Annals of Phytomedicine; An International Journal

3

Authors: Abd. Latif Mohmod and Mastura Mohtar

Habitat to innumerous numbers of living and inanimate entities, forest is an important ecosystem to human survival and wellbeing. Forest ecosystem services include regulation of climate, purification of fresh water supplies, storage and recycling nutrients and formation of soil to name but few. Source to a plethora of useful substances for modern medicine, agriculture, and industry, at least 40% of the world’s economy and 80% of the economy of less- industrialized nations, is based on biological resources, directly or indirectly link to the forest (Reed, 2012). Ever since time immemorial, the forests have been laboratories where Man experiments with mother nature to discerned beneficial bioentities; not only to quench his hunger and clothe himself but also to cure his ailment. Examples abound, illustrating the immense value of these indigenous knowledge to modern medicine. For a three decade span, 70% of the modern therapeutic compounds have been traditionally used in its original form, i.e ., plants (Newman and Cragg, 2012). Among the 120 bioactive compounds isolated from the higher plants and widely used in today’s modern medicine, 80% show a positive correlation between their modern therapeutic use and their traditional use (Fabrican and Farnsworth, 2001). There is simply so much that one needs to learn from indigenous knowledge, from the healing power of herbs, plants and flowers to the whole ethos of living harmoniously with nature. Man may be highly successful in the former, but is paying a very high price for his failure to learn the latter. Serious environmental crime such as deforestation, depletion of biodiversity, pollution and uncontrolled carbon emission to name but few were legalized in the cause of ‘development’ and modernization. Man’s imprudence has resulted in the climate change phenomenon as manifested by global warming and extreme weather conditions; both with serious implications to the forests which constitute 27% of total land mass world-wide. Housing at least half of all the species known to the world, these ch anges w ill have enorm ous impact on global biodiversity (Phillips and Lewis, 2014)

4

Authors: P.R. Goud, K. Nagaiah, K. Sudhakar Babu, V.U.M. Sarma, N.M.A. Rasheed and Irfan Ali Khan

Abstract A simple, precise high performance liquid chromatography method with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) was developed for isolated bioactive compounds from the plant, Siegesbeckia orientalis L., namely Darutoside and Hythimoside-A from aerial parts exudates, collected from Talakona Forest, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. Isolated methanolic extract was analyzed isocratic mode comprising of solvent A water and solvent B acetonitrile. The column used for separation was a licosphire NH 2 250×4.6mm (5μm) column. The elution was 10%A and 90%B and pH 3.2, flow rate was maintained at 1.0 ml/min. Detection was performed using a PDA detector at  max 210 nm. The retention time for Darutoside(6.2min) and Hythimoside-A(8.2min) and the compound was resolved from other component of the extract. The amount of Darutoside and Hythimoside-A present in the aerial parts of Siegesbeckia orientalis L. in the month of May was 0.185% with R 2 = 0.9919 and 0.852% with R 2 =0.9994, respectively. The method exhibited high accuracy, in the total run time of 12 min , it showed good separation of the peaks. We have observed that the method described was more efficient and reliable for estimation of active constituen ts present in this plant. At present, there is no analytical method which has been reported these compounds. We propose that the current method will be useful for identification and determination of Darutoside, Hythimoside-A content in the plant s

5

Authors: Ranjeet Kumar Yadav and Shailendra Kumar Srivastava

Abstract North eastern terai region in Uttar Pradesh, India is known for its rich biological diversity. The most commonly employed species, used for the treatment of diabetes such as Casearia tomentosa Roxb. (root), Cassia fistula Linn. (flowers), Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don (flowers), Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt. (fruits), Dillenia indica Linn. (leaves), Dillenia pentagyna Roxb. (fruits), Ficus benghalensis Linn. (bark), and Momordica charantia Linn. (fruits) were selected for phytochemical ana lysis. T he ai m of t he present study was to investi gat e t he presence of phytochemicals and to determine the ascorbic acid, total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the selected plants. Total phenolic contents obtained were 9.2mg/gm, 9.4mg/gm, 5.8mg/gm, 14.6mg/ gm, 14.8mg/gm, 20.4mg/gm, 12.8mg/gm, and 35.3mg/gm of the extracts, total flavonoid con- tents obtained were 4.2mg/gm, 18.3mg/gm, 4.4mg/gm, 6mg/gm, 21.4mg/gm, 18mg/gm, 3.1mg/ gm, 14.4mg/gm of the extracts and ascorbic acid content obtained were 8.21  g/gm fw, 4.82  g/gm fw, 4.42  g/gm fw, 5.12  g/gm fw, 2.42  g/gm fw, 18.21  g/gm fw,2.12  g/gm fw, 7.41  g/gm fw of the extract for the selected plants, respectively. An ethnobotanical field study reveals that the ethnic people have considerable traditional knowledge of these plants and their utilization

5

Authors: D. Vishalakshi Devi and Asna Urooj

Ab stract T he present st udy evalua ted the l ong term hypoglycemic effect of Moru s indi ca L. in rats induced with diabetes, to determine the changes in activity of glycolytic and gluconeogenic enzymes and to compare the effect of Morus indica L. with conventional antidiabetic drugs - Insulin and Glibenclamide (OHA). Morus indica L. was obtained from the Department of Studies in Sericulture, University of Mysore, India. The antihyperglycemic effect of the plant was tested in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The effect of Morus indica L. on carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes was also studied. Morus indica powder (MIP) at a level of 500mg/kg body weight, reduced blood glucose level in the animals by 42% after 45 days. The blood glucose in animals supplemented with MIP decreased from an initial level of 257± 69.4 to 148.8 ± 34.48 mg/dl. The activity of aldolase in the liver of MIP and Insulin treated groups was 0.19u/g and in Glibenclamide treated group, it was 0.18u/g protein. T he activity of G-6-PDH decreased significantly (p<0.05) in untreated diabetic group (0.24 ± 0.04 mIU/mg). The G-6-PDH levels in MIP, Insulin and Glibenclamide treated group were 1.38 ± 0.48, 0.98 ± 0.10 and 1.04 ± 0.42 mIU/mg protein, respectively which were higher compared to the diabetic control group. The activities of AsAT and AlAT decreased significantly in animals treated with Morus , Insulin and Glibenclimide. The results prove that Morus could effectively reduce the blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides and also reverse the activity of elevated enzymes which can prove beneficial in the management of hyperglycemia.

5

Authors: J. Sravanthi and S. Gangadhar Rao

Abstract Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringa) is a medicinal plant found in most parts of the world. Various parts of this plant such as leaves, roots, seeds, barks, fruits, flowers and immature pods are repor ted to possess var ious ther apeutic properties including antitumour, anti -inflamma tory, antihypertensive, cholesterol lowering, antidiabetic, and antimicrobial properties. T he aim of the study was to evaluate antioxidants in Moringa oleifera Lam.by spectrophotometric method (phenols, flavonoids, flavonols, total chlorophyll, total carotenoid,  -carotene, radical scavenging activity by FR AP, AB T S, DP PH assays and enzymati c a cti vit ivi es of cat ala se, peroxides, polyphenol oxidase, glutathione reductase-a). Results showed higher phenol content (260 ± 0.58 mg/ g dry. wt.) in Moringa oleifera leaves than other antioxidant compounds and FRAP activity was recorded maximum (510 ± 10.1mg/g dry. wt.) than the other scavenging assays. Study concludes that using leaves of Moringa oleifera in health promotive purposes may be a better option than other parts of the plant

6

Authors: Narayan Prasad Yadav, Shruti Srivastava, Priyam Sinha, Debabrata Chanda, Suaib Luqman and Sudeep Tandon

Abstract Aloe vera (L.) Burm. is known for its skin care and medicinal properties since time immemorial. The plant is extensively recognized as a remedy for burns, rashes, allergic irritation, skin aging, wounds, infections, sunburns, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis and inflammation. It is also used as a moisturizer for dry skin, for lightening blemishes and scars as well as a hair growth promoter. Therefore, the present study is aimed to formulate and evaluate Aloe vera cream (AVC) containing sap (10%). The formulation was optimized on the basis of textural parameters by varying the concentration of emulsifiers. The sap was incorporated in oil-in-water (o/w) cream base prepared by phase inversion temperature technique. The major components of the cream were mineral oil, petroleum jelly, olive oil, paraffin wax, glycerol monostearate, fragrance and distilled water. The optimized cream formulation was characterized by pH, rheological and textural measurements. The texture of the optimized formulation was compared with a marketed cosmetic formulation (MCF) using Brookfield CT 3 Texture analyzer. AVC was found to be much softer and by far spreadable with better extrusion than MCF. AVC was also found to be stable for a period of 90 days and non-irrit ant in sk in irrit ancy test . Conclu sively, a stable, non-irr itant and cosmeti cally elegant Aloe vera cream formulation was developed with good aesthetic appearance.

8

Authors: Habib Ur Rehman, Jameel Ahmad, Karishma Chester, Tamboli Ennus Tajuddin and Sayeed Ahmad

Abs tract Picrorhiza kurrooa Royle ex Benth. (Kutki), is an important medicinal herb, endemic to alpine Himalaya, serves as an alternative source of medicine. This paper reports results of its quality control by picroside II analysis, rapid isolation protocol for picroside by flash chromatography and potential of its in vitro cultures for production of secondary metabolites. High performance thin layer chromatographic (HPT LC) method was developed for estimation of picroside II in Picrorhiza kurroa samples collected/purchased from different places of India. T he separation was achieved by using chloroform: methanol: formic acid (8:2:0.1, v/v/v) as solvent system on precoated silica gel 60 F 254 TLC plates. The densitometric quantification of picroside II was carried out at wavelength 265 nm, giving well resolved peak of picroside II at R f 0.38± 0.2. An ultrafast flash chromatography method was developed for isolation of picroside-II from extract of Picrorrhiza kurroa . Chromatogram and PDA-spectra of isolated picroside R T (10.278), was matched with spectra and chromatogram of standard picroside-II. Since the isolated picroside (purity > 80%) can be used as a bulk drug or as a potential marker for quality control analysis.The callus cultures and regenerated cultures with embryogenic calli were developed and maintained up to 220 days. In vitro, tissue cultured samples were tested for their potential for production of picroside, which was quantified by validated HPLC method

9

Authors: G. Jawahar, D. Madhavi, R. Naga Amrutha, G. Jogeswar, M.S.L. Sunitha, Srinath Rao and P.B. Kavi Kishor

Abs tract Higher plants are an important source of secondary metabolites such as flavours, fragrances, dyes, pigments, food additives, terpenoids, alkaloids, and glycosides with medicinal importance. Several of these secondary plant products also form the basis for drug development. Today, several countries use plant derived chemicals as drugs with modifications. Unfortunately, these secondary plant products are synthesized in very low quantities. Therefore, cultured plant cells, tissues and organs such as hairy roots become an alternative source for enhancing the bioactive compounds. Elevated levels of secondary plant products have been reported from tissue cultures of various medicinal plants and bioreactors are vital for the commercial production. Also, in several instances, biochemistry of the biosynthetic pathway/s is not known, in case if it is known, the corresponding genes have not yet been isolated. In such a scenario, there is an urgent need to integrate large scale sequencing data, metabolomics, transcriptomics and proteomics. But, perhaps functional genomics holds the key to link the gene with the metabolite and subsequently genetic engineering of plant secondary metabolism for enhancing the secondary metabolites