Medicinal plants

About: Medicinal plants is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3816 publications have been published within this topic receiving 108681 citations. The topic is also known as: medicinal herbs & medicinal plants.

Berberis Plants—Drifting from Farm to Food Applications, Phytotherapy, and Phytopharmacology

Abstract: The genus Berberis includes about 500 different species and commonly grown in Europe, the United States, South Asia, and some northern areas of Iran and Pakistan. Leaves and fruits can be prepared as food flavorings, juices, and teas. Phytochemical analysis of these species has reported alkaloids, tannins, phenolic compounds and oleanolic acid, among others. Moreover, p-cymene, limonene and ocimene as major compounds in essential oils were found by gas chromatography. Berberis is an important group of the plants having enormous potential in the food and pharmaceutical industry, since they possess several properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer activities. Here we would like to review the biological properties of the phytoconstituents of this genus. We emphasize the cultivation control in order to obtain the main bioactive compounds, the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties in order to apply them for food preservation and for treating several diseases, such as cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer. However, further study is needed to confirm the biological efficacy as well as, the toxicity.

Secondary metabolites of plants from the genus Saussurea: chemistry and biological activity.

Abstract: The Asteraceae family comprises ca. 1000 genera, mainly distributed in Asia and Europe. Saussurea DC., as the largest subgenus of this family, comprises ca. 400 species worldwide, of which ca. 300 species occur in China. Most plants in China grow wild in the alpine zone of the Qingzang Plateau and adjacent regions at elevations of 4000 m. Plants of the genus Saussurea (Asteraceae) are used in both traditional Chinese folk medicine and Tibet folklore medicine, since they are efficacious in relieving internal heat or fever, harmonizing menstruation, invigorating blood circulation, stopping bleeding, alleviating pain, increasing energy, and curing rheumatic arthritis. A large number of biologically active compounds have been isolated from this genus. This review shows the chemotaxonomy of these compounds (215 compounds) such as sesquiterpenoids (101 compounds), flavonoids (19 compounds), phytosterols (15 compounds), triterpenoids (25 compounds), lignans (32 compounds), phenolics (23 compounds), and chlorophylls (11 compounds). Biological activities (anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antitumor, hepatoprotective, anti-ulcer, cholagogic, immunosuppressive, spasmolytic, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antifeedant, CNS depressant, antioxidant, etc.) of these compounds, including structure-activity relationships, are also discussed.

A study of antimicrobial activity of few medicinal herbs

Abstract: The use of plants in treatment of burns, dermatophytes and infectious diseases is common in traditional medicine. The development of new antimicrobial agents against resistant pathogens is increasing interest. Therefore, the methanolic extracts from different parts of four medicinal plants used locally in folk medicine were evaluated for antimicrobial activity. It was found that most plant extracts studied had antibacterial and antifungal activities. The methanolic extract of leaf of the plant Azadiracta indica, Acacia nilotica and Witania somnifera showed significant antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Escherchia coli, stphaylocuccus aureus and pseudomonas fluorescence. Azadiracta indica and A.tinolica showed significant antifungal activity against A. flavus, Ziziphus mauritiana. The rhizome extract of curcuma longa showed significant activity against all tested bacteria and showd higher anti fungal activity against Fusarium verticillioides .