Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2014 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 8 Articles
Banana (Musa spp.) is one of the world’s most important crops cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas of the globe. Banana is a major source of macro-elements, especially potassium and contains health-good ingredients such as resistant starch, total dietary fibers, rapidly digestible starch and slowly digestible starch. Oligosaccharides present in bananas that have found application in the prevention of muscular contractions, regulation of blood pressure, prevention of Colon cancer and diabetes and in the cure of intestinal disorders when unripe....
Objective. The objective of this study was to find out the possible antiulcer mechanism of action of Eremomastax speciosa. Method.\nCarbachol- and histamine-induced hypersecretion, associated with the pylorus ligation technique, were used in rats. Gastric\nmucosal ulceration, mucus production, pH, gastric volume, and acidity were measured. Results. Histamine and carbachol raised\ngastric acidity to 86.50 and 84.80 mEq/L, respectively, in the control rats, and the extracts (200mg/kg) reduced gastric acidity to\n34.60 and 39.00mEq/L, respectively. Intraduodenal aqueous extract (400mg/kg) in histamine- and carbachol-treated rats produced\nsignificant (?? < 0.001) decreases in acid secretion to 28.50 and 28.80mEq/L, respectively, and 100 percent inhibition of gastric\nulceration. Augmented histamine-induced gastric acid secretion (90.20mEq/L) was significantly reduced to 52.60 and 27.50mEq/L\nby the 200 and 400mg/kg doses of the aqueous extract, respectively.The extract significantly reduced (?? < 0.001) the volume of\ngastric secretion and significantly increasedmucus production.Theulcer inhibition potential of the extract significantly dropped to\n25ââ?¬â??44% (oral extract) and to 29ââ?¬â??37% (duodenal extract) in carbachol/indomethacin-treated rats. Conclusion. The aqueous extract\nof E. speciosa has both cytoprotective and antisecretory effects.The antisecretory effect may involve a mechanism common to both\ncholinergic and histaminergic pathways....
Gmelina arborea Roxb. (Verbenaceae) is the authentic botanical entity correlated to Gambhari as per the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Root of Gambhari, is one of the ten ingredients of Dasamula, a group forms several important formulation in ayurveda. The increasing annual demand of >1000 MT of the raw drug and the decline in the availability of the authentic species have led to arbitrary substitution and adulteration in the raw drug market. This study provides comparative pharmacognostic and phytochemical characteristics of authentic Gmelina arborea and two of its substitutes namely Gmelina asiatica and Trewia nudiflora. Samples sold as Gambhari from six markets in India, were also studied. Of the two substitutes studied, T. nudiflora showed < 40% resemblance while G. asiatica, ~70% similarity to G. arborea. None of the market samples resembled G. arborea or the two substitutes either in anatomical structure or in phytochemical aspects. This study has developed quality standards for authentic species and highlighted the adulteration in the market with unknown species in the name of Gambhari....
Cydonia oblonga Miller (quince) is regarded as a potent libido invigorator in Tib-e-Nabvi and Unani System of Medicine. This study\nwas carried out to evaluate the aphrodisiac activity of the hydroalcoholic extract of the fruits of Cydonia oblonga Miller (quince)\nin Wistar rats. The extract was administered orally by gavage in the dose of 500mg/kg and 800 mg/kg body weight per day as a\nsingle dose for 28 days. The observed parameters were mounting frequency, assessment of mating performance, and orientation\nactivities towards females, towards the environment, and towards self. The results showed that after administration of the extract\nmounting frequency and the mating performance of the rats increased highly significantly (?? < 0.01).The extract also influenced\nthe behaviour of treated animals in comparison to non treated rats in a remarkable manner,making them more attracted to females.\nThese effects were observed in sexually active male Wistar rats....
The methanolic extracts of stem and flower from cuscuta reflexa Roxb were investigated for antimicrobial and anthelmintic activity. The antibacterial activity was carried out against five pathogenic organism viz. Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Shigella sps, using methanolic extracts of stem and flower of C. reflexa. The zone of inhibition was determined against the bacteria at the concentration of 5, 10, 15 and 20% and among the bacteria tested Escherichia coli, was showed more resistant for the extracts used. Further, the anthelmintic activity of stem and flower extracts at 5 different concentrations (i.e., 2% to 10%) was performed on Indian earthworm Pheretima posthuma and albendazole used as standard reference. The results of the anthelmintic activity revealed that, all the test groups of the study exhibited reduction in time duration for the time of paralysis and death in both stem and flower extracts. Among them, stem extract was proved to be more potent than the flower extract. The phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed the presence of secondary metabolites like steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, phenols and tannins etc....
To date, there is no report on safety of Artemisia Kopetdaghensis. This study aimed to determine the possible undesirable effects\nof A. Kopetdaghensis on reproduction of female rats. The pregnant rats were treated (i.p.) with vehicle or 200 and 400mg/kg of A.\nKopetdaghensis hydroalcoholic extract from the 2nd to 8th day of pregnancy. Then, number and weight of neonates, duration of\npregnancy, and percent of dead fetuses were determined. Also, cytotoxicity of this plant was tested using fibroblast (L929) and ovary\n(Cho) cell lines. The A. Kopetdaghensis had no significant effect on duration of pregnancy, average number of neonates, and weight\nof neonates. However, administration of 200 and 400mg/kg of the extract led to 30 and 44% abortion in animals, respectively. The extract at c ??g/mL significantly (?? < 0.001) inhibited the proliferation of L929 fibroblast cells. Regarding\nthe Cho cells, the extract induced toxicity only at concentration of 800 ??g/mL (?? < 0.01). Our results showed that continuous\nconsumption of A. Kopetdaghensis in pregnancy may increase the risk of abortion and also may have toxic effect on some cells....
Five traditionally used antidiabetic native medicinal plants of Mauritius, namely, Stillingia lineata (SL), Faujasiopsis flexuosa (FF),\nErythroxylum laurifolium (EL), Elaeodendron orientale (EO), and Antidesma madagascariensis (AM), were studied for possible ??-\namylase and ??-glucosidase inhibitory property, glucose entrapment, and amylolysis kinetics in vitro. Only methanolic extracts of\nEL, EO, andAM(7472.92�±5.99, 1745.58�±31.66, and 2222.96�±13.69 ??g/mL, resp.) were found to significantly (?? < 0.05) inhibit ?-\namylase and were comparable to acarbose. EL, EO, AM, and SL extracts (5000 ??g/mL) were found to significantly (?? < 0.05) inhibit\n??-glucosidase (between 87.41 �± 3.31 and 96.87 �± 1.37% inhibition). Enzyme kinetic studies showed an uncompetitive and mixed\ntype of inhibition. Extracts showed significant (?? < 0.05) glucose entrapment capacities (8 to 29% glucose diffusion retardation\nindex (GDRI)), with SL being more active (29% GDRI) and showing concentration-dependent activity (29, 26, 21, 14, and 5%,\nresp.). Amylolysis kinetic studies showed that methanolic extracts were more potent inhibitors of ?-amylase compared to aqueous\nextracts and possessed glucose entrapment properties. Our findings tend to provide justification for the hypoglycaemic action of\nthesemedicinal plants which has opened novel avenues for the development of new phytopharmaceuticals geared towards diabetes\nmanagement....
Magnolia champaca (L.) Baill. ex Pierre (= Michelia champaca L.) called as campaka, hamapuapa in ayurveda,\r\nsampangi poo in siddha or tamil. It belongs to the family magnoliaceae, native to the south east asian countries. The natural\r\npopulations are found predominantly in the evergreen and shola forests of the peninsular India. It is also planted throughout\r\nIndia for its aesthetic and medicinal values. In some places it is one of the avenue trees. The flowers have anti-ulcer, anti-diabetic\r\nand anti-inflammatory properties and used in the ailment of ulcer, skin diseases and wounds. It also famed for its aromatic\r\nvolatile oil from flowers, which is used in the perfume industry. Champaka flowers are one of the herbal substances used in\r\nindigenous system of medicine and found as an herbal substance commercially. There is no report on the adulterations found in\r\nthe market sample of M. champaca. In the present study we report the flowers of Magnolia baillonii Pierre (Michelia baillonii\r\n(Pierre) Finet and Gagnep.), as an adulterant found in market samples. Diagnostic and distinguishing characters are also\r\ndescribed to distinguish them. The authentic material is somewhat translucent and devoid of bracts whereas the spurious one is\r\nopaque with abundant bracts....
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