Ocimum gratissimum is a well-known plant used in the Indian system of medicine. Folklore medicine claims its use in headache, fever, diarrhoea, pneumonia etc. Research carried out using different in vitro and in vivo techniques of biological evaluation supports most of the claims. This review presents the ethnobotanical, natural product chemistry, pharmacological, clinical and toxicological data of the plant.

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Ocimum gratissimum: A Review of its Chemical, Pharmacological andEthnomedicinal Properties

Ethnopharmacological survey and in vitro evaluation of wound-healing plants used in South-western Nigeria

Spices, active ingredients of Indian cooking, may play important roles in prevention and treatment of various cancers. The objective of the present study is to compare the in vitro anticancer activities of three different extracts of Clove (Syzygium aromaticum L), a commonly used spice and food flavouring agent, against different kinds of cancer cell lines of various anatomical derivations. Water, ethanol and oil extracts were screened for anti proliferative activity against HeLa (cervical cancer), MCF-7 (ER + ve) and MDA-MB-231 (ER - ve) breast cancer, DU-145 prostate cancer and TE-13 esophageal cancer cell lines, along with normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Inhibition of cell proliferation was assessed using MTT assay as a vital stain. In the examined five cancer cell lines, the extracts showed different patterns of cell growth inhibition activity, with the oil extract having maximal cytotoxic activity. Morphological analysis and DAPI staining showed cytotoxicity to be a result of cell disruption with subsequent membrane rupture. Maximum cell death and apoptotic cell demise occurred in TE-13 cells within 24 hours by clove oil at 300 μl/ml with 80% cell death whereas DU-145 cells showed minimal cell death. At the same time, no significant cytotoxicity was found in human PBMC's at the same dose.

Comparative anticancer potential of clove (Syzygium aromaticum)--an Indian spice--against cancer cell lines of various anatomical origin.

Background: The common treatment for cancer is unfavorable because it causes many detrimental side effects, and lately, there has been a growing resistance toward anticancer drugs, which worsens the future of cancer treatment. Therefore, the focus has now shifted toward natural products, such as spices and plants, among many others, to save the future of cancer treatment. Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum L.) are spices with the highest antioxidant content among natural products. Besides acting as an antioxidant, cloves also possess many other functions, such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiseptic, which makes them an ideal natural source to be developed as an anticancer agent. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of cloves toward MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines. Materials and Methods: Different concentrations of water extract, ethanol extract, and essential oil of cloves were investigated for their anticancer potential in vitro through a brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT) and an MTT assay. Results: In both BSLT and MTT assays, the essential oil showed the highest cytotoxic effect, followed by ethanol and water extract. The LD 50 concentration of essential oil in the 24 hours BSLT was 37 μg/mL. Furthermore, the IC 50 values in the 24 hours and 48 hours MTT assays of the essential oil were 36.43 μg/mL and 17.6 μg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: Cloves are natural products with excellent cytotoxicity toward MCF-7 cells; thus, they are promising sources for the development of anticancer agents.

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Anticancer potential of Syzygium aromaticum L. in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines.

The antimicrobial properties of ethanol, hot and cold extracts of some mushroom species (Russula vesca, Auricularia auricular, Pleurotus squarrosulus, Volvariaella vulvae) on some Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella typhi), Gram positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae) and yeast (Candida albicans) were investigated. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) was evaluated for each of extracts of the mushrooms. Antimicrobial activity was performed by agar disc diffusion.  The hot water extracts of R. vesca inhibited growth of E. coli, S.typhi, P. mirabilis and C. albicans. Ethanolic extract of A. auricular showed wide spectrum of antimicrobial effect against test organisms with the exception of S. typhi andP. aeruginosa. P. squarrosulus showed antimicrobial activity against K. pneumoniae(6.14 mm), S. pneumoniae (5.12 mm), and C. albicans (4.10). P. aeruginosa was resistant to almost all extracts of the four species of mushroom except the hot water extract of P. squarrosulus which showed zone of inhibition (3.41 mm). V. vulvae showed antimicrobial activity against S. typhi (4.60 mm). Ethanol and hot water extracts of most of the mushroom species contained more bioactive substance than cold water extract. The significance of antimicrobial activity of mushroom extracts was compared with the standard antibiotics (gentamicin, 5 µg/disc) using chi – square. There were significant difference between the mean zone of inhibition of the ethanol extract of P. squarrosulusand the standard antibiotic against test organisms at 5% level. The results obtained in this study suggest that P. squarrosulus possessed broad-spectrum of activity against microbial isolates used.

	 

	Key words: Mushroom, antimicrobial, phytochemicals, bacteria, yeast.

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Antimicrobial activity of some local mushrooms on pathogenic isolates

Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Ocimum gratissimum and xylopia aethiopica were analyzed for their antimicrobial activities against five pathogenic organisms; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus fecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Lactobacilli. Ethanolic extracts of O. gratissimum had a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 30 μg/ml against S. aureus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and lactobacilli while for S. fecalis the MIC was 15 μg/ml. Aqueous extracts of O. gratissimum had an MIC of 12.5 μg/ml against S. aureus, E. coli and S. fecalis, while for P. aeruginosa and lactobacilli the MIC was 6.25 and 25 μg/ml, respectively. Ethanolic extracts of X. aethiopica showed an MIC of 10 μg/ml in the five organisms tested. While its aqueous extract gave an MIC of 30 μg/ml for S. aureus and Lactobacilli, and 15 μg/ml for E. coli, P. aeruginosa and S. fecalis. Our findings suggest that the anti-microbial activity of these spices reside in their aqueous fractions and also indicate that very low concentrations are required to achieve antimicrobial effects.

Ijeh I.I

Papers

Antimicrobial effects of aqueous and ethanolic fractions of two spices, Ocimum gratissimum and Xylopia aethiopica