Volume12,Issue3

The ocean provides a plethora of structurally-diverse bioactive compounds that are potential candidates for drug development. Marine sponges have been studied over the past decades and have been found to be a rich source of these bioactive chemicals. This study is focused on the antioxidant properties of marine sponges collected from Mauritius waters. A total of 141 extracts  derived from 47 marine sponges from Mauritius waters were tested for their antioxidant property using DPPH radical scavenging assay and ferric reducing antioxidant potential assay (FRAP). Additionally, their total phenolic content were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The methanol extract of Axinella donnani (ADM) displayed the highest DPPH activity (92.15 ± 0.09 %) whilst the ethyl acetate extract of Pseudosuberites sp showed the highest FRAP activity (10.57 ± 0.39 mM Fe²⁺/g of extract). A significant correlation between antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content for methanol/butanol extracts were found.

Medicinal plants are the only source for the treatment of physiological disorders in ancient days. In India, herbs are always acted as the primary source of traditional medicine. Leucas aspera (Willd.) Link (Family – Lamiaceae) an annual herbaceous medicinal weed and it is locally known as ‘Shwetdron’. The plant is distributed throughout India from the Himalayas down to Ceylon. This present review deals with the phytochemical, botanical, ethnomedicinal and other important pharmacological features of Leucas aspera. The major secondary metabolites of these plants are phenolics, alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, lignins, flavonoids, terpenoids and galactose. Extensive studies of the different parts of this plant are reported to have various medicinal properties such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, hepato-protective, larvicidal properties. The plant parts are used against many diseases since long in the world. The plant is also applied in various industries like food, cosmetics, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. It is also used as an anti-pyretic and insecticidal agent from the ancient time. The present review can be helpful for identification and preparation of a clear profile of the Leucas aspera.

The tribal people in Idukki use the plants Byttneria herbaceae Robb. and Gaultheria fragrantissima Wall. for the treatment of inflammations related to the skin and rheumatoid arthritis respectively. The ethanol extract of B.herbacea and methanol extract of G.fragrantissima was investigated for anti inflammatory effects at the dose (p.o.) of 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg in animal models, albino wistar rats. The extracts of G. fragrantissima and B.herbacea reduced the carrageenan induced edema by 55.15% and 57.57% on oral administration of 200 and 400 mg/kg respectively. Animals treated with the G.fragrantissima and B.herbacea (200 and 400 mg/kg, p.o.) decreased the volume of pleural exudates to 0.18±0.07 ml and 0.16±0.05 and inhibited the migration of leukocytes to 0.55±0.07×10³, 0.51±0.04×10³ respectively on carrageenan induced pleurisy in rats. The results suggested that the extracts can be an active source of substances with effective anti inflammative activities.

Caper (Capparis spinosa L.) is a xerophytic shrub with a remarkable adaptability to harsh environments. This plant species is of great interest for its medicinal/pharmacological properties and its culinary uses. The present study aimed to comparison of total phenol and total flavonoids, investigate in vivo, in vitro antidiabetic activity of aqueous and methanolic (80%) extract of leaves, flowers, stems, and fruits of C. spinosa growing in Aleppo- Syria. in-vitro,  the study was completed by evaluate the inhibitory activity of these extracts on α-amylase enzyme using two methods: the first is DNSa method which depended on chemical reactions between plant extracts, α- amylase enzyme and starch using 3-5 dinitro salicylic acid as color reagent, whereas the second method was done by using thin layer chromatography (TLC) method and we used iodine staining to visualize inhibitory activity where a blue color spot on TLC plate was taken as positive α-amylase inhibitory test for the corresponding compound. As well as, evaluate of antidiabetic activity of aqueous and methanolic leaves extracts of C. spinosa on alloxan induced diabetic rats. The results revealed that leaves extracts possessed significant activity of inhibition the α-amylase enzyme in vitro model compared to other extracts. Bioautography revealed that ɑ-amylase was inhibited by most of the flavonoids separated on the TLC plates. Methanolic leaves extract reduced significantly fasting blood glucose and  enhanced regeneration of β cells after 14^th day in diabetic rats treated with a dose 200 mg/kg body weight comparable to that of the reference drug, glimepiride (1mg/kg). The results presented here provided evidence based on the use of C. spinosa leaves as hypoglycemic agents in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Allium  odorum  L.  which  is  locally  known  as Maroi  nakupi (Chinese  chives)  belongs  to Alliaceae family and is generally used as condiments/vegetables/spice or as a medicinal herb in Manipur  since  time  immemorial.  It  can  be  eaten  either  as  raw/fresh/  or  as  cooked/  boiled besides  consuming  as  salads  and  soups.  This  plant  which  is  similar  to  normal  grass  in appearance  is  an  important  perennial,  draught  resistant,  fast  growing  and  quickest  income generating herb. In view of the various health benefits, we aimed to study the phytochemical screening, its antimicrobial activities and GC-MS analysis of Allium odorum L.collected from Ema market, Manipur. Preliminary phytochemical screening shows the presence of most of the phytochemicals  in  both  aqueous  and  methanolic  extracts  of  A.odorum  L.except  amino  acids, carbohydrates, steroids and terpenoids. Cardiac glycosides were found to be present in aqueous extract but absent in methanolic extract.  Both the phenolic and flavonoid content of A. odorum L.were higher in methanolic extract than aqueous extract. Percentage DPPH scavenging activity of   aqueous   and   methanolic   extracts   was   comparable   with   standard   ascorbic   acid   with methanolic extract showing  higher scavenging activity  than aqueous extract. Reducing power for both the aqueous and methanolic extracts showed a slight higher in the methanolic extract. Similar  trend  was  noted  in  total  antioxidant  activity  where methanolic  extract  showed  higher activity  than  aqueous  extract.  Antimicrobial  Screening  for  both  the  methanolic  and  aqueous extracts  of  Allium  odorum  L.showed  that  both  the  extracts  were  found  to  have  antibacterial activity against E.coli and P.aeruginosa   but not against B.subtilis and S.aureus. The extracts showed  no  antifungal  activity  against  any  of  the  test  fungi.  The  methanolic  extract  exhibited more antibacterial activity when compared with the aqueous extract. It was also observed that both  the  methanolic  and  aqueous  extract  showed  antibacterial  activity  against  gram  negative bacteria only. GC-MS analysis is the first step towards understanding the nature of the bioactive compounds and this study  leads to the identification of a number of  compounds.  Isolation of individual phytochemical constituent and subjecting it to biological activity will definitely give fruitful  results.  Furthur  studies  for  identification  of  the  bioactive  components  responsible  for higher antioxidant activity and exploitation for largescale production for used in pharmaceutical industries will be our next target.  The present study provides a baseline data for future studies geared towards the therapeutic benefits of A.odorum L.

The objective of the present study was to protect Bombax ceiba by revealing their endophytic fungi diversity with phytochemical and enzyme analysis. In the present study, a total of 64 fungal endophytes were enumerated and were belonging to Aspergillus niger, Alternaria alternata, Phomopsis Spp., Nigrospora Spp, and Fusarium Spp. with the colonization frequency of 75%, 30%, 22.5%, 10%, and 17.5% respectively. The endophytic Aspergillus niger showed the highest average linear growth rate (6.2 mm/day) and isolation frequency (80%) on tomato dextrose agar while lowest on water agar. The fungus showed white to dark brown to black or purple-brown to yellowish-green color variations with mycelial growth in between 65 mm to 90 mm on the media and 8 to 31 numbers of spores/ microscopic field. Further, fermentation and extraction of the same fungus revealed 2.86 g/100g of total wet biomass and 0.25 g/100g of the dried biomass of corn bran with 5.30 g/100ml of the aqueous concentrated crude extract while the simultaneously plant showed 2.96 g/100ml of aqueous crude extract. Phytochemical screening of both extracts showed alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, phenols. The total phenolic content of the plant crude extract was 27.0090±0.04129 mg and flavonoids content was 20.3568±0.05064 mg while the fungus showed 29.0060±0.03223 mg of phenolic and 12.2549±0.02345 mg of flavonoids. Thin layer chromatography showed alkaloids [0.29], flavonoids [0.41] terpenoids [0.15] and saponins [0.91]. The fungus produced chitinase, amylase, protease, and cellulases enzymes. It is concluded that the Bombax ceiba has the potential to purify the potent fungal endophytes and their bioactive compounds that may be helpful to evaluate in vitro models against different diseases.