One benzophenone, 4'-hydroxy-2,4,6-trimethoxybenzophenone (1) was isolated from the liana and leaves of Salacia nitida (Benth.) N.E.Br., together with n-hexacosane (2), 29-hydroxyfriedelane (3), 3ß-friedelinol (4), n-hexacosan-1-ol (5), n-octacosan-1-ol (6), mangiferin (7), ß-sitosterol-3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (8), friedelin (9), 30-hydroxyfriedelin (10), salaspermic acid (11), 22ß-epi-maytenfolic acid (12), orthosphenic acid (13), maltose (14), D-mannitol (15), cangoronine (16), 7-hydroxyfriedelane-1,3-dione (17), tingenone (18), pristimerin (19), a-amyrin acetate (20), ß-sitosterol (21) and stigmasterol (22), 21-hydroxyfriedelan-3-one (23), abruslactone A (24), and 2a-hydroxypopulnonic acid (25). The structures of the isolated compounds were established by means of spectroscopic analysis. In addition, the structure of (1) was confirmed by its X-ray diffraction. Compounds (1), (7), (10)-(11), (13), (16)-(19) and (25) were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities. Compound (18) showed a significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 23.8 µM) while compounds (11) and (19) exhibited moderate inhibiting effect against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 53.8 µM) and Candida glabrata (MIC = 105.9 µM), respectively.

Seventeen genetic stocks of Curcuma longa L. were evaluated for nature and amount of genetic variability, associations, and path analysis for six economic traits. GCV and PCV were largest for fresh rhizome yield, Para-cymene-8-ol and 1, 8 cineole. Path coefficient study showed the largest direct contribution to rhizome yield was plant height while other traits were negative; but their direct contribution via oil content in leaf and rhizome was large. All traits expressed medium to high heritability (^h2(BS), low to medium genetic advance and positive correlations. Correlation coefficients between traits expressed that rhizome oil content, 1, 8 cineole were highly significant and positively correlated with plant height and 1, 8 cineole at genotypic and phenotypic level, respectively. Based on mean performance AMT3, Tur1UNK, ST-3(3) were best for leaf oil, rhizome oil and fresh rhizome yield. These accessions may be exploited for commercial production/exploitation.

An investigation was carried out to assess the genetic variability, genetic divergence and association of pheno-morphic and agronomic traits along with major chemical constituents of essential oil in 41 accessions of spearmint (Mentha spicata L.). Highly significant differences were noted for all 10 economic traits indicating the existence of considerable genetic variability among 41 accessions. High heritability (h2) and high genetic advance was noted for herb yield (120.64 %). On the basis of Mahalnobis D2 values, all 41 spearmint accessions were grouped into six diverse clusters. The cluster-I was largest group which consist of 20 accessions. A significant and positive correlation was observed for plant height with herb yield (0.58 * *; ** = significant at 1% probability level). The herb yield showed a highest direct effect (0.194) for oil yield. According to results, a significant genetic variability was present among 41 accessions, simple selection can be employed to improve essential oil content. More importance should be given to plant height, leaf length, leaf width and herb yield during selection to improve essential oil yield in spearmint.

Oxidative stress is involved in many chronic diseases. The ethanol extract of Allanblackia floribunda (A. floribunda) was investigated for the antioxidant and antihypertensive activities on alcohol hypertensive rat’s model. The free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities of plant extracts were evaluated in vitro by DPPH and ABTS assays, the ferric reducing antioxidant power assay and chelating ability on ferrous ions. Alcohol-induced hypertensive rats (AHR) were obtained by oral administration of ethanol (3 g/kg/day during 8 weeks) followed by 4 weeks of concomitant treatment with A. floribunda (100 and 200 mg/kg) and ethanol. Hemodynamic parameters were evaluated using the direct cannulation method. The effects of the extract on lipid profile, kidney and liver functions as well as oxidative stress markers were evaluated using colorimetric method. A. floribunda significantly reduced the mean blood pressure. The plant extract protected against the deterioration in lipid profile, reduced kidney and liver impairment, malondialdehyde (MDA) and increased the reduced glutathione (GSH) concentrations in organs. The total phenolic content of A. floribunda extract was found to be 76772.5 µg equivalent catechin/g. Antioxidant potential of the extract was higher with DPPH assay as compared to ABTS assay. These results suggest that the protective effect of the ethanol extract of A. floribunda in alcohol-induced hypertension was in part due to its antioxidant properties.

This study aimed for investigating chemical constituents and biological activities of Diospyros zenkeri (Gürke) F. White. 14 known secondary metabolites have been isolated from the leaves and the twigs of D. zenkeri such as 3-methoxy-7-methyljuglone (1), ß-carotene (2), lupeol (3), mixture of ß-sitosterol (4) and stigmasterol (5), betulin (6), ursolic acid (7), messagenin (8), 3ß,28,30-lup-20(29)-ene triol (9), mixture of the glucosides of stigmasterol (10) and ß-sitosterol (11), norbergenin (12), betulinic acid (13) and vanillic acid (14), respectively . The structures of the compounds were elucidated with the help of NMR and mass spectral studies. The compounds 8, 9 and 14 are reported for the first time from the genus Diospyros. The biological screening of all the isolates and the crude methanolic extracts have been carried out including antiproliferative activity, antioxidant potential and inhibitory activity against the enzymes lipoxygenase and urease, respectively. Compound 1 exhibited significant antiproliferative activity against two cancer cell lines CAL-27 (IC50=2.98 µM) and NCI-H460 (IC50=5.57 µM). Methanolic extracts of the leaves and twigs of D. zenkeri presented low antiproliferative activity against these two cancer cell lines. Compounds 1, 6, 8, 9, 12 and the crude extracts exhibited moderate antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 76.5 µM, 65.8 µM, 55.3 µM and 51.2 µM respectively compared to BHA (IC50=44.2 µM). Compounds 6, 8 and 9 showed moderate lipoxygenase inhibition activity with IC50 values of 58.5 µM, 52.8 µM and 58.8 µM, respectively compared to baicalein (IC50=22.6 µM).

Essential oils have been used traditionally as herbal medicine in various ailments and can be used as a strong alternative to chemical pesticides. The yield of essential oil from Hedychium spicatum Sm. was 0.9 mg kg-1 regarding its fresh weight. The essential oil was then subjected to column chromatography for separation into polar ethyl acetate and non-polar hexane fractions. The chemical composition of hexane and ethyl acetate column fraction were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In the present investigation, the marked effect of anticancer activity from hexane and ethyl acetate fraction of oil of H. spicatum Sm. rhizomes on A431 and MCF cell lines was assessed through micro-culture tetrazolium assay (MTT). The test samples were screened for cytotoxicity against the cell lines at different concentrations of 50, 100, 150 and 200 µL to determine the IC50 value. The hexane and ethyl acetate fractions were screened for their herbicidal activities against Raphanus raphanistrum and also assessed for the feeding performance of Spilosoma obliqua in the laboratory. For antifeedant activity, the antifeedant index calculated over 36 h for neonate larvae increased significantly with concentration in the treated diet. The sprout inhibition activity on Raphanus raphanistrum was studied using petri dish bioassay. The root and shoot length were measured for each concentration after evaluating the activity for 5 days. Based on all the observations, the results indicate that the different fractions of essential oil contain phytotoxic compounds that could be used to develop botanical pesticide and also in the field of cancer drug development.

The role of natural antioxidant compounds in preserving the frying stability of oils is increasingly recognized. Orange (Citrus x sinensis) and lemon peels (Citrus × aurantiifolia) are rich sources of antioxidant components. The objective of the current study was to determine antioxidant properties of orange and lemon peel and evaluate their efficacy in preventing lipid peroxidation in heated and stored unrefined sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and groundnut oils (Arachis hypogaea). Peel powder was added at 0.5 and 1.0% level. The oils were subjected to thermal treatment, stored and analysed on 0, 10, 20, and 30 days for free fatty acid (FFA) and peroxide value (PV). The obtained results showed that orange peel had higher total polyphenolic, tannins, ß-carotene and total carotene contents. The highest DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed in pure methanolic extract (70%). FFA ranged from 0.03-0.1 and 0.04-0.1% in sunflower oil heated at 60 °C with 0.5 and 1.0 g peel powder, respectively. FFA was in the range of 0.35-0.45% for groundnut oil samples heated at 60 °C with 0.5 g peel powder, whereas PV ranged between 3.65 and 8.4 meq/kg. The reduction in lipid peroxidation during storage of heat treated peel powder incorporated samples was remarkable for those heated at 60 °C and stored for 10 days. Lemon peels were also rich in total phenols (716 mg/100 g) and flavonoids (168 mg/100 g) and showed considerable antioxidant activity. At the end of the storage duration, both thermally treated groundnut and sunflower oils showed lesser FFA over the ranges 0.12-0.15% and 0.38-0.52%, respectively and PV ranging from 8.96 to 11.5 meq/kg and from 7.9 to 10.9 meq/kg, respectively than control oils (FFA-0.18-0.9% and PV-12.2-21.2 meq/kg). This study showed that orange and lemon peels may be used as natural antioxidant agents to prevent lipid peroxidation.