Volume11,Issue2

Pothos scandens is an important medicinal aroid belonging to the family Araceae, used by the Kanikkars for various ailments. The main objective of this work is to explore Pothos scandens L. to identify various phytoconstituents, which can be used in various disease conditions, study physicochemical parameters and analyse the elemental composition of leaves and stem. The defatted leaf and stem powder were subjected to soxhlet extraction using ethanol and chloroform. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the extracts showed the presence of rich variety of phytoconstituents namely alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, phenols, carbohydrates, xanthoproteins, coumarins etc. The crude extracts were evaluated for the determination of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total alkaloid content (TAC). The ethanolic extract of stem powder showed highest values for TPC (98.48 ± 2.31 mg of GAE/g of extract) and TFC (259. 95 ± 2.7 mg of QE/g of extract). TAC was found to be highest in ethanolic extract of leaf powder (67.51± 2.85 mg of AE/gm of extract). A detailed physicochemical investigation of shade dried leaf and stem powders were carried out. The physicochemical constants evaluated were different ash values (total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash and sulphated ash), extractive values (alcohol soluble extractive value and water soluble extractive value) and loss on drying.  The shade dried leaf and stem powders were subjected to elemental analysis which revealed the presence of calcium, magnesium, phosphate, sulphate, iron and chloride.

The leaves of Uvaria chamae are used in traditional African medicine against hemorrhoids, respiratory disorders, wounds and inflammations. Despite the many virtues of the leaves of Uvaria chamae, little information on toxicity and anti-inflammatory activity exists. The aim of the work is to study the phytochemistry, toxicity and anti-inflammatory activity of the aqueous macerate. The model of inflammatory edema of rat paw induced by carrageenin was used for this study. Aqueous macerate of Uvaria chamae leaves was used at doses of 100 and 300 mg / kg body weight. After gavage, a macerated dose of 100 and 300 mg / kg significantly prevents (P˂0.05) edema of the rat paw induced by carrageenan. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of sterols, polyterpenes, polyphenols, flavonoids, catechin tannins, and alkaloids. The toxicological study of U. chamae macerate determined the LD50 = 5000 mg / kg bw.The anti-inflammatory activity of the aqueous macerate shows the interest of U. chamae leaves in traditional African medicine to prevent or treat inflammation.

Commiphora wightii, also known as Indian bdellium, Guggul, a flowering plant ( Family: Burseraceae), which produces a gum resin .It has many medicinal properties .It is a treasure for many chemical constituents.Guggul plant mostly present in the arid and rocky tracts of the world It is the medicinal treasure for various disorders like inflammation, obesity, rheumatism and disorders of lipid metabolism. Various chemical constituents like terpenoidal compounds, steroids, sterols, amino acids, sugars, guggul tetrols and flavonoids are present. In this review brief information about the chemical constituents had given which are responsible for its wonderful therapeutic action.

The present study was aimed at post chromatographic identification, isolation, antioxidant activity and characterization of bioactive constituents obtained from Trigonella foenum-graecum seeds. HPTLC fingerprinting and in-vitro antioxidant activity was carried out for four isolated fractions given the trivial name fraction 1 (TF1), fraction 2 (TF2), fraction 3 (TF3) and fraction 4 (TF4) of methanolic seed extract of T. foenum-graecum (METFG). From the HPTLC fingerprint the florescent band (under 300 nm) at Rf: 0.66 and 0.69 (mobile phase n-butanol: acetic acid: water, v/v/v) was found in the fractions TF3 and TF4 of METFG. TF4 showed more effective antioxidant activity than TF3 as compared to other fractions TF1 and TF2 w.r.t. the standard substance used being ascorbic acid in all three models viz DPPH radical scavenging, nitric oxide radical scavenging and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay may be due to the presence of more percentage of bioactive compounds TF-k1 (46.38%) in TF3 and TF-k2 (60.27%) in TF4. The GC-MS, ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR analysis of TF3and TF4 revealed the presence of TF-k1and TF-k2 as the major component in respectively. The present study indicated that T. foenum-graecum and its isolated bioactive compounds be a very useful antioxidant and may form the clinical agents with better efficacy.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the chemical content, cytotoxic, and protective effects of polysaccharide fractions (CFs) from Codium edule against human breast cancer cells (MCF-7), UVB-induced MMP-1 production and damaged rats skin. Materials and methods:  Ion exchange chromatography was used for the isolation of CFs from the crude polysaccharide (CP) of C. edule, which was subsequently analyzed for their chemical composition.  Cytotoxic and proliferative activities of CFs were tested on MCF-7 and human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) using MTT assay. Protective activity of polysaccharide fraction 1 (CF1) was evaluated on Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to UVB radiations.  Animals were orally fed with 50, 150, 200 mg/kg BW CF1 before exposure to UVB radiation (1.14 µW/cm^2, 30 minutes) daily for 7 days. Rat’s skin was evaluated by histological examination and measurement of severity index. The levels of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) in rats plasma were quantified by ELISA. Results and Conclusion: CFs afforded carbohydrates (1.93 – 14.9%), protein (1.3 – 4.1%) uronic acid (1.11 – 4.49%) and sulfate (2.48 – 6.3%).  CF1 was cytotoxic to MCF-7 (≤ 80%, IC₅₀ = 38.32 µg/mL), proliferative on normal HDFs, and inhibitory against UVB-induced MMP-1 production in fibroblast cells (≤97%) and rats skin (EC₅₀ 85.12 mg/kg BW). Oral treatment with CF1 resulted to lower severity index, absence of hyperplastic response in dermal skin section, and decreased MMP-1 levels compared to negative (UVB exposed, no treatment) and positive (UVB exposed + piroxicam) groups (p < 0.05). Results strongly suggest the cytotoxic, protective and anti-metastasis potential of CF1 against   MCF-7, UVB-induced skin damage and irregular MMP-1 production.

Mesua is a small genus of flowering plants. It is belongs to Calophyllaceae family, native to tropical southern Asia. Common names include iron wood and rose chestnut. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 13 m tall, with leaves arranged in opposite pairs. The compounds generally associated with this genus are alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, phenolics, tannins etc. These compounds exhibit Antibacterial, anticancer, cytotoxic activity. We have systematically reviewed Mesua genus as it may be helpful to pharmaceutical industry as well as biologists, pharmacologists and phytochemists.

The purpose of this study was to obtain a solution of anthocyanin extract from blanched sun-dry purple sweet potato with the right ultrasound time to produce the best natural dye solution with the best physical and chemical characteristics. The method that used is the Experimental Method using a Randomized Block Design (RBD). The experiment c onsisted of four treatments and each was repeated three times. The next step is to determine the best ultrasound time (30,60,90,120 minutes). That the duration variation method of ultrasound extraction had a significantly different effect on each total anthocyanin, but did not have a significant effect on pH, yield, and moisture content. The treatment of ultrasound for 120 minutes produced the best characteristics with anthocyanin total 185.20 mg / g, color intensity L * (brightness) 28.98, a * (redness) 63.90, b* (yellowness) 50.18, water content 85.39%, pH 2.93, and the yield of 28.66%. with the treatment of temperature stability and the best pH is at a temperature of 60◦C and pH 3.