Volume13,Issue2

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L, Urticaceae) ecologically benign, grow as a weed plant widespread in the world, predominantly in wasteland areas with characteristically unpleasant stinging hairs on the stems and leaves is characterized by important economical potentials. This perennial plant grows to between 1-3 m tall with dark green leaves in an opposite pattern that are oval to heart shaped and saw-toothed and are sparsely covered with stinging hairs. Leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but   not separated into leaflets), opposite, coarsely toothed and there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower i.e., the flower is radially symmetrical, lamina is 1.5-20 cm long and 0.6-12 cm broad. Propagation of nettle can either take place by seed or vegetative by divisions. The compounds responsible for burning sensation properties of leave’s trichomes are acetylcholine, histamine, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) and formic acid. The high nutritive values caused stinging nettle leaves to be included in the human consumption, as a tonic for strengthening the body, in the preparation of soups and various dishes and as a natural source of food favouring. This herb, which is known for its therapeutic and healing properties also has several side effects such as affects blood regularity, lowers the blood pressure level, insomnia and drowsiness, stomach discomfort, severe allergic reactions etc. Therefore, the present studies revealed that the plant has wild adaptability with effective pharmacological action and has proven its potential for future research for several biological potential.

Medicinal plants are rich sources of phytochemicals and have been recognized to possess a wide range of properties including, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic actions. Acmella oleracea commonly referred to as Spilanthes or “toothache herb”. It is flowers and leaves are traditionally chewed or used in the form of a tincture or paste and applied at site of toothache, gum and throat infection hence need to test their antimicrobial activity on root canal cell lines. Twigs of Acmella oleracea were collected, air dried and ground into coarse powder. The maceration method of extraction using aqueous and 80 % ethanol was done. The mixtures were gravity filtered and the filtrates pooled and sterile filtered through a Nalgene ^® disposable filter unit with 0.45µm pore size filter. The aqueous filtrates were freeze dried while the ethanol filtrates were reduced under vacuum and the yields determined. The tenfold liquid microdilution method using sterile Microtiter plates 96 U-well with lids was undertaken to determine the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations and Minimum Bactericidal concentrations of the extracts on pure strains of Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Streptococcus mutans (ATCC 25175), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Fusobacterium nucleatum (ATCC 25586), Lactobacillus acidophilus (ATCC 4356) and Candida albicans (ATCC 24433). Growth was determined as optical density at 630 nm after incubation for 24, and 48hrs at 37^OC. Bacterial growth increased especially at 50 mg/ml and 25mg/ml extract concentrations at 24 hours, and 48hours incubation. The mean bacterial inhibition was 25.74% at 95% CI [28.81, 22.67]. Most of tested microorganism showed resistance to these extracts while 2% CHX showed higher growth inhibition. Conclusion: Acmella oleracea L aqueous and ethanal extracts generally potentiated growth of the tested root canal microorganisms. Although, 50mg/ml ethanol extracts showed bacteriostatic growth inhibition against S. mutans ATCC® 25175™, L. acidophilus ATCC® 4356™ and with S. aureus ATCC® 25923™ showing complete resistance.

Mushrooms have a long history of uses for their medicinal and nutritional properties.  Recently, wild mushrooms acquired considerable attention since they provide beneficial effects to humans in terms of health promotion, longevity, and reduction of chronic diseases like cancer. The bioactive compounds isolated from wild mushroom Polyporus leptocephalus (Jacq.) Fr growing in the spawning lands of Thattekad forest, Kerala has been studied, together with their biological activities. Phytoconstituents with antioxidant activities have been highlighted. The secondary metabolites obtained were characterized using Soxhlet extractor. The phytochemical screening of the mushroom extract quantified a significant amount of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, and total phenols. The antioxidant activity of evaluated mushroom extracts gave positive results with free radical scavenging activity. Thus, the result obtained from this study has shown the wild mushroom Polyporus leptocephalus (Jacq.) as a potential reservoir of innovative therapeutic solutions and as a healthy food supplement rich in natural antioxidants for human health.