Volume14,Issue1

Medicinal herbs provided the way for the generation of large number of pharmaceuticals used in cancer therapy. They are expected to improve the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapy, potentially reducing adverse effects in cancer patients. Tamarind is used as traditional medicine and the seed coat possess antioxidant, antibacterial properties. The current study was performed to assess cytotoxicity of methanolic extract of seed coat of T. indica in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. The seeds of T. indica were obtained locally, shade dried, coat removed pulverised and extracted with methanol and concentrated using rotary vacuum evaporator and used for research. The qualitative phytochemical analysis of the methanolic extract of T. indica was performed. Cytotoxicity of T. indica was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethyl thazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay in MCF-7, at dose rates of 320, 160, 80, 40, 20, 10 µg/mL and the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was calculated using online software AAT Bioquest. The cells cultures in 6 well plates at 1×105 cells/mL and were treated for 24 hours with extracts of T.indica at concentrations of half, IC50 and double IC50 concentrations. The cells were trypsinised and subjected to Acridine orange – Ethidium bromide staining (AOEB) and JC-1 staining.  The results were analysed statistically. Qualitative phytochemical tests revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, phenolic compounds, diterpenes, saponins, glycosides and tannins. T.indica reduced cell viability in dose dependent manner and IC50 value is found to be 16µg/mL. AO/EB staining detected apoptotic cells with orange- red fluorescence in the extract treated cells which were increasing in a dose dependent manner while normal cells shown green fluorescence. Control cells stained with JC-1 dye showed red-orange fluorescence whereas there was a dose dependent shift from red -green fluorescence in cells treated with T.indica. Methanolic extract of T.indica showed cytotoxicity in vitro against MCF-7 cell line and induced apoptosis in dose dependent manner, so it can be used as novel compound against breast cancer.

People have been traditionally using medicinal plants from time immemorial for the treatment of various types of disease. An ethnobotanical survey was made in the Korampallam village in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, during the month of January 2020. Regular visits were conducted to collect and record the plants of that region. The following findings were made clear. A total of 129 plant species belonging to 62 families were recorded for Korampallam village of Thoothukudi district in Tamilnadu, India. Among the species, 1 species belongs to Pteridophyta, while the other 128 species belongs to Angiosperms. Analysis of habit forms indicated 73 species of herbs, 30 species of shrubs, 32 species of trees, 9 climbers, creepers and aquatic plants were recorded. The survey indicates that leaves are predominantly used for treating any ailment which was followed by stem with 34%, roots with 13% followed by whole plant and seeds with 9% and 3% respectively. Among 14 major disease categories, dermatological disorders were dominated followed by kidney disease with 451 use-reports, followed by skin disease and hair problem (302 and 242 use-reports, respectively).

Diabetes is one of the major lifestyle disorders faced by a large fraction of the population today. Type II Diabetes is developed as a result of metabolic disbalance due to the altered functioning of the endocrine system and changes in the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. Patients with these complications may develop alterations in the functions of different body organs or prolonged illness. Till date, there is immense progress in the treatment of diabetes by oral hypoglycaemic agents, but still, there is a need to search for newer drugs. One reason is that existing synthetic drugs have several limitations and side effects. Therefore, in recent years apart from the allopathic mode of treatment, people are turning towards complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) to treat diabetes. Ethnobotanical information suggests that approximately 800 plants are used in traditional remedies for the treatment of diabetes. However, they are yet to be standardized and commercially formulated. There are many active chemical compounds extracted from the plants for the treatment of diabetes. Corosolic acid is one of the best active ingredients exhibiting potential antidiabetic activity. Earlier extraction of corosolic acid was limited to very few plants, in recent years, due to the availability of advanced analytical methodology lot of plants are being screened for the detection of corosolic acid. Majority of plants screened, are not native to India or its availability is limited. we need to screen more plants to encounter an exponentially increasing pharmaceutical market of corosolic acid, focusing on this aim, we have considered leaves of 16 easily available plant members from the order Myrtales for the screening of corosolic acid. The results reveal that out of 16 Myrtale members the maximum amount of corosolic acid was obtained in Callistemon lanceolatus (0.367161%), while the least amount was observed in Pimenta dioica (0.018025%), in 4 other members (Gustavia augusta, Cauropita guianensis, Lawsonia inermis, Ammania baccifera) corosolic acid was not detected. as we can see from the results there are many myrtle members which contain a greater amount of corosolic acid, our study will influence the screening of more plants for the effective extraction of corosolic acid.

Tribal people of Ratanmahal and Udalmahuda forest have been using more than 17 plants to treat various ailments. The main aim of the study is to investigate the medicinal properties of the ethnomedicinal plants i.e., Buchanania lanzan Sprang., Millettia peguensis Ali., Evolvulus alsinoides L. These plants are used for different remedies like improving sexual health, eczema & typhoid. Medicinal plants contain bioactive compounds known as phytochemicals. These phytochemical compounds are used in various medicines. This paper reports the phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of Ethnomedicinal plants of Buchanania lanzan Sprang., Millettia peguensis Ali., Evolvulus alsinoides L. collected from Ratanmahal and Udalmahuda forest, Dhanpur, Dahod, Gujarat. Quantitative estimation of phenol was done by Folin-ciocaltue colorimetric method and total flavonoid content was determined by the Aluminium chloride (AlCl₃) colorimetric method. The Free H⁺ radicle scavenging potential of plant samples was determined by the DPPH scavenging assay. In addition, the antioxidant potential of the samples was also determined by FRAP assay. In the current study, we can say that B. lanzan Sprang. Bark methanolic extract contains the highest phenolic content 2.554 mg GAE/g. while the methanolic extract of leaves of Millettia peguenensis contains the highest flavonoid content 10.262 mg QE/g. For the total flavonoid content, hexane extract of bark of B. lanzan contains the highest proportion of flavonoid 15.55 mg QE/g, on the other hand, methanolic solution of the leaves of B. lanzan, contains the highest content of flavonoid 7.4971 mg QE/ g. DPPH antioxidant activity demonstrates that methanolic extract of bark of E. alsinoides has the least IC₅₀ value of 0.6346, the bark of B. lanzan has 0.7162 IC₅₀ value, and leaves of M. peguenensis contain highest IC₅₀ value 1.0508. From these, we can say that Bark of E. alsinoides has the highest ability to scavenge free H⁺ radicals. From the FRAP assay of plant extract, methanolic extract of B. lanzan has the highest proportion of scavenging Fe⁺² ions while hexane extract of E. alsinoides L. has the least proportion to scavenge Fe⁺² ions. Due to the presence of secondary metabolic active compounds, it shows some biological and pharmacologic activity like Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory, Antimicrobial, Anti-Fungal, and many more. The presence of potent Phytochemicals in the plants can be used in pharmaceuticals.

Dioscorea L. is a member of the family Dioscoreaceae having many biological activities viz. anti-cancerous, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, hepato-protective, antioxidant and many other activities. In the present study, we evaluated the phytochemical screening, extractive percent yield, total phenolic and flavonoids content, identification of secondary metabolites and antioxidant activity of different solvents based on their polarity. Results show that it is a good therapeutic plant. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of many secondary metabolites viz. carbohydrates, alkaloids, glycosides, sterols, tri-terpenoids, tannins, phenolic and flavonoids. The common secondary metabolites were identified at various Rf values in different solvent extracts of Dioscorea tubers.  The maximum extractive yield was found in methanol extract of D. bulbifera leaves. The highest total phenolic content was estimated in methanolic extract of D. deltoidea leaves (384μg/m) while the total flavonoids content reported in D. deltoidea leaves (328μg/ml). The highest percent free l radical scavenging activity (84.62%) by DPPH assay at maximum concentration was recorded in methanolic extract of D. bulbifera leaves. The data prospects for exploration and utilization of leaves and tubers of Dioscorea species.

The present study was taken on to find out the antioxidant value of certain medicinal plant in west Bengal region. In this study, twelve medicinal plants are used to find out antioxidant activity which is correlate with the presence of phenolic and flavonoid quantity in individual plant. Selected twelve plants are Solanum indicum Linn. (Brihati), Asparagus racemosusWilld (Shatavari), Rauwolfia sepentinaBenth (Sarpagandha), Boerhavia diffusaLinn (Punarnava), Acorus calamusLinn. (Vach), Aloe vera Linn (Aleovera), Trigonella foenumgraecumLinn (Methi), Solanum nigrumLinn. (Kakmachi),1q2we43 Sida cordifolia Linn (Bala), Datura metel Linn. (Dhatura), Cyperus rotundusLinn. (Mustak), Phyllanthus urinaria Linn. (Bhuiamlaki). Selected plants are chosen due to have maximum therapeutic dose and usually used in making formulation in a way of single or combination pattern in Ayurveda science. Total phenolic content (TPC), Total flavonoid content (TFC) and different scavenging methods are studied for checking anti-oxidant activity. Anti-oxidant activity prevents the oxidative cellular damage which is control by free radicals. Besides oxidative damage, cardiovascular disorder, inflammation, neuro-disorder etc are cured by these medicinal plants. Besides phenolic and flavonoid component, other phyto-compounds are also present in these plant extract which are also responsible different pharmacological activity. TPC is expressed by mg/g of gallic acid equivalents in milligrams per gram (mg GAE/g) of extract and TFC is expressed by mg/g of quercetin equivalents in milligrams per gram (mg QE/g) of extract. Antioxidant activity is measured by H₂O₂ scavenging method, DPPH and ABTS method. Ascorbic acid is used as a standard of H₂O₂ and DPPH method. Result of plant sample using ABTS method is expressed as mmolTrolox equivalents/g extract. There is a correlation between phenolic, flavonoid compounds and antioxidant properties. Among the mentioned twelve medicinal plants, Cyperus rotundus Linn. (Mustak), Boerhavia diffusa Linn (Punarnava) show highest antioxidant activity. Other plants are also showed antioxidant activity. These plants have other clinical importance also.

Fresh leaf, inflorescence and stem of Lavandula bipinnata, collected from Rajpipla of Gujarat, India and were screened for antimicrobial activity. All the collected tissue were extracted sequential by using four different solvent n-Hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and distilled water to study their antibacterial activity against selected six gram positive and gram-negative bacteria. The n-Hexane extract of Inflorescence and Leaf produced a maximum zone of inhibition against selected Gram positive and Gram-negative bacteria compared to ethyl acetate, methanol and D/W extract. Based on the antibacterial activity of Inflorescence n-Hexane exhibit highest antibacterial activity against PS (30mm) and BC(26mm) and n-Hexane Leaf extract (13mm) against PS.MIC was observed is in the range of 0.5mg/ml to >8mg/ml whereas  MBC values is in range the of 0.5mg/ml to 8mg/ml against selected bacterial strains. Based on the FTIR result Lavandula bipinnata have high amount of phenolic and terpenoids compound and have pronounced antimicrobial activity. The FTIR and 1H-NMR results clearly show that leaf and inflorescence extract of Lavandula bipinnata is an interesting source for biologically active compounds i.e. cortisol acetate, Ethyl(R)-3-(6-amino-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-hydroxypropionate.