According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, aquaculture is growing more rapidly than all other animal food-production sectors (www.fao.org). Its contribution to global supplies of several species of fish, crustaceans and mollusks increased from 3.9% of total production by weight in 1970 to 33% in 2005. It has been estimated that fisheries and aquaculture supplied the world with about 110 million metric tons of food fish per year (FAO, State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010.), providing a per capita supply of 16.7 kg (live weight equivalent). Of this supply, 47% is derived from aquaculture production. However, this production is hampered by unpredictable mortalities that may be due to negative interactions between fish and pathogenic bacteria. To solve this problem, farmers frequently use antibiotic compounds to treat bacterial diseases (Cabello 2006).

/pdf/antibiotics-in-aquaculture-use-abuse-and-alternatives-217n7bw94b.pdf

Antibiotics in Aquaculture – Use, Abuse and Alternatives

The atlas of spectral data of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons; Daniel Joulain & Wilfried A. König. E.B.-Verlag, Hamburg, 1998, ISBN 3-930826-48-8, $700

Piper species are aromatic plants used as spices in the kitchen, but their secondary metabolites have also shown biological effects on human health. These plants are rich in essential oils, which can be found in their fruits, seeds, leaves, branches, roots and stems. Some Piper species have simple chemical profiles, while others, such as Piper nigrum, Piper betle, and Piper auritum, contain very diverse suites of secondary metabolites. In traditional medicine, Piper species have been used worldwide to treat several diseases such as urological problems, skin, liver and stomach ailments, for wound healing, and as antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agents. In addition, Piper species could be used as natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents in food preservation. The phytochemicals and essential oils of Piper species have shown strong antioxidant activity, in comparison with synthetic antioxidants, and demonstrated antibacterial and antifungal activities against human pathogens. Moreover, Piper species possess therapeutic and preventive potential against several chronic disorders. Among the functional properties of Piper plants/extracts/active components the antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, and neuropharmacological activities of the extracts and extract-derived bioactive constituents are thought to be key effects for the protection against chronic conditions, based on preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies, besides clinical studies. Habitats and cultivation of Piper species are also covered in this review. In this current work, available literature of chemical constituents of the essential oils Piper plants, their use in traditional medicine, their applications as a food preservative, their antiparasitic activities and other important biological activities are reviewed.

Piper Species: A Comprehensive Review on Their Phytochemistry, Biological Activities and Applications.

The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early behavioral innovations, expansions of modern humans within and out of Africa, and occasional population bottlenecks. Several innovations in the MSA are seen in an archaeological sequence in the rock shelter Sibudu (South Africa). At ~77,000 years ago, people constructed plant bedding from sedges and other monocotyledons topped with aromatic leaves containing insecticidal and larvicidal chemicals. Beginning at ~73,000 years ago, bedding was burned, presumably for site maintenance. By ~58,000 years ago, bedding construction, burning, and other forms of site use and maintenance intensified, suggesting that settlement strategies changed. Behavioral differences between ~77,000 and 58,000 years ago may coincide with population fluctuations in Africa.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/334/6061/1388.full.pdf

Middle Stone Age Bedding Construction and Settlement Patterns at Sibudu, South Africa

Bioactivities of Piper aduncum L. and Piper obliquum Ruiz & Pavon (Piperaceae) essential oils from Eastern Ecuador.

Exhaustive hydro-distillation of the bark, heartwood and fruits of Cryptocarya massoy (Lauraceae) afforded pale yellow-coloured oils in 0.7, 1.2 and 1.0 % yields, respectively. Detailed chemical evaluation of these distillates using GC/MS revealed the major components in the bark and the heartwood oils to be the C-10 (5,6-dihydro-6-pentyl- 2H-pyran-2-one) and C-12 (5,6-dihydro-6-heptyl-2H-pyran-2-one) massoia lactones, while the major fruit oil constituent was benzyl benzoate (68.3 %). The heartwood also contained trace amounts of the C-14 (5,6-dihydro-6-nonyl-2H-pyran-2-one) massoia lactone (1.4 %) and the saturated C-10 derivative δ-decalactone (2.5 %).

/pdf/comparative-chemical-analysis-of-the-essential-oil-2o0y8qqnmo.pdf

Comparative chemical analysis of the essential oil constituents in the bark, heartwood and fruits of Cryptocarya massoy (Oken) Kosterm. (Lauraceae) from Papua New Guinea.

Exhaustive hydro-distillation of the leaves of Piper aduncum and fruits of Piper gibbilimbum (Piperaceae) afforded colorless and pale orange colored oils in 0.35 and 0.30 % yields, respectively. Detailed chemical analysis by GC/MS indicated the volatile constituents of Piper aduncum to be composed of dill apiole (43.3 %), β- caryophyllene (8.2 %), piperitione (6.7 %) and α-humulene (5.1 %), whilst the oil of P. gibbilimbum is dominated by the gibbilimbols A-D (74.2 %), with the remaining major constituents being the terpenes camphene (13.6 %) and α-pinene (6.5 %).

/pdf/volatile-chemical-constituents-of-piper-aduncum-l-and-piper-2vn0etcwgt.pdf

Volatile Chemical Constituents of Piper aduncum L and Piper gibbilimbum C. DC (Piperaceae) from Papua New Guinea

Fresh aerial parts of three species of basil, Ocimum basilicum, O. tacilium and O. canum were subjected to exhaustive hydrodistillation to afford pale yellow coloured oils in 1.0, 0.7 and 0.01 percent yields respectively. Detailed chemical evaluation by GC and GC/MS revealed O. basilicum to be composed of a total of eleven components representing 100 percent of the total oil composition. Neral (36.1 %) and geranial (44.5 %) were found to be the major components. Ocimum tacilium was found to be composed of five components representing 99.8 % of the total oil composition with estragole (96.6 %) being the major component. Five components were observed in O. canum, representing 72.3 percent of the total oil composition with eugenol (35.3 %) and linalool (27.2 %) as the major components. The high citral (neral + geranial) content in O. basilicum suggests that it belong to the citral chemotype while O. tacilium belong to the estragole chemotype and O. canum belong to the eugenol chemotype.

/pdf/volatile-chemical-constituents-of-three-ocimum-species-2n94yxosei.pdf

Stewart W Wossa

Papers

Comparative chemical analysis of the essential oil constituents in the bark, heartwood and fruits of Cryptocarya massoy (Oken) Kosterm. (Lauraceae) from Papua New Guinea.

Volatile Chemical Constituents of Piper aduncum L and Piper gibbilimbum C. DC (Piperaceae) from Papua New Guinea

Volatile chemical constituents of three Ocimum species (Lamiaceae) from Papua New Guinea (SPJNS)

Volatile chemical constituents of Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth.: Labiateae) from three localities in Papua New Guinea

Analysis of essential oil composition of some selected spices of Papua New Guinea