With the ever-increasing popularity and extensive usage of phytotherapy all over the globe, it has now become absolutely necessary to ensure its efficacy, toxicity and adverse effects on the basis of suitable scientific evidence, and to put proper measures in place to regulate practice of phytotherapy as well as phytotherapeutic products. Before getting into the nitty-gritty of evidence-based phytotherapy, let us quickly remind ourselves of the definition of phytotherapy. Simply, phytotherapy, the term first introduced by the French physician Henri Leclerc in 1993, is the plant-based therapy or medical practice that is offered to treat and/or prevent various human diseases.

Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. is a native plant to northeastern Brazil, traditionally used in folk medicine, with several pharmacological activities reported including antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor. The present study evaluated the antileukemic potential of M. caesalpiniifolia Benth. ethanolic extract (EtOH) and its n-hexanic (HexF) and dichloromethane (DCMF) fractions. Previous analysis by our team revealed the constituents of high relative abundance in EtOH, HexF, and DCMF, like phytol (11.7%), lupeol (14.7%), and betulinic acid (70.3%), respectively. In the MTT cell viability test, EtOH, HexF, and DCMF induced dose-dependent cytotoxicity in human chronic myeloid cells (K562), with IC50 of 153.6 ± 0.1, 118.40 ± 0.2, and 40.0 ± 0.1 µg/mL, respectively (p<0.05). Additionally, DCMF (6-800 µg/mL) presented minor toxicity against normal human erythrocytes and murine macrophage cells. DCMF induced similar antileukemic effects (IC50=64.2 ± 5.0 µg/mL) against human acute myeloid cells (HL-60). However, it did not exert antitumor activity on murine sarcoma (S180) cells (p>0.05).

The plant species Lonchocarpus eriocalyx Harms (Fabaceae) is a deciduous slender tree or shrub which grows up to 15 m tall. It is an important medicinal plant in Kenya used to treat a wide range of ailments including eye infection, wound and ulcer. However, little is known about its chemical constituents. The present study aims to isolate secondary metabolites from the plant leaves along with their various biological activities. Eight compounds, namely friedelin (1), lupenone (2), lupeol (3), stigmasterol (4), chrysin (5), stigmasterol 3-O-ß-glucoside (6), apigenin (7) and 3,5,7,2’,4’-pentahydroxyflavonol (8) were isolated from the CH2Cl2 and MeOH extracts of Lonchocarpus eriocalyx Harms leaves. Their structures were determined by using physical and spectroscopic methods as well as comparison with literature data. The CH2Cl2 and MeOH extracts together with the isolated compounds were subjected to an array of biological tests including antiplasmodial, larvicidal and mosquitocidal, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory assays. The compounds 1-4 and 6 together with their anti-inflammatory activities are reported from this plant for the first time

Black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger L.) is frequently cultivated as a rich source of tropane alkaloids particularly hyoscyamine and hyoscine (Scopolamine) which are extracted from its whole aerial herb including dried leaves and flowering tops. These valuable natural compounds are widely used in modern medicinal preparations as well as pharmaceutical industries in India and around the world. In the present study, genetic divergence among twenty-nine accessions of Hyoscyamus niger L. was evaluated for the nature along with amount of genetic diversity for eleven economic traits. Accordingly, all the twenty-nine accessions were grouped into eight diverse clusters (cluster I-VIII). The enormous diversity was also indicated by the wide range of D²-values (4.032 to 544.535). A number of unique accessions HN-30, HN-31, HN-15, HN-22-Y, and HN-29-Y were identified that may be interesting genotypes for the genetic improvement of the different morphometric and tropane alkaloid traits. Therefore, these accessions can be further exploited in future hybridization programs for the development of a new variety/cultivar for commercial productions.

The results of the phytochemical analysis of a Hypericum richeri Vill. accession collected from a population living in Appennines, Central Italy, are reported in this paper. The secondary metabolites pattern resulted mainly composed of flavonoids as both aglycones and in glycosidic form, such as quercetin (2), quercetin-3-O-methyl ether (3), 5,7,3,5-tetrahydroxyflavanone (8), isorhamnetin glucoside (7), isoquercitrin (9), hyperoside (10), quercitrin (11) and myricetin-3-O-rutinoside (12). It was also observed the presence of the naphtodianthrones hypericin (5) and pseudohypericin (6) together with organic acids (benzoic acid (4)), a glycolipid (2S)-1,2-di-O-[(9Z,12Z,15Z)-octadeca-9,12,15-trienoyl]-3-O-ß-D-galactopyranosyl glycerol (1) and the saccharides glucose (13), galactose (14) and sucrose (15). Among these constituents, compounds (1) and (3) have been identified in H. richeri Vill. for the first time during this study. The other difference in composition observed in the present study in respect to population from different regions is the absence of hyperforin and caffeoylquinic derivatives. The observed chemovariability, already reported in H. perforatum L., might be derived from the environmental characteristic of the collection site. The chemotaxonomic aspects, together with the pharmacologic relevance in traditional medicine of the isolated compounds were also discussed.

The volatile compounds identified from the rhizome oil of Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb (Zingiberaceae) collected from Cham Chu Natural Reserve, Tuyen Quang Province, Vietnam, are reported. The plant sample was air-dried for two weeks under laboratory shade. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodisitllation in a Clevenger-type apparatus. The yield of the oil was 0.18% (v/w) regarding the dry weight of the plant material. The constituents of the oil were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main constituents of the oil were found to be ß-pinene (21.9%), neocurdione (16.1%) and curcumol (15.2%).

Solvent type, extraction time and method are among important parameters in the evaluation of extraction efficiency. The selection of appropriate conditions to increase the extraction efficiency is of great importance. The response surface method (RSM) is a statistical and mathematical technique which can be used to examine the dependence between the responses with variables and also to determine the optimal conditions. In this study, the experimental design of general full factorial (GFF) was used using Minitab 17 software. The variables were time (60, 90 and 120 min), solvent (water, methanol and n-hexane) and method (soxhlet and ultrasound-assisted extraction). The main effects and also interaction terms were investigated on amounts of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and the antioxidant activity (according to IC50, FRAP and BCB) of the extract of Ixiolirion tataricum (Pall.) Schult. & Schult.f.. Under optimal conditions, the best extraction method for the TFC was the ultrasound-based approach, whereas for other responses the soxhlet-based was better. Water was the optimal solvent for TPC, FRAP and BCB, but methanol was found as the best solvent for the determination of TFC and IC50. Also, the extraction time for all of the responses was 90 min. The amounts of TPC, TFC, IC50, FRAP and BCB in the optimum conditions obtained were 22.45 ± 0.60 (mg GAE/g extract), 114.57 ± 1.59 (mg QC/g extract), 0.36 ± 0.08 (mg/mL), 1014.7 ± 12.4 (mmol Fe2+/g extract) and 53.02 ± 0.05, respectively. The R² values for responses were close to unity, which indicates the compatibility between the experimental and the real data. A linear correlation was observed between phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. Also, the effect of solvent was more important than time and extraction method on the amounts of TPC, TFC, IC50, FRAP and BCB.