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α-Amylase catalyses the hydrolysis of starch and ultimately producing glucose. Controlling the catalytic activity of this enzyme reduces glucose production in the postprandial stage, which could be a therapeutic benefit for people with diabetes. This study was conducted to evaluate α-amylase inhibition for utilizing the crude extracts of some medicinal plants traditionally used in Nepal for the treatment of diabetes and its related complications.

Microtiter plate approach has been used to assess inhibitory activities of in vitro α-amylase of methanolic extracts of thirty-two medicinal plants. A starch tolerance test was used in rats to investigate the in vivo study of the methanolic extract concerning glibenclamide as the positive control.

Acacia catechu,Dioscorea bulbifera, andSwertia chirataexhibited inhibitory activity against α-amylase and with IC₅₀values; 49.9, 296.1, and 413.5 μg/mL, respectively. Kinetics study revealed that all the extracts displayed a mixed type of inhibition pattern, with K_ivalues ranging from 26.6–204.2 μg/mL. Free radical scavenging activity was again re-examined and found prominent in extracts ofA. catechu. Likewise,A. catechuandS. chiratashowed significant reduction of blood glucose concentration up to 30 min after oral dose of 250 mg/kg (F (4, 20) = 4.1,p = .048), and (F (4, 20) = 4.1,p = .036), respectively.

Enzymatic assay for α-amylase inhibition using extracts was successfully evaluated. Also, the in-vitro and in-vivo study model revealed that medicinal plants could be a potent source of α-amylase inhibition. So, they could serve as potential candidates for future drug development strategies for curing diabetes with minimal or no adverse side effects.

In the present era, the attention of nutritionist diverted towards the bioactive entities present in natural sources owing to the presence of health boosting perspectives against lifestyle related disarrays.

In this context, different parts of ginger crop i.e. rhizome, leaves and flower of variety Suravi (ID no. 008) were used for the preparation of ginger extracts with 50% methanol, 50% ethanol and water via rotatory shaker for 45 min. After that, different phytochemical analysis and in vitro analyses were carried out to determine the antioxidant potential of these extracts. Lastly, the best selected extracts from each part was quantified through HPLC.

The results of current investigated indicated that ethanol extract proved to have maximum quantity of phytoceutics as compared to methanol and water. The maximum TPC, flavonoids, flavonols, DPPH assay, antioxidant activity, FRAP assay, ABTS assay and metal chelating potential was observed in ginger leaves as 780.56 ± 32.78 GAE/100 g, 253.56 ± 10.65 mg/100 g, 49.54 ± 1.74 mg/100 g, 75.54 ± 3.17%, 77.88 ± 3.27%, 105.72 ± 4.44 μmole TE/g, 118.43 ± 4.97 μmole TE/g and 35.16 ± 1.48%, respectively followed by ginger flowers and ginger rhizome. The lowest antioxidant activity was estimated in ginger rhizome. On the basis of phytochemical profiling and in vitro analyses, ethanol extracts of ginger flowers, leaves and rhizome were selected for the quantification through HPLC.

The findings proved that maximum 6-gingerol was present in ginger leaves (4.9 mg/g) tackled by ginger flowers (2.87 mg/g) and ginger rhizome (1.03 mg/g).

Cheilanthes tenuifolia, một thành viên của họ Dương xỉ (Pteridaceae), là loài dương xỉ xanh nhỏ, có thể là nguồn giàu hợp chất sinh học hoạt tính. Nghiên cứu này được thiết kế nhằm điều tra các đặc tính trị liệu của loài này và phân lập các hợp chất hoạt tính sinh học từ các chiết xuất của Cheilanthes tenuifolia.

Bột thô khô của cây được chiết xuất bằng methanol và làm khô bằng máy bốc hơi quay. Chiết xuất tiếp tục được phân chia theo độ phân cực tăng dần: N-hexane < chloroform < ethyl-acetate < methanol theo phương pháp Kupchan được cải tiến. Sau đó, các phần chiết xuất khác nhau được nghiên cứu về đặc tính dược lý của chúng. Các hợp chất được phân lập từ phần n-hexane qua quá trình sắc ký cột, sau đó là TLC và cấu trúc được xác định bằng phân tích mẫu sử dụng ¹H-NMR và so sánh với báo cáo hóa học thực vật đã được công bố.

Stem bark of Anogeissus latifolia Roxb (family: Combretaceae) is used traditionally and ethnomedicinally to alleviate pain, inflammation and fever conditions. The current study investigates the analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities of ethanolic extract of stem bark of Anogeissus latifolia Roxb.

The HPLC studies were carried out to standardize the stem bark ethanolic extract of Anogeissus latifolia (ALEE) using ellagic acid as a marker. ALEE was screened for analgesic (formalin-induced pain and acetic acid induced writhing) and anti-inflammatory (formalin and carrageenan-induced paw oedema) activities in Wistar rats. Before 1 h of acetic acid or formalin or carrageenan injection, rats were orally fed with ALEE (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg), Aspirin (100 mg/kg) or Indomethacin (10 mg/kg). Antipyretic effect was studied in brewer’s yeast-induced pyrexia model in rats using Paracetamol (100 mg/kg) as a standard drug.

HPLC analysis of ALEE revealed the presence of ellagic acid. ALEE treatment (200 and 400 mg/kg) significantly inhibited pain response in both models. ALEE treatments prevented the raise of paw volume in both in-vivo models with percent inhibition of 44.40 and 46.21, respectively at 5 h. ALEE also showed a significant reduction of yeast-induced pyrexia till 4 h of treatment.

ALEE exhibited analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic property in experimental models and validates traditional use of ALEE in pain, inflammation and fever.

Azadirachta indica,Khaya senegalensis,Anogeissus leiocarpusandTamarindus indicaare important ethnomedicinal plants used for health mitigation since the history of mankind. They are used discretionarily in folkloric medicine on the premise that they are natural products devoid of synthetic preservatives. However, nature endows plants with metabolites for warding off potential attacks from animals and the environment. Some of these metabolites are responsible for toxicity of some plants. Furthermore, drug-induced liver injuries and nephrotoxicity are the leading causes of pharmaceutical attrition of promising drug candidates in clinical trials. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the safety of four ethnomedicinal plants in short-, medium- and long-term usage.

Rats dosed once with 5000 mg/kg extracts of each of these plants served as acute study (AS) while rats dosed daily with 2000 mg/kg for 2, 12 and 14 weeks served as sub-acute (SAS), sub-chronic (SCS) and chronic (CS) studies, respectively. Rats administered distilled water served as the negative control (NC).

A. leiocarpusandT. indicasignificantly reduced percentage weight gain in the SCS compared to the NC.A. leiocarpussignificantly (P< 0.05) increased transaminases and alkaline phosphatase in the AS only; and total protein (TP) in the AS, SAS, SCS and CS compared to the NC.K. senegalensissignificantly (P< 0.05) increased alanine aminotransferase but significantly (P< 0.05) decreased TP in the AS only compared to the NC. However,A. indica and T. indicasignificantly (P< 0.05) increased globulin and aspartate transaminase in the CS only. WhereasA. leiocarpusandK. senegalensissignificantly (P< 0.05) increased urea and creatinine in the AS than SAS, SCS and CS; Na⁺and K⁺were significantly higher in the SCS and CS studies compared to the NC. The histological lesions seen ranged from cellular degeneration, congestion, fibrosis to necrosis.

Thus, nonlethal, reversible toxic insults occur in short-term usage (AS); while, insidious lethal toxic effects occur in medium-term (SAS) and long-term usage (SCS and CS). The ability of these plant to maintain adequate hematological parameters, bodyweight and absence of mortality may explain free usage of preparations made from these plants in folkloric medicine.

This review aims at establishing the emerging applications of phytobiotics in water treatment and disinfection.

Statistical analysis of data obtained revealed that the use of plant product in water treatment needs more research attention. A major observation is that plants possess multifaceted components and can be sustainably developed into products for water treatment. The seed (24.53%), flower (20.75), leaf (16.98%) and fruit (11.32%) biomasses are preferred against bulb (3.77%), resin (1.89%), bark (1.89%) and tuber (1.89%). The observation suggests that novel applications of plant in water treatment need further exploration since vast and broader antimicrobial activities (63.63%) is reported than water treatment application (36.37%).

This review has revealed the existing knowledge gaps in exploration of plant resources for water treatment and product development. Chemical complexity of some plant extracts, lack of standardisation, slow working rate, poor water solubility, extraction and purification complexities are limitations that need to be overcome for industrial adoption of phytochemicals in water treatment. The field of phytobiotics should engage modern methodologies such as proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics to minimise challenges confronting phytobiotic standardisation. The knowledge disseminated awaits novel application for plant product development in water treatment.