Important Herbal Plant Research Articles

Paradigm Shifts in Understanding Citrullus colocynthis-L: The Science of the Desert Apple

Citrullus colocynthis L is a most important ethno-pharmaceutical herbal plant, It is native to the Mediterranean Basin and Asia and is distributed among the west coast of northern Africa, eastward through the Sahara, Egypt until India, and reaches also the north coast of the Mediterranean and the Caspian Seas. In Asia, it grows in the sandy desert of Pakistan, particularly in Sindh, North Baluchistan, Las Bella, KPK, and Kashmir etc. In Khairpur Mir it is commonly found in the Nara desert, the desert of Kotdiji, and the alluvial soils of Gadeji. It is very popular, round like melon and yellow in color. It is bitter in taste. Its flowers, leaves, roots, and seeds, are medicinally very useful It is used by common people for the cure of different diseases. Ethnobotanically, Citrullus colocynthis L is commonly used as a drug for various stomach diseases also. This preliminary report will offer basic information to pharmaceutical for further research and to discover new medicinal compounds derived from many other diseases.

In vitro Flowering in Aerva lanata (L) Juss. Ex. Schult

Aerva lanata (L.) Juss. ex-Schultz, is a medicinally important herbal plant with many medicinal properties like the antihyperglycaemic, lithotriptic, urolithic, antibiotic, antihelmintic, antihyperlipidemic, antimicrobial and hepatoprotective activity that intrigued us to study and propagate this plant. As the plant displayed challenges in propagation by conventional methods, especially during the off-season, the in vitro multiplication method was deployed. During this experimentation, in vitro flowering for two consecutive years both during the on-season and off-season was recorded. L2 media fortified with 2.5 mg/L IBA, and 1.5 mg/L BAP emerged as the best media for proliferation and direct organogenesis. Resultant shoots were subcultured onto similar media fortified with 1 mg/L GA3 to get elongated inflorescences. As flowers and inflorescences are of great medicinal importance, these results aid in sustaining the plant during the off-season and find its application accordingly.

UV and Laser Diode as a Source of Flavonoids Stimulation Production in Marigold Calendula officinalis

Calendula officinalis is an important herbal plant as it is a source of value compounds, and it is a convenient model for plant micro propagation. The aim of this study was micro propagation of C. Officinalis and evaluation of the efficiency of Laser diode and UV-C irradiation, in the stimulation of flavonoids biosynthesis and accumulation in vitro culture. BA 1.5mg.L−1 had a significant effect on the number of explants, reached 6.7 shoots.explant−1. While the nodes, BA 1.mg.L−1 had the highest effect on the average shoot length explants, which increased to 2.9 cm. UV exposure resulted in an increase in the shoots and number of leaves of explants treated by BA 1.5 mg/L. After 60 min of UV exposure, the accumulation of flavonoids Rutin in marigold increased to 343.458 ppm /g compared to the control 21.735 ppm/g. Galic acid decreased to 0.122 ppm/ g. The laser diode caused more changes in flavonoids, the Rutin was 4.742ppm /g while Gallic acid reached 50.825 ppm/g, about 5-fold. This stimulation by laser can act as an actor to stimulate one compound and reduce the others, it seems the plant’s secondary compounds compete with each other’s and sometimes with the same type, like Rutin and Galic acid.

Exogenous Melatonin Enhances the Yield and Secondary Metabolite Contents of Prunella vulgaris by Modulating Antioxidant System, Root Architecture and Photosynthetic Capacity

Melatonin (MT) plays a number of key roles in regulating plant growth and secondary metabolite accumulation. Prunella vulgaris is an important traditional Chinese herbal medicinal plant which is used for the treatment of lymph, goiter, and mastitis. However, the effect of MT on the yield and medicinal component content of P. vulgaris remains still unclear. In this research, we have examined the influence of different concentrations of MT (0, 50, 100, 200, 400 μM) on the physiological characteristics, secondary metabolite contents, and yield of P. vulgaris biomass. The results showed that 50-200 μM MT treatment had a positive effect on P. vulgaris. MT treatment at 100 μM greatly increased the activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase, the contents of soluble sugar and proline, and obviously decreased the relative electrical conductivity, the contents of malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide of leaves. Furthermore, it markedly promoted the growth and development of the root system, increased the content of photosynthetic pigments, improved the performance of photosystems I and II and the coordination of both photosystems, and enhanced the photosynthetic capacity of P. vulgaris. In addition, it significantly increased the dry mass of whole plant and spica and promoted the accumulation of total flavonoids, total phenolics, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, rosmarinic acid, and hyperoside in the spica of P. vulgaris. These findings demonstrated that the application of MT could effectively activate the antioxidant defense system of P. vulgaris, protect the photosynthetic apparatus from photooxidation damage, and improve the photosynthetic capacity and the root absorption capacity, thereby promoting the yield and accumulation of secondary metabolites in P. vulgaris.

Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity of Terminalia arjuna.

Terminalia arjuna is one of the important herbal plants with cardioprotective, antihyperlipidemic activity and many more applications. In the present investigation, In order to find out the protective role, we prepared aqueous and ethanolic extract of Terminalia arjuna. The objective of this study was to comparatively evaluate the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity of aqueous and ethanolic extract of Terminalia arjuna and to compare between the two. Antimicrobial activity of the plant extract was assessed by using agar well diffusion method against oral pathogens. The anti-inflammatory activity of prepared Terminalia arjuna plant extract was analyzed using egg albumin denaturation assay. The results of this study, showed that both aqueous and ethanolic extract had very good antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas species followed by Escherichia coli. However, the aqueous extract showed higher anti-inflammatory activity when compared with ethanolic extract. So it can be concluded that aqueous extract of Terminalia arjuna could be used as a local drug delivery agent in the treatment of chronic periodontitis.

In vitro regeneration through organogenesis in Costus igneus–an important herbal insulin plant

Costus igneus is an important high-valued herbal insulin plant. An efficient protocol for in vitro plant regeneration through organogenesis from leaf and nodal explants was standardized. Explants were incubated in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium amended with diverse levels of plant growth regulators (PGRs). Optimum frequency (68.25%) of adventitious shoot regeneration was obtained from nodal segments cultured onto MS medium containing 2.0 mg/l of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) with an average number of 5.0 shoots per explant. Further, MS medium containing 1.5 mg/l 2, 4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) and 1.0 mg/l Thidiazuron (TDZ) produced a higher frequency of callus induction (55.22%) from leaf explants. Optimum shoot regeneration response (66.0%) through indirect organogenesis was observed from leaf-derived callus on MS medium fortified with BAP (2.0 mg/l) and kinetin (0.5 mg/l) with 6 shoots per callus with mean shoot length of 8.0 cm. The shootlets obtained from node and leaf cultures were rooted with a frequency of (63.52%) on MS medium with 1.0 mg/l indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Plantlets obtained through organogenesis were successfully acclimatized in the greenhouse and field conditions. There were no significant differences among frequency of somatic plants regenerated through either direct or indirect organogenesis. The present study reports on successful plant regeneration through direct and indirect organogenesis in C. igneus. The regeneration protocols discussed here can be used effectively for large-scale multiplication, germplasm survival, pharmacological and genetic manipulation research.

First report of a new leaf blight disease of bletilla (Bletilla striata) caused by Curvularia reesii in China.

Bletilla striata is an important Chinese herbal plant grown widely in southwest China (Qian et al. 2021). Leaf blight was found on cultivated bletilla crops in Yunnan in 2021. The disease infected bletilla leaves and it was present in the field from April to November with the highest incidence (86% plants diseased) recorded in early September in Puer area. Foliar lesions were circular (Φ0.5-1.8 cm) or oval, with pale-gray center and narrow gray-brown outer area surrounded by a yellow halo. The lesions coalesced later to form large irregular spots or blighted areas on leaves. Symptomatic bletilla leaves were sampled from fields in Jiangcheng (E101.8672o, N22.5803o) and Simao (E109.7816o, N22.7891o) counties, Yunnan in July 2021. Seven fungal isolates were obtained from (BJ01-BJ04) and Simao samples (HBJ05-HBJ07) via lesion-tissue culture and hypha-tip purification on PDA medium. A pathogenicity test following Koch's Postulates (Grimms et al. 2006) was conducted using each isolate by inoculating 45-day old bletilla plant (n=30, Zihua cultivar) in a greenhouse through spraying hypha-spore suspension (3.25×104 CFU/mL) prepared with 14 d fresh DNA culture. Non-inoculated plants (n=30) were used as controls. The experiment was repeated once. The isolates BJ02 and HBJ06 (deposited in Yunnan Agric. Univ. Microbes Herbarium) were shown pathogenic to bletilla since similar lesions formed on seedlings 7 d post inoculation and pure fungal cultures with the same colony morphology as those of BJ02 and HBJ06 were re-isolated from leaf lesions 14 dpi. Isolates BJ02 and HBJ06 produced identical colony and conidium morphology after they were incubated at 25oC for 7 d on PDA. Colonies were circular, pale brown, Φ5.5-7.5cm, with villous surface and abundant aerial hyphae. Mycelia were septate, colorless, Φ3-4 µm and with acute-angled branches. Conidiophores developed from hyphae were erect, septate, pale-brown colored and 60-200 µm long. Conidia (produced scarcely and ripened slowly) were long-oval or petaloid, straight or slightly curved, brown, sized 28-45×10-14 µm. Most conidia were divided into 4 cells by 3 septa; the middle two were bigger than the basal and apex cells. Both BJ02 and HBJ06 were identified as Curvularia sp. based on their morphological characters (Tan et al. 2018). The rDNA-ITS, TEF1α and GAPDH genes (Tan et al. 2018) were amplified from these isolates with PCR (White et al. 1990) and sequenced. ITS sequences of the two isolates were both 574 bp (acc. no. OL587997 & OL336480) and 100% (574/574 bp) identical shown by blast comparison. Further blast analyses of ITS (574 bp, OL587997), TEF1α (532 bp, ON637120) and GAPDH (881 bp, ON637121) from isolate BJ02 showed that they were 99.27% (547/551 bp), 100% (842/842 bp) and 99.8% (507/508 bp) identical respectively with those of Curvularia reesii BRIP4358 (MH414907). The 3 genes of BJ02 were concatenated and phylogenic analysis (Tamura et al, 2013) of the concatenated sequence with those of Curvularia spp. showed that BJ02 was clustered with C. reesii BRIP4358 on the same end-branch of the tree with 100% confidence. Therefore, BJ02 and HBJ06 are the same species identified as Curvularia reesii and it is the pathogen causing bletilla leaf blight. C. reesii was first isolated from the air in Australia in 1963 and was named by Tan et al. in 2018. It has not been reported as a plant pathogen elsewhere. This is the first record of this fungus causing bletilla leaf blight in China. Keywords: Bletilla striata; leaf blight; Curvularia reesii; disease symptoms; pathogen morphology; multigene identification References (1) D.J. Grimes. Microbes, 1(5): 223-228, 2006. (2) L.H. Qian et al. Jiangshu Agric. Sci. 49(19): 64-71, 2021. (3) K. Tamura et al. Mol. Bio. & Evol. 30 (12): 2725- 2729, 2013. (4) Y. P. Tan et al. MycoKeys, 35: 1-25. 2018. (5) T.J. White et al. In: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications (eds. M.A. Innis et al.), Acad. Press, Inc. New York. 315-322, 1990.

Probiotic Characteristics and Safety Assessment of Lacticaseibacillus casei KGC1201 Isolated from Panax ginseng.

Panax ginseng is one of the most important herbal medicinal plants consumed as health functional food and can be fermented to achieve better efficacy. Lacticaseibacillus, one of the representative genera among lactic acid bacteria (LAB), has also been used as a probiotic material for health functional foods due to its beneficial effects on the human body. To achieve a synergistic effect by using these excellent dietary supplement ingredients together, a novel LAB strain was isolated from the root of 6-year-old ginseng. Through similarity analysis of 16S rRNAs and whole-genome sequences, the strain was confirmed as belonging to the genus Lacticaseibacillus and was named L. casei KGC1201. KGC1201 not only met all safety standards as food, but also showed excellent probiotic properties such as acid resistance, bile salt resistance, and intestinal adhesion. In particular, KGC1201 exhibited superior acid resistance through morphological observation identifying that the cell surface damage of KGC1201 was less than that of the L. casei type strain KCTC3109. Gene expression studies were conducted to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of KGC1201's acid resistance, and the expression of the glycosyltransferase gene was found to be significantly elevated under acidic conditions. Exopolysaccharides (EPSs) biosynthesized by glycosyltransferase were also increased in KGC1201 compared to KCTC3109, which may contribute to better protection of KGC1201 cells from strong acidity. Therefore, KGC1201, with its increased acid resistance through molecular mechanisms and excellent probiotic properties, can be used in health functional foods to provide greater benefit to overall human health and well-being.

Moringa oleifera: An Updated Comprehensive Review of Its Pharmacological Activities, Ethnomedicinal, Phytopharmaceutical Formulation, Clinical, Phytochemical, and Toxicological Aspects.

Moringa oleifera, also known as the "tree of life" or "miracle tree," is classified as an important herbal plant due to its immense medicinal and non-medicinal benefits. Traditionally, the plant is used to cure wounds, pain, ulcers, liver disease, heart disease, cancer, and inflammation. This review aims to compile an analysis of worldwide research, pharmacological activities, phytochemical, toxicological, and ethnomedicinal updates of Moringa oleifera and also provide insight into its commercial and phytopharmaceutical applications with a motive to help further research. The scientific information on this plant was obtained from various sites and search engines such as Scopus, Pub Med, Science Direct, BMC, Google Scholar, and other scientific databases. Articles available in the English language have only been referred for review. The pharmacological studies confirm the hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, and anti-inflammatory potential of the extracts from the various plant parts. It was found that bioactive constituents are present in every part of the plant. So far, more than one hundred compounds from different parts of Moringa oleifera have been characterized, including alkaloids, flavonoids, anthraquinones, vitamins, glycosides, and terpenes. In addition, novel isolates such as muramoside A&B and niazimin A&B have been identified in the plant and have potent antioxidant, anticancer, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, and nutritional effects. The traditional and nontraditional use of Moringa, its pharmacological effects and their phytopharmaceutical formulations, clinical studies, toxicity profile, and various other uses are recognized in the present review. However, several traditional uses have yet to be scientifically explored. Therefore, further studies are proposed to explore the mechanistic approach of the plant to identify and isolate active or synergistic compounds behind its therapeutic potential.

In silico comparative analysis of the complete chloroplast genome sequences in different jewel orchid species

Abstract. Nguyen MP, Trinh TH, Ngo TKA, Widiarsih S, Ho VT. 2023. In silico comparative analysis of the complete chloroplast genome sequences in different jewel orchid species. Nusantara Bioscience 15: 12-21. Jewel orchid is the common name of several orchid species which can be alike in morphological characteristics but variable in medicinal properties. As these plants are utilized to treat several diseases, their natural existence in the wild habitat is rapidly diminished. Therefore, a better understanding of the genetic information of this plant for better genetic conservation and development of these plants is necessary. In this study, a total of 18 published chloroplast genomes of 18 jewel orchid species determined by the next-generation sequencing method were retrieved from NCBI GenBank and targeted for genomic characterization and phylogenetic analyses. Different bioinformatics tools were utilized to characterize these genomes’ genomic structure, repetitive sequences, interspecific variation, divergence, and phylogenetic relationships. The obtained data revealed that the chloroplast genomes of different jewel orchid species varied in length between 151,414 (Anoectochilus formosanus MN880624.1) and 154,375 (Goodyera biflora OM314910.1). Each species contains 34-87 SSR loci which could be useful as molecular markers for further genetic diversity study of this plant. Structural variations in the expansion and contraction of inverted repeat regions were also considered. Phylogenetic analysis identified a close relationship among species belonging to the Goodyera genus, and this genus is distinctive from other genera such as Anoectochilus, Cystorchis, Dossinia, Ludisia, and Macodes. The obtained results show a high potential of deeper characterizing the chloroplast genome of jewel orchids for species classification, identification, molecular breeding, and evolutionary exploration of these important herbal plants.

A highly contiguous genome assembly of red perilla (Perilla frutescens) domesticated in Japan.

Perilla frutescens (Lamiaceae) is an important herbal plant with hundreds of bioactive chemicals, among which perillaldehyde and rosmarinic acid are the two major bioactive compounds in the plant. The leaves of red perilla are used as traditional Kampo medicine or food ingredients. However, the medicinal and nutritional uses of this plant could be improved by enhancing the production of valuable metabolites through the manipulation of key enzymes or regulatory genes using genome editing technology. Here, we generated a high-quality genome assembly of red perilla domesticated in Japan. A near-complete chromosome-level assembly of P. frutescens was generated contigs with N50 of 41.5 Mb from PacBio HiFi reads. 99.2% of the assembly was anchored into 20 pseudochromosomes, among which seven pseudochromosomes consisted of one contig, while the rest consisted of less than six contigs. Gene annotation and prediction of the sequences successfully predicted 86,258 gene models, including 76,825 protein-coding genes. Further analysis showed that potential targets of genome editing for the engineering of anthocyanin pathways in P. frutescens are located on the late-stage pathways. Overall, our genome assembly could serve as a valuable reference for selecting target genes for genome editing of P. frutescens.

First report of tobacco streak virus on Echinacea purpurea (Linn.) Moench in China.

Tobacco streak virus (TSV) is a member of the genus Ilarvirus in the family Bromoviridae (Vinodkumar et al. 2017). TSV is transmitted by thrips, seeds, pollen, and mechanical injury and has a broad host range, causing severe damage to several horticultural, oil and food crops including tobacco, sunflower, peanut, cotton, and soybean (Zambrana-Echevarría et al. 2021). TSV is now distributed mainly in the United States (McDaniel et al. 1992; Zambrana-Echevarría et al. 2021), India (Jain et al. 2008), Iran (Hosseini et al. 2012), Australia (Sharman et al. 2009) and Mexico (Silva-Rosales et al. 2013). Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea L.) is widely grown in China as an important herbal ornamental plant. In June 2020, Echinacea purpurea with the symptoms of necrosis lesions, malformation, and stunting were observed in the field of Haidian district, Beijing, China (40°2'69″ N, 116°28'28″ E) (Supplementary Fig. 1A). Total RNA of leaf tissue extracted using the hot borate method (Liang et al. 2020) was used for high-throughput sequencing on Illumina HiSeq X-10 platform at Biomarker Technologies (Beijing, China). Overall, 23,988,298 reads were generated. The final contigs assembled by Mega-Hit (v1.2.9) and Cap3 (Version Date: 02/10/15) were subjected to BLAST against GenBank using BLASTn and BLASTx algorithms. Of these contigs, 297 shared high nucleotide sequence similarities to the genomic sequence of broad bean wilt virus 2, while 9 contigs showed high nt sequence similarities (95-100%) to the genomic sequence of TSV. To confirm the presence of TSV, 30 randomly selected samples from Haidian district (40°2'69″ N, 116°28'28″ E) were tested by the double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA) using a TSV specific monoclonal antibody (Agdia, SAR 25500/0500), where 18 samples were positive. In addition, total RNAs from 4 DAS-ELISA positive plants were extracted for TSV detection by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) using primer pair specific for the coat protein gene of TSV (TSV-CP-F, 5'-ATGAATACTTTGATCCAAGGTCC-3'; TSV-CP-R, 5'-TCAGTCTTGATTCACCAGAAAA-3'). The fragment with the expected size (~700 bp) was amplified in all 4 plants (Supplementary Fig. 1B) and subjected to direct Sanger sequencing. The CP gene of TSV CNB isolate was deposited in GenBank (MZ542767) and shared 100% sequence identity at the nucleotide level with the Gyp isolate infecting Ajuga reptans from Australia (JX463347.1). Furthermore, the local lesion host Chenopodium quinoa was used to purify and propagate TSV by mechanical inoculation with infected leaf sap. A pure culture of the TSV CNB isolate was obtained by single local lesion isolation after 3 serial passages on C. quinoa and back inoculated on E. purpurea seedlings. Systemic symptomology including leaf malformation was observed on E. purpurea three weeks post-inoculation (Supplementary Fig. 2A). The existence of TSV in two symptomatic leaf samples of E. purpurea was further verified by RT-PCR using specific primer pair (TSV-CP-F/R) (Supplementary Fig. 2B). In addition, the purified TSV CNB isolate was also inoculated to Nicotiana tabacum (Supplementary Fig. 2C). As previously reported (More et al. 2017), the Nicotiana tabacum plants infected with TSV developed typical streaks in systemic leaves. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of TSV on E. purpurea in China. This finding will assist further investigation into the epidemiology of diseases caused by TSV in China. Future studies are required to determine the incidence and impact that TSV might have on E. purpurea and other hosts in China.

Antimicrobial compounds and Antimicrobial Activity of Extracts of Thespesia garckeana F. Hoffm. on Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli

Herbal medicines form a significant role in African ethnomedicine. Thespesia garckeana F. Hoffm. is an important herbal medicinal plant used to treat or manage human diseases and ailments. However, its antimicrobial compounds and activity analysis has not been evaluated. This study aimed at evaluating the phytochemical and antimicrobial activities of compounds in Thespesia garckeana leaves and bark extracts on growth of C. albicans, S. aureus and E. coli. Plant materials were collected from Mwingi, Kenya. Crude plant extraction was done using soxhlet method with methanol and water solvents. Thin layer chromatography was used to purify the extracts and Phytochemical screening was done using standard methods. Thin layer chromatography plate surface was coated with silica gel, and n-Hexane and Ethyl acetate used as solvent systems in the ratio 2:3 and 3:7 respectively. Antimicrobial activity was performed on test microorganisms using plant extracts; 0 (distilled water), 90, 180, 270 and 360 mg/ml of the extract using paper disc method. Diameter of inhibition zones was dmeasured. The data on growth inhibition was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). The extracts of Thespesia garckean revealed the presence of Tannins, Saponins, Cardiac glycosides, and Alkaloids. TLC using n-Hexane and Ethyl acetate ratio of 2:3 methanol leaves extracts produced 9 spots and The bark extracts produced 4 spots. Leaf methanol extracts using n-Hexane and Ethyl acetate in the ratio of 3:7 produced 8 spots and Bark methanol extracts produced 2 spots. Increase in extracts concentration of the leaves and bark of Thespesia garckeana, significantly inhibited the growth of Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli. Methanol leaf and bark extracts had more inhibitory activity compared to the water extracts. The results from this study confirm the use of Thespesia garckeana in herbal medicine by traditional herbalists.

Elicitation Promoability with Gamma Irradiation, Chitosan and Yeast to Perform Sustainable and Inclusive Development for Marjoram under Organic Agriculture

Sweet marjoram (Majorana hortensis) is an important aromatic herbal plant that has long been used and well managed in the traditional and general medical, pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic, and perfume industries. Thus, the increase in its productivity appears to be of great value since there is a large number of bioactive secondary metabolites as well as an increase in the demand in domestic or foreign markets. The purpose of this study is the possibility of promoting the sustainable development of marjoram in the framework of organic farming through gamma irradiation, chitosan and yeast. Field experiments were conducted in a factorial split-plot design with three iterations over two consecutive seasons (2019 and 2020). The main plot is an abiotic elicitor (15 Gy gamma irradiation), two biotic elicitors 500 ppm chitosan, 0.5% yeast, and a non-elicitor (as control), while in the sub-main plot, there were two organic fertilizers, water extract of moringa 20 g/m2 dry leaves, 20 g/m2 fulvic acid, and 20 g/m2 (NPK); the latter is a traditional agrochemical. Statistical analysis of all characteristics of production and quality of biomass and biologically active secondary metabolites revealed that the use of organic fertilizers helped in increasing the yield of marjoram, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and significantly outperformed the chemical fertilizer. The experiment enhances the comprehensive and integrated development of marjoram under organic cultivation and achieves a promising alternative to traditional cultivation without the use of microbicides and/or agrochemical pesticides.

Development of an efficient in vitro regeneration system in Costus speciosus - an important herbal insulin plant

Costus speciosus is being rapidly eliminated in its natural habitats in India and driven to a nearly threatened degree of extinction because of non-selective collection and over-exploitation. The commercial cultivation of C. speciosus is impeded owing to its poor seed viability, reduced germination rate, and weak rooting potential of vegetative cuttings. As costus could not be multiplied rapidly by conventional propagation methods, in-vitro regeneration technology was experimented with to standardize explants in addition to the combinations of plant growth regulators (PGRs) to fortify the growing media that helps to produce the enormous number of plants in a shorter duration. Several kinds of explants viz., leaves and nodes were cultured into the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium reinforced with different combinations and doses of PGRs. A higher frequency (51.67 ± 1.7%) of the regenerated adventitious shoot was obtained from nodal segments cultured onto MS medium fortified with 0.5 mg/l Thidiazuron (TDZ) and 2.0 mg/l of 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP). TDZ in combination with BAP and Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) exhibited a remarkable effect on shoot multiplication and elongation. Further, MS medium with 0.5 mg/l TDZ, 1.0 mg/l 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, and 0.5 mg/l IAA yielded a great range of callus initiation (86.66 ± 1.6%) from leaf explants. Leaf-derived callus results in the greatest shoot regeneration (56.66 ± 1.7%) response on TDZ (0.5 mg/l) and BAP (1.0 mg/l) reinforced MS medium. Elongated shoots from node and callus cultures when inoculated with the MS medium reinforced along with 1.0 mg/l of IAA and 0.5 mg/l of Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) produced optimum rooting (88.33 ± 1.66%). The rooted young plantlets were effectively acclimatized to the environmental climate and their greenhouse survival rate was 85%.

The impact of Morus alba L. leaf extract on intestinal ion transport. An in vitro study.

Morus alba L. (White mulberry), is an important and popular herbal plant of the Moraceae family. It has been widely used due to its therapeutic properties, which include antidiabetic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular, and hypolpidemic activity. The present study evaluates the effects of aqueous white mulberry leaf extract on the transepithelial ion pathway in the rabbit colon epithelium (n=48), using electrophysiological methods. In addition, the antioxidant potential and the chemical composition of the extract were determined. A mechanical-chemical stimulation with white mulberry in RH fluid (MB-RH) caused a statistically significant (p<0.001) increase in the transepithelial electrical potential difference, from -0.130 to -0.685mV. Gentle washing of the intestine with white mulberry in bumetanide, used as inhibitor of transepithelial chloride pathways, resulted in 14.8% shorter reaction than during MB-RH stimulation. There were no statistically significant differences between the electric potential values measured during stimulation with amiloride solution, used as inhibitor of transepithelial sodium pathways, and white mulberry in amilorid solution (p=0.485). A short-term application of extract to the colon epithelium is responsible for local and reversible inhibition of chloride ion channels. The extract enhances sodium ion absorption and consequently changes the electrical potential. The effect of white mulberry extract on sodium ion transport may be related to the mechanism of hypoglycaemic activity of mulberry leaves.

Iridoid Glycosides from Phlomis Medicinalis Diels: Optimized Extraction and Hemostasis Evaluation.

Phlomis medicinalis Diels, an important perennial herbal plant unique to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is often used as Tibetan Materia Medicine Radix Phlomii for the treatment of cold, cough, and convergence trauma. In order to efficiently extract the iridoid glycosides from P. medicinalis, an ultrasound-assisted deep eutectic solvent extraction technique was employed. The main parameters influencing the extraction process were studied through single-factor tests and the extraction was optimized by using response surface methodology. The hemostasis activity of total iridoid glycosides (TIG) from P. medicinalis was evaluated in vitro and in mice. The optimization results revealed that the optimal process parameters were liquid-solid ratio 20 : 1, choline chloride-lactic acid concentration 79 %, and sonication time 34 min, under which a TIG extraction yield of 20.73 % was obtained. Meanwhile, high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array/mass spectrometry (HPLC-PDA/MS) was employed to characterize the optimized extract and indicated that TIG from P. medicinalis mainly consisted of sixteen reported iridoid glycosides with a total content of 91.22 %. The experimental results in vivo and in vitro indicated that TIG from P. medicinalis had strong hemostasis activities, which may be achieved by increasing the fibrinogen levels. Therefore, the ultrasound-assisted deep eutectic solvent extraction is an effective method to extract iridoid glycosides from P. medicinalis and they will be promising candidates to be developed for medical hemostasis agents.

Determination of Antioxidants by DPPH Radical Scavenging Activity and Quantitative Phytochemical Analysis of Ficus religiosa.

The use of F. religiosa might be beneficial in inflammatory illnesses and can be used for a variety of health conditions. In this article, we studied the identification of antioxidants using (DPPH) 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazylradical scavenging activity in Ficus religiosa, as F. religiosa is an important herbal plant, and every part of it has various medicinal properties such as antibacterial properties that can be used by the researchers in the development and design of various new drugs. The 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) is a popular, quick, easy, and affordable approach for the measurement of antioxidant properties that includes the use of the free radicals used for assessing the potential of substances to serve as hydrogen providers or free-radical scavengers (FRS). The technique of DPPH testing is associated with the elimination of DPPH, which would be a stabilized free radical. The free-radical DPPH interacts with an odd electron to yield a strong absorbance at 517 nm, i.e., a purple hue. An FRS antioxidant, for example, reacts to DPPH to form DPPHH, which has a lower absorbance than DPPH because of the lower amount of hydrogen. It is radical in comparison to the DPPH-H form, because it causes decolorization, or a yellow hue, as the number of electrons absorbed increases. Decolorization affects the lowering capacity significantly. As soon as the DPPH solutions are combined with the hydrogen atom source, the lower state of diphenylpicrylhydrazine is formed, shedding its violet color. To explain the processes behind the DPPH tests, as well as their applicability to Ficus religiosa (F. religiosa) in the manufacture of metal oxide nanoparticles, in particular MgO, and their influence on antioxidants, a specimen from the test was chosen for further study. According to our findings, F. religiosa has antioxidant qualities and may be useful in the treatment of disorders caused by free radicals.

Oroxylum indicum Vent.: A Review on its Phytochemical and Pharmacological Profile

Oroxylum indicum Vent. is an important herbal medicinal plant of South-East Asian countries. The plant parts are used in several traditional medicines to cure various diseases. It has been known to possess antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancerous, antiulcer and hepatoprotective activities. A wide range of bioactive compounds (like aloe-emodin, chrysin, baicalein, oroxylin A, oroxin A-D, hispiludin and ursolic acid) have been isolated from it, of which flavonoids constitute major secondary metabolites. The presented review summarizes the works undertaken till date, concerning the ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacological study of the plant.

Phytotherapy for Peptic-ulcer: An overview on important Indian herbal plants having flavonoid as antiulcer activity.

Peptic ulcers are described by erosions of the gastrointestinal mucosa that can reach the muscular layer. Peptic ulcers are a widespread health condition that affects millions of individuals and has a high recurrence rate. “No gastric acid, no peptic ulcer” is a flawed assumption. Excessive gastric acid secretion is only one factor in the pathogenesis of peptic ulcer disease. Their etiology is multifactorial and develops when the balance of offensive and protective components is disrupted. Its treatment faces great difficulties due to the limited effectiveness and severe side effects of the currently available drugs. Natural products such as herbal plants and their isolated compounds have been widely used in experimental models of peptic ulcers. Flavonoids strengthened defensive factors had cytoprotective and rehabilitative actions. Flavonoids are among the molecules of greatest interest in biological assays due to their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties. The present study is a literature review of herbal plants having flavonoid that have been reported to show peptic ulcer activity in experimental models using the divergent mechanism of action.