is currently underexplored. In this work, we analyzed the metabolomes of Amborella tissues using liquid chromatography high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-HR-ESI-MS). By matching the mass spectra of Amborella metabolites with those of authentic phytochemical standards in the publicly accessible libraries, 63, 39, and 21 compounds were tentatively identified in leaves, stems, and roots, respectively. Free amino acids, organic acids, simple sugars, cofactors, as well as abundant glycosylated and/or methylated phenolic specialized metabolites were observed in Amborella leaves. Diverse metabolites were also detected in stems and roots, including those that were not identified in leaves. To understand the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites with glycosyl and methyl modifications, families of small molecule UDP-dependent glycosyltransferases (UGTs) and O-methyltransferases (OMTs) were identified in the Amborella genome and the InterPro database based on conserved functional domains. Of the 17 phylogenetic groups of plant UGTs (A-Q) defined to date, Amborella UGTs are absent from groups B, N, and P, but they are highly abundant in group L. Among the 25 Amborella OMTs, 7 cluster with caffeoyl-coenzyme A (CCoA) OMTs involved in lignin and phenolic metabolism, whereas 18 form a clade with plant OMTs that methylate hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonoids, or alkaloids. Overall, this first report of metabolomes and candidate metabolic genes in Amborella provides a starting point to a better understanding of specialized metabolites and biosynthetic enzymes in this basal lineage of flowering plants

Euphorbia-derived natural products with potential for use in health maintenance

Euphorbia genus (Euphorbiaceae family), which is the third largest genus of angiosperm plants comprising ca. 2000 recognized species, is used all over the world in traditional medicine, especially in the traditional Chinese medicine. Members of this taxa are promptly recognizable by their specialized inflorescences and latex. In this review, an overview of Euphorbia-derived natural products such as essential oils, extracts, and pure compounds, active in a broad range of biological activities, and with potential usages in health maintenance, is described. The chemical composition of essential oils from Euphorbia species revealed the presence of more than 80 phytochemicals, mainly oxygenated sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons, while Euphorbia extracts contain secondary metabolites such as sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, sterols, flavonoids, and other polyphenols. The extracts and secondary metabolites from Euphorbia plants may act as active principles of medicines for the treatment of many human ailments, mainly inflammation, cancer, and microbial infections. Besides, Euphorbia-derived products have great potential as a source of bioactive extracts and pure compounds, which can be used to promote longevity with more health.Agência financiadora FCT/MCT, supporting the cE3c centre UID/BIA/00329/2013 UID/BIA/00329/2019 QOPNA research Unit (FCT) UID/QUI/00062/2019info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio