Search results for "MEDICINAL PLANTS"
showing 10 items of 108 documents
Ethnobotanical survey and cytotoxicity testing of plants of South-western Nigeria used to treat cancer, with isolation of cytotoxic constituents from…
2010
Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance There is only scant literature on the anticancer components of medicinal plants from Nigeria, yet traditional healers in the area under study claim to have been managing the disease in their patients with some success using the species studied. Aim of study To document plants commonly used to treat cancer in South-western Nigeria and to test the scientific basis of the claims using in vitro cytotoxicity tests. Methods Structured questionnaires were used to explore the ethnobotanical practices amongst the traditional healers. Methanol extracts of the most common species cited were screened for cytotoxicity using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay in both…
Phenological and agronomical evaluation of chamomile in Mediterranean environments
2008
Chamomile (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rausch.) is an annual crop, known worldwide as one of the major medicinal herbs. Its flower heads are reported in the official Pharmacopoeia of 26 countries. In order to evaluate the suitability of chamomile to a low-input field cropping management into a semiarid Mediterranean environment, a long-term research activity has been carried out in the experimental farm “Sparacia” (Cammarata – AG – Sicily); hereby we report the results obtained on plants grown in self-seeded experimental plots in 2007/08. Plants development was observed from November 2007 up to (visually assessed) flowers appearance. Blooming started in middle February, and in middle April (af…
Cultivation of wild medicinal species: opportunities and constraints.
2008
In medicinal plants (MPs), the transition from “discovery” to “cultivation” stage involves a decreasing recourse to their collection from the wild, accompanied by an increasing interest in their suitability into agricultural or silvicoltural cropping systems. Collecting from the wild, although is surely the oldest method for obtaining MPs, allows to satisfy very limited needs and is hardly suitable to an industrial use, because: 1) gathering from the wild does not guarantee the quantitative and qualitative uniformity that nowadays are well defined requirements of the consumers. Spontaneous yields are difficult to quantify and sometimes may be overestimated, above all when random and unfores…
Endophytic Bacteria and Essential Oil from Origanum vulgare ssp. vulgare Share Some VOCs with an Antibacterial Activity
2022
Medicinal aromatic plants’ essential oils (EOs) are mixtures of volatile compounds showing antimicrobial activity, which could be exploited to face the emerging problem of multi-drug resistance. Their chemical composition can depend on the interactions between the plant and its endophytic microbiota, which is known to synthesize volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, it is still not clear whether those volatile metabolites can contribute to the composition of the aroma profile of plants’ EOs. The aims of this study were to characterize medicinal plant O. vulgare ssp. vulgare bacterial endophyte VOCs, evaluating their ability to antagonize the growth of opportunistic human pathogens bel…
Endophytic Bacteria Associated with Origanum heracleoticum L. (Lamiaceae) Seeds
2022
Seed-associated microbiota are believed to play a crucial role in seed germination, seedling establishment, and plant growth and fitness stimulation, due to the vertical transmission of a core microbiota from seeds to the next generations. It might be hypothesized that medicinal and aromatic plants could use the seeds as vectors to vertically transfer beneficial endophytes, providing plants with metabolic pathways that could influence phytochemicals production. Here, we investigated the localization, the structure and the composition of the bacterial endophytic population that resides in Origanum heracleoticum L. seeds. Endocellular bacteria, surrounded by a wall, were localized close to th…
New Biologically Active Triterpene-Saponins fromRandia dumetorum
1990
Two new triterpene-saponins, 3-O-[O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----4)-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----3)-( beta- D-glucuronopyranosyl)]oleanolic acid (1), 3-O-[O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----6)-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl- (1----3)-(beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl)]oleanolic acid (2) together with five known saponins (3-7) were isolated from the methanolic extract of the fruits of Randia dumetorum (Retz) Lam. (Rubiaceae). Their structures were established on the basis of chemical and spectral data. The compounds 1, 3, 4, 5 were found to enhance significantly the proliferation of human lymphocytes in vitro. The crude saponin fraction showed haemolytic, molluscicidal, and immunostimulating activities.
Harmful and Protective Effects of Phenolic Compounds from African Medicinal Plants
2014
Phenolic phytochemicals include flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins, lignans, coumarins, quinones, xanthones, cucurmin, and several other plant compounds owing hydroxyl group bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. In plants, they play a variety of protective effects against abiotic stresses like UV light or biotic stresses such as predator and pathogen attacks. This role is exploited by humans to treat several ailments including bacterial, fungal, protozoal and viral infections, inflammation, cancer, and diabetes. Numbers of them are known to display direct protection on cells or organs in humans and animals. In contrast, some of others rather have harmful or toxic effects. In th…
Medicinal Plants from Near East for Cancer Therapy.
2017
Background: Cancer is one of the major problems affecting public health worldwide. As other cultures, the populations of the Near East rely on medicinal herbs and their preparations to fight cancer. Methods: We compiled data derived from historical ethnopharmacological information as well as in vitro and in vivo results and clinical findings extracted from different literature databases including (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) during the past two decades. Results: In this survey, we analyzed the huge amount of data available on anticancer ethnopharmacological sources used in the Near East. Medicinal herbs are the most dominant ethnopharmacological formula used among ca…
Effects of Organic and Chemical N-fertilization on Yield and Morpho-biological Features in Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.).
2009
Although MAPs are subjected to a growing interest (from growers, transformation industries, public and private institutions), a full introduction of such species into the Mediterranean cropping systems still needs the pointing out of many aspects. An important task concerns some aspects of cropping technique, whose definition could allow these crops to optimize the yields (both from the qualitative and the quantitative point of view), also allowing the best exploitation of land resources. One of the most crucial aspects is linked to plant fertilization, above all with Nitrogen. The trial that we report the results of has been performed in 2003- 04 and 2004-05 with the aim to study the effec…
Essential Oils and Pure Volatile Compounds as Potential Drugs in Alzheimer's Disease Therapy: An Updated Review of the Literature
2016
Background: The use of aromatic plants to relief different illness is not a new therapy. Actually aromatic plants have been used for many centuries by different cultures around the world. Pharmacological studies provide scientific support to the traditional use of aromatic medicinal plants and aromatherapy; nevertheless, more clinical trials are required regarding to their effectiveness in order to establish a guidance for their use in routine healthcare. Moreover, modern medicine in studies about olfactory function has attained great achievements and got Nobel Prize in 2004. These new searches have obviously fueled interest in the essential oils and volatile compounds of natural origin. Se…