Phytopharmacology

Since the isolation procedures are easy, many of the earliest pure compounds isolated with biological activity were alkaloids. The nitrogen molecules in plant cells generally make the compound alkaline which make alkaloids exist in a salt form in plants. Thus, alkaloids are often extracted with water and/or acid solution system and then recovered as crystalline material by treatment using a base. The alkaloid carpaine was extracted from various part of Carica papaya L. var. Eksotika from field grown samples namely leaves, petiole and fruit peel, and from in vitro samples namely leaves, petiole, suspension cells and suspension liquid with only one artifact of impurity detected i.e. dehydrocarpaine II. Supercritical fluid extraction was analysed to obtain pure and high yield of carpaine compound as compared to conventional acid base extraction method. The ratio of ethanol/water/acetic acid used at 94.5:5:0.5 (v/v/v) was confirmed to be a better solvent system for carpaine extraction since only one pseudocarpaine i.e. dehydrocarpaine II was extracted together with carpaine. In this study, the application of single fluid of carbon dioxide in supercritical fluid extraction procedure generated pure and higher yield of carpaine compound. Additional centrifugation step should have contributed to a higher purity of the extracted carpaine.

The present investigation has been carried out the physicochemical, fluorescence, histochemical and phytochemical analysis of methanol extract of Drynaria quercifolia rhizome. In physicochemical analysis, parameters such as moisture content (3%) water soluble ash (6%) sulphated ash (5%) alcohol soluble extractive value (7%) and water soluble extractive value (9%) of plant were determined. In fluorescence analysis, different colours of fluorescent were observed under UV and visible light. The histochemical analysis indicates the presence of lignin, flavonoids, alkaloids and polyphenol based on colours. Quantitative phytochemical analysis was also performed and the results indicates the significant amount of flavonoids (32.84 mg/g), saponin (32.74 mg/g), phenols (84.56 mg/g), tannins (45.23 mg/g) and alkaloids (6.38 mg/g) were determined. Our finding provided evidence that the methanol extract of plant contain medicinally important bioactive compounds and it justified their use in the traditional medicine.

Beim Stichwort Aromata denkt man unwillkürlich zunächst an Kräuter und kleine Stauden wie Kamille, Thymian oder Fenchel, kaum jemand wird einen Baum an vorderster Stelle nennen. Dabei nutzt die Phytotherapie auch zahlreiche Bäume, und bei nicht wenigen spielt das ätherische Öl unter den Wirkstoffen eine entscheidende Rolle, so etwa bei den Zimtbäumen (Cinnamomum-Arten) einschließlich Kampferbaum, den Myrtengewächsen (Myrtaceen) mit den Eukalyptus-Bäumen, Bergamotte oder Citrus-Arten, den Balsambäumen (Bur-seraceen) mit den Myrrhe-und Boswellia-Arten und den Nadelhölzern (Coniferales / Pinales) wie Fichte und Kiefer. Letztere und die Eukalyptusbäume sollen hier beispielhaft behandelt werden.

Picralima nitida leaf is a rich source of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, and saponins. The leaf of Picralima nitida has been used ethanomedicinally used in the treatment of ulcers, diabetes, sexual impotence and hypertension. To evaluate the pharmacognostic properties and anti-ulcer activity of the ethanol crude extract and fractions of Picralima nitida leaves. The Pharmacognistic properties of the dry leaves were determined using standard method. The leaves were extracted using ethanol, the acute toxicity was determined. The crude ethanol extract was then fractionated using solvents of increasing polarity (n-Hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol and water) fraction. The qualitative and quantitative phytochemical constituents and the antiulcer evaluation were performed on ethanol induced in wister rats using standard method. Picralima nitida leaf shows the presence of saponins, terpenoids, Alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids. The crude ethanol extract has high safety margin. A significant reduction in antiulcer activity was found in 500mg ethanol crude extract and butanol fraction when compared to the standard drug (Famotidine). The

RESUME Mallotus oppositifolius (Geisel.) Müll.-Arg (Euphorbiaceae) est une plante de la flore ivoirienne couramment utilisée en médecine traditionnelle dans le traitement de plusieurs pathologies telles que : la diarrhée, les infections urinaires, les plaies chroniques, l'ulcère de Burili... La complexité curative de certaines maladies associées à la résistance bactérienne, a mis en évidence l'inefficacité de certains antibiotiques conventionnels. L'objectif de ce travail était d'évaluer l'activité antibactérienne des extraits bruts hexanique, hydro-méthanolique et aqueux des feuilles de cette plante sur des bactéries multirésistantes et de caractériser les composés chimiques présents dans l'extrait le plus efficace. La méthode de dilution en milieu liquide utilisant la gélose Muller-Hinton® a permis d'évaluer l'activité antibactérienne de l'extrait. Pour le criblage phytochimique, la méthode de caractérisation par chromatographie sur couche mince a été utilisée. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les extraits aqueux et hydro-alcooliques ont été actifs sur toutes les souches étudiées et sont bactéricides sur la majorité. Le criblage phytochimique a mis en évidence une richesse en métabolites secondaires tels que: les saponosides, les tanins, les flavonoïdes, lactones sesquiterpèniques, les polyphénols, les alcaloïdes, les coumarines pouvant être bénéfiques dans la prise en charge de nombreuses pathologies dont celles causées par les bactéries étudiées. Ce travail a permis de donner un fondement scientifique à l'utilisation de Mallotus oppositifolius dans la pharmacopée traditionnelle notamment dans le traitement des pathologies bactériennes.

Ethnopharmacological relevance: We provide an extensive summary of the in vitro antibacterial properties of medicinal plants popularly used in Mexico to treat infections, and we discuss the ethnomedical information that has been published for these species. Materials and methods: We carried out a bibliographic investigation by analyzing local and international peer-reviewed papers selected by consulting internationally accepted scientific databases from 1995 to 2014. We provide specific information about the evaluated plant parts, the type of extracts, the tested bacterial strains, and the inhibitory concentrations for each one of the species. We recorded the eth-nomedical information for the active species, as well as their popular names and local distribution. Information about the plant compounds that has been identified is included in the manuscript. This review also incorporates an extensive summary of the available toxicological reports on the recorded species, as well as the worldwide registries of plant patents used for treating bacterial infections. In addition, we provide a list with the top plant species with antibacterial activities in this review Results: We documented the in vitro antibacterial activities of 343 plant species pertaining to 92 botanical families against 72 bacterial species, focusing particularly on Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The plant families Asteraceae, Fabaceae, La-miaceae and Euphorbiaceae included the largest number of active species. Information related to popular uses reveals that the majority of the plants, in addition to treating infections, are used to treat other conditions. The distribution of Mexican plants extended from those that were reported to grow in just one state to those that grow in all 32 Mexican states. From 75 plant species, 225 compounds were identified. Out of the total plant species, only 140 (40.57%) had at least one report about their toxic effects. From 1994 to July 2014 a total of 11,836 worldwide antibacterial patents prepared from different sources were recorded; only 36 antibacterial patents from plants were registered over the same time period. We offered some insights on the most important findings regarding the antibacterial effects, current state of the art, and research perspectives of top plant species with antibacterial activities in vitro. Conclusions: Studies of the antibacterial in vitro activity of medicinal plants popularly used in Mexico to treat infections indicate that both the selection of plant material and the investigation methodologies vary. Standardized experimental procedures as well as in vivo pharmacokinetic studies to document the effectiveness of plant extracts and compounds are necessary. This review presents extensive information about the medicinal plants possessing antibacterial activity that has been scientifically studied and are popularly used in Mexico. We anticipate that this review will be of use for future studies because it constitutes a valuable information tool for selecting the most significant plants and their potential antibacterial properties.

The Standardization and Pharmacological evaluation of herbal formulations is crucial in order to evaluate the quality, purity, safety and efficacy of drug based on the amounts of their active principles. The aim of present work is to prepare and standardize herbal formulation and also to evaluate its neuropharmacological potential on rats. The formulation was prepared by mixing 20 herbs in equal proportion and was made homogenous. Furthermore, the formulation was standardized on the basis of organoleptic characters, physical characters and physicochemical properties. The set parameters were found to be sufficient to evaluate the formulation and can be used as reference standard for the quality control/quality assurance purposes. Subsequently, the neuropharmacological activity of the aqueous extract of the prepared formulation was administered to rats to evaluate transfer latency (TL) on an elevated plus maze. TL was a measure of acquisition and retrieval learning. The extract was found to exhibit significant improvement of retrieval memory. Thus, finding proves that the formulation possess promising CNS – Stimulant activity.

Emesis encompasses the forceful expulsion of the contents of stomach via the mouth or sometimes the nose.
The adverse effects of currently available anti-emetic agents potentiate the natural product researchers to explore the
natural anti-emetics with fewer side effects. The presented communication constitutes a review on anti-emetic effect of
two hundred and forty five plants belonging to seventy-eight families found in different parts of the world. It also
outlined the anti-emetic effect of plant extracts and isolated secondary metabolites studied through a variety of animal
models of emesis. The reported anti-emetic plants in different countries and cultures and the scientific studies on extracts
may help in the identification of promising single chemical compound(s) that may be used as a potential leads for
developing safe anti-emetic agents in future. Moreover the reported secondary metabolites having the same effect may
open the door for the search of same secondary metabolites from other natural sources. This review will provide useful
information for the discovery of natural anti-emetic compounds and fill the gaps in knowledge.